If you are visiting the Grand Junction area and would like to find out what there is to do, I recommend visiting VisitGrandJunction.com and getting the lowdown on what is happening in Grand Junction from now until the end of this year.

Folks who are not familiar with the Grand Junction area may not know this, but there is a lot happening in our little neck of the woods. It is already the 17^th of September and there are still 53 events scheduled to take place before the end of this month. The different events appeal to a wide range of ages and tastes, offering something for everyone. I am sure that even a good number of Grand Junction residents did not know that there was so much happening right in their back yard.

So regardless of whether you  are in town visiting, or whether you are just not very familiar with all of what grand Junction has to offer, I invite you to browse this events calendar to see just how much there is to do here.

The Great American Beer Festival is the premier beer festival in the U.S. This year, there are expected to be 522 breweries participating in the competition, 462 of which will be serving their brews to attendees. There will be more than 2,238 beers served to the attendees and 3,594 will be judged in the competition. This festival is a special opportunity for beer connoisseurs to sample a wide variety of beer s, ales, lagers, stouts, bocks and pilsners from hundreds of different brewers from all over the nation as well as meet other beer aficionados.

If you are planning on attending, I would recommend getting your tickets as soon as possible because tickets for the Great American Beer Festival sold out in advance in 2007, 2008 and 2009. According to the ticket sell-out-o-meter at greatamericanbeer festival.com, Friday and Saturday have already been 100% sold out. The only remaining tickets are for Thursday the 16^th from 5:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., and for Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., so if you are thinking of attending this annual beer bash, be sure to click on the following link to purchase your tickets now.

For more information, please visit greatamericanbeerfestival.com.

I was just reading an article in the USA Today entitled, “Investors with cash are buying houses”, which highlights the fact that from November 2009 to January 2010, the number of homes purchased by those who identified themselves as investors has risen by 17%.

According to this article, there are numerous investors who have been waiting long enough for markets to stabilize that they have enough cash on hand to purchase homes outright. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the number of all-cash home purchases has risen from 18% to 26% from January 2009 to January 2010. Though some of these all-cash purchases are made by home buyers, the majority are being bought by investors who want to avoid paying interest charges on loans and therefore see a faster return on their investments. This article also mentions that home builders are also cashing in on falling home values. In some cases, home builders are choosing to buy condos and single-family homes and flipping them for profit as opposed to building new condos or homes.

Good real estate investors know when and how to buy homes. I f you are thinking of buying an investment property, I encourage you to read this and similar articles. Do as much research as you can on the local-area real estate market where you are thinking of buying and speak to some professionals in that are to ensure that the time is right for you to buy.

Please click the following link to read this article in its entirety at usatoday.com.

The Mesa County Health Department conducts two surprise inspections annually at all of the 700 licensed foods -preparation operations in Mesa County. Among these 700 food-preparation operations, the health department inspects eat-in restaurants, nursing facilities, churches, festival food stands, ice cream trucks, ice distributors and operations that make food products to sell from home.

The Mesa County Health Departments report contained some interesting news, including the fact that “the kitchen practices were more sanitary at the McDonald’s in Clifton than at the Brookcliff Country Club”. Actually, the McDonald’s located at 3219 Interstate 70 Business loop was one of the 16 restaurants that earned the prestigious Blue Ribbon Award.

If you would like to find which Mesa County restaurants made the grade, and which did not, please click to read the entire article at GJSentinel.com or visit the Mesa County Health Department’s website and see the results of the inspections for all of these restaurants for yourself.

According to Toys for Tots coordinator Greg Merschel, Toys for Tots donations are at an all-time low. What with our national economic problems, it is not hard to understand why. And, with the rising number of folks who have lost their jobs, it is not hard to understand why demand is also at an all-time high. Merschel also stated that Toys for Tots would be accepting donations through December 23.

I cannot imagine how it must feel for a child to know that they will not be receiving any gifts come Christmas Day. Though many of us may have grown up with very little, I am sure that not too many have known what it feels like to not receive anything on Christmas. I will definitely be taking some time out of my schedule to buy a new toy and drop it off at our local fire department, and while I am there I think I will personally thank some of the fine men and women who serve our community.

I for one would like to salute these brave and caring firemen and women who have chosen one of the most dangerous professions possible. I commend their dedication to this community and support their efforts to ensure that children, who would otherwise not have received anything on Christmas, receive a nice gift. It is things like this that make Grand Junction a real community and not just the city where we live, work and play.

Those who are interested in participating must register at 7:15 a.m. on Saturday June 27 at Canyon View Park at the Gunnison Shelter. The race starts at 8:30 a.m. There is also an online registration form at www.childrenwithhope.com. Winners in each age group will receive authentic Kenyan prizes. Those who do not wish to participate, but would still like to make a monetary donation, can do so by sending their contribution to Children With Hope, 627 24 ½ Road, Suite D, Grand Junction 81505. If you would like to find out more about how you can sponsor a child, please call 256-1610.

Children With Hope is a local-area Christian charity that was started in 2003 by Thom and Shari Seagren. The couple purchased a home in Kenya last year where 10 children went to live with foster Parents, Horace and Phyllis Leister. The Leisters are originally from Idaho and had been foster parents to more than 150 children before they moved to Kenya to help Children With Hope.

Thom and Shari Seagren are in the process of trying to raise enough money to buy a second home for 20 more children and in the future, they hope to be able to open a school as well. The cost of providing for each child living at the home is approximately $150 and most of the children living at the house in Kenya are under the age of 3 and have been orphaned because their parents have died, either from AIDS or other tragedies.

This is a great way to get out and enjoy a 5K run, and at the same time, help Kenyan children who otherwise would suffer homelessness.

Loose dogs are a problem for any community.  They can cause auto accidents by running in front of motorists and they can attack and kill livestock and wild animals.  Loose canines are also a nuisance in general because they can harass residents who are walking their pets and worse of all; they do their business in public, which is both unsanitary and generally disgusting.

As members of a community, all of us have responsibilities and one of the most important is to respect each others’ rights.  Those irresponsible dog owners who are not confining their animals properly are disrespecting the rest of us in the community.  I would ask dog owners to exercise a little more responsibility and to their utmost to ensure that their dogs are not running rampant on our streets harassing those responsible dog owners who are out walking their dogs on a leash.  This is a nuisance that is easily avoidable.  Another reason that dog owners may want to be more proactive in the confinement of their four-legged friends is an economic one.  This situation is making up 48% of the Mesa County Animal Services’ case load, if we can reduce the amount of resources that they have to spend on controlling loose dogs on the streets, we can reduce the amount of taxpayer money that is needed to combat this problem.

If you own a dog that can get loose and roam the streets, I would ask you to try a little harder to keep your pet confined.  If you know someone who is guilty of letting their dogs escape, I would recommend sending them a link to this article so they can see why it is important for dog owners to be responsible.