Thanks for the Giving

This is a special place but the long nights during the holidays when there isn’t enough snow for anything resembling a robust opening to the ski season can be challenging. It might not always be easy to be grateful in a place full of challenges but there is a lot for which to be thankful up here at 9,000 feet. Here are a few you may or may not be aware of…

You know the iconic cattle drive through Crested Butte that happens about this time every year? It’s done. To me that is a sad part of our recent growth, but I am thankful it has been part of our heritage and many of us experienced it for decades. The Allen Family Ranches decided that with all the construction going on these days, things were too chaotic to add a bunch of cows into the mix. And just the thought of pushing cattle through a couple roundabouts (dizzy cows heading south?) became overwhelming. So, if you ever got caught in or obviously took photos of the fall cattle drive traveling through the Four-way or by the Arts Center, hold on to those special CB memories.

We’ll see if this is a one-year hiatus or if it’s done. The Allen perspective is that the explosion of traffic and development north of Round Mountain doesn’t bode well for cattle drives anymore. No matter what, thanks to the Allens for hanging in there with the cattle drive as long as they did. It’s been a special part of living here.

Thank you.

Local resident, cook and school bus driver Chris Keogh has spent part of the fall making soup and bread for anyone who wants it, no questions asked. What started as a few bowls and loaves turned into the CB Soup Project.

He upped the game last week by organizing a free community dinner at McGill’s to “share soup and kindness in the heart of Crested Butte one bowl at a time.” Chris has started something deep and meaningful as many in the valley feel food insecure during the off-seasons. The lack of snow which provides for our economy and jobs this time of year isn’t helping anyone feel more secure. The mission that’s evolved: “The CB Soup Project nourishes both body and soul by sharing warm, homemade soup and fresh bread with the Crested Butte community during the shoulder seasons, when many of us have a little more time and a little less money.” Right on.

McGill’s was crowded on a Wednesday night in off-season.

Thank you.

Another mission for a local project doing good: “Remove every barrier so that any child in the Gunnison Valley who wants to learn to ski or ride—can.” That’s a good thing.

We are researching a story that will run next month about the project that is espousing that mission. Local resident Tom Heine is focused on helping some of the more financially challenged kids in the valley. He wants to make sure they have the same opportunities to embrace the mountain culture as most people do.

Heine started a pilot program last winter funding children whose families can’t afford the regular ski experience. Last season he donated the funding to pay for gear, lessons, snacks and lift tickets to make sure anyone living and going to school in the valley had the chance to experience what it is so many of us take for granted. Twenty-two kids participated. It’s a wonderful gift run through the Gravity Diversity Project (Google it).

Thank you.

The valley has something like 175 kabillion established non-profits all working toward good community missions. They are focused on everything from housing and food insecurity, mental health, stars, open space, pets, avalanche awareness, kids, special needs, the arts, the backcountry and on and on and on. All are focused on the things that make community life better in our end-of-the-road valley.

Thank you.

It is of course the start of the holiday season. The holidays can be hard for some. Check in on your friends and neighbors. The short winter days are one reason I support having as many holiday lights up right now as we can find. I’m not talking Clark Griswold lights but certainly enough to touch a few people’s hearts. Elk Avenue is seeing more light and the new holiday lighting in Mt. CB is a welcome addition! Light in the darkness of these days when the sun sinks behind The Bench by 5 o’clock can be a sign of love and hope. Bring that on. Kudos to those who are working to light up the north end of the valley through the WinterGlow celebration on December 6 and Mt. CB Light Up the Night on the mountain on December 13.

Thank you.

The formidable sound of silence as the lights decorating an aspen tree by Townie Books were lit last week in honor of a community member gone too soon was deafening. As a couple hundred people gathered to pay homage to Heather Cooper’s tree, the small-town bonding in the quiet of an evening’s twilight was thunderous. Dealing with a tragic situation that took the life of a young woman for no real reason is never easy anywhere. It isn’t easy here. But it might be just a bit easier in our valley with its web of support and community than just about anywhere else.

The stillness and peace around a lighted tree by a bookstore were a clear and loud message of support, of unity, of community.

Thank you.

—Mark Reaman