Benchtalk: August 21, 2020

Dean Dillon makes the Hall

Congrats to country music star and part-time Gunnison Valley resident Dean Dillon who found out last week he will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Dillon is intimately involved in the local Tough Enough to Wear Pink program and has helped raise millions of dollars for the cause. Dillon is probably best known for his collaboration with country star George Strait. Dillon is one of three members of the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020, along with Hank Williams, Jr. and Marty Stuart. All three men will officially join the Hall of Fame later this year.

Dems get a county HQ

A grand opening of Gunnison County Democratic Party Campaign Headquarters, located at 300 North Main Street in Gunnison, on the corner of Main Street and Georgia Avenue, will take place on Saturday, August 22 at 10 a.m. The headquarters will be stocked with reading and reference material, yard signs and brochures. Campaign headquarters opening times are currently planned for Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 to 7 p.m., with other ad hoc openings during local events such as the Friday Art Walk.

Gunnison Valley Health now providing Maternal Fetal Medicine

Gunnison Valley Health has teamed up with the Colorado Fetal Care Center at Children’s Hospital Colorado and St. Mary’s Medical Center to provide services at the hospital for families facing high-risk pregnancies. Children’s Hospital Colorado Maternal Fetal Medicine providers will visit Gunnison Valley Health on the third Tuesday of each month starting August 18. To schedule an appointment, call St. Mary’s Maternal Fetal Medicine office at (970) 298-2275 or speak to your obstetrician-gynecologist or primary care provider.

Sound and Color of Emotions: A Healing Through the Arts Music & Visual Arts Program for all ages at the GAC

Join Heidi Benson on a journey of sound and color as the Gunnison Arts Center explores abstract watercolor renditions on the theme of emotion. Bring water, wear comfortable clothing, and enjoy a series of guided meditations through breath, awareness, crystal bowl and vocal vibrations, and free exploration of the watercolor medium. Relax in colorful cocoons of flowing fabric panels. Use local spring water entrained in the crystal bowl to create a final piece that embodies the process of your journey. Class will be Friday, August 28 from 4 to 6:30 p.m. The cost is $25 per session and  $21.50 for Gunnison Arts Center members. Classes will safely be held in the GAC Dance Studio and will last two and a half hours. Participants can Zoom in. Email [email protected] to participate through Zoom. The Gunnison Arts Center has teamed up with the Center for Mental Health to offer this mindful art series to the Gunnison Valley, to help you explore and express creativity and emotions through art. Participate in-person or in a virtual class and even download an activity to do in your own space, on your own time. To see the Gunnison Arts Center’s full course offerings, visit www.gunnisonartscenter.org. Scholarships are available.

Crested Butte Museum webinar with Duane Vandenbusche

Join Dr. Duane Vandenbusche for a Gunnison Country Webinar Series every Thursday evening at 7 p.m. The 14-part series is sponsored by the Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum. Each lecture will be about 35 minutes long. Lectures will address ranching, the Black Canyon, the early days of skiing, coal mining, narrow gauge railroads, the great silver camps, farming, water, placer gold mining, Marble, the Western Slope, Gunnison and Colorado. The Zoom webinar is free. Go to crestedbuttemuseum.com for details and to register.

Birthdays:

August 20- Trent Bona, Sarah Smith

August 21- Tony Borland, Talia Reynolds, Lexy Archer, Shobie Partos

August 22- Michael Beck, Paul O’Connor

August 23- Mike Nolan

August 24- Trudy Yaklich, Perdie Linehan, Pam Bode, Montana & Dakota Wiggins, Madeline Pulley, Karen Hoskin

August 25- Sigrid Cottrell, Jerry Bigelow, Mary Chandler, Jessica Rutherford, Val Jaquith

August 26- Kerri Councilman, Wyatt Ewert, Lee Olesen, Chris Ladoulis

Cameos: What sort of role have you played during this historic summer?