MONTROSE – Mark your calendars for Sept.26. That’s the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Gunnison Tunnel, which brought agriculture, commerce and people to the Uncompahgre Valley.

A temporary museum set up in downtown Montrose to celebrate the Century of Water Celebration was officially opened last week by the Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association.

The day will start with a parade down Main Street at 10 a.m. and end with the Black Canyon Ball, a benefit for the Montrose Chamber of Commerce. Tickets are $50 for chamber members, $60 for nonmembers and $750 for a table of 10. Call 249-5000 for more information.

But the time in between the parade and the ball will be filled with free activities centered around Friendship Hall at the Montrose County Fairgrounds, said Kristi Harvey, a volunteer for the Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association.

Harvey and other volunteers set up a temporary museum recording the history of the tunnel’s opening in the old Sage Brush bookstore at the corner of South Townsend Avenue and Main Street.

The museum features artifacts from the tunnel’s construction, including old newspaper clippings, legal papers, photos and more from the 1909 era. Books on the history of the area are also for sale at the UVWUA museum, including West of the Divide, East of the Desert by Elaine Hale Jones and Montrose: Take a Closer Look, a walking guide by Cathleen Norman and Marilyn Cox. Also on sale are $30 prints of the painting, “The Black Canyon” by Karen Picard.

The contents of the museum will be moved to Friendship Hall on Sept. 26, the anniversary of the tunnel’s opening, and activities, food vendors and old-timey games will be held all day, Harvey said.

“We’ll have period and historical games like a hay bale toss, horseshoes, tug o’ war and dunking games and all the money goes to youth organizations that are helping out for the day,” she said. “The event is not keeping any money.”

Volunteers are needed for the historic day, Harvey said, including volunteers for the dunking tank and others to learn about the tunnel’s history and help answer questions at the museum.

Another event that took place 100 years ago and will be recreated on the 26th will be a box social lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Lions’ Park, a short walk from Friendship Hall, Harvey said.

Exhibits inside Friendship Hall will also include an art competition, “Art on the River,” sponsored by the Friends of the River Uncompahgre.

All paintings and photographs submitted must have a river theme, said FORU member Barbara Popp. To enter their works, artists and photographers can call Popp at 249-1035 or just drop off their works at the water user’s museum at Main and Townsend.

There will be no blind judging for the competition, Popp said, and entries will be judged by a People’s Choice award with $50 gift certificates for the two top winners.

“We want people to have a chance to show their artwork and bring attention to the river, and names will be on the paintings,” Popp said.

In addition to historic activities, a farmer’s market will be held outside Friendship Hall in addition to the regular Saturday farmer’s market downtown, Harvey said. Both events were made possible by increased participation by growers from Montrose and Delta counties, she said.

And there’s more. At 2 p.m. the Black Canyon Classic Car Club will show off their rides at Centennial Plaza and at 3 p.m. at the grandstands of the fairgrounds, re-enactors will portray presidents William H. Taft and Teddy Roosevelt, who signed the document establishing the Bureau of Reclamation that led to the building of the tunnel.

When the tunnel was opened on Sept. 26, 1909, all along the route of the flow, people rang bells as the water reached each point, since referred to as the Valley Bells, Harvey said.

“We will try to duplicate the Valley Bells in mid-afternoon,” she said.

Many organizations will have information at Friendship Hall on the 26th, including a booth by the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

But on Friday, Sept. 25 and Sunday, Sept. 27, the park will offer guided walking tours below the site of the town of East Portal, said Supervisory Park Ranger Paul Zaenger. The trek of about 100 yards along the Gunnison River will go to the buildings that house the workings of the Gunnison Tunnel. Groups are limited to 15 and tours start at 10 a.m. Reservations are required by calling 249-1913, ext. 423.

Zaenger said the starting point will be at the Park Ranger Station at the bottom of East Portal Drive, and said drivers should take note that the road has steep grades of up to 16 percent. Signs will point to the ranger station, and the tour begins from that point by the Gunnison River at the bottom of the canyon. The tours are free with park admission.

Although tours won’t be available on Saturday the 26th, admission is free all day to both the Black Canyon National Park and the Ridgway State Park, Zaenger said.

The whole town is getting into the celebration, including water activities at Baldridge Park from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. by Friends of the River Uncompahgre, a “volunteer fair” at the Montrose Library and discounted tickets to the Montrose Aquatic Center. For more details go to www.uvwaterusers.com.