Re: Carbondale Mobility and Access Plan
The Bike Pedestrian and Trails Commission (BPTC) supports the Town of Carbondale’s efforts to develop a mobility plan (MAP). We believe that, as the town grows in number and density, a plan will help us maintain the comfortable walking and biking environment we enjoy.
While the BPTC supports developing a mobility plan, in response to Genevieve Villamizar’s article in the Nov. 14 Sopris Sun, we are not running the MAP process. Rather it is being put together by the Town with input from various interest groups. So, the BPTC will not be, as Genevieve states, finalizing a plan or making final decisions on infrastructure and funding. These decisions will be made by the trustees.
Developing a plan with clear goals and strategies is challenging. It requires balancing current needs while providing a framework for thinking about the future. We do not believe the plan presented by the Town and the consultant at our November meeting meets this goal. As an advisory body, the BPTC will continue to advocate for a plan that does.
Matt Gworek
BPTC Chair
Drew Peterson
My husband and I attended the sold-out presentation of “Feel It All,” a documentary created by renowned skier Drew Peterson, hosted at TACAW and sponsored by HeadQuarters (Headq.org), a local nonprofit that focuses on prevention, and the Aspen Hope Center (aspenhopecenter.org), a local counseling nonprofit.
In the film, Peterson, a Summit County local, discusses his history of depression and the stigma of living with suicidal ideation; his fight to overcome alcoholism in a world that glorifies champagne spraying on the podium; and his dependency on outdoor recreation as a coping skill.
Mental health is a hidden illness. Those who suffer with the multiple forms of mental health issues often spend much of their time behind an iron curtain of shame instead of receiving family and community support and the necessary preventions and treatments to address their serious diseases. More than anything else, Drew deserves gold medals for his bravery in using his celebrity status to highlight the needs of those suffering silently.
Our resort areas and satellite communities that support the ski towns suffer from the “paradise paradox,” with suicide rates documented as two to three times higher than the national average (14 per 100,000), according to Colorado School of Public Health. Colorado Univeristy names the Aspen area as a leading example of this paradox and elevated suicide rates. Causes often reference exponentially rising housing costs, cost of living vs. wages disparity, isolation and a lack of mental health resources.
Being born and raised in a ski community makes the need for understanding the crisis in mental health awareness all the more acute, leading Drew to call local schools and offer screenings for students. He was told by the schools that his film would not be shown. How upsetting in today’s world that a peer-led resource such as this film is denied to young communities with mental health needs to educate students and staff on these issues.
Mental health is a national crisis. The surgeon general puts loneliness at the top of healthcare concerns. The more we expose our community to these issues, the more we talk authentically; the more we understand, the stronger and more resilient we become as a community. May we hold each other’s hands and hearts by developing community toolboxes of coping skills. Let’s take a step by sharing this peer-produced film with students, SkiCo employees, hospital workers, first responders and more.
Sally Sakin
Carbondale
Holiday Basket Program
The Holiday Baskets Program has been supplying new gifts, toys, clothing and food to people in need in our valley for 43 years. This program, run entirely by volunteers, is a wonderful community effort with numerous groups and individuals assisting. We serve approximately 250 families, more than 1,000 people. The Holiday Baskets program often gives the only gifts families will receive for the holidays.
People are referred to the program by 14 local social service agencies and are then “adopted” by individuals, the faith community, businesses and other groups. These Holiday Angels buy gifts and/or gift cards for each member of the family.
Other volunteers prefer to choose a gift tag and then purchase the requested gift. All these gifts are gathered at the Aspen Chapel Gallery and St. Peter’s Church in Basalt where they are sorted and wrapped for individual families. In addition to gifts, each person receives a generous City Market food card.
To become a Holiday Angel, please send an email to rfvholidaybaskets@gmail.com
We also gratefully accept donations which are used to purchase food gift cards for more than 1,000 people. Checks may be sent to: Holiday Baskets Program PO 2192 Basalt, CO 81621.
You may also donate on our website: holidaybasketsprogram.com
A quote from English in Action staff member, Angela Hanley, sums up the goal of this program: “We are very grateful to all the Holiday Baskets volunteers and donors for their generosity, and for the greater message of care and compassion this program communicates in our valley.”
Anne Blackwell
Carbondale
Embracing chaos
I’m still trying to figure out the how, why and what to watch for, from the ‘24 elections. I think it means a lot that to Trump, Putin is his best friend. Trump’s hypnotic messaging in his fearful rally sermons was amazing. He gained millions more votes because the price of goods has been kept high, since Los Angeles, Alabama and East Coast docks were closed “due to COVID” the summer of 2021. That siege drove prices skyward and the owners of the goods just kept prices high. Yet we blame Biden.
Hugh Grant thought we are drawn to Trump because he is scary. We are, like kids, fascinated with a spook show, with what kind of crazy things can now be said. Trump’s electoral coup has already changed the world. America is less free, as seen in the censoring of the LA Times and Washington Post by their owners. Europe is finally tooling up for war against a psychopath.
The 2025 Plan, coming into play under Trump, is similar to Viktor Orbán’s makeover of Hungary, from a democracy into a repressive oligarchy. The 2025 Plan will slowly shape the U.S. into the mold of Russia, Venezuela and Hungary, democracies gone Fascist. There is not much that we can do now, that vote window is gone. We can only stand firm, seek truth, hold on to American ideals and appreciate Trump and his followers, our fellow Americans, with loving gratitude for injecting chaos into our world.
Chaos is the mother of change and no doubt, we can use some. Chaos is equally capable of good transformations or bad transformations. The change will mirror our awareness, attitude and vision. Loving gratitude is the brightest crystal that water becomes. We are water. Use it. Don’t let him destroy the Kamala ideal of joyful, positive, accepting energy.
John Hoffmann
Carbondale
Regeneration Handbook
Last weekend, Don Hall, author of “The Regeneration Handbook,” presented a talk and community workshop on how a community can address its collective future in the face of climate impacts. The event was hosted by The Center for Human Flourishing and Gwen Garcelon, local regenerative strategies consultant and facilitator.
Don has worked in the Transition Town movement for many years — a now global movement of communities coming together to reimagine and rebuild our world in synchrony with the natural world which makes their existence possible. We would like to thank Don and all the community members who participated and offered their perspectives on the strengths of Carbondale and the Roaring Fork Watershed and how we can build on them for future resilience.
Of the many ideas which emerged from these events, one clear need is a formal regional mechanism for weaving the many nonprofit, governmental and other organizational efforts that exist together for greater collaborative impact around the healthy functioning of our ecosystems and communities. Participants voiced the siloed nature of many of these efforts and the overlap between water conservation, wildlife habitat, regenerative agriculture, more localized economies, and more community and spiritual connection to the land and each other. We look forward to hosting more community dialogues about these needs and urge the involvement of your open hearts and minds.
We also like to thank the community sponsors who helped to make these events possible: Alpine Bank, ANB Bank, 3 B’s Bakery, City Market, Bonfire Coffee and Shepherd Breads.
“The Regeneration Handbook” is available at White River Books in Carbondale.
Gwen Garcelon
Carbondale