Community Characters

LONG JOURNEY

After years giving to their communities, Dean and Vicki find each other

BY EMILY SHOFF

The nearly identical wedding rings of Dean Rolley and Vicki Phelps tell the story of their love. The rings, which feature stones set in a filigree of metal, represent a riverbed. “It’s because I had to swim upstream from Nucla to find Dean,” Phelps tells me as the three of us sit sipping tea.

Both have called this region home for over 30 years. A sound and video technician, Rolley has worked his magic, recording almost every area event over the years from big festivals to high school graduations to weddings to kids’ dance and theater performances. Named Citizen of the Year in 2013 for his role in archiving the community’s recent cultural past, 70 percent of the work Rolley does is for nonprofits and community events, although he also works a variety of conferences. He is also a noted photographer.

“I came out to go backpacking in the San Juans, but I picked up giardia [a parasite found in mountain streams] and while I was sick, my sleeping bag blew off a ridge.” The rest, as they say, is history. Rolley wandered into town to buy a new bag and found he didn’t want to leave. He bunked with friends he’d made only a few minutes before and made money hanging wallpaper and digging ditches to install a powerline. “I didn’t think I’d ever end up using my degree in radio, TV and film production,” he says, “but Telluride Access TV needed help and one job led to the next. I soon branched out into live sound for events.”

Phelps’ journey to town took a little longer. In 1990, she and her then-husband moved from Arizona to Nucla in the West End. For years, she owned and operated a ranch and worked in local schools. “I taught for 28 years — fourth grade, middle and high school science and math, and kindergarten to eighth-grade art.” Phelps also wrote grants to enhance science and technology education at West End schools.

In 2013, Phelps joined the board of trustees of the Telluride Institute and was a founding member of the West End Pay It Forward Trust, a Telluride Foundation fund for economic development.

Then, in 2014, Phelps and Rolley, who had known each other casually for many years, got to talking on Facebook and ended up making plans to hang out. “The kids’ play Annie in Norwood was our first and second dates — Dean was video recording both performances,” she says.

Phelps moved to Telluride in 2015, but continued to serve West End communities, working as an educator and director for the Watershed Education Program of the Telluride Institute, teaching STEM, coaching Lego robotics with the Pinhead Institute and substitute teaching. She also works as Rolley’s audio assistant. With the onset of Covid, Phelps began assisting at the Telluride Food Pantry. “Nature conservation and helping people in need, those are my passions,” she says.

After the two got together, Phelps discovered they’d crossed paths a lifetime ago, when Rolley was video recording her daughter’s recital. “His name was on the old VHS tape,” she exclaims.

In 2016, the pair were married on a hiking trail in New Zealand, where Phelps’ daughter lives, in a crater among bubbling mud pits and steaming fumaroles. She had her ring made there, three different stones, all green, her favorite color. Rolley’s was made by a local artist and derived from gold melted from his old dental work. This was not surprising, says Phelps. “Dean finds a way to refurbish or repurpose everything.” It’s clear from her tone that she is speaking with admiration that reflects her own commitment to conservation. In turn, Rolley gives her a smile that expresses his gratitude. After such a long journey, they have finally found home, with each other.