The Buena Vista Recreation Department has long explored a public park in the Sunset Vista IV neighborhood. Now, they’re moving forward.

The conceptual Vista Park, now to be called the Billy Cordova Memorial Park, would be on the west side of Buena Vista in the Sunset Vista IV neighborhood between Grouse Road and Raven Way west of Larissa Lane.

Thanksgiving morning in Buena Vista saw a brisk run with the BVSC Turkey Trot 5K & Fun Run, part of the Holiday Hustle 5K series hosted by One Love Endurance Events.

Lotus, a women-led sustainability consulting firm, hosted its second Sustainability Development Plan meeting for Chaffee County Tuesday in the Touber Building. 

Twenty-six community members have participated in CPR and First Aid training at the Buena Vista Public Library this year, and those who haven’t had the chance will have one more opportunity this year.

Collegiate Peaks Chorale opens the holiday season with its Christmas concert series Magnificat, featuring holiday classics, including Mark Hayes’s arrangement of “Magnificat.”

As holiday shopping approaches, Buena Vista’s Chamber of Commerce reminds residents and visitors alike to support their local businesses as they check off their lists.

The Buena Vista Chamber of Commerce has been celebrating Small Business Season, which kicked off in October and runs through Dec. 31. Small Business Saturday, an annual national push to shop small, will be Saturday, Nov. 26, this year

Buena Vista’s annual Christmas Opening is set for Saturday, Dec. 3, filling the day with festivities and local shopping opportunities. Activities include the Polar Plunge, the Ugly Sweater 5k, and a Chili Cook-Off, among others.

This photo by William Henry Jackson shows the north Midland Tunnel with a Midland train coming out of it. 

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center is launching a new website, www.colorado.gov/avalanche, to help backcountry travelers get current information on avalanche conditions in the Colorado mountains.

Christmas tree permits for the Pike-San Isabel National Forests & Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands are available to purchase online through Recreation.gov. Permits for the Leadville, Salida, San Carlos, South Park and South Platte Ranger Districts are currently on sale. Sales for the Pikes Peak Ranger District will begin Nov. 25

Chaffee County Women Who Care recently awarded its quarterly donation amounting to $14,000 to Achieve, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization which provides paid work experience and job training for neuro-diverse people, enabling them to obtain and maintain meaningful employment. According to Achieve’s Executive Director, Jennifer Davis, most of Achieve’s clients are on the autism spectrum.

Last fall, Buena Vista High School saw the start of its own marching band. After visiting an exhibition in Pueblo, the band felt encouraged, both by results and by judges, to start competing in 2022.

The Bureau of Land Management is preparing to conduct pile burns in nine locations this winter including several in the Central Peaks Region.

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center is launching a new website, www.colorado.gov/avalanche, to help backcountry travelers get current information on avalanche conditions in the Colorado mountains.

As temperatures drop in the Mile High area, the American Red Cross Mile High Chapter urges everyone to safely heat their home by following critical steps to avoid a home fire.

Central Colorado Conservancy announced its purchase of 110 acres along the upper Arkansas River as a third phase of the establishment of the Arkansas River Community Preserve.

After more than 25 years at their East Main Street location, New Bees is preparing to move to a new location. Their light blue building was sold earlier this year, leaving their team with the tall task of relocating their store and donations.

American Legion Post 55 hosted its annual Veterans Day breakfast Friday, serving homemade biscuits and gravy to more than 50 veterans and family members.

Buena Vista Middle and High school honored 27 veterans on Nov. 11 with breakfast and an assembly.

On Friday, Nov. 4, the Women’s Missionary Society at the Congregational United Church of Christ, in Buena Vista held its 95th annual bazaar. The WMS thanks the many community members who have supported us through the years. The quilt raffle is one of the constant features of the bazaar. This…

The Buena Vista Police Department has had reports of counterfeit $100 bills circulating around town.

Though she passed away on Oct. 11, Judy Nelson and her work for U.S. troops will not be forgotten.

Originally from Augsburg, Germany, Nelson came to live in Buena Vista from Leadville in 2008 with her husband Reginald, a 23-year flight engineer in the U.S. Air Force and a member of American Legion Post 55.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is seeking qualified volunteers to support their elk dispersal project in Great Sand Dunes National Park and National Wildlife Refuges in the San Luis Valley. CPW, the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are implementing ungulate management plans and are providing opportunities for the public to participate in supporting elk distribution.

Buena Vista’s season ended Friday night in a classic prep game fit for a Hollywood script save for the hometown boys not winning.

The back-and-forth prizefight produced 721 total yards of offense, half of it though the air of a 21-18 Colorado Springs Christian victory in the opening round of the 2022 CHSAA State Football Playoffs Class 1A tournament.

Buena Vista ended its volleyball season with a 17-8 record following a pair of losses in the 2A Region 10 tournament in Greeley Saturday.

Buena Vista fell to Limon 30-28, 25-14, 22-25, 25-8 and to Dayspring Christian Academy 18-25, 25-12, 25-20, 25-20.

Elements Mountain Compost will host its 2nd annual free fall yard waste composting event from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1. Residents can bag up their yard waste and drop them off at EMC’s new location across from the Salida Airport.

Residents of the Meadows apartment complex are facing rent increases that may force many of them out come December. The property, located at 502 S San Juan Avenue, was acquired in early October, with tenants receiving notices about their soon-to-change rent a few weeks later.

Many of the 17 tenants currently in the building are seniors or chronically ill, relying on affordable housing to stay in the valley. Rents, originally between $850-$1,200 monthly, will be increasing to $1,700-$1,850 come December. For some, rent will be doubling.

Charlie Ignee came to the United States from Italy sometime in mid-1880s. He ended up in Denver, got a job selling newspapers and stole a quarter while he was working.

He was afraid the police were after him so he fled on the Denver South Park and Pacific train to St. Elmo. He lived the rest of his life in St. Elmo.

The Greater Arkansas River Nature Association (GARNA) is holding its eighth annual photo contest for nature photos taken in the Upper Arkansas River Valley, as an opportunity for local photographers to share their creative work and support GARNA. Photos must be from within the Upper Arkansas Valley Watershed, Leadville to Cañon City.