No 3 million-gallon mine spill was going to daunt supporters of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Colorado’s Dos Mosca Fly-fishing Tournament.
The 19th annual event was supposed to include one day on the Upper Animas River and the other on the Pine River, but, at the last minute, the Animas was a no-go, of course.
Thanks to John Flick, the owner of Duranglers, which has sponsored the logistical side of the Dos Mosca tournament every year, the catastrophe of having the nonprofit’s single biggest fundraiser called off was averted. He lined up fishing expeditions on Hermosa, Lime and Cascade creeks and the La Plata and Piedra rivers, so all 32 anglers on 16 teams could have two memorable days on the water. And he did it fast – we learned Thursday the plume was coming downriver, and Friday, the anglers were at their new locations.
As is often the case, the rules of the tournament are simple, but the execution is complex. Each fisherperson (is that a word?) is allowed two flies for each of the two days of the event. Lose your flies, you’re done for the day.
Pretty much every year when I write about this – in general, my only fishing column of the year – I give them a hard time about the Spanish translation. I understand that in English it’s called Two Fly, but translations aren’t always direct, and I can’t see any way it shouldn’t be Dos Moscas.
But when you have a 19-year-old event that’s a significant fundraiser, you don’t want to mess around with your mojo. And this event, despite the Animas River environmental disaster, was one of Dos Mosca’s most successful in its almost two-decade history, raising $84,000. Jerry Klauer took bragging honors as the individual raising the most money – $16,150 – while Mike Bruce, a longtime Big Brothers Big Sisters supporter, came in second at $11,500.
The anglers collectively raised $45,720, with the rest coming in from the silent auction, calcutta and sponsorships.
Sponsors included Mike and Sandy Bruce, with Rancho del Perro Feo, Duranglers, Parady Financial Group, Bank of Colorado, the Southern Ute Tribe, Western Angling Properties, Simms Fishing Products, Yeti Coolers and Crossland Photography. Food-and-drink sponsors were Serious Texas BBQ, Zia Taqueria, Wagon Wheel Liquors, Durango Coca-Cola Bottling Co., Bread, the Lost Dog Bar & Lounge and El Rancho Bar.
“In the midst of a major environmental catastrophe for Durango and its many businesses that rely on the river, we pulled off one of the best Dos Mosca tournaments of all time,” said Big Brothers Big Sisters’ new chief operating officer, Sarah Tescher. “This is just one of many examples of how this community can pull together and make great things happen when met with adversity.”
The money, of course, is what makes the mission possible – creating and supporting all children who need and want them with mentorships. Research has shown that mentorships can help increase academic performance and substance-abuse avoidance, increase self-confidence and relationships and help kids grow up to be more successful members of the community. I think the best part is letting children know we value them and want to give them the best shot at reaching their potential.
HHH
Enjoying their dog-day-of-summer birthdays are Sue Caplan, Wayne Caplan, Betty Kilpatrick, Joanie Thomas, Deborah Uroda, Cooke Seale, Raiana Ollier, Eileen Stastny, Bobby Lehmann, Fred Riedinger, Ralph Kehle, Beth McMacken, Liz Cahill, Annie Simonson, Bill Foreman, Sheri Collins, Phil Patterson, Scott Wallace, Joan Kuhn, Tom Geyer, Judy Risner-Simmons, Mary Hammond, Amber Jackson, Ken Fusco, Tom Kyser, Wilma Cooper, Creighton Fesler, Heather Lundquist, Don Southworth, Kevin Jones, Bonnie Rossmiller, Jonathan Wince, Beverly Brown, Diane Calfas, Dianne Williams, Eryn Orlowski, Jenny Williams, Julie Williams, Karen Anderson, Kent Herath, Jennifer Rudolph, Sandy Dalenberg, Laura Stransky, Judy Danielson, Glenn Francis, Roger Landgren, Dan Osby, Kathy Pratt, Mickey White, Bradyn Jory, Tom Mulligan, Kassidy Winn, Gloria Freitag, Micah Orlowski and Clara Wolf.
And because somehow, even though June Hahl does a yeowoman’s job every month of keeping me up to date on birthdays and anniversaries at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, I managed to leave her fellow parishioners’ birthdays and anniversaries out of the Aug. 5 column, belated greetings go to Alice Crapo, Cheryl Birchard, John Priaulx, Evan Hening, Shirley Newby, Brad Stamets, Christine Priaulx, Anna McBrayer, Alexander Trlica, the Rev. Robert Pope and Bob Griffith.
HHH
Friends and colleagues gathered Aug. 12 at the Palace Restaurant to celebrate Kim Dalen and her 32 years of helping to save lives as a paramedic with Durango Fire Protection District.
“This is no easy feat,” said Jill Seyfarth. “But Kim has served with compassion and commitment to her work in a male-dominated world of emergency care.”
If you think about it, it’s more than just a tough feat, it’s an extraordinary one. How many times has she shown up at a home with a family in a panic because a loved one is having a heart attack, stroke or seizures? How many times has she had to tell a family there’s nothing they can do? How many times has she calmed a mother worried about a child’s broken bone or head injury?
Over a 32-year period, I’m betting Dalen has helped thousands of people and families, and there’s no way we can thank her enough for that. I was unable to make it to the retirement party – there was some hot story about a river or something happening last week – so I didn’t get a chance to collect any “Kim” stories. But I hear they were flying fast and furiously, and all in aid of wishing her the very best in this new stage of her life, which Richard Ballantine so aptly called repurposing as opposed to retiring.
It’s bound to be more relaxing than having people’s lives in her hands.
HHH
Every year, the members of the four chapters of the Philanthropic Education Organization raise money for scholarships for young women by selling poinsettias and nuts, among other goodies.
And if they find a deserving candidate, they recommend young women for scholarships from their parent organization.
This year, P.E.O. Chapter FX sponsored Nicole Krenzelok for a grant from P.E.O.’s Program for Continuing Education, which was created to provide financial assistance to women whose education has been interrupted and who need to go back to school to support themselves and/or their families.
Krenzelok received it, and she received the check from P.E.O. sisters Bernardine DeClerk Cox, Ginna Harbison and Connie Jacobs earlier this month.
Krenzelok is the daughter of Nick and Tracy Brothers and grew up in Durango. Her mother works with students dealing with dyslexia, while her father was the founder of the Cross Bar X Youth Ranch.
The young scholarship recipient credits her love of horticulture to her camp experience and how it made an impact on the young campers. She will be returning to school at Colorado State University in Fort Collins to finish her degree in horticulture business. Her long-term goal, Cox said, is to work with inner-city youths and teach them the healing powers of community gardening.
HHH
I often write about local businesses and how supportive they are of area nonprofits.
One of the big donors is First National Bank of Durango, and it has restructured its giving program in two ways this year.
First, it created First Employees Give, where all bank employees were given $100 to donate to the charitable organization of their choice. A total of $8,400 was given to more than 35 organizations ranging from arts to animals, sports to schools, service clubs to youth organizations, health care to veterans ... well, you get the picture. (And so did the Big Picture School. Couldn’t resist!)
First National also created First Community Gives, the bank’s charitable-giving foundation. Over the course of the year, Jen Simon said, the bank will give away hundreds of thousands of dollars under that initiative.
A large part of that, of course, are owners Tom Fitzgerald and Jim Fitzgerald, who may live in Illinois but believe in investing in this community.
I interviewed First National President Mark Daigle last summer about how the bank chooses what organizations to support, and he was sitting down every week to review applications. That gives you some idea how many people are requesting money. One of Daigle’s favorite things was the wide variety of nonprofits the bank supports, from Music in the Mountains to 4-H.
First Community Gives seems like the next great stage for giving for such a major donor in the community, because our nonprofit community is so large and complex, giving needs to be focused and thought-out, as well.
HHH
No matter how old we are, the start of the school year seems to indicate the end of summer, so enjoying some of the last of the summer anniversaries are Preston and Renee Knight, Bob and Shirley Newby, Ted and Nancy Carr, Scott and Carol Wallace, Richard and Evelyn Black, Gary and Ginna Harbison, Bruce and Sue Rodman, Jon and Linda Geer, Steve and Lou Hudson, Jim and Marty Monn, Terry and Diane Sadler, Peter and Liza Tregillus, Mark and Sue Chiarito, Gary and Ronda Conrad, Tom and Nancy Williams, Ted and Wilma Cooper, Jim and Cheryl Clay, Russell and Lu Leidy, Bruce and Diane Diiro, Tom and Cris Spahr, Lou and Jane Steele, John and Stella Welcher, Paul and Susan Plvan, Don and Barbara Bruning and Tom and Denise Dey.
HHH
My apologies for forgetting to give readers a heads-up that there would not be a Neighbors column last week. I was so busy trying to get the previous week’s column out while preparing a talk I was giving at the Center of Southwest Studies on Aug. 5 that I forgot to mention that I was headed to Santa Fe for three great nights of opera and two memorable museum exhibits. My multitasking abilities are clearly not what they used to be.
I highly recommend “The Red that Colored the World” exhibit at the Museum of International Folk Art. It took six years to curate and includes items from collections all over the world.
HHH
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