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[click "Play", Amy Kimberly speaks about the history and impact of the Telluride AIDS Benefit]

The Telluride Historical Museum is hosting another of its popular Fireside Chats, this one at Capella Telluride in the Mountain Village: The True Telluride Story – Telluride AIDS Benefit. Kandee Degraw and Daiva Chesonis reveal the backstory of the Telluride AIDS Benefit. The event takes place at 5 p.m., February 24.

The Telluride AIDS Benefit began life as a Free Box-style grassroots initiative.

Robert Presley was a fabric artist and enfant terrible, beloved throughout the Telluride community. His costly battle with HIV/AIDS – made worse by the fact he was living in rural Colorado and had to commute to get medical help –  mobilized a group of his buddies.
23 February, 2010 /

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Kevin Rucker

Denver is Telluride Inside... and Out's home away from home, so last weekend we decided to get an up close and personal look at the oldest part of the city.

LoDo is the handle Denverites assigned to the Lower Downtown Historic District, located just northwest of Downtown Denver near the confluence of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River. LoDo, the original settlement of the city, is now a mixed-used neighborhood known for its vibrant nightlife with 70+ bars and restaurants – and at least as many ghosts. More later.

College history instructor Kevin Rucker is a descendant of Puritan settlers. His grandma, a hardcore genealogist, hooked him into an exploration of the past. Dressed in uniform, a paisley vest and bowler hat, the man cuts as colorful a figure as the miscreants and madams he describes on his spirited walking tour. (We are talking the liquid and supernatural variety.)

23 February, 2010 /
[click "Play" for Steve Fassbinder's interview with Susan]

Doomsday He's known as Dr. Doom, an interesting coincidence for anyone participating in the Telluride AIDS Benefit, an organization whose mission is to turn the tables on doom through Awareness, Respect, and Esteem. A.R.E. You Safe? is the theme of the non-profit's 2010 fundraising, outreach and education campaign which culminates in the gala fashion show, Saturday night, February 27, where Dr. Doom will be a featured designer for the third year in a row.


Dr. Doom is Steve Fassbinder's alter ego, a name from Burning Man that stuck to his skin like the desert heat. Fassbinder is, to pull out a well worn but nonetheless true cliche, a Renaissance man: the former bike messenger and three-time Single Speed World 24-hour Solo Champ and inductee into the 24-Hour Solo Mountain Bike Racer Hall of Fame is also an artist who refuses to be pigeon-holed.
22 February, 2010 /

The Valentines keep coming from Telluride's Wilkinson Public LIbrary. Here's what happening during the rest of February in the words of Program Coordinator Scott Doser:

Monday, February 22nd at 6 p.m.

The Telluride Music Lover’s Film Club presents:
 
“The Dream’s On Me”
The Story of Johnny Mercer
 
This is an excellent look at the career of the greatest lyricist of all time - Johnny Mercer. His songs are so much a part of American life from "Hooray for Hollywood," "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby," "Jeepers Creepers," "One for My Baby and One for the Road," "Laura," "Autumn Leaves", "Glow Worm," "Moon River," and "Days of Wine and Roses" - to name just a few. He had a way with words no other lyricist has been able to match. The documentary contains numerous clips of Mercer - who had a great voice - along with other greats such as Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and so many others. You get a good look at Mercer's career. Directed by Clint Eastwood
21 February, 2010 /
[click "Play" to hear Susan's interview with Ed Hendrikson]

Africa 08 086 As the definition of the world shrinks through telecommunications and tragedy, countries become communities like Telluride, with different constituencies but similar challenges. AIDS is one problem we all share. Yes, still.

The Telluride AIDS Benefit is a model nonprofit: the organization asks for very little in monetary support from the greater Telluride region, but puts Telluride on the world map in a good way: TAB's welcomed embrace extends all the way to Africa.
 
AIDS may be the worst health calamity since the Black Death of the Middle Ages, on a fast track to becoming the worst pandemic ever. And, according to online research, 10 of the 11 infections that take place every minute around the globe occur in Sub-Sahran Africa, where in some countries teachers, doctors and nurses are dying faster than they can be replaced and treatment ranges from poor to nonexistent.

19 February, 2010 /
[click "Play", Nina Tumbas talks about why she works with the TAB fashion show]

363224895306_0_ALB Toss the rule book when it comes to Telluride. We make up our own. Witness the theme of the 2010 Telluride AIDS Benefit fashion show: "Out of your comfort zone. Step out of the box." Expect the unexpected, as expected.


The ideal female fashion model is tall, long-legged, and lean. Their minimum height is usually about 5'8"+ and average weight, between 108-125 lbs.  Generally speaking they are sent to the glue factory past 22. Not in Telluride. In Telluride models come in all shapes, sizes and ages. On the runway of the Telluride AIDS Benefit fashion show, the highlight of a week of outreach and education, talks, HIV screening, and a major art auction, you find an equal mix swizzle sticks and classic egg timers (in and out shapes). At the Telluride AIDS Benefit fashion show, brains meets beauty, personality rules the night, and fashion meets compassion: Enter Nina Tumbas.

18 February, 2010 /


The Telluride AIDS Benefit's Student Fashion Show, February 18, 6 pm., The Palm, is a warm up to the Big Event on February 27 at the Telluride Conference Center in the Mountain Village. But what is true of the gala fashion show is true of the teen event: beneath the sizzle, the through line is the persistence of the pandemic and the need for ongoing support of those with HIV/AIDS and their families and prevention education to keep everyone else safe.

The Telluride AIDS Benefit's Grand Vizer, Ron Gilmer, has been on a soapbox for years: he believes there should be Telluride AIDS Benefity events in communities around the world to help stop the spread of the disease. TAB board member/longtime student activist-educator Sandy McLaughlin wholeheartedly agrees. Year after year Sandy leads TAB's education initiative at the she want them to do more than listen. She want kids to hear. To get it. One who does is Sandy's daughter Mia, a graduating senior/ peer educator like all the models and 2010 Student Fashion Show director.

17 February, 2010 /

Renewable energy education is a top priority for The New Community Coalition (TNCC), Telluride's regional non-profit working to create a more sustainable future. Putting talk into action, TNCC has scheduled a Renewable Energy Professional Development opportunity in conjunction with CU Science Discovery: Science Explorers Professional Development training. The program targets Middle/High School teachers and student teams, grades 5th – 8th grade. The event takes place Saturday, February 27, 9 – 3 p.m. The cost is $225/team for a full-day session and $135 worth of awesome renewable energy equipment to use in classrooms.

TNCC Education Team and high school students are available for follow-up training and in-class support.   Contact TNCC to schedule by Apr. 2, 2010 for spring training dates. (TNCC also has a solar educational module and additional solar educational kits available.)

17 February, 2010 /
[click "Play" to listen to Cole Early speak about Telluride TV]

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Jeb Berrier

The station formerly known as TCTV12 is throwing a party to relaunch its brand as Telluride TV. The event takes place on Friday, February 19, 7:30 p.m., at the historic Sheridan Opera House. The magnetic north of the evening is Telluride TV's newest star, Jeb Berrier, joined by variety of local acts, including a live band, plus "best of" snippets from Jeb's show: "This Week in Telluride."


What's in a name change? A lot sweeter and more in-depth programming for one thing – or three things to be exact. New initiatives include:

16 February, 2010 /
[click "Play" to listen to Susan's interview with Marla Hodes]

BABY HEART BEAT_Keener Of the Telluride AIDS Benefit's  (February 18 – March 1) half dozen beneficiaries, several are out of Africa, including the Ethiopian Family Fund.

Ethiopia is the fourth poorest nation in the world. However, unlike many African countries, Ethiopians, who divide among Muslim, Jewish and Orthodox Christian, peacefully co-exist. Given the rampant poverty and wholesale lack of education, HIV risk is high and medications are very limited. According to UN estimates, about 3 million Ethiopians have been exposed to the AIDS virus, with over 600,000 children made orphans and one-third of Ethiopia's hospital beds used by carriers of the disease.

16 February, 2010 /