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February 2015 . Issue 4.2
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Steamboat Springs Hayden Oak Creek Yampa
Photo by: Theresa Hinch
2
February 2015
Oak Creek Winterfest
Valley Voice
Sunday, February 22, 2015 Snowshoe Softball & Egg Toss! Snowman Building Contest! Sledding! Snow Painting! Snow Dash Races!
11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Decker Park SKI & SNOWSHOE STROLL 4PM Rossi Meadow
A s a a a o m s f s c
T a e
D a p d
S i m
Be there! For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
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Valley Voice
February 2015
Rants...
Circulation 7000
Contents Page 4
Freedom of Speech?
Page 5
Affordable Housing - Breaking the Habit of Jumping to Soluions Too Quickly
Page 6
By Matt Scharf
By Scott L. Ford
Art Director:
Matt Scharf
Business Manager: Scott Ford Proof Reader:
Gail Schisler
Event Calendar: Cody Badaracca cody@yampavalleyvoice.com Sales:
Paulie Anderson
Valley Voice is published monthly and distributed on the last Wednesday of each month. Please address letters, questions, comments or concerns to: Valley Voice, LLC, 730 Lincoln Ave, Unit 1, or come by and see us at 1125 Lincoln Ave, Unit 2C, Steamboat Springs, CO 80487. Paulie Anderson: 970-8468953. Matt Scharf: 970-846-3801. Scott Ford: 970-819-9630. Website www.yampavalleyvoice.com. Subscription rate is $35 per year (12 issues). All content © 2013 Valley Voice, L.L.C. No portion of the contents of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission of the publisher.
Official Fine Print Advertisers assume full responsibility for the entire content and subject matter of their ads. In the event of error or omission in the advertisement, the publisher’s sole responsibility shall be to publish the advertisement at a later date. Advertisements and articles are accepted and published upon the representation that the author, agency and/ or advertiser is authorized to publish the entire contents and subject matter thereof. The author, agency, and/ or advertiser will indemnify and save Valley Voice, LLC harmless from all claims and legal action resulting from the contents of the articles or advertisements including claims or suits resulting from libel, defamation, plagiarism, rights to privacy and copyright infringements. The views and opinions expressed reflect the views and opinions of the authors and may not necessarily reflect the views and opinion of the editor, staff or advertisers in Steamboat’s Valley Voice. Direct all correspondence, articles, editorials or advertisements to the address below. The author’s signature and phone number must accompany letters to the editor. Names will be withheld upon request (at the discretion of the publisher). Subscription rate is a donation of 35 measly dollars per year. However, if you wish to send more because you know we desperately need your money, don’t be shy, send us all you can!
The hole in the dog-poo-bag… Vibrant, blighted downtown… Late bus… again…
Page 7
Frozen sidewalks…
What’s in the Box?
Page 8
50 degrees? Really??? In January?!?!?
Just look at those “gall”ing insects
Page 10
Raves...
Health Care Critique
Page 11
By Lyn Wheaton
Paulie Anderson
Losing the Royal Hotel…
The Most Cussed Winter: The Blizzard(s) of 1949 By Ellen and Paul Bonnifield
Publisher:
Losing your helmet… and all the brains that were in it…
A Day Well Spent By Paulie Anderson
3
By Karen Vail
By Monica Yager
Smoothies…
Seeking Smallness Page 11
Good memories…
Uncomfortable Page 12
Being onboard…
By Patrick Blackdale The Wandering Rose
Biggest Douglas Fir in Routt County…
The Basic Do’s and Don’ts of Online Dating Photos Part 1
Page 13
Not to early to think about your Community Garden
Page 14
News from the Chief of the Chief
Page 19
Calander of Events
Page 20
“Dental work is for rich people.”
Tourist or Fashionista?
Page 23
“Iron horse? It’s just a dorm for immigrant workers from around the world.”
Sticks and Stones
Page 24
Why $995 Million is not enough
Page 25
“You gotta work harder to make it softer.”
Growing Your Own Kombucha
Page 26
“Safety third.”
Continuing the conversation on recycling
Page 27
“One day a week I hate it; 6 days a week I fall in love.”
The Space Between
Page 28
By Mr. Helpful, M.D.
By Annie Daugherty By Heather Shore
By Cody Badaracca
By Kelsey Martin and Danielle Zimmer By Cody Badaracca By Jolien Harro
By Fred Robinson
ByAndy Kennedy for YVSC By Nina Rogers
Addictive Stripes Page 29
Refinancing… 50 degrees!!!
Say What?...
“Texas Week Personal Promise: I won’t be a dick.”
“My snow-blower is bored.” “I’m starting to believe in that liberal global-warming conspiracy.”
By LA Bourgeois
Your Monthly Message
Page 30
The Fine Art of Creating Money - Part 4
Page 30
By Chelsea Yepello By Scott Ford
Yampa Valley Voice
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Comics Page 31
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4
February 2015
Valley Voice
Paulie Sez
Tree picnic with Jess, Theresa and Remi
A Day Well Spent By Paulie Anderson Matt Scharf and I were recently granted a trip with local historian and esteemed Valley Voice writer, Paul Bonnifield and a small crew of locals and Front Range friends, to see one of Colorado’s Champion Trees located in Routt County. At one time, this Douglas Fir was ranked the largest Douglas Fir in Colorado, but the hunt for Champion Trees is becoming more popular and our prize tree has since been topped four times in recent years, making our champion a still honorable 5th largest Douglas Fir in the state. Caveat: I will not reveal the exact location of this tree in order to protect it from vandals and trophy hunting fools (and to protect myself from the wrath of an angry historian for revealing his secrets). The websites that feature Champion Trees honor this same code, with the exception of trees that are in cities, public parks or high traffic areas. The location of this tree will be as the website lists, near Phippsburg. A side note: The Colorado Tree Coalition (CTC) also lists a 5th place Champion Aspen in Routt County near Steamboat Springs. Though I may have been in the presence of this Aspen on one of my many foraging excursions, I have never knowingly spied it. Our trip started out like all backcountry trips: Check the gear, fill the water bottles, pack some food, but unlike other backcountry trips, I had no idea how much to pack, how far we were going or how long we’d be out or Paulie and Jess, two of three guys wrapping the tree.
what the recent heat wave had done to the snowpack. I opted to over pack, which is pretty much my M.O. anyhow. My questions to Mr. Bonnifield the week before regarding duration and distance netted me a somewhat ambiguous, “Oh, if we leave around 10am, I’ll have you back before dark.” Entirely satisfied with that answer, I waited with baited breath for Saturday to come so I could compare my mental image with an actual tree. Our motley crew of eight, a mixed bag of snowshoers, telemarkers, skinny skiers and split boarders, were on the trail a little before 11am with an approximate visual of the dark timber we were aiming for and an estimate of, “about two miles as the crow flies.” Crunching over meadows, ducking through aspen groves and slipping up the steeps offered some of the most incredible views of the Flattops and the caldera of King Mountain. The filtered sun created skyscapes that rivaled the landscapes in beauty and texture. We encountered countless tracks of coyotes, hair, ermine and even a decent size mountain lion. The birds were mostly quiet this day, but we did manage to upset a pair of grouse fumbling around on treetops on our return trip. At last, our destination was in plain sight just beyond an aspen grove and up a short but steep hill. The mushroom-like top sticking out like a sore thumb among the surrounding, still conical trees. The one we were looking for had been topped by a windstorm a number of years back, its current height measurement reflecting this untimely trimming. It still appeared larger and even somewhat taller than its younger counterparts, but it was easy to see how wind would have caught it had it still possessed its extra 30 or so feet.
and the value of our destination. We all gathered around the fir, took off our traveling devices and enjoyed the banter of friends as we snacked, hydrated and enjoyed the presence of this giant. The bark reflected evidence of fire that likely burned many of this tree’s close relatives. The older a Douglas Fir becomes, the more fire-resistant it becomes. This one had some nice protection from what appeared to be a pretty good burn. We admired the claw marks from bear climbs and dreamed aloud about how perfect some of the limbs would be for a lounge session in the canopy. Of course I was wondering what kind of mushrooms would accompany such a beautiful specimen in the warmer months. It took three long-armed men to wrap around the beast of a tree, and it took three girls and a part of a ski pole to hug the 185 inch-round giant. We geared back up for the return trip and hit the trail at about 2:30pm. The relief of the downhill travel made for good conversation of a day well spent. We enjoyed the vistas as the sun inched ever closer to the western horizon and we slid or stomped our way back to the trailhead to the promise of a tasty beverage. And just as Paul had promised, he had us back before dark.
The first of our party reached the tree at 1:41pm. Not a bad walking time considering the unknown distance
Largest Douglas Fir Trees in Colorado County
DBH
Cir
Ht
CS
Nat Pts
General location
Routt County:
59
185.26
112
50
309.76
Phippsburg
Rio Grand
64.3
201.9
111
40
322.9
South Fork
La Plata
65
204.1
163
53
380.35
San Juan NF
Chaffee
72.2
226.71
67
70
311.21
Poncha Springs
Chaffee
82.5
259.05
90
62
364.55
Poncha Springs
Key: DBH = Diameter Breast Height, Cir = Circumference (measurement taken 4.5 feet about ground level), Ht = Height, Nat Pts = National Points – a calculation of The total point value for a tree, according to American Forests, is calculated as follows:
Circumference (in inches) + Height (in feet) + 1/4 Average Crown Spread (in feet) = Total Points (Data from the Colorado Tree Coalition (CTC)–www.coloradotrees.org)
For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
From back to front: Jess, Tim, Matt, Remi, Michelle, Paulie, Paul
Valley Voice
February 2015
5
Tiny Little Rant
Freedom of Speech?
(970) 879-9663
By Matt Scharf
Cartoonists and writers beware. Put down your pencils for a minute and think. The events in Paris, France last month and the assassinations of the Charlie Hebdo magazine crew including four cartoonists put shivers down my spine, made my jaw drop, and loosened my stool. I’m not afraid that someone will come looking for me after I cartoon’d someone’s ass, but I am afraid because satirical cartoons could insult a group of people enough to bring them to murder. I know we are dealing with some lunatics out there that can’t take a joke, but I’m shocked because I am a cartoonist, and cartoonists were murdered.
Pilot and semi-political for The Local for almost seven years and currently three years at the Valley Voice. I have kept most of my cartoons at the Valley Voice light and easy and try to capture the vibe of Steamboat and not make fun of our beautiful town in a mean way. I do not want to offend, but I do want people to think. Some folks out there want me to be more edgy than I am butall I know is that I have to be real careful what I convey when laying down ink on Bristol. I’m more worried about the deadlines. Did I just write deadlines?
I have many opinions, some valid some not. When I express some of my ideas, I lay it out there with a cartoon or do some solo country screaming. (I can draw better than I can write or scream) I’m very thankful for the venue. I drew political cartoons for the Steamboat
spre Free ebsite s at w veLewi g.Com Ste ineerin Eng
What surprises me the most is that some people seem to get triple pissed at a cartoon rather than an article or statement of the same topic. I have my theories. I’ve pissed off a few folks here with cartoons that I thought were harmless or G-rated and then hear nothing when they’re pointy. OK, so I poked your ribs a little. Apparently I have ruined some fundraising campaigns and I’ve insulted the school system and have drawn some characters with beards and had people assume it was them. I am sure I’m on speed dial with some of the various curmudgeons in town.
It hits close to home at the Valley Voice in the fact we’re a small publication with wonderful writers, photographers, and artists who submit heartfelt insights month after month. The Charlie Hebdo magazine has attributes close to the Valley Voice because they are small, creative, and monthly. They just have sharper pencils. What brings me to write this month, which I rarely do, is to say that America or any free democracy out there does not have complete freedom of speech. America has a tendency to do what ever the hell she wants. All of us have to think twice before we can whip out our “I can say what I want” cards. The first amendment has a lot of fine print in today’s laws. You can slip into the ugly world of slander, blasphemy, copyright infringements and flat out rudeness. Conversations about religion or politics can get heated quickly. Please don’t get me started.
es Hom w e s N odel Rem nhouses ices v Gree ing Ser s t f Dra dsheet a e Spr ates r eets Low adsh
I was a daily cartoonist for the University of New Mexico in 1980 and I got fired for one cartoon that was completely misunderstood. It was about the Santa Fe prison riot that killed 36 inmates. The cartoon was printed before the authorities regained control of the prison, and it was gruesome. Bad timing. I was erased. Since the terrorist attacks in Paris and the killing of four cartoonists and one cartoonist in permanent hiding, I am going to be a little more edgy in the future - for them, for me, and for freedom of speech that we hold so dear. Get ready Omar.
over the limit. under arrest. Routt County is cracking down. SJihad is holy struggle, a legitimate tenet of Islam, meaning to purify oneself or one’s community. – John O. Brennan
6
February 2015
Valley Voice
Economics Common Sense of Our Dollars and Cents
Affordable Housing - Breaking the Habit of Jumping to Solutions Too Quickly
&
By Scott L. Ford
present
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Yet again Affordable/Attainable Housing is becoming the topic “de-jour” in this community. Steamboat Springs is not the only Colorado mountain community currently having these discussions. As evidence, a January 18th article in the Aspen Times about what is occurring there was picked up by the wire services and distributed nationally. The article described a situation all too familiar to folks in Steamboat – housing is expensive and wages are low. We have had this discussion before and I am hopeful that as we begin to have it again we do something fundamentally different this time. I would like to see us avoid the temptation of jumping too quickly to solutions. I think people are “hard-wired” to jump to a solution long before the problem has been defined. This is a hard habit to break. Although jumping quickly to solutions is a very hard habit to break, it is easy to recognize and be aware of it and make a commitment to control it. Jumping quickly to solutions most often occurs when discussing difficult issues. Simply being alert that it may occur helps you recognize the behavior when it starts to happen. You may not be able to stop others but hopefully when you recognize it, you can stop yourself. Before we start brainstorming or throwing solutions around, we need to make sure we properly understand the problem statement. I know that this may sound a wee-bit backasswards but before one can develop an accurate problem statement one must first define what success looks like and how it is going to be measured. This is not nearly as exciting as jumping to solutions but it is a necessary step in the process that involves hard work. I think it is silly to try to develop a problem statement about something that cannot be routinely and objectively measured. H. James Harrington, one of my favorite business writers says, “If you can’t measure something, you can’t understand it. If you can’t understand
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it, you can’t control it. If you can’t control it, you can’t improve it.” I wish we would start every discussion about affordable/attainable housing with this statement and a commitment to abide by it. A good measurement also needs to allow for comparison. For example, in a football game the number of points scored can be routinely and objectively measured. I could tell you that the Broncos had 30 points in their first game but in their next game had only 21 points. Was the first game better than the second game? Since in the first game they had a higher score, and a higher score is a good thing, and 30 is greater than 21 – the first game was better. However, without comparison to the number of points scored by the competing team, engaging in one-sided point counting is meaningless. If which team scored the most points is the measurement of success, this question cannot be answered without counting points of both teams and comparing them. So for the balance of this winter, and likely into the spring, I am going to explore some of the ways our community’s housing landscape can be measured routinely and objectively that also allows for comparison. My hope is that this discussion of various housing measurements is not the end of the discussion but a starting point in an effort to develop a problem statement that can be agreed to. Topics I will be covering – • Communities Steamboat ought to be comparing themselves to • Data sources we ought to be using • Housing stock and ratio of owner occupied to renter occupied housing • Homeownership of the population age 25 to 50 • Housing cost as a percentage of household income • Commute times to work • Employee turnover by industry sector and pay • Demographics of occupied housing • Characteristics of who is moving in and out of Steamboat With each of these topics, I will explain the “why” behind each of the subject areas. In addition, I would welcome suggestions from others on what to measure. I would be happy to discuss them with you. My goal at the end of this series as we yet again start talking about affordable/attainable housing is to use data/measurements to define a problem statement before we begin jumping too quickly to solutions.
Valley Voice
February 2015
7
Bonnifield Files
The Most Cussed Winter: The Blizzard(s) of 1949 By Ellen & Paul Bonnifield
The Blizzard of 1949 is usually referred to as one massive storm, but it was actually several, and the time and severity of the storms depends upon location. Regardless, “this was one She Bitch on the Fight.” The winter also marked a ridgepole in the nation’s response to national disasters. Prior to the storms, weather forecasting was casual. Following the blizzard, weather forecasting became serious business that included stock advisories and expected travel conditions. In addition, it was the first time the national government played a leading role in disaster relief. As we explore these blizzards, we’ll look at them in three parts. The first one looks into the vastness of the storms that covered the entire west; however, the most suffering and largest relief efforts were in Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, and northeastern Colorado. The second article in the series concentrates on northwestern Colorado, primary western Moffat County. The last article takes a quick look at other bad winters in the West. At the Y7 Ranch near Quinn, South Dakota, Willard Bloom counted seven blizzards in January and four in February. That is as good a count as any, although Moffat County experienced a bad blizzard in March and heavy snow in May. The first blizzard struck on January 2 and remained until January 5 – 84 hours. Following the Rose Bowl, about 1200 people boarded Union Pacific trains returning home. They got as far as Green River, Wyoming, where they sat snow bound for three days. One enterprising man, Alfred McVay, began a newspaper printed on a duplicator. By the second day, he was selling 800 papers per day. The Vets Club and the junior high school opened for all night dancing. Local liquor establishments were open twenty-four hours. After the passengers stopped grumbling, they went on one big party. The Union Pacific paid for food and lodging in the two hotels. Other passenger and freight trains were not as lucky. The blizzard struck without warning and 300 motorists were stalled along Highway 85 between Ault, Colorado, and the Wyoming line. Another 200 were stranded near Nunn. One Trailways Bus driver left his passengers safely at Nunn then turned back to rescue people stranded in cars. A Greyhound Bus was stalled near Rockport and two army “weasels” from the 215 Rescue Unit were sent to the rescue. The Denver Post reported sixteen people lost their lives during the first blizzard. Philip Roman, his wife Ione, and two children, Tony 11 and Peggy 9, had driven five miles to visit the Horton family. They started home when they were caught in the blizzard. The car stalled in a drift. At some point, they began a desperate attempt to reach shelter. Mrs. Roman’s body was found over her daughter’s body where she had given her last effort at life to save the child. Philip had given his coat to his son. Dave and Frank Horton realized the Roman family was in danger and attempted to rescue them. They found the Roman family and attempted to drag
them to safety, but failed. Both the Horton men were seriously frost bitten.
the opening of roads. They found cases of tuberculosis among children and were able to get them to a hospital.
Mrs. Carl Larson from Medicine Bow, Wyoming, reported her two sisters-in-law narrowly escaped death. One was traveling across Nevada when within four miles of Tiny Thousand Springs, the bus stalled in a drift. Finally freed from the snowdrift, the bus continued on to within a few miles of Wells where it became bogged down for another fifty-two hours. The second woman was traveling with her husband and three children near Harrison, Nebraska, when they were stalled in a drift. Other cars were also stalled there. One man heard a wind charger and found an empty house. They broke in and found wood for the fire and food for seven days.
The Civil Air Patrol was very active in the Great Plains states. Skis replaced wheels on planes and pilots flew aid to thousands of stranded farmers and communities. People in need of help would signal a plane as it flew by. When possible the pilot landed and either delivered food or fuel (coal) or picked up someone and took the person to a hospital. The missions were risky and pilots were killed when they hit power lines or unseen drifts as they landed.
By February, the death toll from blizzards in the seventeen western states stood at 137. Texas lost 33, Nebraska 22, Wyoming 13, Missouri 12, Utah and Washington 9 each, Colorado 8, Oregon 7, New Mexico and Nevada 5 each, South Dakota 4, Kansas 3, Montana and Oklahoma 2 each, and Arizona, California and Iowa 1 each.
In four states, the Fifth Army, Red Cross, Army Corps of Engineers, Air Force, National Guard, and the Civil Air Patrol covered 193,193 square miles, saved approximately 4 million head of livestock from starving, freed over 243,000 snowbound people, cleared 115,000 miles of road (often more than once), and coordinated a 6,000 man work force. The bulk of the hay was delivered by trucks following crawler Cats. It was common for trucks to drift in while waiting for the road to be cleared. (The 6th Army was in charge of operations in the Great Basin and not included in figures above.)
The blizzards accompanied by ground blizzards that occurred between storms were extremely hard on livestock. Bands of sheep bunched together, were buried under the snow, and suffocated. Cattle placed in sheds were trapped by the drifting snow as the shed filled. Cattle drifted into fence corners and froze. Some ranchers opened stack pens so that their livestock could get in to feed, but the hard wind and drifting snow buried the stacks. Even in areas where hay was plentiful, cattle died of thirst. Horses can survive by eating snow, but cattle cannot. Water holes froze over and no one could get out to chop holes in the ice. Within hours of the arrival of the blizzard, the army was involved in rescue missions. Military “weasels” were on the road working to save lives. They also went to the air. Lt. Joseph Kuhn piloted his Air Force helicopter to the Gosney farm near Atwood, picked up Mrs. Gosney, and raced the stork to the hospital at Sterling. (In 1949, helicopters were cutting edge flying.) A plane accompanying Kuhn dropped baby food and other provisions at the Paul Knowles farm. Within days, a massive airlift out of Lowry Air Base was flying hay to livestock and food and fuel to stranded ranchers. In the Great Basin, planes from California, Oregon, and Washington began hay lifts to feed nearly a million sheep in Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. In Utah, the National Guard also flew hay and human missions. Congress, without hesitation, appropriated funds, and when that wasn’t enough they came through twice more. Winslow, Arizona, became the center for the airlift and ground relief on the Navajo Reservation. Although thousands of tons of hay were delivered by air, the most effective relief came from the ground. The army sent numerous pieces of heavy equipment to open roads to isolated families. Medical personnel accompanied
SUNSET
Happy Hour
Join us for a beautiful sunset and views of the valley with music, signature cocktails and appetizers. $12 includes Gondola ride and $5 off food or drink of your choice. Passholders are free and can bring one guest for free. Gondola uploads between 5-8pm. Jan 29 – Hodgepodge Hootenanny Feb 12 – Piano Duo (Mardi gras) Feb 19 – Acutonic Feb 26 – Yer State Birds Mar 5 – Flatland Harmony Experiment Mar 19 – Acutonic Mar 26 – Wise 100 Doors Apr 2 – Old Town Pickers Apr 9 – TBD
970-871-5150 · steamboat.com 21 and over please Dates and bands are subject to change
Love is never lost. If not reciprocated, it will flow back and soften and purify the heart. – Washington Irving
8
February 2015
Valley Voice
Routt County Disasters
What’s in the Box? By Lyn Wheaton
The monotony of a long road trip and endless hours of driving through the vast barren landscape, mostly brown, is finally disturbed by what appears to be a town. To occupy yourself you glance out the window of your car and wonder how anyone lives in such a place. You imagine your warm home, a direct contrast to the modest, run-down dwellings that dot these isolated surroundings. You long for your vibrant, picturesque, perfectly situated town. You stare out in disbelief with a sick feeling of curiosity, comforted by the reminder of the destination that awaits you. You can’t imagine surviving in a place like this. You’re fascinated with how people living here summon the ability to bear up. You speculate about reasons anyone might live here. Did they choose it or were they born here? Maybe they were kidnapped and being held hostage. What in God’s name did they do with their time? You pass one run down gas station with a convenience store attached and turn the corner. There’s not a soul in sight. A sparse main street contains the essentials; a hardware store, a thrift store, a bar, and a rundown eatery defined as a café, by the black cursive writing on the white concrete facade. The need to go to the bathroom, but more so the urge to delve into the mindset that allows the town to continue its existence, causes you to pull into the empty parking lot of the greasy spoon. Walking toward the dingy door you look around at the empty street and notice a motel down the block. Curious that anyone would actually visit here, you decide it must be extenuating circumstances that would cause someone to book a room, a snowstorm perhaps. At that moment a biting wind kicks up some flurries. A bell on the door jingles as you enter. A warm greasy haze stings your eyes. The smell of rancid oil permeates the atmosphere. Through the fog, a kempt, unexpectedly intelligent, woman greets you. She is friendly and eager to chat. An elderly man and woman sit at one of the booths. The tan leather-like plastic seat covering is shiny and cracked from wear. The old tabletops, a sleek hard brown laminate, host a set of basic condiments. You decide to sit at the counter. The dim lighting hides decades of disrepair. The gregarious woman running the place introduces herself as Sue and offers you some coffee, you accept. She asks what brings you to her remote town. You reply, “Just passin’ through.” Her comment provides an opening, so you go there. “How do you survive out here just beyond nowhere? Is there more to the town than meets the eye?” She pauses and then says, “We are those people, aren’t we? Those people you always wonder about when you drive through a desolate town, on a desolate highway, set just on the edge of Dante’s ninth circle and nothingness.”
For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
You are surprised she not only feels the monotony, but also talks so frankly about it. “This is it.” she replies. “We aren’t close to anything. We live so far west of Podunk; Podunk only casts a distant shadow on us if the time of year is right. The closest department store is a robust three-hour drive through terrain that is not for the vertiginous.” She continues, telling you she moved here willingly after retiring from a big job on the coast. “If you’re happy, you can be happy anywhere and the same holds true if you’re miserable. Like anywhere, people find ways to occupy themselves. They find comfort in community and the community here is better than most. That’s what keeps me here. I had a couple really good years and I was as content here as I’ve been anywhere, now I am having a bad year and I’m as wretched as I’ve been anywhere.” You are intrigued. You find yourself absorbed in her plight. You have so many questions. “Where do you shop?” You ask, for no particular reason. “Mail order, mostly. I’m not a big shopper. I brought everything I need with me from the sixties, seventies and eighties. I’m a self-contained recycling center,” she says. Sue’s candor and wry humor is so captivating you have forgotten about the time and long road trip ahead. You feel oddly drawn to this enigmatic creature; this woman is not at all what you expected the inhabitants to be like. You stir the black coffee, brace yourself, and take a sip. The acrid brew is far removed from the Sumatra you grind and press each morning. The sour aftertaste makes you wonder if you could ever live in these conditions. Sue is a brave woman. She continues on, “But my 20-something daughter is another story. She came to live the simple life with me, for a winter, after college. We soon got to know the UPS man a little too well. To quell the boredom, she occupied her time with a remarkable amount of online shopping. The first order she placed was from Nordstrom, for a pair of dress boots.” She added, “One can never have too many expensive outfits for that weekly trip to the bowling alley.” She mused, “Weird things do happen out here though.” By now you’ve forgotten about your road trip, lost in this world you may have never known, had you kept on driving. Sue wipes the counter and warms your coffee from a badly stained glass carafe. She has a calm, reflective demeanor. The rush that was once her fast paced life chasing dollars on the coast was gone; the slower tempo appeared to suit her. “Eager for the delivery, my daughter followed the package as it journeyed across the country. Tracking the box nearly drove my daughter crazy,” she continued. “The day it was scheduled to arrive was like any other,
Valley Voice
February 2015
9
a few tumbleweeds blew by, a dog barked, and a couple old trucks puttered past the house, but UPS did not come. My daughter was growing impatient.“ Sue garnished a pancake platter with a whipped cream smiley face and delivered it to the elderly couple. Back at the counter, she picked up the saga where she left off.
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“Finally a few days later, the box arrives at our door. Mangled. It looked like it had been opened and carelessly taped back together. My daughter, suspicious about the condition, examined the contents, decided she didn’t like the boots and set up an exchange. In addition to the replacement boots, she ordered some other items from several stores.”
“Let us be lazy in everything, except in loving and drinking, except in being lazy.”
“Each time a package arrived it was in the same condition as the first. It had obviously been opened and taped back up, poorly. One package never arrived. I remembered the item because my daughter was unsure about the purchase and showed me the purse, several times before placing the order.”
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She tells you, that week at Bingo she noticed the UPS man’s wife with the same bag her daughter had Fresh ordered. •The veryMeat one that didn’t arrive. Sue explains she went• up to the woman, an acquaintance, and told Fresh Produce her that she liked her bag and that her daughter had • Fresh ordered the sameDairy one, but it had never arrived. Taken Foods aback the• Natural fellow gambler said, “Oh, my husband got me this, but •I’m not sureFoods if I like it.” Sue asks if she can Organic look at it• more closely.Foods The woman hesitates and then Specialty obliges. Sue notices a defect on the pocket.
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A few days later the Service purse arrives in a mutilated box at • Friendly Sue’s house. Her daughter • Convenient opens it. They examine the handbag. There’s a defect on the pocket. You shake your head in disbelief. Sue chuckles. Reluctant to vacate your post, you do so with great trepidation. Back in your car you leave the tiny hub with a warm feeling, a feeling you are now a part of this secret place. Afraid to find out it was just a passing moment, you stop and buy a box of chocolates and purchase a card that says, Happy you’re my Friend. You add the name Sue, and underline Sue, several times. You ship it to her, UPS. Secure with the thought that if you never hear from her, it was because the UPS man liked chocolate… and you can live with that.
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Vocal rest is awesome. It is like any kind of fast. Firstly, it is a purification of speech. – Matisyahu
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February 2015
Valley Voice
‘Boat Almanac
Just look at those “gall”ing insects! By Karen Vail
Spruce cooley gall patches of dense hairs on aspen leaves? You are seeing the galls of eriophyid mites. Gall midges and other flies are tiny and only live as an adult for about a week. Most galls produced by these flies are simple and usually involve some stunting and/ or swelling of the plant. That odd looking “flower” I saw on the willow is a willow cone gall. They are super easy to notice in the winter while walking through willows. Look for larger blobs looking like cones at the tips of the branches. The gall midge lays its eggs on the bud at the end of the willow stem and chemicals redirect the emerging stem and leaves to an extremely condensed form looking like a cone. You might see odd swelling on young twigs of aspen, which is a gall from the poplar twiggall fly. As the stem matures, the galls become incorporated into the limb or trunk and look like large swollen bands.
Eriophyid gall on maple The natural world is full of amazing surprises! Many years ago I found what looked like an odd flower on some willows…but it was the middle of winter. What was this fascinating thing?? After some research, I found it was a willow cone gall. Once I learned more about galls, I noticed them on plants everywhere. Winter is an excellent time to find a variety of these unique structures, so let’s take a look at what they are and describe a few that are common in our area. Imagine being a tiny insect overwintering in our climate. Trying to survive as an adult is pretty tough for these little guys, so many of them have developed a way to overwinter their eggs or larvae in a nice comfy place called a gall. Galls on plants can be caused by things other than insects (viruses, bacteria, fungi and others) but we will just look at the insect galls. Simply defined, a gall is an abnormal growth caused by another organism. The plant interacts with the insect or mite and provides the raw materials to construct the gall through abnormal tissue growth. The insects that stimulate the galls to form can be called “horticulturalists” for they are basically creating new plant structures. The gall serves as both shelter and food for the developing larvae and the inner walls of the gall are moist or liquid and are usually rich in protein and sugars; perfect food for developing larvae. Also, the gall insect is partially protected from parasites and predators, and in our climate the galls can act as insulation in the winter. How is a plant “tricked” into creating these “houses?” Much of how the insects stimulate the plant is still a mystery. The gall insect lays its eggs on the host plant or in the plant tissues. The emerging larva must contact the meristematic (the actively dividing cells) cells of the growing parts of the plant to begin the process
of gall formation. It is possible that a chemical in the larva saliva (or possibly the adult injects chemicals while laying the eggs) stimulates a change in the cells of the area and the gall starts forming. It also could be the mechanical damage of the larva eating the plant tissues. However the process is accomplished, it is a fascinating feat to hijack a plant to create a specialized structure for a tiny larva. The plant cells of the gall area multiply rapidly and are often enlarged. Most of this activity happens during the spring and early summer growing season. Most insects and mites are host specific, sometimes even tissue specific. Whitney Cranshaw categorizes the gall-making insects of our area into 4 simplified groups: gall-making aphids and their relatives, eriophyid mites, gall midges and flies, and gall wasps. Let’s take a look at some of the more common galls in our area starting with the gall-making aphids. We have a spruce cooley gall that is found on the meristematic tips of spruce. I am sure everyone has seen this gall but not really noticed it. The gall looks very much like a strange cone on the tip of the branch, but if you look closer you will see openings along a prickly looking oval structure where the adelgid (a type of woolly aphid) have emerged as adults. All of the gall-making aphids have complicated life cycles that take place on different plants. Our spruce cooley gall adelgid needs both spruce and Douglas fir to complete its life cycle. You will probably never see an eriophyid mite as they are microscopic, but their galls are super common on a wide variety of plants. Have you noticed the little fingerlike projections on chokecherry leaves, a stunning red velvety growth on Rocky Mountain maple or small
For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
To me, the most interesting gall formers are the gall wasps. They are the ultimate gall architects, forming some truly stunning, bizarre and elegant shelters. They use mostly oaks and roses in our area. Just walk up to any Gambel’s oak in the valley at any season and you will invariably find galls from gall wasps. In winter there are hardened balls on the stems, in summer there are gleaming blotches of wax-like galls along the central vein of an oak leaf, or beautiful star-like or textured lumps along the leaf veins. Gall wasp reproduction is just as strange as the galls they form. Some species have both a two-sex generation (male and female mating) and a parthenogenetic generation where no males are produced and the females produce eggs without fertilization. Some species have only parthenogenetic females with no males ever found. They have also found that the galls often times contain a variety of organisms in them. There are inquilines, which live in the gall with the gall-maker and simply share the space, and there are predators and parasites. An example is an oak apple gall which contained the original gall-maker, 10 inquilines, 16 parasites and 5 brief visiting species. There is a lot going on in some of those small homes! While you are searching out our galling insects, listen for the songs of birds increasing their mating activity. “Hey, look at how healthy and vigorous and beeeeautiful I am,” sings the male. The Townsend Solitaires in the Fish Creek Falls area are always such a treat when the male starts his melody in January and February. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology website allaboutbirds. org describes the song as a “complex series of clear warbling notes.” Our little black-capped chickadee is also talking to his girlfriends with a whistled fee-bee, or hey, sweetie! Go and listen for yourself. We’ll see you on the trails! Happy exploring.
Valley Voice
February 2015
Letter to the Editor
Your RX for Winter Colds and Flu
Health Care Critique By Monica Yager
The January 2015 issue of Valley Voice includes an article written by “Dr. Kristen,” The Five Most Dangerous Health Trends Facing Colorado Families Today. It is notable that there is no last name listed for this doctor. Whenever a doctor discusses issues of health and health care, it is proper to list the last name as well as the first name and to also include credentials. This is to help readers and consumers evaluate the information provided in the article. It is even more notable that the information in the article is incomplete, misleading, and of generally poor quality, obviously skewed to promote this doctor’s particular brand of health care. In fact, it is one big advertisement, disguised as factual information...poorly. The five “facts” this doctor lists are alarmist in nature and provide no useful information for consumers in their health choices. 1. The choice to compare population, wealth, pain killer, and overall health statistics does not provide meaningful information. Picking which stats to use to make a point does not prove correlation or causation. 2. The statistics usage for hours worked per week and overall health are equally incomplete, cannot prove correlation or causation, and cannot present a clear picture. 3. This information appears to be a self-reporting survey, which is not the same as a study and cannot qualify as factual information. 4. Partial information makes for an incomplete picture, in this case, a particular number is claimed to be on the rise, but the reasons for this warning are left out, which leaves the statement more alarmist than accurate. 5. These statistics are also woefully incomplete, alarmist, and offer nothing for readers and consumers in deciding their day-to-day choices about their health and health care. The doctor goes on to promote holistic services, massage, acupuncture, and chiropractic as reasonable
health care for the immune system, productivity, better spouse, parent, co-worker, neighbor, and some weird disconnected notion that those services cost less than expensive state of the art procedures that may be necessary, all without proof. Then, the doctor addresses the common holistic or alternative notion that modern medicine only treats symptoms while holistic methods address the cause. This overworked notion overlooks what symptoms actually are as physiologic responses the body uses to fight off invaders and misinforms consumers by alluding to holistic methods as somehow being superior to modern medicine.
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And finally, the doctor claims “holistic practitioners will help you heal better, live a higher quality of life and reduce the overall cost of health care...with real people that have your best interest in mind.” The lack of proof of those claims is due to the fact that there is no proof available. While there have been many studies undertaken with regards to holistic or alternative methods, services, products, and practitioners, no effect beyond placebo has been established. In fact, holistic, alternative health care is considered to be the lowest form of health care for several reasons: there are no apparent benefits, and as such, is a waste of health care dollars and is a cause of consumers delaying visits to professional, qualified doctors that can test, diagnose, treat, prescribe, recommend, and refer patients, and yes, even treat the whole patient.
www.bistrocv.com
People value publications and the information they offer. Authors such as Scott Ford use data, statistics, and facts, to present a discussion. Ellen and Paul Bonnifield rely on historical fact. Even the series about chickens was based on factual information. The mark for health and health care should be no less. The article by Dr. Kristen is a disservice to your readers. Your publication can be of service to readers by presenting information that can help consumers make sound, informed decisions, based on science, physiology, biology, rigorous studies, clinical data, empirical data, and peer-review, when they enter the alternative health world.
Don’t ski hungry! Grab a quick breakfast before you hit the hill. Enjoy the Valentine’s Day No BS Brass Band and the Torchlight Parade from our deck!
Big Concepts
Powder Clause
Seeking Smallness
6 inches or more mid-mountain on 6 am report: 1/2 priced Bloody Mary's!
By Patrick Blackdale
If you’re anything like me, you’re tired of iPhones, SUV’s, and big-box stores. You’d rather read a book the real paper kind - than stare at a tablet or laptop. If you’re like me, you miss the good ole days when everyone knew their neighbor well, even if you never actually experienced those “good ole days”. If you’re like me, you yearn for a simpler, sustainable way of life. The challenge of growing, hunting, and harvesting your own food appeals to you.
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Making things from what you already have is rewarding to you. Appreciating nature’s beauty and power is essential to you. If you’re anything like me, you see the cyclical nature of things. Life and death - only part of a grand ebb and flow. You’re always looking for the “bigger picture”, and just when you think you see it all, you are humbled by the unpredictable present moment. And so, you see, you’re just like me.
“Where the Cool Kids Hang!”
Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well. – Mahatma Gandhi
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February 2015
Valley Voice
The Wandering Rose
Uncomfortable “Not everyone wants to see your breasts,” said a woman with her two small children walking by Audrey Rose, who as usual, was out enjoying the fresh air topless. “Okay,” said Audrey Rose.
but turn around for a second look.
“Why don’t you put a shirt on?” scowled the woman as she tried to push her two children past. The little girl didn’t seem to notice much, but the young boy couldn’t help
Audrey Rose knew she had a choice. She could walk away and let the woman’s remark eat at her or she could dig a little deeper because she could tell the woman was truly upset. “Excuse me,” she called after them. “If I put something on would you talk to me for a few minutes?” “I’m busy,” said the woman. “Too busy to help me understand why you’re so upset?” asked Audrey Rose restraining her urge to skip up to the woman, as she figured the woman was not a skipping kind of person. “Where are you going to even get something to put on?” asked the woman. “Sir, can I borrow your coat?” asked Audrey of a stranger. He took one look at her, blushed and handed over his coat. The woman motioned towards Off the Beaten Path Bookstore where they could duck in out of the snow for a warm moment. She bought her children
a couple of hot chocolates with whipped cream and let them off to explore. Audrey sat very formally on her seat, studying the woman’s face. She didn’t seem like a cold woman. “May I ask why my walking around without a top on bothers you so much?” Audrey asked. As she asked, the barista set their drinks on the table. “Would you be offended if I drank my drink in here with my top off?” she asked the barista. The barista laughed warmly. “Not at all, but I can’t speak for anyone else in the store.” “It’s not proper for a woman to walk around with her top off. What will the men think, what if you’re raped? Do you think you stand a chance in court? Everyone will say you asked for it.” “It’s just skin,” said Audrey sipping her espresso. “Breasts are not just skin, they are part of a woman’s sexuality, they are a fountain of life from the mother to the child, they are not to be shown off like a trophy. Do you think you should be able to walk around completely nude?” The woman had her hands wrapped tightly around her coffee cup but had not yet taken a sip. Audrey leaned slightly towards her. “I do think I should be able to walk around naked and I honestly believe that if more people walked around naked, that if we didn’t put so much importance on the sacredness of the body, then maybe bodies would just be things without all these words and beliefs we attach to them. Maybe there would be less rape, less ogling of women, less power for men if we all stripped down to our barest selves. For me, being able to embrace my body and to be, not proud of it, but accepting of it, of all its beauty and its flaws, well that is integral to who I am as a person.” “I happy for you, but you are a young woman and maybe you still think the world is innocent but that’s not the whole world. Look at my son, he couldn’t stop staring and he’s only a child.”
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“But if your son had seen 10,000 breasts, maybe they wouldn’t hold such fascination for him. When was the last time you walked around completely naked, completely at peace with your body?” S t The woman looked away. A tear filled her left eye, welled c up and spilled over the rim. w i “I know why,” said Audrey gently, “because the only bod-a ies you see naked are what’s supposed to be perfect - in o movies and magazines – but you have a real body that o is just as beautiful and perfect and imperfect as any m other body in the world. The only problem is you don’t p get a chance to see other bodies that are as amazing as yours. Look at your breasts. They are mountains H waiting to be climbed, your body is a wave of curves, there is everything beautiful about you and you don’t I even see it.” a The woman pushed her coffee away from her and sat back in her chair. She took a deep breath. “I just wanted to spend a peaceful day with my children, that’s all.”
c w w s m w
“What if you all went home and spent some time being H naked, letting your children see your body, letting them feel comfortable being naked, too. I doubt they would be U ashamed of how you look. You are the woman who gave m them life. Yours is probably the most comforting body p they will ever see, at least until someone tries to teach i them differently.” h
h “I don’t need your advice. Thank you,” said the woman i standing up. She turned her back on Audrey Rose and d left to collect her children who were sitting on the floor m in the children’s section, very gently and respectfully t turning the pages of a book, so as not to leave a mark or a bend or a fold in a single page. “Mommy, are you U okay?” asked her son as he got up and gave her a big hug. O
o a y As Audrey Rose left the bookstore she held the coat a A little tighter around her, feeling colder for it’s protec- s tion, not warmer. She studied the faces of people passing her and wondered if one of them might wish her S harm simply because she was a woman and she was alive. J “Let’s go,” said the mother.
o The woman went home that night. She tucked her i children in, giving her daughter an extra tight hug. u When she was sure they were asleep she locked herself d in the bathroom. She started the shower, slowly took off s her clothes and then stood in front of the mirror really t looking at her body for the first time in a very long time. Then she climbed into the shower, curled into the D fetal position and cried because she still couldn’t find a a way to love her body or herself.
H t E j
Valley Voice
February 2015
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Mister Helpful’s Dating Guide
The Basic Do’s and Don’ts of Online Dating Photos Part 1
It’s all about your Happiness
By Mr. Helpful, M.D.
So ya still want to try Online Dating. Let’s do it right then. Here are some Mr. Helpful suggestions that might change your life for the better. Since we are dealing with a visual medium, the Interwebs, good pictures are incredibly important. I strongly suggest that you have a trusted friend help you pick out the best pics of you or help you take new ones. We cannot see the back of our own heads and so we cannot see what pictures might be a bad version of us; versus a really good picture of ourselves.
doing is screaming to the crowd just how naïve they are. Welcome to Vanity 101, they get an A and can move to the “People will Now Take Advantage of You” round.
Find Mister Helpful’s Dating Guide on Facebook, hit the LIKE button and read the expanded versions of this column and others.
Never post pictures with someone else in the frame who is better looking than you are.
Next month – Part Two of this installment AND Weird in Public = Bad, Weird in Bed = Good
Headshot, Action pic and Full Body photo.
No children in any of your pics.
If we were to meet at the store, you would be seeing me at a bit of a distance, moving around and then hopefully close up. Well while we are shopping online for a Date, we deserve to see just as much of our potential Date as well. We all want to see their face, teeth, ears, legs, butt, shoulders and arms. We want to see them in a way that makes us think “ah yes, they are interesting to me. I will let them see me naked.”
Simply referring to them in your “About me” section is enough. No one is looking online to date your children. And the people that are should be boiled alive. Do not share happy smiling children pics on an online dating site. It’s about you finding a date, not them. Your date can find out what kind of a parent you are over the phone or in person. This is the internet and pervy people are out there looking at your kids. I’m not joking, Stop posting pics of your kids.
How many pics to use. Using one picture is too little, over 7 pictures is too many. If a person cannot tell what you look like in 7 pics, YOU chose the wrong pictures. 2 pics or less could indicate anything from shyness to laziness to only having just that one pic. Always ask why they only have just that one pic. It’s a conversation starter. Posting over 15 pics shows an anxious mind, a needy and desperateness on behalf of the individual to share as much as possible as soon as possible. Yikes, wait until the first date to show those qualities. Using pics over 3 years old is basically lying. On a cellular level, humans are constantly shedding our outer reptilian layers. We change our hair, get taller and of course grow old and get fat. Stop lying to even yourself and post pics that are less than 2 years old. And sweetie if you have gotten waaaay better looking, show it with new pics. Self-ies in the bathroom mirror, sure. Just make sure you crop the photo properly to take out all the crap and clutter around the sink. You got inspired to take the photo, but are still too lazy to clean up around the sink. Oh and either flush or put the lid down. There actually IS a pic of a woman on a dating site, who is in her bathroom and behind her is a turd in the toilet. Yes there is. Do not post the same “looking” pic over and over again. How blind are these people?!? Can they NOT see that they are posting 9 photos where their head is tilted EXACTLY the same way?!? Are they a plastic toy or just amazingly stupid? My friends, all these idiots are
Everyone will want to date them or worse ask you if “Your friend is available” if you are not interested in them.
Skin will Win and No Shirt = Jerk
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Yes the ladies can post all the bikini pics they want, but if a guy posts just one shirtless pic – he’s a pervy jerk. Double standard? You betcha. So guys, put on a shirt, I didn’t say you have to button it up, just put it on. Tattoos and Piercings Bring it on baby. If you have a “special quality” that you would like to share, then do it. Like minded others will find you and you them. However just as in real life, there is a plethora of individuals who we are not attracted to and Those People are looking at your photos and making comments as well. You have several options in how to deal with this situation. * Be overly cautious as to the type of pics you post. This is the first impression you are giving the dating world. Give it your best, most honest, flattering attempt. * Never care a lick as to what the wrong people think about your pics. They are stupid doo-doo heads who will die alone and penniless from their own farts. Valentine’s Dating It’s one of the greatest opportunities to become the perfect Date for someone. Timing, effort, perfection is all hanging in the balance. Because if you screw it up, if they screw it up – you/they will never forgive or forget how Valentine’s Day was ruined forever. Clean your fingernails, manicure and cut them. You never know where your hands may end up. Pull out the extralong nose hairs. It’s something someone will remember about you, when they go in for a kiss. Shower up and try not to smell bad for your Date. Wear clean clothes. Yes we know they’re going to end up on the floor anyway, but that’s not the point.
Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas. – Albert Einstein
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February 2015
Valley Voice
www.haydencolorado.com
Vol. 3, No. 2 February 2015
For news tips, contact the editor at brodiefarquhar@hotmail.com.
Rip for a Drip
Bring in ad coupon for free coffee or $1 off on specialty drinks Limit one per customer.
Not too early to think about your Community Garden By Annie Daugherty First of all, kudos to Ana Lash and the staff at the Hayden library for hosting and supporting the first year of the seed library. Without them, and the many organizations and individuals who contributed a wide variety of free seeds, it would not have happened. Throughout the spring and summer, 653 packets of seeds were taken by 136 enthusiastic and delighted individuals, making it a surprising and resounding success. This year we plan to increase our inventory by accepting cash donations with which to purchase more “Camelot” friendly seeds as well as seeking more seed donations—this will expand the capacity for enjoying improved health and independence through more local food, i.e., sustainability. “Penny Pig” (a glass piggy bank) will be on the counter at the library for folks wanting to donate cash to purchase seeds.
198 East Lincoln Ave. Hayden, Colorado 970-276-4250
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(970) 276-2040 Open daily at 8 a.m.
“A harvest of peace is produced from a seed of contentment” (American proverb) Although it’s too early to swap out the snow shovel for the spade, it’s not too early to make a plan for the “one brief shining moment,” i.e., the growing season in northwest Colorado. Last year our “Camelot” included a successful seed library and a community garden, both pioneer projects that demonstrated extraordinary cooperation and community support. And our plan is to do it again!
Happy New Year!
Your Winter Tire Headquarters Hayden Branch
101 N. 6th Street
970-276-9099
Kudos to Karen Burley at the Haven for her support and effort and the folks who staked out plots and toiled in the community garden despite unforeseen challenges. Without them we could not have gotten it off--or better said-into the ground last year. The community garden is a work in progress and the first year was indeed a learning experience. It produced a variety of vegetables, including but not limited to several that won ribbons at the county fair for Julie Glaze and her son. This is what the community garden is all about—people learning and sharing and practicing family, fellowship and sustainability. We hope to see the courageous first-timers return again this year as well as some new faces to help this project grow. Our plan for it this year? Improved communication, ways of meeting and/or averting last year’s challenges and “growing pains,” and more participants. So we hope that as you plan your own gardening experience you include continuing support of the seed library and the community garden. Remember, they are yours too. And now if we can resurrect the garden club with its wealth of generational knowledge. . .
193 East Jefferson Hayden, Colorado 81639
(970) 276-3313
(Minutes from Craig & Steamboat)
Hold that thought!
750 Hospital Loop Craig, Colorado 81625 Phone: 970-824-9411 e-mail: info@tmhcraig.org
For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
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Ski Time Square
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Valley Voice, LLC 1125 Lincoln Ave. Unit 2C Steamboat Springs, CO 80487
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Map Disclaimer Š 2015 Valley Voice, LLC. All rights reserved. NOT TO SCALE! No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission of the publisher. The publisher does not guarantee the accuracy of this map.
Tamarack Drive
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Hill Top Parkway
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Old Town Hot Springs
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CIRCLE SEVEN FINE ART Dumont Lake 1009 Lincoln Ave., 879-4744 Features the show “BREATHE”, The Life Force We Share With All Living Things. Sandy Graves' sculptures and Lance Whitmer's paintings explore this idea in their new work.
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DOUGLAS KENYON COLLECTION 435 Lincoln Ave., 970-629-9999 Photographs and paintings of the old west including L.A. Huffman, Edward S. Curtis, Frederick Remington and even antique rodeo panoramas just to name a few. The Old West lives here through thes dramatic large scale pictures.
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MANGELSEN-IMAGES OF NATURE 730 Lincoln Ave., 871-1822 Legendary nature photographer Thomas D. Mangelsen has traveled throughout the natural world for over 40 years observing and photographing the Earth's last great wild places. New releases are now on display.
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STEAMBOAT ART MUSEUM 807 Lincoln Ave., 870-1755 Mark Thompson Retrospective, featuring award winning Colorado artist Mark Thompson who mastered techniques of the lost art of Catamount painting with egg tempera. The museum will display many of his egg tempera paintings and etchings. Also on display Exquisite Miniatures by Wes and Rachelle Siegrist. December 5, 2014 – April 11, 2015. Haymaker Golf STEAMBOAT SPRINGS ARTS COUNCIL AT THE DEPOT 1001 13th St., 879-9008 Palettes brings a complete sensory experience into a fine art settin to encourage an audience to embrace those beautiful everyday moments RCR 22 when each of the five senses work in concert to create a Stagecoach Res. singular reality.
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WILD HORSE GALLERY 802 Lincoln Ave., 879-5515 Wild Horse Gallery will feature new oil paintings by Tim Diebler. Fo more info go to www.wildhorsegallery.com or call 970-819-2850. Steamboat Cemetery
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COLORADO GROUP REALTY 509 Lincoln Ave., 875-2917 CREEKSIDE CAFE 131 11th St., 879-4925
Animal Shelter Copper Ridge
DELUXE TATTOO 837 Lincoln Ave., 879-1243 Elk River Road
HARWIGS/LAPOGEE 911 Lincoln Ave., 879-1919
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9th STREET TATTOO STUDIO AND ART GALLERY 111 9th St.(corner of 6th & Lincoln Ave.), 970-367-3136 Bob Adams Airport
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Š 2014 Valley Voice, LLC. All rights reserved. NOT TO SCALE! No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission of the publisher. The publisher does not guarantee the accuracy of this map.
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Smoke Signals
News from the Chief of the Chief... Once Removed By Heather Shore
Scott Parker, the illustrious Executive Director of the Chief Theater, is taking a sabbatical this month from addressing the wonderful readers of the Yampa Valley Voice. He has asked me, his trusty servant, to take the reins this month. My name is Heather Shore and I am the Associate Director at the Chief Theater. I hope that I have had the chance to meet many of you, and if we haven’t met, that you will put the Chief Theater on your TO DO list for 2015. We have so many exciting events on our calendar and there are many, many ways to become involved with our Historic Downtown Theater. We start February with the continuation of our Steamboat is Magic! series featuring Fred and Bobbie Becker performing two shows on Wednesday, February 4 and Thursday, February 5. Their show is an exciting mix of magic, comedy, theater, improv, and loads of audience participation. People leave the show smiling ear to ear, laughing, and saying, “How did they do that?” Then on Friday, February 6, we start the evening with First Friday Artwalk featuring Todd Sowers Photography from 5-8pm and then we’re thrilled to welcome John McEuen of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band at 8pm. The month continues with Stand Up Comedy on the 7th, our Singer Songwriter Series with Haley Cole and Joe Teichman on the 12th, the Vagina Monologues on the 13th and 14th, Tread of Pioneers’ Films: Ski Town, USA and Ski Trails on the 17th, Singer Songwriter Series with Hannah Aldridge on the 19th, Teton Gravity Research Film: Higher on the 20th, the Yampatika Back Country Film Festival on the 27th, and we finish the month with the Bike Town, USA fundraiser, Banff Radical Reels on the 28th. And, as always our Improv Troupe meets every Monday night at 7pm. Everyone is invited to participate in this group.
www.chieftheater.com As you can see, there’s something for everyone in your family and all our out-of-town visitors. In addition to supporting the Chief Theater by purchasing tickets to our upcoming events, I’d like to tell you about some other ways you can become involved. We are always looking to expand our volunteer base. The work is easy and FUN. Our volunteers assist with door sales, at the bar, as ushers and with other jobs around the Theater. You can also join one of our committees. Would you like to help us market the Theater and its events, or even help us schedule events? We have a marketing committee and a program committee. We also have a facilities committee if helping us maintain our historic building is up your alley. How about becoming a VIP member of the Chief Theater? For as little as $150, you can become a part of our VIP membership program. For your membership, you will receive a snazzy VIP pass, 2-for-1 drinks at the bar and members always receive seating for our shows. If you are interested in more information about the Chief Theater, volunteering, joining a committee, becoming a VIP member or even making a donation, please do not hesitate to contact me at heather@chieftheater. com. I also invite you to join our email list to stay upto-date on all the happenings at the Chief Theater, just visit us online at chieftheater.com. You can also LIKE us on Facebook and FOLLOW us on Twitter. The Chief Theater is here because of the great support we have from our community. So, please join us! See you at the Chief! Heather Shore, Associate Director
813 Lincoln Avenue 970-871-4791
February 4th & 5th
Steamboat is Magic!
Presents Fred and Bobbie Becker Doors and Bar @ 6:30 pm Show @ 7 pm
Tickets: $15 adults; $10 students
February 6th
John McEuen of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Doors and Bar @ 7:30 pm Show @ 8 pm
Tickets: $25
February 7th
Stand Up Comedy with Stephen Agyei Doors and Bar @ 6 pm Show @ 7 pm
Tickets: $15
February 12th Singer Songwriter Series Presents:
Haley Cole and Joe Teichman
Doors and Bar @ 6 pm Show @ 7 pm
Tickets: $15 adults; $5 students
February 19th R.I.P. Royal Hotel, 1903 - 2015 Photo by Paulie Anderson
Singer Songwriter Series Presents:
Hannah Aldridge Doors and Bar @ 6 pm Show: 7 pm
Tickets: $15 adults; $5 students A beautiful woman delights the eye; a wise woman, the understanding; a pure one, the soul. – Minna Antrim
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Calendar of Events Sunday February 1 Cosmic Dollar Night 7 PM @ Snow Bowl $1 Games & beers. Reservations: 970-879-9840 Ill-Esha w/ Ghetdown Network 9 PM @ Schmiggity’s DJ Dance Party. Schmiggitys.com; ill-esha.com Monday February 2 Ocean Odyssey 6:30 PM @ Bud Werner Memorial Library Award winning film commissioned by the Smithsonian’s National Museum which takes viewers on an undersea journey to remote and magical places. FREE. www.steamboatlibrary.org/events Improv 7 PM @ The Chief Theater Join the Chief Players and learn Improvisational Theater. All ages welcome. FREE. (Donations appreciated) www.chieftheater.org Latin Night 8 PM @ Schmiggity’s Salsa dancing and lessons Schmiggitys.com Open Mic Night 10 PM @ Old Town Pub Free drink for Performers. FREE. Tuesday February 3 Snowshoe rendezvous TBA @ Rossi Meadow ski trail (Oak Creek) Full moon snowshoe, conditions permitting. Hot chocolate, light wish lanterns, and the 1.5 mile trail. Pets welcome. YPN Lift-Up Hour Noon @ Lift-Up (2125 Curve Court) Help the Young Professionals Network assist the Lift-Up Donation Center transition from winter to spring. A philanthropic lunch hour to give back to your community. No RSVP required. Ski with a Naturalist 1:30 PM @ Why Not trailhead (Mt. Werner) Yampatika program partnered with Steamboat Ski Corporation and US Forest Service. FREE. No registration required. (Does NOT include lift ticket costs) Moonlight Snowshoe 5 PM @ Howelsen Hill Join Yampatika on a full-moon snowshoe tour.
Explore Emerald Mountain and Howelsen Hill. Event time varies. Ages 12 and up. Cost: $20, includes snowshoes and lift ticket. Registration required: (970) 871-9151 Ping Pong Tournament 6 PM @ McNight’s Irish Pub All abilities welcome. FREE Two-Step Tuesday 8 PM @ Schmiggity’s Country dancing Schmiggitys.com
To submit your events or calendar information e-mail: cody@yampavalleyvoice.com Events may be edited for length or content. Calendar entries must be received by the 15th of each month. Steamboat is Magic! 7 PM @ Chief Theater Featuring: Fred and Bobbie Becker Mix of comedy, magic, theater and improv. Tickets: $15/ adults; $10/students. Chieftheater.org
Dollar Bowling Night 9 PM @ Snow Bowl Only $1! Reservations: 970-879-9840
Zolopht 9 PM @ Schmiggity’s Reggae Schmiggitys.com ; ZolophtMusic.com
Wednesday February 4
Thursday February 5
Winter Carnival Feb. 4 - Feb. 8 Various @ Steamboat Springs 102nd Annual Winter Carnival. Started by the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club as a way to help cope with cabin fever, Winter Carnival combines mainstreet events like shovel races, snow sculptures, and ski jumping behind horses with nighttime activities like fireworks, the lighted man and the firey hoop. Gen-u-ine Western fun.
Steamboat Writers Group Noon @ The Art Depot Writers discuss and critique their work. All are welcome. FREE. www.steamboatwriters. com, info@steamboatwriters. com
Pat Waters 5 PM @ Aurum Acoustic Rock FREE Irish Music 5:30 PM @ McNight’s Irish Pub Featuring: Common Ground Celtic FREE Snowbike Series 6 PM @ Catamount Ranch Fat Cat Full Moon Snowbike Series. 15km race.Burgers and beers following event. Cost: $35. Helmet required, light recommended. Registration and info: (970) 871-6667 KinnecTek 6:30 PM @ McKnight’s Irish Pub Monthly Meetup of fun social group for connectors, forward thinkers, and techies. Enjoy networking and learning about stuff. Short attention spans are OK. Bluegrass Wednesday 7 PM @ Carl’s Tavern Band: Old Town Pickers FREE
Ski with a Naturalist 1:30 PM @ Why Not trailhead (Mt. Werner) Yampatika program partnered with Steamboat Ski Corporation and US Forest Service. FREE. No registration required. (Does NOT include lift ticket costs) Brad Rasmussen & Jody Feeley 5 PM @ Aurum Contemporary Rock FREE American Denial 6:30 PM @ Bud Werner Memorial Library Story of Nobel Laureate Gunnar Myrdal whose 1944 inquiry into the United States’ racial psyche is a lens for modern inquiry into how unconscious attitudes continue to dominate racial dynamics in American life. FREE. www. steamboatlibrary.org/events Steamboat is Magic! 7 PM @ Chief Theater Featuring: Fred and Bobbie Becker Mix of comedy, magic, theater and improv. Tickets: $15/ adults; $10/students. Chieftheater.org Town Challenge 7 PM @ Howelsen Hill Dual Giant Slalom More Info: 970-879-0695 Open Mic Night 8 PM @ McNight’s Irish Pub Free beer for performers. All abilities welcome. FREE.
For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
ATOMGA 9 PM @ Schmiggity’s Afrobeat/Afrofunk Schmiggitys.com ; Atomga.com Friday February 6 Awaken with Chopra Center Yoga 9:30 AM @ Yoga Center of Steamboat Building physical emotional and spiritual strength and clarity. Inspirational teaching, meditation and yoga. Chopra instructor: Patty Zimmer, Info: zimmer@springsips.com. 970-846-5608 Uranium Mine Snowshoe Tour 10 AM @ Fish Creek Falls Semi-strenuous tour in Fish Creek Canyon. In partnership with US Forest Service. Ages 12 & up. FREE. Registration required: 970.871.9151. Women’s XC Series 10 AM @ Lake Catamount Touring Center A six-week series of crosscountry ski classes for women.1 1/2 hour class focusing on technique improvement and fitness. All levels welcome. Cost: series costs $175/$40 per class. Registration and info: (970) 871-6667 Jesse Christensen 5 PM @ Aurum Acoustic Country Rock FREE Bearded Irishmen 7:30 PM @ McNight’s Irish Pub Irishmen with beards. Playing music. FREE John McEuen of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band 8 PM @ Chief Theater Americana, Country and Bluegrass. Tickets: $25. chieftheater.org Filthy Children 10 PM @ Schmiggity’s Funk music Schmiggitys.com ; MySpace. com/FilthyChildren Saturday February 7 2nd Annual Beginners Ice Fishing Clinic 10 AM @, Stagecoach State Park For beginners and families. In partnership with Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
Registration required: 970.871.9151. FREE Emerald Mountain Snowshoe Tour 10 AM @ Howelsen Hill Ride the chairlift on Howelsen Hill, enjoy views of Yampa Valley, and learn winter ecology. Ages 12 & up. Cost: $20, includes snowshoes and lift ticket. Registration required: 970.871.9151 Michael Abalos 5 PM @ Aurum Acoustic Rock FREE Stand Up Comedy 7 PM @ Chief Theater Starring: Stephen Agyei Tickets: $15. Chieftheater.org Sandrock Sound 8 PM @ McNight’s Irish Pub Full sounds. Great harmonies. Local music. FREE Whitewater Ramble 10 PM @ Schmiggity’s High Octane Rocky Mountain Dance-Grass Schmiggitys.com ; WhitewaterRamble.com Sunday February 8 Cosmic Dollar Night 7 PM @ Snow Bowl $1 Games & beers. Reservations: 970-879-9840 Sphynx 9 PM @ Schmiggity’s Space Glam Schmiggitys.com ; SphynxMusic.com Monday February 9 Examinations of the Figure in Painted Space 6:30 PM @ Bud Werner Memorial Library Community slideshow and lecture by acclaimed artist and instructor Stuart Shils. FREE. www.steamboatlibrary.org/ events Improv 7 PM @ The Chief Theater Join the Chief Players and learn Improvisational Theater. All ages welcome. FREE. (Donations appreciated) www.chieftheater.org Ladies Night/Game Night 8 PM @ Schmiggity’s Ladies get happy hour prices + bar games Schmiggitys.com Open Mic Night 10 PM @ Old Town Pub Free drink for Performers. FREE.
Tuesday February 10
Ski with a Naturalist 1:30 PM @ Why Not trailhead (Mt. Werner) Yampatika program partnered with Steamboat Ski Corporation and US Forest Service. FREE. No registration required. (Does NOT include lift ticket costs) Ping Pong Tournament 6 PM @ McNight’s Irish Pub All abilities welcome. FREE Born To Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity 6:30 PM @ Bud Werner Memorial Library Film about Elizabeth Streb and her Extreme Action Company daring to embrace fear in the pursuit of human flight. Part of the Dance on Film Series. FREE. www.steamboatlibrary. org/events Two-Step Tuesday 8 PM @ Schmiggity’s Country dancing Schmiggitys.com Dollar Bowling Night 9 PM @ Snow Bowl Only $1! Reservations: 970-879-9840 Wednesday February 11 The Canterbury Tales Six-week Chaucer reading group focusing on the author’s famous novel. Led by veteran English teacher Sally Frostic and a team of experienced local Chaucer aficionados. Limited to 20 participants. Must commit to the reading and sessions. For registration: 879-0240x317. FREE. www. steamboatlibrary.org/events Legacy Workshop 9:30 AM @ Courthouse Annex (136 6th St.) Workshop about sharing values with future generations and planning for end-of-life finances and issues. Speakers: Jeff Tranel and Norm Dalsted from CSU. Lunch + materials provided. Cost: $25 for 1st family member; $10 each additional member. Registration and info: (970) 879-0825, todd. hagenbuch@colostate.edu Pat Waters 5 PM @ Aurum Acoustic Rock FREE Irish Music 5:30 PM @ McNight’s Irish Pub Featuring: Common Ground Celtic FREE
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Food Chains 6:30 PM @ Bud Werner Memorial Library Film about an intrepid group of farm workers battling to defeat the $4 trillion global supermarket industry and revealing abuse of farm laborers in the .United States. FREE. www. steamboatlibrary.org/events Bluegrass Wednesday 7 PM @ Carl’s Tavern Band: Trevor G Potter FREE Jon Wayne & the Pain 9 PM @ Schmiggity’s Reggae-Tronic Dub Schmiggitys.com ; JonWayneAndThePain.com Thursday February 12 Steamboat Writers Group Noon @ The Art Depot Writers discuss and critique their work. All are welcome. FREE. www.steamboatwriters. com, info@steamboatwriters. com Ski with a Naturalist 1:30 PM @ Why Not trailhead (Mt. Werner) Yampatika program partnered with Steamboat Ski Corporation and US Forest Service. FREE. No registration required. (Does NOT include lift ticket costs) Brad Rasmussen & Jody Feeley 5 PM @ Aurum Contemporary Rock FREE Singer Songwriter Series 7 PM @ Chief Theater Featuring: Haley Cole & Joe Teichman Chieftheater.org Open Mic Night 8 PM @ McNight’s Irish Pub Free beer for performers. All abilities welcome. FREE. 40 Oz to Freedom 10 PM @ Schmiggity’s Sublime tribute Schmiggitys.com ; MySpace. com/40OuncesToFreedomBand Friday February 13 Awaken with Chopra Center Yoga 9:30 AM @ Yoga Center of Steamboat Building physical emotional and spiritual strength and clarity. Inspirational teaching, meditation and yoga. Chopra
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Calendar of Events instructor: Patty Zimmer, Info: zimmer@springsips.com.970846-5608 Uranium Mine Snowshoe Tour 10 AM @ Fish Creek Falls Semi-strenuous tour in Fish Creek Canyon. In partnership with US Forest Service. Ages 12 & up. FREE. Registration required: 970.871.9151. Women’s XC Series 10 AM @ Lake Catamount Touring Center A six-week series of crosscountry ski classes for women.1 1/2 hour class focusing on technique improvement and fitness. All levels welcome. Cost: series costs $175/$40 per class. Registration and info: (970) 871-6667 Jesse Christensen 5 PM @ Aurum Acoustic Country Rock FREE Bearded Irishmen 7:30 PM @ McNight’s Irish Pub Irishmen with beards. Playing music. FREE The Vagina Monologues 8 PM @ Chief Theater Monologues read by a varying number of women dealing with varying issues of women. Chieftheater.org Leadville Cherokee 10 PM @ Schmiggity’s Alternative Rock fueled by bluegrass. Schmiggitys.com ; LeadvilleCherokee.BandCamp. com Saturday February 14 Emerald Mountain Snowshoe Tour 10 AM @ Howelsen Hill Ride the chairlift on Howelsen Hill, enjoy views of Yampa Valley, and learn winter ecology. Ages 12 & up. Cost: $20, includes snowshoes and lift ticket. Registration required: 970.871.9151 No BS! Brass Band 3:30 PM @ Gondola Square No BS! Brass Band combine NOLA brass with elements of James Brown, John Coltrane, Michael Jackson, and Led Zeppelin. FREE. Bud Light Rocks the Boat series. Michael Abalos 5 PM @ Aurum Acoustic Rock FREE
Torchlight Parade 6 PM @ Mt. Werner Steamboat Ski & Snowboard School put on a spectacular on-snow parade down the mountain lit only by torches. In conjunction, a fireworks display will illuminate the sky. FREE.
Monday February 16
Valentine’s Day Concert 6 PM @ Strings Music Pavilion Winter fundraising event in the Pavilion. Enjoy a gourmet sitdown dinner and an intimate live concert with the Grammy Award-nominated Eroica Trio. Part of sales supports the Strings Youth Education Programs.
Latin Night 8 PM @ Schmiggity’s Salsa dancing and lessons Schmiggitys.com
Sandrock Sound 8 PM @ McNight’s Irish Pub Full sounds. Great harmonies. Local music. FREE The Vagina Monologues 8 PM @ Chief Theater Monologues read by a varying number of women dealing with varying issues of women. Chieftheater.org Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad 10 PM @ Schmiggity’s Psychedelic Roots/Reggae Schmiggitys.com ; LivePanda.com Sunday February 15 Town Challenge 10 AM @ Mt Werner (Sitz/See Me) Gaint Slalom More Info: 970-871-5387 Yoga in the Pavilion 10 AM @ Strings Music Pavilion Dynamic 90 minute yoga practice exploring the synergy of live music and yoga to build energy in the body, calm the mind, and open the heart. Teachers: Jennifer Gabriel and Jill Barker. Music: Jeff Liffmann. All levels. $20/advance, $25/ at door. More info: stringsmusicfestival.com Cosmic Dollar Night 7 PM @ Snow Bowl $1 Games & beers. Reservations: 970-879-9840 Antiserum w/ Ghetdown Network 9 PM @ Schmiggity’s DJ Dance Party Schmiggitys.com; SoundCloud. com/Antiserum
Improv 7 PM @ The Chief Theater Join the Chief Players and learn Improvisational Theater. All ages welcome. FREE. (Donations appreciated) www.chieftheater.org
Open Mic Night 10 PM @ Old Town Pub Free drink for Performers. FREE. Tuesday February 17 Ski with a Naturalist 1:30 PM @ Why Not trailhead (Mt. Werner) Yampatika program partnered with Steamboat Ski Corporation and US Forest Service. FREE. No registration required. (Does NOT include lift ticket costs) Drum Class 5:30 PM @ Steinberg Pavilion (Perry-Mansfield) Community classes with two acclaimed Congolese artists, dancer Mabiba Baegne and drummer Teber MilandouSita. Bring your own drum. All levels. $15 cash/check at door. Presented by Steamboat African Dance & Drum Ensemble and Perry-Mansfield. More info: 970-846-9695 Winter film series 6 PM @ Chief Theater Films: “Ski Town USA!” and “Ski Trails” A 1958 Universal Studios Promotional film and a 1949 silent film of early Steamboat skiing. Sponsored by the Tread of Pioneers Museum. Film series held on the 3rd Tuesday each month. FREE. www.treadofpioneers.org, chieftheater.org Ping Pong Tournament 6 PM @ McNight’s Irish Pub All abilities welcome. FREE Dance class 7 PM @ Steinberg Pavilion (Perry-Mansfield) Community classes with two acclaimed Congolese artists, dancer Mabiba Baegne and drummer Teber Milandou-Sita. Dance in bare feet and wear comfortable clothes. All levels. $15 cash/check at door. Presented by Steamboat African Dance & Drum Ensemble and Perry-Mansfield. More info: 970-846-9695
Two-Step Tuesday 8 PM @ Schmiggity’s Country dancing Schmiggitys.com Dollar Bowling Night 9 PM @ Snow Bowl Only $1! Reservations: 970-879-9840 Wednesday February 18 Pat Waters 5 PM @ Aurum Acoustic Rock FREE Irish Music 5:30 PM @ McNight’s Irish Pub Featuring: Common Ground Celtic FREE Bluegrass Wednesday 7 PM @ Carl’s Tavern Band: Bradford Lee & The Bluegrass Playboys FREE Jaden Carlson Band 9 PM @ Schmiggity’s Funk/Soul/Fusion/Rock Schmiggitys.com; JadenCarlsonBand.com Thursday February 19 Steamboat Writers Group Noon @ The Art Depot Writers discuss and critique their work. All are welcome. FREE. www.steamboatwriters. com, info@steamboatwriters. com Ski with a Naturalist 1:30 PM @ Why Not trailhead (Mt. Werner) Yampatika program partnered with Steamboat Ski Corporation and US Forest Service. FREE. No registration required. (Does NOT include lift ticket costs) Brad Rasmussen & Jody Feeley 5 PM @ Aurum Contemporary Rock FREE Singer Songwriter Series 7 PM @ Chief Theater Featuring: Hannah Aldridge Tickets: $15/ General; $5/ Students Chieftheater.org Open Mic Night 8 PM @ McNight’s Irish Pub Free beer for performers. All abilities welcome. FREE.
Cold River City 9 PM @ Schmiggity’s Funky Soul and Dirty Blues Schmiggitys.com; ColdRiverCityMusic.com Friday February 20 Awaken with Chopra Center Yoga 9:30 AM @ Yoga Center of Steamboat. Building physical emotional and spiritual strength and clarity. Inspirational teaching, meditation and yoga. Chopra instructor: Patty Zimmer, Info: zimmer@ springsips.com. 970-846-5608 Uranium Mine Snowshoe Tour 10 AM @ Fish Creek Falls Semi-strenuous tour in Fish Creek Canyon. In partnership with US Forest Service. Ages 12 & up. FREE. Registration required: 970.871.9151. Jesse Christensen 5 PM @ Aurum Acoustic Country Rock FREE Teton Gravity Research Film: Higher 7 PM @ Chief Theater Highly- praised film presented by Michael Martin Productions and the Chief Theater. Chieftheater.org Bearded Irishmen 7:30 PM @ McNight’s Irish Pub Irishmen with beards. Playing music. FREE Rowdy Shadehouse 10 PM @ Schmiggity’s Super Funk Schmiggitys.com ; RowdyShadehouse.com Saturday February 21 Emerald Mountain Snowshoe Tour 10 AM @ Howelsen Hill Ride the chairlift on Howelsen Hill, enjoy views of Yampa Valley, and learn winter ecology. Ages 12 & up. Cost: $20, includes snowshoes and lift ticket. Registration required: 970.871.9151 Michael Abalos 5 PM @ Aurum Acoustic Rock FREE Sandrock Sound 8 PM @ McNight’s Irish Pub Full sounds. Great harmonies. Local music. FREE
To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one’s own in the midst of abundance. – Buddha
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Calendar of Events Acutonic 10 PM @ Schmiggity’s Reggae Schmiggitys.com ; Facebook.com/Acutonic Sunday February 22 Town Challenge 10 AM @ Mt Werner (Sitz/ See Me) Super Combined Race More info: 970-871-5387 Community Yoga Practice 10 AM @ Bud Werner Memorial Library One-hour yoga practice focuses on Mimi Solaire’s “Deep Stretch Yin Yoga” DVD. Bring your own mat, practice at your own pace. FREE. www.steamboatlibrary. org/events Winterfest 11 AM @ Decker Park (Oak Creek) Enjoy fun winter activities including snow painting, sledding, snowman building contest, snow dash races and more! Town Challenge 1 PM @ Mt Werner (Sitz/See Me) Super Combined Race More info: 970-871-5387 Cosmic Dollar Night 7 PM @ Snow Bowl $1 Games & beers. Reservations: 970-879-9840 Sonic Sunday 9 PM @ Schmiggity’s DJ Dance Party Schmiggitys.com Monday February 23 Aatsinki: The Story of Arctic Cowboys 6:30 PM @ Bud Werner Memorial Library Award-winning film about a year in the life of a family of reindeer herders in Finnish Lapland. FREE. www.steamboatlibrary.org/events Improv 7 PM @ The Chief Theater Join the Chief Players and learn Improvisational Theater. All ages welcome. FREE. (Donations appreciated) www.chieftheater.org Ladies Night/Game Night 8 PM @ Schmiggity’s Ladies get happy hour prices + bar games Schmiggitys.com
Open Mic Night 10 PM @ Old Town Pub Free drink for Performers. FREE. Tuesday February 24 Ski with a Naturalist 1:30 PM @ Why Not trailhead (Mt. Werner) Yampatika program partnered with Steamboat Ski Corporation and US Forest Service. FREE. No registration required. (Does NOT include lift ticket costs) Ping Pong Tournament 6 PM @ McNight’s Irish Pub All abilities welcome. FREE 2 Step Tuesday 8 PM @ Schmiggity’s Country dancing Schmiggitys.com Dollar Bowling Night 9 PM @ Snow Bowl Only $1! Reservations: 970-879-9840 Wednesday February 25 Pat Waters 5 PM @ Aurum Acoustic Rock FREE Irish Music 5:30 PM @ McNight’s Irish Pub Featuring: Common Ground Celtic. FREE Bluegrass Wednesday 7 PM @ Carl’s Tavern Band: Jay & Friends FREE To Kill A Man 7 PM @ Chief Theater Sundance Film Festival World Cinema Grand Jury Award winner. Directed by Alejandro Fernández Almendras. Spanish with English subtitles. Part of the foreign film series. FREE. www.steamboatlibrary.org/ events Dead Winter Carpenters & Grant Farm 9 PM @ Schmiggity’s Americana/Roots Rock Schmiggitys.com ; DeadWinterCarpenters.com; GrantFarm.net Thursday February 26 Steamboat Writers Group Noon @ The Art Depot Writers discuss and critique their work. All are welcome. FREE. www.steamboatwriters. com, info@steamboatwriters. com
Ski with a Naturalist 1:30 PM @ Why Not trailhead (Mt. Werner) Yampatika program partnered with Steamboat Ski Corporation and US Forest Service. FREE. No registration required. (Does NOT include lift ticket costs) Winter Blast Triathlon 4:30 PM @ Old Town Hot Springs Series of three triathlon events at Old Town Hot Springs. Great opportunity for off-season, multi-sport training. More info: oldtownhotsprings.org Brad Rasmussen & Jody Feeley 5 PM @ Aurum Contemporary Rock FREE Steamboat Dance Theatre 7 PM @ SSHS (45 Maple St.) 43rd Annual Dance Performance. Local dancers dancing. Variety of styles/music. Proceeds benefit Steamboat Dance Theatre and community outreach programs. Info and tickets: steamboatdancetheatre.org.; (970) 819-1710 Broadways Next H!T Musical 7 PM @ Strings Music Pavilion Master improvisers create a spontaneous evening of music based on audience suggestion. Humor and laughter for adult audiences. Tickets: $35 and up. Tickets/info: tickets.stringsmusicfestival.com Open Mic Night 8 PM @ McNight’s Irish Pub Free beer for performers. All abilities welcome. FREE. The DBC 9 PM @ Schmiggity’s Funk/Rock Schmiggitys.com ; TheDBCDenver.com Friday February 27 Awaken with Chopra Center Yoga 9:30 AM @ Yoga Center of Steamboat Building physical emotional and spiritual strength and clarity. Inspirational teaching, meditation and yoga. Chopra instructor: Patty Zimmer, Info: zimmer@springsips.com.970846-5608 Uranium Mine Snowshoe Tour 10 AM @ Fish Creek Falls Semi-strenuous tour in Fish Creek Canyon. In partnership with US Forest Service. Ages 12 & up. FREE. Registration required: 970.871.9151.
For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
Jesse Christensen 5 PM @ Aurum Acoustic Country Rock FREE 10th Annual Backcountry Film Festival 7 PM @ Chief Theater Celebrate the ‘human powered experience’ of people getting into the backcountry. Presented by: Yampatika; Friends of the Routt Backcounty. Tickets: General/ $20; Students w/ ID/$15. Benefits Yampatika and Friends of the Routt Backcountry. Steamboat Dance Theatre 7 PM @ SSHS (45 Maple St.) 43rd Annual Dance Performance. Local dancers dancing. Variety of styles/music. Proceeds benefit Steamboat Dance Theatre and community outreach programs. Info and tickets: steamboatdancetheatre.org.; (970) 819-1710 Bearded Irishmen 7:30 PM @ McNight’s Irish Pub Irishmen with beards. Playing music. FREE Missed the Boat 10 PM @ Schmiggity’s Party-Grass Schmiggitys.com ; MissedTheBoatBand.com Saturday February 28 Emerald Mountain Snowshoe Tour 10 AM @ Howelsen Hill Ride the chairlift on Howelsen Hill, enjoy views of Yampa Valley, and learn winter ecology. Ages 12 & up. Cost: $20, includes snowshoes and lift ticket. Registration required: 970.871.9151 Michael Abalos 5 PM @ Aurum Acoustic Rock FREE Banff Radical Reels 7 PM @ Chief Theater Part of Bike Town USA Fundraiser Chieftheater.org Sandrock Sound 8 PM @ McNight’s Irish Pub Full sounds. Great harmonies. Local music. FREE We’s Us 10 PM @ Schmiggity’s Alt. Rock Schmiggitys.com ; WesUsBand.com
Last minute changes can and do occur - Mother Nature, illness, tour malfunction, whatever - the accuracy of this calendar is not guaranteed! 8th Street Steak House 9 PM-Close, Everyday 9:30 -11 PM, Everyday Aurum Food & Wine 5-6 PM, Everyday Big House Burgers 4:20-6 PM, Mon-Sat., All Day, Sunday Bistro C.V. 5-6:30 PM, Everyday Cantina 3-6 PM, Everyday Carl’s Tavern 4-6 PM, Everyday Circle R Bar 4-6 PM, Thurs. – Sat. Cuginos Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant 4-6 PM, Mon. – Fri. Karma Bar and Lounge 4-6 PM, Mon.- Sat. Laundry 4:30- 6 PM, Tues. - Sat. Mahogany Ridge Brewery & Grill 4-5:30 PM, Everyday 9:30 -11 PM, Everyday Mambo Italiano 4-5:30 PM, Everyday Mazzolas’s Majestic Italian Diner 5-6 PM, Everyday McKnights Irish Pub 4-6 PM, Mon.- Fri. 11 AM – Noon, Sat.-Sun. Old Town Pub & Restaurant 3 -6 PM, Everyday Rex’s American Grill & Bar 4:20-6 PM, Everyday Riggio’s Ristorante 5-6 PM, Mon- Sat. Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant 3-6 PM, Everyday Sake2u 4-6 PM, Mon - Fri. 3-6 PM, Sat.-Sun. Sambi Restaurant 5-6 PM, Everyday Schmiggity’s Live Music & Dance Bar 7-9 PM, Everyday Slopeside Grill 3-6 PM, Mon. – Fri. Steamboat Smokehouse 3-6 PM, Everyday Sunpie’s Bistro 3-6 PM, Everyday Tap House Sports Grill 3-6 PM, Mon. - Fri. The Rusted Porch 2-6 PM, Everyday
Valley Voice
February 2015
23
Style
Tourist or Fashionista? By Kelsey Martin and Danielle Zimmerer Let me start out by saying that if you don’t know me and you saw me out for drinks or dinner with friends, you’d probably never guess that I’m actually a Steamboat local. I have always had a passion for fashion, style, and the latest trends, so I am always dressed for fashion before function, which absolutely does not make sense in a mountain town. I’ll take a pair of ankle booties and a fabulous coat over snow boots and a ski jacket any day. As a fashion blogger, I don’t mind if people think I’m crazy for wearing heeled ankle boots instead of snow boots, or a nice wool coat instead of a ski jacket, and due to my fashion choices, I am completely OK with being mistaken for a tourist fresh off a flight into Yampa Valley Regional Airport.
ones on all the time. These are both wool, so they are really warm, but add more personality than the normal beanie for cold weather. Even if you’re not sure if it’s your style or not, I would encourage trying one on next time you’re shopping and if you find one that suits you, rock it. I promise you will get compliments. Another winter favorite is a staple sweater that you can wear with anything. Dress it up, dress it down, or throw it on in the house with sweat pants. You need a
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A prime example of that just happened last weekend. Even though Texas Music Week was over at that point, two girlfriends and I walked into a bar downtown where we were greeted by a group of young guys welcoming us as Texans. Guys, make a note, not every fashionista in Steamboat is a tourist from Texas. Now ladies, if you’re like me and don’t mind being mistaken for a tourist if it means having great style, I have a few fashion tips that include my favorite winter items every woman should have in her closet. Winter coats are one of my favorite pieces of clothing. I have more than I need, admittedly, but I do my best to jazz up my outfits in the winter by wearing different ones. Try something that makes a statement like the grey and white on or this leopard one. Next time you’re feeling like a winter wardrobe makeover or need to glam up an outfit, I would encourage you to pull out a nice coat every once in a while for your days or evenings out. Even though I said earlier that I choose fashion over function often throughout the winter, one thing I have learned is that there are so many brands out there that are bringing the two together. There are some really great snow boots for women now that merge function with personal style, and Hunter rain boots are one of my favorite examples. I find them to be really slip resistant, and I love adding a pop of red to an otherwise monochrome outfit. I actually just wandered into FM Light and Sons the other day, and they have several colors to choose from, so I think green or navy ones might soon be added to my wardrobe. I have a real weakness for hats. I have, again, admittedly more than I need, but I still find myself trying new
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February is Dental Health Awareness Month. Have a Heart and provide your pet with an oral health assessment.
few that fit that mold. This one is actually from Chrysalis downtown, and in its short life in my closet, has already seen the light of day several times. Lastly, if you’re feeling bold, probably my favorite thing I own are these leggings. Whether you splurge for real leather, or find a great pair of faux leather ones, if you’re daring, I say get a pair. Leather is huge right now in the fashion world, and if styled correctly, I guarantee you’ll look fabulous, turn heads, and get compliments. Just wear a longer top and a pair of heels, and you’ll kill it. Not all of these tips are always practical here in the winter, but you can always find little ways to express your personal style, even if it means being mistaken for a tourist.
Kelsey Martin, Steamboat Fashion Blogger and Danielle Zimmerer, Lifestyle Photographer
Of all dogs and some cats 2 years old or more, 80% have some form of dental disease. Veterinarians say that the periodontal disease is the number one diagnosed condition in pets today. On average, pets that have healthy mouths live 2 to 5 years longer.
Happy Pets! Happy People!
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970-879-5273 Harmony is pure love, for love is a concerto. – Lope de Vega
24
February 2015
Valley Voice
Hipster Sports
Sticks and Stones By Cody Badaracca
A hypothetical situation: I’m sitting at a bar as the world outside ages and screams. I’m drinking a healthy glass of bourbon and staring blankly at a TV to keep from swan diving into the river of madness running in my veins. A football game is on. The playing teams are arbitrary, since this is hypothetical, and it’s just a game. Two flap-jack good-ol-boys with paunches and rough faces sit a few seats down, also staring. Silence chews its leg in the snap-trap of the situation until one of the good-olboys, uncomfortable with it, clears his throat and says something like “Y’know, this QB has done much better since they swapped the defensive tight end, and Johnson is finally getting the damn ball into the end zone.” The other guy scoffs and mumbles “Johnson can’t hold a ball if his life depended on it. He’s been stripped 5 out the last 7 plays and his average completed touchdowns last year was well below 50 percent.” This sparks the damp tinder of Football banter that smolders on the bar top. Dick and Tom (our arbitrary and hypothetical good-ol-boys) start talking stats on the two teams, what players traded from where, why 74 is better than Johnson, how the tight end fumbled on that last 3rd down and screwed the play, how Dick should get a new QB for his fantasy team, etc. I drink my whiskey, feeling the slow death of my childhood memories swirling in the tepid conversation I’m privy to because of proximity. Finally I clear my throat, put on my best Minnesotan accent and say something like “Yeh, Johnson is ok der, but he’s no Hans Wolkowski. I mean you talk about a skip who can throw a stone! Oof dah. Damn near hits the tee bout every time, ya know? He sweeps a bit aggressive, sure. Nobody sweeps as good as Sven Andersen – that third over der in Green Bay? Boy is hell on ice, ya know. But nobody, I mean no-bady, throws a hammer like Wolkowski. Got an out-turn that’s damn poetry, even with that recent wrist injury, der...” Dick and Tom are speechless and confused. Goal achieved. Touchdown. Silence gnaws into bone again. *** I’m employing the sport of Curling as a means of battling the watered down conversation of modern major sports. I really have minimal (but growing, I’ll admit) interest in Curling. It’s more of conversational Tai Chi to fend off having to talk about sports, which is the lowest common denominator of small talk, aside from the weather. At the least the weather has some pragmatic value – if it’s raining outside, that’s information that I want to know about. I cannot emphasize enough how I DO NOT CARE about who was traded to which team, or the stats on that rookie from Arizona. Yet, there’s no escaping the sand-pit of sports talk. Certainly, I could break a beer bottle and stab them in the jugular, effectively ending the conversation, but I’m trying to avoid incarceration. So what’s the furthest thing from American Football?
Margarita Fomina, Anna Sidorova & Ekaterina Galkina of the Russian Women’s Curling Team, February 20, 2010. Photo by Ryan Clare
Curling. It leaves Dick and Tom out of context, facing a sports stalemate. This is a(nother) rant, folks. I’ll preface it by noting that I actually appreciate the dedication and physical talent it takes to play a game like American Football, (or regular Football, for that matter), and I enjoy watching a well-executed pass or turnover that results in a touchdown. I also understand that team sports are a good way for people to bond and that athletics can endorse values like: dedication, teamwork, strategy, humility, etc. – I get it. But that noted: it is a GAME that I forget about it once it’s over because it is a GAME. The over-analysis of teams, players and plays, hordes of pundits and overwhelming amount of money and paraphilia dedicated to major sports is stupefying and sick. As of writing this, the cheapest Superbowl ticket is going for over $2,600. Cheapest. Certainly Football is low-hanging fruit getting the brunt of criticism – it’s applicable to all major sports. (I won’t jump on the domestic violence bandwagon: this isn’t exclusively a problem with major sports or American culture. It’s a deficiency in humanity. We’ll leave it at that.) Why is America obsessed with living vicariously through professional athletes? Because they’re fit? Or their seemingly god-like legal status within society? It does take a special type of physical talent, prowess, dedication, etc… but instead of drinking beer, idly watching THE GAME, why doesn’t America go out and play some half court B-ball? Actual B-ball. No video games. While professional Football players complain about the physical hardships and sacrificing their bodies to the game, I’d note how there are thousands of carpenters, roofers, drywall hangers, landscapers and bricklayers who have ruined their bodies doing far more productive things for fractions of what one professional sport athlete makes in a year. In one GAME. Where are the stats
For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
on them? Does anyone have a fantasy league made up of construction foremen and concrete workers? So, enter Curling. Considered one of the oldest team sports in history, it started in 16th century Scotland when Scotsmen started sliding odd shaped rocks across frozen lochs and lakes (leave it to the Scottish to invent weird-ass sports). Scottish soldiers immigrating to America in the 1830s brought Curling to Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota and the game proliferated like kudzu. The game became an official Olympic sport in the 1998 Nagano winter games and has been a staple since then. Estimates put the current USA curling population at 15,000 curlers and 135 clubs.*
Played on the bastard child of an ice rink and shuffle board court, a Curling “sheet” is 150 feet long with concentric circles on each end, known as the House. At the center of each house is the tee and a center line divides the sheet, passing from one end to the other through the tees. The hog lines are located 21 feet from each tee and the 42-pound granite stones must be released by and respectively pass over the hog lines to be considered eligible for play. The four-member team alternates sweeping and throwing two stones each in an “end” (akin to an inning in baseball). The thrower launches herself off of the “hack”, a rubber foothold, akin to starting blocks on a track. Gliding in an extended yoga pose, the thrower holds onto the stone until that sweet, knife-edge moment of release, whereupon the stone is a free object, dancing down the oblivion of the sheet, subject to the sweep and brush of the other team members trying to control the stone’s trajectory down the sheet into the opposing team’s house, sweeping with the mad intensity of a housewife who can’t find the bottle of “mommy’s little helper”. Sixteen stones are thrown in an end (2 teams with 4 people + 8 stones a team). Once all stones have been thrown points are tallied and awarded to whichever team has stones closer to the
Valley Voice
February 2015
25
In Front of the Gavel
tee. A game consists of eight ends usually lasting two, blood soaked hours. Albeit seemingly calm, Curling is like a camping trip – intense. It’s raftered to as “Chess on Ice” and might be, in my factitious opinion, the most dangerous sport out there, second only to bathing one’s naked body in chicken blood and spear-fishing for piranhas. (Sadly, this is verboten, since the damn PETA hippies whine about blah, blah, cruelty to chickens, blah, blah, blah, fish have feelings, etc.)
Aside from the granite and gore, the real appeal of Curling lies in its manifesto: “The Spirit of Curling generally sees no player attempt to gain an advantage in the game through any malice…It refers to the respect curlers show, not only to one another, but also to the sport itself…encapsulated by the saying that a curler would rather lose than win unfairly.”** A rugger told me that rugby (the grizzled grandfather of American Football) holds the same Geist at its core – if the opponent’s flank is exposed, a rugger won’t take the cheap shot. The pride of fair play is too strong. All sports try to embrace this, I think, but when NFL, NBA, and MLB players receive multi-million dollar endorsements to play a GAME, they give up the ghost. The pernicious nature of capitalism bares fangs and suddenly quarter backs and tight ends are selling us soup and cars. They’re caught in strip-club shootings and dog-fight rings. Unnecessary roughness. Steroids. Scandals. Where’s that spirit? Point is that our adulation of sports is, I think, a symptom of a sick culture. A culture more engrossed in the consumerism. How many people watch the Superbowl for the (multi-million dollar) commercials? I get that we all want to be part of the tribe, “one of the guys” watching THE GAME, but it’s so arbitrary, and we, as a nation, make such a big deal about it. Look, again: I senjoy watching sports for that beauty of the well-placed tslap shot, or the insane physics of a slam-dunk. But once the buzzer screams out in that final period, once the whistle wails at the end of the quarter, I move on to other things… …like an end of Curling. ***
“Yeh, Ol’ Walkowski.” I’d continue, after a bit, “Helluva curler, that guy. Damn if he couldn’t throw a stone from hack to hog.”
Dick and Tom sit there with the slack jaw expressions commonplace in the American male, his brain swaddled in pop culture and beer, trying to work through the esoteric terminology I’ve just laid down like shiny, new weaponry. It’s as if it ALMOST makes sense in their world of touchdowns, 2-point conversions, sacks, fumbles and field goals. They grapple with a rage unknown percolating in their spines and the base of their skulls that’s making its way toward their collective American heart, draped in red white and blue. They don’t understand it, but they feel the desire to kick my ass, but without a reason, their patriotic machismo is rendered null. And as they sit, dumfounded, I finish the rest of my libation, slap my hard earned money down like a good American, a FREE MAN, and stride out of the bar into the cold and apathetic sunshine with my head held ehigh, proud of the great sport of Curling. SOURCES: *www.curldc.org/history-of-curling-and-its-place-in-theworld **www.worldcurling.org/the-spirit-of-curling
Why $995 Million (and a ranch in Carmel) is not enough By Jolien Harro
Sue Ann Hamm’s divorce attorneys argued that her $1 billion divorce judgment was just not enough. Ms. Hamm’s Oklahoma dissolution of a 26-year marriage with her energy mogul husband, Harold Hamm, Chief Executive Officer of Continental Resources, landed her a small fraction of the marital estate that her attorneys estimated to be worth at least $17 billion. Ms. Hamm’s award included $995 million in cash, paid over eight years; a $17.5 million ranch in Carmel, California; and the $4.7 million home in Oklahoma City. The legal paparazzi questioned whether she would accept this judgment or appeal it. Would the same outcome occur in neighboring Colorado? Differences in the divorce laws between the two states regarding property division suggest probably not. In Colorado, marital property is valued on the date of division not the date of filing the divorce petition, as may occur in Oklahoma. Because a divorce case with large assets may take years until final resolution, increase in value while the case is pending can be significant. In Oklahoma, increases in value to a marital asset due to the effort of one spouse may be set aside to that managing spouse. This suggests that the working spouse should be afforded a greater portion of the assets as occurred in the Hamm case. In Colorado, the contributions of a homemaker spouse are considered equal to the contributions of a working spouse, thus thwarting any claim by a spouse that he/she should be awarded all the retirement accounts, because he/she was the party who earned it. In Colorado, all property acquired by either spouse after the marriage and prior to entry of decree of dissolution of marriage is marital unless such property is determined to be separate property. Separate property is property acquired before the marriage or by gift, bequest, devise or descent; property acquired in exchange of property acquired before the marriage or by gift, bequest, devise or descent; property acquired after a decree of legal separation; or property excluded by a valid agreement of the parties, commonly called a pre-nuptial agreement. In Colorado, any increase or decrease in the value of separate property of the spouse during the marriage or the depletion of separate property for marital purposes can be taken into consideration in the overall division of the marital estate. Two significant separate assets, which add to the size of the marital estate due to appreciation, are real estate and investment portfolios. It is always important to identify those increases and divide them between spouses, even though the underlying asset is separate. Colorado courts also consider the economic circumstances of each spouse at the time of division of property, including the desirability of awarding the family residence or right to live there to the spouse who has majority parenting time. Economic circumstances may result in a spouse receiving a greater or lesser percentage of the marital estate. A prime example occurs when a divorcing spouse has considerable separate property vis-à-vis a spouse who has little separate property. A desirable outcome under these facts may be to award the lion’s share of marital property to the “needier”
spouse. In addition, there are many creative ways to keep children in their residence for a period of time to lessen the adjustments resulting from their parents’ divorce.
Both Colorado and Oklahoma look at equitable division of property. This allows the Court latitude to divide property unequally, but equitably. What is equitable is within the sole discretion of the trial court; accordingly, unless there was an abuse of discretion, a property settlement will stand on appeal. In general in Colorado, a court will divide marital assets of a long-term marriage between parties equally, or fairly close thereto. An exception, however, which should be reviewed in all cases, is whether a party’s contribution of separate property to the acquisition of a marital asset should result in an unequal property distribution. The court is likely to rule this way in a shorter term marriage rather than a longer term marriage, where the separate contribution occurred several years earlier. Many times a pro se party (a party representing himself/herself) will leave “money on the table” when working out a property division. A division of marital property is a three-step process: 1) identifying marital property, 2) valuing marital property, and 3) dividing marital property. Oftentimes, an unrepresented party will not know that something really is a marital asset. This commonly occurs when a pro se party fails to consider the gains on the spouse’s separate property or fails to identify that a business is an asset that can be appraised. A party’s failure to value an asset (the family ranch operation, the real estate, the equipment, etc.) may result in a windfall to the party who is retaining this asset. At the very least, someone who is considering representing himself/herself should consult with an attorney to learn what property should be valued and divided. The best result in any divorce case is when the parties themselves decide how to divide their property. Almost every divorcing couple in Colorado is required to participate in mediation, prior to having a final orders hearing, with few exceptions (i.e., domestic violence). This allows couples to decide their outcome, rather than entrusting an equitable outcome to a stranger, who happens to wear a black robe. While every judicial officer strives to reach a fair outcome, this outcome is limited by application of the law and time constraints. Parties can always be more creative than a judicial officer in dividing their assets, especially with the help of a seasoned family law attorney. Ms. Hamm eventually decided to accept the Court’s judgment, which was an award of less than 10% of the marital estate. Her decision is a good one, even though the outcome might be significantly different in Colorado, because she made it.
Jolein A. Harro, P.C. has a team of five attorneys with over 75 years combined legal experience and offices in Steamboat Springs, Littleton, and Lakewood, Colorado. Ms. Harro and her team have worked on several high asset family law cases both in Colorado and out of state.
O Lord, help me to be pure, but not yet. – Saint Augustine
26
February 2015
Valley Voice
ReTree Steamboat - Behind on Valentines? The chocolate is fattening The flowers are dead Buy a tree For your sweetheart, instead. Visit www.yvsc.org/retree to buy now, just $2 a tree! Trees will be planted on June 14th, 2015
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Energetically Speaking
Growing Your Own Kombucha By Fred Robinson
The Kombucha Tea story needs to be told. Supposedly it is a 2000 year old Elixir from China. It is a symbiotic blend of a fungus and bacteria. Kombucha looks like a mushroom and is called a Scoby. The Scoby grows in sweet tea and forms a seal on the surface of the tea. It seals the carbon dioxide that forms during the fermentation. It is available in stores as a tea drink and is usually blended with a fruit juice and sold in pint bottles. The additional juice was its downfall last year because the USDA or FDA realized the sugar in the juice caused secondary fermentation. The fermentation caused alcohol to be formed in the bottle and it could be an unknown amount. Now the Kombucha Tea sold in stores has to be pasteurized and that removes its beneficial effect. The good news is, you can brew your own Kombucha Tea at home and the benefits are worthwhile. All you need is sugar, tea, water, and a Scoby. Metal is a poison for it, so the brewing and fermentation have to happen in porcelain or glass. The coolest part and what makes it work is the Scoby replicates itself in ten to fourteen days. You start a batch by floating a Scoby on a bowl of sweet tea and covering it with a cloth that can breathe. It will grow a new Scoby on top of itself and add the same ability to the tea it grew on. I have heard about anti-oxidant qualities and pro-biotic effects as well as effect to your bodies’ Ph level. My theory is its ability to replicate itself is passed to the tea you drink. This gives the immune system the ability to repair cells by mitosis more easily. Our bodies’ cells replicate just like the Scoby in the Kombucha Tea. That is how our body heals or repairs old age.
I have been brewing and drinking Kombucha Tea for over 25 years. I got it from an old friend. It was in a plastic bag and looked like a big piece of human skin. It came with instructions that told how to brew the tea and grow it. The instructions also had some pretty extreme claims about its healing properties. I started drinking it because my knees were shot, and my shoulders were pretty stiff too. I had been living in Steamboat for over ten years and skied a lot. Long skis, unreliable bindings that were set too high, and plenty of crashes in the bumps had twisted, bruised and dislocated most of my major joints. Arthritis seemed to be a factor too. Well, honestly all the problems are gone, and with no surgeries. The only difference has been Kombucha Tea. Every morning I mix a half pint of Kombucha Tea with juice and drink it. It was slow to repair things and seemed to concentrate on one at a time. The joint would seem like the original injury reoccurred, and then heal properly, HONEST. I very seldom get sick and my allergies are gone. If I don’t have it for a week my joints start to stiffen and hurt again. I tried freezing a jug of it once to take on a trip and that killed the culture, so it didn’t work. Maybe the best part is the cost. Less than a Dollar a month! If you Google it, there is a lot of information available and some of it is negative. Imagine that. intergalactici@aol.com
Yampa Valley Photography Club’s photo of the month: Image by Roger Good
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www.steamboatradio.com For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
Valley Voice
February 2015
Sustainably Situated
Continuing the conversation on Recycling Taking Action – Reducing the Cost of Recycling
27
We’ve Moved to Central Park Plaza! y Health Pets, Happy s! Wallet
By Andy Kennedy for YVSC
It’s past time for us to make waves when it comes to recycling. It’s time for us to come together as a community and make some big decisions. It’s time to do something.
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At all of our meetings and events we hear the same thing: Why does recycling cost so much money? If you’ve missed our past four articles on recycling (YVV 9-2014, YVV 5-2014, HL W-2014) let me recap a little: In 2010 the Yampa Valley Sustainability Council and Yampa Valley Recycles began hosting recycling events for both traditional and hard-to-recycle items in an effort to increase recycling. In 2012 our organizations merged and the real work began. Since then, and even more so in the last 18 months, we have been working diligently on solutions for increased recycling options, studying the viability for regional solutions and collaborating on solutions for cost effectiveness with the three local waste haulers (Aces High, Twin Enviro Services, and Waste Management), city and county government, and a recycling expert from Denver. The Sept2014 YVV article - Recycling Aint Free – discussed just that. Why is recycling expensive? In summation, our current system isn’t working, and it’s cheaper to make something from new materials than it is to recycle the old one. In fact, recycling is grossly expensive, despite the benefits to the environment. The recycling market is directly related to the petroleum market, and if you’ve been paying attention to pump prices this winter, gas is down below $1.80/gallon in some regions, so the value of plastics has plummeted. In addition, there’s the added cost of transporting recyclables to Denver, and local haulers simply don’t make money doing so, meaning your plastics are simply sitting in the yards right now because haulers aren’t making money on them. Refer back to this article for some tips on reducing recycling. Our May2014 and July2013 YVV articles on the Green Machines discussed why these long-time public dropoff sites have gone away in Steamboat. Due to abuse, minimal funding, and outgrowth, the Green Machine at Safeway had to be discontinued. We have added one in Clark and are looking at one being added in Stagecoach, in addition to the two in Oak Creek and Yampa. But traditional recycling (glass, plastics, aluminum, paper, cardboard) isn’t the only elephant in the room. The Hard-to-Recycle category is making news as well. With the July 1, 2013 Electronic Waste Disposal Ban keeping electronics out of the landfill for hazardous reasons (see our article in Homelink Magazine Winter 2014), it has suddenly gotten grossly expensive to dispose of your large electronics (such as a 2001-model TV). At our January 10, 2015 electronic recycling event, large TVs were costing as much as $150 to recycle. Between
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the costs of handling the dangerous contents such as mercury, lead, and other toxic parts and the costs of transporting them to Denver, our local e-waste recyclers simply have to charge that much. So two questions arise. For traditional recycling: Where do we go from here? And for hard-to-recycle items: If it can’t go in the landfill and you can’t afford to recycle it, what are some solutions? For traditional recycling, we all need to help create a better market – buy products with a percentage of postconsumer recycled material. The two recycling markets are dependent on each other. The more we purchase recycled items, the greater demand for recycled materials and then the recycling programs can at least break even. For hard-to-recycle items, recycling stewardship programs are needed. These programs transfer the cost of recycling on to the point of sale of the item, (such as the bottle bill in many states, or the new architectural paint stewardship program) and it’s up to us to make enough waves programs and legislature like Justthat a few more revisions... this for electronics make it to and through Can we take out the: the state House and Senate. Talk to or write your local and state Match or beat programs and legislators aboutWe product stewardship show your support for these programs if they make the Denver pricing! ballot. Shop Local
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and replace it increase with: individual YVSC is doing all we can to help Excellent Pricing but we need our recycling and regional opportunities, community to speak and help us make a difference. GreatupService Shop Local!
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Also, Canwewe takeWhen out:the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves. – Buddha We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what think.
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February 2015
Valley Voice
The Way I See It
Nina Rogers The Space Between Life Coach & Energy Worker
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By Nina Rogers
To resolve or not to resolve? That is the question! Or not. Whether one makes resolutions or not may not be all that important. What about taking time, before rushing off to the next thing, for some quiet consideration and contemplation of where one has recently been? About what one has learned? About what one can appreciate and love, or about what one wishes to avoid in future? Especially during the winter months, even nature lends itself to encouraging us to take time. Before the rush of the new growth of spring is the time of quiet, when we can stay inside and look inside at what we have experienced and learned. Stop for a while and consider your breathing. In between each inhalation and the exhalation that follows; and again before the next inhalation, there is a space. Just a beat when our lungs take a break before bringing the next breath in or pushing the next breath out. If we notice the rhythms (I can’t believe I spelled that right on the first try!) of nature we will become aware of these pauses, like waves lapping the shore. Now look at your own approach to your life. Do you allow a space between the last thing and the next thing? A time to look back and appreciate? A time to clean up the detritus (spelled that right, too!) of the last project before diving into the next one? As anyone who has ever seen my kitchen table will attest, this is an area on which I need to work! The entire upper right hand corner of my table is taken up with remnants of projects not quite finished and put away. I tell myself that I’m going to get back to it, but I seldom do. To put it into the proper perspective, if I am going to prepare a meal, I always put the kitchen in order first because it drives me crazy to have to move things to find the utensil I want or to have counter space for chopping or measuring. Before I begin my trip to town to run errands, I always make my list and put everything I will need for the day into my bag or my car because I hate getting home at the end of the day and finding out that the one really important thing I wanted to do was forgotten.
Doesn’t it make sense then to approach my life in a similar fashion? To take time, before the excitement of the next project grabs me and pulls me along, to put the last project to bed? To look at what I accomplished and give myself acknowledgment of that? To notice what I did not finish and decide, finally, what I will do about that, if anything? To decide how I am changed; whether the same things are still important to me or whether I should be setting new goals and adjusting my outlook. That is what the space between is meant for. It’s about making conscious choices, isn’t it? Instead of just letting momentum carry us forward, it’s about asking ourselves where we’ve been and where we want to go. How can we set our intention for the next project if we’re not sure what the last project accomplished (or even if it is really completed)? Robert and Terri TallTree, in a recent weekly sharing, wrote about the act of cleaning up:
It matters that you look … look closely and with full awareness … at the items which surround you, in physical space, and in emotional space. Your possessions … your memories … your dreams … all are part of you. All are connected to you. When you consciously choose which to keep, which to replace … which to discard … you are engaged in the beautiful process of cleaning your mental, spiritual and emotional home. You truly See what resources you have around you. You become aware of the abundance of your life … your Be-ing! As your awareness grows, you shift in your thinking, your awareness … your openness to receive. You come into the harmony of the Song of your Creation. Celebrate your harmony … expand your awareness as the New Year dawns! I guess I’ll clean my kitchen table now – with awareness and intent – and take time to breathe!
Yampa, Colorado, July 4th, 2014 Photo by Natural Light Images
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Valley Voice
February 2015
Here Knitty-Knitty
Addictive Stripes By LA Bourgeois
29
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PRINTING Posters Photographs
New TURBO INTERNET PLANS From ZIRKEL Wireless Over Christmas, I developed a problem. A stripey hat problem.
take down two birds with one skein). One down, sixteen to go!
Each year, I knit something for a bunch of kids that our friends and family have managed to produce. One year, they all got sweaters. That was an effort that started in July and continued through until the very last moment on the twelfth day of Christmas.
Next, I grabbed a skein of fuzzy hot pink novelty yarn and gave a little dark blue hat a fuzzy pink brim. Hat number two – done! Use the November 2013 ad as base. Increase font size
Never again. This year, I didn’t start until the week of Thanksgiving. I’d vowed that I wouldn’t knit anything as a gift, but I broke when a friend told me about receiving handmade slippers each year from her grandmother. Apparently, instead of just shrugging and saying a polite thank you (or tossing them over their shoulder like the kids in “A Christmas Story”), these grandchildren got excited. They cherished these handmade gifts from their grandmother, and each year they wore their slippers out because they loved them so much. My friend mused that she wished she had the pattern now so she could make these slippers for her children. Suddenly, I felt guilty. I couldn’t not knit them gifts. What if I was actually disappointing small children by not sending them a little knitted something?! What if they looked forward to receiving their hats or socks or mittens or little knitted toys each year? Crafter guilt. It’s an evil, work-producing, evenings of knitting until your fingers ache kind of thing. I took a moment and a breath. Hats. Hats were the thing. Sure, I gave them all hats last year, but isn’t that part of the tradition? Sometimes, you get the same thing two years in a row. They are kids! They won’t remember! Hell, I barely remember what I got for Christmas last year. So, I began knitting hat after hat after hat. I have a little hat recipe that I use: size 8(US) needle, worsted weight yarn, 80 stitches. Beyond that, I make little adjustments, tweaking and playing with color and patterns. I started off by playing with cables, creating a hat out of a yarn that I’d been wanting to try (might as well
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Remembering a hat I’d seen someone else knit, I cast Fat Bikes and accessories are in stock! on and began playing with color and stripes. Beginning www.zirkelwireless.com with a solid color and a self-striping yarn, I re-created Salsa, Borealis, Moots, 45Nrth, Surly. the hat as exactly as I remembered. One evening produced a super-cute striped hat. I didn’t even realize I was hooked. I just felt lucky that I wanted to cast-on another one. Three off the list. After knitting up three of them, I began to play with the pattern. I spent some time using the self-striping yarn for both stripes and working the colors so they alternated. After six hats, I began to change the pattern. I reduced the number of rows in the stripes. I increased the number of rows in the stripes. I increased the number of rows at the beginning of the hat so I had a distinct roll at the brim. I reduced the number of stitches between color changes on the brim. I played and played and played with this pattern until I’d made it my own.
Fat Bikes and accessories are in stock! Salsa, Borealis, Moots, 45Nrth, Surly.
And, after knitting a total of seventeen hats for kids at Christmastime (fourteen using these stripey patterns), I still love it. I still want to cast one on again. I can’t help myself. I’m addicted. When a yarn rep showed up at the shop the other day with a new self-striping yarn, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. I liberated a ball of the yarn and cuddled it on the ride home.
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I just finished up a test-knit of my little hat with one last adjustment and the happy consequence of a new stripey hat for me! Next, I’ll cast on with this new yarn and finish writing up the pattern. By mid-February, the Addictive Stripes hat will be unleashed on the world. I’ve given you fair warning.
The truth is rarely pure and never simple. – Oscar Wilde
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February 2015
Valley Voice
Yepelloscopes
Your Monthly Message By Chelsea Yepello Aries
March 21 - April 19
It sometimes feels like no matter your intentions in the beginning, you always give up in the end. But the good news is... given your pattern... one day you’re going to give up on giving up! Go you!
Taurus
April 20 - May 20
Libra
September 23 - October 23
Your relationship is like a game of Risk... there is give and take… conquering and receding… and when the little red guys and the little blue guys can’t find a way to compromise, they just buy a puppy and call it their “fur baby.”
You will eternally be grateful to the monkeys when they imprison you and all human kind, leaving you unaccountable for your enormous debt and societal norms. Also, you will be in the best shape of your life when they force you to work twelve hours of labor every day.
Scorpio
Gemini
Sagittarius
May 20 - June 20
You find owning night vision goggles is not only necessary, but an obligation. This is exactly what you will tell the judge when you are slapped with a restraining order from the entire state of California.
Cancer
June 21 - July 22
When your potential employer asks you if you speak any other languages, explaining that you express your feelings and concerns in improvisational dance does not technically count, but they will give you points for originality.
Leo
July 23 - August 23
You will feel an impending sense of dread that will leave you curled in the fetal position on your bathroom floor. The fear of the world....its deceases and its violent people is too much to bear. Turns out a good way to solve your discomfort is to stop watching the 6:00 news... it’s terrifying.
Virgo
August 23 - September 22
One out of every five marriages is a result of online dating. The rest of online dates usually end in a “bland” weirdo who intends on chopping you into little pieces and putting you in their freezer next to their Hot Pockets.
October 24 - November 21
As you read this, there is a good chance someone is close and watching you with admiration. No, it’s not that twitching person with the binoculars staring at you... that’s not admiration... and they are not really birdwatching like they said. November 22 - December 21
You will feel fulfilled with your work day when you successfully attached three... count them THREE boxes of paper clips together into one long chain.
Capricorn
December 22 - January 19
In the grand scheme of things, you should have looked closer at the road signs. This is why you are now side to side with a bleating goat, about to be sacrificed to the god of some backwoods cult.
Aquarius
January 20 - February 18
You lied to others for so long, trying to sound more interesting than you think you really are. You have lost track of who you actually are. Maybe you just need to find people that would find you interesting as your boring self. Someone out there has to think a lint collection is exciting.
Pisces
February 19 - March 20
If you were given the chance to do it all over again, you undoubtedly would, but that doesn’t mean it would change any of your choices. They were yours. No regrets.
Go Figure!?
The Fine Art of Creating Money Part 4 By Scott L. Ford
Thus far we have learned that a majority of the money is not created by the federal government. The federal government simply enables its creation. The act of actually creating money is done by the commercial banks. Commercial banks create money based on the amount of their deposits. Essentially, for every dollar they have on deposit they can create nine dollars of “bookkeeping” money. Bookkeeping money is very real money and it is created when a loan is made. One of the hardest concepts to understand about the creation of money is that money is actually nothing more than a representation of outstanding debt. Another difficult concept to understand about money is that it exists within the framework of a fiat system. Most of the world’s money is called fiat money, meaning it is accepted as money because a government says that it’s legal tender, and the public has enough confidence and faith in the money’s ability to serve as a storage medium for purchasing power. A fiat system is based on a government’s mandate that the paper currency it prints is legal tender for making financial transactions. Legal tender means that the money is backed by the full faith and credit of the government that issues it. In other words, the government promises to be good for it. Fiat money is the opposite of commodity money, which is money that’s based on a valuable commodity, a method of valuation that was used in the past. At times, the commodity itself actually was used as money. For instance, the use of gold, grain, and even furs and other animal products as commodity money preceded the current fiat system. There are those who think a return to a commodity money system vs. a fiat money system would solve a lot of ills in the economy. Their commodity of choice typically is either gold or silver. Many countries have tried it (ours included). The only problem is that it does not work very well. Why it does not work will be the topic of next month’s – GO FIGURE.
Luca Jaconetta’s birthday party on the Sledding Hill in Oak Creek. Photo by Natural Light Images
Go Figure!? is sponsored by Rocky Mountain Remedies Proudly supporting alternative modalities in medicine and media. For those who live here and for those who wish they did.
Valley Voice
31
February 2015
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February 2015
Valley Voice
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