Still Wild, Still West(ern)

Kid-focused Wild West Fest celebrates 30 years

BY ELLEN METRICK

Those who get to experience the Telluride region know how the combination of clean air, stunning views and time in the outdoors and community lifts spirits, makes confidence glow and connects people. That combination also makes the annual week-long Sheridan Arts Foundation Wild West Fest a legend among the underserved youth who have had the joy of basking in the box canyon’s light, and this year’s 30th anniversary celebration will be no exception.

“It was so different when we started in 1993,” says Ronnie Palamar, SAF’s executive director. “Sandra Carradine brought six kids from the Boys and Girls Club of Denver to ski. Now, we have around 40 kids, numerous volunteers, mentors and the Boys and Girls Club counselors. The SAF staff all play a big part, from obtaining lodging, buying groceries and contacting Boys and Girls groups, to booking concerts and being available during the week’s festivities. It’s a lot of fundraising, too.”

Each year, SAF raises around $40,000 to gift this experience to kids at no cost to them or their families. This year, young people from clubs in New Mexico, Alabama, Texas and Denver, and local youth from the west end of Montrose County will attend. The festival has had a few changes over the years, has grown and downsized, has featured big celebrity names and local talent, but one thing is still true, says Palamar, “The focus is really on the kids. It’s very meaningful for these kids to experience something they wouldn’t be able to otherwise.”

“Seeing the kids grow just over a couple of days astonishes me every year,” says Maggie Stevens, SAF’s marketing director. “They make friends from across the country they would’ve never made before, perform on stage for the first time on an instrument they’ve never played, or tell fish stories after fly-fishing for the first time.”

George Patterson, cultural arts specialist at the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Denver, has been attending with kids from his program since 1995. “I’ve seen the effect it has on kids; most of the people that I have taken and have run across later, they all mention and remember Telluride. By now it’s a famous trip. People know.”

Patterson chooses youth through an essay application and through being with them throughout the year. “I have to see them participating, making positive choices, doing well in school,” he says.

One of the things Patterson most appreciates about the festival is the mentorships, which this year include experiences in outdoor adventures, Mark Galbo’s Rock and Roll Academy, fly-fishing, life on the ranch, hoop dancing and fine arts.

While the mentorships are the hub of the weeklong experience, the kids will also attend a barbeque, a pool party, a concert with the 615 Collective from Nashville, team-building and horseback riding activities, and stay in downtown Telluride in condos donated by patrons. “Students will also have a meet and greet with Telluride mixed-media artist Molly Perrault, who is making an anniversary collage for the T-shirts, poster, program, etc.,” says Stevens. “The original will also be available to purchase.”

Leah Heidenrich, SAF’s Young People’s Theater director, set up the mentorships this year. The final challenge of the mentorship is a public performance, which is part of the 30th anniversary celebration. “The big event for folks who are in town for this week is the Friday shindig,” she says. “We plan to close part of main street, have sheep shearing, horse-pulled wagon rides, and the kids will get to perform their mentorships. Yellow Bird, an Arizona-based professional hoop dancer group of the Apache Nation, will also be performing. The public is welcome.”