There is a dedication of Patrick's Point at Hawkins Preserve (south end of Cedar Street) on Saturday. All interested in attending should plan on meeting in the parking lot at 9 a.m. where our president, Shelby Smith, will lead us down to the point for the program. This event was planned before we learned of Patrick Colton's passing and are very sorry that we did not get to it sooner. There is no need to RSVP; just show up.

Saturday night we are having a fall dance at the Lakeview Grange on Road M east of 145. Come at 7 and plan on dancing. Jonathon of Bar-N-Band is our disc jockey. Denise of "Let's Dance" will come by and give some dance lessons and then judge a dance contest. All to raise monies for an art scholarship.

Friday night at Main Book Co. and The Gallery you will find a lecture by former director general of the National Museum of Iraq, Donny George. Call 564-4395 for tickets as seating is limited. This is a Friends of Crow Canyon event.

Monday at 7 p.m., Sara Hatch will be here at the Cortez Cultural Center with "Letters from Home," a collection of letters from her grandfather and his best friend from the Civil War. Should be very interesting.

The Festival of the Cranes starts next Wednesday in the Bosque del Apache, N.M. We have a volunteers meeting set for that day at 8:30 a.m. All interested in becoming volunteers should attend. There is a Birding Festival meeting the same day at 5:30 p.m.

Steve Miles and crew have been to Hawkins Preserve cleaning up tamarisk, an invasive weed. Thanks, Steve.

I am planning the December calendar and have some space available, so if you know of a program you want us to do, holler. We are sure missing the Choralaires.

Tours: The Belize tour (combination archaeology and birding) set for March 3 with Victoria Atkins and Fred Blackburn is almost full. Call me to get details. There is still time to do the trip to Abiqui and visit the Georgia O'Keeffe home on the 15th of November. It is an overnight. Dale Davidson is working on one next fall to Copper Canyon.

Did you know that we have a darkroom that can be rented here at the Cultural Center? That we have a meeting room that can be rented? That we have art class room space available. Call for details.

The Christmas Show at the Montezuma County Annex is filling up, so call Brenda if you haven't reserved your space.

We are starting to plan the annual SweetHeart Ball and Art Auction. If you are an artist and want to donate a piece for this annual fundraiser, call and let us know.

Anyone interested in a locally produced, welded, Christmas light design for their business should call me. Tom Hatchett and Steve Williams have one designed and ready to go. It is 5 feet by at least 64 inches wide. This is the first in a series of Christmas lights designed locally and ready to make our area "A must see during the Holidays."

Deb Avery is executive director of the Cortez Cultural Center, 25 N. Market St. She can be reached at (970) 565-1151 or www.cortezculturalcenter.org.