According to the solar calendar, summer doesn’t officially start until the summer solstice on June 21. Most Americans, I think, consider Memorial Day the kick-off to summer. But for yours truly, the first weekend in June is when the fun-in-the-sun season really gets underway.

Buckley Park was hopping, and grills were sizzling as the hardy folks in our town came together for Men Who Grill on Saturday. The event is a signature fundraiser for the Women’s Resource Center and proves that both genders believe that when women and children thrive, the community thrives.

I say the hardy folks, because, of course, in this sodden spring, Saturday turned out to be beautiful, with periods of pounding hail and torrential rain, so folks had to dress appropriately and periodically duck under the tents. There were a lot of people there, and while the 300 or so attendees had a lot of fun, about 200 of those who normally attend let the weather keep you away.

That’s a shame, because fellow judge and Durango Business Improvement District Executive Director Tim Walsworth and I both thought this might have had some of the best food ever at the event. (Although I have to plead guilty to the charge that I say that most years, I really mean it this time. Really.)

I continued my unbroken streak as a judge, so I know whereof I speak. Megafoodie Carley Snider, better known as the chocolatier and co-owner of Animas Chocolate Co., and Jack Morrison, a WRC board member, rounded out our team of discriminating tasters. There were tough decisions to be made, just let me say.

We gave Durango Motor Co. the Judge’s Choice Award, which comes with a $250 cash prize, because it went all in on costumes, booth decoration and menu with its chosen Hawaiian theme. (Although, thankfully, the team allowed the Kirk James Blues Band to provide the soundtrack instead of forcing us to listen to “Tiny Bubbles.”) Team members Megan Aus (who’s also a WRC board member), Don Lathrop, Tom and Marie Ondrako, Katherine McKnight, Amanda Hawks, and Shelly McKnight served up pulled pork sliders with a ginger-mango barbecue sauce, grilled pineapple and corn-on-the-cob slathered with mayonnaise and Parmesan cheese.

La Plata Family Medicine won the People’s Choice Award for the its mesquite-grilled marinated beef tenderloin from Llano County, Texas, and shrimp marinated overnight with Ska Brewing Co.’s Buster Nut Brown Ale and then prepared with a complex multi-condiment sauce. It took a huge team to pull this off, starting with Dr. Jordan Loftis, John Loftis as well as Meryl Lowe; Jude Harrison; Britinie Benavidez; Natosha and Kevin Adams and their children Cody and McKenzie, CJ Wise and Berni; and Brandon Noble. (Cody was the dancing chile pepper.)

Honeyville, along with sponsor Bank of Colorado, and with its own cast of thousands, so to speak, took home the Golden Spatula for Best Cuisine. It had booths for both businesses, with Honey House Distillery serving the older than-21 crowd mules made with its new Hex Vodka, which is set to launch July 1. Judges drank their mules from beautiful copper mugs garnished with lime and mint; the hoi polloi had to settle for smaller samples. It was a shame I was on duty in the newsroom that day – I had a couple of sips to taste then handed mine off to WRC Director of Special Events and Membership Jamie Wienk, who had certainly earned it by then. The team served salmon grilled with its Stingin’ Honeyaki Marinating Sauce, meatballs with Chokecherry Chipotle Sauce and grilled pear bread pudding with cinnamon honey.

Honeyville’s team included Kevin Culhane, Danny and Sheree Culhane, Todd Vandegrift, Vicki Vandegrift, Robert Bowie, John Feistner, Brett Rosenbaugh, Adam Bergal and Little Katelyn Bowie, who’s not so little anymore, buzzed around dressed as a honeybee. Do you have to get a new honeybee costume for her every year?

All 11 teams had something to commend them, but they all had one thing in common – a belief that this organization makes a critical difference in our community.

Serving as a referral service to numerous other nonprofits and agencies is only one of the services the Women’s Resource Center offers. (The center is “the place to go when a woman doesn’t know where to go.”) The WRC also provides low cost legal assistance for family court matters, scholarships for college and certification programs to improve economic stability and workshops to help girls find their confidence and passion. Visit www.wrcdurango.org to learn more.

Bravos all around to the WRC staff, Executive Director Liz Mora, Programs Director Christy Schaerer, Wienk, resource and referral associate Miranda Day, erstwhile volunteers Sue Griffith and Barbara Shore and all the volunteers, not only for a great event and raising $13,600 but for the good work you do all year long.

HHH

Will it be warm or wet for these birthdays? Only Mother Nature knows for sure: Brady Sutherland, William Hakes, Tony Santistevan, Casey Carman, Bill Collins, Zoa Stuntz, Nancy Furry, Tracy Zellitti, Pat May, John Kirchner, Ron McKay, Amie Hotter, Lucy Porter, Calen Porter, Kelly Becker, Lauren Cotgageorge, Chris Dunker, Marjorie Appel, John DeLeo, Ethan Ryan, Michael Fusco, Nancy Stevens, Tom Williamson, Lauren Wolfe, Julie McCallister, Roger Cole, Kendra Moffett, Susan Hermesman, Janine Crossno, Dorthy Wilson, Pat La Rose, Art Gesh, Sue Griffith, Carol Salomon, Sylvia Kehle, Kay Cooley, Nicholas Dudley, Ryan Ehrig, Lia Neergaard, Myriam Palmer, Scott Hagler, Flannery Krischke, Bob McGraw, Neil Hammond, Kim Pierce, Kate Halsband, Paul Beauregard, Jordan Brenner, Will Hakes, Ron Wiebel and Ann Duft.

HHH

Every once in awhile, someone I don’t know invites me to a party, and those are the best kind. They broaden my knowledge of the community, bring some new faces to Neighbors and shake things up a bit.

So I was delighted when Joe Erickson invited me to the retirement party for his wife, Mary Ann. She was stepping down as chairwoman of the Exercise Science Department at Fort Lewis College after teaching there for 17 years. Before earning her doctorate from the University of New Mexico, Erickson taught for 17 years at the high school level, giving her a robust 34 years on the job of teaching people to live healthy lives and teaching us to live healthy lives.

Held at the Lost Dog Bar & Lounge, with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables so the decadent cupcakes for sweets didn’t make one feel too guilty, the party attracted colleagues from FLC, including President Dene Kay Thomas and Provost Barbara Harris, friends from the community, family from across the country and students whose lives she touched along the way.

Jim Cross, a fellow exercise science professor at FLC, gave the Scottish toast, more or less with the right accent, that included: “May the best day you’ve ever had be the worst day you’ll ever have ...” (Sorry, Jim.)

Sandra Terrazas drove all the way from El Paso, Texas, for the celebration. A student of Erickson’s in 1980, she followed Erickson into the fitness sector by owning spas and a gym there. The two have run half-marathons together and don’t let more than a few months go by before they find a way to get together again.

Tasha Miera was Erickson’s student at De Vargas Junior High School in Santa Fe in 1993. And Ashleigh Tarkington, now the owner of the Billy Goat Saloon in Gem Village, was first a student of Erickson’s in Albuquerque at the University of New Mexico, then followed her to FLC when Erickson began her body of work here. (Good pun for an exercise scientist, right?) Tarkington said that was despite – or perhaps in hindsight, because of – the fact that Erickson was one of the toughest professors she ever had.

I had a long conversation with Terrazas, who remembers Erickson coming by her home Saturday mornings (after Terrazas had enjoyed El Paso High-style shenanigans the night before) to make her go for a run. By the time she finished telling the stories, Terrazas had made me want to get to know both Ericksons better.

I lost count at about 70, but I’d guess that more than 100 people stopped by. Because Erickson requested no gifts, guests honored her contributions to her students by donating $1,050 to the Exercise Science Scholarship at the FLC Foundation.

Erickson and her husband, who retired five years ago after teaching for 30 years at the high school level in New Mexico, have decided one thing for sure – they’re not moving away from Durango. But other than that, they’re going to do what they want to do when they want to do it, which I believe, in Webster’s, is the definition of retirement.

Many happy adventures in your new chapter!

HHH

A highlight of the fall is the Cowboy Poetry Gathering, which brings in talent from around the West for several days of humor, pathos and music. Karren Little, the talent wrangler for the poetry gathering, tells me there will be a lot of new faces this year, so let the anticipation begin.

There’s something else that’s new this year – the gathering’s first-ever fundraiser. A barn dance at River Bend Ranch (formerly Sleeping Beauty Ranch), 27846 U.S. Highway 550 in the Animas Valley, it will run from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, with music by the Tim Sullivan Band, a special guest appearance by cowboy poet Lindy Simmons and hot dogs, soft drinks and s’mores available for purchase (or bring a picnic and any adult beverages you so desire.)

Take a wagon ride with the gorgeous Prairie Fire Percherons to make the evening complete. No credit cards or pets. Tickets are $15 at the door.

HHH

The June crop of anniversaries continues with good wishes going out to Donovan and Deanna Schardt; Charles and Carol Gordon; Tim and Susan Schaldach; Brian and Nancy Van Mols; David and Diann Wylie; Chris and Sue Hampton; Mark and Donna Bauer; David and Connie Trautmann; Mike and Susan Johnson; Robert and Jackie Manning; Frank and Katherine Campana, Bill and Cindy Donelan; Bill and Peggy Hoffman; Alan and Brenda TeBrink; John and Eliane Viner; Hamilton and Jan Wright; John and Katie Benner; Fred and Lois Anderegg; Dan and Kim Harms; Mike and Dianne Milner; Warren and Ruth Phillips; Ed and Phyllis Tucker; Jeff and Erica Max; Caroline and Jeff Munger; Kate and Scott Halsband; Darren and Tonya Wales; and Tim and Eryn Orlowski.

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.

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This column has been changed to reflect the fact that Ashleigh Tarkington is the sole owner of the Billy Goat Saloon.