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Around Telluride

IMGP1105 2 Another great thing about being in Telluride: even the mundane can be a mini-adventure. Perhaps the errand is in town and could as easily be accomplished on a bike. In a month there will a number of choices about which route to take: quickly on the bike path, almost as quickly on the dirt track along the San Miguel, or a real adventure (and a fair amount more time) up Mill Creek Road and down the Waterline. See what I mean?

10 April, 2010 /
[click play to listen to Susan's interview with Brooke Young]   

Brooke and Bill Vail
Brooke Young and friend,
Bill Carson

The Telluride region's Autism and Behavioral Consultation Team, headed by Occupational Therapist and yoga instructor Annie Clark, is working hard to raise awareness about the new protocols for affected families during the month of April, National Autism Month. Clark's mentor at the State level is Brooke D. Young, Autism Specialist/Senior Consultant, Colorado Department of Education in Denver.

A funny thing happened with the dawning of the new millennium. The neuro-biological spectral disorders that fall under the banner of autism, a brown-bagged diagnosis until then, suddenly infiltrated pop culture. The trigger was the publication of a book in 2003 with an improbable title: "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," by Mark Haddon.

09 April, 2010 /


Easter Sunday was a great day on the mountain at Telluride. First, the skiing was great. I did a few cruising runs on Lift 5 with Susan and our friends Lawrie and Sheila. At the top of the lift we chatted with Dylan and Dawn and their young kids. There were also some wild costumes in evidence, so the people watching was fun as well. Hawkeye was, guess what, a pirate. Hard to believe the lifts will be still tomorrow, another ski season done.

07 April, 2010 /
[click "Play" to hear Annie Clark's conversation with Susan]

IMG_1228 It's a tangle of eye-popping acronyms – UnBOCS, ABCT, CO-MASP –  that boils down to one simple thing: greater support for Telluride regional families with children affected by autism and related syndromes that fall  under the banner of Autism Disorder Spectrum (ASD). The work of the ABCT goes stereo in April because April is National Autism Month.


Telluride local/Occupational Therapist/Yoga instructor Annie Clark has been a member of the Board of Uncompaghre Coop Services (UNBOCS), Autism and Behavioral Consultation Team (ABCT) since it was founded in 2007. By 2010, the ABC Team expanded to its current configuration: two occupational therapists, a speech therapist, two school psychologists, and an early childhood specialist. The Team covers the Telluride region, working in five districts: Telluride, Ouray, Ridgway, Norwood, and the West End.
07 April, 2010 /


09.PuppetClass Winter meltdown in Telluride means the Ah Haa School sets its sights on the next big season: the long hot(ish) summer.

For Summer 2010, Ah Haa has increased programming, offering over 140 kids classes in every medium, including sculpting, throwing, painting, beading, jewelry making, cooking, recycled creations, printmaking, theater, drawing and metals to embrace and develop the imagination and creative spirit of each and every child who attends. 

“With long-time favorites as well as many new classes, this summer we truly have something for everyone.  It is going to be a blast,” said Rachel Loomis-Lee, the school’s executive director.
07 April, 2010 /

(note: click on the box in the lower right corner of the YouTube window to view full screen)

Needle Rock is a mountain pillar in the Telluride region, climbing to 10,564 feet above sea level. Needle Rock – pun intended – is also the name of the town's only fiber arts store, as of April 20, comfortably ensconced in brand new digs: 320 West Colorado Avenue. (It's the little purple house set back from the road, originally a fabric and sewing store. What goes around....)


On Friday, April 2, Telluride's community radio station, KOTO, held its annual street dance to close out the winter season with a bang, not a whimper. The entertainment included Telluride's all-women rock and roll band, The 525s, who opened the festivities for the main event, Ralph Dinosaur and the Fabulous Volcanos – and a fashion show. (I am not talking about the parade of pink on Main Street.) Between the acts, Needle Rocks Fiberarts, our local knitting salon, strutted its stuff on the stage adjacent to Telluride's courthouse.
06 April, 2010 /
[click "Play" to listen to Susan's conversation with Dr. Howard Savin]

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Dr. Howard Savin

April is National Autism Month, and once again Telluride is on the map. Annie Clark, an OT and yoga instructor, heads the Autism and Behavioral Consultation Team (ABCT), designated a Model Autism Team by the Colorado Department of Education (CDE), working to develop increasingly comprehensive family support inside and outside the school systems in five districts: Ouray, Ridgway, Norwood, the West End and Telluride.


Autism is a general term used to describe a group of complex spectrum of developmental brain disorders known as Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD). Autism produces significant impairment in social, communicative, cognitive, and behavioral functioning, typically lasting a person's lifetime.
05 April, 2010 /



KOTO is Telluride's radio link to the world, a non-underwritten, community-supported, commercial-free station, nurtured and embraced by the Telluride community. In addition, KOTO sponsors community events year 'round. Friday, April 2, KOTO put on its annual end-of-ski season street dance on Colorado Avenue, with the bandstand next to the San Miguel County courthouse.

The day didn't begin auspiciously- the wind was howling and the heavy snow was blowing horizontally. It didn't look good. But by early afternoon the clouds broke, the wind settled, and by showtime, it was a delightful time to dance, listen, enjoy the company of friends and strangers, let the kids run. In short it was a great community event.

05 April, 2010 /

According to the calendar we're two weeks into Spring, but here in the high country, here in Telluride Winter has a way of hanging on. Calendar be damned. On an errand this morning, walking east on Gregory, armed with only my iPhone for a...

02 April, 2010 /




STREET DANCE 10 The things these two Telluride bands share are really big ones. I am talking about amps.

The cross-dressing Ralph Dinosaur and his Fabulous Volcanoes headline Telluride KOTO radio's end-of-season FREE street dance/costume contest, tomorrow, Friday, April 2, 3 – 8 p.m.

"There is nothing in the world like a Telluride party," said KOTO's special event queen jumpin' jan (zink), quoting  Ralph from his original "Telluride Stomp."

And now for something completely different. This year, at this party, for the very first time, Telluride's favorite dragster shares the stage with a sizzling hot opening act, performers who might be coaxed into dresses for high school reunions, weddings, and funerals: the town's favorite all-women rock 'n roll band, The 525s.
02 April, 2010 /