Get TIO in your Inbox!

Lifestyle

8th graaders w goat by Kris Holstrom

(Editor's note: Tellurider/director/coordinator Kris Holstrom and The New Community Coaltion (TNCC), the change-agent charged with the greening of the Telluride region, are doing more than talking. TNCC is walking its talk, making a difference, only the changes it is affecting are not flashy and often get lost in the many meetings required to sort out details.

To set the record straight, this is the first in a series of posts to explain what the TNCC has accomplished to date. We begin from the ground up, starting with our kids interested in protecting their legacy.)

TNCC helped start the YES Club in the Telluride High School. That's Youth Empowering Sustainability. The YES Club projects have included: recycle your school supplies - a year end effort that resulted in the recycling of over 500 pounds of paper, 120 3 ring binder notebooks, and countless other school supplies. Usable supplies were saved and distributed to students at the start of the school year - saving money and diverting waste!

28 March, 2009 /

[Click the "play" button to learn more from Barclay Daranyi about Indian Ridge Farm & Bakery and other CSA farms]

IndianRidgeFarm_15 (On March 29, the Telluride Film Festival's Erika Gordon has arranged a screening of "The Real Dirt on Farmer John,"  with special guest Kris Holstrom of The New Community Coalition, to discuss the importance of CSA farms.)

Wright's Mesa in Norwood is home to Tony and Barclay Daranyi's Indian Ridge Farm & Bakery, where the rites of Spring have just begun to bear fruits and vegetables, and their CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is gearing up to serve their 60 shareholders, farmers, volunteers and visitors.


25 March, 2009 /

Early Bird discount for students enrolled in Telluride regional schools ends March 31. Enroll today at www.tellurideacademy.com or call 970-728-5311. Telluride Academy is the region's largest outdoor adventure organization for youth ages 5-17, serving local students and visitors to the region since 1981. Telluride Academy...

19 March, 2009 /

[click "Play" button to hear Susan's interview with Elisabeth Gick]

Fear-emai[1] As part of Telluride's week-long "Phenomenal Woman" Celebrations" Telluride Inside...and Out honors longtime local Elisabeth Gick and her crusade for Tibet.

Elisabeth is bit like Alice of Wonderland fame: her native curiosity always gets the better of her. She falls down holes and meets amazing people in exotic places. She also tries to make a difference.

For several years now, Elisabeth has been traveling in Asia, particularly in Tibet, where she has made friends and made a difference. For example, she is doing what she can for 82 young girls, all orphans, whom she met with daughter Lesley in October 2008, while visiting the town of Ganzi in upper Kham. Thanks to her efforts and the generosity of family and friends such as the Lifton-Zolines, the girls now have two solar hot water showers and will soon have a library. A third initiative involves raising funds for traditional outfits. Elisabeth is $800 short of that goal.

10 March, 2009 /


Capella Telluride's GM, John Volponi, donates to online auction for Med Center's FEAST. See Susan's videocast with John at the end of this article.

It really did take a village – in this case, Telluride's sister city, The Mountain Village, to get the job done. But with two visionaries – architect/developer Robert A. Levine, and hotelier Horst Schulze, former president of Ritz-Carlton – driving the train, plus a cast of thousands willing to do the grunt work, the Telluride region's newest hotel is likely to become its crown jewel. Capella opened triumphantly on February 12, 2009.

Aptly named for the alpha star of the constellation Auriga, Capella Telluride is a tour de force. The complex of 100 hotel rooms and about 50 condominiums should transform its new address from a launch pad for intermediate skiing and hang-out for the Prada brigade into a go-to spot for food, drink and events, even for townies. The spa and the restaurants have the welcome mat out for the entire community.

07 March, 2009 /

Dirk DePagter talks to Kate Wadley about Hotel Columbia's donation to Telluride Medical Center's Feast. See the videocast at the end of this article.


Dirk DePagter remembers Telluride's wild and wooly days of the 1970s. A  master carpenter/contractor back when, he was hired to do the remodel that transformed a shed owned by the Idarado Mining Company into the building that is now the Telluride Medical Center. What remains of his handiwork is the eastern part of today's structure.

Dirk, who became a developer, is now the proud owner of his first hotel: he and his partners purchased the Hotel Columbia from close friends Jim Lincoln and Jeff Campbell in January 2008.

07 March, 2009 /

One thing Telluride people love to do is dress up (or cross): witness Halloween, 4th of July parade, Chocolate Lovers' Fling, etc. The In-Drag Race is an annual tribute to TAB's muse, the late Robert Presley. This year's event, another good example, was held on...

05 March, 2009 /

The Telluride Adaptive Sports Program holds its annual "Goin' Cowboy at the Opera" Friday evening, March 6, 6:00 pm until 11:00 pm. Music is by the great Anders Brothers Band, and there will be a live and a silent auction. Check out the TASP website...

03 March, 2009 /

FEAST baskets 005 Dr. Jeff Ptak wears two hats in the Telluride community: he is a board certified plastic surgeon with a private practice and the dermatologist at the Telluride Medical Center. In both contexts, however, he regularly confronts the vicissitudes of altitude and aging on skin and finds solutions.

Dr. Ptak first visited the Telluride region 40 years ago. Since then, he has watched the community grow and change, and the town's small "clinic" grow into a Medical Center now bursting at the seams, just as the demand to deliver more and better state-of-the-art services is growing.

01 March, 2009 /