May 2017

Carbondale’s historic Main Street district has long been the home of a changing roster of bars and restaurants, but these days things are looking a little different as the drinking scene takes on a more social vibe, according to two entrepreneurs working on those changes.
With the advent nearly two years ago of the Marble Distilling Company, 150 Main St., and now the pending inauguration of the Roaring Fork Beer Co.’s new tasting room at 358 Main, reportedly to be known as “Batch,” it would appear that the changing nature of Main Street drinking establishments is on the upswing.

The Roaring Fork Valley’s Buddhist practitioners now have a place they can call “home,” sort of, at the Way of Compassion Dharma Center in Carbondale. Located in the Third Street Center, it the first such center to open up in the valley, according to its Spiritual Director, John Bruna (who also goes by a traditional Buddhist name, Jangchub Chophel). In addition, according to the center’s web site (www.wocdc.org), there now is an “app” that practitioners can use “to help us stay connected to the Dharma,” a reference to the teachings of Buddha, known as Dharma.

According to Carbondale officials at Town Hall and a private land-use planner working on the Carbondale Marketplace project near the intersection of West Main Street and Highway 133, a proposed new and enlarged City Market store and its related commercial entities still are expected to be built.
In addition, according to a consultant involved with the City Market project, the owner of the lot just south of the City Market site along West Main Street has arranged for an open house on June 6 at the Carbondale Town Hall to gather public input about a new development idea in the same part of town.

June 2, 1977: Basalt Town Hall was in turmoil after the mayor and two town staffers resigned, and most bar owners were upset that the town council had banned minors inside bars for any reason. One bar owner asked whether it would still be okay for her four-year-old daughter to take naps in the bar area. The mayor of three years (plus six as a town council member) cited “personality conflicts” with the other members for resigning.

Another summer in Carbondale, another monthly series of free concerts in Sopris Park. Starting Sunday, June 11 — and continuing every second Sunday of each month until the program’s Sept. 10 finale — locals and visitors can count on late afternoons of free concerts from 4-7 p.m. “This is an amenity for everyone,” said Marty Silverstein, co-event coordinator with Steve Standiford of Steve’s Guitars fame. Each show features two acts that includes a usually local opener followed by a touring headliner, according to Standiford.