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Here’s your roundup for the fairly quiet week of October 20th, 2024:
First off, I’ve incorporated some updates to the November 5th General Election post from earlier this month that you may want to check out. The post, which provides information on candidates you’ll see on your SVR ballot next month, now has a video embed from the Lincoln County School District #2 Board of Trustees Candidate Forum held this past Wednesday, October 23rd. Additionally, I’ve also added video statements from five of the six candidates running for the North Lincoln County Hospital District Board of Trustees. Hope you find this information useful! Now, on to other SVR news…
Tuesday, October 22nd at 10am the Town of Star Valley Ranch (TSVR) Natural Resources Board (NRB) met at Town Hall. Here’s a link to the meeting agenda. One item to note, the SVR Trail Crew had their final workday of the season last weekend. Thanks Trail Crew for keeping our local trails in such fine shape this season! The Trail Crew will soon transition to maintaining trails for snowshoe activity this winter with the focus being to keep the Cedar Creek Trail, Vista-Prater Trail, Valley View Trail, and Maple Trail open as weather and Trail Crew availability permits. Now, let’s get some snow!
Wednesday, October 23rd at 5pm the TSVR Planning & Zoning (P&Z) Board was scheduled to meet at Town Hall, however, the meeting was cancelled due to lack of a quorum. P&Z items from this cancelled meeting will be reviewed and considered by the Town Council during their work session on Tuesday, November 12th at 10am.
Saturday, October 26th at 6pm the Star Valley Ranch Association (SVRA) hosted Trunk-or-Treat at Cedar Creek Center. While there was no Haunted Barn this year, SVRA still pulled out all the stops offering hay-rides, hot cocoa, games and treats for all the little (and big) ghouls, goblins, and assorted other characters in attendance!
File photo from SVRA of Trunk-or-Treat.
Other news and notes from the week:
On Wednesday, October 23rd, the SVRA sent out an email summarizing their latest 2025 Budget updates. You can check out those changes here.
In their weekly update from Friday, October 25th, the SVRA noted their Greens Crew continues to button up both golf courses in preparation for winter. Next week the greens will be roped off. That’s a wrap folks, golf is officially done for the season!
Another quiet stretch upcoming with only one calendar item next week:
Tuesday, October 29th from 6pm to 8pm there will be a 6th Penny Specific Purpose Tax Informational Meeting at Town Hall. Here’s a link to the email notice sent out by TSVR about this meeting.
Final thoughts—I took a short trip to Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) this weekend. Late fall is one of the best times to hike in the park in my opinion—the crowds are a lot thinner too! Of course, to get to and from GTNP from Star Valley, one must travel through the Snake River Canyon. Along the way, as I watched the beautiful scenery whisk by, I could not stop myself from thinking about Grizzly Bear 399. I’m sure by now you have all heard the iconic bear was hit by a car and killed in the canyon earlier in the week. It still makes me terribly sad knowing she is gone, although I never saw her in the wild. I suppose the many books and pieces of artwork I have in my house that depict 399 somehow made her seem more a part of my daily life than she really was. The site where she was killed on Highway 89 is only about 7 miles north of Alpine. Quite something to think she and her cub were so close to Star Valley when tragedy came. There is a small, but growing, memorial taking shape in the Snake River Canyon near the spot where Grizzly 399 died. You’ll see it just north of the Wolf Creek Trailhead parking area along the west side of the road (adjacent to the southbound lane). I added a bouquet of yellow roses yesterday to the site as we drove north. And, as we came home today, the number of flowers had grown. There is a small measure of comfort in knowing I am not alone in missing Grizzly 399.
That’s all for today—a little shorter read than usual. Thanks to all of you for being subscribers. If you have Star Valley Ranch news or photographs to share please drop me an email at close2home307@gmail.com. And, if you find this weekly email useful, please invite your neighbors, family, and friends to check out Close to Home 307. Your support and feedback is very much appreciated!
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