Integrated Community will host a World Fiesta event from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12 at the Steamboat Springs Community Center. Attendees will enjoy an evening of world music, cultural cuisine, drinks and dancing. Tickets are available for a suggested donation of $10, and each ticket enters its bearer in the grand prize drawing for a Denver sports trip for two, including a downtown Denver hotel for two nights, two Avalanche tickets, two Denver Nuggets tickets and a $200 certificate for dinner. Tickets are available at 443 Oak St.

In addition, the event will include local artisan crafts for sale and a bouncy house and face painting for kids.

Birthday party for people born in 1950 set for Sunday

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A birthday party celebrating those who were born in 1950 and turning 65 years old this year will be held at 6 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 13, at Barry and Deb Smith’s barn on Twentymile Road, two miles west of the James Brown Bridge and next to the Yampa River. Cost is $10, and attendees are asked to bring a dish to share and a beverage. Live music will be provided. For more information, call Denise Roach at 970-879-7767. 

Local United Way Kickoff Celebration set for Thursday

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Routt County United Way invites all RCUW donors and board alumni to the 2015 Campaign Kickoff Celebration at Haymaker Golf Course from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17, for food and beverages as United Way kicks off its 2015 season of giving.

This year’s kickoff event will include a brief presentation how supporters have made a real impact in Routt County through their past and current investment in Routt County United Way. Attendees will also learn what’s new in the organization and what’s on the horizon for this campaign season. Much has changed in the 33 years since United Way’s founding in Routt County, and the current board directors would like to connect with past board members.

Committee seeks recipients for Leckenby, Larson awards

Each year, the Leckenby and Larson Awards Committee, associated with the Tread of Pioneers Museum, presents two awards that honor persons who have enriched the quality of life in Routt County. These citizens have served public institutions, preserved local history or contributed significantly to the county’s heritage. Since 1980, the Leckenby Pioneer Award has been given to a living person in Routt County; since 1982, the Stanley L. Larson Award has been given posthumously. The committee is seeking the community’s help in assuring that people from all parts of the county are considered and nominated for these awards.

Nominees of the Leckenby Pioneer Award:

■ Should have lived a total of 30 years in the county. The nominee does not have to be living here now.

■ Should be involved with the community, responsive to community needs (past and present) and serve as a representative of the history of the community.

■ Should emonstrate personal integrity.

■ Should be inspirational to youth.

Qualifications for the Stanley L. Larson Award are:

■ The nominee must have lived in Routt County and must now be deceased.

■ The nominee must have made a major contribution to Routt County.

Community members are encouraged to submit nominations for these awards. A short summary of the nominee would be helpful in the committee’s decision-making. Nominations can be emailed to topmuseum@springsips.com, attention Candice Bannister. Please include contact information and submit nominations by Wed., Sept. 23. Past nominations may be resubmitted.

Experts deliver free crane presentations during festival

A lineup of top sandhill crane experts will present a series of free talks during the Yampa Valley Crane Festival this weekend. The festival’s keynote speaker is Paul Tebbel, a crane biologist and former director of Audubon’s Rowe Sanctuary on the Platte River in Nebraska.

Tebbel is the current executive director of the Effie Yeaw Nature Center in California, and he will present “The Private Lives of Sandhill Cranes” from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12 in Library Hall at the Bud Werner Memorial Library. Tebbel’s talk will focus on his extensive knowledge of crane behaviors, vocal and body language and conservation issues.

Following Tebbel’s talk, Birding magazine editor and birder extraordinaire Ted Floyd presents “Bird Identification: Starting Over” from 2:45 to 3:45 p.m. in Library Hall, followed by a book sale and author signing. Floyd is the author of the “ABA Field Guide to Birds of Colorado” and the “Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America.”

During a community picnic at Hayden’s historic Carpenter Ranch on Saturday evening, The Nature Conservancy’s senior conservation ecologist Chris Pague will speak about cranes and their habitat from 6:15 to 6:45 p.m., outside at the ranch. Following the picnic and Pague’s talk, a guided crane viewing will be led by Tebbel and wildlife biologist Van Graham. Private vehicles are welcome to follow the shuttle to the viewing site, but car pooling is highly recommended to reduce the footprint.

The festival’s final speaker is from noon to 1 p.m. Monday in Library Hall, when Van Graham, the wildlife biologist who is an expert on the Yampa Valley’s local crane population, presents “Yampa Valley Cranes.”

Visit steamboatlibrary.org/events or coloradocranes.org for more information.

Mrs. Colorado America Pageant accepts applicants

The Mrs. Colorado America Pageant is now accepting applications from married women to represent Steamboat Springs as a state finalist in the 2016 pageant, which will be held April 16, 2016, at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in the Denver Center for Performing Arts complex. Applicants must be at least 18 years old, a resident of Colorado and U.S. citizen and married at the time of the pageant to be considered.

Visit mrscoloradoamerica.com or contact the Mrs. Colorado America office at 303-593-1199 for more information or to apply.

Oktoberfest coming to Steamboat Springs the fall

Visit Steamboat Springs Sept. 18 and 19 for a fabulous weekend of Oktoberfest traditions, including Rocky Mountain beer, Colorado Beef cook-off, local food specialties and festivities unique to Steamboat Springs. Saturday’s event, OktoberWest, presented by Resort Group at the Steamboat Mountain Village, is free to attend and will feature great live music by The Ben Miller Band, the I Love Beef Cook Off and plenty of regional beers to taste from the 35 Beer Garden brewers.

■ Beef tasting: $20 at the door; $17 online

■ Beer garden entrance: $35 at the door; $29 online

■ Beef tasting and beer garden combo: $45 at the door; $42 online

Attendees must be 21 or older to enter the Beer Garden.

To reserve tickets, visit steamboatoktoberwest.com.

Enjoy seeing live raptors at library during weekend

Bud Werner Memorial Library and the Yampa Valley Crane Festival will host HawkQuest at the library this weekend, where a live hawk, owl, falcon and eagle will be on display on the library lawn outside the storytime room. Bird enthusiasts of all ages can visit the raptors and learn about these amazing birds of prey.

The live birds will be on display from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12 and 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. Visiting with the birds and their knowledgeable caretakers is free, but the community can also have a photo shoot with the raptors for a donation to the nonprofit HawkQuest.

The live raptors also will be on display, along with the Greater sandhill crane taxidermy, during a Sketch-A-Bird workshop with local artist Chula Beauregard from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Sunday in Library Hall. Artists of all ages and abilities are welcome to join the sketching workshop.

This session is free, and the library will provide pencils and paper, but participants are welcome to bring their own sketching supplies.

The raptors’ grand finale is 2:30 p.m. Sunday, when HawkQuest founder Kin Quitugua presents “Birds of Prey,” a free community talk designed to educate about the importance of different raptor species, their specially-adapted tools and their role in our ecosystems. This program with live birds is strictly limited to participants age 8 and up. This talk showcases the unique tools of the owl, their incredible talons and six-foot wingspan of the eagle, the aerodynamic features of the falcon and the precision flying of the hawk. Visit steamboatlibrary.org/events for more information.