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This month’s First Friday on Aug. 2 heads to the beach, with live music, limbo, Hula-Hoop contests, a conga line down Main Street and goldfish races in front of the Black Nugget.

Just before Dandelion Day in May, Carbondale resident Alejandra Rico launched a campaign to raise awareness and funds to support an independent documentary film, “Sunnú”, about the struggle of indigenous northern Mexican communities to preserve their native corn seed and their way of life.

The Roaring Fork Valley has long been known for its amazing local music scene. Local middle and high school instrumental music programs are now following suit and literally bursting out of the schools’ band rooms.
This coming year alone there will be 325 new fifth and sixth grade student musicians in school programs in Glenwood, Carbondale, Basalt and Aspen. With the help of Jazz Aspen Snowmass and others, people up and down the valley are starting their journey as life-long musicians in our public schools.

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.

As 11 teenagers took the stage at PAC3 last weekend — rocking out to “Rock and Roll” by the Velvet Underground, harmonizing on folksy ballads, singing delicate acappellas and screaming out rock/punk lyrics — you never would have guessed these same kids arrived at the PAC3 just six days earlier, shy and nervous, unsure about their upcoming week at the Academy of Music and Performance (AMP).
The students spent their week at AMP learning about all that it takes to put on a concert. They developed their vocal and instrument techniques, worked on synchronizing their individual musical roles with one another, and learned a lot about digging deep and pulling more out of themselves than they believed possible.

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.

Go do some cob building • Hike the Middle Thompson • Town still looking for commissioners • Aspen offering childcare help • Library offers Universal Class • Inward Bound starts July 29 • Pro bike race seeks volunteers • Sportsmen’s caucus slated for Eagle