Briefs - The Durango Herald

Tree lighting, visit from Santa to be held

The annual Singing with Santa will be held beginning at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 25 at Buckley Park, 1200 Main Ave. There will be the lighting of the Community Christmas Tree, Christmas carols and wel...

DATE: Nov 17, 2022 | CATEGORY: Community

Senior Center to host holiday food and craft bazaar

The Durango/La Plata Senior Center will hold its holiday food and craft bazaar from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 3 at the center, 2424 Main Ave. Baked goods, handmade ornaments, soaps, toys and qui...

DATE: Nov 17, 2022 | CATEGORY: Community

Bridge Scores

Durango Bridge Club online and in-person play – all pairs received 50+ percent Nov. 13 – Open Pairs First: C.L. Lappen/S. Brown Second: J. Edmondson/J. Edmondson Third:...

DATE: Nov 17, 2022 | CATEGORY: Community

Bridge Scores

Durango Bridge Club online and in-person play – all pairs received 50+ percent Nov. 4 – Open Pairs First: C.L. Lappen/W. Rosenberger Second: S. McInturff/J. Walter Thir...

DATE: Nov 11, 2022 | CATEGORY: Community

Senior Center Calendar: Nov. 14-18

Durango/La Plata Senior Center 2424 Main Ave., 382-6445 Events Monday 10:30 a.m.: Watch Your Step Marvel Methodist Church. 11 a.m.: Chair Zumba. 12:30 p.m.: Duplicate Bridge. ...

DATE: Nov 11, 2022 | CATEGORY: Community

Fort Lewis College Calendar

Visit www.fortlewis.edu, click the “Quick Links” menu, choose “News & Events,” then click “Events” to view the complete calendar. Saturday FLGS LAN Party, 10 a.m.-10 p.m., EBH Hall....

DATE: Nov 11, 2022 | CATEGORY: Community

Center of Southwest Studies receives award

Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College has been awarded the 2022 International Guardians of Culture and Lifeways Outstanding Project Award by the Association of Tribal Archives, L...

DATE: Nov 11, 2022 | CATEGORY: Community

Colorado Gives Day is Dec. 6

Colorado Gives Day is Dec. 6. Donors may schedule their donations in advance in support of causes they care about through swcogives.org. Southwest Colorado Gives is a collaborative effort s...

DATE: Nov 11, 2022 | CATEGORY: Community

Library to host event about handling grief

International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day is Nov. 19. The La Plata Suicide Collaborative, Cody Project and Grief Center of Southwest Colorado are sponsoring an event from 11:30 a.m. to 1:3...

DATE: Nov 10, 2022 | CATEGORY: Community

Durango Bird Club hosts presentation

The Durango Bird Club will convene for its quarterly meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Room 56 at Fort Lewis College’s Education Business Hall. Hydrologist Steve Monroe and photographer Robert...

DATE: Nov 10, 2022 | CATEGORY: Community

Church accepting grant applications

The Mission Endowment Fund Committee of Christ the King Lutheran Church is now accepting grant applications for projects that support the mission of the church. The mission is “to love and ...

DATE: Nov 10, 2022 | CATEGORY: Religion

Library hosts weekly knitting, crochet meetup

Pine River Library, 395 Bayfield Center Drive in Bayfield, now hosts a weekly Community Knitting and Crocheting Group from 3 to 5 p.m. Sundays in the library’s Community Room. Whether you ...

DATE: Nov 10, 2022 | CATEGORY: Local News

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