“IF TELLURIDE WERE A PERSON, WE’D BE MARRIED. I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS PLACE.” Rosie Cusack
In the era before deposit insurance, Waggoner knew that the bank’s account holders — his friends and neighbors — would lose everything, so he devised an elaborate con that would become known as the Great Waggoner Swindle. The bank president hoodwinked a handful of New York banks into transferring money that he then used to pay off his depositors. It didn’t take long for the banks back east to see they’d been duped. At his trial, an unrepentant Waggoner told the court, “I would rather see the New York banks lose money than the people of Telluride, most of whom have worked all their lives for the savings that were deposited in my bank.” He was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ultimately served six; a man whose affection for Telluride and its people meant he’d go to prison rather than see them ruined. Happily, most Telluride love stories don’t end in a federal penitentiary. They are, however, as meaningful and deeply rooted in an affection for these environs, these towns, these mountains and this community and its people. Take, for instance, Rosie Cusack, the owner/broker of Telluride Luxury Rentals and Real Estate. Cusack first visited the area in 1984 and after eight years off and on, she made the relationship permanent, moving to Telluride in 1992. She even recalls the exact moment when she topped Keystone Hill and drove into our box canyon. “It was on Nov. 18 at about 3:30 p.m.,” Cusack says, chuckling. “If Telluride were a person, we’d be married. I love everything about this place. I love the physical beauty of Telluride and the entire vibe. And what really makes Telluride are the people and the nonprofits, as crazy as that might sound.”
It’s a love story that has inspired Cusack to give back. With a seemingly inexhaustible supply of energy and enthusiasm, she sits on the board of One to One Mentoring; is the director of Telluride Gay Ski Week; volunteers for local radio station KOTO and the Telluride AIDS Benefit; is a former board member of the Telluride Medical Center and Telluride Academy; and, on a volunteer basis, emcees many of town’s major events, like the Fourth of July Parade and One to One Mentoring’s two fundraisers, the Cardboard Sled Derby and Top Chef/Taste of Telluride. “What I can give, I will give,” Cusack says. “I will help anyone here who needs it.” Cusack emphasizes that she is inspired by the important work of Telluride’s local nonprofits. She mentions as an example One to One Mentoring, which connects young people in San Miguel County to mentors, explaining, “I’m inspired in particular by One to One, whose board I sit on. Kids in the area, in the region, sometimes need help and I am excited that I can be part of [an organization] that helps them.” Sometimes, people don’t just fall in love with Telluride, they fall in love in Telluride. Long-time locals Susan and Ben Kerr arrived — separately — in town in the 1970s. Susan Kerr had been looking around Montrose and Norwood for land suitable for her horses. She noticed the turn Down Valley for Telluride and on impulse decided to take it. She says, laughing, “It was the dead of off season in 1976 and I’ll never forget it. I was standing on the corner of Main Street talking to Mick Varner
Photos by Ryan Bonneau
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