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Night offers glimpse of Colo. past

Photo by JOSH STEPHENSON/Herald

From left, Rod Barker as Henry Strater, Ron LeBlanc as Gov. John Evans and Duane Smith as Gov. John L. Routt enjoy cocktail hour in the lobby of the Strater Hotel before the Banquet of the Territorial Governors during the first Durango Heritage Celebration on Oct. 10.

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As part of the Durango Heritage Celebration, a look at the personalities that helped Colorado in its journey toward statehood seemed like a good idea. So the Banquet of the Governors was designed to do just that.

Most of the attendees came attired in Victorian evening dress, and all gathered in the lobby at the Strater Hotel for champagne and appetizers before beginning the journey downstairs to the Pullman Room, where the banquet itself was held.

The evening began with a welcome by current hotel owner Rod Barker in the guise of the hotel's namesake, Henry Strater. The young entrepreneur was sure that if Durango continued growing as it had since its founding in 1881, it would become the state capital.

Strater had the honor of introducing former President Abraham Lincoln, aka John Voehl from Littleton, whose memory is a bit fuzzy after 1865. That, however, didn't stop him from a powerful rendering of the Gettsyburg Address, which reminded all of us why it is still one of history's great orations. It is as relevant today with the country at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, as it was then, after the bloodiest battle in U.S. history with more than 50,000 casualties, all Americans.

Lincoln presented his first territorial appointee as Colorado's territorial governor, William Gilpin, who was one of the few Southerners who supported Honest Abe in the 1860 presidential election. Gilpin, who was portrayed by Niles Bruno, was a West Point dropout who fought in the Seminole and Mexican‑American wars.

When Gilpin's request for troops to defend Colorado from Confederate outposts in New Mexico was denied, he formed the 1st Colorado Regiment of Volunteers and ran up an unauthorized debt of $375,000, prompting his unanimous removal from office by the Cabinet.

His successor, Gov. John Evans, was a colleague of Lincoln's from Illinois. City Manager Ron LeBlanc showed off his thespian skills talking about the doctor who founded the seminaries that became Northwestern University and the University of Denver. He made the mistake of sending Col. Chivington to Sand Creek in what became one of the worst massacres of American Indians in history. That led to the end of Evans' governorship.

The final governor on the roster was John L. Routt, and to say Duane Smith was in his element as the character would be putting it mildly. Routt was the final territorial governor and the first elected governor once Colorado became a state in 1876. And that happened just in time.

In this presidential election, where Colorado is considered a key state, it cannot be more key than in 1876, when it took 185 electoral votes to win. Samuel Tilden had 184, Rutherford B. Hayes had 165, and 20 votes were contested. In the end, it was Colorado's one vote that put Hayes over the top in the closest election in U.S. history.

Mayor Renee Parsons, as early newspaper publisher Caroline Romney, finished off the presentations. Interestingly, Romney presented 12 inventions to be patented at the Chicago World Exposition in 1893, and no mention of her has been found since then.

Banquet and event manager Emily Spencer had found a set of Victorian silverware in storage at the Strater, and she and hotel staff had spent every spare minute polishing it before the dinner.

They also designed a menu that might have been served in the late 1800s in Durango, including cream of asparagus soup, spinach salad with hard‑boiled egg, bacon and French dressing, pork tenderloin with apple‑brandy demi‑glâce, sole with Gruyère cheese and sherry cream sauce, Brussels sprouts and potatoes dauphin, followed by a dessert of coconut macaroons with strawberries and chocolate sauce.

Barker said that sole shows up on a Strater menu as early as 1905. It would have been packed in salt to get it to Durango while it was still fresh.

The evening was set to a soundtrack of period music, courtesy of the Grandview Victorian Orchestra.

For those born on the Libra‑Scorpio cusp, this is your lucky time of year - Jean Somsen, Calvin Buffalo, Louise Bell, Rob Atkinson, Katrina Longwell, Marilyn Holland, Tristen Mantineo, Kim McCarl, Roy McLaughlin, Brandon Gross, Benji Mickel, Marna Burnett, Betty Calkins, Joan Rhodes and Brad Fassett.

Kudos go out to Suzanne Parker and her crew of merry volunteers who organized the first ever Durango Heritage Celebration.

It brought a lot of people to town for the weekend, and every event was well planned and fun. I didn't make it to the Victorian Ball, but word is that every dance card was full, and everyone had a, well, ball. Both walking tours were full, even on Oct. 11, when the weather was wild.

And my thanks go to Duane Smith, who picked up my walking tour when my health wasn't up to it.

On Oct. 5, Sow's Ear owner and Chef George Mehaffie pulled out all the stops for an exquisite dinner and fundraiser for Music in the Mountains.

That happened to be the day when fall colors were bright and the first snow of the season coated the San Juans. The event was the perfect excuse to make the drive up to the north end of La Plata County.

Dinner began with appetizers of crab cakes and shrimp and mango ceviche in leaves of endive, set to the keyboard stylings of Tom MacCluskey.

Once guests went upstairs for dinner, they were in for a treat: five courses of delicious food. The first was Bibb lettuce with sliced strawberries, marinated red onions, goat cheese and minted balsamic vinaigrette was served with Drylands Sauvignon Blanc 2007 from the Marlborough region of New Zealand. It was one of the best salads I've ever had.

The next plate included a grilled petite salmon fillet, served on white‑bean dill relish and accompanied by a citrus‑arugula salad, partnered with Sonoma County's Simi Roseto 2007. Roasted garlic pumpkin soup with toasted pepitas and crème fraiche honored the fall season in the third course, which was paired with Kim Crawford's Pinot Noir 2007, also from Marlborough.

Most of us were satisfied by now, but there were two courses to go. The main entrée was roasted beef tenderloin with burgundy jus accompanied by wild mushroom risotto and zucchini and butternut squash timbales, with a lovely Napa Valley Franciscan Cabernet Sauvignon 2005.

A perfectly sized baked apple crumb with cinnamon whipped cream finished the meal with a few sips of Robert Mondavi's Moscato d'Oro 2006 from the Napa Valley.

My final rating is the highest - five yums.

Thanks go to Republic National Distributing for the donation of the fine wines. The company continues to be generous to local good causes, and it deserves our gratitude.

Organizer Heidi Ochsner Mugler told Music in the Mountains President Tom Jones to make sure that people knew that this event had no live or silent auctions - just good food and wine with good company.

And it definitely lived up to that billing.

Mugler credits Silverpick owner Chris Wing with coming up with the idea for the event.

On Thursday, the Manna Soup Kitchen had its sixth annual Soup Supper and Silent Auction. The event this year was held in the St. Columba School gymnasium.

Organizers did a great job of spiffing up the joint, with orange tablecloths, lots of gourds and flower arrangements in the shades of fall.

The menu was simple and delicious. Guests had a choice of six soups: beef barley, cream of asparagus, beef minestrone, chicken and rice, chicken verde and vegetable. My taste buds found both the asparagus and the chicken verde delectable.

Manna's kitchen manager pulled out all the stops on the dessert front, preparing a table full of everything from cake to cookies in a wide variety of flavors.

The event raised about $6,000, about one‑third less than last year's, with ticket sales, raffle sales and silent auction items. That's also about the proportion that donations are down in these tough economic times. Interestingly, more people attended, between 200 and 300, and there were more auction contributions, but people are anxious about buying anything, even for a good cause.

In fact, it's the worst kind of timing for Manna Soup Kitchen. Donations are down, and the number of clients is up.

In 2006, the kitchen served 32,000 meals, last year it was 36,000 and this year is on pace to surpass 42,000. Those needing the meals are the homeless, people on fixed incomes and the working poor. And because food donations are down, Manna is having to spend more money on food.

Every nonprofit group I've spoken with in the last few weeks during this economic crisis has said donations are way down. But a situation like this hurts those who live on the edge more than any of the rest of us. If we could each buy a couple of extra cans of food at the supermarket and donate it to Manna Soup Kitchen or the Durango Food Bank, we could make sure that we help the most fragile in our community.

And isn't that what a community is all about?

Thanks to Manna President Al Spungen for the scoop.

Getting a gift of Indian summer for their anniversaries are Mark and Michelle James, Calvin and Kim Buffalo, Luis and Jaime Marquez, John and Kay Cooley, Noel and Virginia Peterson and Sean and Danette Jackson.

For information on upcoming events and fundraisers, check Local Briefs.

Here's how to reach me: neighbors@durangoherald.com; phone 375‑4584; fax 259‑5011; mail items to the Herald; or drop them off at the front desk. Please include contact names and phone numbers for all items. If you are submitting an item to be previewed, please send it with briefs in the subject line and e‑mail it to herald@durangoherald.com.