Annual Meeting March 24th

Lariat Loop Partners—

The Annual Meeting is scheduled for March 24th from noon to 2pm at the Bear Creek Tavern and Country Dining located at the east end of Kittredge adjacent to Bear Creek. Address if you want to Mapquest the restaurant: 25940 Hwy 74 (674-9929). Please RSVP to joe_tempel AT dinoridge DOT org, so he can let the restaurant know the number attending.

Highlights of 2009:

On October 16, 2009 Lariat Loop was designated a National Scenic Byway!

Ten Year Celebration: On April 2, 2009 we held our 2008 Annual Meeting and our 10-year Celebration at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum and Foothills Art Center; respectively. We had a great time and raised more than $1,000 at the silent auction. See earlier post for details.

Progress on the Buffalo Herd Overlook: Little was done to complete the final design of the Overlook because we were anticipating an additional $125,000 from CDOT's Byway Program. While we were not successful, Denver will be proceeding with a $300,000 project using existing Byway and Denver funds. Construction is expected to be underway in 2010, once the contract with CDOT is complete.

Participation in the National Scenic Byway Conference: About nine Loopers participated in the National Conference held in Denver at the end of August. We led four field trips along the Loop and received a great reception from the participants.

Progress on developing a Marketing Plan for the Loop: Holly Tempel is coordinating the development of a marketing plan for the Loop. The Marketing Committee is looking at our current brand and will be suggesting revisions to the full board. This brand will be incorporated into any of the collateral materials developed for the Loop. Terry Barnhart, a marketing professional with over 30 years experience in the Denver area and who lived on Lookout Mountain for 25 years, will meet with Marketing Committee and other members at the Lookout Mountain Nature Center on Monday, March 8th from 9am to 2pm to help work toward a marketing plan.