The public’s invited, and encouraged to attend.

It’s the public unveiling of the “public art” in Montrose, Public Art Experience.

It’s the First Annual Outdoor Public Sculpture Exhibit and Gala.

It’s a ways off, but go ahead and mark the calendar for the annual jazz evening at the Montrose Pavilion in January, 2007.

Past concerts have featured Curtis Stigers and Kevin Mahogany. This year, it’s jazz vocalist Roseanna Vitro and her band. Her latest CD, a live recording at Carnegie Hall, is a good one. She’s appeared twice at the Telluride Jazz Celebration.

It’ll be Jan. 27, at the Montrose Pavilion. Proceeds benefit Hospice, KVNF.

Blue Sky Music is presenting the evening of jazz. Co-sponsors include, at this point, Montrose County Abstract, Flower Motor Co., Hot water Productions, Premier Properties, First Mortgage, Montrose Daily Press.

Info: Dave Bowman, 252-9526.

The Notebook went to the Masters golf tournament three times in the 1990s. (One of the best media badges ever.)

One thrill was watching the ceremonial tee-off by Masters champions Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, and Byron Nelson.

All three have passed, the latest being that of “Lord Byron,” who died Tuesday at his farm in Texas at 94.

Nelson won 52 tournaments in his career, and only $182,000; that’s about fifth place these days in just one PGA tournament. Much is made of Nelson’s 11 tournaments wins in a row in 1945. More remarkable was his stroke average that year, 68.33. That’s a record that still stands and one of those sports benchmarks that will unlikely be challenged, even in these days of million-dollar purses and routine 300-yard-drives.

The best memory of Nelson was that he was good with people. An endearing, polite gentleman. Said Nelson in a 1997 interview: “I know little about golf. I know how to make a stew. And I know how to be a decent man.”

Dept. of incidental info, according to the Secretary of State in Denver…..

Third District Registered voters:

Montrose County:

That annoying pitchman on TV, Matthew Lesko, who’s always shouting about how easy it is to get “free money” from the U.S. government, doesn’t have anything on Kenneth G. Lee.

He’s a soft-spoken Washington lobbyist who has tracked down and secured 11 budget “earmarks” for Montrose totaling almost $8 million. Lee’s efforts have helped finance sewer upgrades, police technology, City Hall renovations, among others. Lee was featured in the Rocky Mountain News last week.

The upshot of the article was how successful Lee has been in getting appropriations out of Congress which are generally slipped into larger spending bills. The “Rocky” did a six-year analysis and found that Lee’s lobbying for Montrose was second only to the $19 million he got for Denver, in Colorado. He’s also secured $5.5 million in federal monies for Nucla/Naturita, Rico and Mountain Village.

Unlike a lot of lobbyists who are tainted with scandal because of “tainted” money, Lee is a non-drinking Mormon, so there is no “wining” as in “wining and dining.” No exotic trips, except the mission he went on for the LDS church in South America. Lee, 57, lives quietly with his wife, his college sweetheart, in Maryland. He volunteers at a local food bank.

The Daily Press also wrote about Lee’s efforts on behalf of the city last year in a Nov. 5 article.

Quotable

“The only thing wrong with ‘tainted money’ is that it ‘taint mine.”

—Mark Twain