Ear to the ground

“It was a great party. There were three punk bands and a goat.”

-A local woman sharing tales of a recent trip to the big city

Threats to the Free Box

Yet another Southwest Colorado icon is in danger of disappearing. Telluride’s Free Box, a recycling repository in the nearby town, is being threatened by changing times.

Located just off Main Street, the Free Box has been recycling Telluriders’ goods since 1976. The large, multi-binned wooden structure contains everything from unwanted clothes to outdated electronics and is emblematic of Telluride’s hippy roots.

However, many in Telluride want to send the Free Box to the dump. Mark Buchsieb, a Telluride Town Council member, recently noted that it has become an expensive dumping ground and costs Telluride nearly $50,000 per year.

 “I’d rather subsidize affordable housing,” he told the Telluride Daily Planet. Buchsieb added that the Free Box is an eyesore and a hub of criminal activity and wants the box moved out of town. “I think a different location might be better,” he said. “In the summertime, it’s become a meeting place for drugs and a lot of crazy stuff.”

Others are less inclined to see the piece of Telluride history go down the road. The paper reported that Arturo Talavera recently scored a giant Sony flat-screen TV in the box. He planned to bring it to his wife and son in Nayarit, Mexico. Pat Dalpez, a town employee who cleans the Free Box twice a week, said he would hate to see the Free Box go away.

“There’s a lot of people in this town who aren’t rich,” he told the Planet “I think it makes the people so happy, just psychologically, that it’s worth every penny.”

All bottled up

Durango is going to the grapes this weekend. A new festival, the first annual Durango Wine Experience, is being uncorked May 3-5.

This three-day event will include two major wine tastings. The first will be a “Walk-About Durango” moving tasting held at 20 downtown locations. The second event is the Grand Tasting, taking place under the festival tent at the First National Bank of Durango. Tastings will feature 50 wineries from around the world, and master sommeliers, including Damon Ornowsky and Jay Fletcher, will oversee several seminars. In addition, five wine dinners will take place at various downtown restaurants.

Act fast. Only 500 tickets will be available for each of these events. Information is available at www.durangowine.com.