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Volume 6, Number 45 | December 11, 2014

Holiday cheer

Spirits ran high and good cheer flowed freely last week at the CCAH Launchpad as young and old alike came out in droves during First Friday’s Light Up Carbondale. Performances by children and sittings with Santa inside the Launchpad were big hits, as were the snacks and apple cider. These kids served themselves some PG rated spirits (aka hot apple cider). For more Light Up Carbondale photos, please turn to pages 12-13. Photo by Jane Bachrach

“Green rush” is over; industry keeps shaking out State shutters one shop

By John Colson Sopris Sun correspondent When the so-called “green rush” of marijuana businesses began several years ago, Carbondale at one time boasted 13 pot shops selling to customers throughout the middle portion of the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond, when one counted tourists and customers from other parts of the Western Slope.

Today, that town’s roster of pot related businesses has dwindled to a total of nine.

That list, according to Town Clerk Cathy Derby, includes: • Three “recreational” pot shops, which do not require doctor’s prescription for sales (with one application pending), and one medical marijuana dispensary where a doctor’s prescription is required; • Three cultivation operations or “grows” (with one application pending); • One outfit making “marijuana-infused products” or MIPs, also known as edibles; • And one testing facility, for testing for contamination and other aspects of the process of growing, cooking with and selling

c i p s a u r W M

pot to the public.

“It’s kind of like … the green rush is over,” said Derby, referring to the thinning-out process that has cut into what once was seen as a massively expansive growth industry.

The abated “rush” continues, though, as one new recreational pot shop — the Acme Healing Center in the Sopris Shopping Center on Highway 133 — opened up a month ago, and another recreational pot purveyor, called Sweet Leaf, has applied for a Carbondale business license.

Acme’s general manager, David Niccun, told The Sopris Sun that the business has

three other stores. All are on the Western Slope — in Crested Butte, Durango and Ridgeway — one is medicinal only (Durango), while the Crested Butte and Ridgeway outlets do both kinds of business.

With a workforce starting out at three employees in the Carbondale store, but with hopes to employ up to half a dozen “when it gets busier,” Niccun said the business got its start in 2010 and sells product grown at a facility in Ouray County.

New applications aside, Derby reported that part of the thinning-out process among GREEN page 3

1030 Highway 133 CARBONDALE ARB 704--1104 1104

Carbondale Commentary The views and opinions expressed on the Commentary page do not necessarily reflect those of The Sopris Sun. The Sopris Sun invites all members of the community to submit letters to the editor or guest columns. For more information, e-mail editor Lynn Burton at news@soprissun.com, or call 510-3003.

Aer 26 years, CRMS preschool seeks new home

Weekly in print; daily online

By Aimee Cullwick It may be challenging for new valley residents to appreciate what our communities were like 26 years ago. While it is obvious that populations, buildings and Main Streets were different, it is harder to envision who lived in these communities and how they formed the institutions that are in existence today. One such program, The Children’s Rocky Mountain School Preschool, was cofounded 26 years ago by early childhood educators Debbie Condello and Jeanie Clark, who were inspired by a need for a preschool program for their own children to attend.

Condello is still the director of the program and has worked passionately for 26 years to develop and maintain a program that nurtures and engages preschoolers. She still teaches in the classroom at her school and greets all new families with genuine understanding for their desire to find the best school for their child.

Among highlights of the reputable program are a teacher to student ratio in the classroom of one teacher to six students and small classroom communities of 17 students that remain the same each day. Condello hires dedicated professionals and requires that all teachers are qualified early childhood educators who are working towards,

beyond restoration, and CRMS plans to use this area in a different manner, as part of their campus development plan.”

While the preschool’s current location aided in the develop of a cross-country ski program and provided enriching visits to the high school grounds, class rooms and gardens, the true integrity of the school, lies in the heart of the program. Condello plans on her vision of a preschool program succeeding for many years to come. The preschool will reside at the CRMS campus until May of 2016. The preschool board is confident they will find the perfect space for the school to relocate so it can continue to offer the same excellent programming; cross country skiing included!

Within the ever-growing community of Carbondale, more early childhood programs are a need. It is vital to support and maintain programs with rich histories like the Children’s Rocky Mountain School. If you have suggestions on existing buildings or lots where the school may relocate, please e-mail future@crmspreschool.com or call the preschool at 963-2524.

The Sopris Sun keeps you informed all week long with special content on the web; including breaking news, photo galleries, calendar events and much more.

Aimee Cullwick is a member of the CRMS preschool board with two daughters who have attended the school and one who will attend next year.

970-309-2053 or claird@soprissun.com.

or have received, director’s licensure.

Many parents’ favorite asset of Condello’s program is a portfolio of collected experiences, art and photographs that each preschool student builds over their time at the school. “Parents with graduates of the preschool always report that their children revisit their portfolios often to fondly reflect on their preschool years,” explains CRMS Preschool Board President Michelle Marlow.

The Children’s Rocky Mountain Preschool has enjoyed a home at the Colorado Rocky Mountain School campus since the program’s inception. Unfortunately, the preschool must relocate as CRMS has plans for the building site where the school currently operates. The preschool’s current building is scheduled to be torn down and, at this time, there is not an existing structure or building site, on the Colorado Rocky Mountain School campus that the preschool program can take over.

Colorado Rocky Mountain School Board President Mike McCoy explains that “CRMS and the preschool have enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial relationship over the years. CRMS values the long-term viability of the preschool; however, the age and condition of the current physical space is

OPINION

We are collecting Mt. Sopris images for our online gallery.

Help us keep the website fresh: Send breaking news tips, photos and suggestions to

www.soprissun.com

Letters

The Sopris Sun welcomes your letters, limited to no more than 400 words. Letters exceeding that length may be edited or returned for revisions. Include your name and residence (for publication) and a contact email and phone number. Submit letters via email to news@ soprissun.com or via snail mail to P.O. Box 399, Carbondale, CO 81623. The deadline to submit letters to the editor is noon on Monday.

Does sculpture cut it?

Dear Editor: “Sewing the future”? With cut flowers in a vase? (Cut flowers are dead; aren’t they?)

With invasive species? Maybe it means we’ll have more and more sculptures. How about a sculpture at EVERY intersection? Wait, it’s an invasion; we have to take down the mother ship!

Are those flowers poppies?

Our future is climate change, by the way.

This sculpture will help that how? How about actually growing something there we can eat. What about a giant round aquarium; full of trout?

At least it won’t rust. And it is skinny enough to not obstruct the view of other cars chasing around the round-a-bout; or to block our view of Sopris.

This is an example of human nature; keep people in the same room long enough and they come out with crazy ideas they would never have gotten on their own.

This is an example of people who can’t think of better things to do with their money.

And, isn’t this another reason to raise the top marginal income tax rate?

Maybe it secretly cancels out cell phone transmissions so people will pay attention to

their driving while in the roundabout. Or, it is a cleverly disguised Verizon cell phone tower.

The emperor has no clothes.

Much more important: pedestrians have the right of way; be ready to stop.

Pat Hunter Carbondale

LIFT-UP thanks Dear Editor: We’d like to thank the community for their tremendous holiday support, making it possible for LIFT-UP to assist approximately 1,000 local families with Thanksgiving meal boxes this year.

We are grateful to everyone that donated food, to all the volunteers that assembled and distributed the food to families and to all who provided financial assistance for this huge undertaking. We’d also like to acknowledge: the John Denver Aspenglow Fund that supplied funds for the meat vouchers so that families could select a turkey, ham or other meat item at a grocery store for their Thanksgiving dinner; KSNO and Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park which collected 33 turkeys at their Turkey Tram-a-Ganza, some of which went to the Eagles Lodge for their annual Thanksgiving dinner for the commu-

nity, and the rest were distributed by LIFTUP; Whole Foods Market for their Feed 4 More program to support our local food pantries; and KMTS for the invaluable exposure through their KMTS Connections program. Caring for our neighbors in need is a community effort and I’m so grateful for the generosity in this region that is channeled through LIFT-UP. We’ll be providing holiday meal boxes again for Christmas, so your help in the coming weeks will also be greatly appreciated. On behalf of everyone at LIFT-UP, I wish you a wonderful holiday season.

Kimberly Loving Executive Director LIFT-UP

Buddy thanks Dear Editor: On Nov. 5, Big and Little Buddies, along with other special guests, gathered at the beautiful Caribou Club to enjoy our annual Celebration Dinner. From face painting and a chocolate fountain to dancing and special recognitions, the night was a huge success and it would not have been possible without the generosity of the Caribou Club.

For the past four years, the Caribou Club LETTERS page 19

Correction A pull quote in the Dec. 4 Sopris Sun incorrectly attributed a quote that read “Just let us know when you’re going on vacation.”

The quote should have been attributed to Diane Johnson.

2 • THE SOPRIS SUN • www.SoprisSun.com • DECEmBER 11, 2014

To inform, inspire and build community.

Donations accepted online or by mail. For information call 510-3003 Editor/Reporter: Lynn Burton • 970-510-3003 news@soprissun.com Advertising: Bob Albright • 970-927-2175 bob@soprissun.com Reporter: John Colson Photographer: Jane Bachrach Ad/Page Production: Terri Ritchie CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS board@soprissun.com Debbie Bruell, President Barbara Dills, Vice President Colin Laird, Treasurer Frank Zlogar • Sue Gray Denise Barkhurst • Craig Fulmer Honorary Board Members David L. Johnson • Jeannie Perry Trina Ortega • Laura McCormick Founding Board Members Allyn Harvey • Becky Young • Colin Laird Barbara New • Elizabeth Phillips Peggy DeVilbiss • Russ Criswell

Sopris Sun, LLC • P.O. Box 399 520 S. Third Street #36 Carbondale, CO 81623

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www.soprissun.com Send us your comments: feedback@soprissun.com The Sopris Sun is an LLC organized under the 501c3 non-profit structure of the Roaring Fork Community Development Corporation.

Green

om page 1

Carbondale’s pot shops has come from businesses running afoul of the state’s regulations governing the industry, which is only a few years old.

For example, one local pot shop started by long time Carbondale businessman H.P. Hansen and his son, Anders, known as The Center, was shuttered last summer by state regulators due to compliance issues, according to Derby, although she said she has not been informed as to the exact nature of the compliance problems.

Hansen, reached at home this week, acknowledged that the state had uncovered “violations, mostly on the recreational side,” while Hansen was in the middle of transferring ownership of the recreational shop to another businessman as Hansen and his son planned to hang onto the medicinal side of the business.

To avoid legal entanglements involving administrative-law hearings and possible penalties, Hansen said, “We voluntarily surrendered our licenses. That’s the route I chose, to just close everything.”

Overall, Hansen said of his pot-shop enterprise, “It’s been interesting. I really enjoyed being involved. We had a good thing. The change of ownership just didn’t work out.” The property where the business once was located is now for sale, Hansen said.

Another local business, Doctor’s Garden at Main Street and Weant Boulevard, tried to manage both sides of the sales enterprise, but also ran afoul of state regulators and ultimately closed down the medicinal side of the business and now operates a recreational pot shop only.

Carbondale’s sole remaining medical marijuana shop, called CMED but doing business as Rocky Mountain High, is located at a combined business suite on the north side of town along Village Road. Rocky Mountain High also operates a recreational sales outlet, and distinct cultivation operations for each side of the business.

The testing facility, called Green Hill Labs, is the only one of its kind on the Western Slope, according to owner Hilary Glass of Carbondale.

Currently, Glass’ business has yet to begin full operations, she said, explaining that she is busy meeting the state’s “method validation” requirements for her testing methods, and doing some “elective environmentals,” or “information-only” tests for

Ariel Clark is a sales associate at Acme Healing Center in the Sopris Shopping Center on Highway 133. Acme also operates stores in Crested Butte, Durango and Ridgeway. As a point of local history, Circle Super once occupied the Acme spot as Carbondale’s first full-service grocery store in the 1970s. Photo by Lynn Burton molds and other contaminants in cultivation operations.

Glass, who said she is trained in microbiology and quality assurance, explained that she is from Wisconsin and that the Green Hill Labs is “an offshoot of a family business” that does quality-assurance work for dairy operations back in Wisconsin.

“I go all over Colorado,” she said of her business’ area of operations.

Carbondale also is now home to a business manufacturing MIBs, or edibles, which is named The Magic Buzz and makes primarily energy drinks, according to the town clerk.

Attempts to reach the manager of the business this week were unsuccessful.

Derby said her office consistently receives inquiries about opening up a marijuana-related business in Carbondale, although the pace of those contacts has dropped back in recent months.

The town trustees, in an effort to keep a lid on the numbers of local pot businesses, enacted a “cap” of five local licenses per business type, the six types being: recreational sales, medicinal sales, recreational pot farming, medicinal pot farm-

ing, MIPs and testing.

That leaves room for a total of 30 pot related businesses in town, but Derby predicted that number will never be met.

For instance, she said, “You’ll never see five testing facilities here,” simply because there is not enough business to sustain that many testing centers.

Derby also doubted if there will be a rush to fill the other potential licenses, due to the complexity and uncertainty surrounding an industry that not only is in its infancy, but is against federal law. The U.S. drug codes decree marijuana to be as dangerous as opiates and puts pot in the same category of the federal drug code as heroin and various hallucinogenics such as LSD and mescaline.

In addition, Derby said, establishing cultivation operations is not easy.

“People are having a hard time finding places to put cultivation operations,” she said, adding that the state regulations governing pot also are very complicated and change as the industry consolidates and the state gets used to its oversight role.

Zoning code process continues; nitty gritty lays ahead John Colson Sopris Sun Correspondent Carbondale, currently home to about 6,500 residents (as of the 2010 U.S. Census), is expected to grow by as many as 3,600 additional people by the year 2032, according to projections included in documents at town hall.

In anticipation of that growth, the town has embarked on two major efforts aimed at ensuring that Carbondale is ready to deal with its future.

The first was a rewrite of the Comprehensive Plan (known as the “comp plan”), adopted in 2013, followed by an ongoing reorganization and consolidation of the town’s land-use review codes, henceforth to be known as the Unified Development Code or UDC. The UDC is meant to codify the ideas and principles contained in the comp plan, which is strictly an advisory document.

The process of recasting those two planning tools has taken nearly two years of work by the town’s planning and zoning commission (P&Z), working with a consultant, Clarion Associates of Denver.

The process will have cost the town approximately $130,000 when all is said and done, according to chief town planner Janet Buck.

Asked who the main beneficiaries of all

this planning work will be, Buck mused for a second and replied, “I would say, pretty much everyone.”

Town staff will benefit by having developmental-review tools that are more consistent, clearer and better organized, as will the towns volunteer planning and zoning commission, which uses the comp plan to assess proposed developments and make recommendations about those development proposals to the town’s board of trustees.

In addition, Buck said, citizens will be better able to understand the town’s growth-control policies and decisions, thanks to increased clarity of the code and reorganization of parts of the code that had been ruled redundant, murky or internally inconsistent with other parts of the code.

“And you can’t, of course, forget people who want to develop property, on larger parcels,” Buck said, specifically mentioning developers who typically pay attorneys and planners to usher their proposals through the town’s review process, Clarion, Buck said, already has done “a massive amount of work in reorganizing the code,” starting by analyzing the town’s existing codes, which were written in 1993 and have been revised enough since then that the code is now considered to be confusing and, at times, contradictory.

For example, Buck explained, the old code contains “conflicting criteria” for the sizes and building parameters applied to what are called “accessory dwelling units,” or rental apartments attached to homes, a conflict that bedeviled the town’s planners and developers alike.

Another example, she said, is the landuse tables meant to clearly outline the different kinds of development that can be done in the town’s different land-use zones.

The table, Buck said, has been expanded and redefined over the years to the point where “it’s almost too detailed” and contains conflicting definitions from one section to another.

So, she said, Clarion has taken the old land-use tables and consolidated them into one, with clarified languages to let developers know what is expected of them.

Affecting townspeople Last summer, Clarion produced “Module One,” the first of a three-part draft of the UDC, which covered essentially the process that was being employed by Clarion.

“It didn’t really catch a lot of people’s attention,” Buck remarked dryly this week.

But now Clarion is preparing Module Two, which Buck said will look in detail at the “uses and districts,” the land uses per-

mitted in the different zone districts.

“This would affect the townspeople,” Buck predicted, explaining that such matters as setbacks from property lines, open space requirements, height restrictions and a host of other parameters will be explored in Module Two. The new section is due out in February, and will be the subject of public hearings and discussions to which the town’s residents are invited.

One issue that might bring residents in to the meetings, Buck said, is how the town views the sale of local food products.

“Do people want to be allowed to sell tomatoes in front of their houses?” Buck asked rhetorically. “Is that OK? I don’t know.” But the issue will be explored during consideration of Module Two. As part of the Module Two presentation, Buck said, a newly drawn map of the town’s zoning code is being produced and will be posted on the main town website (www.carbondalegov.org) as well as a special UDC website (www.carbondaleudc.com).

The map, she said, will give people a chance to see what their own zone district is, as well as others around town.

Buck stressed the UDC process is not changing the boundaries of any of the zone districts around town, although some

ZONING CODE page 18 THE SOPRIS SUN, Carbondale’s community supported newspaper • DECEmBER 11, 2014 • 3

Town Briefs

Cop Shop

Is global warming affecting ice rinks?

The following events are drawn from incident reports of the Carbondale Police Department.

Sopris Sun Staff Report Although he didn’t mention the words “global warming,” Town Manager Jay Harrington’s weekly memo to the board of trustees and town employees confirmed that unusually warm temperatures are getting in the way of a key wintertime recreation amenity here.

Work has begun erecting the town’s two public ice rinks — at Fourth Street Plaza and the Gus Darien Riding Arena east of town on Catherine Store Road (County Road 100) — but higher than normal temperatures have kept the rinks from being filled and frozen, according to Harrington’s report.

Officials had hoped to have the in-town rink ready for skating by last weekend’s First Friday celebration.

So, while the lights and side-boards have been put up at Fourth Street, and the ground has been “prepped” at the Darien Arena, Harrington wrote, the ice cometh not, at least not yet.

(Editor’s note: Some weather prognosticators have estimated that colder temperatures may reach the Central Rockies around Dec. 13).

At the Carbondale Recreation Center, school-age recreation programming continues to be a focus of the staff, and Harrington’s report again highlighted the kids’ use of the climbing wall and the basketball court on Early Release Wednesdays, when the Roaring Fork School District releases students early.

In addition, Harrington noted that registration is open for the town’s wintertime men’s basketball league, a co-ed broomball league and an adult volleyball league.

Recreation programming can be explored in person at the

SATURDAY, Nov. 29: At 1:18 a.m. local police issued a summons to two juveniles on charges of theft and firstdegree criminal trespassing. The details of the incident, which occurred on Wheel Circle, were not given out by police, because the accused are juveniles.

Recreation Center, next to town hall, or online at www.carbondalerec.com.

Santa Claus visited the town last weekend, Harrington reported, including a stop at the Recreation Center where he offered his lap to kids hoping to prove how nice they’d been all year, then roamed around town lighting up holiday trees and decorations as part of the First Friday celebrations.

The new roundabout at Highway 133 and Main Street required some repair work last week, as crews were called in to replace broken stretches of concrete, while work continued on installing new flashing-beacon warning light and new stoplights at the intersection of Snowmass Drive and the highway.

A town sewer line along Highway 133 failed last week, and the town is investigating to see if the failure is related to the highway improvements and expansion project or due to some other cause.

The Utilities Department will be working on the Nettle Creek water line next week, work which Harrington reported will involve bringing the line to an “idle” at approximately 150 gallons per minute to replace a 3/8”control line tee that is leaking. His memo did not state when the work would be done.

Town police dealt with a total of 291 calls for service over the week of Nov. 20 through Dec. 3, including such issues as harassment, bicycle thefts and other theft cases, trespassing, street collisions, a stolen vehicle (recovered) and one case of illegal sexual contact with a child, which is under investigation.

In the area of internal training, CPD Officer Rob Lawson “cotaught” a class in the use of an Intoxilyzer machine, used to detect the presence of alcohol on a driver’s breath, to two of his fellow officers on Dec. 3.

“… the ice cometh not, at least not yet.”

4 • THE SOPRIS SUN • www.SoprisSun.com • DECEmBER 11, 2014

TUESDAY, Dec. 2: At 8:47 a.m. police were called in regard to a possible sexual assault by one juvenile on another at 160 Snowmass Drive; the alleged assault took place on Dec. 1.

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 3: At 10:30 a.m. officers were called to a store on Highway 133, and took a report about a theft of money during the previous night.

THURSDAY, Dec. 4: At 12:59 p.m. a local man called to report that his mountain bike had been stolen from behind the Third Street Center facility some time over the past month.

THURSDAY, Dec. 4: At 2:53 p.m. police got a call from the town’s wastewater management department, about a town employee who was bitten by a dog when the employee went to a customer’s house. The owner of the dog was ticketed for harboring a vicious animal.

Trustees OK child care center; OK budget John Colson Sopris Sun Correspondent Carbondale is about to become the new home of the Faith Lutheran Church Child Care Center, which is moving from a previous location in Glenwood Springs to a new site at the juncture of Eighth Street, Merrill Avenue and the Rio Grande Trail, a short distance to the northwest of Town Hall.

The center is approved for 15 children initially with the understanding that the number of kids could go as high as 28 starting in the center’s second year of operations.

The special use permit approved by the trustees gives the child care center a three-year operating permit.

The structure, at 788 Merrill Ave., is a house built in 1885 that is owned by Carbondale resident Bill Roberts and the Roberts Land & Cattle Co, and has been used as an office since the 1980s, according to application documents presented at the Dec. 9 meeting of the board of trustees.

Although technically licensed as a child care center, because it will be an all-day operation, the facility is to be called the Faith Lutheran Pre-school. Pre-schools, – Paul Menter under state law, can only offer half-day care for children, according to the application documents.

Paul Menter, president of the Faith Lutheran Church and chair of a local early-leaning advocacy organization, spoke in support of the relocation.

“I think it’s repositioned at a great location,” Menter said, “with all the young families in Carbondale.”

The trustees unanimously approved the proposal, with Trustee Pam Zentmyer recusing herself from the deliberations because, as a neighbor, she received formal notice of the project.

“I think it’s repositioned at a great location with all the young families in Carbondale.”

TOWN COUNCIL page 7

The Roaring Fork High School Ram Band rehearses its Dec. 16 Winter Concert, which will also include the school choir. Shown here (left to right) are Julia Lee, Ezra Brown and Lyle Luckett. For details, please turn to Calendar on page 9. Photo

by Lynn Burton

SHOP LOCAL

CCAH THIS HOLIDAY SEASON The CARBONDALE CARBOND ONDALE E Launchpad

an e p Euro ques Anti Strange Imports

Main Galle Street ry & Fram the er

al t s y r C Glass Studio

True Heal Nature ing A rts

ng i c n a D rs u o l o C Studio

Harm ony Scot t Jew Desi elry gn

Mousai Gallery

Car bon Clay dale Cen ter

ee L a r Lau ns Desig

’s Susan & rs e w o l F ns Artisa ue Boutiq

Roadside Gallery

ine F k a Kahh & Arts l Schoo

14 GREAT STORES TO VISIT WITHIN 3 BLOCKS | HISTORIC DOWNTOWN CARBONDALE THE SOPRIS SUN, Carbondale’s community supported newspaper • DECEmBER 11, 2014 • 5

Scuttlebutt

Send your scuttlebutt to news@SoprisSun.com.

Attack, Stroke and Diabetes Prevention program at GMA in 2006. Saturday’s presentation is part of “A Day of Nurturing with Three Gifts.” For more information, turn to The Sopris Sun’s Calendar section on page 9.

Tashi Brundige. The Roaring Fork girls placed fifth. The climbers travel to Grand Valley Climbing in Grand Junction for a meet this weekend.

This just in

The Alpine Bank 2015 calendars are in and this year’s theme is “Colorado Festivals.” Alpine Bank’s turf stretches from Denver and all across the Western Slope. The Ouray Ice Festival kicks off the calendar in January and the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet’s “Nutcracker” wraps up 2015 in December. In between, Steamboat Springs, Breckenridge, Denver, Durango, Telluride, Dillon, Rifle, Snowmass, Palisade and Vail are splashed with color photos and a little black ink.

To those Carbondale residents who got a letter last month about the town’s water system violating state drinking water standards, Utility Director Mark O’Meara assured The Sopris Sun that the problem, a leaky valve that cut down the flow of disinfectant into the water system, did not pose much of a health threat, and that there was no crisis, and the letter was sent out to satisfy state bureaucrats concerned there may be some level of public alarm. So, no harm, no foul, as the city views the matter.

Colby June goes pinecone

The Carbondale Board of Trustees recognized Students of the Month on Tuesday night. They are (left to right, front row): Nicole Romano and Zane Hanlon; (left to right, back row): Lux Andrade, Dario Osorio, David Lucas and Julian Alcantara. Photo by Lynn Burton

mm4W honors Dr. Feinsinger MasterMinds 4 Wellness will present Dr. Greg Feinsinger with its annual Wellness Star award at the Third Street Center at 11 a.m. on Dec. 13. MasterMinds is recognizing Feinsinger “for going above and beyond traditional medicine in preventing heart attacks by finding and implementing an easy solution for people to adopt a plant-based, whole-foods lifestyle,” according to a press release. Dr. Feinsinger is family physician who has practiced at Glenwood Medical Associates in Glenwood Springs for 41 years. He founded the Heart

Colby June Jewelry, based in Carbondale, is showcasing its Pinecone Collection this holiday season, according to a press release. “The collection was inspired by a look inward at self, nature and balance,” June said. “Pinecones have long been embraced around the holidays as a symbol of rebirth, renewal and looking inward for growth and harmony.” For details, go to colbyjune.etsy.com.

Ain’t no academic ladder here Or social for that matter. In any case, local high school students have been doing some climbing of a different sort and are being recognized for it. Glenwood Springs High School recently hosted the Colorado High School Climbing League and 122 competitors from around the Western Slope took to the walls for the meet. At the end of the day, the Oysters of Colorado Rocky Mountain School edged out Montrose and Gunnison high schools to win the boy’s title. Roaring Fork placed seventh and Glenwood 10th. Nikken Daniels of CRMS was the overall winner. The CRMS girls team also placed first, and were led by Lexi Smith, Callie Rominger and

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(239) 877-4437 kurajian@comcast.net

6 • THE SOPRIS SUN • www.SoprisSun.com • DECEmBER 11, 2014

Alpine calendars are in

Don’t forget The deadline to enter the “Spruce up the Sun” holiday design contest is Dec. 15. For details, see the ad on page 10.

Jailhouse rocks The Mt. Sopris Historical Society, and Harvest Pottery Studio, hold an old-fashioned Christmas celebration at the old town jail from 6 to 8 p.m. on Dec. 12. There’ll be hot apple cider, caroling and cookies, plus custom-made pottery gifts.

Zanca makes it The Andy Zanca Youth Empowerment program reports it met its $10,000 fund-raising goal last week. The program includes classroom work and puts kids on-air at KDNK. It also helps kids develop leadership skills, and builds self esteem and public speaking skills, according to a spokeswoman. Donations are still being accepted at AZYEP, Box 1945, Carbondale, CO 81623.

They say it’s your birthday Folks celebrating their birthday this week include: Marc Bruell and Leslie Johnson (Dec.11); Beth Mohsenin (Dec. 12); Amy Broadhurst and Jon Araujo (Dec. 13); Steve Keohane (Dec. 14); and Ciarra Bristol and Lynn “Jake” Burton (Dec. 15).

Carbondale Recreation & Community Center

------------------------------------------------------------------

Holiday Programs Letters to Santa Ho Ho Ho! Write a letter or draw a picture and address it to Santa at the North Pole. Drop it off at Santa’s mailbox at the Carbondale Recreation Center until December 18. Make sure to sign your name and address so Santa can write back.

Crafts with Santa Come get crafty with Santa Claus!

We will make Christmas ornaments, decorate Christmas cookies, and design Christmas cards! We will provide the supplies & will also set up the bounce house. Make sure you take your picture with Santa and tell him what you want for Christmas.

Ages: 1-8 Date: December 13 Cost: $5/child

Day: Saturday Time: 10 am-Noon Min/Max: 10/40

Town council om page 5

Zoning

“I think it’s a wonderful use of the space,” enthused Trustee Katrina Byars. “I think you’re meeting an essential community need.”

Mayor Stacey Bernot said she, too, is “excited” to see the facility move into Carbondale.

Both Byars and the mayor expressed concern, however, about the possibility of children walking on or across Merrill Avenue, which is not served by a sidewalk, and about the likelihood of a herd of cars converging on the facility, idling as they wait every morning and evening to drop kids off and pick them up.

But planning consultant Mark Chain assured the trustees that there will be adequate parking and maneuvering room to accommodate the traffic, both at the 15-student level and later, when the number of children rises.

In other action on Tuesday night the trustees: • Gave final approval for the 2015 municipal budget, which calls for spending $6.3 million in the general fund to cover day-to-day operations of the town. The budget includes a three-percent cost of living raise for town employees, or a raise commensurate with the results of a salary survey conducted earlier this year. The general fund expenditures, according to budget documents, are generally divided among personnel (62 percent), operations and maintenance (32 percent), and capital projects (2 percent). Acting on a suggestion from Mayor Bernot, the trustees also approved an expenditure of $500 out of the 2014 budget for a donation to cover the costs of maintaining a veterans memorial in the city of Rifle.

• Granted license renewals to the Rocky Mountain High medical marijuana and recreational marijuana cultivation and sales operations.

• Granted a Special Events liquor license for a Thompson Divide Coalition “friend-raising” event, scheduled for Dec. 13 at the Bonfire coffee shop and the Crystal Theater, both in the Dinkle Building on Main Street.

• Granted an extension of the filing period for a final plat of the Thompson Park development along Highway 133, setting the filing deadline at Feb. 27, 2015. The town is scheduled to take possession of the historic Thompson House at the time of the filing of the final plat, and developer Frieda Wallison informed the trustees at the meeting that she has plans to break ground on the project next spring. The trustees also discussed the intersection of the main access road into the Thompson Park development and Highway 133, which could ultimately become either a signalized intersection or a roundabout.

The fate of the intersection depends largely on what happens with a planned school-district housing project slated for the old middle school athletic fields across Highway 133 from Thompson Park.

om page 3

changes are expected within the individual districts.

She also said that Module Two, as presented so far, “has tons of footnotes telling what they are changing and what it was before, so it’s easy to track.”

The town is hoping for greater citizen curiosity and participation concerning Module Two than was the case for Module One last summer.

“We’re going to do a lot of outreach and a lot of advertising” to alert residents to the upcoming hearings and how to check out the documents produced so far.

One way to keep up with the process, Buck said, is for residents to sign up for periodic updates, which Buck said is easy to do on the UDC website.

The final stage of the UDC process, Buck said, will be consideration of development standards in a third module, to be presented next spring.

After that, she said, the three modules will be combined into a single, thick document, which will be presented in public hearings before final adoption by the P&Z later next year.

Sopris Sun Holiday Deadlines FOR DEC. 25 HOLIDAY ISSUE Ad reservations due by noon Fri., Dec. 19.

FOR JAN. 1 ISSUE Ad reservations due by noon Fri., Dec. 26.

Contact Bob Albright 970-927-2175 bob@soprissun.com

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THE SOPRIS SUN, Carbondale’s community supported newspaper • DECEmBER 11, 2014 • 7

Community Calendar THURS.-SAT. Dec. 11-13 THEATER • Sopris Theater Company presents “The Glorious Ones,â€? a fun and bawdy musical that follows a 16th century commedia dell’arte troupe backstage, on stage and off stage during the Italian Renaissance. Directed by Brad Moore and featuring Colorado Mountain College students, theater professionals and community members, the production will take place at the New Space Theatre on the Spring Valley Campus on at 7 p.m. on Dec. 11-13. Info: 947-8177 or svtickets@coloradomtn.edu.

THEATRE • Theatre Aspen School presents “Shrek the Musical,â€? directed by Graham Northrup. The production will take place at the Wheeler Opera House in Aspen at 7 p.m. with a 2 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets are $20 for adults and $12 for students. Info: 920-5770 or www.aspenshowtix.com.

THURS.-SUN. Dec. 11-14 THEATRE • Thunder River Theatre Company presents “The Lion in Winterâ€? at 7:30 p.m., with a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25 for adults, $14 for students and $17 for twenty/thirty-somethings at 9638200 or thunderrivertheatre.com. The play continues Dec. 18-21. The theatre is located just west of the Dinkel Building in downtown Carbondale.

THURS. & SAT. Dec. 11, 13 SAW SHOW • The annual SAWliday open house and art sale takes place at SAW (525 Buggy Circle) from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday and noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday. A total of 24 artists are offering paintings, pottery, jewelry,

To list your event, email information to news@soprissun.com. Deadline is noon on Monday. Events take place in Carbondale unless noted. For up-to-the-minute valley-wide event listings, check out the Community Calendar online at soprissun.com. View events online at soprissun.com/calendar.

prints, sculpture, metal work and more. Info: sawcarbondale.com.

KIDS ONLY SALE • The Carbondale Clay Center (east end of Main Street) holds is Kids Only holiday sale from 4 to 6 p.m. Prices range from $2-$10. Only kids can shop and they must be accompanied by an adult. Paint your own ceramic piece for $2-$5. Info: 9632529 or info@carbondaleclay.org.

LIBRARY • The Basalt Library presents “The Science & Art of Foodâ€? from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Samples will be served.

THEATRE • SoL Theatre Company presents “Annie JRâ€? at Carbondale Middle School.

Curtain times are 7 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for kids 12 and under at the door and soltheatrecompany.com.

ROTARY • The Mt. Sopris Rotary meets at Mi Casita at noon every Thursday.

THURSDAY Dec. 11 RBR • Sven the winter elf drops in at Rock Bottom Ranch (2001 Hooks Spur Rd.) from 4 to 5:30 p.m. There’ll be hot chocolate, a story, arts and crafts and more. It’s free and open to the public. Info: 925-5756.

FRIDAY Dec. 12 mOVIES • The Crystal Theatre presents “The Homesmanâ€? (R) at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 12-18 nightly except Dec. 13 showtime is 4:30 only; “Rosewaterâ€? (R) at 5:15 p.m. Dec. 12; “Wild & Scenic Film Festivalâ€? at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 13; “Birdmanâ€? (R) at 5 p.m. Dec. 16 and “The Good Lieâ€? (PG-13) at 5:15 p.m. Dec. 17.

LIVE mUSIC • Steve’s Guitars in the old part

The Perfect Gift

of the Dinkel Building presents live music every Friday night. Info: 963-3304.

LIVE mUSIC • The Black Nugget on Main Street presents Betty Ford Explorer at 9 p.m.

No cover.

ANDERSON RANCHERS TALK • Anderson Ranch artists speak and present images of their work at the CCAH Launchpad at 5:30 p.m. They include print makers Tara Cooper and Daniel Greenberg, sculptor Jeremy Dean, ceramist Marisa Finos, photographer/new media artist Anna Garner, and painter Caitlin Cocco. Happy hour libations will be served.

Info: 963-1680 and carbondalearts.com.

PIE DAY • The Carbondale Clay Center hosts Pie Day from 4 to 7 p.m. There’s be homemade pies and handmade pie plates available for sale.

Info: 963-2529 or info@carbondaleclay.org.

CARE • Colorado Animal Rescue hosts is annual holiday open house at the CMC Spring Valley Campus from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Friday, and 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. All adoption fees will be waived and hors d’oeuvres will be served. Info: 947-9173.

WILLITS GETS LIT • The Willits Town Center Christmas tree in Triangle Park gets lit from 4 to 6 p.m. The event is hosted by the Basalt Downtown Business Association and Willits Town Center, with support from the town of Basalt and the Basalt Area Chamber of Commerce, the Boy Scouts, Crown Mountain Park and Recreation District, the Basalt Lions Club, and The Wyly Art Center. Info: basaltdowntown.com.

KOROLOGOS GALLERY • The Ann Korologos Gallery in Basalt hosts an artist’s recep-

tion for “The Gift of Winter.� The show runs through Jan. 4. Info: 927-9668 or art@korologosgallery.com.

THE WYLY ANNEX • The Wyly Annex on Midland Avenue hosts a opening for contemporary landscape artist Bayard Hollins from 5 to 7 p.m. The show runs through Jan. 24.

SAT.-SUN. Dec. 13-14 “THE NUTCRACKERâ€? • Aspen Santa Fe Ballet presents “The Nutcrackerâ€? at the Aspen District Theatre. Info: 920-5770 or aspensantafeballet.com.

SATURDAY Dec. 13 GIFT mARKET • Looking for something local to give for Christmas presents? Check out the Holiday Gift Market at Carbondale Business Park on Dolores Way. Participating businesses include: Silo, Board by Design, Ann B. Design Jewelry, Up Ski, Osmia Organics, Aspen Sled Company, Brent Moss Photography, Kenichi Custom Woodworking and Roaring Fork Beer Company. The market goes from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. A portion of proceeds beneďŹ t the Waldorf School on the Roaring Fork, Carbondale Community School, and Mount Sopris Nordic Council.

DAVI NIKENT • MasterMinds 4 Wellness and Davi Nikent present “A Day of Nurturing with Three ‘Gifts’â€? from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Third Street Center. Speakers include Annalisa Mather and Richard Moss, MD (“Nutritional Lifestyle for Happier, Emotionally Balanced Holidaysâ€? and “Staying Connected During the Holidaysâ€?); Ardis Hoffman (“How to Have Fun Loving Holiday GatherCALENDAR page 9

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FRESH, GORGEOUS CHRISTMAS TREES! THE BEST IN WREATHS AND GARLAND! FIND THE PERFECT CENTERPIECE TO DRESS UP YOUR HOLIDAY TABLE! Holiday Gifts, Poinsettias, Amaryllis and More!

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Available at Boomerang coffee shop, Willits General Store, and Amazon.com.

Community Calendar

continued from page 8

ings”); Sandro Torres (“Survive the Holidays with Good Habits”); Gwen Garcelon (“Reclaiming the Sacred”); and Connie Clancy Fisher (“Handling Holiday Stress”). There will also be wellness practioner gifts and services, food, qi gong, dancing and more. Admission is $20 (which includes two books).

Info: davinikent.org or 618-5879.

swap. Info: 963-1680 or carbondalearts.com.

EAGLE CREST • The Saturday Winter Market returns to Eagle Crest Nursey in El Jebel on Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Check out the local produce, food, coffee, sopas, clothing, accessories and more.

of the Bells,” “Smile,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Grace” and “Let the River Run.” The RAM band, under the direction of Mean Ol’ Mr. Gray, will perform “Black Forest Overture,” “Salvation is Created,” “Pulsation,” and “Feelin’ the Funk.”

SUNDAY Dec. 14

mAIN STREET GALLERY • Main Street Gallery in Glenwood (817 Grand Ave.) hosts a book signing for artist/children’s book author Jessica Meath from 2 to 5 p.m. Her book, “Nile in Denial,” is for readers 5 to 9 years old.

LUTHERANS mEET • Faith Lutheran Church holds worship services at the Carbondale Middle School auditorium: traditional service (9 a.m.), educational hour (10 a.m.), living praise worship (11:30 a.m.). Info.

Faithcarbondale.com and 925-7725.

RADIO PLAY • The Hudson Reed Ensemble presents the 1948 radio play “It’s a Wonderful Life” at the Basalt Library at 5:30 p.m.

Admission is free.

ASC • Aspen Spiritual Center in the Third Street Center presents the Rev. David Alexander’s CD “A Different Take on Christmas” at 10 a.m. On Dec. 21 it’s Roxana Duval (“When the Drummers were Women”), and Carmen Iacino (“Take the Whole You into the New Year”) on Dec. 28. Info: 963-5516

THE WYLY • The Wyly Art Center in Basalt continues its Holiday Art Club for kids from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Info: 927-4123.

WILD & SCENIC FESTIVAL • The Thompson Divide Coalition brings the Wild & Scenic Film Festival to the Crystal Theatre at 7 p.m. The festival features conservation and adventure films that illustrate the Earth’s beauty, the challenges that face the planet, and the work that communities around the world are doing to protect the areas they cherish, according to a press release. “Through these films, we hope to inspire you, our audience, to become more involved with one of the biggest conservation opportunities facing our own community: permanent protection for public lands in the Thompson Divide area,” said a Thompson Divide spokesman. Other sponsors include CLIF Bar, Sierra Nevada, Patagonia and local businesses. Info: 970-355-4223.

CHAmPAGNE SHOPPING • CCAH offers champagne shopping for its Deck the Walls sale at the Launchpad on Fourth Street. The hours are noon to 4 p.m. with a children’s activity 2 to 4 p.m. also at The Launchpad. Coming up Dec. 20 at 4 p.m. is a holiday cookie

MONDAY Dec. 15 JAZZ JAm • The Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs continues Jazz Jam Mondays from 7 to 9 p.m. All abilities are welcome. For more info contact Hunter Damm 319-7853.

TUESDAY Dec. 16 RFHS • The Roaring Fork High School music department presents its annual Winter Concert at the school at 7 p.m. The choir, directed by Shanti Gruber, will perform “Carol

WEDNESDAY Dec. 17 CULTURE CLUB • The Carbondale Culture Club in the Third Street Center presents the piano/guitar duo Kelly Quinn and Chris Pfeiffer playing Christmas songs and selections for their new CD. CmS • Carbondale Middle School bands will present their Winter Concert at the school at 7 p.m. The sixth-grade band will perform

“March to the Seas,” “Banana Boat Song” and Paul Jennings' “Prehistoric Suite.” The seventh-grade band will perform “Renaissance Tryptich,” “Fantasy on a Medieval Carol” and “Celtic Air and Dance.” The eighth-grade band will perform “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Coventry Carol,” “Land of Make Believe” and an Earth, Wind and Fire medley. The public is invited. The program will also be performed at the school at 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 16.

LIVE mUSIC • Dan Rosenthal hosts open mic nights at Rivers restaurant from 8 to 10 p.m. Info: 928-8813.

ROTARY • The Rotary Club of Carbondale presents United Way of Garfield County’s Amy Barr at the Carbondale Fire Station at 6:45 a.m. Info: riccarlson@gmail.com and steve@kdnk.org.

Further Out THURSDAY Dec. 18

STUDENTS’ RECITAL • Students of Sonia Roldan will present a piano recital at the Third Street Center starting at 6 p.m. Their ages range from 4 to 12 years old. Info: 963-1680 or carbondalearts.com.

GO SEE THE CHIEFS • Carbondale Police Chief Gene Schilling, and Carbondale Fire Chief Ron Leach, meet the public to discuss issues and related matters over coffee at the Village Smithy from 8 to 9 a.m. on the third Thursday of the month.

CCAH SHOW CONTINUES • The Carbondale Council on Arts and Humanities continues its “Deck the Walls” holiday show through Dec. 24 at its Launchpad’s R2 Gallery. The show features jewelry, silks, scarves and wool cowles, handmade dolls, lamps, candles, hand-

crafted bath and beauty supplies, kitchen wares and one of a kind holiday ornaments and cards. “Deck the Walls” continues from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. Info: carbondalearts.com or 963-1680.

Ongoing

THE SOPRIS SUN, Carbondale’s community supported newspaper • DECEmBER 11, 2014 • 9

D E SI G N THE HOLIDAY COVER

Break out the paints, sharpen your pencils it’s time for the

“Spruce Up The Sun” ANNUAL HOLIDAY COVER DESIGN CONTEST The theme is “winter-wonderland” and the contest is open to grades Pre-K through High School.

Let your imagination run wild and get those creative juices flowing.

Spruce Up the Sun contest winners receive the honor of having their artwork in the Dec. 25 issue which is distributed throughout the Roaring Fork Valley as well as being posted on the Sun’s Web site.

The deadline for entries is

LOOK INSIDE: PAGE 5

Snowsnake PAGE 8

Films

PAGE 15

Trees

Sopris the

Carbondale’s community

Spruce Up The Sun

Sun

r

Volume 5, Number 45 | December 19, 2013

This year’s winner is …

The Sopris Sun conti nued its Spruce Up Sun cover competitio The n this year, opening up the competition to origi nal designs instead of limiting it to a contest in which students colored in a line drawing.

Almost 100 entries were submitted, inclu ing a box full from dart teacher Ami Mae s, who delivered them just before deadline on Monday.

The entries included many beautiful and ative winter holiday crescenes. Some featu red more traditional settin gs, such as a warm fire other inviting hom e scenes. Others inclu and ded favorite winter spor ts such as snowboar ding or ice-skating. Santa seemed to be mult i-talented: disco dancing, hot-t ubing in hot cocoa and dunking a basketbal even l.

This year’s top hono r a sixth grader at Carb goes to Daniela Rivera, ondale Middle Scho ol.

First place winners in the various categ are: Cal Stone (preories school), Emmet Garc (kindergarten thro elon ugh fourth grade), Gelena Amaral (fifth grad e), Hayden Holbrook (sixth grade), Hannah Feder (seventh grade), Nanessa Montoya (eighth grade) and Maes (adult).

Ami Judging such a comp etitiv e cont est would not have been possi ble without the help of discerning eyes at the Carbondale Coun cil on Arts and Humanities.

The Sopris Sun staff and CCAH would also like to thank all of the contestants for sharing their creativity and talents. It made judging a truly difficult task.

Contestants may pick up their origi nal artwork at The Sopr is Sun office at 520 S. Third Street #35.

For the contest category winners, please go to pages 18-1 9 and visit our website (www.soprissun.c om).

Thanks again to all who entered.

Happy holidays and start ing thinking now for the 2014 contest.

Cover contest winn er: Daniela Rivera, sixth grader at Carb a ondale Middle Scho ol.

On the SE Corn er of Hwy 133 and Main Stre et in Carb onda le

970 .96 3.5 880

MONDAY

supported, weekly news pape

E E AG AL E MP ND SID RA RBO E IN C A ID & . GU C RE

Artwork must be 8 1/2 inches wide by 11 inches high.

You may use a variety of media, such as watercolor, pen and ink, crayon, chalk, markers, etc. Brighter colors are encouraged. No sparkles please.

Please keep designs 2-dimensional in order for us to scan the artwork for publication.

Onl y at

THE PERFECT HOLIDAY GIFT!

SO PR IS LIQ UO R & WI NE

DEC. 15 by 5 p.m.

Drop them off at The Sopris Sun office in the Third Street Center (520 S. Third St., #36 – at the end of the “long hall”). Please include your name, grade level, and a phone number with your entry.

For more information, call The Sopris Sun at 510-3003.

Carbon

e Double dal Down

Reposado

Buy 1 fo r the re gular price of $64.99 and ge up to 3 t more bo ttl es for $24.

99 each

Community Briefs

Please submit your community briefs to news@soprissun.com by noon on Monday. cluded notable achievements of students, alumni, faculty and staff. She also informed the board that interviews for the vice president of the Edwards campus and regional vice president for the Rifle-to-Aspen corridor are continuing on schedule.

Libraries offering e-newsletters Starting in January, branches in the Garfield County library system will send out monthly e-mail newsletters to library card holders and others in the community, according to a press release. “Anyone on the list can expect information on upcoming events from their local library, hot new book information, as well as the occasional book review, tech tip or library news,” said a library district press release. The monthly e-mail newsletters will take over for the former district-wide quarterly newsletter Page by Page. “The libraries recently completed a marketing and communications plan, in which we held community meetings and conducted a survey that asked for community input,” the press release continued.

“Based on your suggestions, we realized that we could give each community more timely information by embracing monthly e-newsletters. It also saves paper and printing costs, so more of your investment in us can go toward books and materials.” Everyone who has already given their e-mail address to the libraries will be on their home library’s list. If that doesn’t apply to you, you can go to our website, www.gcpld.org, and click on “Sign Up for Library News” at the bottom of the page. Or, you can stop by any Garfield County library and give your e-mail address to your local librarian and ask to be put on the list.

CmC board certifies mill levy The Colorado Mountain College Board of Directors certified the district’s mill levy of 3.997 for the upcoming fiscal year at its meeting in Glenwood Springs on Monday, according to a press release. The mill levy has not changed since 1999. At the meeting CMC President Carrie Besnette Hauser gave her regular report, which in-

Avalanche safety classes offered Colorado Mountain College is offering avalanche safety classes at the Spring Valley campus between Glenwood Springs and Carbondale, and Edwards, Breckenridge, Leadville, Aspen and Steamboat Springs.

Registration is under way and many classes start on Jan. 12. For details, go to coloradomtn.edu/classes.

Christmas tree cutting permitted

The Mount Sopris Historical Society’s Darrell Munsell (right) accepts a Josephine Miles honorable mention award for the Four Rivers Historical Alliance at the History Colorado Museum in Denver on Nov. 20. The alliance is comprised of 12 museums and historical societies from Aspen to Marble and Eagle to Parachute. The alliance was recognized for publishing a pamphlet-style map that locates and explains 45 historic sites in the area of the Colorado, Roaring Fork, Eagle and Crystal rivers. The $250 monetary award will be used to help finance the re-publication of the map in 2015. Courtesy photo

60-year collection of drums

You must actually have a permit. Non-commercial Christmas tree cutting is allowed in most areas of the White River National Forest, except in: wilderness areas, scenic byways, Glenwood Canyon, the Maroon Bells Scenic Area, commercial timber sale areas, recreation and ski areas, campgrounds, trailheads, developed sights and administrative areas. The Sopris Range Station on Main Street in Carbondale sells permits for $10 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Trees cannot be more than 15 feet tall and may not be greater than six inches in diameter at the base of the tree. For details, call Mateo Sandate at 963-2266.

Fire district calls Here are the Carbondale & Rural Fire Protection District’s emergency 911 calls for the week of Nov. 30-Dec. 6.

• Fire alarm responses (7); • Motor vehicle accidents (5); • Medical emergencies (2).

& world percussion instruments for sale!

African, Middle-Eastern, Latin American, Native American, Symphonic YOU NAME IT, I’VE GOT IT! See in downtown Carbondale by appointment only ,

Laurie, 970-963-2798.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Thank you for your continued patronage!

Staff and Bob thank the community for support through his illness.

Closing Dec. 24 at 2 pm Closed Christmas Day Open Dec. 26 at 7 am

New Year’s Day Open at 7 am

0155 Highway 133 • Carbondale • 970.963.4111

THE SOPRIS SUN, Carbondale’s community supported newspaper • DECEmBER 11, 2014 • 11

Gimme five for First Friday!

There were high fives and smiles, and lots of songs and dance, on First Friday when the annual Light Up Carbondale took off at the Launchpad, Fourth Street Plaza and elsewhere around town on Dec. 5.

Photos by Jane Bachrach

12 • THE SOPRIS SUN • www.SoprisSun.com • DECEmBER 11, 2014

Santa’s lap Santa doesn’t deliver until Dec. 25 but he came through and put plenty of smiles on faces at First Friday on Dec. 5. As usual, some kids didn’t quite get the significance of the bearded guy in the red suit, but we trust they’ll come to understand what he’s all about by this time next year.

Photos by Jane Bachrach

THE SOPRIS SUN, Carbondale’s community supported newspaper • DECEmBER 11, 2014 • 13

Carbondale blacksmith moves west, moving up Works at 46-year-old forge

By Nicolette Toussaint Sopris Sun Correspondent

art’s musical instruments will be seen by thousands each day.

Axel Stewart has arguably hit the big time: His handiwork will soon be seen by multitudes. He’s making a living as an artisan without having to wait tables or take on a “day job.” And his colleagues have taken to calling him “The Wizard.”

Stewart’s wizardry is performed on metal. A local who grew up in Carbondale, graduated from Yampah Mountain High School in Glenwood Springs and attended Colorado Mountain College, Stewart now lives near Lake Tahoe.

Stewart is affiliated with Mountain Forge, a family-owned blacksmith shop that is located in Truckee, California, where it has been turning out architectural and ornamental metal works since 1968. A couple of months ago, Anton Josef Standteiner, one of the owners of Mountain Forge, asked Stewart to lend a hand with “The Band.”

“It’s really his baby,” Stewart explained.

“I was called in to forge instruments for a jazz band — a sculpture of a jazz band. It’s a piece of art that will be at the base of a big new skyscraper.” The metallic sculpture depicts an abstracted jazz ensemble, and each “band member” in it will measure four feet wide and 10 feet tall. Once installed at 535 Mission Street in San Francisco’s trendy and growing South of Market area, it will be surrounded by public seating — thus, Stew-

Blacksmithing start Stewart began to learn blacksmithing here in Carbondale, which like the town of Tahoe City where he now lives, is a hot spot for artisans who find clients in a nearby, high-end resort area. Stewart took a beginning blacksmithing class from the late Francis Whitaker at Colorado Rocky Mountain School, and then later apprenticed to one of Whitaker’s students, Jonathan White, who owns the Royal Forge here in Carbondale.

Along the way, the Carbondale Council for Arts and Humanities awarded a grant to Stewart. “That grant bought my plane ticket to Europe,” Stewart recalls. “I went to Germany for six months and I worked with three different blacksmiths. I learned a lot, that’s for sure. The blacksmiths in Germany are connected to an ancient trade, passed down for generations. That was a very good experience.”

Stewart’s relocation to Northern California came about accidentally. “I had a friend who moved out this way and offered a home to stay in for a visit. I jumped on it and cruised out here, not planning to move,” he recalled in a telephone interview. “I was ready to get away from the valley, and I was offered a job here. I worked for that shop, Hunter Metal, for about two years.”

Give Giv eY Yourself Your ourself a Mindful S Start tar t tto o tthe he N New ew Y Year! ear!

Give yourself friend) start yearr, cultivating cultivating Giv ey ourself (or a fr iend) a mindful st ar t to to the the new new year, well learning w ell being and genuine happiness, lear ning how how to to live live with with attention attention intention!

Foundations and int ention! Join us ffor or our MLP Mindfulness F oundations course.

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Transform Your Life Register online at www www.mindfullifeprogram.org .mindfullifeprogram.org .m mindfullifeprogram.org 970-633-0163

14 • THE SOPRIS SUN • www.SoprisSun.com • DECEmBER 11, 2014

Axel Stewart learned his first blacksmithing lessons from the legendary Francis Whitaker, and then later studied in Germany before bringing his talents back to the Roaring Fork Valley. These days, he can be found at Mountain Forge in Truckee, California.

Courtesy photo Stewart has now been working for Mountain Forge for about two years, creating custom “handrails, guard rails, lighting, fireplaces and all sorts of stuff. Mountain Forge has a pretty solid client base with contractors and friends in the community,” Stewart said.

“They don’t have any problem bringing in the work. The amount of metal work and highend craftsmanship here is pretty incredible.”

Continuing, Stewart said “I feel like more often I’m a craftsman than an artist. Craft has sort of been lost, but it’s making a comeback. It has to do with making things with your hands, things that are functional and can be used. Things that are not made in China, but are made in our own back yards.

That’s a valuable thing. If you know people who do that, and you can take advantage of it, you should.”

Stewart says he has drawn ideas from working with other blacksmiths and from looking at the work of famous metal workers. “It sometimes comes from talking about ideas or from taking an idea giving it your own twist. You’re trying to copy it, but you’re also trying to style it in your own way.

“That’s where the craft comes in. A craft is art that has been around for centuries. It’s a craft that they figured out a long time ago, and to continue doing that craft is a compliment to past blacksmiths. The art side of it is to make it original.

“I guess I get the most satisfaction out of making smaller items, gifts,” Stewart added.

“I make little sculptures and knives. I make a lot of my own tools too. I will make a hammer and then use it to make something else that’s really neat.”

And what about the nickname he has acquired? “They call me The Wizard around the shop,” he muses. “I just work magic on metal. I don’t know … I guess maybe they call me that because whatever it is, I can figure out a way to make it happen.”

SoL presents “Annie JR” at CMS Dec. 11-14 Sopris Sun Staff Report SoL Theatre presents “Annie JR” at Carbondale Middle School on Dec. 11-14.

Based on the popular comic strip by Harold Gray, “Annie,” the world-wide phenomenon and the winner of seven Tony Awards including Best Musical, is now adapted for young performers in “Annie JR.” This production features some of the greatest musical theatre hits ever written including “Tomorrow,” according to a press release. With equal measures of pluck and positivity, little orphan Annie charms everyone’s hearts despite a next-to-nothing start in 1930s New York City. She is determined to find her parents who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of a New York City orphanage run by the cruel, embittered Miss Hannigan. With the help of the other girls in the orphanage, Annie escapes to the wondrous world of New York City. In adventure after fun-filled adventure, Annie foils Miss Hannigan’s evil machinations and even befriends President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

She finds a new home and family in billionaire Oliver Warbucks, his personal secretary Grace Farrell, and a lovable mutt named Sandy.

For ticket information and performances times, please see the ad on page 11 or go soltheatrecompany.com.

Cast members from SoL Theatre rehearse for “Annie JR.” The kids’ version of the award-winning play runs Dec. 11-14 at Carbondale Middle School. Curtain times are 7 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. on Sunday. Asha Ironwood photo

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THE SOPRIS SUN, Carbondale’s community supported newspaper • DECEmBER 11, 2014 • 15

EAT. SHOP. PLAY CONFLUENCE OF RIVERS, RECREATION & CULTURE

Hit the street for Basalt ArtWalk on Dec. 12 Sopris Sun Staff Report

Bayard Hollins solo show

Creative Spaces project

Friday evening, Dec. 12 is Basalt ArtWalk in downtown Basalt, as four of the town’s art venues are slated to host receptions for a variety of artists. It is a festive celebration of the arts in downtown Basalt for art lovers, community and friends. All receptions are free and open to the public, according to a press release.

The Wyly Annex will host an artist’s reception for internationally exhibited and collected artist Bayard Hollins from 5 to 7 p.m. Hollins is a Basalt resident and Wyly instructor. He explains his work this way: “There are many influences in my work.

However the dominant theme tends to be the interaction between classical realism and abstract expressionism. I work fast and with large strokes to convey the rawness of nature. I want to leave every painting in what could be considered an ‘incomplete state,’ because I believe an unrefined painting is truer to nature and to my own emotions. When earthly references are suggested rather than spelled out, space is created for the painting to move, breathe and grow in the viewer’s imagination.”

The exhibit is on view through Jan. 24.

The Wyly Annex is located at 174 Midland Ave. Annex hours are Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. For more information, call 927-4123 or e-mail art@wylyarts.org.

The Creative Spaces project is collaboration between artists, galleries, property owners and the business community. Filling the town’s prime empty spaces with art until they are leased or sold, Creative Spaces is an evolving community project. “Any businesses with visibility and temporary vacancies should consider the benefits of filling their spaces with color, art, objects and creativity,” said a Basalt Chamber of Commerce press release.

Creative Space I is located at 227 Midland Ave, #14A, and features Dave Durrance paintings, Dave Struempler furniture and Rick Stevens’ Native American weaponry replicas. Creative Space II is located at 227 Midland Ave, #16A, and features art glass by Shannon Muse and neon sculptures by Meg McNulty. Creative Space V is located at the Basalt Park and Ride (the corner of Highway 82 and Basalt Avenue) and is designed and donated by Mountain Greenery. For more information, call 927-1437 or e-mail info@toklatgallery.com.

Korologos Gallery The Ann Korologos Gallery in the clock tower building in downtown Basalt will host an artists’ reception from 5 to 7 p.m.

“The Gift of Winter” showcases select works perfect for seasonal giving and receiving. The gallery-wide exhibition features new works in a range; bronze, oils, watercolors and photography.

“The Gift of Winter” continues through Jan. 4. Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, call 927-9668 or e-mail art@korologosgallery.com.

Bayard Hollins’s “Walk on Basalt Mountain.”

Toklat Gallery Toklat Gallery showcases two artists this month: Josefina Gordh (a textile artist, who creates scarves, pillows, and wall hangings) and Paula Fischer with Naif paintings from Bariloche, Argentina.

Toklat Gallery is located at 255 Gold Rivers Ct., and will be open from 5 to 7 p.m. on Dec. 12. For more information, call 927-1437 or e-mail info@toklatgallery.com.

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16 • THE SOPRIS SUN • www.SoprisSun.com • DECEmBER 11, 2014

Mountain bike association hires ďŹ rst full-timer RFMBA also joins international group

ganization, Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers, we’re always focused on outcomes that provide the best experience for mountain bikers.

By Mike Pritchard

mountain biking in 2015

With recent snowstorms blanketing local mountains, outdoor lovers in the Roaring Fork Valley are now ofďŹ cially in winter season mode. Some of us are getting skis and winter gear ready for weekend adventures. There are at least a few of us who are lowering air pressure in fat-tire bike tires and prepping for after-work night rides on the snow. And yet, some of us are already thinking about the upcoming spring and summer, when we’ll be back on those owing ribbons of dirt on our local mountain bike trail systems.

Mountain bikers in the Roaring Fork Valley are blessed with a canvas of unparalleled beauty. We’ve also inherited a great number of places to visit using two wheels under our own power. Roaring Fork Mountain Bike Association (RFMBA) formed in 2008 with a mission to create and sustain the best possible mountain bike trail system in our valley. In the 1980s and 1990s, mountain bikers in the San Francisco area experienced the initial wave of trails being closed to the sport. The lesson learned was that mountain bikers needed to transition from opportunistic to involved and organized. Since its inception, RFMBA has been coordinating with local land managers and advocating for mountain bikers.

This past year brought signiďŹ cant steps in the organization’s evolution.

While long afďŹ liated as a club, RFMBA is now a chapter of IMBA, the International Mountain Bicycling Association. As a chapter, we utilize shared resources. Our joint memberships, whereby each constituent becomes a member of RFMBA and IMBA, limit the burdens of running a mountain bike trails advocacy organization. With this renewed focus, along with generous funding and business sponsorships, RFMBA hired its ďŹ rst staff member. I’m fortunate to have been ďŹ lling the role of executive director on a half-time basis since the beginning of 2014, and as of this month, on a full-time basis.

Why think about dirt trails when there’s powder and corduroy to focus on? Gaining approvals for trails on federal lands can take years. Beyond the required environmental studies, land management agencies are underfunded. The work we provide helps to accelerate the seemingly glacial process. From conceptual planning with maps, to agging re-routes and new trails in the ďŹ eld, to coordinating volunteer events with our partner or-

What can mountain bikers expect in 2015 and beyond? Earlier this year, Aspen Snowmass was designated a bronze-level IMBA Ride Center. This designation means that we’ve got a well-rounded trail system (especially because of the new trails at Sky Mountain Park) that offers up day after day of great riding experiences. With the Upper Roaring Fork Trails Plan (draft expected this winter), we want to create the “best possibleâ€? trail system. Everyone is anticipating the ďŹ nal signing of the BLM’s Resource Management Plan. This nearly eight-year-long process is expected to result in a Special Management Area for The Crown. This SMA will likely focus on improving mountain bike opportunities on both the Carbondale and El Jebel sides of this large plot of federal land. This summer, we helped design a trail that will access The Crown from the Rio Grande Trail near Rock Bottom Ranch. This trail, and another on the Glassier Open Space could be constructed in the next 10 to 20 months. This past fall, the Glenwood Springs Area Concept Trails Plan effort was kicked off with a large public meeting and online surveys. This Concept Trails Plan will be issued this winter and sets the stage for trail reroutes and construction projects.

With planning and advocacy efforts ongoing throughout our valley, there is one outcome that both mountain bikers and our community should be interested in achieving: An IMBA-designated Regional Ride Center, especially when achieved at the highest gold level, would provide world class trails and amenities for both locals and visitors.

How can we grow our mountain bike community to achieve these goals? Become a member of RFMBA. Support our continued work through a business sponsorship or a generous donation. Volunteer on trail maintenance and creation projects with us. Get out there, ride hard, be friendly and become a part of mountain biking’s future.

Bike Bits

Mike Pritchard was a founding board member of RFMBA and now serves as executive director. A portion of his time is dedicated to advancing mountain bike opportunities beyond the Roaring Fork Valley as an associate regional director for IMBA. Learn more and become a member at rfmba.org.

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THE SOPRIS SUN, Carbondale’s community supported newspaper • DECEmBER 11, 2014 • 17

A quick preview of Colorado’s Joint Budget Committee The start of the 70th session of the Col- through marijuana sales tax. Kindergarten orado Legislature is less than a month away through 12th grade, and higher education although the Joint Budget Committee (JBC), funding, will get another boost but K12 funding will still not erase the of which I’m now a member, “negative factor,” a mechanism has been at work for about put into place during the recesthree weeks. sion to balance the budget.

I’ve also been introduced Medicaid has grown faster to many newly elected legisthan expected since the expansion lators and I am reminded of of eligibility under the Affordable my experience two years ago Care Act. The committee is sortwhen I was overwhelmed ing through individual program with the learning experience budgets, of which there are many. of being a Representative.

When we get an updated revenue Every legislator, in both the projection next week, and again House and Senate, can introthe in February, we will start to put duce five bills. The newly the top level budget together and elected have a lot of ideas

By Bob Rankin see what can fund the new bills and promises to keep so its going to be interesting to see what emerges brought forth by the current legislators. If you’re wondering whether or not there will in the first few weeks.

Work on the JBC is intense but a great be a quiz at the end of this column, I’ll forgo opportunity to learn the intricacies of Col- it until next month.

••• orado state government. There are six memI have two bills in draft form. The first bers on the JBC this session. With the split between the democratically controlled will funnel more support to rural schools.

House and republican controlled Senate, the My second important bill is a repeat of a bill six-member JBC is made up of three mem- that I introduced last year to strengthen the state’s role in our partnership with the fedbers from each party.

The state will spend about $26.8 billion eral government. The Roan Plateau settle— made up of taxes, fees and federal dol- ment and the current sage grouse protection lars — in the upcoming fiscal year. Because issue are perfect examples of why this bill is revenue is expected to exceed constitutional so important. It will enable the state and limits set by the Taxpayer Bill of Rights counties to work together toward resolution (TABOR), the current projection is that the of these important and complicated issues.

The Roan Plateau settlement has now state will refund about $170 million next year, including $30.5 million collected been signed and an environmental impact

Under Dome

18 • THE SOPRIS SUN • www.SoprisSun.com • DECEmBER 11, 2014

study can proceed to allow gas development on half of the lands originally leased. Hopefully the experience can be used to start discussions on the Thompson Divide leases.

Joyce continues to work as my legislative aide and is very busy handling scheduling and constituent issues. She is also working with high school students throughout the district who have volunteered for her “Intern

WRNF releases FEIS Sopris Sun Staff Report Conservationists, ranchers, recreationists, elected officials and others were elated at this week’s decision to limit future natural gas exploration and production in the White River National Forest, although the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and draft Record of Decision (ROD) will not have any impact on existing leases that would allow drilling south of Carbondale on the Thompson Divide.

“The EIS and proposed ROD are about future leasing,” Wilderness Workshop staff attorney Peter Hart told The Sopris Sun in an e-mail.

Elaborating, Hart said the Forest Service EIS represents an updated analysis that the BLM will rely on when it figures out what to do about the existing leases on the White River National Forest that were illegally issued (including those on the Thompson Divide).

in the Field” program. The students will learn about state government while keeping us informed of issues in their local communities.

Thank you all for the honor of serving.

Representative Bob Rankin, House District 57, lives in the Carbondale area and represents Garfield, Rio Blanco and Moffat counties.

“(The) BLM has said that it may cancel, modify or uphold those leases,” Hart said.

“Our hope is that the BLM ultimately voids those illegal leases, but we aren’t expecting a draft of that BLM analysis until next year.

“The draft Forest Service decision released today (Dec. 9) gives a pretty clear indication that the Forest Service prioritizes protection of the Thompson Divide and roadless areas from future leasing and development. Ultimately, we may be looking at BLM to make a decision that facilitates those priorities by canceling illegal leases.”

In a much anticipated 550 page document, WRNF Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams identifies lands available for oil and gas leasing on the 2.2 million acre White River National Forest and includes stipulations to be attached to leases for protecting surface resources. The analysis revises the WRNF’s 1993 Oil and Gas Leasing Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and Record of Decision (ROD), according to a press release.

Letters continued om page 2 has been graciously hosting our annual dinner and we could not ask for a more fun place to hold our event! Thank you to Richard Edwards and Billy Stolz along with the entire Caribou Club management and staff for making this evening so memorable.

The Buddy Program announced the recipient of our Hero award — Charlie Hopton; our Angel award — Jim FiďŹ eld and Helen DeFrance; our Golden Lemon award — Ryan Larkin; and our Golden Carbineer award — Karen and Nathan Sandler, and Dirk Bockelman with Aspen Expeditions. In addition, we acknowledged Mona LookMazza’s amazing service to our board of directors. And most importantly, we recognized the time and energy that each Big Buddy gives to their Little Buddy. The commitment of these amazing volunteers makes our program so special. Thank you!

As the Buddy Program continues to empower youth through mentoring experiences in order to achieve their full potential we recognize we could not do it without the support and commitment from our community!

Soledad Lowe Community Program Director The Buddy Program  Aspen, Basalt and Carbondale Â

The truth is out

Dear Editor:  the The truth is ďŹ nally coming out! Even Associated Press is reporting that the CDC has reported that the u vaccine “may not be effective.â€? This is not really news because this

has been the situation for a long time. helpful. Moderate exercise is also foundaYet, the CDC is still using its fear tactics tional to good health. to encourage people to still get the u shot.

There are many types of foods and drinks Even though they don’t work, they are rec- that can be consumed that will also build ommending that people put mercury (yes, it is your immune system. still in the u vaccine), aluminum, aborted A new documentary movie called human and animal fetal tissue cells, MSG, “Boughtâ€? is about how the food, GMO, latex, genetically modiďŹ ed yeast, animal, bac- vaccine and pharmaceutical industries have terial and viral DNA and other ingredients worked together to create incredible proďŹ ts that you did not serve at your Thanksgiving at the expense of our health. They have used meal into our bodies. Am I the only one to lies and manipulated research to suit their wonder whether this makes any sense? desires. It goes without saying that our corThe CDC reports that last year’s vaccine rupt political system has made their proďŹ ts was 50-55 percent effective and they consid- in this scenario. ered that good. This year’s vaccine is even less Don’t worry Chicken Little, the sky is not effective (sic). The truth of the matter is that falling. The curtain is being pulled back on “theyâ€? have never been able to predict the u Oz and we don’t need to call Superman. strains. “Theyâ€? also don’t really know how The tides are changing and the corruption or if the vaccines work. The whole basis has in our food and health care system is being been questioned. With the increase of vac- exposed. People are becoming more aware cines, there has also been a noted increase in that GMO foods are dangerous, even though chronic health diseases (sic). But in the mean- Colorado did not seem to understand the time, the vaccine companies have made bil- issue in the last election. lions of dollars with their experiment and Now is the time to take back your health. our health has actually been a victim.

Tom Lankering, DC So what do we do now?

Basalt Perhaps going back to making healthy lifestyle choices to naturally build our im-  What is happening? mune systems would be a great place to start. Dear Editor: Eating whole organic foods are important.

My name is Kat Rich, I am also known Removing sugar from your diet would be an- as the Cheshire Kati. I am not grinning. other great action. Drinking clean water (not I am deeply saddened and concerned the soft drinks) is important. Detoxing is vital about what is happening at KDNK. The ento health. Making sure that your nervous vironment that has been created by both system is functioning as effectively as possi- management and the board of directors is dible is critical. Getting healthy sun exposure is visive, manipulative, dysfunctional, unpleas-

ant and just plain not KDNK. The big question being asked by members, DJs, and the community at large is not HOW the show is being run, but rather WHO is running the show? As a well established non-proďŹ t that has been around for 30 years, this is not a question that should have to be asked.

Being entrusted with the care and welfare of this station that has been built by the vision, toil and sacriďŹ ce of this great community is a privilege, it is not a right. It is not to be taken lightly. KDNK is collaboration. It belongs to the public, not one person or entity. It is the voice of our community.

When the governing body is constantly challenged by the entity which it is responsible to oversee, and that body begins to abdicate its power, the community loses its voice. To me that is the real tragedy here. I urge all leadership to ensure that this does not happen.

To the board, I ask that you all remain impartial, unbiased and united. To management I ask that you honor the public that has given you the gift of being the guardian of our voice. To the community of members, of which I am part, I urge you be part of the process, be involved at a higher level than simply paying your dues. It is our radio station; it is our responsibility, just as much as it is the powers that be.

Don’t take away our voice, don’t take away my voice, and don’t take away your voice. Imagine how quiet it would be.

Kat Rich Carbondale

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THE SOPRIS SUN, Carbondale’s community supported newspaper • DECEmBER 11, 2014 • 19