the
Sun
Sopris Carbondale’s
weekly, non-profit newspaper
Volume 2, Number 42 | December 9, 2010
Don’t try this at home … several Airstream Villagers smile for the camera during a carefully controlled photo shoot for the upcoming Holiday Market. Several Airstreams have been semi-circled up at Highway 133 and Sopris Avenue to enclose a Christmas tree lot, bonfire pit, music stage, food and drink booths and more. Shown here from left to right: Tom Corson, Andrea Chacos, Kami Miranda, Paz Miranda, Cooper Chacos, Noah Wheeless and Kawak Miranda. Photo by Jane Bachrach
It takes an Airstream Village By Lynn Burton Sopris Sun Staff Writer In the wild west, pioneers circled the wagons to keep out intruders. These days in Carbondale, S.A.W. folks are circling Airstream trailers to welcome in one and all. Seven of the shiny, aluminum icons of the road are now parked in a semi-circle at Highway 133 and Sopris Avenue, and for the weekend of Dec. 10-12 the vacant lot there will be transformed into the Holiday Market at Airstream Village. There’ll be arts and crafts vendors, food, music, a bonfire, beverages for kids and adults, Santa (with reindeer) and Christmas trees for sale, plus movies, other events and according to the organizers, “merry mingling.”
“This is quirky, Carbondale fun,” said event spokeswoman/organizer Andrea Chacos. “We looked at the Airstreams as a way to bring out the people of Carbondale … This will put you in a good mood.” S.A.W. (Studio for Arts + Works) is located a 987 Euclid, which puts Airstream Village in its backyard. Some of the Airstreams come from S.A.W. members themselves, but one was brought down from Redstone and another from Satank, Chacos said. Gavin Brooke, whose architectural/real estate firm Land + Shelter is helping to put on the Holiday Market, owns one of the Airstreams. He said others at S.A.W. share his “fetish” with Airstreams. “I’ve owned one for five years … they
are like the classic Coke bottle,” Brooke explained on his cell phone from a job site. He first got interested in Airstreams through S.A.W. artist Alleghany Meadows, who owns an “Artstream” which he uses to sell ceramics at the farmer’s market in Aspen and other locations. Airstreams, which are manufactured in Jackson Center, Ohio, first originated in the 1930s from designs created by Hawley Bowlus, who was the chief designer of Charles Lindbergh’s aircraft the Spirit of St. Louis. The designs have changed little in the past seven decades and they are easily recognized by their distinctive rounded aluminum bodies. Brooke described the design as “retro-
futuristic” that reflects the optimism of life on the road and a vision of freedom. “And the perfect polish … it’s like a silver bullet,” he said. “They are gorgeous objects. You can’t help but be intrigued by them.” Chacos jokes that Airstreamers are like a “cult” and “those guys are really serious about them.” Four or five of the trailers, including Meadows’ Artstream, will be used by vendors and open to the public, but others are stationed there for their looks and to complete the Airstream semi-circle. Chacos called Brooke the “mastermind” behind the Holiday Market at Airstream Village. All three Carbondale elementary schools will have booths during the week-
Helping Haitians
Comp planning continues
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