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High-spirited crowd supports Trails 2000

Trails 2000 Executive Director Mary Monroe Brown, left, and auctioneer Calvin Story conduct the live auction during the organization’s 24th annual fundraiser Jan. 22 at El Moro Spirits and Tavern.

After spending all summer building and maintaining trails, the staff, volunteers and supporters of Trails 2000 like to let their hair down in January at the organization’s only fundraiser of the year.

In 2014, for the 24th year, Trails 2000 held its dinner and mega-auction. But for the first year, it was held at El Moro Spirits and Tavern. Olde Tymer’s Café, whose owners and staff were acknowledged for their longtime gracious hosting of the event, came with a couple of challenges, including having the crowd split with some attendees upstairs and limits on how many supporters could participate.

El Moro offered seating for about 20 more guests, which, for an event that sells out before they even do any advertising, is important.

But at the same time, too big can also be a problem.

Trails 2000’s Executive Director Mary Monroe Brown articulated something I’ve always felt but have never been able to put into words myself. (What, you’re thinking in astonishment as you drink your morning coffee, yours truly caught without words? Finally!)

There is a critical mass at a fundraiser – you want enough people who are willing to spend some big money to support their favorite cause, but not so many that the group isn’t paying any attention when it’s time to raise those bidding paddles. Trails 2000 apparently hit that critical mass Jan. 22, as it raised an estimated $50,000. That was thanks, in large part, to generous donors who helped the organization create some stellar auction packages and, on the other side, equally generous bidders who weren’t so much looking for a deal as being there to bid on something for an organization they believe in.

The auction, run so ably once again by Calvin and Pat Story of Treasure Auction, broke the single item record, bringing a whopping $10,000. The package, sponsored by Specialized, Ned Overend and Mountain Bike Specialists, included a carbon fiber, Epic Comp 29’er dual suspension bike with all the bells and whistles (or a $4,200 credit at Mountain Bike Specialists), a three-month membership at the Durango Sports Club and a three-hour bike ride with nine of the winner’s fittest friends with local cycling notables Overend and Travis Brown. Oh, and a massage by Barb Dahl for recovery afterward.

Before the bidding came the dining, and Executive Chef Sean Clark, chef Charley Curtis and the kitchen and front-of-house staff knocked it out of the park.

Guests enjoyed a salad of arugula, blue cheese and apple cider gelée with sesame-rice wine vinaigrette and baguette tuiles; an appetizer of devils on horseback, also known as dates stuffed with Maytag blue cheese, wrapped in house bacon and grilled; potage Crécy, a carrot and sautéed leek cream soup (the Crécy refers to the area in France where the finest French carrots are grown, according to the Food Lover’s Companion); an intermezzo of Roman punch, also known as citrus granita (delicious with lots of citrus zest); an entrée of braciole, or Sunnyside Farms flank steak roulade with prosciutto, pesto, mozzarella and hard-boiled egg served with pommes Duchesse; and an English plum pudding with brandy sauce for dessert.

Delish – and they understood that when you’re serving multiple courses, no single course should be huge. I think we all walked out satisfied but not stuffed, which is, of course, ideal.

Kudos go to the organizing committee, which was chaired by Shanan Orndorff and included Connie Gordon, Moira Montrose, Connie Wian, Stacey Meston, Deb Loy, Andrea Litzow, Mary Orans, Katri Annast, Mary Oswald, Pam Glasco, Joann Hards and Tracy Wilde.

Monroe Brown is the only paid staff of Trails 2000, so she wears a lot of hats. The organization also benefits from the efforts of her husband, Travis Brown, and daughter, Zara Rose Brown, who often find themselves “volunteered,” as they did for this event.

The mission of Trails 2000 is a perfect and profound description of what the organization does: connecting people to places, one another and the landscapes they inhabit.

2013 was a productive year for Trails 2000. Volunteers worked 3,500 hours, including completing SnakeCharmer, Durango’s first official progressive trail; did additional trailwork and re-routes on 11 new miles of trail at Twin Buttes; opened trails and cut down trees on the Colorado, Dry Fork, Haflin Creek, Hermosa Creek, Horse Gulch and Missionary Ridge trails; and, thanks to the heavy rains last fall, did a lot of late season trailwork to mitigate the damage.

Trails 2000 coordinates and works with all kinds of other organizations, including the city of Durango, the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. and Colorado forest services, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, a number of businesses, groups such as Durango DEVO, Durango Motorless Transit, Seniors Outdoors and Backcountry Horsemen and all kinds of private landowners. To say there is a lot of ball juggling going on is an understatement of massive proportions.

Monroe Brown used the example of Garrett and Lisa Ford for how people use the trail network in our area. They do ultra and trail running, mountain bike racing and endurance horse racing training. In 2012, at the Tevis Cup, the most grueling 100-mile horse race in the world, Durango horses placed first, second, third and fourth, thanks in large part to the trails available for training.

Others walk their dogs, ride fat bikes or just take a hike, but for all of us as a community, whether or not you ever take a walk on a trail, their efforts to build, connect and maintain trails benefit all of us.

One of the things I miss most with being on crutches is the simple act of taking a stroll in nature, something you can do easily in any direction from town, or heck, right through the middle of town. And much of that is thanks to Trails 2000.

The organization is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, so every time you hike, bike, run or ride a trail, say a little thank you to all the folks who have made this a premier trail town.

If this is the year you want to lend a hand, visit www.trails2000.org or give Monroe Brown a call at 259-4682.

And make sure to keep the website on your favorites list. It includes a full list of trails, rates them in ease of terrain and updates trail conditions so you can select where to explore today.

HHH

Keeping a wary eye out for the jackals and lions as they celebrate their birthdays and work in a little Snowdown fun are Dona Anderson, Luis Marquez, Denise Krispin, Regina Roark, Charley Wilmoth, Will Albert, John Anderson, Barbara King, Jim Bolen, Carol Wallace, Abigail Jackson, Eligh Spaeder, Tammy (Honold) Pratt, Aurora Rose and Pauline Murphy.

Belated greetings go out to Mary Jo James and Reid Ross on the occasion of his 92nd birthday Saturday.

HHH

The lion’s sleeping in the jungle for the anniversaries of Greg and Marilyn Farley, Howard and Karen Preston and Hans and Lanette Harman.

HHH

Here’s how to reach me: neighbors@durangoherald.com; phone 375-4584; mail items to the Herald; or drop them off at the front desk. Please include contact names and phone numbers for all items.

I am happy to consider photos for Neighbors, but they must be high-quality, high-resolution photos (at least 1 MB of memory).



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