Search Results for: resort town life

Benchtalk October 7, 2016

Iron Pour is Thursday

One of the most unique events in the country is becoming an annual tradition in Crested Butte – an iron pour. The Art Studio of the Center for the Arts hosts the Second Annual Community Collaborative Iron Pour in Crested Butte this Thursday evening. An Iron Pour is the creation of sculpture through the pouring of molten iron into molds. Both local and visiting artists gather to choreograph this intensely beautiful art. The grand finale of the week is the Pour Day on Thursday, October 6 beginning at 4:30 p.m. and lasting until after dark. The gathering is held at the top of Elk Avenue. Everyone is welcome.

Winter is on its way, so prepare  

The town has sent out its annual autumn request to get ready for winter. Please remove all personal items from sidewalks and town rights-of-way, including bike racks, benches, tables, and chairs. Please unlock your bike from town bike racks by October 15.

Forum date change

The CB News is changing the date of its candidate’s forum. Instead of a Wednesday, we will get together on a Sunday with the candidate’s for county commissioner to talk policy and ask questions. The forum will now be held on Sunday, October 23 at 6 p.m. at the Center for the Arts.

Fall Break Community Workshops for K-6 students 

The Community Workshops will be offering classes & activities at CBCS October 11-14, during fall break. Kindergarten through sixth grade students are welcome to join us for lots of fun each day! Activities include art (sponsored by the CB Arts Festival), cooking with Mountain Roots, science experiments, Legos, games, a Friday afternoon movie and more! Sign up for as many days as you’d like. $35/day/child; scholarships available. Register online at http://bit.ly/2doevMY. For more information, contact Jill van Tiel at jill@vantiel.com.

Fire safety for seniors

Join the Gunnison fire marshal for a discussion on fire safety for seniors. “Fire Safety in the Home” will help you recognize fire risks and behaviors in your home and preventative steps you can take to save your home (and in some cases, your life!). Mark your calendars for this unique event October 12, 2016 11 a.m. – noon at the Senior Center.

Outerbike coming to CB

Outerbike has announced it will bring one of its events to Crested Butte next summer. The Crested Butte Outerbike will be held August 18-20, 2017 and will be produced in partnership with Crested Butte Mountain Resort. The Crested Butte event will make use of the resort’s developing Evolution Bike Park. Outerbike is one of the largest bike gatherings held for mountain bikers.

Birthdays:

October 6- Kristy Acuff, Lindi Beekman, Brenda Alagna

October 7- Jennifer Glick, O’Hare Mullady

October 8- Barb Burrowes, Ann Socha, Brent Robinson, Bill Babbitt, Adam ‘Is Stoked’ Broderick, Andi Burnite

October 9- Dylan Smith, Greg Payne, Jesse Helland, Ariana Woods, Amanda Smith, Matthew Cody Alagna

October 10- Melissa Rose, Julia Brazell, Zach Vosburg, Michael Villanueva, Ariel Lypps, Bob Vandervoort, Isaac Evans

October 11- Joyce Lamb, Jed Frame, Sandy Read, Samuel Stepanek, Chelsea Paulino

October 12- Kimberly Metsch, Matthew Hardin, Beth Appleton, Joe Alagna, Tracy Freeman, Michael Marchitelli

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Dead leaves. Chip Dennison
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The death of summer. Kelly McGuire
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The stimulating sounds of autumn. Mary Tuck
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Moose. Maria Fenerty
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Abiotic material. Oliver Van Tiel
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CONGRATULATIONS: Newlyweds Brian Chapel and Katie Vandervoort were married on September 24 at her grandparents’ home in Wildbird. courtesy photo
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CONGRATULATIONS: Ben Watts and Taylor Garcia were married at the Wilder on Saturday, August 13 and will be residing in London, England. courtesy photo
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CONGRATULATIONS: Chris Shewmake and Kyndal Carolus were married on July 16, 2016 at the Club at Crested Butte. photo by Alison White Photography

 

Happy over fall, mine progress, bathroom love and Dick Eflin

It’s hard to not be happy during these peak fall days. The changing leaves, the perfect light, the space to breathe. There’s time to reconnect with people in the community and find isolation on the trails if you desire. These are the good weeks and let’s hope you are getting out to experience what are some of the best days on the planet, ever. Seriously. And with the moisture flowing in for a few days this week, it adds a dramatic look with low clouds popping the colors and framing the mountains. It is the next indication there is no turning back to summer.

I can report that we should be happy with the progress being made toward the withdrawal of unpatented mining claims on Red Lady. The town attorney says he is working with his counterparts at Freeport-McMoRan on language that will put a finite end to any threat of an industrial mine on Mt. Emmons. The players are engaged and productive and appear to still be holding hands and marching in the same direction. The citizens of Crested Butte should be happy to pull the lever in favor of Crested Butte ballot initiative 2A that will commit open space funds to the project but not raise any taxes.

Those who want some regulation of short-term rentals in Crested Butte should be happy, since the council has picked up the ball again and will hold a special meeting to discuss the issue next Monday. Frankly, my eyebrow is raised a bit over the sudden re-emergence of urgency expressed at the meeting on Monday. I mean, the council rejected the idea of imposing a moratorium so they could deal with the issue without distractions. Five of the seven council members actually have short-term rental licenses themselves—and two rushed in to get them when the issue started to get real in August. That all took some steam out of the process. But the citizens’ committee spent a lot of time hashing over the issue from every angle and it deserves a hearing. Given the makeup of the committee I will wager they have some good ideas that should be discussed. That discussion begins in earnest Monday at 6 o’clock.

On the other hand, it’s not all Champagne and unicorns out there. For that we are reminded pretty much hourly because of this weird presidential election where few are enthusiastic about the two main choices. While the majority of people seem to want to blow up the current flawed political system, there is a real fear that Donald may literally blow up the world if elected and Hillary may sloppily focus on blowing up her bank account. Neither candidate option brings great joy for a great many people.

And then there’s the email we got Tuesday from U.S. senator Cory Gardener lambasting the recent projection that health care premiums in Colorado for the individual market will increase by 20.4 percent on average in 2017. That makes me want to blow up the world. It is becoming ridiculous and untenable and I can see why people will grasp at any straw, including the idea of a new amendment to the Colorado constitution that says all medical services will be free for every resident. Something has to change with the current health care system and that will take cooperation between political parties. So, yeah, good luck with that.

And let’s not even get into Brad and Angelina. Angelina is filing for divorce? Weren’t those two just here in Crested Butte a couple of winters ago with their six kids? Maybe they should pop back in for Friday’s handfasting ceremony at the community feast and give it another go. Give the world some hope, Brangelina!

As we move toward ski season, we received the latest press information from the ski area and it sort of made us happy in the office. It starts out: “While many ski resorts are focused on bigger, newer, faster and more, Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) is working harder to simply provide guests with the best experience at the ‘Last Great Colorado Ski Town….’”

And after touting a new coffee place in the Treasury Center and bragging on the Umbrella Bar as something new, the next highlight was a promo for the new bathrooms and “hydration station” (a water fountain?) in Paradise Warming House. “Looking for an upgraded experience, but burned by restrooms in the past, guests at Crested Butte can leave their wounded hearts behind and take another shot at finding love… The pursuit of happily-ever-after just got a whole lot easier,” the CBMR press release stated.

Connecting love and new bathrooms made me happy.

And finally, I have to mention the passing of a true Crested Butte pioneer. Actually the true Crested Butte pioneer when it comes to the current ski area in this valley. Dick Eflin, who was a founder of the resort that began the turn of this little mountain village from a quiet former mining community to a (sometimes) bustling ski mountain, moved to the great powder run in the heavens last week. His family did not want a formal story or “in memory” in the paper and we respect that. But we must note his contribution to all of us here.

Eflin was one of those fellows that, to me, always struck a Euro ski vibe that I love in these hills. His grace, the way he carried himself, his sweaters all provided a dignity that represented his vision of a joyous alpine retreat. His tales of the old days and of trying to make this place a real resort were wonderful and funny. Dick’s flair for telling his stories made me smile. Heck, just the fact that he envisioned this valley as a ski resort in the early 1960s shaped my life and yours since without his vision 99 percent of us wouldn’t be here today and our lives would be very different. In that sense, Dick has made me very happy. Thank you sir.

—Mark Reaman

We are living in interesting times…

Sometimes understanding perspective is difficult in the moment. It is sort of like living every day with a grade school kid and not noticing that he or she is growing. But if you are a friend and not a parent and happen to run into that kid after a couple of months, the change can sometimes be dramatic.

So, when you or your kids are reading the “20 Years Ago Today” column in the paper in 2036, it might show that these last few weeks or months in 2016 were probably pretty momentous to the town. These are indeed interesting times. You might not see it every day but the kid is changing pretty fast right now.

Here’s why…

—If we are lucky, this could be the year that the threat of a mine on Red Lady is forever gone. The steps are in place to make that a reality. For 40 years, the community has had a fighting chip on its shoulder as the people have relentlessly fought the idea of a molybdenum mine on Mt. Emmons.

But now, if Crested Butte citizens approve a $2 million ballot issue this fall (that won’t raise any taxes) and the pieces fall into place with mining company Freeport McMoRan, the U.S. Congress and the president of the United States, there could be a permanent withdrawal of any mining of minerals on that mountain. It sounds pretty far-fetched but it could actually happen. The town is ready, the mining company appears ready and the politics with our U.S. senators and representatives could come together. It would be pretty incredible for the pieces to fall into place but it appears there is a real shot. Even if the voters approve the issue, there would still be a lot of heavy lifting to do, but it will be as close as we’ve come in decades. So let’s make it happen.

To take the communal mind shift from a community fighting for its spiritual mountain against global mining interests to a community walking hand-in-hand with an international mining company to focus on mine-related remediation and improved water quality is huge. What will that do to our general community reputation? Will we go from jumping into immediate fighting stance on almost anything to cooperation in all aspects of community? Will the loss of a mining threat put the place into resort hyper-drive?

It seems to me that it would be a significant change of attitude and one that will benefit future generations of Crested Butte. Like getting a high school back in town, it is certain to bring significant change to the community and it should be a major change for the better. This is exciting stuff if those pieces fall into place and it will start with how the citizens of Crested Butte cast their votes this November. We will look closer at this throughout the fall.

—Last week the Crested Butte Board of Zoning and Architectural Review (BOZAR) approved an expanded Crested Butte Center for the Arts. It will be a big building in Town Park and one that can cater to the growing variety of arts in the upper valley. It is not a small project and there is still a lot of work to be done. But if the money can be raised to complete the new facility, it should prime the pump for the north end of the valley to really make the arts an even more valuable piece of the spiritual and economic makeup of Crested Butte. Add to that the fact that the Mt. Crested Butte Biery-Witt Center is close to its fundraising goal and the community could end up with two major arts facilities in the near future. That’s a lot of art potential for a small town.

—The first big affordable housing complex began filling up last month. Anthracite Place provides a spot for low-income folks trying to stay here and make a life and a living. As Crested Butte becomes more and more expensive—and with no mine threat and better arts facilities—that will likely continue at an even faster pace. It’s no longer easy for ski bum types to buy a place up here. That’s a sad reality and why we need subsidized affordable housing. There will always be a need for such projects if you want the town and valley to be able to keep workers living in the broader community and not commuting from Montrose or wherever. Not every resort community has places for the dishwashers, the bus drivers and the musicians to reside. It is important to this town to keep workers living here and Anthracite Place provides such an opportunity.

In that vein, this is the week the first locals were able to go under contract for deed-restricted affordable housing lots on blocks 79 and 80 in town. These will be tilted more toward families and young professionals who want to make the commitment to stay here. That is another step in the struggle to keep the community real.

—The new Sixth Street Station proposal made it through its first BOZAR review last week. It is not a done deal by any means but the developers are no longer asking for a zoning change. They are looking at a number of hotel beds that might alleviate some VRBO-type mania inside the town limits. It too would be a big building and it would certainly be the new focal point for the northwest part of town.

—The Cypress Foothills developers received the first major county approval for their proposed “hybrid” development that entails a potential town annexation and some more county home sites just to the north of the current Crested Butte boundaries. The public land that is part of the proposed deal could include a school site, an emergency services center such as a fire hall, parks, river access and affordable housing. It too will have a big impact on the look and feel of the community.

—There is the fact that for the first time ever, more than 700 students enrolled this year in the Crested Butte Community School. Families seem to have figured out that living in a small town with a great educational opportunity is unique in this country. Throw in the ski area and countless outdoor amenities (and now a faster growing arts community and hopefully no threat of a mine) and the attraction probably won’t go away for people with the means to resettle in a good mountain village with their kids.

—Add in the hiring this week of a brand new Crested Butte town manager to guide a lot of these new developments, the state coming to the Town Council this month to start to solidify a Red Lady roundabout plan, the idea of developing a camping area in Avalanche Park, more buses serving both ends of the valley and CB South, a potential new Kapushion subdivision development in town, marijuana becoming a booming business throughout the county, the county shifting to power its vehicles with compressed natural gas, the ski area looking to expand into Teo 2—and who knows what else is brewing under the radar. There is no shortage of big changes happening right now.

Now to be frankly honest, not all of these changes are going to be great for everyone. If you live here and saw a future job at a mine, the change isn’t helping you. The prices of real estate in the valley always go up—and then go down—but I would imagine the floor is getting higher.

So while you may feel things are shifting a bit and the town is becoming a bit more gentrified, I think the real perspective is that we are in the midst of some major potential changes for the community. The details are still not settled on every issue. So if you want to look back at the “20 Years Ago Today” column in 2036 and help determine what it says—and how this place evolves —now is the time to jump in and help shape the big changes that are now happening. As the old Chinese saying goes … We are living in interesting times.

—Mark Reaman

Profile: Mike Arbaney

Mike Arbaney’s home’s architecture and decor is a ski-bum-guy-house, a throwback to the days of a more raw Crested Butte, reminiscent with posters of the resort’s ski runs and events, lighted beer signs, and the notorious leg lamp in the window. It is, in a breath, unpretentiously refreshing and nostalgic of a time when neighborhoods were intact with down home local friends making their way through the seasons and dirt streets.

The coffee table is covered with stacked issues of motorcycle and hotrod enthusiast magazines, fodder for any discerning motor-head with a penchant for fixing vintage gas-powered street machines, some of which sit magnificently out in Arbaney’s front yard.

As the fourth generation born in Aspen and raised in Basalt, Mike says he feels like he’s won the life lottery being able to live in Crested Butte. Besides his family working in the silver and ore mines, Mike’s history is steeped in Colorado pioneering mountain life, and he says, “One of my very distant relatives had hiked over from Leadville to Basalt to start a ranch. He had a bunch of daughters and he bought each one of them a ranch and then married them all off. Unrelated to working in the mines, they grew potatoes, hundreds of acres of potatoes. And potatoes are still my favorite food,” he laughs. “My parents still grow an acre of potatoes in Basalt.”

photo by Lydia Stern
photo by Lydia Stern

Basalt was a pretty small town back when he was growing up. Mike’s senior high school had only 32 graduates in his class of 1995. As a child, he and his buddies did anything and everything that had to do with being outside—building forts and being boys. His father and uncle worked as ski instructors at Snowmass the very first year the resort opened, and Arbaney did a lot of skiing from the time he was three years old. He also went hunting and fishing through his growing-up years in the Roaring Fork valley.

In school, Mike’s creativity was expressed through his artwork, mainly watercolors. But he was also working in construction at an early age, all through high school, building what he describes as “Big fancy houses up in Aspen. I loved working construction and I was making really good money for a high school kid. I didn’t have plans to go to college because I was pretty content, but I got a lot of pressure from teachers and peers to continue my education.” When he was awarded a large scholarship from the Colorado 500 Bike Ride, a charity dirt bike ride that funds mountain community organizations, he thought, “Oh man, now I have to figure out what I want to do.”

One day, while he was out on a construction job on an Aspen house, he had a revelation about his future. “I wanted to know why we had to do all the complicated things we do on the construction site, and that’s what triggered me to go into engineering, wanting to know how things work.”

Mike attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins, graduating in 1999 with a bachelor of science degree in engineering. He started his own company in Crested Butte, Structural Inc., in 2006. “Architects are my main clients. I do the structural parts of those plans because nobody wants their house to cave in.”

Before moving to Crested Butte, right out of college, Mike went to work as a structural engineer in Carbondale. Then 9/11 happened and Mike recalls, “Everything just stopped in construction, but I was on salary and I basically went out hiking, biking, or fishing every day since I didn’t have any work. It was awesome, but I realized it wasn’t going to last too long.”

Sure enough, Mike was laid off shortly after, but he decided to make the best of it. “I took off and did a three-week motorcycle trip, meeting my parents at Sturgis [the infamous meetup in North Dakota for bikers]. When I got back, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. A friend told me there was an engineer in Crested Butte, David Houghton, looking to hire, so I called him. He said he wasn’t looking for anybody, but we talked for about half an hour and he decided he could use somebody with a structural engineering degree. I stopped by the next day and he gave me about ten hours of work a week.”

With a sparse work schedule, Mike found plenty of time for the slopes. “When you’re only working ten hours a week you can ski a lot,” he says with a big grin that you can imagine encrusted with ice from faceshots in powder.

A few years ago, Mike bought a parcel of land in Crested Butte South to fulfill his goal of building his dream house.

“ Small house, giant garage, big fancy kitchen,” he describes, his hands waving to express the size of a huge garage to shelter his vintage metal babies. He pulls out blueprints of a massive building he calls his Garage-Mahal that will hold four cars and a bunch of motorcycles. He’s already well on his way with a plentiful collection of antique cars and motorcycles.

“My dad has always been into motorcycles and hotrods, so I grew up with it. I remember sitting on the back step of my house when I was a kid, polishing aluminum parts for his 1951 Indian motorcycle. When I was 14, my dad found a 1942 Harley in Naturita and we bought it for $500,” he says of the screaming deal.

“He helped me restore the whole thing and I learned how to paint, do the pin-striping and the wiring, and we took it to Sturgis that year, in 1994. I won first place at the bike show and got a trophy as tall as I was. I’ve had this affinity for cars and bikes forever. I like to go to car shows and I single out the ones that have more recreational opportunities, like in Moab I can go mountain biking on Porcupine Rim and still go check out the cars. In Las Vegas, it’s all rockabilly music and costumes, and I like that show because the style of cars that are there are the style that I really love—traditional 1940s and ‘50s hotrods and customs.”

Arbaney’s wanderlust seems to go hand in hand with his affection for beautiful vehicles. It gives him a sense freedom and he aspires to travel a lot more in the near future. About five years ago, he headed off to India with Steve Belz, a former Crested Butte artist.

The duo flew into Delhi and bought two Royal Enfield motorcycles. “They’re a classic cycle,” Mike explains, “and we toured through the Himalayas on them. We went over a pass that was 18,000 feet and we got to see all the Buddhists temples on the way. Intense is a good way to describe India.” He uses his uncle’s imagery of his own experience.

“If you want to know what it’s like before you get there, just remember back when you were a kid and you kicked the biggest ant pile you could find and millions of ants came out going in all directions for no rhyme or reason. India is just like that only with people.” The bikers cruised through non-tourist areas where Arbaney felt the real freedom of a motorcycle.

“I liked riding because you’re really out in the elements and you feel more connected. You feel more freedom, you’re not connected to anybody’s schedule, you can start and stop anywhere you want,” as opposed to using public transportation, he clarifies. “If you’re traveling on a bus, you can’t stop and take a picture or stop at a restaurant you think looks good. On a motorcycle, you can do whatever you want, wherever and whenever you want. You can go get lost.”

Recently, he took a few weeks to motorcycle around Alaska after flying into Anchorage. “I’d never been to Alaska and it’s always been someplace that’s fascinated me. I rented a motorcycle and went wherever the weather was nice, all over the state. The second part of that trip was rafting down the Kisaralik River, near Bethel, in the western part of Alaska,” Mike says of the river run he did with close Buttian friends.

“There are ten different species of fish in that river and we caught all ten. It was cool to see those glaciers and big mountains and it’s cool to be in a place that hasn’t been screwed with.” Mike feels that Alaska has nature as it’s supposed to be.

Mike is also a prolific painter, and his favorite subject is, of course, creating canvases of cars and motorcycles. His illustration-quality watercolors of antique cars, resplendent with shine, combine his love of both painting and cars. He had attended the Canvases and Cocktails classes through the Crested Butte Center of the Arts (CBCA) and he laughs, “Actually what really happened is that I was out walking one night, admiring Crested Butte mountain and the stars above. It was dominating my senses and I thought that it looked just like Van Gogh’s Starry Night. The next day I got an email from the CBCA saying they were going to do a class recreating that very Van Gogh painting in Canvases and Cocktails.”

Mike attended that class, interpreting the famous painting in his own style—a panorama of town dropped into the forefront with swirling dark blue night skies dotted with stars. It got him switched from watercolors to acrylics.

“It’s a hobby. Having an engineering job, it’s nice to have something totally out of the scope of work, something so different and helps me to relax.” He sometimes has to force himself to take a break and make time to paint, “Even if it’s just a tiny painting because I feel like if you don’t do it because you don’t have time, the next thing you know a year goes by before you’ve painted again.”

Although traveling to foreign places is high on Mike’s list, he’s not leaving Crested Butte too long for unknown parts. In a perfect world, Mike plans on starting to build his Crested Butte South house this coming spring, with its enormous garage and big kitchen where he can bake his mouth-watering pies. “I want a big fancy kitchen because I like to cook and make fancy pies.” He pulls out his phone with photos so scrumptious you can almost catch the aroma, from his peach pies to Bronco-themed pies, replete with the Bronco logo.

“I make pheasant pot pies too and no, they don’t taste like chicken,” he laughs. “I love it here. It’s a great place to come home to. I don’t see myself ever moving but if skiing ever gets boring, I’m out of here,” he says. “But until then, this is home and I don’t know how it could get boring. I have a job that I really like, I have a good business. Plus, there are lots of great outdoor activities and the fact that you have all the biking trails right from town and backcountry skiing so close. The Al Johnson is my favorite Crested Butte holiday. I’ve only missed skiing it once in the 16 years I’ve been here. Another thing I really like about this place is that it’s still a tight-knit community and it’s cool to go to the post office and run into people you know.”

Community calendar Thursday, August 11–Wednesday, August 17

THURSDAY 11
• 6:15-7:15 a.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga for the Peaceful.
• 7 a.m. Core Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 7 a.m. Physical Therapy Fitness with Adventure Physical Therapy at CB South Sunset Hal. 970-251-5098.
• 7:30-8:30 a.m. Foundations for Alignment / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 8 a.m. Ecumenical Meditation at UCC.
• 8 a.m. Motherhood Movement with Adventure Physical Therapy at CB South Sunset Hall. 970-251-5098.
• 8:30 a.m. Women’s book discussion group at UCC.
• 8:45-10 a.m. Vinyasa Flow / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 8:45-10 a.m. Vinyasa at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 9 a.m. Historic Walking Tour of Crested Butte. Leaves from the Crested Butte Heritage Museum. 349-1880.
• 9-10 a.m. Yoga for Everyone with Yoga for the Peaceful on the Center’s Outdoor Stage. 349-7487.
• 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Summer Science Tour: The Secret Lives of Butterflies with Rachel Steward of the University of South Carolina at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory Visitor Center. 349-7156.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Gunnison County Branch Office is open at the Crested Butte Town Offices.
• 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Weekly Sketching Series with the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 10 a.m. Mothering Support Group at Oh Be Joyful Church. (Last Thursday of every month)
• 10:30-11:45 a.m. Yoga Basics at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 11:30 p.m. Duplicate Bridge at UCC. 349-1008.
• noon All Saints in the Mountain Episcopal Church Community Healing Service at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church. 349-9371.
• noon-1 p.m. Shoulders, Knees and Feet Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• noon-5 p.m. Paint Your Own Pottery at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 12:30-1:30 p.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 4-5:30 p.m. St. Mary’s Garage. 300 Belleview, Unit 2. Free clothing and bedding. 970-318-6826.
• 4:30-6 p.m. Crested Butte Community Food Bank open at Oh Be Joyful Church. (First Thursday of every month)
• 5:30 p.m. Communion service at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church.
• 5:30-6:45 p.m. Vinyasa Flow / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 5:30-6:45 p.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 5:45 p.m. World Dance Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 6-8 p.m. Pick-up Adult Soccer at Town Park.
• 6:30 p.m. AA Open Meditation at UCC.
• 7 p.m. Women Supporting Women Group Discussion at the Nordic Inn.
• 7:30 p.m. Narcotics Anonymous meets at 114 N. Wisconsin St. in Gunnison.

FRIDAY 12
• 6:30 a.m. All Levels Iyengar Yoga Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 7 a.m. Barre Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 7-8:30 a.m. Mysore Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 8-9 a.m. Aerial Conditioning with the Crested Butte Dance Collective at the Center for the Arts. 349-7487.
• 8:30 a.m. Alanon at UCC Parlour (in back). 349-6482.
• 8:45 a.m. Core Power Yoga Class at the Pump Room.
• 8:45-10 a.m. Yoga for the Flexibly Challenged / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 9-10:30 a.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 9 a.m.-noon Open Wheel Throwing at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• noon Closed AA at UCC.
• noon-1 p.m. Lunch Break Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• noon-1:15 p.m. Restorative Yoga at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• noon-5 p.m. Paint Your Own Pottery at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 5-7 p.m. Crested Butte Tennis Club Social Mixer at the Town Tennis Courts. (weather permitting)
• 5:30 p.m. Communion service at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church.
• 5:30-7:30 p.m. Acro Yoga with Jes Park at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 6-7 p.m. Poi Playshop at the Pump Room.
• 7-9 p.m. Pick-up adult Karate, Fitness Room at Town Hall.

SATURDAY 13
• 7:30 a.m. Open AA at UCC.
• 8 a.m. Weights/Indoor Biking Circuit Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 8:45-10 a.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 9-10:15 a.m. Vinyasa Flow with Inversions / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 9-10:30 a.m. Community Yoga at the Sanctuary Yoga & Pilates Studio, Gunnison.
• 9-11 a.m. Restorative Yoga Workshop with Jen Laggis at the Gym.
• 10-11 a.m. Hip Hop Community Dance Class at the Pump Room (above Fire House on 3rd & Maroon). 415-225-5300.
• 10:30-11:45 a.m. Slow Flow at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 10:30 a.m.-noon St. Mary’s Garage. 300 Belleview, Unit 2. Free clothing and bedding. 970-318-6826.
• noon-5 p.m. Paint Your Own Pottery at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 1-3 p.m. Summer Knitting classes at Kasala Gallery. 970-251-5055.
• 4-5:30 p.m. Free Yoga Basics with Theresa Schaul at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 6:30-7:30 p.m. Guided Sound Meditiation at 405 4th Street.

SUNDAY 14
• 7-8 a.m. Meditation at Yoga For The Peaceful, by donation.
• 8:30 a.m. Mass at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church.
• 8:30 a.m. Worship Service at Oh-Be-Joyful Church.
• 9 a.m. Worship Service at Union Congretional Church. 349-6405.
• 9-10:15 a.m. Slow Flow at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 9:30-11 a.m. Community Free Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 10 a.m. Worship Service at Oh-Be-Joyful Church.
• 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Crested Butte Farmer’s Market and Art Market on Elk Avenue.
• noon-5 p.m. Paint Your Own Pottery at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 3-5 p.m. Intro to Kaiut Yoga with Ashley Sargent at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 4-5 p.m. West African Drum Class with Laine Ludwig at the Pump Room. 970-275-0067.
• 4-5:15 p.m. CBCYC Community Book Club at 405 4th Street.
• 5-6 p.m. All Saints in the Mountain Episcopal Eucharist at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church. 349-9371.
• 5-7 p.m. Pick-up Adult Basketball. HS Gym, CBCS.
• 5:15-6:45 p.m. West African Dance Class with Rujeko Dumbutshena (former Broadway star and acclaimed artist and choreographer) from Zimbabwe with live drums at the Pump Room. 970-596-8385.
• 5:30-6:45 p.m. Yoga Basics at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 6 p.m. AA meets at UCC.
• 6-8 p.m. Pick-up Adult Soccer at Town Park.
• 6:30 p.m. Duplicate Bridge at UCC. 349-1008.
• 7 p.m. Gamblers Anonymous meets at the Last Resort.

MONDAY 15
• 7 a.m. Cardio Core Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 7:30-8:30 a.m. Community Flow at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 7:30-8:30 a.m. Pranayama & Namaskar / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 8:45 a.m. Pilates at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 8:45-10 a.m. Vinyasa Flow / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 9-10:30 a.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga For the Peaceful.
• 9-11 a.m. Summer Knitting classes at Kasala Gallery. 970-251-5055.
• 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Plein Air Watercolor Workshop Series with the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• noon-1 p.m. Slow Flow at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• noon-1 p.m. Lunch Break Vinyasa Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 1-4:30 p.m. Glass Sampler Workshops: Glass Painting at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 2:30 p.m. Balance, Foot, and Core Strength with Adventure Physical Therapy in the Fitness Room at Town Hall. 970-251-5098.
• 3:30 p.m. Motherhood Movement with Adventure Physical Therapy in the Fitness Room at Town Hall. 970-251-5098.
• 4-7:30 p.m. Tang Soo Do classes for children and adults with West Elk Martial Arts, Jerry’s Gym at Town Hall. 901-7417.
• 5 p.m. Mothering Support Group at the GVH Education House, 300 East Denver St. (First Monday of every month)
• 5:30 p.m. Communion service at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church.
• 5:30-6:45 p.m. Yin Yoga Nidra at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 5:30-7 p.m. Moms in Motion class at the GVH rehab gym.
• 6:30-8 p.m. Women’s Domestic Violence Support Group at Project Hope. Childcare available upon request. 641-2712.
• 7:30 p.m. Open AA at UCC. 349-5711.
• 7:30 p.m. Narcotics Anonymous meets at 114 N. Wisconsin St. in Gunnison.

TUESDAY 16
• 6-7 a.m. Meditation at Yoga For The Peaceful, by donation.
• 7 a.m. Core Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 7 a.m. Physical Therapy Fitness with Adventure Physical Therapy at CB South Sunset Hall. 970-251-5098.
• 7-8 a.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 7:30 a.m. AA/Alanon Open at UCC. 349-5711.
• 8 a.m. Motherhood Movement with Adventure Physical Therapy at CB South Sunset Hall. 970-251-5098.
• 8:45-10 a.m. Vinyasa at Yoga for the Peaceful.
• 9 a.m. Historic Walking Tour of Crested Butte. Leaves from the Crested Butte Heritage Museum. 349-1880.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Gunnison County branch office is open at the Crested Butte Town Offices, 507 Maroon Ave.
• 10-11 a.m. Power Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 10:30-11:45 a.m. Yoga Basics at Yoga for the Peaceful.
• 11:30 a.m. League of Women Voters meeting at 210 W. Spencer in Gunnison.
• noon AA Closed at UCC.
• noon-1 p.m. Lunch Break Athletic Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 12:30-1:30 p.m. Therapeutic Yoga at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 1:30-3:30 p.m. Tech Tuesdays at Old Rock Library. 349-6535.
• 4-5:30 p.m. St. Mary’s Garage. 300 Belleview, Unit 2. Free clothing & bedding.
970-318-6826.
• 5:30 p.m. Communion Service at Queen of All Saints Church.
• 5:30-6:45 p.m. Slow Flow at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 5:30-8:30 p.m. Metalworking – Sterling Silver Pendant at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 5:45 p.m. All Levels Iyengar Yoga Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 6-8 p.m. Figure Drawing Sessions with a live model in Downtown Crested Butte. 349-7228.
• 6-8 p.m. Pick-up Adult Soccer at Town Park.
• 6:30 p.m. Crested Butte Library Poetry Collective meets at the Old Rock Library. (every 2nd Tuesday of the month)
• 6:30-7:45 p.m. Gentle Restorative Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 7 p.m. Alanon meeting at the Last Resort.
• 7-8 p.m. Movement & Meditation at Yoga For The Peaceful. 349-0302.
• 7-8 p.m. Aerial Conditioning with the Crested Butte Dance Collective at the Center for the Arts. 349-7487.
• 7-8:30 p.m. Blessing Way Circle support group at Sopris Women’s Clinic. 720-217-3843.
• 7:45-9:45 p.m. Drop-in Adult Volleyball, CBCS MS Gym.

WEDNESDAY 17
• 6:30 a.m. All Levels Iyengar Yoga Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 7:30 a.m. The Crested Butte / Mt. Crested Butte Rotary Club breakfast meeting in the Shavano Conference Room at the Elevation Hotel.
• 7:30-8:30 a.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 8:30 a.m. Hike with HCCA. Sign up at hccacb.org.
• 8:45 a.m. Mat Mix at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 8:45-10 a.m. Inversions and Backbends / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 9-10:30 a.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Two Buttes Senior Citizens van transportation. Roundtrip to Gunnison. Weather permitting. Call first for schedule and availability. 275-4768.
• 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Middle School Art Sessions: Silk Painting Jewelry (through Thursday, August 18) at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• noon Closed AA at UCC.
• noon-1 p.m. Lunch Break Blend Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• noon-1 p.m. Yoga Basics at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• noon-5 p.m. Paint Your Own Pottery at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 2:30 p.m. Easy Stretch & Relax with Adventure Physical Therapy in the Fitness Room at Town Hall. 970-251-5098.
• 3:30 p.m. Motherhood Movement with Adventure Physical Therapy in the Fitness Room at Town Hall. 970-251-5098.
• 4-7:30 p.m. Tang Soo Do classes for children and adults with West Elk Martial Arts, Jerry’s Gym at Town Hall. 901-7417.
• 5 p.m. Mass at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church.
• 5:30 p.m. Prenatal Yoga class in Crested Butte South. 349-1209.
• 5:45 p.m. Boot Camp Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 6-7:15 p.m. Give Back Yoga at Yoga For The Peaceful benefitting Gunnison County Substance Abuse Prevention Project (GCSAPP).
• 6:30-8 p.m. Restorative Yin-Yoga-Nidra / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 7-9 p.m. “GriefShare,” a grief recovery seminar and support group, meets at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, 711 N. Main St., Gunnison. 970-349-7769.
• 7:30 p.m. Alanon at UCC Parlour (in back). 349-6482.

Kid’s Calendar

THURSDAY 11
• 9 a.m. Munchkin’s Music & Dance Class in the High Attitude Dance Academy in Gunnison. (runs through August 18)
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Little Innovators Camp for ages 3-5 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Art and Science Camp for ages 5-8 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 3-8 p.m. Youth Gymnastics, Jerry’s Gym at Town Hall 349-5338.

FRIDAY 12
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Little Innovators Camp for ages 3-5 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Art and Science Camp for ages 5-8 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 11 a.m. Big Kids Storytime for ages 3-7 at Old Rock Library.
• 4-5 p.m. Tang Soo Do Martial Arts classes for youth with West Elk Martial Arts, Town Hall Fitness Room. 901-7417.

MONDAY 15
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Little Innovators Camp for ages 3-5 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Art and Science Camp for ages 5-8 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Advanced Art for ages 9-11 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 2-3:30 p.m. Fairy Bliss Kids’ Yoga Festival, ages 3-7 at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 4-7:30 p.m. Tang Soo Do classes for children and adults with West Elk Martial Arts, Jerry’s Gym at Town Hall. 901-7417.
• 4:45 p.m. Tang Soo Do classes for juniors at Town Hall. 901-7417.

TUESDAY 16
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Little Innovators Camp for ages 3-5 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Art and Science Camp for ages 5-8 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Advanced art for ages 9-11 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9:30 a.m. Munchkin’s Music & Dance Class in the Fitness Room at Town Hall. (runs through August 16)
• 11 a.m. Romp & Rhyme Storytime for families and kids of all ages at Old Rock Library.
• 2-3:30 p.m. Fairy Bliss Kids’ Yoga Festival, ages 8-12 at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 3-8 p.m. Youth Gymnastics, Jerry’s Gym at Town Hall 349-5338.

WEDNESDAY 17
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Little Innovators Camp for ages 3-5 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Art and Science Camp for ages 5-8 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9:30 a.m. Munchkin’s Music & Dance Class in the Fitness Room at Town Hall. (runs through August 17)
• 11 a.m. Babies and Toddlers Storytime at Old Rock Library.
• 3:45-4:45 p.m. Tween Scene (ages 8-12) at the Old Rock Library.
• 4-7:30 p.m. Tang Soo Do classes for children and adults with West Elk Martial Arts, Jerry’s Gym at Town Hall. 901-7417.
• 4:45 p.m. Tang Soo Do classes for juniors at Town Hall. 901-7417.

Events & Entertainment

THURSDAY 11
• 5:30-7:30 p.m. Ladies Bike Tech with Backcountry Bike Academy at the Old Rock Library.
• 7 p.m. Evelyn Roper plays at the Princess Wine Bar.
• 7-8 p.m. Art chat with Rosalind Cook about sculptor Rodin at the River Light Art Gallery.
• 8 p.m. Ladies Night at the Red Room.
• 10 p.m. Karaoke upstairs in the Sky Bar at the Talk of the Town.

FRIDAY 12
• 5-8 p.m. Suzanne Pierson & Laura Cooper Elm Artist Reception at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 5-8 p.m. Artists’ Reception, Summer Selections at Oh Be Joyful Gallery.
• 7 p.m. Dawne Belloise & Chuck Grossman play at the Princess Wine Bar.
• 7 p.m. Dance for Life & Coram Deo “In the Presence of God” in the Taylor Auditorium at WSCU.
• 8 p.m. Karaoke with DJ Triple L at the Red Room.
• 8 p.m. Appleseed Collective at the Center for the Arts. 349-7487.
• 10 p.m.Great Blue plays at the Eldo.

SATURDAY 13
• 8 a.m. 15th annual Crested Butte Ball Bash at all three softball fields in town.
• 9 a.m. Rinehart 100 West Elk Classic at CBMR, registration 7:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
• 5:30 p.m. Crested Butte Ball Bash Home Run Derby game at Tommy V.
• 7 p.m. Meet the PeaceDoer, Liska Blodgett, speaking on ‘Why we need Peace Heroes, locally and globally’ at Rumors.
• 7 p.m. Craig McLaughlin plays at the Princess Wine Bar.
• 10 p.m. Cycles play at the Eldo.

SUNDAY 14
• 8 a.m.15th annual Crested Butte Ball Bash at Tommy V and Gothic Fields.
• 11 a.m.-3 p.m. CBCS Volleyball Team is hosting a car wash to raise money in the Community Banks parking lot
• noon Rinehart 100 West Elk Classic at CBMR, registration 7:30-10:30 a.m.
• 2-6 p.m. Happy Hour with Chuck Grossman at the Eldo.
• 4 p.m. Crested Butte Ball Bash Championship game at Tommy V Field.
• 4 p.m. Chefs on the Edge at the Center for the Arts. 349-7487.
• 4 p.m. Dough Scharnberg plays at the Princess Wine Bar.
• 4-7 p.m. Gunnison County Democrats annual picnic at Gunnison Mountain Park located east of Almont.
• 6 p.m. Rachel VanSlyke plays at Montanya’s.
• 7 p.m.Tyler Lucas & Casey Mae play at the Princess Wine Bar.

MONDAY 15
• 5:30 p.m. Alpenglow: Mama Magnolia at the Center for the Arts Outdoor Stage.
• 7 p.m.The Icy Mitts play at the Princess Wine Bar.

TUESDAY 16
• 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wildflower & Science Extravaganza: Gothic-Gunsight-Kochevar! with 1% for Open Space and the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory.
• 4-6 p.m. Canvases & Cocktails at Bonez with the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 5:30 p.m. CB Devo presents Giddyup Film Tour and Silent Auction at the Majestic Theatre. Doors open at 5 p.m.
• 6 p.m. Tour de Forks – City Sensibility with the Center for the Arts. 349-7487.
• 6:30 p.m. Caribou Mountain Collective plays Burgers & Brews at the I Bar Ranch.
• 7 p.m. Mindfulness Part 2 with presenter Mary Burt at the Old Rock Library.
• 7 p.m. Chuck Grossman plays at the Princess Wine Bar.

WEDNESDAY 17
• 4 p.m. gOgirl Ride, meet at Griggs Ortho Clinic in Crested Butte.
• 5:30 p.m. The Record Company plays Live! From Mt. Crested Butte at the Red Lady Stage at CBMR.
• 6-8 p.m. Nathan Bilow & Denise Hawk Artist Reception at the Piper Gallery of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 7 p.m. Evelyn Roper plays at the Princess Wine Bar.
• 7:30 p.m. Pool tournament upstairs at the Talk of the Town.

Profile: Amy Degraff Zay

During the busiest time of the year, Amy DeGraff Zay darts out of the kitchen like a racehorse out of the start gate, expertly balancing four plates of sumptuously prepared dishes at Ryce’s Asian Restaurant. She smiles broadly at her customers, who are also smiling with eyes fixated on their dinner, and for the most part, oblivious to her question, “Can I get you anything else?”

She scurries off to her next table of starving tourists or locals. Amy has learned to juggle a multitude of jobs, live on the road at an early age, and develop talents when she had to, all of which honed her for living in this valley. Her path hasn’t always been easy.

profile-amy
Photo by Lydia Stern

Her mother was only in her late teens when Amy came into the world. A few months later, Amy’s father was killed in combat in Vietnam. Her mother moved around quite a bit after that, working as an operating room technician. Amy submersed herself in books, admitting that her fervor as a quiet child and complete nerd was reading a lot of Sherlock Holmes and anything   British or mysterious.

At the age of six, Amy’s father’s parents took the youngster on tour with them—Amy’s famous grandfather was country pop star Rusty Draper. “I’d get out of school in June and I’d go to my grandparents’ house in Seattle,” she smiles, recalling the ritual of preparing for the summer-long tour. “We’d clean out Nordstrom’s. We’d have to stock up on our summer wardrobes because we were in the public a lot so we had to look good. And then we would pack up and hit the road. It was a Patsy Cline style tour where Nanna Fay drove the big Buick wagon and Grandpa Rusty drove the Caddy.”

The first stop of the tour was at a resort in Jackson Hole, where the Rusty Draper Band would play two shows a night, six nights a week for six weeks. “We never got home till 3 a.m.,” Amy said of the musician’s life of late nights. “When we first arrived, we’d roll in and go right to the bar inside the Wort Hotel and set up with the rest of the band. He played the room next to the Silver Dollar Bar. It smelled like cigarettes and stale beer and I loved it! I don’t drink beer to this day,” Amy laughs. There were additional tour dates to Reno and other resort towns that involved more smoky bars.

Her grandmother ran a tight ship when it came to the professionalism of the band, whose members were all required to be sober or else. “My grandmother would freak out,” Amy says. Back in those days of the 1970s, Jackson Hole was not much of a resort, according to Amy, but her grandfather’s band drew a crowd and they had their groupies, who were wealthy couples that would follow the band around. “I attended all the shows and kept seeing these same people,” Amy says.

While they were living at the resort for the duration of their musical stint, Amy tells that they’d get up in the morning, go into town, and do the shopping. “Everything from toilet paper to fur coats, whatever my grandmother wanted to buy. My grandfather would be playing golf while we shopped. We’d always have dinner together because there was a family value and work ethic. I don’t know if that’s present in entertainment families today.”

After dinner the family would head out to work, off to play the shows. While her grandfather was onstage, Amy would get sent to sit in the back of the bar and, as she recalls, “Drink multiple Shirley Temples and sell eight-track tapes between shows while grandpa autographed them. I can remember when cassettes came out because it was a big deal. If I hadn’t fallen asleep, I’d sell tapes after the shows too, but,” she remembers fondly, “I was carried to the car by my grandfather many times and we’d drive home up to Teton Village where we stayed.”

Being the granddaughter of a famous recording artist, and being able to be a part of the tour, Amy would feel so much pride when her grandfather sang a song from the stage just for her. “He’d sing me the classic, ‘Once in Love with Amy.’ Grandpa was not a songwriter, he was a musician and entertainer, playing an old Gretsch guitar.” Amy beams as she shares her road stories and the history of grandpa Rusty Draper, who had multiple recordings that sold more than a million copies in the 1950s and ‘60s. When he was younger, he had worked at a radio station in Des Moines, Iowa, where he often filled in for Ronald Reagan, who was then a sportscaster. He later had his own radio shows in San Francisco and Los Angeles, Calif. and was often on television, including two appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, and he even hosted his own TV show for a season on NBC.

“Willie Nelson wrote ‘Nightlife’ for my grandfather to record and they co-owned the Pink Garter Saloon together in the 1950s, back when Willie had a crewcut,” Amy says of some of Draper’s more memorable accomplishments. But more than his fame, Amy remembers her grandfather for his kindness, guidance and the love her grandparents showed her, shaping her life with positivity in what she feels were the most formative and best years

“My grandparents’ home was my haven,” she says. So when her mother decided to move to Texas as Amy was heading into eighth grade, it didn’t sit well. “I’m still recovering from high school.” She grimaces about the move to the Dallas area in 1982. When her mom remarried, her step dad, who worked for telephone company GTE, was transferred to Dallas. “I got thrown into this very wealthy area,” which was alien to her coming from an average middle-class neighborhood in Seattle. “I was 14 and it was a difficult adjustment.” Amy was in culture shock.

“I didn’t understand who Ralph Lauren or Calvin Klein were, and at the time they were new and expensive. So I wasn’t popular. I had no connection there with anyone.” She graduated in 1986 and enrolled at North Texas State University in Denton (now the University of North Texas) taking a business curriculum.

“I had a really good time, but I was not really focused on classes, so I immediately started a family with a man I had known in Denton.” They married in 1990 and the couple had two daughters, Victoria, born in 1991, and Priscilla in ‘95.

For employment, Amy took over her family’s successful dog boarding kennel in Denton after her mother moved to Gunnison in 1996, and a couple of years later Amy sold that business. She then went to work for the Denton Chamber of Commerce, running all their programs and business events. “It was a great job and I still miss it. It was during a growth time, which made it a lot of fun, connecting with all the business owners.” Probably needing more caffeine from an exceptionally busy work life and raising her girls, Amy decided to start up her own drive-through espresso shop, which became instantly popular.

When Amy divorced in the late 1990s, she felt as though she had lost her focus, and moving closer to her mother in Gunnison in 2001, Amy landed a sales job at the Gunnison Country Times. She later went to work in sales for The Yellow Book. In between the various types of employment, Amy picked up seasonal winter work as a counter agent with United Airlines. Her third daughter, Jillian, was born in Gunnison in 2003 during a brief marriage.

Amy excelled in customer relation skills, and Yellow Book wanted to keep her as a saleswoman, moving her to Portland, Oregon, in 2006. “Portland was a great area but didn’t speak to me, and I moved back to Gunnison in 2010,” she tells, and adds that she started working as a server at Ryce.

Amy remembers what it was like to be pulled out of her element and tossed into another universe at the critical age of 14 and wanted to make sure her daughter gets to stay in Gunnison. “Jillian is going into eighth grade, and being 14 is more crucial than people realize. You need things consistent, you don’t want to make big changes in their lives.” Although Amy doesn’t ski because she swears she’d just get cold and fall over, she makes sure her daughter gets to ski.

Amy muses that through all her musical exposure, she has no natural musical skill herself. “But I was taught to appreciate all kinds of music and we weren’t allowed to criticize anyone’s music. I don’t particularly have an ear but I know talent when I see it. Personally and absolutely music is a big part of my life today, as an observer. For me, live music literally gives me a high without any added substances.”

Amy’s experience from “Being in the inner workings of shows through my grandparents and listening to my grandfather’s recordings in the studio with him over and over, just to make sure it’s right,” gives her an in depth perspective of both the industry and the music itself. “When the instruments come together, there’s a magic and I’m always just blown away,” she laughs again and shakes her head, admitting, “but I haven’t found my groove yet.”

 

Profile: DJ Brown

In the far southwest corner of the panhandle of Oklahoma, just before you cross into New Mexico, is the very tiny town of Felt. “And that’s where I grew up,” beams DJ Brown, “on a farm that wasn’t big enough to be a ranch but we had everything from cattle to chickens and horses to pigs and we grew veggies,” for her family’s self-sufficient lifestyle. As a typically close extended family, DJ was raised between her grandparents and parents, all of them living on the same farm.

She spent most of her childhood days with her grandmother, doing the endless chores required and learning ways that are barely practiced in modern America today, like canning and baking from scratch.

“A lot of what I do, a lot of my recipes, are from my grandmother,” DJ says proudly. Living on a farm meant everyone had to help with everything. They grew wheat, corn, and milo (a grassy wheat grain) to sell, and when harvest time came around, DJ and her brother worked in the fields, driving the farm equipment.

During harvest, her whole family, including aunts and uncles, would come together to spend days and days working. “Everyone would camp out on the farm, harvesting everything in my grandmother’s garden. It was enough food to feed all five families. They’re some of my best memories. I had a million cousins and we all chipped in, some of us would be in the garage shucking corn, others would be in the backyard snapping beans. That’s how I grew up,” DJ remembers fondly.

photo by Lydia Stern
photo by Lydia Stern

When DJ went into high school, farming had become less lucrative financially so her parents decided to pursue careers and her farm family diversified. “Dad became a respiratory therapist and mom became a nurse assistant. My first job outside of the farm was a certified nurse assistant while I was still in high school.” DJ explains that in a small town, you could do or be anything. “Kind of like here in Crested Butte, where everyone does a million different things to make ends meet.”

DJ’s high school graduation class in 1995 consisted of seven students, and the year before there weren’t any graduates at all. She was anxious to get out of small-town life and into a city, any city where half the population wasn’t related to each other or grew up solely within their small population.

“I thought I knew what I wanted to do out of high school, so I enrolled at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater.” She had plans to earn her bachelor of science degree in nursing—DJ considered this the easy path since it was what she had been doing, so it felt like a natural progression. However, it didn’t take long before she realized that the nursing path was no longer engaging or challenging to her.

DJ turned to art. “I had always liked art, dabbling in sketching and drawing. My grandmother painted all the time, in oils and on every medium… wood, canvas, paper or anything that she had at her disposal. I feel like I was exposed to art through her. Mom had done a lot of craftwork so I always loved that stuff while I was growing up. I never had the option of taking art in my small school because they didn’t offer it.”

It was a pretty big jump for her when she changed her degree to arts and majored in graphic design in her sophomore year. Although she lost about a year having a different core focus in science and math, she was thrilled after taking her first official art class in college and she realized that it actually helped solidify some of her thought processes. “I’m a big non-conformer, not coloring between the lines, so it was somewhat of a relief to be in that environment on the opposite spectrum of sciences.”

DJ graduated in 2000 with a degree in graphic design and a minor in computer science (a.k.a., MSCS), the latter supplementing her major because she didn’t want to be a starving artist. During college she had worked for Creative Labs in Stillwater as a tech support and it was there that she met her future hubby, Brian Brown. The couple married in 1999 and now have a daughter, Mattie, who is 14 and a son, Connor, who is 10.

After DJ graduated from college in 2000, they moved to Tulsa where she secured a job as a forms designer, creating medical forms, and eventually moved into the supervisor job and then into an IT position. A decade later, in 2010, she left that job for a position in IT at a financial institution.

DJ’s husband, Brian, throughout his childhood was skiing Monarch from Oklahoma and during summers his family would head to Estes Park, so he was already enamored of Colorado. DJ had skied Angel Fire, Red River and Taos in her youth, but never Colorado until after the two married.

They hit the CBMR slopes for the first time in 2000, and DJ excitedly recalls, “I loved it, from the tourist perspective. I loved the terrain and the mountain itself,” and she noted that the other resorts they had been skiing were not what they were looking for. “The feel we got from Crested Butte, just from skiing, was a community feel.”

At that point in her life she was coming around full circle. “We were thinking of starting a family, and a small community atmosphere was enticing to me,” she says of the familiarity of growing up in her own tiny town. Like many who succumb to the Crested Butte magic, they started talking about how they could make their lives work from this somewhat remote town and they started thinking about how to move here. They had never seen a Crested Butte summer but after taking multiple ski vacations here, the growing family bought a house at Meridian Lake up Washington Gulch in February of 2012 and started seriously dreaming about a mountain life for their kids and themselves. By the end of that May, they decided to move up full-time.

DJ could work from home as her employer was a very forward-thinking company as far as resources go. Brian was and still is a computer consultant, running his own company, Slopeside Technologies, after their move to Crested Butte. They came up in July for two weeks to initiate the move, with the wildflowers exploding around them.

DJ smiles broadly and remembers, “Oh my God, it was amazing. I had no idea before that summer. We had always heard people talk about how beautiful it was with all the flowers. It was eye opening and reaffirming that this is really where we were supposed to be. When we left Tulsa it was 115 degrees so to be someplace where we could go out and hike or bike during the day was tremendous. It was good for our kids because the environment here is so much better.

“I felt like everything that I tried to get away from when I was growing up is everything I was trying to get back to. It’s very comparative here to the lifestyle I grew up with, everybody in the community knows everybody. It’s not everyday normal here. That’s what we were looking for, for our kids, having freedoms, being able to ride a bus by themselves, being able to play in the yard without fear. And on top of that you have all of nature around you, all of those outdoor activities that we like to do. It’s a complete package.”

So let’s cut to the cake… DJ tells, “As I was growing up, my mother dabbled in cake decorating before I was born, doing a lot of work for weddings, birthdays and events. As a kid, I never ate a store-bought cake. After my daughter was born in Tulsa, I started doing some cake decorating for fun, just for family and friends. In Oklahoma I either had to rent space or work under another baker, so I didn’t do a lot commercial baking since I didn’t have my own commercial kitchen at that time.

“After we moved here, in the fall I started trying to bake and discovered that I just could not bake,” DJ says of the challenge of altitude baking. “I tried baking the same cake three times and each time it was awful. I thought I’d never bake a cake again,” she laughs, remembering the frustration.

She read online recipes and sought out various instructions trying to figure out the difference. It took her about 10 months before she finally converted all her recipes and the trial and error stage stopped being painful. “A lot of flour and sugar went into the trash,” she grimaced.

With Colorado’s Cottage Foods Act, which states you can operate as a home baker and sell to end consumers, DJ felt it was time to open up her side job business, mostly for fun. She calls her baked creations “A Taste of Cake.”

“Gum paste and fondant work are my specialties,” she says of the art that’s also called sugar work. “I do blown sugar work as well, where you heat up a special kind of sugar and you can make displays, it’s like glass blowing with sugar.”

The only formal training DJ had in cake making was several courses under Nicholas Lodge, who is a world-renowned sugar artist. His background is in botany and his whole intent was to become well versed in that science to rebuild the florals in sugar.

DJ is adept in both blown and handcrafted flowers as well as other decorative cake art. Her cakes depict colorful and even translucent scenes, as though the fairies of confection conjured up fantasy pictograms of underwater scenes, forest animals, flowers and delicate foliage.

As word got around about her tasty creations, DJ started making cakes for birthdays, anniversaries, and novelty events. Clients will email a photo or picture to her and DJ takes joy in figuring out how to create it. “That’s fulfilling for me, the sculpting, the flowers—that’s my favorite part.”

“I’d love to do it as my sole job, however I found that for me, I have to have a balance of my analytical side and the artistic cake side, which is more fun, more of an outlet, and when I get really busy with cake orders, it almost becomes work then. It’s still fun, but not as fun, and it becomes stressful at that point. Eventually, I’ll retire from my day job but I don’t know that I would ever make the cake business something that I use to solely financially support me.”

And the odd part is, she laughs, “I don’t like to eat cake,” and that can be difficult in the cake biz, especially if the baker is at the event they’ve provided the cake for. “I might eat a couple of bites because it’s difficult to explain to people why I won’t eat my own cake… but I don’t eat any cake. Now pie is a whole different ballgame,” she admits with a grin. “I love pie. My family loves cake and they get a ton of it because there are always scraps, so there’s always cake at my house.”

Community calendar Thursday, July 28–Wednesday, August 3

THURSDAY 28
• 6:15-7:15 a.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga for the Peaceful.
• 7 a.m. Core Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 7 a.m. Physical Therapy Fitness with Adventure Physical Therapy at CB South Sunset Hal. 970-251-5098.
• 7:30-8:30 a.m. Foundations for Alignment / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 8 a.m. Ecumenical Meditation at UCC.
• 8 a.m. Motherhood Movement with Adventure Physical Therapy at CB South Sunset Hall. 970-251-5098.
• 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Take a Hike! Int / Adv Wine Hike & Picnic Lunch with the Crested Butte Wine & Food Festival. 349-7487.
• 8:30 a.m. Women’s book discussion group at UCC.
• 8:45-10 a.m. Vinyasa Flow / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 8:45-10 a.m. Vinyasa at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 9 a.m. Historic Walking Tour of Crested Butte. Leaves from the Crested Butte Heritage Museum. 349-1880.
• 9-10 a.m. Yoga for Everyone with Yoga For The Peaceful at the Center for the Arts Outdoor Stage. 349-7487.
• 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Summer Science Tour: Nature vs. Nuture and the Role of Genetic Variation with Dr. Tom Mitchell-Olds and Lauren Carley at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory Visitor Center. 349-7156.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Gunnison County Branch Office is open at the Crested Butte Town Offices.
• 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Weekly Sketching Series with the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 10 a.m. Mothering Support Group at Oh Be Joyful Church. (Last Thursday of every month)
• 10:30-11:45 a.m. Yoga Basics at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 11:30 p.m. Duplicate Bridge at UCC. 349-1008.
• noon All Saints in the Mountain Episcopal Church Community Healing Service at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church. 349-9371.
• noon-1 p.m. Shoulders, Knees and Feet Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 12:30-1:30 p.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 4-5:30 p.m. St. Mary’s Garage. 300 Belleview, Unit 2. Free clothing and bedding. 970-318-6826.
• 5:30 p.m. Communion service at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church.
• 5:30-6:45 p.m. Vinyasa Flow / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 5:30-6:45 p.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 5:45 p.m. World Dance Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 6-8 p.m. Pick-up Adult Soccer at Town Park.
• 6:30 p.m. AA Open Meditation at UCC.
• 7 p.m. Women Supporting Women Group Discussion at the Nordic Inn.
• 7:30 p.m. Narcotics Anonymous meets at 114 N. Wisconsin St. in Gunnison.

FRIDAY 29
• 6:30 a.m. All Levels Iyengar Yoga Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 7-8:30 a.m. Mysore Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 7:30 a.m. Barre Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 8:30 a.m. Alanon at UCC Parlour (in back). 349-6482.
• 8:45 a.m. Core Power Yoga Class at the Pump Room.
• 8:45-10 a.m. Yoga for the Flexibly Challenged / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 9-10:30 a.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 9 a.m.-noon Open Wheel Throwing at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• noon Closed AA at UCC.
• noon-1 p.m. Lunch Break Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• noon-1:15 p.m. Restorative Yoga at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• noon-5 p.m. Paint Your Own Pottery at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 12:30-2 p.m. The Oaking of Wine with the Crested Butte Wine & Food Festival. 349-7487.
• 5-7 p.m. Crested Butte Tennis Club Social Mixer at the Town Tennis Courts. (weather permitting)
• 5:30 p.m. Communion service at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church.
• 6-7 p.m. Poi Playshop at the Pump Room.
• 7-9 p.m. Pick-up adult Karate, Fitness Room at Town Hall.

SATURDAY 30
• 7:30 a.m. Open AA at UCC.
• 8 a.m. 30/30 Indoor Cycling Weight Circuit Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 8:45-10 a.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 9-10:15 a.m. Vinyasa Flow with Inversions / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 9-10:30 a.m. Community Yoga at the Sanctuary Yoga & Pilates Studio, Gunnison.
• 10-11 a.m. Hip Hop Community Dance Class at the Pump Room (above Fire House on 3rd & Maroon). 415-225-5300.
• 10:30-11:45 a.m. Slow Flow at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 10:30 a.m.-noon St. Mary’s Garage. 300 Belleview, Unit 2. Free clothing and bedding. 970-318-6826.
• noon-5 p.m. Paint Your Own Pottery at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 1-3 p.m. Summer Knitting classes at Kasala Gallery. 970-251-5055.
• 6:30-7:30 p.m. Guided Sound Meditiation at 405 4th Street.

SUNDAY 31
• 7-8 a.m. Meditation at Yoga For The Peaceful, by donation.
• 8:30 a.m. Mass at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church.
• 8:30 a.m. Worship Service at Oh-Be-Joyful Church.
• 9 a.m. Worship Service at Union Congretional Church. 349-6405.
• 9-10:15 a.m. Slow Flow at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 9:30-11 a.m. Community Free Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 10 a.m.-noon Mandalas for Mindfulness at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 10 a.m. Worship Service at Oh-Be-Joyful Church.
• 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Crested Butte Farmer’s Market and Art Market on Elk Avenue.
• noon-5 p.m. Paint Your Own Pottery at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 1-2 p.m. Zumba class with Barron Farnell at the Pump Room.
• 4-5 p.m. West African Drum Class with Laine Ludwig at the Pump Room. 970-275-0067.
• 4-5:15 p.m. CBCYC Community Book Club at 405 4th Street.
• 5-6 p.m. All Saints in the Mountain Episcopal Eucharist at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church. 349-9371.
• 5-7 p.m. Pick-up Adult Basketball. HS Gym, CBCS.
• 5:15-6:45 p.m. West African Dance Class with Angela Carroll at the Pump Room. 970-596-8385.
• 5:30-6:45 p.m. Yoga Basics at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 6 p.m. AA meets at UCC.
• 6-8 p.m. Pick-up Adult Soccer at Town Park.
• 6:30 p.m. Duplicate Bridge at UCC. 349-1008.
• 7 p.m. Gamblers Anonymous meets at the Last Resort.

MONDAY 1
• 7 a.m. Cardio Core Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 7:30-8:30 a.m. Community Flow at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 7:30-8:30 a.m. Pranayama & Namaskar / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 8:45 a.m. Mat Mix at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 8:45-10 a.m. Vinyasa Flow / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 9-10:30 a.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga For the Peaceful.
• 9-11 a.m. Summer Knitting classes at Kasala Gallery. 970-251-5055.
• 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Plein Air Watercolor Workshop Series with the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• noon-1 p.m. Slow Flow at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• noon-1 p.m. Lunch Break Vinyasa Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 1-4:30 p.m. Glass Sampler Workshops: Etching on Glass at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 2:30 p.m. Balance, Foot, and Core Strength with Adventure Physical Therapy in the Fitness Room at Town Hall. 970-251-5098.
• 3:30 p.m. Motherhood Movement with Adventure Physical Therapy in the Fitness Room at Town Hall. 970-251-5098.
• 4-7:30 p.m. Tang Soo Do classes for children and adults with West Elk Martial Arts, Jerry’s Gym at Town Hall. 901-7417.
• 5:30 p.m. Communion service at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church.
• 5:30-6:45 p.m. Yin Yoga Nidra at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 5:30-7 p.m. Moms in Motion class at the GVH rehab gym.
• 6:30-8 p.m. Women’s Domestic Violence Support Group at Project Hope. Childcare available upon request. 641-2712.
• 7:30 p.m. Open AA at UCC. 349-5711.
• 7:30 p.m. Narcotics Anonymous meets at 114 N. Wisconsin St. in Gunnison.

TUESDAY 2
• 6-7 a.m. Meditation at Yoga For The Peaceful, by donation.
• 7 a.m. Core Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 7 a.m. Physical Therapy Fitness with Adventure Physical Therapy at CB South Sunset Hall. 970-251-5098.
• 7-8 a.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 7:30 a.m. AA/Alanon Open at UCC. 349-5711.
• 8 a.m.  Motherhood Movement with Adventure Physical Therapy at CB South Sunset Hall. 970-251-5098.
• 8:45-10 a.m. Vinyasa at Yoga for the Peaceful.
• 9 a.m. Historic Walking Tour of Crested Butte. Leaves from the Crested Butte Heritage Museum. 349-1880.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Gunnison County branch office is open at the Crested Butte Town Offices, 507 Maroon Ave.
• 10-11 a.m. Power Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 10 a.m.-noon Discovering Personal Symbols at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 10:30-11:45 a.m. Yoga Basics at Yoga for the Peaceful.
• 11:30 a.m. League of Women Voters meeting at 210 W. Spencer in Gunnison.
• noon AA Closed at UCC.
• noon-1 p.m. Lunch Break Athletic Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 12:30-1:30 p.m. Therapeutic Yoga at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 1:30-3:30 p.m. Tech Tuesdays at Old Rock Library. 349-6535.
• 4-5:30 p.m. St. Mary’s Garage. 300 Belleview, Unit 2. Free clothing & bedding.
970-318-6826.
• 5:30 p.m. Communion Service at Queen of All Saints Church.
• 5:30-6:45 p.m. Slow Flow at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 5:45 p.m. All Levels Iyengar Yoga Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 6-8 p.m. Figure Drawing Sessions with a live model in Downtown Crested Butte. 349-7228.
• 6-8 p.m. Pick-up Adult Soccer at Town Park.
• 6:30-7:45 p.m. Gentle Restorative Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 7 p.m. Alanon meeting at the Last Resort.
• 7-8 p.m. Movement & Meditation at Yoga For The Peaceful. 349-0302.
• 7-8 p.m. Aerial Conditioning with the Crested Butte Dance Collective at the Center for the Arts. 349-7487.
• 7-8:30 p.m. Blessing Way Circle support group at Sopris Women’s Clinic. 720-217-3843.
• 7:45-9:45 p.m. Drop-in Adult Volleyball, CBCS MS Gym.

WEDNESDAY 3
• 6:30 a.m. All Levels Iyengar Yoga Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 7:30 a.m. The Crested Butte / Mt. Crested Butte Rotary Club breakfast meeting in the Shavano Conference Room at the Elevation Hotel.
• 7:30-8:30 a.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 8:30 a.m. Hike with HCCA. Sign up at hccacb.org.
• 8:45 a.m. Pilates at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 8:45-10 a.m. Inversions and Backbends / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 9-10:30 a.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Two Buttes Senior Citizens van transportation. Roundtrip to Gunnison. Weather permitting. Call first for schedule and availability. 275-4768.
• 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Middle School Art Sessions: Mixed Media Altered Photographs (through Thursday, August 4) at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• noon Closed AA at UCC.
• noon-1 p.m. Lunch Break Blend Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• noon-1 p.m. Yoga Basics at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• noon-5 p.m. Paint Your Own Pottery at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 12:30-1:30 p.m. Yoga Outside at Totem Pole Park with Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 2:30 p.m. Easy Stretch & Relax with Adventure Physical Therapy in the Fitness Room at Town Hall. 970-251-5098.
• 3:30 p.m. Motherhood Movement with Adventure Physical Therapy in the Fitness Room at Town Hall. 970-251-5098.
• 4-7:30 p.m. Tang Soo Do classes for children and adults with West Elk Martial Arts, Jerry’s Gym at Town Hall. 901-7417.
• 5 p.m. Mass at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church.
• 5:30 p.m. Prenatal Yoga class in Crested Butte South. 349-1209.
• 5:45 p.m. Boot Camp Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 6-7:15 p.m. Give Back Yoga at Yoga For The Peaceful benefitting Adaptive Sports Center.
• 6:30-8 p.m. Restorative Yin-Yoga-Nidra / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 7-9 p.m. “GriefShare,” a grief recovery seminar and support group, meets at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, 711 N. Main St., Gunnison. 970-349-7769.
• 7:30 p.m. Alanon at UCC Parlour (in back). 349-6482.

 

Kid’s Calendar:

THURSDAY 28
• 9 a.m. Munchkin’s Music & Dance Class in the High Attitude Dance Academy in Gunnison.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Little Innovators Camp for ages 3-5 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Art and Science Camp for ages 5-8 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 3-8 p.m. Youth Gymnastics, Jerry’s Gym at Town Hall 349-5338.

FRIDAY 29
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Little Innovators Camp for ages 3-5 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Art and Science Camp for ages 5-8 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 11 a.m. Big Kids Storytime for ages 3-7 at Old Rock Library.
• 3-3:45 p.m. Kid’s Yoga (ages 4-9) with Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 4-5 p.m. Tang Soo Do Martial Arts classes for youth with West Elk Martial Arts, Town Hall Fitness Room. 901-7417.

MONDAY 1
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Little Innovators Camp for ages 3-5 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Art and Science Camp for ages 5-8 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Advanced Art for ages 9-11 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9 a.m.-5 p.m. CB’s Rockin’ Music School for Kids with the Center for the Arts. 349-7487. (runs through Friday, August 5)
• 4-7:30 p.m. Tang Soo Do classes for children and adults with West Elk Martial Arts, Jerry’s Gym at Town Hall. 901-7417.
• 4:45 p.m. Tang Soo Do classes for juniors at Town Hall. 901-7417.

TUESDAY 2
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Little Innovators Camp for ages 3-5 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Art and Science Camp for ages 5-8 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Advanced art for ages 9-11 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9:30 a.m. Munchkin’s Music & Dance Class in the Fitness Room at Town Hall. • 11 a.m. Romp & Rhyme Storytime for families and kids of all ages at Old Rock Library.
• 3-8 p.m. Youth Gymnastics, Jerry’s Gym at Town Hall 349-5338.

WEDNESDAY 3
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Advanced Science for ages 8-11 at The Trailhead.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Little Innovators Camp for ages 3-5 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Art and Science Camp for ages 5-8 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9:30 a.m. Munchkin’s Music & Dance Class in the Fitness Room at Town Hall. • 11 a.m. Babies and Toddlers Storytime at Old Rock Library.
• 3:45-4:45 p.m. Tween Scene (ages 8-12) at the Old Rock Library.
• 4-7:30 p.m. Tang Soo Do classes for children and adults with West Elk Martial Arts, Jerry’s Gym at Town Hall. 901-7417.
• 4:45 p.m. Tang Soo Do classes for juniors at Town Hall. 901-7417.

 

Events & Entertainment:

THURSDAY 28
Crested Butte Wine & Food Festival runs through July 31.
• 2 p.m. Novel Tea: Let’s Pretend This Never Happened at the Old Rock Library.
• 2-4 p.m. Croquet & Wine Festival Kick-Off with the Crested Butte Wine & Food Festival. 349-7487.
• 4-6:30 p.m. Canvases & Cabernets with the Crested Butte Wine & Food Festival. 349-7487.
• 6-9 p.m. Canvas & Cocktails at the Gunnison Arts Center. 641-4029.
• 7 p.m. Bill Dowell plays at the Princess Wine Bar.
• 7-8 p.m. Art chat with River Light Gallery owner Michael Mahoney, discussing Rembrandt.
• 7-9 p.m. Crested Butte Film Festival: City of Gold with the Crested Butte Wine & Food Festival. 349-7487.
• 7:30 p.m. Gunnison Valley Health Foundation presents Wynonna & the Big Noise at the I Bar Ranch.
• 8 p.m. Ladies Night at the Red Room.
• 10 p.m. Liver Down the River plays at the Eldo.
• 10 p.m. Karaoke upstairs in the Sky Bar at the Talk of the Town.

FRIDAY 29
• 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Eat. Drink. Think. with the Crested Butte Wine & Food Festival. 349-7487.
• 2:30-4:30 p.m. Art & Wine Walk of the Town with the Crested Butte Wine & Food Festival. 349-7487.
• 4:30 p.m. Free Twilight Archery Series: Sitka 3D Fridays at CBMR. Check in at Jefe’s.
• 5-6:30 p.m. Eat. Drink. Think. with the Crested Butte Wine & Food Festival at the Center for the Arts. 349-7487.
• 7 p.m. Tyler Hansen plays at the Princess Wine Bar.
• 7 p.m. Evelyn Roper and Sean Turner plays at the Talk of the Town.
• 7:30 p.m. Open Mic and Art Show at RMBL.
• 7:30 p.m. Crested Butte Mountain Theatre presents opening night for Pippin.
• 7:30-9:30 p.m. Jeremy Armstrong Artist Reception at the Piper Gallery of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 8 p.m. Karaoke with DJ Triple L at the Red Room.
• 10 p.m. Mostest with Toast play at the Eldo.

SATURDAY 30
• 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Ghostoric Walk of the Town with the Crested Butte Wine & Food Festival. 349-7487.
• 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Let’s Hike! Beg / Int Wine Hike & Picnic Lunch with the Crested Butte Wine & Food Festival. 349-7487.
• 3-6:30 p.m. Grand Tasting with the Crested Butte Wine & Food Festival. 349-7487.
• 4-6 p.m. National Dance Day Tutu Dance Party on the Alpenglow Field.
• 6-8 p.m. Rosalind Cook’s artist opening at River Light Gallery.
• 6-9 p.m. Gypsy Jazz Social Club plays at Montanya Distillers.
• 7 p.m. Craig McLaughlin plays at the Princess Wine Bar.
• 7-9 p.m. Crested Butte Film Festival: The Hundred-Foot Journey with the Crested Butte Wine & Food Festival. 349-7487.
• 7:30 p.m. Crested Butte Mountain Theatre presents Pippin.
• 9 p.m.-midnight Townie Books will host a midnight release party for J.K. Rowling’s newest book Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
• 10 p.m. Jelly Bread plays at the Eldo.

SUNDAY 31
• 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Eat. Drink. Think.: Butchering Demonstrations with the CB Wine & Food Festival. at the Center for the Arts. 349-7487.
• 2-6 p.m. Happy Hour with Chuck Grossman at the Eldo.
• 4 p.m. Crested Butte Mountain Theatre presents Pippin.
• 7 p.m. Rachel VanSlyke plays at the Princess Wine Bar.
• 8 p.m. We Dream Dawn plays at the Center for the Arts.

MONDAY 1
• 9 a.m. Join the Gunnison Public Lands Initiative, Crested Butte Mountain Association and Gunnison Trails on a free, guided mountain bike ride on the Teocalli Ridge Trail, meet at the 4-way stop.
• 5:30 p.m. Alpenglow: Billy Iuso & the Restless Natives at the Center for the Arts Outdoor Stage.
• 7 p.m. The Icy Mitts play at the Princess Wine Bar.
• 7:30 p.m. “The History of the Environmental Movement” with Dr. Doug La Follette at RMBL.

TUESDAY 2
• 4-6 p.m. Canvases & Cocktails at Bonez with the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 6-8 p.m. Adele Bachman Artist Reception at the Piper Gallery of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 6:30 p.m. Hot Texas Swing Band plays Burgers & Brews at the I Bar Ranch.
• 7 p.m. Chuck Grossman plays at the Princess Wine Bar.
• 7:30 p.m. “Bees and Bacteria” with Dr. Nancy Moran at RMBL.

WEDNESDAY 3
• 4 p.m. gOgirl Ride, meet at Chopwood Mercantile.
• 5:30 p.m. Peter Rowan with Slocan Ramblers play Live! From Mt. Crested Butte at the Red Lady Stage at CBMR.
• 6:30-8 p.m. Life Vision Workshop at the Old Rock Library.
• 7 p.m. Evelyn Roper plays at the Princess Wine Bar.
• 7:30 p.m. Crested Butte Mountain Theatre presents Pippin.
• 7:30 p.m. Pool tournament upstairs at the Talk of the Town.

Community Calendar: Thursday, July 21–Wednesday, July 27

THURSDAY 21
• 6:15-7:15 a.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga for the Peaceful.
• 7 a.m. Core Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 7:30-8:30 a.m. Foundations for Alignment / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 8 a.m. Ecumenical Meditation at UCC.
• 8:30 a.m. Women’s book discussion group at UCC.
• 8:45-10 a.m. Vinyasa Flow / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 8:45-10 a.m. Vinyasa at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 9 a.m. Historic Walking Tour of Crested Butte. Leaves from the Crested Butte Heritage Museum. 349-1880.
• 9-10 a.m. Yoga for Everyone with Yoga For The Peaceful at the Center for the Arts Outdoor Stage. 349-7487.
• 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Summer Science Tour: From Shoots to Roots: Tracking the Building Block of Life within Alpine Meadows with Dr. Lara Souza at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory Visitor Center. 349-7156.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Gunnison County Branch Office is open at the Crested Butte Town Offices.
• 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Weekly Sketching Series with the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 10:30-11:45 a.m. Yoga Basics at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 11:30 p.m. Duplicate Bridge at UCC. 349-1008.
• noon All Saints in the Mountain Episcopal Church Community Healing Service at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church. 349-9371.
• noon-1 p.m. Shoulders, Knees and Feet Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• noon-5 p.m. Paint Your Own Pottery at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 12:30-1:30 p.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 3-6 p.m. Coloring Wildflowers, Sound Currents and Tea Time! with the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 4-5:30 p.m. St. Mary’s Garage. 300 Belleview, Unit 2. Free clothing and bedding. 970-318-6826.
• 5:30 p.m. Communion service at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church.
• 5:30-6:45 p.m. Vinyasa Flow / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 5:30-6:45 p.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 5:30-8:30 p.m. Silversmithing I at the Center for the Arts. 349-7044. (Six week class runs through August 11).
• 5:45 p.m. World Dance Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 6-8 p.m. Pick-up Adult Soccer at Town Park.
• 6-9 p.m. Canvas & Cocktails at the Gunnison Arts Center. 641-4029.
• 6:30 p.m. AA Open Meditation at UCC.
• 7 p.m. Women Supporting Women Group Discussion at the Nordic Inn.
• 7:30 p.m. Narcotics Anonymous meets at 114 N. Wisconsin St. in Gunnison.

FRIDAY 22
• 6:30 a.m. All Levels Iyengar Yoga Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 7-8:30 a.m. Mysore Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 7:30 a.m. Barre Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 8-9 a.m. Aerial Conditioning with the Crested Butte Dance Collective at the Center for the Arts. 349-7487.
• 8:30 a.m. Alanon at UCC Parlour (in back). 349-6482.
• 8:45 a.m. Core Power Yoga Class at the Pump Room.
• 8:45-10 a.m. Yoga for the Flexibly Challenged / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 9-10:30 a.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 9 a.m.-noon Open Wheel Throwing at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Wildflower Art Journal Immersion (through July 23) with the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Painting Petals in Paradise with the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• noon Closed AA at UCC.
• noon-1 p.m. Lunch Break Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• noon-1:15 p.m. Restorative Yoga at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• noon-5 p.m. Paint Your Own Pottery at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 5-7 p.m. Crested Butte Tennis Club Social Mixer at the Town Tennis Courts. (weather permitting)
• 5:30 p.m. Communion service at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church.
• 6-7 p.m. Poi Playshop at the Pump Room.
• 7-9 p.m. Pick-up adult Karate, Fitness Room at Town Hall.

SATURDAY 23
• 7:30 a.m. Open AA at UCC.
• 8 a.m. 30/30 Indoor Cycling Weight Circuit Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Precious Metal Clay (PMC) Jewelry Making at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 8:45-10 a.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 9-10:15 a.m. Vinyasa Flow with Inversions / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 9-10:30 a.m. Community Yoga at the Sanctuary Yoga & Pilates Studio, Gunnison.
• 10-11 a.m. Hip Hop Community Dance Class at the Pump Room (above Fire House on 3rd & Maroon). 415-225-5300.
• 10:30-11:45 a.m. Slow Flow at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 10:30 a.m.-noon St. Mary’s Garage. 300 Belleview, Unit 2. Free clothing and bedding. 970-318-6826.
• noon-5 p.m. Paint Your Own Pottery at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 1-3 p.m. Summer Knitting classes at Kasala Gallery. 970-251-5055.
• 6:30-7:30 p.m. Guided Sound Meditiation at 405 4th Street.

SUNDAY 24
• 7-8 a.m. Meditation at Yoga For The Peaceful, by donation.
• 8:30 a.m. Mass at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church.
• 8:30 a.m. Worship Service at Oh-Be-Joyful Church.
• 9 a.m. Worship Service at Union Congretional Church. 349-6405.
• 9-10:15 a.m. Slow Flow at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 9:30-11 a.m. Community Free Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 10 a.m.-noon Mandalas for Mindfulness at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 10 a.m. Worship Service at Oh-Be-Joyful Church.
• 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Crested Butte Farmer’s Market and Art Market on Elk Avenue.
• noon-5 p.m. Paint Your Own Pottery at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 1-2 p.m. Zumba class with Barron Farnell at the Pump Room.
• 4-5 p.m. African Drum Class with Laine Ludwig at the Pump Room. 970-275-0067.
• 4-5:15 p.m. CBCYC Community Book Club at 405 4th Street.
• 5-6 p.m. All Saints in the Mountain Episcopal Eucharist at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church. 349-9371.
• 5-7 p.m. Pick-up Adult Basketball. HS Gym, CBCS.
• 5:15-6:45 p.m. African Dance Class with Angela Carroll at the Pump Room. 970-596-8385.
• 5:30-6:45 p.m. Yoga Basics at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 6 p.m. AA meets at UCC.
• 6-8 p.m. Pick-up Adult Soccer at Town Park.
• 6:30 p.m. Duplicate Bridge at UCC. 349-1008.
• 7 p.m. Gamblers Anonymous meets at the Last Resort.

MONDAY 25
• 7 a.m. Cardio Core Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 7:30-8:30 a.m. Community Flow at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 7:30-8:30 a.m. Pranayama & Namaskar / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 8-9 a.m. Open Aerial Dance with the Crested Butte Dance Collective at the Center for the Arts. 349-7487.
• 8:45 a.m. Mat Mix at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 8:45-10 a.m. Vinyasa Flow / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 9-10:30 a.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga For the Peaceful.
• 9-11 a.m. Summer Knitting classes at Kasala Gallery. 970-251-5055.
• 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Plein Air Watercolor Workshop Series with the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• noon-1 p.m. Slow Flow at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• noon-1 p.m. Lunch Break Vinyasa Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 4-7:30 p.m. Tang Soo Do classes for children and adults with West Elk Martial Arts, Jerry’s Gym at Town Hall. 901-7417.
• 5:30 p.m. Communion service at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church.
• 5:30-6:45 p.m. Yin Yoga Nidra at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 5:30-7 p.m. Moms in Motion class at the GVH rehab gym.
• 6:30-8 p.m. Women’s Domestic Violence Support Group at Project Hope. Childcare available upon request. 641-2712.
• 7:30 p.m. Open AA at UCC. 349-5711.
• 7:30 p.m. Narcotics Anonymous meets at 114 N. Wisconsin St. in Gunnison.

TUESDAY 26
• 6-7 a.m. Meditation at Yoga For The Peaceful, by donation.
• 7 a.m. Core Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 7-8 a.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 7:30 a.m. AA/Alanon Open at UCC. 349-5711.
• 8:45-10 a.m. Vinyasa at Yoga for the Peaceful.
• 9 a.m. Historic Walking Tour of Crested Butte. Leaves from the Crested Butte Heritage Museum. 349-1880.
• 9 a.m.-noon Exploring Nature and the Photographer’s Creative Vision at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Gunnison County branch office is open at the Crested Butte Town Offices, 507 Maroon Ave.
• 10-11 a.m. Power Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 10:30-11:45 a.m. Yoga Basics at Yoga for the Peaceful.
• 11:30 a.m. League of Women Voters meeting at 210 W. Spencer in Gunnison.
• noon AA Closed at UCC.
• noon-1 p.m. Lunch Break Athletic Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 12:30-1:30 p.m. Therapeutic Yoga at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 1:30-3:30 p.m. Tech Tuesdays at Old Rock Library. 349-6535.
• 4-5:30 p.m. St. Mary’s Garage. 300 Belleview, Unit 2. Free clothing & bedding.
970-318-6826.
• 4-6 p.m. Canvases & Cocktails at Bonez with the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 5:30 p.m. Communion Service at Queen of All Saints Church.
• 5:30-6:45 p.m. Slow Flow at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 5:45 p.m. All Levels Iyengar Yoga Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 6-8 p.m. Figure Drawing Sessions with a live model in Downtown Crested Butte. 349-7228.
• 6-8 p.m. Pick-up Adult Soccer at Town Park.
• 6:30-7:45 p.m. Gentle Restorative Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 7 p.m. Alanon meeting at the Last Resort.
• 7-8 p.m. Movement & Meditation at Yoga For The Peaceful. 349-0302.
• 7-8 p.m. Aerial Conditioning with the Crested Butte Dance Collective at the Center for the Arts. 349-7487.
• 7-8:30 p.m. Blessing Way Circle support group at Sopris Women’s Clinic. 720-217-3843.
• 7:45-9:45 p.m. Drop-in Adult Volleyball, CBCS MS Gym.

WEDNESDAY 27
• 6:30 a.m. All Levels Iyengar Yoga Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 7:30 a.m. The Crested Butte / Mt. Crested Butte Rotary Club breakfast meeting in the Shavano Conference Room at the Elevation Hotel.
• 7:30-8:30 a.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 8:30 a.m. Hike with HCCA. Sign up at hccacb.org.
• 8:45 a.m. Pilates at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 8:45-10 a.m. Inversions and Backbends / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 9-10:30 a.m. Prana Vinyasa at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Two Buttes Senior Citizens van transportation. Roundtrip to Gunnison. Weather permitting. Call first for schedule and availability. 275-4768.
• 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Middle School Art Sessions: Woodworking (through Thursday, July 28) at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• noon Closed AA at UCC.
• noon-1 p.m. Lunch Break Blend Yoga / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• noon-1 p.m. Yoga Basics at Yoga For The Peaceful.
• noon-5 p.m. Paint Your Own Pottery at the Art Studio of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 12:30-1:30 p.m. Yoga Outside at Totem Pole Park with Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 4-7:30 p.m. Tang Soo Do classes for children and adults with West Elk Martial Arts, Jerry’s Gym at Town Hall. 901-7417.
• 5 p.m. Mass at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church.
• 5:30 p.m. Prenatal Yoga class in Crested Butte South. 349-1209.
• 5:45 p.m. Boot Camp Class at The Gym. 349-2588.
• 6-7:15 p.m. Give Back Yoga at Yoga For The Peaceful benefitting High Country Conservation Advocates.
• 6:30-8 p.m. Restorative Yin-Yoga-Nidra / CB Co-op at Town Hall.
• 7-9 p.m. “GriefShare,” a grief recovery seminar and support group, meets at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, 711 N. Main St., Gunnison. 970-349-7769.
• 7:30 p.m. Alanon at UCC Parlour (in back). 349-6482.

Kid’s Calendar

THURSDAY 21
• 9 a.m. Munchkin’s Music & Dance Class in the High Attitude Dance Academy in Gunnison.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Little Innovators Camp for ages 3-5 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Art and Science Camp for ages 5-8 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 3-8 p.m. Youth Gymnastics, Jerry’s Gym at Town Hall 349-5338.

FRIDAY 22
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Little Innovators Camp for ages 3-5 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Art and Science Camp for ages 5-8 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 11 a.m. Big Kids Storytime for ages 3-7 at Old Rock Library.
• 3-3:45 p.m. Kid’s Yoga (ages 4-9) with Yoga For The Peaceful.
• 4-5 p.m. Tang Soo Do Martial Arts classes for youth with West Elk Martial Arts, Town Hall Fitness Room. 901-7417.

MONDAY 25
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Little Innovators Camp for ages 3-5 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Art and Science Camp for ages 5-8 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Advanced Art for ages 9-11 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 4-7:30 p.m. Tang Soo Do classes for children and adults with West Elk Martial Arts, Jerry’s Gym at Town Hall. 901-7417.
• 4:45 p.m. Tang Soo Do classes for juniors at Town Hall. 901-7417.

TUESDAY 26
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Little Innovators Camp for ages 3-5 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Art and Science Camp for ages 5-8 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Advanced art for ages 9-11 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9:30 a.m. Munchkin’s Music & Dance Class in the Fitness Room at Town Hall. • 11 a.m. Romp & Rhyme Storytime for families and kids of all ages at Old Rock Library.
• 3-8 p.m. Youth Gymnastics, Jerry’s Gym at Town Hall 349-5338.

WEDNESDAY 27
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Advanced Science for ages 8-11 at The Trailhead.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Little Innovators Camp for ages 3-5 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Art and Science Camp for ages 5-8 at The Trailhead. 349-7160.
• 9:30 a.m. Munchkin’s Music & Dance Class in the Fitness Room at Town Hall. • 11 a.m. Babies and Toddlers Storytime at Old Rock Library.
• 3:45-4:45 p.m. Tween Scene (ages 8-12) at the Old Rock Library.
• 4-7:30 p.m. Tang Soo Do classes for children and adults with West Elk Martial Arts, Jerry’s Gym at Town Hall. 901-7417.
• 4:45 p.m. Tang Soo Do classes for juniors at Town Hall. 901-7417.

Events & Entertainment

THURSDAY 21
17th Annual Writing the Rockies Conference runs through July 24. 943-2058.
• 11 a.m.- 1 p.m. Local Author Wildflower Week Signing with Fae Davidson at Townie Books. 349-7545.
• 7 p.m. Renee Wright and Nichole Reycraft play at the Princess Wine Bar.
• 7 p.m. Crested Butte Film Festival Monthly Film Series: Janis: Little Girl Blue. 303-204-9080.
• 7-8 p.m. Michael Mahoney of River Light Gallery will be sketching and speaking about Leonardo da Vinci.
• 7:30 p.m. 14th Annual Friends of NRA Banquet at the Gunnison Rodeo Grounds. Doors open at 6 p.m.
• 7:30 p.m. The Subdudes play at the
I Bar Ranch.
• 8 p.m. Ladies Night at the Red Room.
• 10 p.m. Karaoke upstairs in the Sky Bar at the Talk of the Town.

FRIDAY 22
• 11 a.m.- 1 p.m. Local Author Wildflower Week Signings with Fae Davidson and Briana Wiles at Townie Books. 349-7545.
• 3:30-4:30 p.m. Jim Wodark artist reception at the Oh Be Joyful Gallery. Exhibition July 20-July 31. 349-5936.
• 4:30-5:15 p.m. Registration at Jefe’s for Sitka® 3D Fridays, free twilight archery series at CBMR with after party at Jefe’s.
• 5:30-7:30 p.m. Judith Cassel-Mamet Artist Reception at the Piper Gallery of the Center for the Arts. 349-7044.
• 6 p.m. Townie Takeover in support of the proposed bag ban in Crested Butte starting at Totem Pole Park.
• 7 p.m. Dawne Belloise and Chuck Grossman play at the Princess Wine Bar.
• 7:30 p.m. Local Vocals Concert in the Black Box Theater at the Gunnison Arts Center. Doors open at 7 p.m.
• 8 p.m. Comedy Night with Aaron Urist at the Center for the Arts. 349-7487.
• 8 p.m. Karaoke with DJ Triple L at the Red Room.
• 10 p.m. Gaslight Street plays at the Eldo.

SATURDAY 23
• 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Summit Hike to benefit Living Journeys.
• 2-4 p.m. Artist Demonstration by Jim Wodark at the Oh Be Joyful Gallery. 349-5936.
• 7 p.m. Monthly Film: Janis: Little Girl Blue at the Gunnison Arts Center.
• 7 p.m. Craig McLaughlin plays at the Princess Wine Bar.
• 8 p.m. Due West at the Center for the Arts. 349-7487.
• 10 p.m. Dave Jordan and the NIA plays at the Eldo.

SUNDAY 24
• 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Art in the Park at Legion Park in Gunnison.
• 2 p.m. Happy Hour Sundays with Chuck Grossman at the Eldo.
• 5 p.m. High Country Conservation Advocates Environmental Possibilities Series: “Healthy Environment vs. Healthy Economy: Which is more important?” with Luke Danielson at the Guild.
• 7 p.m. Casey Mae and Tyler Lucas play at the Princess Wine Bar.
• 7:30 p.m. Arts in Elevation – Elaine Kwon & Friends at the Center for the Arts. 349-7487.

MONDAY 25
• 5:30 p.m. Alpenglow: Roosevelt Dime at the Center for the Arts Outdoor Stage.
• 7 p.m. The Icy Mitts play at the Princess Wine Bar.
• 10 p.m. Open Mic Night at the Eldo.

TUESDAY 26
• 9 a.m. Socrates Café: “Can betrayal ever be justified?” at the Old Rock Library.
• 6:30 p.m. Burgers & Brews: Rapid Grass plays at the I Bar Ranch. Doors open at 5 p.m.
• 6:30-7:20 p.m. Free Community Class for National Dance Day with the School of Dance, all ages.
• 7 p.m. “Mesa, Mountains and Canyons” with WSCU professor Bruce Bartleson at the Old Rock Library.
• 7 p.m. Chuck Grossman plays at the Princess Wine Bar.
• 7:30 p.m. Crested Butte Mountain Theatre presents Pippin.

WEDNESDAY 27
• 5 p.m. gO Pinnacle Series Race #5 at CBMR.
• 5:30 p.m. The Black Lillies play Live! From Mt. Crested Butte at the Red Lady Stage at CBMR.
• 7 p.m. Evelyn Roper plays at the Princess Wine Bar.
• 7:30 p.m. Crested Butte Mountain Theatre presents Pippin.
• 7:30 p.m. Science Festival Kickoff Event! in partnership with the Public Policy Forum: “Translating Conservation Science into Public Policy” with Brian McPeek at the Center for the Arts.
• 7:30 p.m. Pool tournament upstairs at the Talk of the Town.

Pair with local ties to make film about Crested Butte

Looking for community support and input

By Alissa Johnson

As a child growing up in Taos, N.M., Conor Hagen listened to his parents tell stories about his birthplace, Crested Butte. He lived in town for three years and moved away at a young age, and he was transfixed by his parents’ tales of the mountain town and its transformation from a mining community to a ski town.

“These stories always bewildered me and showed me that there was a more interesting way to live life than the standard norm,” Conor said. “People would come to Crested Butte, and they just sort of did whatever they wanted. They had freedom and the independence to lead the lives they wanted to, and out of that emerged a community of people who were thick as thieves and didn’t favor things like greed. They favored things like community and friendship.”

A filmmaker whose work has screened at festivals across the country, Conor has always wanted to make a film about that era in Crested Butte, telling its stories and also examining the alternative subculture that grew out of the 1960s and ’70s. He has, in fact, already made a film about Crested Butte, BEYOND MIDNIGHT: The Grand Traverse, which tells the story of the 40-mile backcountry race that leaves Crested Butte at 12 a.m. and heads to Aspen.

Enter Alison Batwin (Ali), who has produced films around the world, from Prague to San Francisco, and the new film project began to take shape. She has been coming to Crested Butte with her family for 15 years and was hooked by Conor’s vision.

“I’ve worked in film all over the world, and I’m always looking for a project that means a lot to me,” she said.

The pair founded Red Lady Films, and they are now fundraising and connecting with local characters who were part of Crested Butte during the ’60s and ’70s. It will come as no surprise to locals that the trailer for the project features the likes of history buff Duane Vandenbusche and longtime local George Reinhardt.

The pair has also made connections with the growing Crested Butte Film Festival and the Crested Butte Heritage Museum. The latter has provided them with access to its historical records and artifacts, and is also acting as Red Lady Films’ fiscal sponsor. Donors can contribute to the project through the museum and have their donation be tax deductible.

“They are super supportive, both the previous director [Glo Cunningham] and now Shelley [Popke]. They really believe in our mission,” Ali said.

“The Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum is excited to be working with Red Lady Films on this documentary. Our partnership is a wonderful way to advance the Museum’s mission ‘to preserve and share the uniquely diverse cultural history of the Gunnison Valley. We make the past a living part of the future,’” said museum director Shelley Popke.

Ali and Conor expect to complete fundraising this summer and into the fall, with filming starting this winter and into next summer. In addition to raising funds, they hope to connect with locals who are interested in the project, have archival materials like film or photos, or have stories relevant to the project.

“We’re really trying to utilize a lot of archival assets. It’s going to make the film so much richer, so…, hopefully they’ll come forth and lend us some of their resources. Someone could have a reel of 8mm film from 1965 hidden away on a shelf,” Conor said.

He admits that there is a nostalgic component to the project—he has always loved the attitudes and the mentalities of the ’60s, including the music and the sort of reckless abandon. It provides an interesting contrast to what he sees going on now.

“It’s technology and progress and development, and most of our communities are online. I feel like I’m somewhat radical in my feelings about this; while I also feel technology is good, we’re constantly moving away from solid, strong, communities that are human and integrated and more toward these communities that are more disparate and based on some sort of digital community. It doesn’t feel as authentic,” he said.

At the same time, however, he’s careful to point out that he and Ali are not naïve or placing the ideals of the ’60s on a pedestal. They know that the same people who helped transform Crested Butte during the ’60s and ’70s and eschewed greed had to and wanted to make money in some form. Many went on to become entrepreneurs and business owners and raise families. Yet at the same time, they made decisions about the town and the natural environment to preserve the character of Crested Butte. That included disallowing conglomerates and corporations, and protecting the natural environment.

“That’s also part of story we want to tell, to start with the transition from miners to Crested Butte becoming a ski town, and then, how does one walk the line between progress and development, and maintaining the culture that is Crested Butte,” Conor said.

In many ways, that same question is being asked today as Crested Butte manages the growth of tourism, exposure from events like Whatever, USA, and maintaining the feel of the town and the backcountry at the same time.

“There is a conversation going on in Crested Butte right now but also everywhere. We want to be sure to relate this film to a larger audience and tell the bigger story too, because it is a conversation happening everywhere,” Conor said.

While Hagan is currently based in San Francisco and Ali in Boulder, the pair return to Crested Butte frequently and were just in town over the 4th of July weekend. To make the film a reality, they’ll be returning to town often and are open to traveling wherever they need to go in order to conduct the interviews that will make the film richer.

As Ali pointed out, they plan to travel to Florida if it makes it possible to connect with Dick Eflan, a founder of the local ski resort who now lives in Florida. First, however, they’re looking for the community’s help, both through financial support and through ideas, footage, and photos. It’s that local participation that will make a film about Crested Butte truly representative of the town.

“Any footage we can get will be awesome and make that time come to life… We really feel that these stories are important to preserve an historical record,” Ali said.

Learn more about the project or connect with Ali and Conor at redladyfilms@gmail.com or redladyfilms.com. There, you’ll also find information about how to donate to the project, which can be done through the Crested Butte Heritage Museum website, crestedbuttemuseum.com.