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December 2010

VR-display-blog The Velvet Ribbon exchange is an original fundraising idea, a chance to give to the Sheridan Arts Foundation, at the same time receive something fabulous for yourself in return. Quid pro quo in action.

Throughout the month of December, the lobby of the Opera House doubles for the inside of a gift store, white gift boxes tied with red velvet ribbons throughout. The boxes, numbered 1 – 50, are all on sale for $250, but the individual contents are a secret until the donor opens the box associated with the number he picks.

Prizes range in value from $100 – $8,000+, but the majority of items are valued over $100. In addition to his prize, each purchaser receives a $150 tax deduction letter for the donation made to the Sheridan Arts Foundation, a 501(C)(3) nonprofit.

06 December, 2010 /

 by Lisa Barlow

Lemon squares best The Meyer lemons sitting on my kitchen table are like a bowl of sunshine. Rounder and deeper in color than regular lemons, they are also harder to come by, unless you live in Southern California and are blessed with a prolific tree in your back yard.  From November through January, when the lemons migrate to fruit aisles in specialty markets outside of California, you want to grab them. Don’t look at the price tag, just inhale their sweet scent and be grateful for a lucky score.

As a native New Yorker, the unique pleasures of the Meyer lemon are not imprinted on me. But for many a transplanted West Coaster, they serve as powerful triggers for sense memories, able to transport one back to childhood or into an old love affair.

05 December, 2010 /

Yet another installment of Telluride locals David Byars and Jenny Jacobi sub-Saharan philanthropy adventure. This week, they're going underground to explore a Ghanaian phenomenon, galamsey mining. Join them here....

05 December, 2010 /
[click "Play" to hear Beth Roberts talk about the Telluride museum's Winter program]

 

 

Musuem_000 Once upon a time, the doctor on duty performed an appendectomy –  on himself. At the Telluride Historical Museum. But it was not a museum then. The building, built  in 1896, was a community hospital back in the days the likes of Butch Cassidy hung out on Main Street.

Today the Telluride Historical Museum contains a collection of about 9,000 artifacts and 1,500 historic photographs. Exhibits focus on hard rock mining (displays of equipment, models of mines and mills), the Ute Indian heritage, the development of AC electric to honor the fact Nikola Tesla built the world's first AC-generating plant in town. There is a replica of the mining cabin that once belonged to the "Tomboy Bride," Harriet Backus, and tributes to Victorian architecture and fashion, including fancy dresses worn by Big Billie, Telluride's top madam at the turn of the century, when red lights had nothing to do with Christmas.

05 December, 2010 /
[click "Play" to hear vintage Roger Mason on painting and book covers]

 

Gatsby_CVRdj_front_300 If you live in the R-1 school district, you know the name "Rubadeau." But I am not talking about her. I am talking about him. After a nine month publishing odyssey tracked closely by Telluride Inside... and Out, author Bob Rubadeau just completed his latest mystery, Gatsby’s Last Resort: A Telluride Murder Mystery. And the author picked the work of another Telluride celebrity, Roger Mason, for the cover art.

On Tuesday, December 7, 6 p.m. in the Program Room of the Wilkinson Public Library the final chapters in Wit Thorpe’s trials to find the real killer will be unveiled - along with Mason's deliciously dark image.

04 December, 2010 /

Morgan & Chris 1 Telluride Inside... and Out does not have a Sundays Styles section like the New York Times, but from time to time, we write about happy couples on their The Big Day, like the big boys. So let's all break from the retail steeplechase of the holiday season to raise a glass to (relatively speaking) newlyweds, Telluride local Morgan Metzger and her hubbie Chris Matson.

Morgan Metzger was born in Chicago, but grew up in Telluride, where she has lived since 1985. At the Telluride Academy, she joined the Mystery Drama Troupe known as the Mudd Butts, and at one point, thought to become an actress. But Morgan discovered she got stage fright and became an artist/interior designer instead.

There was, however, no stage fright, none whatsoever, when Morgan Metzger married Chris Matson on a beach at sunset on Anna Maria Island, Florida, Saturday, November 13. The couple were officially hitched by internationally renowned, Telluride-based artist Robert Weatherford, who is also an ordained minister.

04 December, 2010 /

(Ed. note: Telluride TV sent the following press release.)

Executive Director:

Katie Karow, an accomplished sales and marketing executive and Telluride local became Telluride TV's new Executive Director effective December 1. Karow replaces Susan Lilly who, in April, as a member of the Board of Directors, agreed to serve as the Interim Executive Director until a permanent successor could be identified.

Karow most recently worked as administrator and board president for Mountain Sprouts Preschool, where she initiated new fundraising strategies, including successful grant writing. Karow led the school through the Planning and Zoning process to secure a new home for the Sprouts, strengthened the Board of Directors and teaching staff.

“We had a tremendously talented pool of applicants for this job, but ultimately Katie was the most well-rounded and best fit for our organization,” said Mary Jo Guarrero, board president.

04 December, 2010 /

by Lisa Barlow

(NOTE: Hanukkah starts on the Hebrew calendar date of 25 Kislev, and lasts for eight days. THIS YEAR THROUGH 12/1 – 12/9)

Latkes What does a nice shiksa girl like me know about latkes? Bupkis! But that doesn’t stop me from gobbling them down whenever they’re on the menu. In New York you can find great latkes year round in delis and Eastern European eateries. During Hanukkah, you can find them in many upscale restaurants where they are gussied up with crème fraiche and caviar, quails' eggs or truffles. You can even find traif versions that feature bacon.

Latkes are served on Hanukkah in celebration of the liberation of Jerusalem in 168 BC, after the Maccabees drove out the Syrian-Greek invaders. When the main temple was recaptured, only enough oil remained to keep the holy lamp burning for one day. Yet it burned for eight days, long enough for the city dwellers to manufacture more oil. Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, has become the eight-day holiday that pays homage to the miracle of the oil. Not only is one candle of a menorah lit each day for eight days, but tradition holds that foods fried in oil, most usually olive oil, be served.

03 December, 2010 /
[click "Play",Dolce's Beau Staley discusses turquoise]

 

Earth Turquoise ring This is your month, Telluride's Sagittarii and Capricorns. And your birthstone, December babies, is turquoise – also blue topaz and Tanzanite. (Guess December is big on alliteration.)

But turquoise is the most popular and the oldest of December birthstones, found on artifacts dating back 5000 years in ancient Egypt (the tomb of Tutankhamen was filled with turquoise bling and Cleopatra used the ground up stone in her eye paint), Sumeria and Mesopotamia. Turquoise" means "Turkish Stone," in French and France is where the first deposits were found in the ancient world, before the first mines in Egypt. Turkey is the route the gemstone took when first introduced into Europe.

03 December, 2010 /