Two events this week generated a bunch of great photos.

One, National Night Out, is celebrated around the country to bring First Responders and the people they’ve sworn to protect. It’s a great community event that usually features a chance to see inside some police and fire equipment, meet the officers and grab a bite to eat.

The other, the Dam Ducky Derby, is all Evergreen.

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Morrison will ask voters three questions in November: two deal with lodging taxes and the third asks to remove term limits for town board members and the mayor.

Morrison Trustees approved the wording for the ballot questions July 21. The first asks voters to approve increasing the tax on rooms in hotels, bed-and-breakfasts, and other lodging in the town from 6% to 8%, with the money going into the town’s general fund.

The ballot question says the town could collect as much as $500,000 from lodging taxes, which is far more than what actually would be collected, outgoing Town Manager Mallory Nassau said. The $500,000 figure was put into the question to ensure the town would not exceed that figure, so it would not have to refund additional money to Morrison’s property taxpayers in accordance with TABOR — Taxpayer Bill of Rights — rules.

The second ballot question asks voters to remove an exemption for lodging facilities with eight or fewer rooms that voters approved years ago. The Cliff House bed and breakfast has eight rooms, so it has been exempt from the lodging tax, Nassau said.

Nassau said because of the exemption, the town has never collected lodging taxes.

Evergreen Middle School PTA president Autumn Hayes wants to raise $50,000 to repair the school’s track that has a deteriorated surface with large cracks.

Hayes said estimates showed it would take $750,000 to replace the track or $450,000 to hire a contractor to do repairs. Both cost estimates are out of the EMS PTA’s reach.

However, Hayes has found a friend in the Evergreen Park & Recreation District to help with the track rehabilitation.

“If the Evergreen Middle School PTA can raise $50,000, EPRD has generously agreed to complete a significant rehabilitation of the track,” Hayes wrote. “The project includes filling major cracks, rebuilding several damaged sections, and milling and overlaying new asphalt around the track. In addition, EPRD has offered to complete several beautification improvements in the surrounding track area.”

We introduced a trio of Conifer High School varsity coaches a couple of weeks ago but said more were coming. This week, the school is introducing three more head coaches to round out its batch of hires ahead of the 2026-27 school year.

There are now two new coaches — Boys Golf Head Coach Chip Cleary and  Softball Head Coach Stacy Wilson — as well as a promotion for Poms Coach Brittany Smith.

Beaver Ranch Park in Conifer is looking for more community involvement. The park, owned by Jefferson County Parks and Open Space, is in the middle of a $9 million renovation, and park officials are looking for suggestions and people to help make the park more inviting to residents and tourists.

“We have a really good opportunity to push this into a community park,” said Brad Hicks, executive director of Beaver Ranch Community Inc., which has an agreement with Jeffco Open Space to manage parts of the park. “We want people to know that if something is going on in the community, this is the place to do it.”

The 450-acre county park off U.S. 285 and Foxton Road is home to a nationally known disc golf course, popular zip line, hiking trails and an event center. Renovations will continue through 2027.

Hicks expects to have event applications and volunteer forms available on the Beaver Ranch website and on social media to help spark ideas and participation.

Evergreen’s Dam Ducky Derby was its usual duck-dropping, ice cream-eating, community-building good time.

The 16th annual event on Aug. 1 brought several thousand locals and tourists to downtown Evergreen to spend the day. More than 7,400 ducks dropped from an Evergreen Fire/Rescue truck into Bear Creek at the Evergreen Dam, much to the delight of onlookers.

“What I love about the Dam Ducky Derby is it’s generational,” said Kristen Hammond, owner of Outbound Mountain Gear. “Families attend. Grandparents bring their grandbabies. They are starting family traditions.”

National Night Out is an annual celebration in cities across the country each August, designed to help people get to meet their first responders, see some of what they can do and build community among neighbors.

The fire department that straddles I-70 from El Rancho to Golden, hosted an open house on Aug. 4 as part of National Night Out. Firefighter and Jeffco Sheriff’s Office demonstrations, booths and a barbecue brought plenty of neighbors to the Lookout Mountain station.

“It lets the community know we are here,” Fire Chief Rod Cameron said.

The sheriff’s office brought out its drone team, and people could try using fire extinguishers, learn what a tender truck does, find out more about pine beetle kill and watch vehicle-extrication demonstrations. Attendees could talk with Evergreen Jiu Jitsu, a dentist in Genesee and the El Rancho Jiffy Lube and more. Kids could crawl inside fire trucks, and there were free hot dogs, chips and dessert.

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