Briefs - The Durango Herald

San Juan Circus presents Cupid’s Cabaret: Divine Muses

San Juan Circus presents its second annual Cupid’s Cabaret, this time with a celestial twist 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. Feb. 14 and 5 and 7 p.m. Feb. 15 at Durango Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave. ...

DATE: Jan 30, 2026 | CATEGORY: Community

VITA offers free tax preparation services

VITA – Volunteer Income Tax Assistance – will again be preparing tax returns for individuals and families with income less than $68,000. The free service will be held Mondays and Saturdays, ...

DATE: Jan 30, 2026 | CATEGORY: Community

Marvel Grange changes Valentine’s Day dinner date

The Marvel Grange has decided to move its Pal and Valentine’s Day Dinner Fundraiser to Feb. 13 because of a benefit at the Breen Community Building, 966 County Road 127, Hesperus, on Feb. 14...

DATE: Jan 30, 2026 | CATEGORY: Community

Senior Center Calendar

Durango/La Plata Senior Center 2424 Main Ave., 382-6445 Monday 9:30 a.m.: Intermediate Tai-Chi 10:30 a.m.: Neo Delphi Meeting, Chair Yoga 12:30 p.m.: Cribbage, Duplicate Bridg...

DATE: Jan 30, 2026 | CATEGORY: Community

Bridge scores

Durango Bridge Club online and in-person play. All pairs received 50+ percent Jan. 23 – Open Pairs First: D. Squires/J. Cox Second: W. Rosenberger/W. Caplan Third: A. Nichers...

DATE: Jan 30, 2026 | CATEGORY: Community

Prostate cancer support group to meet

The Man2Man Prostate Cancer Support Group of Durango will meet 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday via Zoom. The group consists of survivors of prostate cancer and men who have been diagnosed with prostate ...

DATE: Jan 29, 2026 | CATEGORY: Community

DHS graduate named to CSU dean’s list

Jackson Hubertus, a 2024 Durango High School graduate, was named to the fall 2025 dean’s list at the CSU College of Health and Human Services. Hubertus is studying construction management. T...

DATE: Jan 23, 2026 | CATEGORY: Community

DHS to host Eighth Grade Family Night

Durango School District invites eighth grade students and their families to attend Eighth Grade Family Night from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Monday at Durango High School, 2390 Main Ave. The evening wil...

DATE: Jan 23, 2026 | CATEGORY: Community

February Library Calendar

Durango Public Library 1900 East Third Ave. Contact: 375-3380. Weekly events for youths Mondays, 2-4:30 p.m.: Lego Club. For children ages 5-12 who love to build, tinker, sort and imagin...

DATE: Jan 22, 2026 | CATEGORY: Community

Cat Care Durango celebrates grand reopening in new facility

Cat Care Durango has announced that in its third year of operation, it is opening a newly renovated rescue and boarding facility. The updated space was designed to create a safer, more comfo...

DATE: Jan 21, 2026 | CATEGORY: Business

Upper East Side Coffee Deli reopens under new ownership

Upper East Side Coffee Deli, at 28902 Highway 160 in Durango, has announced that it is reopening under the new ownership of Kalisa Maloney. Born and raised in Durango, Maloney has been part...

DATE: Jan 21, 2026 | CATEGORY: Business

‘No Secret Police in Durango’ Petition Organizing Committee to meet

The “No Secret Police in Durango” Petition Organizing Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22, at the Durango Community Recreation Center, 2700 Main Ave., to find volunteers for a...

DATE: Jan 16, 2026 | CATEGORY: Community

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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

San Juan Circus presents Cupid’s Cabaret: Divine Muses

VITA offers free tax preparation services

Marvel Grange changes Valentine’s Day dinner date

Senior Center Calendar

Bridge scores

Prostate cancer support group to meet

DHS graduate named to CSU dean’s list

DHS to host Eighth Grade Family Night

February Library Calendar

Cat Care Durango celebrates grand reopening in new facility

Upper East Side Coffee Deli reopens under new ownership

‘No Secret Police in Durango’ Petition Organizing Committee to meet

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