Boulder County Fair uses zero waste with help from volunteers, other groups

Kudos to the Boulder County Fair for this year’s zero-waste results.

Though fairgoers consumed 2,888 milkshakes, 1,500 turkey legs and 10,000 cups of beer, none of the refuse wound up in landfills.

Thanks to efforts from volunteers, Youth Corp. members, jail crew teams and the education of carnival crew members and visitors, Boulder County saved 29 mature Douglas fir trees; 11,900 gallons of water; 8,222 kilowatt-hours of energy and prevented 27.14 tons of carbon dioxide emissions and 113.62 pounds of air pollution.

On Saturday, Oct., 27 from 1 to 4 p.m. the city of Boulder will celebrate the opening of three transportation projects that include underpasses. There will be a guided Underworld Bike Tour, dedication ceremonies, a costume contest and free T-shirts.

The tour begins at 2 p.m. and will leave from the first site: Skunk Creek at 27th Way Underpass at the intersection of 27th Way and Baseline Road.

The second stop will be from 2:30 to 3 p.m. at Bear Creek at Foothills Parkway Underpass at Foothills Parkway and Arapahoe Avenue.

At 3 p.m. the bikes will take off for Elmer’s Two Mile Creek at Iris Avenue Underpass at 28th Street and Iris Avenue.

For more information on the projects, contact Noreen Walsh at 303-441-3266.

For more information about the Underworld Tour and/or a map of the bike route, visit www.goboulder.net

The Eye salutes the end of an era.

Last Dollar Ranch – the historic ranch near Telluride where Marlboro cigarette ads were filmed- sold at auction for $6.27 million Oct. 11.

The widely promoted auction attracted 16 registered bidders from Colorado, Utah, Texas, California, Montana, Mississippi and Belgium. When the bidding contest ended Randy Lewis of San Antonio emerged as the high bidder.

“I’ll confess to some sadness in parting with the Last Dollar Ranch, but I know that Mr. Lewis is also a Colorado rancher who loves the land as I do, and he will carry on the tradition we have established,´ said Vincent Kontny, the former international construction executive who bought the ranch in 1989 and restored it.

To take its mind off the historic loss, the Eye is planning on taking the margarita-making class at Tahona Tequila Bistro at 1035 Pearl St. in Boulder at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 10.

The $25 seminar, taught by Professor Nico, promises to “help you throw a better party by becoming a margarita-making expert.” For more information call 303-938-9600.

Just down the street at 1001 Pearl St., home of Pasta Jay’s restaurant, owner Jay Elowsky just won the Eye’s “nice employer of the month” award.

Elowsky told his employees if they are lucky enough to score a World Series ticket, he will give them cash equal to the amount they paid for it. Essentially, they get to go to the game on the boss’ dime.

The Seventh Annual Flagstaff Star Holiday Card is now available for purchase. The card, designed for the third year by local artist Sallie K. Smith, features the Flagstaff Mountain Star, which is lit each year through the holiday season.

The Flagstaff Star Holiday Card Project began as a fundraiser to help with the costs associated with the maintenance and upkeep of the star on Flagstaff Mountain.

Cards are available at the Boulder Chamber of Commerce, Mary Williams Fine Art Gallery, Art Source International, Boulder Book Store, Lucky’s Market and Page Two. Leanin’ Tree Publishing donated the printing, with proceeds going to the star fund.

The Eye is glad to know it’s not alone when it comes to its day being dominated by meetings. According to a new survey by NFI Research the majority of business leaders spend from 21 percent to 60 percent of their time in internal meetings during a typical work week.

When it comes to whether those meetings are productive, business leaders are almost evenly split. Fifty-six percent find half their internal meetings to be productive, and the other 44 percent describe half their meetings as not productive.

Interestingly, the survey found that the smaller the company, the more productive the meetings. Sixty-six percent of respondents from small companies find more than half their meetings to be productive, while 45 percent of those from medium companies and 35 percent of those in large companies say more than half their meetings are productive.

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