Southwest Life

If you saw a group of people giddily clinking glasses at the Ore House on Tuesday, you might want to find out what they were celebrating.

They were the Top Fundraising Team and the Top Theme Team at the Dave Spencer Ski Classic at the end of February, and the award comes with $50 gift cards thanks to the generosity of the folks at the restaurant.

Dave Trautmann’s team raised $18,000.

It seems like the variations on the theme of the Arc of History are endless and endlessly entertaining.

Trautmann’s team – which also included Brian Shafer, Miles Lillard and Michelle and Mark James – took on the theme as the T. Rex Tumblers, putting on their creative caps to get the sculpture fit for skiing. Lillard used his mojo on some Domino’s Pizza boxes, so they became the rocks. Trautmann took on the tail, scoring a vaccuum hose, nozzle intact, at the Methodist Thrift Shop. And Shafer, continuing his run as the top fundraiser who’s also an Adaptive Sports participant at the event, with $7,000, became the dinosaur head. In fact, he had two dinosaur heads, a large one for the costume competition and a smaller one he could put atop his helmet so he could get under the safety bar on the lift and ski. Trautmann raised almost $4,700, and Lillard brought in $5,800, so they came in first and second place in the Top Fundraising Adult Category.

(Shafer, who has been on the team for nine years, is also in charge of the aforementioned glass clinking, a responsibility he takes quite seriously.)

To top off a wonderful weekend for the team, Trautmann was given the Dave Spencer Award, named in honor of the Adaptive Sports founder, for an individual who has played a vital role in truly shaping the organization and its programming. The honoree is selected by previous winners, ASA staff and board members.

There’s no doubt Trautmann deserves the honor. He has been involved with ASA for 18 years, still spending multiple days on the mountain at Purgatory Ski Resort, ASA’s primary corporate partner for the entire 32 years of the organization’s existence. Instrumental in the start-up and early years of the summer recreation program, Trautmann has already been named Rookie of the Year and Volunteer of the Year. He and his wife, Connie, have hosted numerous out-of-state scholarship recipients in their home, even creating a back way in to make their home handicapped-accessible, something I have appreciated when going to play bridge there. A certified Professional Ski Instructors of America adaptive ski instructor, Trautmann has served a total of eight years on ASA’s board, including serving as treasurer and board president.

And last, but not least, he has been a member of the top fundraising team at the Dave Spencer Ski Classic for the past seven years.

With that résumé, I’m surprised he didn’t receive the honor earlier.

This weekend is fun all the way, and they had it on the last weekend in February, when it snowed – I know, what were the odds of that this winter? – so there was fresh powder on the mountain. It included an opening reception at the Lost Dog Bar & Lounge, lunch on Saturday hosted by Zia Taqueria and by Kassidy’s Kitchen on Sunday.

Saturday is race day, with prizes going both to the fastest teams and the teams who were best at predicting their joint time. Sunday is Mountain Rally Day, complete with poker run. On skis. The event closed Sunday night with an Awards Banquet at the DoubleTree Hotel.

Without further ado, here are some of the other winners during the weekend (although Adaptive Sports and its clients, who have cognitive or physical disabilities, were the real winners):

The Community Partner Award went to Kiwanis Club of Durango – Dave Schank, Kathy Jones, Jim Shadid, Scott Shadid and Mark Rahner.

Fastest Team went to Mono Ski Madness – Gordon Ninde, Jimmy Soliz, Chris Farquar, Glen Harrison and Kalim Smith.

Individual Target Time (for the person who predicted his or her time in the race most accurately) came in with a tie, with two people predicting their time with a 0.02 degree of accuracy, believe it or not – Joel Chambers from Mercury Gives and Doug Vanzyl from Durango Motor Co. (Durango Motor is ASA’s premier winter season sponsor.)

Best Team Target Time was won by the Saddle Beauties, also known as Ryan Cheese, Martie Woodford, Paul Edwards, Dawn Kast and Roland Mora, coming in at 0.8 seconds of their prediction. The Saddle Beauties also won Best Honest Poker Hand, because, apparently the Hampton Inn Team got up to some shenanigans in collecting their hand.

Body Beater, also known as the biggest wipeout, went to Brandon Burbank from Durango Motor Co., whose time ended up being 40 seconds longer than the fastest team’s five members’ times combined.

Fastest Man went to Shawn Glascoe from the Bombers Team at 15.35, with Dylan Kroes from the 50 Shades of Cray smokin’ in after him at 15.83. Kroes was also the Top Fundraising Youth, bringing in about $4,240.

Fastest Woman went to Aleah Austin at 17.82, with Tiffany Mapel coming in hot on her heels with a time of 17.90. That meant the Coca-Cola of Durango-Farmington Teams swept the speedy women category.

Fastest Team went to 50 Shades of Cray, with a total time of 1:58. The team included, in addition to Kroes, Domi Frideger, Al Thompson, Josh Davoust and Noah Hotchkiss.

Wackiest Team Costume went to Mercury Gives – Jarred Sorenson, Chambers, Heather Hormell, Libby Mink and Sandi Herb – who came as different (and huge) animals, including a giraffe and a squirrel with a huge tail wandering around with an inflatable nut. Double entendre intended. This team has a reputation for its costumes, coming two years ago with a phenomenal Alice in Wonderland, Queen of Hearts theme.

The Up and Coming Team went to the third fastest team, the Lumberjacks, also known as the Fort Lewis College Intern Team – Devin Connely, Fynn Funke, Tyler Davis, Drew Herrick and Brian Thompson.

And winners of the Photo Challenge were Team Chihuahua, also known as the Hampton Inn Team, who may not have won the poker hand but won this one fair and square. They are Rosa Malloy-Post, Craig “Peggy” Roser, Susan Tait and Pam Leisle.

The Above and Beyond Award also went to Mercury, for not only coming in as a winter sponsor but for collecting items from the community and raffling them off to co-workers. More than 70 people at the company participated in the fundraising.

The Spirit Award (and with this group, that’s saying something) went to the Wild Ones, Dominic Luna, Kristin Rompf, Lucas Talbot, Phillip Schmid and Luciano Trujillo.

Any event like this is the work of many hands, but kudos go to Karen Esser, event coordinator, who must be thrilled at raising one of the largest grosses of any event in town. Part of that was because of a large uptick in the number of teams, up from the low 20s in 2014, to 30 this year. Office manager Lee Hagar said that a big part of the shift was that several sponsors fielded a team in addition to donating sponsorship money.

It’s good to break records in fundraising, especially in a year with one of the biggest seasons in lesson numbers in the ASA’s history.

Esser gave special thanks to Joe and Pam Leder, the Ski Barn, Southwest Party Rental, the Mummery family, Tracy Janes, Griz Kelley, Drew Herrick, B.J. Boucher and Carolyn Moeler.

The Adaptive Sports staff also deserves a special mention because of the work it does year-round as well as at this event: Executive Director Tim Kroes, program director, assistant director and assistant, Ann Marie Meighan, Iris Gardner and Molly Hahn Floyd, equipment manager and tech, Shawn Glasco and Andy Asmuth, and instructors M.K. Thompson, Ed Small and Eric Milan.

I’m sure I’m leaving a lot of people and businesses out, but my space is full.

Thanks to everyone who believes, as I do, that a disability should not keep people from enjoying the great outdoors in this wonderful place where we live.

HHH

Nothing says happy Aries birthdays better than a world springing forth for Charlie Hakes, Doug Shand, Nika Patterson, Josh Poole, Kyle Cheesewright, Judy Fairchild, Caroline Kinser, Betsy Clark, Connor Collins, Tracy Cornutt, Ben Barker, Logan Lowe, Jeffrey Wince, Cheryle Brandsma, Tom Westwater, Sherry Brown and Arden Westerwick.

HHH

Enjoying balmy anniversaries are Bud and Sandy Beebe, Ron and Judy Risner and Ron and Judy Simmons.

HHH

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