Hoopsters step upPage 3

Bill’s new hatPage 6

Action atWindWalkersPage 7

Sopris Sunthe

Carbondale’s weekly, non-profit newspaper Volume 2, Number 49 | January 27, 2011

It’s sleigh-ride time again up in Redstone. Blondie, a Belgium (left), and Snowman (right), a Percheron, led the way last Saturday. Avalanche Outfitters stages the rides, which arebooked through the Redstone Inn.Outfitters’ spokesman Randy Melton said the sleighs range from two-person affairs all the way up to 20-person wagons. “Anything you want,”he said. Photo by Lynn Burton

early three years after Carbon-dale’s uber-clean, green commu-nity and recreation centeropened for business, town staff

and energy consultants say they’ve taken thefirst significant strides toward making thebuilding run as efficiently as it was designed.

In the spring of 2010, consultants work-ing for the town discovered the recreationcenter wasn’t behaving like it should havebeen. Despite the energy efficient features in-stalled in the $4.815 million facility, thebuilding was using too much electricity. By2009, the price tag for the building’s gas and

electricity had climbed at least $5,000 aboveprojections for the building, despite the factthat it wasn’t using wasn’t using as much gasas expected said Recreation Center DirectorEric Brendlinger.

That excess demand was cutting into thebuilding’s climate friendliness as well. Therecreation center generates much of its ownenergy through solar panels on its roof –about 66 percent of its electricity demandon a sunny day, according to Brendlinger –but additional electricity for the building ispurchased from the grid, which includesjuice generated from greenhouse gas-inten-sive sources such as coal.

But maybe it shouldn’t be surprising that

it’s taken awhile for the building to live upto its full potential. After the CarbondaleRecreation and Community Center openedits doors in March 2008 it became the firstrecreation center in the world to receive thetop rating – platinum – from the U.S. GreenBuilding Council’s Leadership in Energyand Environmental Design (LEED) certifi-cation program.At the time, the facility wasone of only a few LEED platinum buildingsin the state. Another was a research facilityat the National Renewable Energy Labora-tory in Golden.

“I had such trust in it for it being thefirst LEED platinum [recreation center],”Brendlinger said, explaining that initially,

he was reluctant to tweak the settings forthe lights, the heating and cooling systemand other features because they were afraidthey would throw the facility out of wack.

Now he has learned that to keep thebuilding on course, he needs to keep a closeeye on its energy consumption, or as hephrased it, a smart building needs smartpeople to operate it.

“That was kind of a wake up call for me.‘Wow, we shouldn’t just let this building runitself. We should actually be watching it,’”Brendlinger said. “I think that’s the lessonin this entire thing.”

And now, as the town begins to imple-

NBy Terray SylvesterSopris Sun Staff Writer

RECREATION CENTER page 5

Three years later, recreation center near full potential

bondale Town Board of Trustees’ delibera-tions on the Village at Crystal River. We be-lieve that any trustee in such a situationwhere a conflict of interest or even a strongappearance of conflict of interest existsshould recuse himself or herself from any andall board discussion, deliberation and votingon the issue in question. Since this was notdone in the case of the Village at CrystalRiver, we ask that the board recognize thatits actions relating to the Village at CrystalRiver to date have been compromised by aconflict of interest and take appropriate ac-tion to correct this error. Furthermore,we re-quest that the board assure the citizens ofCarbondale that such conflict will be lesslikely to occur in the future by establishingethical guidelines which go beyond the min-imum requirements in the statute.

Carbondale residents:Jim Breasted, Greg Feinsinger,Russell Hedman, Karen Hessl,Stephen Hessl, H. Robert John-son, Patricia L. Johnson, LaurieLoeb, Denise M. Moss, FrankNorwood and Daniel Whitney

Thanks for the decorationsDear Editor:

While the distance of the past holiday sea-son grows further from us and subtle signsof spring begin to slowly emerge, we wouldlike to take this time to express our appreci-ation to the town of Carbondale even duringthese harsh economic times for giving thetown’s holiday decorations a high priority.

It has been uplifting for the community tofeel and see that special holiday atmosphere,from the hanging wreaths and holiday flagsto our quaint streetlights.

Thank you to Tony Coia with our publicworks department, who single handedlystrung all those attractive, white LED lightson so many of our downtown trees. Theylook terrific,Tony! What a nice feeling thoselittle lights give our small, wonderful com-munity. We know that soon Tony will be outthere winding down those lights and cordsfrom our trees for another season, leavingpleasant memories.

Something new this winter was the light-ing of the rails along the bridge over theRoaring Fork River. This was the brainchildof our public works director,Larry Ballenger.Thank you for that neat idea, Larry. It was anice introduction into our community. Larrysays wait until you see what he has plannedfor next year at that intersection. A surpriseawaits all who will be patient.

Once more, a hearty thank you to all.With our sincere appreciation to the town

and all those involved, from the CarbondaleBusiness Coalition members, have a veryhealthy and happy new year.

Carol BrunoChris ChacosCo-chairs, The Carbondale

Business Coalition

Until the wars are overDear Editor:

A bit of background on the genesis of theweekly flag ceremony pictured on the Jan.20Sopris Sun cover:

In late 2003 a group of Roaring Fork Val-ley residents met to determine how best to in-fluence Congress to stop the war in Iraq. Tomany, the shroud of secrecy surrounding thereporting of soldiers killed and wounded wasparticularly onerous in that it seemed only theactive combatants and their families werepermitted to be affected by the death, injuryand anguish inflicted upon them.

That same shroud shielded the generalpublic from knowing the heavy price beingpaid by a miniscule percentage of U.S. citi-zens. Even photos of coffins of returning deadwere prohibited from publication.

To honor our deceased and to make thepublic aware of the mounting casualties, thegroup decided to petition the Carbondaletown council for permission to lower the flagat town hall to half staff each Monday and tohave those in attendance read the names ofour forces killed in Iraq. On Jan. 13, 2004,Mayor Michael Hassig signed a proclama-tion that concludes with:

“Now,Therefore Be It Proclaimed,Thatfor the purpose of honoring our war dead,[the U.S. flag at town shall shall be loweredto half staff half every Monday at 8 a.m.beginning Jan. 19, 2004, and raised againeach Tuesday at 8 a.m.]

“Be It Further Proclaimed, That Car-bondale shall continue to honor our wardead in this manner until the state of warno longer exists.”

For the past seven years the ceremony hasbeen repeated, sometimes with as many as 32participants and once, on a very cold snowymorning, with only three.

A state of war still exists, yet little attentionseems directed to the trials and tribulationsthat continue to be heaped upon the smallgroup of military personnel and their families.

Everyone is welcome to join in honoringthose whose lives have been lost to protect

the rest of us.In addition to those identified in the cap-

tion to the picture, others who were part ofthe initial group or frequently participate inthe ceremony are Rosanna and WarrenGriggs,Ann and Sam Johnson, Jane and DickVeit, Jony and Peter Larrowe, Jane Clancy,Patricia Ferris, Marian and Ed Perregaux,Linda Criswell, Kathleen Krahe, Gwen Bal-lard, Lulu Williams, Jan Johnson, AnnMacLeod, Karen Signell, Mary and WallyFinely and Nancy Blakeslee. I apologize if Ihave forgotten other frequent attendees.

Jack SebestaCarbondale

Village deliberations compromisedEditor’s Note: This letter was also sent tothe Carbondale Town Trustees.Dear Editor:

We read with interest the Jan. 13 article inThe Sopris Sun entitled: “Trustee’s businesspartner a majority shareholder in Village atCrystal River.” Assuming that the article isfactually correct, we would like to make thefollowing comments:

The Sun article describes an ownershipoverlap between C’dale LLC (in whichTrustee John Foulkrod is managing partner)and the Village at Crystal River.The fact thatthe town attorney was consulted on this issueindicates that there was a concern about thisrelationship. It is in the nature of conflict ofinterest that a person in such a situation maynot even recognize the degree with which itmay affect his actions and influence others.AColorado statute may not have been violated.But, this should not be the sole factor to de-termine whether participation in the activityin question is appropriate. Laws are made toprevent crime and punish people when theydo the wrong thing.The ethical aspect of con-flict of interest is the reverse: to proactivelydo the right thing! Unfortunately, this was notthe case.

The Carbondale Board ofTrustees and thecitizens of Carbondale should recognize thata conflict of interest exists regarding the Car-

There’s nothing like some Sun while on a winter outing. From left to right are:Genevieve Villamizar, Sarah Woods-Kelly, Akaljeet Khalsa, Jen Catto, AlexandraJerkunica and Kelly VanKestren. Courtesy photo

The Sopris Sun welcomes your letters, limited to no more than 400 words. Include yournameand residence (for publication) and a contact email and phone number. Submit lettersvia email to letters@soprissun.comor via snailmail toP.O.Box399,Carbondale,CO81623.

Letters

2 • THE SOPRIS SUN • JANUARY 27, 2011

Carbondale Commentary

To inform, inspire and build community

Donations accepted online or bymail. For information call 510-3003

Co-editors:Lynn Burton and Terray Sylvester510-3003 • news@soprissun.com

Advertising:Dina Drinkhouse • 970-456-7261

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Sopris Sun, LLC • P.O. Box 399520 S. Third Street #35Carbondale, CO 81623

970-510-3003www.soprissun.com

Visit us on facebook.com

Send us your comments:feedback@soprissun.com

The Sopris Sun is an LLC organized under the501c3 non-profit structure of the Roaring Fork

Community Development Corporation.

CorrectionIn our Jan.20 article“Trustees put extra

funds into community grants” we gave anincorrect vote tally. The 2011 communityrequests were not approved on a 5-2 vote,they were approved 4-3.Trustees ElizabethMurphy and Pam Zentmyer, and MayorStacey Bernot, voted “nay.”

STARTIllustration by Eric Auer

$40,000

$30,000

$20,000

$10,000

$50,000OUR GOAL

Help us with our fundraising goal.Please send your donation to:

P.O. Box 399, Carbondale, CO 81623

THE SOPRIS SUN • JANUARY 27, 2011 • 3

By Terray SylvesterSopris Sun Staff Writer

As Carbondale Mayor Stacey Bernot de-scribes it, the town’s $20,000 contribution toan economic development strategy called“economic gardening” just makes sense.

“It seemed like an endeavor worth em-barking on,” she said.“It helps reinforce ourstrengths. It helps us build a model that canbe applicable to other industries, and quitefrankly I feel like there is a real pull on thisboard [of town trustees] to do somethingalong the lines of economic development.”

Combine all of that with the fact that thestrategy would involve a partnership be-tween Glenwood Springs and Carbondale,

and Bernot asserts,“It’s just worth doing.”During their meeting on Jan. 18, the Car-

bondale trustees unanimously voted for thetown to invest in the program, which is beingorganized by the Roaring Fork Business Re-source Center.

“Economic gardening” is a strategy thatcenters on helping budding entrepreneurs ina given region start new businesses, and onnurturing local businesses that are already es-tablished but are primed to grow larger, ex-plained Randi Lowenthal, CEO of theRoaring Fork Business Resource Center. Shestressed that economic gardening is not de-signed to entice businesses to come to a town,but rather to exploit homegrown opportuni-

ties to create new jobs and sales tax revenue.“The whole point of the exercise is to

look locally,” she said.If all goes according to plan, Glenwood

Springs will contribute $20,000 as well whenLowenthal approaches that town council onFeb. 3.The money will be used to organize acooperative effort that will focus on the“cre-ative industries,” which includes organiza-tions ranging from ad agencies andarchitects, to potters, writers, Web designersand colleges.

Lowenthal, a former director of the Car-bondale Chamber of Commerce, suggestedfocusing on creative industries partly becauseboth Carbondale and Glenwood Springs are

already rich with talent in those areas, butalso because Carbondale and Glenwoodmay be able to leverage support from thestate by doing so. If Glenwood Springs be-comes a partner in the economic gardeningprogram, Lowenthal intends to apply for a$10,000 grant from a state organizationcalled Colorado Creative Industries.Accord-ing to a memo from the Roaring Fork Busi-ness Resource Center, the creative industriesare growing relatively quickly in Coloradoand the state is interested in supporting them.

If the economic gardening strategy provessuccessful with the creative industries, themodel might later be applied to other sectors

Town invests $20,000 in ‘economic gardening’

By Lynn BurtonSopris Sun Staff Writer

The Roaring Fork boys are tied with twoother teams for the 3A Western Slope Leaguelead and that’s not all.

“The crowd support has been just great,”said Ram coach Larry Williams. “It’s nice tosee the gym packed again … it keeps us going.”

The Jan. 21 game at Rifle was one thatneither team will forget.The Bears were play-ing their first game after the death of playerAustin Booth, who died on Jan. 17 after about with the flu. Booth’s name and numberwere announced during pre-game introduc-tions and many fans wore yellow shirts bear-

ing his number (No. 5).The Roaring Fork Booster Club donated

$500 to Booth’s family before the game andRam players wore No. 5 armbands duringwarm ups to show support.“That was a realclassy thing Roaring Fork did,” said Rifleplayer Taylor Boone. “No one made themwear the armbands or donate that check.They’re a real classy team.”

Williams said the team discussed how theycould honor Booth in the days leading up tothe game.“It (the arm band) was Clay Gross’sidea,” he said.

Roaring Fork’s only league loss was toRifle in overtime (67-66) that night. The

Rams are tied with Rifle and Coal Ridge atthe top of the league heap.

The Rams are lead by a couple of huskyboys– senior JakeStrack-Loertscherat forwardand sophomore Trae Moxley at center.“We’vebeendominate inside,”Williamssaid.“Theyaregood players.”Rounding out the backcourt areseniors Dalton Handy and Trent Reeds.

Frontcourt players seeing a lot of time in-clude Gross (a junior), Sam Carpenter (a jun-ior), Dakotah Grett (a sophomore) andThomas Cerise (a junior). Rounding out thesquad are Jose Vega and Johnny Nieslanik, aforward who has joined the team after un-dergoing shoulder surgery last fall.

Strack-Loertscher, Moxely and Grett leadthe team in scoring with 11, 10 and eightpoints per game respectively.

Williams said the team chemistry is good.“The players really care about each other.”

The Rams wrap up their first go-round ofteams by facing GrandValley at home on Jan.28 (7 p.m.).Then they go on the road to Gun-nison Jan. 29 (4 p.m.) and return homeagainst Hotchkiss on Feb. 4 (7 p.m.)

“There’s a lot of basketball left to beplayed,”Williams said.

Roaring Fork’s overall record is 8-4.Theyconcluded their season at home against Rifleon Feb. 19.

Ram boys inWestern Slope League hunt with 5-1 record

Non-profit highlight

Carbondale Council on Arts & Humanities520 South Third Street, Carbondale

970.963.1680www.carbondalearts.com

Ad sponsored in memory of John Palmer

February EventsFebruary 3 - Members’ Preview - Valley Visual Arts Show

February 4 - First Friday - Valley Visual Arts ShowShowcasing Roaring Fork Valley artists of all mediums.

CCAH’s R2 Gallery

February 4 – Fostering Local SoundShowcasing local musicians, The Tippets, All The Pretty Horses and Greg Masse.

Starts at 8:30 p.m. Live broadcast on KDNK. No charge.Sponsored by The Town of Carbondale.

February 12 – A Song For Each CupCCAH’s Out Of The Mud Puppet Theatre presents, “A Song For Each Cup.”Puppets and masks, music and local actors. Ages 7 – 107. $15/$12 members.

Sponsored by the Aspen Thrift Shop.

February 13 – Bryan Bowers – Autoharp Master, Singer and StorytellerShow starts at 6 p.m. Tickets are available at the door for $10 for members

and $12 nonmembers. www.bryanbowers.com

February 18 – CCAH Swing Night with Pastor Mustardand the New National Swing Band

One-hour swing dancing class, then Pastor Mustard and his band take the stage forhours of dancing fun. $15/$25 for two for nonmembers CCAH members

and $10/$20 for two for CCAH members.

All events take place in The Round Room at Third Street, except where specified.For more information or to volunteer for any of these events please call

963-1680 or www.carbondalearts.comFelted Slippers and Toy Theatre classes starting this month, go to

www.carbondalearts.com for details.

JasonRusbywielded a snowblower at theMarble rink last Saturday so that folks couldget out there and skate. JimAarts helped himoutwith a push shovel.The rink is locatedat the old marble fabricating plant near the fire station. Photo by Lynn Burton

ECONOMIC GARDENING page 5

7am - 4pm • Monday - Saturday • Conveniently located next to City Market

970-963-3663

Expires 2/3/2011

Italian Sausage & Pepper Italian Sausage & Pepperwith Provolone with Provolone

Developer tied upOn a vote of 3-3, Carbondale trustees

came one vote short of denying the Thomp-son Park annexation/rezoning at Tuesdaynight’s meeting.

Trustee Elizabeth Murphy made a mo-tion to deny the annexation, with mayorStacey Bernot and John Hoffmann support-ing the motion. Trustees John Foulkrod, EdCortez and Pam Zentmyer voted against themotion.Trustee Frosty Merriott was absent.

Before the meeting, Thompson Parkdeveloper Frieda Wallison had asked thetrustees to vote on Tuesday night whetherto approve or deny her project, whichwas submitted under the name CerisePark LLC.

After the meeting,Wallison said she’s notsure whether she’ll go forward with herproject, but she’s proceeding “with the ideaof moving forward.”

Thompson Park is a 10-acre parcel onHighway 133 at the north edge of RiverValley Ranch that has never been annexedinto the town. The proposal calls for 40 to80 housing units plus the preservation ofthe historic Thompson house.

Discussion on the project was contin-ued to Feb. 22.

In other business at Tuesday night’strustees meeting:

• A group of homeowners at ClevelandPlace urged trustees not to amend their sub-division’s PUD to allow another Habitat forHumanity housing unit. The residents saidthe family in the existing Habitat for Hu-manity unit has caused numerous problemsin the past four years and even though theysupport the non-profit’s goals of buildingaffordable housing, it should be locatedsomewhere other than Cleveland Place.

“Habitat for Humanity says it’s a handup, not a hand out.That hand up is pushingthe rest of us down,” said one ClevelandPlace owner.

Trustees continued the discussion toFeb. 22.

• Trustees voted 6-0 to accept a$122,940 contract with RPI Consulting ofDurango to draft a new comprehensive planfor the town. The scope of the work in-cludes a community engagement process, afuture land use map and the final compre-hensive plan document itself.

Schwartz,Wilson hold forumColorado Sen. Gail Schwartz (D-Snow-

mass) and Rep. Roger Wilson (D-Glen-wood Springs) host an open forum andlegislative preview at Victoria’s Espresso& Wine Bar (312 S. Mill St. in Aspen)from 5 to 7 p.m. on Jan. 30.

4 • THE SOPRIS SUN • JANUARY 27, 2011

Opening Reception

More info: 963-3977wildernessworkshop.org

Nelson Guda: RoadlessNelson Guda will also present the Naturalist Nights slide show at TSC on Wed, Feb. 2, at 5:30 p.m.

Dottie Fox: Watercolors

All sales of Dottie Fox

the Wilderness Workshop

Friday, Feb. 45-8 p.m.

Third Street Center,Carbondale

First Friday

The Weekly News Brief The Sopris Sun and the KDNK news departments teamup to discuss recent news from the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond. Catch the Briefon KDNK between 7:30 and 8 a.m. and between 5:30 and 6 p.m. on Thursdays.

Cop ShopThe following events are drawn from incident reports of the CarbondalePolice Department.

FRIDAY Jan. 14 At 7:09 p.m. a man called to report he had lost his iPhone on ashuttle bus in Snowmass on Monday. Two hours before he called the police,AT&T had used the GPS unit in the phone to determine the device was in thevicinity of 197 Capitol Avenue. Police went looking for the phone, but it turnedout the address didn’t exist.

THURSDAY Jan. 18 At 6:54 p.m. a man called to report approximately eightpeople arguing loudly in front of the Gordon Cooper Library. Before the police ar-rived the crowd departed in a small red car and a white pickup.

THURSDAY Jan. 18 At 7:11 p.m. an officer heard loud banging noises in SoprisPark. The officer asked two nearby juvenile males if they knew anything about it.They said they hadn’t heard the noise. Then left the area.

WEDNESDAY Jan. 19 At 7:32 p.m. a woman running on a bike path in RiverValley Ranch reported that a dog had bitten her in the back of the thigh. The doghad apparently committed similar infractions in the past and its owner was is-sued a citation.

THURSDAY Jan. 20 At 9:06 p.m. a woman called to report an intoxicated manin the middle of Sopris Avenue near Highway 133. Police were unable to findthe man.

THURSDAY Jan. 20 At 10:17 p.m. a resident of Greystone Drive told the policeshe thought someone had attempted to climb her fence gate, but fled when sheturned on an outdoor light. Footprints were found in the snow by the gate, butthere was no other evidence.

News Briefs

of the local economy, such as health care orrenewable energy, Lowenthal said at thetrustees’ meeting on Jan. 18.

Bernot compared the economic garden-ing proposal to economic development ef-forts in Carbondale in the past, such as lastwinter’s Go Green Get Green economicstimulus campaign (see sidebar, this page),and argued that Lowenthal’s plan has at leastas much, if not more, potential.

“We laid out $30,000 [for the stimuluscampaign] with mixed results and that’s les-sons learned and there were some positives,”Bernot said in an interview with the Sun.“Butusing $20,000 toward economic gardeningand an economic development process is def-initely worth looking into as well.”

As yet, the precise details of the plan re-main hazy. Lowenthal said that if Glenwoodclimbs on board, the specifics will begin totake shape as she works with the two townsto write the grant application to the state,which is due in March.

Lowenthal also plans to offer a class ondeveloping business plans for small creativeindustries start ups. She speculated that sev-eral new businesses might be formed as a re-sult of the class, but she stressed that there“is absolutely no way to know” how manybusinesses will benefit from the class or thelarger economic gardening effort.

“This is not Randi coming down fromabove saying,‘This is what it will be and thisis what it will look like,’”Lowenthal said.“Itwill take input from organizations, how farthey want to go and push it.”

Economic gardening continued om page 3

THE SOPRIS SUN • JANUARY 27, 2011 • 5

AT VALLEY VIEW HOSPITALFebruaryYoga of theHeart

February 7, 14, 21, 28 • 9:30 -11 amCardiac Rehabilitation Center, VVH

Yoga of the Heart involves gentle yoga postures and breathing techniques whichare done from a chair or lying comfortably

on the floor. Stress management information and guided meditation

are included. The course is taught by DianeAgnello, a certified instructor of Yoga of theHeart. A four-class punch pass is available

for $28.Call 384-7159 and leave a message for information or registration.

Valley View Hospital dietician Lisa Paigeoffers weekly sessions on eating for well-ness. The class is free to Valley View’s

Cardiac Wellness members. The fee is $7for non-members. Classes are held in theCardiac Rehabilitation Conference Room.

Preregister by calling 384-7159.

Supermarket Savvy • February 4Don’t let the supermarket outsmart you.

Learn to avoid grocery store traps to get youto buy expensive processed foods.

What’s a Superfood? • February 11Does eating superfoods make you super

healthy? Understand the discussion behindsuperfoods and functional/therapeutic foods.

Appetite Awareness • February 18Do you skip meals because you’re not hun-

gry only to later eat large portionsbecause you can’t stop? Learn to makeyour appetite work for you in your weight

management plan.

Eating Out Strategies • February 25Americans love to eat out! Learn to enjoyrestaurant eating without sabotaging your

healthy lifestyle diet.

VVH Auxiliary offers scholarships

Teeny Jeung Memorial ScholarshipsValley View Hospital Auxiliary offers four

scholarships in memory of Teeny Jeung, along time nurse at Valley View Hospital. Any

local graduating high school student whohas been accepted into a Health Sciences

program at a college or university is eligible.

Valley View Hospital Auxiliary Health Sciences Scholarships

The Health Sciences Scholarship is forthose entering or continuing with studies inthe medical field. Two scholarships will beawarded. Any person wishing to study or to continue studies in the medical field is

eligible for this scholarship.

Completed applications are due Friday, April 15, 2011. For further information

and applications for either of these scholarships, please call

Becca Schickling, at 384-6656.

Tuesdays, 10 am to 2 pmValley View Cancer Center

A creative cancer support group, led bySheri Gaynor, LCSW, Registered ExpressiveArts Therapist. For anyone whose life has

been touched by illness or cancer. Creative writing, poetry and collage.Absolutely no art experience needed.

To register, call Sheri at 618-0561 or email sheri@sherigaynor.com.

Art, Healing and Hope

VALLEY VIEW HOSPITAL1906 BLAKE AVENUE, GLENWOOD SPRINGS • WWW.VVH.ORG • 970.945.6535

Health andWellnessClasses

The town of Carbondale hasspent well over $300,000 on eco-nomic development since 2002, ac-cording to records at town hall.

The money was spent on threemajor projects: hiring a full-timeeconomic director for 25 monthsfrom May 2002 to June 2005, theEconomic Roadmap to plot an eco-nomic development strategy in2005, and the Go Green promotionto encourage shopping in town inlate 2009 and early 2010.

The three projects and their costsbreak down as follows:

• Economic development direc-tor: $127,500 (not including bene-fits) plus $108,000 for relatedprojects and expenses;

• Economic Roadmap: $65,000;• Go Green: $30,000.Those figures don’t include ap-

proximately $95,000 the town hasinvested in a revolving loan fund tohelp businesses, and $10,000 fromthe general fund given to the Car-bondale Chamber of Commerce in2010 for a tourism Web site.

– Lynn Burton

Economic developmentspending tops $300K

ment a series of low-cost tune-ups, the en-ergy demands of the building are falling.

After the energy audit last spring, em-ployees of the local non-profit organiza-tion CLEER (Clean Energy Economy forthe Region) began investigating the recre-ation center to determine why it was suck-ing extra energy. Among other renewableenergy and sustainability work in GarfieldCounty, CLEER specializes in fine-tuninggovernment buildings for energy effi-ciency.

Mike Ogburn, an energy engineer forCLEER, identified a few main issues at therecreation center. For one, the lighting sys-tem wasn't functioning as planned. Staffand recreation center users were overrid-ing the automatic settings, and some of thefeatures intended for maximum energy ef-ficiency weren't working correctly. Lightswere turned on when they weren't needed,and they were turned on to their brightestsettings, Ogburn said.

But the building’s most significant in-efficiencies were the result of problems inthe setup of the heating, air conditioningand ventilation (HVAC) system. For ex-ample, one unit in the system was respon-sible for controlling temperatures in boththe lobby and in the workout area. Butsince those rooms are kept at differenttemperatues, the unit had to work harderthan anticipated.

To fix the lighting problem, recreationcenter staff will be given more control

over the building’s lights, and the systemwill be adjusted to be more user friendly,Brendlinger said.

The HVAC system is being fine-tunedas well. Recreation center employees aretrying to find a happy medium betweenthe temperatures in the lobby and theworkout room to ensure the HVAC sys-tem doesn’t have to use extra juice.They’re also making other changes to theclimate control system, such as reschedul-ing the whole apparatus so its timingmore closely matches the actual scheduleof activity in the building.

Although the tune-ups aren’t yet com-plete, Ogburn said the recreation center isalready operating more efficiently.

In October 2010, the recreation centerused roughly half as much electricity as inOctober 2009 – largely as a result of ad-justments the town and CLEER have al-ready made to the HVAC software, heexplained.

Since CLEER and recreation centerstaff have been able to use low-cost fixeson the building, Ogburn said the efforthas been well worth it. The work to im-prove the building's efficiency has, so far,saved the recreation center between $500and $1,000 per month. That means thecost of the work was paid for withinabout two months.

As Ogburn puts it, that’s an “insanepayback.”

“Not a bad investment at all,” he said.

Recreation center continued om page 1

6 • THE SOPRIS SUN • JANUARY 27, 2011

For Information & Reservations call 970-945-0667

$115

When Precision Counts...

Ackerman Log & Timber

ACCENTS • HOMES • SAWMILL

Conveniently Located in Carbondale970-963-0119

Scuttlebutt Send your scuttlebutt to Scuttlebutt@SoprisSun.com.

Son of Conan?Some of Carbondale’s women-folk got

all excited when they read last week thatConan the belly dancer may return toMountain Fair this summer after a 25-yearabsence. One numbers-crunching fan got tothinking though, and figured Conan mustbe in his 50s or 60s by now, in which casehe’d need to be a really good dancer, orhave maintained a really good belly to sendthe ladies into orbit again. Which begs thequestion – is there a son of Conan out therewho might be sent to Mountain Fair alongwith his dad? A protégé maybe?

New hatThe Sopris Sun received an anonymous

tip from a gravelly voiced man last week.He spoke slowly and clearly, but somewhatfurtively. Here’s what he said: “Bill Faleshas a new hat.” Those of you who knowthe local rancher have long admired hiswell broken in hat, a hat so well used itcould probably withstand a cattle stampedestomping and still get put back on Bill’shead and nobody would notice the differ-ence. A hat so well used it could probablywear itself. A hat so old it would have itsown Zip Code but Zip Codes were not in-vented when it first rolled out of the hatfactory and onto the mercantile shelf. Inany case, if anyone out there knows whatkind of hat Bill is now sporting, or whatcolor it is, or whether the old hat has beenretired to a place of honor, please let the

Sun know at 510-3003 or news@sopris-sun.com (and yes, for The Sopris Sun, BillFales’s new hat is news).

Hall of famersJack and Marsha Brendlinger were in-

ducted into the Aspen Hall of Fame duringa banquet at the Hotel Jerome on Jan. 22.They built the Applejack Inn on Aspen’sMain Street in the early 1960s, were in-volved in Aspen in numerous ways fordecades, and moved downvalley to the Car-bondale area eight years ago. Congrats toJack and Marsha!

Save the dateChildren’s Mini College hosts its annual

Chocolate Extravaganza Feb. 4 from 6 to7:30 p.m. at the CMC Glenwood CampusSenior Center. There is no admissioncharge. The event features chocolatedesserts, auctions and more. The CMCGlenwood Campus Senior Center is at1402 Blake Ave.

Welcome aboardSopris Sun co-founder Trina Ortega and

Dave Johnson have joined the non-profitnewspaper’s board. On a related note, theSun’s newsstand at the Ranch at RoaringFork has been moved to the RFTA parkand ride lot on Highway 133. You Ranchat Roaring Forkers don’t have to drive orbike all the way to 133 to get your weeklydose of Sun, however. There’s also a SoprisSun newsstand at Catherine Store.

Just an excuse tophotograph the PourHouse jukebox?Maybe so. In anycase, MountainGazette is solicitingjukebox stories, trib-utes, odes, anecdotesand remembrances.The Pour House ’boxis probably one ofthe few in the U.S.that features theBeatles’ White albumas well as ToddSnider’s “Right WingRoundup.” Sendyour Pour Housejukebox story tomjfayee@mountain-gazette.com. Photoby Lynn Burton

Happy birthdayBirthday greetings go out to Wally Finley,

Elizabeth Ritchie and Laura McCormick(Jan. 27), Sherry Herrington and TheresaOlander (Jan. 28), Shane Holmberg (Jan. 29)

and John Baker Kelsy Warkentin (Jan. 31).Others celebrating their birthdays thismonth are Calvin Lee, Sally Mencimer, SkipBell and Katherine Schuhmacher. MeganLarsen celebrates her birthday on Feb. 1.

Aaron Taylor and Olivia Pevec (members of All The Pretty Horses) made therounds when they weren’t performing.

Horsin’ aroundwithWindWalkersPhotos by Jane Bachrach

Folks headed over to the Church at Carbondale’s Gathering Center on Jan. 22 toshow their support for WindWalkers and take part in the non-profit group’s annual fund-raising event, appropriately billed as “Galloping into the Future.”

Partiers danced to music provided by Vision Quest and All The Pretty Horses,chowed down on food and appetizers provided by private chef Ray Payne and KipFeight of Conundrum Catering, and placed bids in an auction billed as “The world’smost practical silent auction.”

WindWalkers uses the movement, power and intuition of horses to work with indi-viduals that are challenged physically, emotionally or behaviorally. Because a challengeor disability also affects families of WindWalkers’ clients, working with the families is alsoan important component in the organization’s therapeutic process.

THE SOPRIS SUN • JANUARY 27, 2011 • 7

Vision Quest guitarist Harrison Jackson helped keep the party going.

Kolakanta Darling does a little dancing.

Vision Quest called on WindWalkers client Alex Bender to sing a tune. Play-ing bass is Sam Robison.

JessicaWiley and Taylor Vagneur survey the crowd from a fireplace perch.

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THURSDAY Jan. 27ROTARY MEETS • The Mount SoprisRotary Club (formally the Aspen Glen-wood Rotary) is now meeting each Thurs-day at noon at the Mi Casita Restaurant,at Main and Weant, in downtown Carbon-dale. Anyone who may be interested injoining Rotary is invited to attend. ThirdStreet Center Director Jody Ensign speakson Jan. 27.

PAUL MULDOON • The Winter Wordslecture series at the Little Nell continueswith Paul Muldoon at 5:30 p.m. Info: as-penwriters.org.

FRI.-SAT. Jan. 28-29BEER WORKS PARTIES • CarbondaleBeer Works celebrates its official grandopening with two special evenings. On Fri-day, Carbondale Beer Works features theDefiance Sirens belly dancers and offers mugclub deals all night. On Saturday night, Pas-tor Mustard and the New National SwingBand comes to town.“This will be a night toremember,” said Beer Works spokesmanBrent Moss. Space is limited so Moss urgesfolks to come early. You must be 21. Info:618-1288. Donations will be taken bothnights for the Aspen Hope Center.

FRI.-SUN. Jan.28-30ANNIVERSARY PARTY • Konnyaku, lo-cated in the La Fontana Plaza on Highway

133, throws a third anniversary party from5 to 10 p.m. with 50 percent off dining roomentrees (reservations suggested). Proceedsbenefit The Sopris Sun. Info: 704-0889.

FRIDAY Jan. 28MOVIES • The Crystal Theatre presents“The King’s Speech” (R) at 4:45 and 7:30p.m. Jan. 28-30 and 7:30 p.m. Jan. 31-Feb. 3.

LIVE MUSIC • Steve’s Guitars, located inthe old part of the Dinkel Building, presentsCharlie Simmons. Info: 963-3304 or steves-guitars.net.

LIVE MUSIC • Carnahan’s Tavern in theDinkel Building presents Pineapple Crackers.

LIVE MUSIC • Rivers restaurant in Glen-wood Springs presents Dave Taylor (classicand contemporary rock) from 9 p.m. tomidnight. There’s no cover.

LIVEMUSIC • Big Daddy Lee plays Jimmy’s,located in Aspen at 205 S. Mill St. Danceableblues and R&B. 10:15 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.

ROCK DOGS HOWL • The Rock Dogsreturn to action at an opening party atRoderick’s Rendezvous in New Castle. It’slocated at 366 West Main Street.

CASUAL CULTURE COMPETES • Car-bondale’s Casual Culture joins other local andregional retailers fielding teams to competehead-to-head in the Shop versus Shop Chal-lenge at the new Buttermilk terrain park at 3

p.m. The event is part of UnitedStates of America SnowboardAssociation (USASA) sanc-tioned events that coincidewith ESPN’s Winter X Gamesand is open to snowboarders andfreestyle/freeride terrain park users.Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club alsooffers clinics at the park on Jan. 28-30.Info: teamavsc.org.

RAM BASKETBALL • Roaring Fork’s bas-ketballers stay at home to take on GrandVal-ley (girls 5:30/boys 7 p.m.).

SATURDAY Jan. 29LIVE MUSIC • Carnahan’s Tavern in theDinkel Building presents one-man-bandChristoph Brownwell.

ENERGY TALK • The Roaring Fork Cul-tural Council presents Jim, James and JohnCalaway with their program “The Futureof Energy: From Old to New” at ThunderRiver Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Jim was in-volved in oil exploration for many years,while John is chief development officer forthe wind energy corporation Pattern En-ergy, and James is chairman of the board oflithium producer Orocobre Limited. Tick-ets are $10. The theatre is located north-west of downtown’s Dinkel Building. Info:rfculturalcouncil.org.

RAM BASKETBALL • Roaring Fork bas-ketballers travel to Gunnison (girls 2:30/boys 4 p.m.).

SUNDAYJan. 30AILEY II • Aspen Santa Fe Ballet andAlpine Bank present Ailey II at the AspenDistrict Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Info: 920-577.

MONDAY Jan. 31OLD-TIME JAM • Carbondale BrewWorks holds an old-time music jam sessionevery other Monday at 7 p.m., with onecoming up Jan. 31. Info: 963-7089.

WEDNESDAY Feb. 2LIVEMUSIC • White House Pizza on Car-bondale’s Main Street presents Phillip Gibbs(singer/songwriter) from 7 to 10 p.m.

PHYSICS LECTURE • The Aspen Centerfor Physic’s free lecture series at theWheeler Opera House in Aspen continueswith “Fluid Viscosity: From Maxwell toString Theory” by Dam Thanh Son at 5:30p.m. Info: 925-2585.

Community CalendarTo list your event, email information to news@soprissun.com. Deadline is 5 p.m. Saturday. Events take place in Carbondale unlessnoted. For up-to-the-minute valley-wide event listings, check out the Community Calendar online at soprissun.com.

THE SOPRIS SUN • JANUARY 27, 2011 • 9

Further OutFeb. 3WINTER CONCERT • The Aspen Chapelpresents a winter concert featuring NadineAsin (flute), Lawrence Dutton (viola), Eliza-beth Lim-Dutton (violin) and DarrettAdkins(cello). Tickets are $35. Info: 925-5740.

POET SPEAKS • Colorado Poet LaureateDavid Mason will recite his work at the BasaltRegional Library at 5:30 p.m. Info: 927-4311.

Feb. 4VALLEYVISUAL • The Carbondale Coun-cil on Arts and Humanities’ Valley Visual ArtShow begins with an opening reception from6 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 4 and continues throughFeb. 25 at the Third Street Center. A patronsand members night will be held from 5 to 7p.m. on Feb. 3. Info: 963-1680.

PARTYWITH SECTOR 7G • Carnahan’scelebrates its first birthday with Sector 7Gand drink specials starting at 10 p.m.

Feb. 5GARCO DEMS MEET • The GarfieldCounty Democratic central committee meet-ing is slated for 10 a.m. at the Rifle library.Elections will be held to vote on a new chair,vice chair and second vice-chair, secretary andtreasurer. Info: epsrifle@yahoo.com.

CONTRA DANCE • A community contradance will be held at Glenwood Springs Ele-mentary School from 8 to 10:30 p.m. Musicwill be provided by the Last Minute StringBand. The caller is Chris Kermiet. Beginnersshould arrive by 7:30 p.m. for a 30-minutedance walk-through.The school is located at915 School Street in Glenwood Springs, twoblocks west of the post office. Info: 945-0350.

Feb. 12PARTYWITHTHE SUN • The Sopris Sunholds a party to celebrate its second birthdayfrom 5 to 7 p.m.at the Pour House.There’ll bedoor prizes and a cake.The public is invited.

OngoingACOUSTIC CARNAHANS • Singer/song-writer T Ray Becker hosts an acoustic musicnight with new musicians every week from7 to 9 p.m.Thursdays at Carnahan’s Tavern.Info: 963-4498.

OPEN MIC • Dan Sadowsky hosts openmic sessions at the Limelight Lodge in Aspenfrom 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. every Sunday. Info:925-3025.

OPEN MIC • Jammin’ Jim hosts open micnights at Rivers restaurant in GlenwoodSprings from 8 to 10 p.m. every Wednesday.

Tacos are a buck.

MAYOR’S COFFEE HOUR • Chat withCarbondale Mayor Stacey Bernot on Tues-days from 7 to 8 a.m. at the Village Smithy,located 26 S. Third St.

BRIDGE • Senior Matters in the ThirdStreet Center offers bridge every Wednesday.Info: 945-7094.

ZINGERS SING • The Zingers singinggroup gets together at the Third Street Cen-ter every Thursday from 2 to 3 p.m. Info:945-7094.

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Clouds settled in up the Crystal on Saturday and dumped a couple of inches ofsnow. Meanwhile, ‘Bondedale was once again left dry. Photo by Lynn Burton

10 • THE SOPRIS SUN • JANUARY 27, 2011

The Sopris Sun will be turning 2 on February 12.

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Community BriefsDate nights on tap

The Carbondale Recreation Department offers Date Night at the recreation center onFeb. 5 and Feb. 19. Just drop off your kid after 5 p.m. and they’ll be treated to snacks anddinner. Meanwhile, you and yours can paint the town. The fee is $20 for the first kid and$10 for each additional sibling. Register one week before each Date Night. For details, call704-4190.

MSHS offering docent programThe Mount Sopris Historical Society is launching a junior docent program for high

school students in February. Students will learn to be museum guides and help to create abike/pedestrian tour of historic Carbondale. For details, call Linda Criswell at 963-9371.

Facility energy workshop offeredFacility managers responsible for running and maintaining large buildings are invited

to attend the Garfield Clean Energy’s facility energy workshop to learn about saving en-ergy and cutting utility and maintenance costs. The workshop will focus on restaurantsand hospitality buildings.

The workshop will be held at Carbondale Town Hall from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Feb.3. The $20 fee covers coffee, bagels and materials. For more information, call 704-9200.

Valley View offers scholarshipsValley View Hospital Auxiliary is offering scholarships for those planning to enter the

health or medical field. For details, call Becca Schickling at 384-6656.

Aspen TREE offers internshipsAspen TREE is offering internships for students to learn how to grow food, raise ani-

mals, build with mud and live ecologically. The program, which qualifies for college creditat some schools, runs from May 15 to Sept. 15. The application deadline is Feb. 28. Fordetails, contact CORE at 963-1090 or permacussion@gmail.com.

Artists soughtThe Colorado Division of Wildlife is accepting entries for its Colorado Waterfowl

Stamp Art contest. This year’s species will focus on the green-winged teal (Anas crecca).The deadline to enter is March 4 at 4 p.m. Artists must submit a 13-inch high by-18 inchwide, full color original artwork. The entry fee is $50 fee. For details, go to the ColoradoWildlife Heritage Foundation at cwhf.info.The green-winged teal is a colorful duck foundin Colorado primarily during fall and spring migration, with lower numbers during thebreeding season and winter. The vocal and often noisy duck is the smallest North Amer-ican ‘dabbling duck,’ which feed on the surface of waters instead of diving for food.

Business BriefsWilliams named partner at Backbone Media

Backbone Media has named Greg Williams, of Carbondale, as a partner.Williams joinspartners Penn Newhard and Nate Simmons in leading the agency. In particular, Williamswill focus on the rapidly growing media division.

Williams started at Backbone in 2005. He worked in the firm’s public relations de-partment before re-launching the company’s media division. Under his leadership, themedia division has expanded to six full-time staff and over a dozen clients including NewBelgium Brewing, Eddie Bauer,Aspen Snowmass, SmartWool, Polartec, Outdoor Research,La Sportiva, Far Bank, Boa and Black Diamond.

“I am thrilled to join the leadership team at Backbone and serve the wonderful clientsand people we work with at those brands,” Williams said. “We have the strongest teamwe have ever had at Backbone.”

Before joining Backbone, Williams worked for Climbing magazine and ColoradoRocky Mountain School, and was a founding partner in one of the country’s pioneeringclimbing gyms, The Philadelphia Rock Gym.

Backbone Media is a media and PR agency specializing in the outdoor and activelifestyle market. It represents over 35 clients and has offices in Carbondale, and Jackson,Wyo. For more information, visit backbonemedia.net.

American National Bank gets awardAmerican National Bank has again received the highest rating as a Blue Ribbon Bank

from VERIBANC, Inc., an independent, national bank rating firm, according to a pressrelease. Based on data from the Federal Reserve Bank’s Call Report for the third quar-ter of 2010, VERIBANC, Inc. qualified American National Bank as a Blue Ribbon Bankusing an eight level rating system, plus satisfying additional safety related criteria.

American National Bank has 37 locations in Colorado and Wyoming with 15 ofthem located in Western Colorado.

New board members at RFBRCJohn Stelzriede from Glenwood Springs and Rose Ann Sullivan from Basalt have

joined the board of directors of the Roaring Fork Business Resource Center. Stelzriedeis a president for American National Bank, overseeing seven branch locations inGarfield, Eagle, and Pitkin counties. He also serves as treasurer for the YouthZone Foun-

dation and is a member of the Glenwood Springs Noon Rotary Club. Sullivan foundedKootenay Resources, LLC, a consulting firm that specializes in technology and envi-ronmental issues. She has nearly 30 years of experience in business, law, and govern-ment. Prior to forming Kootenay Resources, she enjoyed a successful legal career as anintellectual property/high-tech transactional attorney in Washington, DC.

The business resource center works to nurture start up enterprises from Parachuteto Aspen and to help existing businesses. For more information visit rfbrc.com, call945-5158, or email info@rfbrc.org.

Snow is mailbox high in Marble. Photo by Lynn Burton

We’re hanging in the living room, surrounded by win-dows filled with naked sleeping trees. Like the inside of a

snow globe, fat flakes are(finally) falling, floatingdown from the clouds, coat-ing everything with thethick cloak of winter. Itlooks so cold out there. If Ifreeze to death on a 10-minute chair lift, how dotrees exposed to the samewind and temperatures han-dle the season? Inside mywarm tree house, I sit, pon-dering the miraculous forti-tude of the trees.

Why don’t they freeze?How do they survive hoarfrost along their branches,or rime ice encasing their

buds? Trees are at least half water – why don’t stems justsnap or shatter altogether when you bend them?

Trees have many adaptions for survival.The ones we no-tice most right now – the pines and blue spruces about town,the pinyons and junipers on our hillsides – have adaptedthrough modified leaves. Rather than large, flat expansiveleaves, needles and scales have a reduced surface area andfewer pores (stomata) than other forms of leaves.The stom-ata are also more depressed and out of the wind than those

on a regular leaf.And finally, these modified leaves also gen-erate a waxy coating each year. All this means less transpi-ration (loss) of water and a lowered risk of freezing.

Why do some plants perish? Look at what happens toyour dahlias or morning glories with the first hard frost.Water expands when it freezes, right? Well with a hard frost,the water in tender annuals freezes and expands too. Thoseice crystals inside the plant cells expand and shatter the cellwalls and you’re left with a pile of frozen mush.Apparently,these annual plants from warmer climates are not adaptedto our winters.

Hardy herbaceous plants like trees begin winter prepa-rations as soon as the summer days start to shorten. Whilewe’re dancing at Mountain Fair or setting off firecrackers,cell membranes and plant tissues are physiologically chang-ing, becoming more elastic. This enables some of the waterto“evacuate”the cells – moving from within cell protoplasmto the space between the cells.When temperatures drop andthe water freezes, more of it is in between the cells, than inthem. Sharp ice crystals may push against the outsides ofcells, but the cell walls are more pliable and can resist shred-ding and subsequent cell death.

What about the water still in the cells? Well trees alsohave an “antifreeze” capability. While we’re shopping theski swaps, trees are busy converting starches to sugars withinthe cells. Those sugars concentrated within cellular fluidlower the freezing point.

Not all of a tree’s cells are alive. Take the woody bark ofany tree – a pine or aspen for example. Bark, branches, stems

all have water in them, and obviously that water can freeze.But does bark breathe or process food? Generally, no; it’snot living, functioning tissue. It’s just dead, structural tissue.Dead tissue can freeze and not affect the life of a tree.

To summarize? All those leaf buds coated in ice or snow,they’ve evacuated water to a certain extent.The sugar insidethe cells acts as antifreeze, enabling buds to hang in thelower temps and still live.Add to that the fact that frozen iceand snow also act as insulators.

The only process more amazing after a long cold winteris the reversal of all this – the sight of those buds taking inwater again and swelling with the promise of spring.

Why don’t trees freeze? Here’s the dirt

THE SOPRIS SUN • JANUARY 27, 2011 • 11

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*Credit card payment information should be emailed to unclassi-fieds@soprissun.com or call 948-6563. Checks may be droppedoff at our office at the Third Street Center or mailed to P.O. Box399,Carbondale, CO 81623. Call 618-9112 for more info.

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