Author: Eleanor Bookstaff

Gay Ski Week is a Telluride tradition that is celebrated by many who come from all over the U.S. in search of powder, beautiful food and drink, along with an honoring of gay culture.

This year, it is scheduled for Feb. 21 to March 2, 2014 and will be 10 days long to celebrate its 10 years of existence.

Held in February each year, the week offers educational events in the local community, special packages for tourists, and the much-loved, always-sold-out event, the Telluride AIDs Benefit (TAB) Fashion Show.

Telluride’s Gay Ski Week is currently rated the top Gay Ski Week in the country.

And there is little wonder why. Telluride offers incredible skiing, beautiful conditions, and views of 13,000-foot peaks in a town where consciousness and open-mindedness prevail. Telluride, though it has only roughly 2000 full-time residents, is anything but small-town in thinking.

In the Telluride School District, the Telluride AIDs Benefit organization seeks to raise awareness by offering workshops at the middle school and high school level, where kids learn, ask questions, and have peer communication.

TAB is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to educate and fight HIV/AIDS locally and globally.

TAB brings in speakers from Western Colorado AIDS Project “WestCAP”, Denver Children’s Hospital Immunodeficiency Program “CHIP”, and the Manzini Youth Care Project so that youth get a variety of perspectives.

High school students create their own version of the TAB fashion show, a highlight in the Telluride school calendar.

Gay Ski Week is sponsored by many Telluride community organizations, but foremost by Straight Out Media and Marketing , out of Dallas, along with Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association. Straight Out is a 40-year old company who has much experience in specializing in the GLBT community.

The official host hotel is Hotel Madeline, along with Inn at Lost Creek and Mountain Lodge.

Local businesses welcome gay skiers and celebrate with specials, packages and advertisements in the local newspaper. The Town of Telluride truly appreciates this yearly event.

Visitors of Gay Ski Week are encouraged to investigate the Gay Card. This photo ID gives cardholders the first day of skiing free, plus 20 percent off additional skiing days.

Additionally, it provides 10 percent off retail and food purchased in Telluride Ski Resort restaurants and shops. Credit cards can be linked to the Gay Card, and users can use it all week long in celebration of Gay Ski Week at Telluride businesses, avoiding carrying pocketbooks or wallets.

Most all consider the TAB Fashion Show the highlight. Selling out sometimes in just hours on Noel Night, early December, in Telluride, tickets to this event are highly coveted.

Taking place at the Conference Center in the Mountain Village, the TAB Fashion Show is a night of creative choreography, music to move to, often body paint and always beautiful models, male and female, flaunting local designers’ fashions on the runway.

Widly entertaining, sometimes shocking, the TAB Fashion Show is the event that nobody, gay or straight, wants to miss.

Telluride Gay Ski Week plans on going big this year. Not only does the event turn 10, but celebrations are in order because of the Supreme Courts’ ruling on the approval of gay marriage in many states.

 

 

Noel Night 2013 in Telluride happens Dec. 4 this year. Always occurring on an the first Wednesday in December, locals, businesses, and visitors are gearing up for the festivities.

It’s a Telluride tradition that offers discounts, give-aways, sneak-peaks, as well as foods and beverages, and all in the name of shopping local. Telluriders can purchase gifts in the canyon and keep their money in the community. It’s the biggest local shopping night of the year.

A ceremony will be held on Colorado Avenue, the main street, and all of the Christmas lights will be turned on then.

Some exciting things are new this season.

Apotheca, the local integrative pharmacy, has moved locations. Now sunny-side and located on the Main Street in a more spacious venue, they will celebrate their grand opening Noel Night. Discounts will be available, and their products include organic skin care, supplements, teas, and more.

According to Apotheca employee Megan, “We’ll have the grand re-opening, catering by There, the restaurant, and we’ll have tons of holiday items, grab bags, and a lively fun time.” She said, “We love our new space and should have it all opened up and set up by Noel night.”

Telluride Sports will host their discount promotion. Shoppers can randomly grab discounts out of a bag in the amounts of 10 – 30% off at the register. Locals can take advantage of savings on winter gear and ski and snowboard equipment.

Similarly, the Patagonia store is celebrating with a drawing for discounts. Manager Rusty Scott said, “We’ll have snacks— like Christmas cookies and other treats— and prizes given away in our drawing when you draw for discounts.”

Studio G, a local’s favorite for facials, waxing, massage, and beauty products, will also be having the discount grab at the register. Discounts are good for products, as well as services. All purchases must be made on Noel Night to receive the Studio G discount.

And, it’s likely the seasonal opening of many Telluride restaurants. Locals can relax knowing that their favorite Asian Fusion and Thai food are back for winter. Honga’s Lotus Petal and Siam will then be open, as well as the Chop House, La Marmot, 221, and Allred’s.

Many local Telluride businesses will be accepting donations for Angel Baskets, a local charity that benefits needy families for the holidays.

And, at 5:00 p.m., the Telluride AIDs Benefit Fashion Show tickets will go on sale. It’s a sold out event each February, and this is one of the highlight events of the year in town. These are purchased at Telluride Real Estate Corporation on Colorado Avenue.

Noel Night is a family-friendly event in Telluride. Most local businesses will be open and celebrating in some fashion.

Telluride businesses will express their gratitude and give back to their community.

Noel Night is the season kick-off, and this year is especially exciting as Telluride has fresh snow and is expecting a great opening of the ski resort.

Local kindergartener Erika Easterbrooks says, “I’m excited for the candy canes and cookies at Alpine Bank.”

 

The Telluride Historical Museum has been discovering “our colorful past” in some spooky ways for Halloween this year.  The museum presented several programs for the town this season in honor of the year’s scariest holiday. Though the museum building is closed for the off-season, the organization continued the community programs on Thursdays leading up to Halloween with “Haunted History Thursdays.”

October kicked off with the lamp-lighted cemetery tour on the Thursday, the third. The tour featured local history with a flair. Participants brought their own flashlights, warm layers, and a donation of $5 for ghostly tales in Lone Cone Cemetery tour. The event combined entertainment and information and reminded tourists about the multicultural and rich past that Telluride honors. With the late changing of the colors, the aspens still retained some color as they whispered in the moon glow.

Thursday, Oct. 10, was Macabre Movie Night and featured the showing of classic Halloween films. Moviegoers watched Disney’s “The Adventures of Ichabod Crane” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Tim Burton. Both films, cherished in the Halloween season, were shown indoors for a suggested donation of $5.

The pumpkin-carving extravaganza took place Thursday, Oct. 24. The museum provided carving tools, while guests brought their own pumpkins. Snacks and apple cider were provided.  The pumpkins were seen all over town. Some of them were entered in local contests for locals to vote on. Others lit the front porches for the Telluride trick-or-treaters.

One of the most celebrated highlights was the ghost stories and lamplight museum tour that took place Halloween night. Local storyteller Ashley Boling led the telling of tales in the museum’s amphitheater. Listeners were encouraged to dress warmly for the haunted stories of Telluride. The standard $5 donation was suggested. Telluride has no shortage of dramatic talent, and the storytelling event added another facet in the jewel of local theater.

The weather was cold this Halloween evening in Telluride. Temperatures reached freezing, and snow blanketed the town. That didn’t stop locals and visitors from getting out and enjoying events like the storytelling hosted by the museum.

After the ghost stories Halloween night, children and adults took flashlights through the darkened museum for a scary experience. Admission for adults was $20, while children were $15 to enter.

Visitor Becky McKain said, “This is one of the things I love about Telluride. I’ve done several different events with the museum, and I loved them all. The people are so nice, and they go so far to plan fun things for folks to do to celebrate Telluride history. My daughter is local, and I when I come visit, I make a point to see what the museum is offering. If I lived here full-time, I’d do everything.”

Haunted History Thursdays was a truly success in October 2013.

To see what events the Telluride Historical Museum has coming up, see http://www.telluridemuseum.org/events.html or drop by for a visit at 201 W. Gregory. The museum will reopen December 1^st. Private tours can still made in the meantime by calling 970-728-3344.

Brought to us by Sparky Productions, The National Theatre of Great Britain, and the Michael D. Palm Theatre, William Shakespeare’s Othello will be shown live Tuesday, October 22, in Telluride.

Local Jennie Franks announces this special showing of Othello. The famous Shakespearean play is performed by the National Theater of Great Britain and is live. According to Franks, this is a very special event for Telluride. Most people living in London won’t even have a chance to see this as tickets sell out rapidly. Here in Telluride, we have the opportunity to see a world-class production right here in the comforts of the Palm Theater.

Otherwise known as The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, the play was written in 1603, and the themes still resonate with audiences today. The tragedy contains four key characters: Othello, a general in the Venetian army; his new bride Desdemona, lieutenant Cassio; and also Lago. Themes of racism, love, jealousy and betrayal are present throughout and still speak to audiences today.

The London Observer had this to say regarding the National Theatre of Great Britain’s production of Othello: It’s “terrifically exciting, exceptionally coherent. It drives forward with hyper-clarity, as if each line were being X-rayed.”   Critics report that this version of Othello will not leave audiences lost or trying to interpret Shakespeare. Meaning is clearly and powerfully communicated.

Setting is done carefully in Cyprus on a British army military base. Directed by Nicolas Hytner, he hired an ex-Army expert to recreate the barracks in Cyprus. Hytner also directed War Horse and Alan Bennett’s The History Boys. Hytner is considered one of the greatest theatre directors of the times.

Current productions of Othello at the National Theatre of Great Britain on the South Bank in London are sold out; People from around the world flock to this great stage. In these sold-out circumstances, the public is fortunate that NT LIVE brings these stunning productions to other areas of the globe via simulcast.

Telluride will have the privilege of seeing Othello and having a National Theatre experience at just a fraction of the cost of a ticket to the actual event in London.

Sparky Productions and the Palm Theater were responsible for bringing the National Theater simulcast of Audience to Telluride this past summer. Similarly, the winter of 2013/2014 will feature additional new plays, as well as classics. November 19^th is set for Macbeth with Kenneth Branagh. December 3^rd is the 50^th anniversary of the National Theatre, and 100 renown actors will star in various pieces.

Such world-class theater is a rare gift to the community of Telluride, and the town has Jennie Franks and Sparky Productions to thank. Besides adult locals and tourists, the Telluride School System and English department are also benefitting from the simulcast. Students don’t need to travel for Denver for such an incredible theater opportunity; rather, it arrives in their own auditorium.

Othello tickets in Telluride are $15 for adults and $10 for children. Tickets can be purchased online and also before the show.

This Sunday in San Miguel County is Color Sunday.  It’s projected to be the peak of the leaf-changing season in the Telluride area.

The colors happened late this year. The Blues and Brews crowd usually gets the glory of the golden leaves during festival weekend. So as early September usually marks the highlight of the aspens in their golden brilliance, Telluride had to wait on the leaves to change this year. It happened slowly.

Some people say the late color change in leaves is due to the heavy amount of rain the Western Slope received in 2013. Longtime local Bruce Easterbrooks had this to say: “The monsoon lasted two to three weeks- maybe even a month- longer than normal. It appeared to never end, but now it’s finally over.” Easterbrooks and others are thankful for that. Locals are ready for their Indian summer, biking season, and fall hikes through the changing aspen leaves.

Other people also notice that temperatures have not been as cold overnight. This is likely also responsible for the late change in the aspen colors. Some Telluride homeowners have still had flowers in their front yards, and the landscape garden boxes on the main street have still housed blooms of fresh plants. That’s hard to believe as October sneaks up on San Miguel County.

What will locals and tourists to do in honor of Color Sunday? Everything they always do this time of year.

This weekend marks the perfect time to get in the car and go for a drive. Highway 145 South should be incredible. The stretch from Telluride down to Delores through Rico and Stoner should enchant travelers as the “quakies” glimmer in the golden sun. Heading to Ouray for the hot springs would also serve as a nice car trip and way to view the leaves.

Telluride hikers can be sure their favorite trails will be lit up and likely covered in shades of gold.

And the mountain biking community simply treasures fall in the San Juans. Many locals really enjoy being on their bikes in fall scenery and weather, with the warm sun on their faces, and yellow leaves shimmering on all sides of them as they make their climbs and race downhill.

For more stationary views of the leaves, try happy hour or even dinner at Allred’s at the top of the Gondola. With stunning images of Ajax, Ingram Falls, and Tomboy Road, the evening sun and alpenglow can make for a magical moment.

The River Trail is another way to see the colors in Telluride, and one that locals forget about if they’re too busy. From Carhenge parking lot or even Mahoney Street on the West End, families with children can easily navigate the rolling hills of the River Trail as it passes over the San Miguel River and the Telluride Town Park.

While all seasons are sacred in these parts, there is something remarkable about fall. Autumn in Telluride is the picture that artists from other parts of the world come to town to paint. And, this Sunday is the day to take those colors in.