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For people adrift at sea in their relationships, the San Miguel Resource Center is a life raft. And it was all hands on deck Saturday night, February 6, at the Telluride Conference Center in the Mountain Village for the 15th annual Chocolate Lovers' Fling, the nonprofit's only major public fundraiser.

The theme of 2010 Fling: "The Love Boat." The rationale: a mass rescue for victims of interpersonal violence. The payoff for months of hard work by the Resource Center's staff and the dedicated Fling committee: a sea of people surrounding an island of chocolate, representing a show of hands from locals and guests and most of all from the professional chefs, who generously offer their talent and time to the cause.

Participating chefs, all winners in the opinion of Telluride Inside... and Out:

08 February, 2010 /
[click "Play" to hear Meehan Fee's conversation with Susan]

CL 2010 Poster FINAL 020210 Experts define abuse as anything from a vague feeling something is wrong to violence. The San Miguel Resource Center is the Telluride region's one-stop shop for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, serving roughly 200 unduplicated clients a year in a population base of about 6,000, spanning the area between southwestern Colorado’s San Miguel County and the western end of Montrose County.


Help for the Center's clients includes a wide range of services in English and Spanish: community outreach/education, crisis intervention, professionally facilitated support groups, advocacy (to help clients with court services, employers, housing, transportation).


06 February, 2010 /

IMG_0792 Telluride's KOTO  Community radio continues its winter fundraising campaign with the 5th annual KOTO Cribbage Tournament. The event takes place at The Cornerhouse Grille, 131 Fir Street, February 10,  starting at 6:30 p.m.

The invention of Cribbage is attributed to the poet Sir John Suckling (1609 - 1642) by his biographer, John Aubrey. According to one online source, Suckling was an equal opportunity scoundrel, an expert at cards, dice and bowls and a womanizer. His most notorious scam involved distributing marked cards to English aristos and then traveling the country challenging the local gentry to Cribbage. In the end, Suckling sucked the suckers dry, earning around £20,000  or about £4 million in today's money. Suckling's wayward lifestyle, however, led to his untimely demise. In 1642, the guy allegedly became involved in a plot to free the Earl of Stafford from the Tower of London. In an effort to escape the consequences of his actions, Suckling fled to Paris, where he committed suicide by poisoning at the age of 32, his only legacy: a card game.

06 February, 2010 /
[click "Play" to hear Kristin Holbrook's suggestions about "Fling" costumes]

Kristin Holbrook of San MIguel Resource Center and on the committee for the nonprofit's 15th annual Chocolate Lovers' Fling, its only public fundraiser. The event takes place Saturday, February 6, 7:30  – 11:30 p.m., at the Telluride Conference Center in the Mountain Village.


Is-1 Since 1994, the Center has supported victims of domestic violence and sexual assault living in the Telluride region. The idea is to help clients help themselves to form a loving relationship, first with #1, and then, perhaps, with a new, healthy, supportive partner. This year's party theme is "Love Boat." From 1977 – 1986, viewers set a course for romantic adventure when "The Love Boat," aka The Pacific Princess, sailed onto their TV screens and into their living rooms.

05 February, 2010 /

Did you see them on the mountain in Telluride? Athletes with disabilities, some of them wounded vets, people with impaired vision, skiers in sit-down equipment. They were all over the mountain this week, on the Meadows, on Gold Hill, in Logpile, notching great times...

04 February, 2010 /
[click "Play" to listen to Susan's conversation with Kent Ford]

Kent_head_shot_color Telluride's Wilkinson Public Library teamed up with The New Community Coalition to kick off the 2010 Green Business Roundtable series.The first meeting takes place Friday, February 5, 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. in the Program Room. Guest speakers are Kent Ford and Tracy Daniels of Durango's Green Business Roundtable and San Juan Citizens Alliance. The event is FREE. (Breakfast provided along with food for thought.)

Whitewater is an intriguing metaphor for these challenging times in the Telluride region. Who better than Ford to help us navigate to safe shores. Kent's unique background includes 20 years of international whitewater racing and coaching, combined with similar experience teaching recreational boating to all levels of paddlers. His dvds, videos and books on paddlesports have influenced the education of half a million paddle sports enthusiasts. Ford, a Durango resident, is also founder and coordinator of Durango's Green Business Roundtable, now in its seventh year. Like a civic club, the GBR takes on topic related to environmental sustainability, seeking to network, inspire, educate and make a difference. As a result of the efforts of the Roundtable, many Durango businesss stepped up their commitment to green ventures: recently Durango was rated  #12 community in the nation by EPA for Green Power purchasing.

03 February, 2010 /
[click "Play" to hear Melanie Montoya's conversation with Susan]

Telluride's San Miguel Resource Center hosts its 15th annual Chocolate Lovers' Fling Saturday, February 6, 7:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m., at the Telluride Conference Center. This year's theme: "The Love Boat," based on the eponymous ABC TV series (1977 –1986) about a ship's captain who moonlights as Cupid encouraging passengers to find romantic partners. The Fling is the SMRC's only major public fundraiser.


The San Miguel Resource Center and The Telluride AIDS Benefit fight a common misconception: Not in my backyard. In rebuttal, numbers from the Resource Center talk, muzzling the naysayers and providing hard reasons to support the non-profit's overriding objective: promote healthy, loving relationships  – that's why the Fling is scheduled so close to Valentine's Day – and put itself out of business by ending interpersonal violence in our greater community through education and support services.

02 February, 2010 /