Leaving Their Mark... Making a Difference in Their Community
A Fond Farewell to Tom and Sue Hillhouse
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Tom and Sue Hillhouse discovered western Colorado decades ago when they first vacationed in the beautiful San Juan mountains. While their working and family lives were centered in Cincinnati, OH they found themselves coming frequently to this beautiful corner of the world. In 2002 they decided to retire and build a house in Ridgway. In retirement, they threw themselves into a number of community involvements. A dedicated history buff, Tom got heavily involved with the Ouray County Historical Society. As music lovers, Sue was drawn to the Ouray Performing Arts Guild and spent a number of years organizing the annual summer San Juan Music Festival salons and community concert. Sue served on our regional Community Foundation board for six years.
Earlier this year, Tom and Sue decided to move back to Ohio to be closer to family. They have built a new house in Aberlin Springs, an agrihood community dedicated to sustainable living and locally grown foods.
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As a fond farewell and to memorialize their love of their Ouray County community, the Hillhouses have just established the Tom and Sue Hillhouse Fund as an endowment to benefit the Ouray County Historical Society. The Hillhouses also have a donor-advised fund at our Community Foundation that they set up in 2012, and several years ago Tom established a fund in Sue's name to provide music scholarships to promising music students from Ouray County, as identified by the OPAG board.
This year is our regional community foundation's 25th anniversary year. One of the ways we have celebrated is to award Surprise Grants of $2,500 to a number of organizations across our region. In August this year, WCCF Board member Hazel Stevens Price surprised Sue Hillhouse at an OPAG salon event with one of these Surprise Grants (see next story).
Also earlier this year, the Dave and Mary Wood Fund that is managed by our regional Community Foundation made a generous grant to the Ouray County Historical Society in Tom's name and in celebration of that organization's 50th anniversary.
These grants are small tribute to thank Sue and Tom for their many years of volunteer service and commitment to improving the community they have called home. On behalf of the many people who knew them, both in Ouray County and through our Community Foundation, a fond farewell and Godspeed!
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Stitching Together the Fabric of Community |
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WCCF board member and chair of the Ouray County Community Fund, Hazel Stevens Price presents a Surprise Grant in honor of Sue Hillhouse to the Ouray County Performing Arts Guild in August.
WCCF Board Member Hazel Stevens Price presented a $2,500 Surprise Grant to OPAG in honor and appreciation of long-time board member, Sue Hillhouse, during the San Juan Music Festival in August. Sue has organized this series of concerts over the past 18 years and put in many hours of volunteering to expand music and cultural offerings in Ouray County.
As Hazel noted during her presentation remarks, "Look at Ouray County as a quilt, which only Sue might do, since she is a quilter extraordinaire. You will find the Hillhouses both Tom and Sue woven into the warp and weft of the county for the last 23 years. There are few things that they have not been involved with. When Sue started volunteering for Ouray Co Performing Arts Guild, classical music in our community was, if you will allow me to continue with the quilting theme, in tatters. She saw a way to mend the organization and give it strength, gravitas and beauty. She pieced together a financial strategy as well as an entertainment strategy. She asked many parts of the community to add their pieces into this quilt. She invited people to donate their talents and treasure... Never one to ask you to do something she herself would not do, she devoted herself to this organization. She invited many of us to this quilting bee."
Special people like Tom and Sue Hillhouse make the communities of Ouray County better. Thank you to the Hillhouses and the many other volunteers, donors and community leaders who get involved in their communities - this is what community foundations are all about!
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Ouray County Community Fund in Action:
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Thanks to the generosity of funding from the Western Colorado Community Foundation/Dave and Mary Wood Fund, Citizens State Bank, and many generous local residents, 25 Ouray County nonprofits have received a total of $67,834 in grant awards from the Ouray County Community Fund. The OCCF Steering Committee, comprised of local community leaders, reviewed grant applications totaling over $90,000 in funding requests this year.
The following organizations were awarded grants ranging from $500 to $5,500. Grants were distributed in November, and at award ceremony hosted by Citizens State Bank in November.
OCCF 2022 Grants (grants provide general support unless otherwise noted):
- Delta Montrose Partners: Ouray youth
- Fortuna Tierra Club: Teacher grants
- Friends of the Wright Opera House
- George Gardner Scholarship Fund
- Home Trust of Ouray County: Ridgway Duplex
- Horsefly Volunteer Fire Protection: Communication equipment
- Live in Ouray
- Log Hill Mesa Fire Protection District: Training equipment
- Ouray County Baseball: Facility improvements
- Ouray County Historical society: Scanner
- Ouray County Nordic Council: Ski Trail Groomer
- Ouray County Performing Arts Guild
- Ouray County Performing Arts Guild: San Juan Chorale Society
- Ouray County Ranch History Museum
- Ouray Ice Park: Festival Tower
- Ouray Mountain Trail Run: Ouray School Outdoor Education
- Ouray Public Library: Cultural Education
- Ridgway Chautauqua Society: Sherbino Theatre Program
- Ridgway Community Garden
- Second Chance Humane Society: Living Better Together
- The Pinhead Institute, Inc.: STEM enrichment for Ouray students
- The Trust for Land Restoration: Idarado Houses Preservation
- UpstART: Theater that Moves
- Voyager Youth Program
- Weehawken Creative Arts: Costumes
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The Ouray County Community Fund (OCCF) is a charitable fund managed by our regional Community Foundation that benefits the people and communities of Ouray County. A volunteer steering committee of local leaders both raises funds and determines grant awards each year. Chaired by Hazel Stevens Price who serves on the Western Colorado Community Foundation regional board of directors, committee members this year include: Kevin Chismire, Jenny Hart, Maureen O’Driscoll, Hazel Stevens Price, Kara Rhodes, Kay Sibold, Francie Tisdel.
Donations of any size are appreciated and can be directed to the annual grants account or the permanent endowment. Funds are used to support local nonprofit organizations and community improvement projects through a competitive grants application process.
Citizens State Bank is a proud funding partner of OCCF.
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Since its establishment in 2016, the Ouray County Community Fund has distributed over $275,000 in grants to nonprofits in Ouray County. |
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Friends of the Wright Opera House Support this Historic Community Treasure
Going back to 1888, the historic Wright Opera House is a local treasure and serves as a venue for local, regional and international arts and culture performances. The Dave and Mary Wood Fund and the Ouray County Community Fund have supported this beloved institution over the years, providing grants for critical building renovations, matching challenge grants for capital campaigns and equipment needed to launch the Ouray International Film Festival. This year OCCF provided a grant of $2,500 for general operations.
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Recognition and Upgrades for Ouray Mountain Rescue Team
2024 will mark the 50th Anniversary of the Ouray Mountain Rescue Team (OMRT). Staffed entirely by volunteers, OMRT is available 24/7, 365 days a year. Given the unique terrain of Ouray County and surrounding communities, the OMRT is skilled in technical rope rescue, emergency medicine, avalanche, swift water rescue, tracking, search management and communications. Even before the COVID-19 Pandemic and the onslaught of people recreating on public land, the OMRT responded to a record number of rescue calls. Over the past few years, the number of rescues has doubled from the teens to a high of 31.
OMRT operates out of a rescue barn that was built in 2005. While the building is functional, the ever-increasing number of calls highlighted the inadequacies of the facility, especially when it needed to function as a command center for overnight and multi-day operations. Our regional Community Foundation is pleased to provide grant support for this renovation project. Once the upgrades are complete, the rescue barn will have a functioning kitchen that will support late-night operations, day-long training and out-of-town rescues; a working bathroom with shower facilities; refurbished floors and an upgraded HVAC system.
In May of this year, OMRT was nationally recognized by The American Alpine Club for a 2021 rescue on Mt. Sneffels that required rescuers to overnight near the summit. Volunteers braved torrential downpours, hail, and lightning. They were met by a Colorado National Guard helicopter the next morning that flew an injured hiker to St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction. A hearty CONGRATULATIONS and THANK YOU to the courageous and dedicated volunteers in Ouray County!
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We invite you to give where you live... |
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As you consider your year-end giving, we hope you will consider giving to your local community fund, promoting local philanthropy and supporting a number of worthy projects benefiting your community. Gifts of any size are appreciated and are tax deductible.
Checks should be payable to the Western Colorado Community Foundation with a note in the memo line of “Ouray County Community Fund” or “OCCF” Mail to P.O. Box 4334, Grand Junction, CO 81502.
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About Western Colorado Community Foundation...
Our goal is to provide more support through increased funding, technical assistance, collaboration-building, and education focused on conservation, outdoor recreation, and environment projects protecting and enhancing the place we live in and call home
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Interested in supporting our work?
Please consider a donation today.
Any size gift is appreciated!
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