Wine Country Inn Gifts Restored Photo Images To Museum

The owners of Wine Country Inn, a new 80-room boutique hotel in Palisade. believe that looking to the future should be firmly rooted in appreciating the past. That’s why the Tally family is donating electronically restored images of historic local photographs to the Museum of Western Colorado.

Valued at an estimated $20,000 by Cobb & Assoc., who handled the restoration of photos loaned by the Grand Junction museum, the restored 1900-era Palisade pictures were enlarged, framed and hung throughout the hotel. The electronic media files will be presented to museum curators at a celebration from 10 to 11 am, Thursday, July 23, in the Lobby of the hotel. The public is invited. Following the presentation, guests can view the photos in public areas as well as guest rooms. Lemonade and cookies will be served in the Tasting Room.

“We can thank our neighbor Bill Floryancic, whose passion for documenting the history of Palisade launched this project. He approached us before we even broke ground about the importance of honoring the past,” explains owner Richard Tally.

“He was right and the interest in the Victorian period photos of Palisade has created much interest and good will from our guests and local residents alike."

“We also want to thank Michael Menard and the Museum of Western Colorado for his cooperation and help,” said Tally. He also praised Jeff Ham, the Cobb graphic artist who painstakingly restored the photos, for his dedication and “labor of love” on the project.

“It was a pleasure working with the Wine Country Inn to restore and produce copies of the Museum’s early Palisade Photographs for display at the Inn,” comments Curator Menard. “The Museum of Western Colorado is very appreciative to have such supporters as Jean and Richard Tally to assist the Museum in preserving and promoting the history of the Grand Valley.”

The results are a testament to the possibilities of creating a legacy for future generations when the private and public sectors work together, Tally adds.

Palisade's Lodging Tax Funds New Tourist Initiatives

Palisade's new lodging tax is being used to help create new and exciting things for tourists to do while visiting the town.

At a recent regular meeting of the Palisade Town Board of Trustees the Board voted to provide seven local businesses with tourism marketing funds to promote special events in Palisade to encourage increased tourist visitation.

Using funds generated from the voter approved Lodging Occupation Tax, the Board of Trustees, through its Tourism Advisory Board (TAB), solicited applications for private tourism marketing projects. Nine proposals were received. Due to funding constraints, the TAB could only recommend funding seven of the nine projects.

The recommendations centered on funding projects demonstrating numerous positive characteristics including broad community benefit, partnership between multiple organizations, events targeting the shoulder seasons of winter and spring, the degree of project uniqueness and innovation, and sustainability.

Mayor Dave Walker said, “We are excited that the business community has responded to this opportunity to partner with the Town.” We are confident that these marketing dollars will show a return on investment in the form of increased tourism to Palisade.”

Projects receiving funding include Palisade Spring Antiques Fair, Agri-business Identification Flags and Banners, Palisade Octoberfest, Vineyard Harvest Boot Camp, Palisade “Feast in the Fields”, Palisade Area Trails/Maps Promotion, and Palisade Wine Country Float Trips. The funds were provided on a matching, reimbursable basis. All projects must be completed by December 31 of this year.