When Rochelle Mann bid on seats for a brunch and private tour of the Guy Drew Winery at a fundraiser in May, she had something special in mind. It was scheduled for Aug. 11, which just happened to be the 76th birthday of her husband, former Fort Lewis College President Joel Jones.
The fundraiser was the Tapas Extravaganza, which was held at the Sow’s Ear to support the San Juan Symphony. They joined 11 other symphony supporters on a day that boasted perfect weather and fine company.
Former FLC Dean of Arts and Sciences John Ninneman, who plays violin in the orchestra, volunteered to be the designated driver for the jaunt over to McElmo Canyon, which is southwest of Cortez, so the guests could enjoy the wine tasting. He transported them in a 15-passenger “limo,” er, van.
Guy and Ruth Drew were gracious hosts, greeting guests with a glass of wine selected by Guy Drew from his wonderful collection. Brunch was catered by Todd Halnier of Nero’s Restaurant in Cortez.
The menu featured eggs Benedict with either tomato or ham with homemade hollandaise sauce; French toast made with brioche and stuffed with cream cheese, pecans and dried fruit and topped with maple syrup or fruit compote; a hash brown casserole with creamy sliced potatoes baked with Swiss cheese and sweet peppers and topped with crispy shredded potatoes; smoked breakfast meats including thick-cut black-pepper bacon, smoked fennel sausage and ham off the bone; fresh melon, pineapple and berries; Danishes, scones and muffins; and fresh orange juice and lemonade along with other assorted beverages.
I have always wondered who the Benedict was in eggs Benedict, because surely something so yummy couldn’t be named after Benedict Arnold!
According to the Food Lovers Companion, food lore has it that the dish was created at the famous Delmonico’s Restaurant in New York City. Regular patrons Mr. and Mrs. LeGrand Benedict complained that the lunch menu never changed, so the maître d’hôtel and Mrs. Benedict began discussing possibilities. Et voilà, America’s favorite brunch dish was born. And of course, because it was the Victorian era, Mrs. Benedict, one of the key players in the invention, goes down in history without her first name being included. Sigh.
Anyway, back to McElmo Canyon. Taking a break from drinking and eating, guests went on a tour of the winery, where Guy Drew is practically a one-man band. Labeling is his biggest challenge, so he spends the off-season placing labels on the bottles by hand.
The wine tasting featured wines from light whites and sweet whites to reds and a full-bodied port.
Other guests included San Juan Symphony Board President Sheri Rochford Figgs, Shanan Campbell Wells, Jim and Nancy Wallace, Bette Serzen and her son, Scott Serzen, Julia Dodd and Michael LaVerghetta and Melissa Zureich and Clay Patton.
It was a lovely day, which guests described as “civilized,” and several expressed the hope it would become an annual event. I’m guessing Ninneman had to entertain himself on the way home as everyone else enjoyed a wine-induced siesta.
This seems like a good time to mention that the San Juan Symphony is getting ready to start its new season. The brochure features photographs of the friends and neighbors who make beautiful music for us several times a year under the direction of Maestro Arthur Post shot by photographer Jonas Grushkin.
We’re going to meet two new virtuoso musicians, violinist Odin Rathnam and Israeli flutist Yossi Arnheim, travel the blues route with Rita Chiarelli, be blown away by Handel’s “Messiah” featuring the Durango Choral Society and Farmington’s Vicus Voces along with our own Gemma Kavanagh and guest mezzosoprano Laura Thoreson; and enjoy an original composition by Durangoan Liam Ramsey-White called “Camping.” Oh, and did I mention Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, “Eroica,” and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5?
Post continues to bring us both the well-known and should-be-well-known in his programming, and the musicians keep rising to the occasion.
Learn more about the SJS and the upcoming season at www.sanjuansymphony.org.
Tickets are available at www.durangoconcerts.org or by calling 247-7657. The first concert is Oct. 5 at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College.
I always think that I have overdosed on great music by the end of Music in the Mountains, but after a month of “recovery” and processing, I’m ready to get going again!
HHH
As summer relentlessly counts down, these folks are taking a moment to carpe diem and celebrate their birthdays with family and friends – Joanie Thomas, Liz Cahill, Melissa Mosley, Eryn Orlowski, Julie Williams, Jenny Williams, Dan Osby, Kathy Pratt, Mickey White, Bradyn Jory, Tom Mulligan, Gloria Freitag, Micah Orlowski, Clara Wolf, Amy Johnston, Shannon White, Joan Kuhn, Amber Jackson, Tom Kyser, Tom West, Brian Zink, Tuula Bader, Weston Pinkerton, Carl Sallee, Zara Brown, Millie Graff, Emily Safran, Bernie Welle, Lanette Hartman, Kay Mayer, Vika Huber and Karen Preston.
HHH
Earlier this summer, I wrote about the Sock-it-to-Me campaign, donating socks for firefighters. Originally created by Elaine Ehlers, the Durango Business Improvement District took over the management of the project this year.
It ran about a month, bringing in 125 pairs of the high quality kinds of socks those hard-working feet need. Each pair represents a $20 or so donation, so we’re talking a $2,500 donation of something our first responders really need.
Collection boxes were all over town, but the stores that sell the socks collected the most, which makes sense because what could be easier than buying socks and dropping them in the box on the way out? Those stores were Pine Needle Mountaineering, Backcountry Experience, Brown’s Shoe Fit Co., both Gardenswartz Sporting Goods and Gardenswartz Outdoors and Purgatory Sports.
Pam Glasco (B.I.D.), Deahna Geehan (Community Concert Hall, which collected socks at one of its concerts in Buckley Park) and Ehlers were on hand at the Durango Welcome Center to present the socks to firefighters Ryan Ehlers (her son) and Dana Scald.
Chief Dan Noonan was so grateful for the donation, he sent his firefighters in a fire engine to pick them up, which was quite a show on Main Avenue.
Wildfires continue to plague the drought-ridden West. Our two largest wildfires in the last two years have mostly burned in the high country, but that’s just luck. We often feel so helpless when fires, residence or wildfire, take place, but this is a concrete thing we can do that really makes a difference.
Next year’s campaign will start a little earlier.
HHH
Enjoying a refreshing sip of icy sangría for their anniversaries are Terry and Diane Sadler, Peter and Liza Tregillus, Mark and Sue Chiarito, Gary and Ronda Conrad, Tom and Nancy Williams, Don and Barbara Bruning, Linda and Jon Geer, Jim and Cheryl Clay, Al and Sandy Studer, Doug and Kelly Miller, Tracey and Jackie Gillespie, Bill and Pat Borgers and Bob and Claudia Patterson.
HHH
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