July 2013

Thanks to the work of many — and a great partnership with Footsteps Marketing — The Sopris Sun is pleased to present our community with this new, improved website, your portal to all things Carbondale. Let us know what you think! This is just Phase I. We’ll be rolling out many more great features over the coming months. We hope you’ll visit often. Enjoy!

Along the north side of the new Carbondale Branch Library are seven pillars decorated with art glass — a creation designed by local glass artist Shannon Muse, but created by more than 20 hands and more than 100 minds.
The work of art, which is called “Pillars of Light/Pilars de Luz,” contains more than 5,000 pieces of recycled glass along with Swarovski crystals and metallic-sheened dichroic glass. Embedded among the pieces of glass are quotes contained in tiles made of opalescent iridized glass.

The new Carbondale Branch Library has more of everything than before: square footage (13,000 now compared to 3,200 at the old Gordon Cooper Library), books (20,500 compared to 18,020 before), study rooms (four now compared to zero before) and public computers (20 now compared to six before).

Despite its unassuming name, the Pardon My Garden club is 80 members strong, all living and gardening throughout the Roaring Fork Valley. This summer, for the first time in its 20-year history, the non-profit organization is planning a tour featuring 11 gardens stretching from Watson Divide to El Jebel.
The first annual Garden Tour, billed as “Ornamental and Edible Gardens of the Mid-Valley,” will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on July 27. In the past, the club has held plant sales and donated the proceeds to individuals or local organizations, typically giving grants totaling between $5,000 and $7,000 a year. The ticket sales from this summer’s tour will be used for the same purpose.

What did you do last weekend? That’s a common question in these parts, which is often answered with a list of outdoor activities, no matter what the season.
There are now more backcountry recreation options than ever: camping, climbing, cycling, fishing, hiking, horse packing, hunting, skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, trail riding and wildlife viewing to name a few.
With so many locals and visitors enjoying public lands in so many ways, it’s important that everyone do their part to minimize the impact they make on habitat and wildlife.

Whenever my life feels out of balance my first instinct is to get on the river. Over the past 19 years I have floated over 15,000 miles of rivers — kayaking, raft-guiding and doing swiftwater rescue/CPR training. The river feels like home to me. However, I have seen and experienced some life-threatening moments in those years.
Recently, I watched a woman lose consciousness after two other boats with small children got surfed and almost flipped in the ledge-hole (on-river left) at the kayak park in Glenwood Springs. Incredibly, the woman was resuscitated by five kayakers that got her to shore. They began CPR and revived her before the paramedics arrived.

What’ll it be for the center of the new roundabout at Highway 133 and Main Street?
A specially commissioned piece from Missouri Heights sculptor James Surls?
How about a rotating work of art as part of the town’s on-going Art aRound Town series?
Then there’s always the minimalist approach — nothing but concrete.

Credit-card “Town” mystery solved • Meet the new volleyball coach • Another Sun? • Looking at clouds that way • GarCo fields Komen team

Solar Friendly Communities has awarded the town of Carbondale a Silver Level certification for adopting “best practices” designed to make it faster, easier and more affordable for residents to go solar.
“Carbondale has long been a solar leader…,” said Rebecca Cantwell, senior program director for Solar Friendly Communities.

Nearing the end of July and I haven’t had a day off since the middle of June, won’t have one until late August, and while at first I was staying socially buoyant by going to the Snowmass Concert Series, hanging out with friends and sleeping, more than a few weeks ago I hit full-tilt hustle, became a pinball wizard, and have had my eyes glued to the silver ball of my life bouncing around the bumpers and chutes of various local rivers racking up enough fish, funds and clients to keep me afloat in non-profit-teaching-writing land for another year.