Steamboat Blogs

Support “Nobody’s Perfect,” Deaf Awareness Musical

Posted on01. Mar, 2010 by Andy.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and VSA arts present

“Nobody’s Perfect”

Based on the children’s book by Marlee Matlin and Doug Cooney

This play is performed in both American Sign Language and spoken English with Open Captioning.

"A NEARLY PERFECT MUSICAL!
Youthful gusto and a generous heart. Outstanding production values and top-notch cast.
An infectious score... three-and-a-half stars!"
- The Washington Times Read the full review

"PRE-ADOLESCENT ANGST, WITH HARMONY...
Nobody's Perfect delights with comic numbers and an excellent young cast.
The songs are not only catchy but also infectiously performed. Bright 'n' lively!"
- The Washington Post Read the full review


Fourth grade is not easy and after spending a year planning her "positively purple" birthday party, Megan finds herself at odds with new student Alexis. To Megan, Alexis has it all: beauty, brains, and athletics--she's practically perfect in every way. Though Megan tries to be nice to her, Alexis is anything but friendly, making Megan wonder, "Does she not like me because I'm deaf?" When they're forced to collaborate on a science project, Megan discovers Alexis's secret. Based on the children's book by Academy Award winner Marlee Matlin (Best Actress, Children of a Lesser God) and Doug Cooney, this touching new musical--simultaneously performed in spoken English and American Sign Language--with Open Captions, is a poignant reminder that despite first impressions, nobody's perfect. For ages 9 and up.

For a behind the scenes tour and interviews with the cast and director in ASL or English with captioning visit: http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/nobodysperfect/

Please support this performance by purchasing tickets and enjoying the show when it comes to your town!

· March 2-4 - Las Vegas, NV - Gilbert Magnet School

· March 9 - Cerritos, CA - Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, www.cerritoscenter.com/index.aspx

· March 16 - La Crosse, WI - Fine Arts Center, Viterbo University, www.viterbo.edu/finearts1.aspx

· March 19 - Lincoln, NE - Lied Center for Performing Arts, www.liedcenter.org

· March 22 - Springfield, IL - Sangamon Auditorium, www.uis.edu/sangamonauditorium

· March 25 - Paducah, KY - Carson Four Rivers Center, www.thecarsoncenter.org

· March 30 - Des Moines, IA - Civic Center of Greater Des Moines, www.civiccenter.org

· April 1 - Junction City, KS - C.L. Hoover Opera House, www.jcoperahouse.org

· April 7 - Memphis, TN - The Orpheum Theatre, www.orpheum-memphis.com

· April 12 - Elyria, OH - Stocker Arts Center – Lorain County CC, www.lorainccc.edu/Stocker+Arts+Center

· April 13 - Sylvania, OH - Franciscan Center, www.franciscancenter.org

· April 16 - Greenville, NC - East Carolina University, www.ecu.edu/cs-studentlife/mendenhall/wrightauditorium

· April 19 - Spartanburg, SC - Chapman Cultural Center, www.chapmanculturalcenter.org/index.php

· April 22 - Orange Park, FL - Thrasher Horne Center, http://thcenter.org

· April 23 - Punta Gorda, FL - Charlotte Performing Arts Center

· April 26-27 - West Palm Beach, FL - Kravis Center for Performing Arts, www.kravis.org/index.cfm

· May 3 - Pembroke, NC - Givens Performing Arts Center, www.uncp.edu/gpac/

· May 7-8- New York, NY - Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts @ New York University, www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu

· May 11 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Center, www.brooklyncenter.com

· · May 12 - Flushing, NY - Queens College, http://kupferbergcenter.org

· · May 13 - Buffalo, NY - Shea’s Performing Arts Center, www.sheas.org

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Spoiled at Steamboat Again

Posted on03. Feb, 2010 by Andy.

There's nothing quite like getting a full morning of skiing in before hitting lunch, but a gourmet lunch? Come on! We got in our staple GS turns this morning while my parents had their virgin experience on snowy Mt Werner (they stick to summer visits but we convinced them to come out for Carnival).

Steamboat's Gourmet Snowshoe Hike is not to be missed. I managed to get this hike in about 8 years ago when it went all the way in to Ragnars' along Duster, but the Ambassadors now only do that hike on Monday- it proved to be tough for many flatlanders not only because the hike out was long, but the hike back was even longer after a glass of wine! (Or two!)


It makes so much more sense to do this tour with Hazie's now, as they do, so that when you're done, you just ride the Gondola down. The trails is just as fun if not more so, it doubles as the nature trail in the summer and gives a great view of the entire mountain and surrounding ones. And those really-in-shape people can still do Ragnars on Mondays!

I must say I'm super proud of my parents, they are in very good shape for early-60's, and they have never been on snowshoes. We got to meet up with them for lunch at Hazie's, which was absolutely divine. Mushroom barley soup, a huge salad bar, unique shepherds pie, and homemade chocolate macaroons. You can't beat that! It just goes to show that Steamboat can spoil anyone- skier or summer lover- in any season of the year. I know we'll convert the folks to winter once they see the Carnival!


A special thanks to the welcoming, friendly staff up at Hazies, (of course, this is Steamboat!), as well as John and Robb of Ambassadors for taking such good care of the Jehn's.

Talk to STARS about adapting this fabulous tour! Hazie's is accessible to manual chairs, and nordic ski rigs can be rented!

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Surehands assistive lifts in more hotels each year!

Posted on01. Feb, 2010 by Andy.

As the needs of travelers with disabilities are more and more recognized by the travel industry, amenities grow and evolve as well. We're excited to watch an increasing number of hotels add assistive lift devices to their rooms for travelers who have limited mobility and need help getting in and out of bed as well as the pool.

SureHands is one company who's got their eye on this rolling ball! Their lift devices are top knotch, and include intricate track systems, supportive slings, cups or frames, frictionless slides, and prone-style trollies that are geared for all needs from independent and assistive living to institutional use. Only recently did these top-end systems start making their way into the hotel industry, and already SureHands is gaining momentum with this great idea.

SureHands has taken on Las Vegas by storm, and has had a welcoming response from the Bellagio, Treasure Island, Mirage, Both Wynn Properties and the new luxurious ARIA at the City Center. Next time you're in Vegas, make sure to check them out!

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LOCAL LIBRARIAN SELECTED FOR AUSTRALIAN VOCATIONAL TRIP

Posted on28. Jan, 2010 by Mike Forney.

Sarah Kostin, Youth Services Librarian at Bud Werner Memorial Library will leave next Saturday, February 6^th for a five-week business, cultural and study exchange to New South Wales, Australia.  Kostin joins four other young professionals from Wyoming and Colorado on the trip which is underwritten by The International Rotary Foundation.

Kostin was recommended for the trip by the Rotary Club of Steamboat Springs according to club president Suzanne Schlicht.  Local Rotarian Mike Forney was chosen by the Rotary district to lead the group.

Rotary International pays for the round-trip flights and the exchange team members stay with host families of Rotarians in Australia. A similar group of young professionals from Australia will visit Rotary clubs in Wyoming and Colorado In May and June.

Kostin has held several positions at the local library since she joined them in 2004.  She worked previously at Horizon Specialized Services as a community integration specialist.  She earned a Bachelor of Science degree at La Salle University in Philadelphia and a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois.

All of the participants are between 25 and 40 years old and are required to have been fully employed in their profession for a minimum of two years. They cannot be Rotarians or direct relatives of Rotarians.   They were selected based on their interest in the study of diverse cultures, an outgoing personality, a commitment to serve as an “ambassador” to another country and a desire to learn more about their individual fields and vocations.

Other team members include two from Jackson, Wyoming; Matthew Weisman, Director of Information Technology for the Town of Jackson, and Joshua Mallonee, International and Service Program Coordinator at Wilderness Ventures.  Leslie Sampson, senior vice president of HomeState Bank is from Loveland; and Tiffany Lehman, owner and business and life coach for Living on Purpose lives in Fort Collins.

Mike Forney, who served as club president for the Rotary Club of Steamboat Springs last year, said  “The team will travel a wide area of Northeast New South Wales, from about 240 to 400 miles north of Sydney.  The team will visit many of the 55 Rotary clubs in the host district, attend their meetings, witness and participate in a wide variety of community and international service projects, and explore the area’s natural resources and highlights.  They will also meet and confer with Australians who work in industries and professions similar to their own.”

The Rotary district in Australia includes seaside resort area and communities deep in the Australian bush.  The district features extensive tourism, farming, equine management, education, manufacturing, aviation, and healthcare. The team will also study the aborigine culture and visit with aborigine leaders during their tour.   February and March are the height of the summer season in Australia with temperatures reaching 110 degrees inland.

The team members were chosen during an extensive interview process in November.  Since that time they have participated in weekend training and orientation sessions in Jackson and Laramie Wyoming and Fort Collins, Colorado.

They leave Denver International Airport on Saturday afternoon, February 6^th and arrive in Sydney Australia on Monday morning, February 8^th after crossing the International Date Line.  They will return to the United States in mid-March.

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Local Rotarians Help Dispatch Tents to Haiti

Posted on28. Jan, 2010 by Mike Forney.

In less than 30 minutes last week, Steamboat Springs Rotarians collected more than $6,000 to purchase and dispatch tents and supplies to earthquake-ravaged Haiti through a unique Rotary program called ShelterBox.  Fellow Rotarians in Wyoming and northern Colorado raised another $60,000 in the past several days for ShelterBox purchases.

As of Monday, January 25^th, Rotary ShelterBoxes are already providing emergency shelter for more than 20,000 people in Port au Prince and surrounding areas. Hundreds more ShelterBoxes containing disaster relief tents and other life-saving supplies are being sent to the city in the next few days from Miami, Curacao and France.

“Our local Rotarian family responded immediately when we learned that our dollars would be applied almost immediately to helping the homeless in Haiti,” Rotary presidents Kevin Kaminski and Suzanne Schlicht said.

Each ShelterBox costs $1,000 and supplies an extended family of up to 10 people with a tent and lifesaving equipment to use while they are displaced or homeless… Highly trained ShelterBox Response Teams distribute boxes on the ground, working closely with local organizations, international aid agencies and Rotary clubs worldwide.

On Friday January 29^th, ShelterBox is chartering a 747 aircraft with 1,800 boxes to fly from Stansted Airport to the Dominican Republic where they will be taken overland to neighboring Haiti. It is the second flight chartered by the international disaster relief charity for the Haiti response after a plane loaded with 700 ShelterBoxes and 100 tents flew out of England last week.

A number of ShelterBoxes have also been used at an orphanage and at two hospitals in Port au Prince where tents are being erected to help save lives.

ShelterBox’s Founder and CEO Tom Henderson said: ‘In terms of logistics, the aid operation in Haiti has been ShelterBox’s most challenging in the last decade, with only one airport on the island which has been shut until recently and the port shut as well.

“As food, water and medicines are now starting to get in; the focus now is fulfilling the urgent need for emergency shelter.”

To add to the logistical problems of delivering aid in Haiti, the airfield has only been operating during daylight hours and there has been a shortage of aviation fuel.

Public donations are vital to ShelterBox’s continuing work around the world according to local Rotarians… To make a donation go to www.shelterboxusa.org to donate online and get the latest updates on the charity’s response to the Haiti earthquake.

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LINDSEY YOST – STUDENT OF THE MONTH

Posted on22. Jan, 2010 by Mike Forney.

Lindsey Yost, daughter of Kathi and George Yost and a senior at Steamboat Springs High School is the Rotary Student of the Month for January of 2010.  Lindsey was honored at the regular Rotary meeting on January 19^th.

Lindsey is a member of the National Honor Society maintaining a GPA of 3.4.  Her career interests are in the area of sports medicine and she has taken medical preparation  and the care and prevention of injuries in addition to her general studies.  She is considering attending college at the University of Connecticut to further her career goals.

Sports are a important part of Lindsey’s high school experience.  She participates in varsity volleyball and is captain of the basketball team.

As a leader in school, Lindsey has many other roles within the high school community as well.  She serves on the Link Crew that helps younger high school students adapt to their new environment.  She is also a senior class officer and participates in the Leadership Class.  Last year she served on the Prom Committee and this year she is on the Graduation Committee where she is producing a senior slide show for graduation.

One of her instructors, Dr. Daniel Tullius, advises that Lindsey is self motivated, highly disciplined and gifted as well.  PJ Wharton, Rotary Student Coordinator cited these strengths in recognizing Lindsey’s successes at Steamboat Springs High School.

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Training Airlines on Handling Wheelchairs

Posted on22. Jan, 2010 by Andy.

I spent the first three days of this week in Houston, Texas training Continental Airlines' ground crew how to handle assistive devices, such as wheelchairs and scooters, and came away with a new appreciation for what that team does.

This training was organized by Eric Lipp of the Open Doors Organization (www.opendoorsnfp.org), with the help of Michael Bliwas and The Mobility Shop (https://themobilityshop.com/), and we all agreed that this was a successful first stop on what we hope will be a large, comprehensive tour to train airline ground crews around the globe.

The purpose of these trainings is not only to teach crews how to properly lift and stow assistive devices, but how to take care of them, disassemble them, and return them to customers in one piece. Airlines currently spend way too much of their budget replacing and repairing broken assistive equipment and with today’s economy, we hope we are teaching employees how to save their company money and avoid fines "from the ground up!"

As always we were very impressed with Continental's employees; they came with a sincere eagerness to learn, tamper with, and fully explore the subject. We look forward to working with other airlines and are excited for Continental to once again lead the way in the topic of handling customers with disabilities.

Unfortunately due to technical difficulties with our video camera we don't have an example of this training, but we hope to get some useful tools up soon!

Go Anywhere, Do Anything! -Craig

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DAYS 3-4: More Sun and a Little Powder

Posted on15. Jan, 2010 by Andy.

Day 3 is always the hardest to fit some writing in, between skiing one last day on the mountain, finishing touches for our final banquet and cat-planning for the Powdercats Trip, Wednesday always zooms by, and then Thursday we spent in the backcountry with Steamboat Powdercats.

But we had another rare January Bluebird day on Wednesday and then a gorgeous day up on Buffalo Pass. Thursday we had 3 cats full of happy campers and volunteers; unfortunately we can't fit everyone from the camp on the trip, so we also had about 10-15 campers on the hill that day for one final lesson with Adaptive Adventures.





Thanks to everyone who helps to sponsor this amazing event- and those who've helped promote it. The Steamboat Pilot has been an amazing supporter this year, printing several articles on the camp both in the paper and online, including a cover/feature article today. A huge thanks to Joel at the Pilot for all of those, he's among the best sports reporters they've had in the last decade, and we're very thankful he's given us some amazing press.

Adaptive Camp Opens Doors for Wounded Warriors
5th Annual All Mountain Ski Camp
Open Town to Disabilities

Facebook Photo Album

Huge Thanks to all our sponsors!

Steamboat Powdercats, Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation, Boeing, Sharpshooter Photography, Wounded Warrior Project, NRC Broadcasting, Resort Quest, Resort Group, Steamboat Grand, Sheraton Steamboat Resort, Boyd & Barbara Bass, Christopher and Mary Ellen Jehn, Smartwool, Hampton Inn & Suites, Ptarmigan Inn, Holiday Inn of Steamboat, Jan Levy, Sportstalker, Colorado Event Rentals, Native Excavating, Custom Color, TIC, Wells Fargo, B & K Distributing, Shively Construction, Millennium Bank, Mountain Valley Bank, ML Enterprises, Steve Green Company, Home on the Range, Dax Mattox State Farm, Alpine Taxi, Little Moon Essentials, US Foodservice, Back Country Provisions, Central Park Liquor, City Market, Steamboat Snowmobile Tours, VFW, Freshies, The Egg & I, Creekside Caf, Brooklyn’s Pizzeria, Blue Sage Pizza, Mazzola’s Majestic Italian, Dominos, Beau Jo’s, Cugino’s, The Sanctuary Camp

And a special thanks to all our volunteers and crock pot chefs!

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