Fortification Creek Bridge in Craig, painted by Pete Kremer.

A group of Craig residents is starting to turn talk into implementation with a series of small beautification projects around town before the winter season begins.

At a community meeting on Oct. 10, Craig Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Christina Oxley said the idea was inspired by Dough Griffiths’ presentation on “13 Ways to Kill Your Community.”

When Griffiths visited Craig to discuss his book, he facilitated a community discussion to come up with projects for improving and promoting Craig.

---

---

Oxley said a poll of the workshop’s participants revealed that many members of the community believe a lack of trust, poor communication and low pride are holding Craig back.

“It’s not a high expectation that the governments, organizations and community leaders can work together to accomplish something,” she said.

---

---

While brainstorming solutions, one group suggested doing small community projects that could be completed in a short timeframe on a volunteer basis in order to inspire more involvement.

“Maybe if we start low and hit some low-hanging fruit, we’ll start seeing that sense of accomplishment and get people more involved,” Oxley said.

Several project ideas were tossed around at the Oct. 10 follow-up meeting including cleaning woodcarvings around town, tidying the grounds at the Luttrell Barn and removing debris from Fortification Creek.

The first project the team of community volunteers is hoping to get off the list is cleaning up Fortification Creek near City Park and the O.P. Bar and Grill.

“I just was noticing there’s a lot of trash and debris in the water and the water is so low now that it really would be a good time,” said Craig resident and candidate for the Board of Moffat County Commissioners Andrea Camp said.

The cleanup is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Oct. 22 and volunteers will gather in the parking lot on the north side of City Park.

Contact Patrick Kelly at 970-875-1795 or Contact Patrick Kelly at 970-875-1795 or pkelly@CraigDailyPress.com or follow him on Twitter @M_PKelly.Contact Patrick Kelly at 970-875-1795 or pkelly@CraigDailyPress.com or follow him on Twitter @M_PKelly.