Several members of the Montrose community will have feature roles to play in the Urban-Rural Divorce in the American West program that will be presented at the Montrose County Judicial Center on Friday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m.
Presented by the Center of the American West at the University of ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ at Boulder, the mock trial will explore the complex relationship between urban and rural interests in the West. The program, which is free and open to the public, is being brought to Montrose as part of the ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ in Residence series of community education offerings.
The program is presented as a divorce hearing between Sandy Greenhills West (the rural West) and Urbana Asphalt West (the urban West). It highlights the many difficult issues faced by the urban and rural West.
District Court Judge Richard Brown will serve as the guest judge for the program. His bailiff will be local law attorney Donald E. Cashen. Marv and Nancy Ballantyne of the Western ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ Congress will serve as witnesses for Sandy Greenhills West. Witnesses for Urbana Asphalt West will be Jeffrey Weir, executive director of the Montrose Economic Development Council, and attorney and former Montrose Mayor Thomas Cheney.
Members of the jury will include Shirley Simpson, Shirley Bleier, Maureen Shannon, Richard Shannon, Rachael Krute, Cindy Bowen and P. J. Warton.
Patricia Nelson Limerick, a professor of history at ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥-Boulder and chair of the Center of the American West, will act as Sandy Greenhills West. Urbana will be played by Jamie Sudler, assistant disciplinary counsel for the ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ Supreme Court and a member of the Center of the American West board of directors.
The Center of the American West has brought the fun and engaging program to various communities throughout ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ and the Rocky Mountain West, including Grand Junction, Gunnison, Trinidad, La Junta and Glenwood Springs. It has been presented to organizations such as the ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ Historical Society, Association of ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ County Commissioners, ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ Department of Education TeacherÂ’s Institute, Western ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ Congress and the American Association of State and Local History.
Reservations to attend the mock trial program can be made by calling toll free to the Office of Community Relations at ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥-Boulder, 1-877-ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥INRES or 1-877-284-6737. Seating will be limited in the Judicial Center courtroom.
ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ in Residence is a partnership between the City of Montrose and the University of ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ at Boulder that offers interdisciplinary, community educational programs consistent with the needs and interests of the city.