Editor:
Don't you just love the smell of a new home? Those freshly painted walls and finished wood, that new stain-resistant carpet, the warm fire in that new stone fireplace. But did you ever stop to consider what those smells might mean for your health, your children's health or the health of the environment?
"Modern building materials and finishes tend to be very toxic," says David Holubetz of Montrose's Blue Sky Builders. "And with the average American spending 23 hours a day indoors, the toxic exposure is just staggering."
Holubetz will be the keynote speaker at the Natural Building Workshop to be held Jan. 22-23 at the Ridgway Community Center on Railroad Street. Saturday's event will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will feature speakers, a panel of local homeowners who live in alternative homes, as well as booths where local vendors will offer information about alternative building products and services. The workshop's organizers, Ridgway's Business as Unusual Group, will sell books and energy-efficient light bulbs at the event.
Sunday's event includes home tours of several environmentally friendly homes in the area, including homes that feature AAC-block and strawbale construction. More information on home tours will be available at Saturday's workshop. Due to the support of numerous co-sponsors, admission for the weekend's presentations is only $5.
"We want to keep it accessible to everyone," says BUG co-founder Patty Painter.
The weekend's speakers include Holubetz; Linda Hoeksema, a Log Hill homeowner; Glen Harcourt of Steeprock Builders; and Elizabeth Robbins of the local Green Building Task Force.
Saturday's keynote speaker, Holubetz, is a seasoned builder, both in new construction and in renovation. His company, Blue Sky Builders, specializes in, as he puts it, "building spaces that nourish the soul and minimize impact to the environment." Hoeksema, his co-presenter, recently commissioned Holubetz to build a house using only the cleanest materials and environmentally safe techniques available. The result is a state-of-the-art "healthy" home that boasts some of the best air quality possible in a modern building.
Like Holubetz, Harcourt is a leader in western Colorado's sustainable building movement. He founded the Steeprock Jointery, now Steeprock Builders, 12 years ago. The company is powered entirely by renewable sources, including solar, some wind and a back-up generator that runs on bio-diesel, or converted vegetable oils. They have recently completed a spec home in Placerville that applies eco-friendly techniques to a conventional structure.
Steeprock's work is not just technically good but beautiful as well; Harcourt's slideshows are a tour of some of the finest craftsmanship available in the region.
The third speaker in Saturday's lineup, Robbins, is a member of the Green Building Task Force located in San Miguel County. They are working for adoption of a Green Building Code by both the Town of Telluride and San Miguel County; the code is currently awaiting final approval by Telluride's Town Council.
The Natural Building Workshop is organized by BUG of Ridgway, which works to promote environmentally sustainable businesses, lifestyles and practices in the region. The event is made possible by the Ridgway Ouray Community Council, the Green Building Task Force, the Tomten Institute, the Institute of Ecolonomics, Alternative Power Enterprises, Season's Harvest, Piñon Mortgage, M-E and Dick Spirek, and Food for Thought.
Workshop Schedule:
Saturday, Jan. 22:
9 a.m., Welcome and Introduction
9:30 a.m., Glen Harcourt
11 a.m., David Holubetz and Linda Hoeksema
12:15 p.m., Lunch
1 p.m., Panel of Homeowners,
Q & A
2 p.m., Elizabeth Robbins
Sunday, Jan. 23:
Tours of local homes, built using sustainable techniques and supplies, times and places to be announced.
— Christina Callicott, on Behalf of Business as Unusual
Please Give to Tsunami Relief Organizations
Editor:
We claim to be a generous and compassionate town. We are obviously one of the wealthiest ski towns in the wealthiest country in the world, and we claim to think globally. I understand that it is not the role of local government to respond to international crisis, but are we really that big of a bureaucracy?
One hundred fifty thousand of our brothers and sisters have perished in an unimaginable tragedy, and there is huge current and ongoing humanitarian need. Yes, there are obstacles to delivery of aid. Yes, there needs to be some minimal due diligence done about where to appropriately send some dough. What about matching the Telluride Foundation's Grant? But for Christ's (or insert your favorite deities name here) sake! Shake a little dough loose that we won't even notice is gone and send a message to the world that the compassion of Telluride is not just rhetoric.
I further understand that there are other crises in the world that need to be responded to, but this disaster is purely apolitical. If it makes some feel better, we can claim to have done it for the environment and in the process just happened to have helped some of our fellow human beings.
Sincerely,
– Steve Hilbert
Grief Dancers Available in Expanded Version
Editor:
I was thrilled to see Art Goodtimes' sensitive and thoughtful review of my book Grief Dancers in your Dec. 10 edition. I wanted to let you know that Grief Dancers is no longer in print. It was recently republished by Three Rivers Press, a division of Random House. It was released just last week in an edited and expanded version as Keeping Katherine: A Mother's Journey to Acceptance (Three Rivers Press 2005). It is available in bookstores and on Amazon.com under that title.
Best regards and many thanks to Art Goodtimes,
– Susan Zimmermann
The Yearling
Editor:
Last night I ran over a deer at the worst possible point at the top of Keystone. It was rush hour, with lots of drivers in both directions and no forgiveness on any side from the mountain or road. My daughter Hamilton and I are so grateful to the many knights in shining armor that came to our rescue. San Miguel Sheriff Deputy Sheldon Smith was first on the scene in minutes, clearing the poor yearling from the lane, calling for more help and comforting us. Amazing Telluride Fire Department friends came next and checked the smoking engine out with their professional efficiency. Marty from Telluride Towing scooped us up and down to Telluride Tire where that incredible crew was closing up for the day. They stayed late to assess the auto situation and render a diagnosis. Two DeStefano men came to our rescue by picking us up and delivering us safely home – hours after completing their five day drive home to Telluride from New York through ice storms in a huge moving truck.
Wow! Hamilton and I are full of the "It's a Wonderful Life" kind of gratitude and joy. If the roads hadn't been so clear (thanks to the hard work of county and town road crews!); if the deer had been too big to run over (thus causing me to swerve over the cliff or into oncoming vehicles!), if, if, if…
Thank you to each angel who crossed our path. And special blessings and gratitude to the yearling. You see, it seems that minutes before hitting the deer, unbeknownst to me, my engine had lost a main gasket. If hitting the deer had not caused me to stop my car, a seized-up engine would have stopped us minutes later, and who knows what accidents and damage might have ensued. It seems that that little yearling sacrificed itself for us and others. At the end of the day, there were no human injuries or worse. Our thanks are boundless.
– Andrea Benda and Hamilton Sims
Shame
Editor:
As the former mayor, and someone who is deeply devoted to this community, I was appalled at the reaction of Mayor Pryor and Council members Stu Fraser and Mark Buchsieb, to the request for token funds for relief of tsunami victims. It is shocking that one of the richest resort communities in the world could not find in its soul sufficient charity to help out a devastated community. And, Mayor Pryor, you should be individually chastised. Your phony "can't use taxpayer money" excuse is pure hypocrisy. There are so many examples in our budget of using taxpayer money for "good causes" and the like. Precedent abounds. And where do you think the aid from all the governments throughout the world comes from? Taxpayer money! Where are your priorities, John Pryor? Where is your leadership? You should be ashamed.
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