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From My Desk It is hard to believe that school has started and, officially fall is just a few days away. Before we know it, we will (hopefully) be covered in snow! This has been a difficult year for local farmers, orchards and fruit growers in the Surface Valley area. The early blooms and late frost decimated what we generally celebrate as a bountiful harvest. But if we are anything here, we are resilient! Life goes on…and the same growers are looking forward to the spring 2027 planting season after what is predicted to be a gloriously wet winter. In June, I had the opportunity to attend the final FFA Convention in which our graduating granddaughter, Emery, would participate. As I listened to the retiring officers speak about the blessings and challenges they had faced during their tenure, I was struck by how many of them spoke openly about their faith and how it had carried them through difficult times. Driving home, I mentioned to Emery that so many of them had a strong belief system. Rather than dwelling on what had gone wrong, they talked about what they had learned and the good that had come from it. Emery’s answer was simple, “Well most of them are from farms; they know where everything comes from…” Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds us, “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.” In our growing magazine, we have had many comments about the wonderful articles, the amazing advertisers (all of whom support our publication), and the short stories and poems. We have added new writers nearly every issue, and we welcome all of you ‘closet writers” who want to share. Sadly, we also said goodbye to a dear friend and contributor, Terry Jarbo (see his tribute on page 17) He was so gifted at sharing his belief and his love of God in all his words and is deeply missed. Just like the seasons, life goes on. Perhaps that is what living in a farming community teaches us best. Not every season brings the harvest we hoped for, but we plant again.
Thanks for sharing your comments and ideas. Please let your friends and family from far off know that we are also digital at www.view-mesa.com Contact me for more information about advertising or story ideas. Patricia Stirnkorb, Editor pat@writewordsmedia.com
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IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS 911 800-222-1222 970-856-4301
Fire and Life Squad Poison Control Center Cedaredge Police
COMMUNITY CONTACTS 970-856-3123 970-835-3337 970-856-3885 970-856-3118 970-856-6882
City of Cedaredge City of Ekert Cedaredge Elementary Cedaredge Middle School Cedaredge High School
COMMUNITY SERVICES 970-856-1125 970-856-5012 970-856-7199
970-856-6690 877-687-3532
Cedaredge Food Bank Cedaredge Public Works Upper Surface Creek Domestic Water Coalby Domestic Water Delta Montrose Electric
A View of the Mesa is published by the Cedaredge Writers Collaborative and Write Words Media, Cedaredge, CO Disclaimer: Any article published in this magazine is the opinion of the writer and is not necessarily the view of the CWC or WWM. We do not endorse or recommend any of the paid advertisers and therefore are not responsible for their business practices or code of conduct. When community events take place, photographers may be present to take photographs for that event and they may be used in the publication.
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Church is an important part of our community. If you are looking for a place to worship, why not visit one of these? Cedaredge Seventh-day-Adventist Church 290 SW 2nd Avenue Cedaredge, CO 81413 970.856.6863
True Life Church of Cedaredge 1507 SW 9th Street Cedaredge, CO 81413 970.856.3586
First Baptist Church 370 Main Street Cedaredge, CO 81413 970.856.3830
St. Philps Catholic Church 290 NW Cedar Ave Cedaredge, CO 81413 970.856.6495
Grand Mesa Baptist Church 110 SE Jay Avenue Cedaredge, CO 81413 970.856.3455
Cedaredge Community United Methodist Church 210 NW 3rd Street Cedaredge, CO 81413 970.856.3696
New Hope EV Free Church 17464 Surface Creek Road Cedaredge, CO 81413 970.856.4458
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1395 SW 9th Street Cedaredge, CO 8413 907.787.2773
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Charlie and Amanda Joyce
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260 main street A Building at the Heart of Cedaredge By Kori Deines (with special thanks to Ronn Brewer for his historical information) For more than a century, the building at 260 Main Street has been home to businesses, families, artists and gathering places. Following its history are the stories of exceptional, resilient women who have contributed to the heart of Cedaredge. Grant's Cash Store On October 12, 1906, James McKay Grant decided to go into the grocery Munson's Main Street Gallery and feed business in Cedaredge. He built a two-story, The Heartbeat of Cedaredge 25-by-60-foot building, with his business on the lower In 1986, Grand Junction potter Markee Travis, floor and living rooms upstairs. purchased 260 Main Street. She gathered other artists Grant's Cash Grocery opened January 11, 1907. to display their work while she had a place to throw According to the Surface Creek Champion, "His store her pots. The consignment gallery became a unique is arranged in excellent shape and is one of the neatest addition to downtown Cedaredge. Tracy Traubel met in this part of the country." A photograph of the store's Markee in the mid-1990s when Markee began interior still hangs in Cat's on Main today. carrying Tracy's bronze sculptures. Before long, Tracy Over the decades, the Grant Building changed hands was working for her. When Markee and her husband and purposes many times. It housed a general were ready to retire, Tracy and her husband Jim took merchandise store, the dressmaking establishment of over the business in 1999 - with a handshake and a sisters Fay and Eula Hocker, C. L. Curtis's fruit, promise to be open during Applefest. Tracy continued vegetable, poultry and cream business, and Lulu the gallery through an economic downturn and the Crawford's barber shop. death of her husband in 2009. Eventually, the business In 1922, W. V. Bouldin opened Bouldin's Feed Store evolved into Munson's Main Street Gallery& Coffee & Cream Station, with his family living upstairs. Later Emporium. the building became Cedaredge Feed, and during the Although Tracy wasn't a coffee drinker herself, she 1940sand '50s, the Moose Lodge used the upstairs learned the coffee business and added fresh pastries. space. That meant getting up at 4:30 in the morning so early Around 1950, Tom Lowe purchased the building and customers could have fresh baked goods before headleased it to Allyn Huston, who operated Huston Feed ing to work That's what a small-town store owner does Store for about ten years. After sitting vacant for when she loves being with people and wants them to several years, the building was purchased by Leonard feel at home. Customers told Tracy her shop was "the Belden for a building-supply business. heartbeat of Cedaredge." When someone was in need, people gathered to help. She supported local artists In 1974, Ray Bingham gave the building a facelift, through displays, events and demonstrations and, most adding a new balcony and porch. Ray and Alice operated a craft store there. But another transformation of all, built relationships. In 2016, another woman was ready to carry that spirit forward. was coming. 30
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Community support became one of Molly's favorite parts of owning the business. She welcomed local The Front Porch of Cedaredge artists and consignors, some of whom had been part Scott and Stacy Malmgren were looking for a small of the shop under previous owners. "My intention was town after retiring from their jobs in Castle Rock. A to always lead with love, and I hope that was always friend encouraged them to visit Cedaredge. Their felt when entering Molly's on Main." But Molly also realtor showed them several possible businesses, but faced the realities of owning a small business while when they walked through the door of the coffee shop caring for her very ill mother. After her mother's at 260 Main Street, Stacy knew this was the place. death, combined with Molly's own health concerns, "Cedaredge is magic," Stacy said. "The community she knew it was time to step away and focus on embraces people." Tracy became a mentor to Stacy grieving and healing. At a gathering around a fire in as she recovered from a broken ankle, moved to December 2023, Molly told her friends she was Cedaredge and learned her new business. Scott used selling the store. Cathy Trimmer was sitting around his craftsmanship to make improvements throughout that fire. the shop, helping transform it into their own Cat's on Main welcoming space. Stacy expanded the menu and Peaceful, Warm and Inviting merchandise, but the guests' experience remained most important. Whether it was the coffee guys, the When Cathy heard that Molly was closing, her first lunch ladies, the knitting thought was simple: She couldgroup or someone simply n't close my coffee shop. Ten wanting a cup of coffee, she minutes later, Cathy was going understood that people need to own it. Cathy worked her last human contact and someone shift at the bar on Christmas to listen. Eve, took Christmas Day off, and started working with Molly "WE MAKE IT WITH the next day. After a week of LOVE" became the shop's painting, cleaning and rearmotto. Stacy added concerts, ranging, Cat's on Main opened supported local artisans and January 1, 2024. Cat wants the navigated the challenges of shop to feel peaceful, warm and running a small-town Molly, Stacy, Tracy and Markee, Cat (not pictured) 260 Women inviting. People come through business, including the the door for all kinds of reasons. Sometimes, they COVID years. simply need someone to visit with. She continues to Looking back on her five years as owner of Stacy's on support local artists and vendors and is committed to Main, she called it "the best thing I ever did" and the Cedaredge and its community events. Like the women most rewarding experience because of the people. before her, she also knows the challenges of running Molly's on Main a small business while caring for family. Her employees have stepped up to help as Cat cares for her mothA Place of Union, Acceptance and Love er. "That's the way it should be," she said. Cat is Molly McCamey moved to Cedaredge in 2020, looking for a new lease on life after being diagnosed thankful for the space and the unexpected turn her life took. "Never in a million years" could she have with breast cancer at age 26. A dear friend lived in imagined owning a coffee shop on Main Street. "So Cedaredge and invited her to move. Molly couldn't far so good!" think of a single reason not to. After a phone interview from her home in Pennsylvania, Stacy hired More than a century after James Grant opened his Molly. She continued working at the shop after Stacy doors, people are still walking through the doors of retired, and when another owner later decided to sell, 260 Main Street. The names above the door have changed. The businesses have changed. The women David Starr approached Molly about taking over. behind the counter have changed. In July 2022, Molly's on Main opened. "Stacy had But one thing has remained remarkably constant: cultivated such a welcoming space, it was hard not to fall in love with the place and want to model my 260 Main Street is still a place where business after what she had created," Molly said. Cedaredge gathers. Stacy's on Main
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By Patricia Stirnkorb
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Write Words Media, LLC 21423 Uintah Road Cedaredge, CO 81413 www.view-mesa.com
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