The Roaring Fork Audubon Christmas Bird Count for the mid-valley area will take place Saturday, Dec. 15, 2007.The annual count is fun, social, traditional, educational and valuable. Beginners are welcome.Contact Dave Clark at 963-3479 or Tom McConnell at 379-7356

The Aspen Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure is pleased to announce it has hired MJ Wolfe Faas as its development director, a new position for the local nonprofit organization dedicated to ending breast cancer forever. MJ will help develop event sponsorships and other affiliate underwriting opportunities, and write grants. She joins Komen Aspen with almost ten years of nonprofit development experience.

A Winter Choir Concert will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 17, at Rifle High School. A variety of music from standard choral pieces to holiday carols will be performed. The choir has been working on mixed meter, and most of the pieces being performed will go from simple time to compound time.

Old, un-used cell phones are being collected for a nonprofit organization which ships them to AT&T, in exchange for pre-paid calling cards to the soldiers based overseas. Any brand, any age, any style of cell phones are OK. There is no deadline. Chargers and batteries are useful, but not necessary. The drop-off location will be at the Aspen Highlands Winter Artisans Market on the Aspen Highlands Mall for the next three weekends beginning Dec. 14, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Friday, Saturday and Sunday until Dec. 30.Those unable to make it to the market, please call Cyndy Love at 927-1108 in Basalt to arrange for other drop-off/pick-up times.

The Mountain Madrigal Singers will present A Perfect Christmas, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15, at First United Church, 824 Cooper Ave. in Glenwood Springs. Admission is free, but donations are welcome. Free child care will be provided.For the 27th holiday season, the Mountain Madrigal Singers will present its concert of vocal music celebrating the holiday sounds and spirit. The program will be a blend of traditional and contemporary songs, some classical and some light. Many in the community consider the Madrigal concerts to be the start of their Christmas season.

William and Bobbie Merriwether of Glenwood Springs can use a little help. William, a longtime photography instructor at Colorado Mountain College, will be having a stem cell transplant in January, and has been undergoing chemotherapy as well.The couple is looking for help with travel to Denver, and a fund has been set up for donations at Alpine Bank under the William Merriwether Fund. William needs to make one more trip to Denver for chemotherapy in December in preparation for the stem cell transplant next month. He will be hospitalized for four to six weeks after the transplant.For more information, call Mary Williams at 984-2446.

The 10th annual Rifle Gap Ice Fishing Tournament will be held Jan. 19-20.The grand prize winner has a chance to win $20,000 in cash. Categories include adult and youth adult rainbow trout, brown trout and yellow perch. Registered youth will be awarded prizes in two age brackets, 11- to 17-year-olds, and 10 years and younger for each of the three tournament fish species. For an official registration form or for more information, contact the Rifle Area Chamber of Commerce at 625-2085, ext. 2, or visit http://www.riflechamber.com.

Defiance Community Players will be holding auditions for a February production of Greater Tuna. Please contact the director, Jacquie Meitler, at 945-2174 for details.