Newsletter Opinion - The Durango Herald

Letters: See? Reusable bags spread disease.

Several years ago, we were shown that the use of reusable shopping bags was a major cause of spreading diseases, including E. coli, flu, and other, even nastier, ones. The banners...

DATE: Apr 12, 2020 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

Letters: Forest Service dubious on Valle Seco land exchange

If I may, I would like to use a phrase that seems to have been lost to the ages. “Heavens to Murgatroyd!” It came to mind after I read the guest editorial by Kara Chadwick, the supervisor of...

DATE: Apr 12, 2020 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

Letters: Blame Trump for late start fighting virus

It appears to me that we have a president who simply does not view the loss of human life as many of us do. Following the Parkland school shooting, President Trump met with surviv...

DATE: Apr 11, 2020 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

Letters: Time to kill 32nd Street bridge project

Given the current economic situation and the uncertainty of the long-term impact of the coronavirus on our community, I believe it would be extremely irresponsible for city of Durango offici...

DATE: Apr 11, 2020 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

Dick White: Pandemic also shows threat from climate change

A striking Few alive remember the sacrifices of World War II. No conflict or threat since that time called for such universal mobilization. COVID-19 is different. Experts have been predict...

DATE: Apr 11, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Letters: Pandemic is being used to divide us

To encourage neighbors – in La Plata County, all are neighbors – to report to the local public health authorities violations of the order to socially distance, close businesses that are deem...

DATE: Apr 10, 2020 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

Letters: Herald and liberal media skew virus coverage

The Chinese government misled, mishandled and miscommunicated the actual facts and information about the occurrence of the coronavirus infection. It’s still distorting the data about deaths ...

DATE: Apr 10, 2020 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

Letters: Republicans don’t care about the public

What could be crazier than voting for a business fraud, charity fraud, a billionaire? With several bankruptcies in the casino biz, of all things! A serial philanderer gravitating ...

DATE: Apr 10, 2020 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

Bret Stephens: A bittersweet look back at the pandemic from 2025

Jan. 19, 2025 When COVID-19 first emerged as a health crisis in China five years ago, observers noted that authoritarian regimes – with their hostility toward whistleblowers and m...

DATE: Apr 10, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Or view: Well goodbye, Bernie

An ideologue goes down on aisle three

DATE: Apr 10, 2020 | CATEGORY: Editorials

Letters: Colorado lambs have a place elsewhere

Thank you so much for Jonathan Romeo’s excellent article on sheep ranching in the Weminuche Wilderness (“ The goal of stabilization and increase of small bands of our rare native species of...

DATE: Apr 10, 2020 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

Letters: Loving hands stitch needed Mercy gowns

Our local quilt store put out a call for people to sew gowns for the nurses of Mercy hospital. Our Mercy was in need of protective gowns for their nurses. Quilters arrived at the ...

DATE: Apr 10, 2020 | CATEGORY: Letters to the Editor

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 wore 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’s 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 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 year’s 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 its 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 year’s fashion show was the first one to require the acts to audition. But many of the models were unfazed 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

Letters: See? Reusable bags spread disease.

Letters: Forest Service dubious on Valle Seco land exchange

Letters: Blame Trump for late start fighting virus

Letters: Time to kill 32nd Street bridge project

Dick White: Pandemic also shows threat from climate change

Letters: Pandemic is being used to divide us

Letters: Herald and liberal media skew virus coverage

Letters: Republicans don’t care about the public

Bret Stephens: A bittersweet look back at the pandemic from 2025

Or view: Well goodbye, Bernie

Letters: Colorado lambs have a place elsewhere

Letters: Loving hands stitch needed Mercy gowns

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