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[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 /
[click "Play" for Molly Wickwire Sante's comments about TAB Fashion Show]

N1320290710_30358857_6811191 Fashion is the stuff dreams are made of. AIDS is the stuff of nightmares. Fashion is fantasy; the disease: harsh reality. Fashion celebrates youthful bodies and upbeat attitudes. AIDS ravages both.

In Telluride, AIDS and fashion share equal billing on the runway at the Telluride AIDS Benefit Fashion Show, a reminder of how quickly the game can change.

The fashion show is the highlight of a week of prevention education and outreach, HIV testing and an art auction, all designed to raise awareness and funds to support six beneficiaries on the Western Slope, the Front Range, and in Africa.

15 February, 2010 /
The Town of Mountain Village, in cooperation with the Telluride Foundation, awarded eight local nonprofit organizations a combined total of $48,000 as part of the Town’s 2010 Grant Program. Each grant recipient works to provide the Mountain Village and Telluride region with services that directly support the town’s mission of providing health and human services programs. Since 2001, the town has awarded over $300,000 to a number of regional nonprofit organizations. For 2010, the Town received $170,500 in grant requests from 20 nonprofits. This year’s recipients include:

    •    Bright Futures School Readiness Initiative
    •    Midwestern Colorado Mental Health Center
    •    One to One
    •    San Miguel Resource Center
    •    Telluride Adaptive Sports Program
    •    Telluride Foundation – One Telluride
    •    University Centers of the San Miguel c/o High West Central
    •    Wright Stuff Community Foundation
15 February, 2010 /
[click "Play" to hear Ron Gilmer's conversation with Susan]

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Ron Gilmer with Brother Jeff

Ron Gilmer is affectionately known around town  as the Grand Vizer or Grand Potentate of the Telluride AIDS Benefit.

While he lived, Ron's partner Robert Presley inspired the Telluride community with his generosity, his talent as a fabric artist, and his wild and crazy ways. The man was universally loved. Even after his death from AIDS in August 1997, Robert continued to make a difference: the added complication of having AIDS in rural Colorado helped change the way state Medicaid handles virus patients. Robert was also the muse of the Telluride AIDS Benefit, started by a group of his friends in 1994 as a street dance to help  him offset his burgeoning AIDS-related medical expenses.

14 February, 2010 /

The Telluride Council for the Arts and Humanities is pleased to announce Small Grants and Artists Fellowships are now available online. The beloved Small Grants program funds artists and non-profit arts and humanities organizations up to $1,000 - $2,000 each. Artist Fellowships fund individual visual artists up to $500 to undertake formal or informal education, or small individual projects that display artistic merit and originality.

The deadline for applications is Monday, March 8 at 5 p.m., via email. This year TCAH continues to go “Green” – all information, applications and announcements will happen online!

14 February, 2010 /