Columnists - The Durango Herald

Wintering: A sense of retreat, repose and repair

The activities leading up to solstice and Christmas were very fun. Wonderful, sacred music, good friends and margaritas, cookies and special foods, and some quieter tea times with close frie...

DATE: Jan 28, 2026 | CATEGORY: Authentic Aging

We are fed up: Residents demand action on Animas sediment

The “we” I speak of are the fishermen and women, the fishing goods stores, the fishing guides, the boating community, and the landowners on the Animas River downstream of Lightner Creek. We ...

DATE: Jan 28, 2026 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Heart Museum bringing the ‘metal-core’

It’s always been about guitar rock for Toni Heartless. The vocalist for the New Mexico-based Heart Museum has always been into metal and punk, so much that he now organizes punk and metal s...

DATE: Jan 28, 2026 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Woman grossed out by showers

DEAR ABBY: I am a longtime divorcee and a retiree with grown kids. What is troubling me is I’ve always had an issue with taking a shower and all the oil and dirt flowing down my body. I thin...

DATE: Jan 28, 2026 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Green burials at Greenmount Cemetery?

Dear Action Line, I read in the Herald a few years ago (May 24, 2023) that Greenmount Cemetery was in the process of designating a section of the graveyard where “green burial,” wit...

DATE: Jan 26, 2026 | CATEGORY: Action Line

Gratitude in action: The heart of 4-H

In 4-H, we spend a lot of time teaching young people important life skills like leadership, responsibility, resilience and service. One value that naturally grows alongside those lessons is ...

DATE: Jan 25, 2026 | CATEGORY: Southwest Life

The Year of the Horse

A new year is coming, according to the Chinese Zodiac, so it’s time to reflect

DATE: Jan 25, 2026 | CATEGORY: Columnists

Patron provides two cents about tipping

DEAR ABBY: It seems that everywhere I go, people expect tips. Yesterday, I pulled up to the drive-thru at a cookie store, and before I paid or was handed my cookies, the clerk asked, “Would ...

DATE: Jan 25, 2026 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

It’s time to rethink how nonprofit boards govern and share power

For decades, nonprofit boards have been treated as the gold standard of organizational oversight. Volunteers, drawn from the community, are entrusted with authority over finances, strategy a...

DATE: Jan 25, 2026 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Building together: Durango’s new city hall reflects our history and values

One of the most exciting things about living in Durango is how deeply our community cares about preserving what makes our city special while planning for the future. In April, the citizens o...

DATE: Jan 25, 2026 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Husband’s social media cause for concern?

DEAR ABBY: I saw my husband’s Instagram account, and he’s following only women who show their bodies provocatively. Is that emotional cheating, or is it just lust? Also, is that grounds for ...

DATE: Jan 23, 2026 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Community still exists among us and together we can accomplish anything

I recently attended an event that brought back memories of the La Plata County I moved to in 2000. This was the memorial service for Jim and Terry Fitzgerald held in the Exhibit Hall at the ...

DATE: Jan 23, 2026 | CATEGORY: Opinion

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Colorado history gets weird, wild, wacky at Fashion Do’s and Don’tsAnnual Snowdown event has become so popular, auditions are now required

Cowboys. Fancy ladies. Gold miners. Even-toed ungulates that some in Durango might consider more like rats.Where can you find a runway show that takes you on a whirlwind tour through the weird, wacky and wildly exaggerated 150 years of Colorado history? Only at Durango’s annual Fashion Do’s and Don’ts, held Wednesday, where models and audience members donned costumes celebrating Colorado’s sesquicentennial – the theme of this year’s two-week Snowdown celebration.Standout acts included the Ghosts of Durango, which featured four of Durango’s most famous ghosts: a Rochester hotel ghost in a Victorian get-up of a more “modern” variation; the Strater Hotel’s head of housekeeping, also head of more discreet services; a young girl haunting El Rancho bathroom; and Sheriff Bob Thompson, killed in a 1906 gunfight. according to emcee Suzan Lane. A Another act was the secret circus society, featuring Rubi Starr, Jeni Gross, Tabatha Joy Bettin, Adrienne Young and Ethan Deffenbaugh dressed as a car and the roadside pests better known as deer. Group members said the inspiration for the costume came from lived experiences driving the Durango roads. The two-person Cantine Couture act starred Leslie Ponce and Tyler Frakes in an homage to the plentiful variety of Mexican restaurants found in any Colorado town. Ponce, dressed in comically large Mexican pointy cowboy boots, ambled down the runway as if taking a stroll under the hot, dusty, high-altitude sun, while Frakes flitted about the stage in a bright yellow salsa dress. Ponce said this years costume had been tough to decide, but the final decision was inspired by TikTok videos of Mexican cowboys in pointy boots. This was the duo’s third year strutting down the runway. Why they keep coming back for more, Frakes said laughing, was, “for the fame, the glory and the attention.”

Fashion Do’s and Don'ts has been one of the most highly anticipated Snowdown events since it’s inception in the 1990s. It has more than doubled in size over the past several decades. Last year, there were a record number of models, and in order to keep the event at a manageable size, this years fashion show was the first one to require the acts to audition. But many of the models were unphased by the change. “It was actually easy,” said Jodi Zuber, one part of the two-person duo that made up the 1950s Texas Invader Ski Couple. Her partner-in-costume, Danny Jaques, said they had been doing this for several years, and it’s good with everything going on in the world to “get some levity and let your hair down.” The performers were not the only ones in costume. Audience members also dressed in a wide variety of unique takes on what makes Colorado, Colorado. JonBenet Ramsey made a miraculous appearance, being played by an 82-year-old woman, as did Casa Bonita, an ensemble that included a taco, sopaipilla and gorilla in chains – to name some of the characters. By the end of the show, people were in high spirits, as usual. “It was just delightful,” said a first-time audience member. If blessed with the chance to get the much coveted tickets – he said he would jump on it. jbowman@durangoherald.com

Annual Snowdown event has become so popular, auditions are now required

Photos: Snowdown 2026 Fashion Do’s and Don’ts

Photos: Durango High School basketball teams lose to Montrose High School

Photos: Local girls high school wrestling at La Plata TriDurango girls wrestling went 2-0 to win Tri on Thursday night at Bayfield

Durango girls wrestling went 2-0 to win Tri on Thursday night at Bayfield

Photos: Fort Lewis College women’s and men’s basketball take on Westminster UniversityBoth Skyhawks teams were victorious on Saturday afternoon

Both Skyhawks teams were victorious on Saturday afternoon

Photos: An afternoon in 2004 with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell as he works on Capitol HillDurango Herald Photo Editor Jerry McBride had the chance to spend an afternoon with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell in 2004, photographing him during meetings and around the Capitol.

Durango Herald Photo Editor Jerry McBride had the chance to spend an afternoon with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell in 2004, photographing him during meetings and around the Capitol.

Photos and video: ICE protests return to DurangoAbout a dozen protesters tried to block federal agents from leaving with a detainee on Thursday

About a dozen protesters tried to block federal agents from leaving with a detainee on Thursday

The Durango Herald’s year in photos 2025

Photos: Chapman Hill fires up the snow guns

Wintering: A sense of retreat, repose and repair

We are fed up: Residents demand action on Animas sediment

Heart Museum bringing the ‘metal-core’

Woman grossed out by showers

Green burials at Greenmount Cemetery?

Gratitude in action: The heart of 4-H

The Year of the Horse

Patron provides two cents about tipping

It’s time to rethink how nonprofit boards govern and share power

Building together: Durango’s new city hall reflects our history and values

Husband’s social media cause for concern?

Community still exists among us and together we can accomplish anything

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