MONDAY ❖ MARCH 5, 2012
CMS STUDENT TAKES SECOND PLACE IN STATE FREE THROW CONTEST, SEE PAGE 20
CRAIG DAILY PRESS S E RV I N G C R A I G A N D M O F FAT C O U N T Y
VOL. 111, NO. 133
WWW.CRAIGDAILYPRESS.COM
YVDP unveils Community Indicators Project report BY JOE MOYLAN DAILY PRESS WRITER
‘SLED COUNTRY USA’
Northwest Colorado Snowmobile Club finally hits the trail after a late start this season BY JOE MOYLAN DAILY PRESS WRITER
For Joe Tonso, 71, snowmobiling isn’t simply about the power of the machine, the speed, or the exhilaration of the ride, though the sport does offer those perks. A Glenwood Springs native, Tonso moved to Craig in 1969 with his wife, Jenn, to teach math and computer science at Moffat County High School. Avid outdoor enthusiasts, Tonso and Jenn spent much of their free time hunting and fishing. Then, in the late 1960s, a friend who owned a SkiDoo dealership in Glenwood
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QUOTABLE:
“This is our only wintertime activity. We’re not a ski town, we’re a snowmobile town.”
On the ‘Net: For a video interview with Joe Tonso and Bill Spicer of the Northwest Colorado Snowmobile Club, see this story at www.craigdailypress.com.
Joe Tonso, Northwest Colorado Snowmobile Club grooming chairman
Springs convinced the couple to take out two of his sleds for the day. How the Tonsos looked at outdoor recreation was never the same. “My wife and I got on the machines and really enjoyed getting up into places where we hunted during the fall in the
Glenwood Flat Tops,” Tonso said. “We really thought that was so neat. “We were hunters and fishermen, and decided to take it one more step by going to see the country we loved while it had snow on it.” Now retired, Tonso serves as grooming chairman of the Northwest Colorado Snowmobile Club in Craig and is actively involved in
the Colorado Snowmobile Association. For him, snowmobiling is about enjoying the outdoors with his wife, as well as his close friend, Bill Spicer, 77. Spicer, an Illinois native, NOWECOS board member, and also a retired MCHS school teacher, moved to Craig in 1962. Though Spicer credits the Tonsos for introducing him to the sport in 1970, it was his agriculture and Future Farmers of America students who cemented his passion for snowmobiling. See SLED on page 7
See YVDP on page 7
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JENN TONSO, NORTHWEST COLORADO SNOWMOBILE CLUB/COURTESY PHOTO
JOE TONSO, wearing orange, and Bill Spicer, yellow, pause for a photo while enjoying one of the many open parks maintained by the Northwest Colorado Snowmobile Club. Despite a late start to the season, Tonso said conditions are now prime for riding.
The number of nonprofit organizations in Moffat County and the average hourly wage for local employees is on the rise. That information, along with other statistics, comes from the 2012-13 Community Indicators Project report, recently released by Yampa Valley Data Partners. “It’s meant to be a reference guide for people working on a variety of projects,” YVDP Executive Director Kate Nowak said. “It has a lot of great community information people may need when building a business plan or when nonprofits need to apply for a grant.” YVDP began the project in 2006 to measure quality of life in the Yampa Valley by studying the health of civic, economic, environmental and social factors in Moffat and Routt counties. According to the report, 20 new nonprofit organizations were established in Moffat County between 2006 and 2010. Nowak attributes the increase to the needs of the community. “To me, nonprofits are coming to the area because certain needs aren’t being met either in the
INSIDE ANNIE’S MAILBOX . . . 10 CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . . 13 COMICS . . . . . . . . . 11 CROSSWORD . . . . . . 11 DATEBOOK . . . . . . . . 2
GOVERNMENT AND TOURISM: The Moffat County Commission and Moffat County Tourism Association Board meet Tuesday and Wednesday this week, respectively. The meetings are open to the public. For the full agendas, see page 4 inside. 25 CENTS
ENTERTAINMENT . . . . 10 HOROSCOPE . . . . . . 10 OPINION . . . . . . . . . . 6 SPORTS . . . . . . . . . . 20 WEATHER . . . . . . . . . 2