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Thursday, August 15, 2013 • Issue # 1009
Finding Creative Opportunity in the Wake of Loss
Local playright Raymond Shurtz derives inspiration from life’s difficult times by Bob Phillips, Contributing Writer BOULDER - Many a mile has passed since Raymond King Shurtz sat as a child out at the family cabin in Salt Gulch and listened to his father sing old Hank Williams songs, or his mother and aunts read their original poetry. But the creative juices have never stopped flowing for Boulder native and Escalante High School alumnus Shurtz, a multitalented writer, musician, playwright and actor who moved back here after spending much of his life growing up in Los Angeles. Local roots remain important for the stillblooming Baby Boomer, and his connection to both people and the land come through in his works. Several of his plays have been published and a number continue to be performed around the country, frequently involving Western and desert themes. He has acted in diverse plays and also produced more than 200 plays over the years. The LA Weekly selected Shurtz’s play “Bohemian Cowboy” as its pick of the week in 2009. That play revolves around the still unexplained disappearance of his father, Escalante native Dean Shurtz, in the Nevada desert in 2005. The show has been performed in Escalante, as well as in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other Western locales, to critical acclaim. Shurtz credits Boulder resident Todd Camp-
bell with providing the financial assistance he needed to launch the play on the West Coast. His most recent work, “Lounge,” was performed at the Burr Trail Outpost in Boulder Saturday night, and will be performed at Escalante Outfitters on Aug. 24. The hour-long show revolves around his work as a lounge performer in Phoenix the past couple of years,
and all the challenges and inspiration such work entailed. The location of the Boulder performance was special, Shurtz noted, as he used to play there as a child and the building was once his grandfather Clyde King’s old El Cow Rancho Motel where he and his father stayed more than once. Creative Opportunity cont’d on page 5
Toby and band headlined at Saturday night’s Redrock Women’s Music Festival in Torrey.
Redrock, Scenery, Energy...Music! Women’s Redrock Music Festival was Positively Fun
Bob Phillips
Raymond King Shurtz picks a few tunes at the Boulder Community Market Saturday while his companion, Baby, stands by patiently. Shurtz performed his latest play, “Lounge,” at the Burr Trail Outpost in Boulder Saturday night. He’ll reprise the work in Escalante at the Escalante Outfitters Aug. 24.
Affordable Care Act in Utah: What’s In It for You?
AARP Launches Simple Website with Answers SALT LAKE CITY Seven questions and about five minutes. That’s what it takes to get a basic look at what the Affordable Care Act means for an individual or family, on a new website set up by AARP. The national advocacy group for people 50 and older says HealthLawAnswers.org isn’t intended as a substitute for the health insurance exchanges that will be up and running in states this fall. However, says Alan Ormsby, AARP Utah state director, even people who don’t like the new law will most
likely be able to get something out of it. “What this is intended to do is get people thinking about, ‘What does this mean to me and how could I best use the Affordable Care Act’s benefits to my advantage?’” HealthLawAnswers.org doesn’t ask for any identifying information and AARP doesn’t track who uses it, adds Ormsby. Putting in your zip code and answering questions about your current insurance status, sex, family size and income produces a summary of possible benefits, things to consider
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if you’ll be getting or changing insurance coverage, and places to find more information. For low-income Utahns, the state is still trying to determine whether and how to expand Medicaid. Ormsby said he’s encouraged by what he calls Utah’s “thoughtful approach” to making the decision, by seeking recommendations from a wide-ranging community work group. “Would we like to have the full Medicaid expansion? Of course,” he said. “But we also realize that the political realities in Utah mean that we’re going to probably have to come up with a Utah-based solution.” Expansion could add more than 120,000 people to the Utah Medicaid rolls. Based on a first look at the ideas from the work group released earlier this month, Utah is likely to have a hybrid plan that blends what the feds require with what state lawmakers will agree to. That website is HealthLawAnswers.org, and the site is also available in Spanish, at healthlawanswers.aarp. org/es. —Chris Thomas, Utah News Connection
TORREY - By many accounts, the Women’s Redrock Music Festival surpassed hopes for a successful event. “Fabulous!” “Beyond expectations.” “Best one yet.” “Just when I think it can’t get any better, it does.” “Thanks for the best weekend I’ve ever had.” Hearing these comments or seeing them posted on Facebook reminds the organizers why they began the festival seven years ago. With near capacity crowds, Robber’s Roost, home of the festival, was for two nights the place to be. Program director Jeri Tafoya put together an extraordinary line up that had the crowd up dancing by 6pm. Toby and Friday’s headliner Antigone Rising kept the energy high the rest of the night. Saturday was 11 hours of nonstop music. Returning to the festival for the second time, Ellis had the Saturday afternoon crowd laughing, singing along and then lined up for two hours for an autograph and photo. The rap duo God dess and She convinced even the most reluctant that rap songs and rap artists can be beautiful and fun. Toby was movably touched by the flash mob dance. Later other artists who had performed earlier including Mona Stevens, Michelle Malone, and Antigone Rising joined Toby on stage with an impromptu version of “Folsom Prison.”
Talent, not ego, was the theme of the festival. Torrey provided perfect weather, welcome signs from the town as well as businesses, and warm hospitality as hundreds of music lovers from as far away as Florida and Alaska filled motel rooms and campgrounds. The entire town of Torrey felt like an extension of the festival. Torrey shopkeepers were hopping to keep up with the customers. On site, fifteen different vendors from areas such as Boulder, Moab, Salt Lake, and Las Vegas sold food, t-shirts, art, photography. A raffle and silent auction raised money for the Women’s Redrock Music Festival Scholarship. The crowd continued dancing each night with more music at The Patio andThe Saddlery.
Festival Director, Carol Gnade said, “This festival is a work of love and as each year passes, the community spirit and support grows stronger. After the hard work of putting this together, it is really gratifying to see the joy that everyone experiences during this magical event.” Although the weekend was about music, those who were there commented that it was also about the positive and loving power that women (and the men who love them) generate when they’re provided a safe and welcoming space. The talent, generosity and goodwill of everyone involved—from the volunteers to the performers—made The 2013 festival an amazing success. —Women’s Redrock Music Festival
Utah’s own 13 year old prodigy Sophia Dion, songwriter and guitarist, gave an impressive festival performance.
Dixie National Forest Temporarily Closes Panguitch Lake North Campground CEDAR CITY– The Panguitch Lake North Campground, located one-half mile west of the Panguitch Lake, on the Cedar City Ranger District of the Dixie National Forest, will be closed from Monday, August 12, 2013 through Thursday, August 15, 2013. The Panguitch Lake North Campground will be temporarily closed for road maintenance. The Forest Service will have a contractor chip seal the campground’s major travel corridors. The temporary closer is necessary to avoid any mishaps between campers and heavy equipment and to allow campers to enjoy their experiences without the disturbances of heavy equipment. The 50site campground is expected to re-open on Friday, August 16, 2013. Visitors wishing to recreate in the Panguitch Lake area will have the options of camping in Panguitch Lake South Campground, which has 18 tent-only sites; or White Bridge Campground, about six mile east of Panguitch Lake, which has 28 sites. Please visit the Dixie National Forest website for more developed and dispersed camping opportunities. For more information about this temporary closure, contact Rudy Bowen, Cedar City Ranger District Recreation Officer at (435) 865-3241. —Dixie National Forest Phone: 435-826-4400 Fax 1-888-370-8546 PO BOX 105 Escalante, Utah 84726 snapshot@live.com
Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment. —Rita Mae Brown
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