The city of Durango will host Clean Commute Week 2014 from June 21 to 28.

Durango Transit will be free all week during Clean Commute Week. Free transit sponsors include San Juan Basin Health Department, Four Corners Broadcasting, Methodist Thrift Store, Osprey Packs, Iron Horse Bicycle Classic and the Durango Restaurant Association.

People are encouraged to nominate someone for Commuter of the Year at [email protected] before June 26.

For more information and to register, visit www. GetAroundDurango.com.

Democrats to host annual dinner

La Plata County Democrats will host the annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner and Silent Auction at 5:30 p.m. June 21 at the DoubleTree Hotel, 501 Camino del Rio.

The keynote speech will be given by former Colorado Sen. Gary Hart, also author of the book Durango. To reserve tickets, visit www.laplatadems.org or call 764-4756

Hart will do a free talk and book signing at the Rochester Hotel from 3 to 4 p.m. on the same day.

Library now offering smartphone checkout

Customers can now use their phone to check out materials at Durango Public Library, 1900 East Third Ave.

Customers can use smartphone applications such as KeyRing, CardStar and Smart Barcodes to store their library card number and then display it when checking out. This new feature can be used at the library Information Desk.

For more information, call 375-3380.

Botanical society to host garden tour

The Durango Botanical Society’s second annual Gardens on Tour will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 21.

People will have the chance to see some of Durango’s most spectacular gardens, from the historic avenues to country settings in the Animas Valley.

After the tour, participants are invited to the Durango Public Library terrace for a Botanically Inspired Gourmet Ice Cream Social with ice creams created by Cream Bean Berry of Durango. Sculptor Dave Claussen has donated an original garden sculpture for the grand-prize drawing during the ice cream social.

There also will be two silent auction items available: a commemorative giclee print by botanical artist Barbara Tobin Klema and a bouquet subscription from Lisa Bourey’s Passion Flower Bouquet Farm.

For more information, visit http://durangobotanicalsociety.com or call 749-5642.

United Way to host Day of Caring

United Way of Southwest Colorado announces that the first local “Day of Caring” has been set for Sept. 11.

United Way anticipates more than 50 volunteers from the community will work on approximately 20 service projects, most of which will be completed in a single day.

Nonprofit agencies in Archuleta, La Plata, Montezuma, Dolores and San Juan counties can submit project proposals that require resources, manpower and/or special skills to make on-site improvements to enhance agency facilities and make a difference in the community.

All projects will be reviewed, and attempts will be made to find an adopting company for each proposal. Projects should take four to eight hours to complete.

Applications are available at www.unitedway-swco.org. Application deadline is June 20.

Businesses or organizations who would like to adopt a project or become a corporate sponsor can call Peggy Edgerton at 247-9444, ext. 11 or email [email protected].

Silverton cemetery to hold work day

The 21st annual Silverton Hillside Cemetery volunteer work day will be held from 10 a.m. to noon June 21.

Participants should bring limb loppers, handheld clippers and shovels. After the work session, anecdotes about early pioneers for the 15 tombstones placed that day in the cemetery will be shared. Bring a sack lunch and a lawn chair.

Send tax-deductible donations to Hillside Cemetery Fund, San Juan County Historical Society, P.O. Box 154, Silverton, CO 81433.

For more information, call Mary Beaber at 387-5360, Bev Rich at 387-5781 or email [email protected].

Herald Staff