UPDATE!!! The winner of the contest is Roxanna Wise who had a guess of May 14th 1:40 a.m.
The last hard freeze occurred the 13th of May at 0620L with a temperature of 25 degrees. Though colder temperatures occurred in other locations around the county after that, May 13th was the latest occurrence of 28 degrees or colder at Stevens Field. Again, special thanks to Jenelle, Patty, and the entire Choke Cherry Tree team for sponsoring this contest and to everyone that participated.
Roxanna stop by the Choke Cherry Tree at 56 Talisman Drive Unit 8C to pick up your basket.
Win a gift basket valued at more then $50 from the Choke Cherry Tree Fine Specialty Foods!
Update: This contest closed for new guesses Thursday, March 17th at 11:59pm. Good Luck! – Arleen
For grins and to promote local businesses, Pagosa Weather is doing another weather contest. The contest and prize… Forecast the date and time of the LAST occurrence of 28oF at the Archuleta County Airport Stevens Field. The person with the closest guess will win a gift basket valued at more then $50 from the Choke Cherry Tree!
The local chokecherries can be adversely impacted by late hard freezes. A hard freeze is when the temperature drops to 28oF for at least a few hours. We had such a late hard freeze in 2020. The chokecherries are a very important staple in the diet of bears and other local wildlife. They are also very important to Jenelle, Patty, and their team at the Choke Cherry Tree.
Choke Cherry Tree Story
The founder of the Choke Cherry Tree, Bill Goddard, was just fourteen when his grandmother taught him to make strawberry jam – and he was hooked. Bill and Connie Bunte opened a shop in Pagosa Springs, Colorado in 1999, stocking it with their jams and jellies and a few other items from this part of Colorado.
The first winter they had no snow and no customers until New Years day; Bill passed the time by reading candy books and experimenting with candy. The first few batches weren’t anything out of the ordinary, but he kept after it and came up with a winner – the wonderful Choke Cherry Tree homemade caramels.
Jenelle Syverson learned the cooking techniques from Bill, himself, and worked for years cooking the goodies at The Choke Cherry Tree before she purchased it in 2014. The Choke Cherry Tree continues in its tradition of wonderful homemade candies, jams, jellies, syrups, vinaigrettes, and sauces.
Location
The Choke Cherry Tree is conveniently located on the north end of the Talisman Plaza Shopping Center.
Location: 56 Talisman Drive Unit 8C, Pagosa Springs, CO 81147
Phone: (970) 731-4951
In Store Hours:
Mon – Sat from 9:30am-5:00pm MT
Sun from 10:00am to 5:00pm MT
Shop online: https://www.thechokecherrytree.com/
The Rules
– Each person can make one guess in the comments of this post or on the Facebook Post
– The guess must include the date & time
– Multiple same guesses will go to the first person with that guess
– No more guesses after Thursday, March 17th 2022 at 11:59pm
– We will coordinate with the winner on how to collect the prize.
– The Pagosa Weather team is excluded – sorry Mark!
Verification
The Pagosa Weather Team will determine when the last hard freeze has occurred.
Special thanks to Jenelle, Patty, and the entire Choke Cherry Tree team.
Let’s have fun and support our local businesses! Good Luck!
– Arleen
