Columnists - The Durango Herald

Husband’s fantasies have opposite effect on wife

DEAR ABBY: I have been married 30 years. Our marriage has been a happy one. My husband supports me through everything. Our problems come up in the bedroom. A few years ago, he wanted to add ...

DATE: Sep 27, 2022 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

It’s a gas: A case study in technology vs. familiarity

Dear Action Line: Peerless Tyre gas station is right across Main Avenue from a Speedway. Their signs display a constant gas war. I love Peerless ’cuz of, well, tradition. And the fact th...

DATE: Sep 26, 2022 | CATEGORY: Action Line

Bivalent COVID-19 vaccine can ‘turbo charge’ immunity

If you are like a lot of people, you may be wondering whether you are due for a COVID-19 vaccine booster? The arrival of COVID-19 vaccines in December 2020 was a critical step in stemming t...

DATE: Sep 24, 2022 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

‘Votes first for District 59’

It’s election season, a time to reflect on what we’ve accomplished together and anticipate what’s ahead. For six years, I have represented House District 59, proud to serve alongside my Repu...

DATE: Sep 24, 2022 | CATEGORY: Opinion

‘Truly stood up for rights’

My name is Shelli Shaw and I am not a politician. Like you, I’ve been watching our nation and our beautiful state go in a direction that breaks my heart. Children are being used as a politic...

DATE: Sep 24, 2022 | CATEGORY: Opinion

October Offerings – Shakespeare Snowdown, Hot Air Balloon Glow, Children’s Halloween

October is shaping up to be yet another busy month in the heart of Durango with multiple events and happenings. Here is a preview of some of the fun times coming up. On Oct. 5 from 5:30 ...

DATE: Sep 23, 2022 | CATEGORY: What's Up Downtown

Keeping old friendship in new marriage

DEAR ABBY: I recently married “Joel,” a man I love very much. While we have our differences, we are solid in the knowledge that we love each other and are in this marriage for the long haul....

DATE: Sep 23, 2022 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Husband’s ‘other woman’ is Mary Jane

DEAR ABBY: I have been with my husband for seven years, and I’m tired of having the same fight every day. He smokes marijuana, and I hate it. It has been a constant battle for years. We trie...

DATE: Sep 23, 2022 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Evan Fricke Experiment to release new album

If it’s American-made genres of music, then local musician Evan Fricke has likely played in a band specializing in said genres. He’s handled the low-end in bluegrass and jazz, rockabilly and...

DATE: Sep 22, 2022 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

‘EVs poised to take over the highway’

It’s National Drive Electric Week and there are many reasons to celebrate! By now, you have heard the buzz about electric vehicles (EVs) and charging stations in Colorado. Or maybe you have ...

DATE: Sep 21, 2022 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Husband discovers women’s clothing

DEAR ABBY: My wife has been away for a while caring for her ill parents. Because I was alone, I decided to experiment with wearing women’s clothes and found that I really enjoyed wearing leg...

DATE: Sep 20, 2022 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

IBS and food mistakes making it worse

The Mayo Clinic classifies Irritable Bowel Syndrome is an intestinal disorder. The exact cause of IBS isn’t well understood, and there is no specific test used to determine if you suffer fro...

DATE: Sep 20, 2022 | CATEGORY: Healing Nutrition

Photos: Cowboy Gathering Social and Parade

Photos: High County Cattle Auction

High Country Cattle Auction brings top-notch stock and country charm to Southwest ColoradoFamily run, generational business dates back to 1940s

BREEN – The family-owned and operated High Country Cattle Auction is “in the bones” of the Cugnini family, said third-generation owner Chris Cugnini. The business was founded by Chris’ grandfather, Pat Cugnini, in the 1940s. Pat then passed the business down to his son, Duane Cugnini, who then turned the business over to daughters, Becky Hawkins and Chris Cugnini, whose daughters plan to take over the family business one day. The auction, which takes place once or twice a month from April to January at 13062 La Plata Highway (Colorado Highway 140) near Breen, attracts ranchers, farmers and those in the cattle industry from far and wide.

Former Durango resident Steve Greenburg has been attending the High Country Cattle auction for more than 40 years, and continues to travel to Breen all the way from Arizona, where he now lives. He attended the September auction last week, where around 1,200 animals were up for sale. Greenburg said effective bidding takes concentration and a practiced hand. “You want to make sure you don’t pay too much,” he said. “And if you do, you want to buy the business.” Amber Belvin, employee of 15 years and Chris’ operations “sidekick,” said bidders are most often looking for signs of good health in an animal, like a plump, filled-out body. If bidding on a herd, a look of uniformity among the animals is key to a good purchase, she said.

Despite Greenburg already having a handful of filled out bidding cards marking the cattle he had won within an hour of the Sept. 23 auction, he said the day was young. One sale day last year culminated in Greenburg taking home 22 semi-trucks worth of cattle, he said. Chris said Greenburg is one of the auction’s longest-term and most generous supporters. “(Greenburg) pays top-dollar,” Chris said. “And (that) makes me feel good, because we’re giving back to (the sellers). I know these people around here, and they’re the hardest working people on the planet. If I can get them 10 or 20 cents more per pound, then that makes us happy.”

Cattle auction prices have gone up in recent years, both at High Country and nationally, Chris said. This year, animals are going for $2,500 to $3,000 a head – double and triple the average prices from last year. The increase, Chris said, is in part because of a screw worm making the rounds in cattle in Mexico, which has lowered the number of cattle coming in from the south, along with people subdividing and selling cattle branches, and local cattle herd numbers diminishing, which has increased demand.

Chris called the price increase “good and bad.” “It’s great if you’re a seller, because there’s prices that you’ve never seen before,” she said. “Older men come in, (and they) can’t believe the prices. Some of them do this for a living, and they count on that, so they’re so happy.” Belvin said some smaller farmers opt to buy less cattle during price surges like this, but echoed Chris’ sentiment about sellers being ecstatic about the unprecedented profit.

Local cattle farmer Lawrence Martinez entered 59 steers and 95 heifers in the auction Tuesday. Martinez has been involved in the High Country Cattle Auction “pretty much forever,” but recent years have been especially fruitful for sales, he said. “These last few years, we’ve been coming here to sell, because this is the place to go,” he said. “I wouldn’t sell anywhere else. (The market here has) been so good.”The auction’s community roots and generational touch doesn’t stop at the Cugnini family: Shane Hatch, the auctioneer, took over the job after his father’s death, Belvin said.

The auction serves as an opportunity for community members to get together and bond, Belvin said. “When we do have an auction, it’s a great place where local farmers and ranchers can get together and talk,” she said. “They come to the cafe, and they talk about the hay, and the drought situation, and I think it’s a good connecting point.” Chris and Belvin both expressed feeling glad the auction can supply so much generational value to the local farming and ranching community. “I mean, what other business can you think of around here that’s the same, right?” Belvin said. “We’re fair, and we’re very meticulous at our jobs. We take it very seriously, because this is (some peoples’) livelihood.”

For the Cugninis – and long-term employees like Belvin, who have become an honorary part of the close-knit High Country Cattle Auction family – the heart of the business aligns with the heart of the local farming and ranching community. “We’re just good, hard working people – Americans – that want to make a good living, and live off this great land,” Belvin said. epond@durangoherald.com

Family run, generational business dates back to 1940s