Here is the 2008 yearly update on the Karval Community Alliance.

Our 2nd annual Mountain Plover Festival was held on April 25, 26 & 27,2008. It was a bigger success than last year despite the cold & windy weather on Saturday.

Friday evening was registration with the Willing Workers Club serving Homemade Ice Cream and Sandwiches. John Koshak from the Division of Wildlife showed slides and did a talk on the Colorado Birding Trail, which several from here are listed on. Several Birders stayed with local residents, some camped out in tents and some stayed in their campers.

Saturday morning started early with a Breakfast Buffet at the Calf-A, then we left Karval with approx. 40 people on the bus. We explored several prairie dog towns, saw several birds and even watched Russell Davis feed his cattle while everyone warmed up. The lunch was provided by the Friendship Circle Club. After lunch we looked at ponds on Dan & Mary Merewether's place and looked at several abandoned places to still see more birds. A Mountain Plover was finally spotted late in the day. Saturday evening the Karval FFA provided a Chuck Wagon meal (because of the weather we had to be inside). The Karval Music Dept and Floyd Beard entertained during the evening with approx. 80 people attending.

Sunday morning breakfast was provided by the Karval Lions Club. The bus left to tour Carl & Cherry Stogsdill's riparian area with a lot more birds being viewed. The lunch on Sunday was provided by the Karval 4-H Club. The afternoon was spent with Birders exploring different areas on their own and making plans to return next year on APRIL 24, 25 AND 26, 2009. 7 Vendor Booths were set up in the building including Local History, Antiques, Quilts, Crafts, Woodworking, Cowbells and the Division of Wildlife. The brochures are out for the next Festival. If you can't find a brochure contact Carl & Cherry.  The Alliance is working on having an Amateur Photography Contest to go with our next Plover Festival. Watch for details coming in February.

On May 1, 2008 the Alliance served dinner for the Prairie Wetlands Focus Group that met at the Community Building. We earned $200.00 for this service.

We are working on a grant for the RV/Campground with hopes of getting it done soon. The plans right now are for 6 hook-ups, 2 shower/bathroom and possible 2 cabins. We see this project as something that will benefit this area.

The Alliance is working on a 5 year Co-Op Agreement with the Karval FFA and the US Fish & Wildlife. This agreement will be to bring school children from the cities and educate them on our way of life, including cattle, birds, animals and to see how we live. Katy Fitzgerald, from the US Fish & Wildlife and Katie Merewether, a Senior with the Karval FFA, are the organizing forces behind this project. In this agreement we will also send representatives to talk to the Audubon Society and Wildlife groups, three times, over the next 5 years.

Sept. 13 we sold CFB Light Bulbs, T-Shirts and Caps at Karval's Homecoming.

Our next project was to have a booth at the Halloween Carnival. The proceeds from this we donated to the Karval Community Club.

On December 13 we held our 2nd Annual Christmas Lightning Contest, Dinner & Tour. A Soup & Salad dinner was served from 5:00pm to 6:00pm. At 6:30 approximately 30 people loaded into a school bus and with 4 cars following we toured 12 places of various sizes of displays and lights. Prizes, sponsored by Mountain View Electric, was awarded to David & Tanya Seymour, 1st place of $150.00 credit on their electric bill, 2nd place to Jack & Kathy Pfost of $100.00 credit on their electric bill and 3rd place to Jeremy & Tiffany Kahn of $50.00 credit on their electric bill. We sold 60 boxes of LED Christmas Lights from Mountain View Electric this year. A fun evening was reported with the weather being nice. All are looking forward to next year.



A project almost completed is applying for our 501-C-3. This will help us in applying for Grants. Another year is about to start so if you haven't sent in your renewal for 2009 won't you please do so. It is $10.00 a year for singles and $20.00 a year for a family membership. We have added 4 new members this year. Your help & support over this year has been GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!!

Check out the website: KARVAL.ORG to see pictures of the plover festival and information on Karval.



Karval Community Alliance

PO Box 37

Karval, Co 80823