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Nothing secret about these success stories
You Call That Art?
Two local institutions, KDUR and Maria’s Bookshop, are celebrating landmark birthdays this week, and for locals with a true appreciation for the word “community,” neither should pass without the recognition they are due.
When I moved here from Philadelphia in 1995, KDUR was turning 20. As a wide-eyed 28-year old freshman at Fort Lewis College, I was easy prey for English professor Michele Malach, who roped me into the radio curriculum, and I slowly transformed from a jaded trucking company manager into a communications “professional.” I use the term loosely, because part of the beauty of KDUR is that there’s never been a professional in that joint since it first went on the air in 1975.
The station and its ever-changing roster of volunteer disc jockeys became my adopted family, and that hasn’t changed as the management torch has passed from Tami Graham to Wynn Harris to Nancy Stoffer and now to Bryant Liggett since I first got behind the mic.
And like most families, there are traditions. At KDUR, the one constant is that every fall the station turns to the Durango community for its lifeblood financial support. The annual fall fundraiser starts today with the newer tradition of the guest DJ contest.
In the latest example of KDUR’s wide appeal, this time, a slew of lawyers – good lawyers, mind you – will compete to raise the most money and try to knock off defending champ Rich Lawton, a medical professional who topped his colleagues last year.
Beginning at 9 a.m., Matt Kenna, Christian Champagne, Lawton, Brad Bartlett, Michele Rabouin, Angie Buchanan and Amos Soignier each will spend an hour on the mic spinning tunes and trying to outdo each other in raising money. Tune in (91.9 and 93.9 on the FM dial), pick your favorite and call 247-7262 to chip in and keep our version of pirate radio alive for the next 35 years.
If lawyers just aren’t your bag, the fundraiser continues all next week with a long list of special guests.
Just as KDUR remains an irreplaceable community asset in a world saturated with technological options, so does Maria’s remain a stanchion of Main Street America (OK, Main Avenue in this case) as e-books and eBay wreak havoc on small booksellers nationwide. The shop that Dusty Teal opened 25 years ago and sold to Peter Schertz and Andrea Avantaggio in 1998 is as much a local meeting place as any neighboring coffee shop or bar.
“Amazon was just becoming a household name – what were we thinking, right?” Schertz said Wednesday as the staff scrambled in preparation for the store’s all-day silver anniversary party Saturday.
What they were thinking is that people in this town appreciate the personal touch, an educated and well-read staff and a unique venue where readers can shake hands with local and national authors whose books cram the shelves and every available nook and cranny. It’s also just a really nice place.
Saturday’s party, in the words of Maria’s Community Relations Manager Libby Cowles, is a thank-you to us for supporting the store all these years – “We’re not celebrating ourselves,” Cowles said.
Every 25 minutes or so, the staff will give away a bag of books – there are hundreds – to customers with the good fortune to be at the cash register at the right time, and at 5 p.m. the cake will be cut. Customers are invited to share their memories of the books and authors that have influenced them over the years, and staff members will say a few words, as well.
Please take the time this weekend to show these two local institutions how much they mean to our town. Thanks for listening, and thanks for reading.
ted@durangoherald.com
Ted Holteen is the Herald’s
arts & entertainment editor.
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