Get TIO in your Inbox!

Author: Telluwriter TIO

by Tracy Shaffer

Denver starts to rock, the season of new beginnings. The town is warming up for the summer nights to do what Denverites do best— hit the streets! Not long after the ski slopes close, concert venues open: for the next five months, music will waft through our city’s all too thin air. Picnics in the park, treks up to Red Rocks: I can almost hear the clickety-clack of Prada sandals as the charge of the Botox Brigade hits the patio at Elway’s.  Kicking it off this Saturday is the 7th annual Five Points Jazz Festival at 27th & Welton Street.

Long before Denver welcomed the likes of Matt Holliday or the Birdman, Duke Ellington, Charlie “Bird” Parker and Billie Holiday roamed the streets of Five Points, frequenting the jazz clubs and speakeasies that tarted up the streets. Sitting down for coffee with Denver Office of Cultural Affairs Public Programming Coordinator, Gina Rubano, the talk was all that jazz and how the festival pays tribute not only to the rich cultural heritage of the Five Points neighborhood, but to modern day jazz icons as well.
20 May, 2010 /

by Tracy Shaffer

Eli and Betty Black and White Dec 2008 Life as a single parent is rough. Tales of being overwhelmed, of budgets and stress, fly across tables at your local Starbucks. The crash of weary heads falling into pillows echoes through our nation’s nights and while some of us rise and fall to the daily drill, others patiently teach a little one to tie a shoe, even if it takes all year.

After a day at the soccer field and showing houses I met up with sister-single-mom and Autism Society of Colorado’s Betty Lehman to wrap up my stories for Autism Awareness month. Looking like a softer version of Sarah Jessica Parker, Betty burst into Racine’s, spotting me in an instant though we’d never met before. She is keen and kind, pin-point focused as we launch into an energetic conversation sharing stories of raising sons. The difference is, that while I foray into the land of the teenage boy, Betty Lehman is the mother of a child with autism.

15 May, 2010 /

by Art Goodtimes

IMG_5178 I threw a hissy fit in Norwood last week. At our regular meeting of the San Miguel County Board of Commissioners.

It’s something that’s bugged me for years.

My poor colleagues and staff had to put up with my ranting on and on over contested word choice in a county document that I, as chair this year, was going to have to sign my name to. Ridiculous? You decide…

08 May, 2010 /

By D. Dion

Keystone gorge 1

 

It’s hard to hear my hiking partner as we try to chat over the growling San Miguel River, which is rumbling loudly, full of spring runoff. Late snow still covers most of Telluride’s hiking and biking trails, but not Keystone Gorge: This fun loop next to the river is one of the first ones to be clear of winter’s clutches. It’s also the latest addition to the list of great hikes around town.

07 May, 2010 /

"Telluride Hiking Guide" author Susan Kees talks with TIO about her experiences in the region's high country. The third edition of her book is due out this year, and she also has a new website, www.telluridehikingguide.com. ...

28 April, 2010 /

by Kris Holstrom

_DSC0133 It’s nice to get out of the Telluride region for a bit during off-season if circumstances allow. Our family +1 managed to accomplish a whirlwind tour of colleges in the Pacific Northwest. Daughter Kelsey is a junior, and it was a great opportunity to see new country as she considers where to launch the next phase of her life after graduation next year.

Colleges were many and great, but the most fun for me was staying at the Out 'n’ About Treehouse Treesort just outside of Cave Juntion, Oregon. If you ever played MYST and enjoyed the treehouse world or coveted a treehouse of your own as a kid, you would love this place.

28 April, 2010 /

by Tracy Shaffer

Brian
Brian Jacobson

Spring fever hit Colorado, creating the perfect opportunity to stroll away a sunny afternoon with virtuoso chef and Foodswings owner, Brian T. Jacobson. First stop, coffee at Paris on the Platte; Brian swinging in with his energy as fresh and delicious as the food he cooks. Dipping biscotti into double espresso, we talk food, spices and the five essentials I must have in my kitchen. Brian leads me down the spice trade routes and into my very own culinary Age of Discovery. We speak of Dutch West Indies Trading Company, talk of blends, balance and the culture of cardamom. Trading the secrets of pepper and hanging on his every word, and armed with my vintage parasol, I’m restless to sojourn in the sunshine. Under the umbrella of a turquoise floral print, I link my arm in Brian’s and saunter up Little Raven to the Savory Spice Shop.

26 April, 2010 /

By D. Dion

Telluride Snowkiting Instructor Mark Worth is a wind junkie. After spending winters here teaching people how to snowkite, he blows out of town and spends summers in Hood River Gorge in Oregon, where he teaches people how to kite surf. He owns his own businesses in both towns, Telluride Snowkite School and Gorge Kiteboard School, and leads something of a double life.

“The migration thing’s just become part of the deal. It’s really a challenge to deal with the logistics,” says Worth, “but the upside is that in the Gorge, in the summertime, it’s really sunny and dry; but in the winter, it’s cloudy and rainy, so it’s nice to be in Telluride where the sun is shining and the snow is falling.”

25 April, 2010 /

by Tracy Shaffer

What a wonderful morning! One of those where it’s a bit overcast and you’re wishing you’d never scheduled one of those outside meetings, especially on a Friday. You'd be oh so content to work from home.
The light looked silvery in my golden room as I roused myself, vowing to keep my commitment. I’d set up coffee and an interview with Brooke Young, Autism Specialist with the Colorado Department of Education to discuss autism: not something I would normally bounce out of bed for, but April is National Autism Month and Brooke is headed for the Telluride region to mentor a Model Autism Team. I write for Telluride Inside... and Out. You get the picture.

I headed downtown to one of 15 Starbucks in a five block radius, ordered my Joe, asking if any of the many blondes in line was Brooke. Feeling luckily out of luck, I sat down to write and enjoy my overpriced java, secretly hoping I was at the wrong Starbucks as I guiltily scrolled through my Blackberry to find her number. One minute later in walked Brooke, apologetic for having gone to the wrong Starbucks, along with Gina Quintana, Significant Support Needs Specialist, also with the CDE.

19 April, 2010 /


By D. Dion


Most kids graduate high school and go to college to figure out what they want to do in life. Not Telluride’s Gus Kenworthy. Kenworthy knows exactly what he wants to do, and he's already doing it: pursuing his ambition to become a professional skier. This season his dreams became reality when he won $15,000 and the acclaim of Powder Magazine, which named him one of the top 20 young (under 18) freeskiers in the world.
08 April, 2010 /