If you’re at all drawn to Martha Stewart, Pinterest, and food preservation, you may get excited about canning fruits and vegetables. This process has been used for generations to sustain foods in airtight storage to last through tumultuous winters, or simply to snack on during any season. With the abundance of early 1900s fruit and […]
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October 2019 Spooky Staff Favorites
The pumpkins are poppin’ off the vines and the candy sales are skyrocketing. October is a time of change, both in weather and mood. Those who are so inclined begin to seek entertainment focused on a blend of spooky, scary, creepy, gory, gruesome, hair-raising, and supernatural. The staff here at Mesa County Libraries who enjoy […]
Continue readingLocal History Thursday: Old Healing Techniques
If you’ve seen the classic movie Dumb and Dumber, you may recall a scene in which a policeman calls whiskey “Grandpa’s old cough syrup.” This famous phrase may have stemmed from parts of the country like Mesa County! Back in the early days of the Western Slope, there were many remedies for illness or […]
Continue readingLocal History Thursday: The Surrender Tree
One of the most desirable spots for recreation in all of Mesa County is unarguably the Grand Mesa. At an area of about 500 square miles, the Grand Mesa is the world’s largest flat-top mountain. Tens of thousands of years ago, this geologically unique feature was born from a burst of extreme volcanic activity, causing […]
Continue readingSeptember Staff Favorites
Summer’s coming to an end, but that doesn’t mean you should cease your inspiration for new and exciting library materials! Our staff here at Mesa County Libraries expresses great interest in books and movies scanning a wide spectrum of genres. The following are staff favorites that stood out this September, all available in our catalog: […]
Continue readingLocal History Thursday: Kip Wood the Cowboy Poet
Back in the wild, smartphone-less days of the west, sometimes all a man had to do with his time was to kick back, reflect, and write a bit of poetry. Kip Wood was one such man. Kip was an early Colorado pioneer and cowboy who spent a winter with Butch Cassidy and befriended local […]
Continue readingLocal History Thursday: Peach Season
Palisade peach season– it’s finally here! For over 125 years Palisade, Colorado has been utilizing the area to grow peaches that are loved far and wide. The first peach trees were planted in 1882 by a man named John Harlow who described the peaches as “ripening in the sun acquired a brilliant color not found […]
Continue readingLocal History Thursday: The Grand Junction Air Show
This past weekend, the Grand Junction Regional Airport in Colorado and West Star Aviation hosted a spectacular air show featuring the U.S. Navy Blue Angels. The crowds looked on in awe as the experienced flyers executed great skill and performed exciting stunts over the Grand Valley region. I feel accomplished when I parallel park my […]
Continue readingLocal History Thursday: The Headquarters of Mesa County’s Uranium Boom
In early Mesa County, first there was the fruit boom, then came uranium. The Grand Valley experienced an explosion of activity like no other in the 1940’s when it became “The Uranium Capitol of the World.” Unbeknownst to me before listening to Wayne Farley’s Mesa County Oral History Project interview, the Manhattan Project was a […]
Continue readingLocal History Thursday: The Journal of the Western Slope
For all you Mesa County history fans out there, we have an excellent resource both on our shelves and available as eBooks online that could quench your thirst for more knowledge. The “Journal of the Western Slope” was started by Colorado Mesa University, originally known as Mesa College. History Professor Paul Reddin was the creator […]
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