Dolores General Store
By Grayson Hogue
The General Store is very interesting. It was built in 1913. The guy who owned it was A.A. Rust. The past owner was very busy. He pulled wagons with logs in them when the horses were tired. Are you surprised that the general store use to be a car dealership that sold Chevy cars? Now in the modern days, they sell ice cream and hardware. This building has many uses from the olden days and is useful today too.
Waste Water Treatment Plant
By Madison Shubert
I went on a field trip with my class. It was to the Waste Water Treatment Plant. There are three ponds there. Millions of little bugs eat algae to help clean the water in the first two ponds. The last pond is the polishing pond. The waste water treatment plant does not stink because algae keeps it from smelling. It takes a long time to go back in to the river. In fact, it takes 28 days to clean waste water. The waste water treatment plant is very important to our community.
Exon Mercantile
By Ryan Pipkin
There are hundreds of parts of Dolores history. The Dolores Exon Mercantile Company is one of them. One amazing fact about the Exon Mercantile is that it is not made out of brick. It's really made out of limestone. Don't be fooled! Also this store made the finest meat in the state. Another cool fact is the Exon Mercantile started as a grocery store. Next, it became the Dolores Star office. To show this, there is a lineotype machine in front of this interesting building. Last, it became the Dolores Antique Store. This is an awesome part of our town's history.
Dolores School Administration
By Grace Mitchell
Before I went to the Administration Office I didn't know a thing about it. I thought the building was about 5,000 years old. Scott Cooper is the superintendent for our school. He is the boss of all the teachers and even our principal! Mr. Cooper helps to make several decisions. Mrs. Arnett (Laurie Arnett) is the secretary. She gets information to Mr. Cooper and Mrs. Andrews. She also keeps track of files. Boy, is she organized. Karen Andrews handles the money and pays the staff. She is also the organizer of the Administration office. Teachers get about $2,000 a month. Wherever I think about how much I learned at the Administration Office I know there is more to learn.
Dolores Post Office
By Lance Lyons
The Dolores Post Office is sometimes a busy place. The first thing that happens is a truck comes in with boxes and envelopes. Then they can put all of the boxes and envelopes in carts and roll them to the next stage. Someone sorts the boxes and envelopes so they can get to the right people. Next they put the mail in each person's metal box, called a post office box. Now the person can get their mail. You can rent a large, medium, or small box at the post office. I learned a lot about what the Dolores Post Office does.
The Del Rio Hotel
By Aleece Brown
The Del Rio is a very interesting place. Let me tell you about its history. The Del Rio Hotel was built in 1931. 1931 was a little bit before the Great Depression. It was built by Billy Brumley who was a Rough Rider. A Rough Rider was kind of a sheriff but not exactly. Our president Theodore Roosevelt appointed him that job. In the Del Rio, famous movie stars stayed, like Clara Bow. The reason movie stars stayed there was because you had to be very wealthy to pay for a bedroom. I think the Del Rio has a rich history.
Dolores Water Treatment Plant
By Dylan Rantz
When I went to the water treatment plant in Dolores I got to do and see lots of things. The presenter was named Randy McGuire. The water treatment plant was finished getting built in 1986. It is where we get our clean drinking water from. Now, I will tell you some of the things that are in the plant. There are dirty water pipes and fresh water pipes, filters, turbines, tanks, 3 workers, valves that keep the water under control, and even a 300,000 gallon water tank up on the hill above the Dolores Schools. Last I am going to tell you where the plant is located. It is east of town on Railroad Avenue on the south side of the road. It is the only pond on the east you can see. There are fish in the pond to help us know if the water is safe. This place looks like a two story high building that has light blue trimming and the rest is white. I cope you can come to the Dolores Water Treatment plant and learn about it too!
The Best Building in Dolores
By Joseph Cochrane
If you want to know more about the best building in Dolores, the Town Hall, you're reading the right article. The Dolores Town Hall is where the mayor works and has meetings. The mayor's name is Val Truelson. I don't want to forget to mention one of my biggest discoveries of all. You probably know about the Exon Mercantile right? Well you may be surprised to hear that W.J. Exon was the town clerk! I read this in a 114 year old town record book. The Town Hall is in charge of all kinds of things like traffic, sewer, parks, and it also manages the town. The mayor told us that himself. I think the Town Hall is great and I hope that you do too.
K-6 Search And Rescue
By Elijah Dickenson
Have you ever heard of K-9 Search and Rescue? Well, it's a rescue team here in Dolores. Here are the members: Chuck Melvin is the leader, Dennis is the navigator, Vanessa takes care of the money, and Camden Malloy is one of the tech guys. Camden is a fifth grader! There are twenty members in the Dolores group but some are training to become professionals. Next, let me tell you about the dogs they use. There have been nine dogs, but they only have one right now. Its name is Quid. They train the dogs 600 hours each to get them ready to work. Did you know that German Shepherds are the best long-range scent dogs? There reward for finding a person is time with their favorite toy. Trailers are the best air scent dogs. They take dogs just when they are 16 months old. One day, I hope you get to go visit the K-9 Dog House in Dolores!
Kathy Ragland
By Ethen Robson
I have a grandma named Kathy. She has lived here for 60 years, that's a long time. When she was little she lived on 1st Street next to baseball field C. Now she lives on 6th Street down from the bank. My grandma had many things she liked to do when she was a kid like ride bikes, roller skate, fish, swim, and all that good stuff. She had one older sister named Jenette and one younger sister named Donna. She also had a sister she never met. Boy does that house sound busy. Everyone had chores and some of hers were: mowing the lawn, garden work, dishes, bringing in coal and wood, cleaning rooms, and caring for their cows and horses. Did you have chores like that when you were a kid? Can you adults remember what use to be in Dolores? Well here's a list that my grandma gave me of things that may or may not be here still. There was a grocery store, hotel, and a doctor's office. Can you remember your favorite subject in school? Well, hers was reading because it took her places in her mind and she thought it was easy. She is a little different from when she was a kid to now. She used to work a lot at the farm, but now she doesn't as much because my uncle and aunt are here. We just celebrated her birthday on May 3rd. On her birthday we went bowling because she loves to bowl. She even has her own ball! Then we had a big feast. Have you met my grandma Kathy?
Chuck Melvin
By Hailey Melvin
Recently I was able to interview Chuck Melvin. Chuck is a very good man. He has been living in Dolores for 67 years. He lives in Arriola and always has lived there. He has no siblings. When Chuck was younger he played with the animals, and did 4-H. For his chores he collected firewood, did the irrigation, and sometimes milked the cow with his father. His homework always came before his chores. I really like that concept because school is very important. His parents thought the same. Speaking of his parents, his dad was a welder and an engineer. His mother was the substitute mail carrier and a farmer. He lived in a homestead growing up and built a house after he had his first child. Now let's talk about some of the businesses that Chuck remembers in Dolores when he was a boy. There was as tractor dealer, a car dealer, a motel, a hotel, a doctor's office, pharmacy, grocery store, and also a hardware store. School was not much different than it is now because we still do similar classes. Chuck's favorite classes were math and science. In fact, as an adult, he was a high school science teacher for Dolores for 41 years. Wow! Many people say that he wasn't only the hardest teacher they had, but that he was also their favorite. Chuck sure enjoyed third grade because it was fun for him. He also enjoyed his 4-H, entomology (study of insects), and judging competitions. His hobby is running our local K-9 Search and Rescue. His dogs names have been Zeus, Shiloh, Axel, Kevlar, and now he has Quiditty also known as Quid. Like I said before, Chuck Melvin is a very good man who's my grandpa, and I love him.
Galloping Goose Museum
By Sammy Armstrong
My class went to the Galloping Goose Train Museum. There are 7 Galloping Geese trains in all. We have the 5th goose in Dolores, Colorado. The first model made of these trains was only 4 feet tall and 8 feet wide. All of the geese hauled mail all over the state and passengers too. Most trips were two-day trips. They had to build a railroad for these and other trains. In 1943 the 5th goose tipped over. The damage was bad. All of these trains that are left have been repainted and made to look new again. Every Goose ran on gas, not coal, so less people were needed to run it! They had a coal stove in the back to help keep the passengers warm though. I learned a lot at the Galloping Goose Museum.
Dolores Firehouse and EMT Station
By Vance McDonnell
Would you like to be a firefighter? It is amazing what they can do! They use things from hydrants to helicopters but their jobs are alike and different from an EMT (emergency medical technician). EMT use basic medical equipment like shots, oxygen, and first aide supplies. Firefighters use masks, jackets, heavy pants, and hoses. There are three types of fires: wildfires, structure fires, and hazardous fires. EMT helpers use benches or gurneys to carry people in and out of buildings. Here are some fun facts you will enjoy. Did you know some fire trucks can carry 1,500 gallons of water? Wow! EMT get the more calls than fires do! I love just thinking about these jobs, don't you?
Sylvia McClellan and Judy Davis
By Carlie McClellan
There are two people that I interviewed at our Third Grade Historical Tea. Their names are Sylvia McClellan who is my grandma and Judy Davis, my aunt. These two are sisters. They have lived in Dolores for a long time. Sylvia lived in Dolores for 20 years as a kid and Judy for 50! They loved growing up in Dolores. Now my Grandma Sylvia lives south of Cortez. It was just them, no other siblings in their family. I have three more siblings. They did things for fun like swimming in the river, climbing the hills, skating, and jacks. We still play or do some of those today! I have a lot of chores like they did back then, for example, making their beds and most importantly keeping their rooms clean. Their parents were bookkeepers. Back then, there were a lot of businesses in town like Exon Mercantile, a butcher, the General Store, a grocery store, and town hall. The General Store was where you bought tools like a hardware store. They both had the same favorite subject when they were girls, reading. They just thought it was fantastic. I love school too. I heard from them that third grade was almost like it is today, but there was spanking, ouch! Sometimes they would get punished for staying out on the playground too long. I asked these two if they have ever ridden the Galloping Goose. They have and their opinion about it is that is was very bumpy. I am glad I interviewed these two!
The Dolores State Bank
By Hazel Smith
We have been on many walking field trips around town. One of the places we went was the Dolores State Bank. The presenter who taught us about the bank was Shawna Valdez. She told us about the services, jobs, and when each of the bank buildings first opened. She told us some interesting stories too. Some of the services they offer are loans, checking and saving accounts, internet banking, wires, online banking, debit and ATM cards, money orders, and transactions. There are many different jobs too. These are some of them: loan officers, bookkeepers, tellers, customer service reps, loan clerks, compliance officers, and processors. The original Dolores State Bank was opened in 1959. In 2011, that turned into a parking lot in front of the new Dolores State Bank. In 2001, a Dolores State Bank branch in Cortez opened. Time for the fun part.I get to tell you other interesting facts I learned. Did you know that money has been around for 2,500 years? What about this.only five 1913 coins were made! Did you ever wonder why the saying "In God we trust" is on coins? That saying is on there because during war, people carried coins around, and supposedly that saying brought good luck to soldiers. Walking field trips can be very educational, huh? The Dolores State Bank was by far my most favorite field trip!
