1960’s and 1970’s

In order to host the best picnic of the year it took a lot of volunteers and a little bit of luck.  The Deaf Camp Picnic of 1971 was no exception.  The task of preparing enough food for 1,000 plus guests, paying guests, fell on a small team of local cooks, laborers and housewives not to mention a number of Aspen’s restaurant kitchens.  By 1970 the picnics were in their third year and attendance had exceeded the 1,000 guest mark and rapidly heading to 2,000.

This year’s picnic was being held up at the Cattleman’s Association property up Castle Creek just past the end of the pavement.  To be more
specific, just past the old Four Season’s Resort (Aspen Country Day School Campus) about two miles from Aspen’s downtown.  This was the second year for the picnic to be hosted in this location.

To name all of the volunteers by name would be a task in itself especially for a then ten year old busy little boy.  I wish I could name them all as they deserve the recognition but alas, I am unable.  To name a few the ranks included my aunt and uncle, Shirley and Nelson “Jr” Smith as well as their numerous brothers and sisters.  There were Zordel’s, Clapper’s, Nicholson’s, Tacker’s, Guy’s, Smiths too numerous to name, Caparella’s,
Stapleton’s, Thorpe’s, and of course Beck’s and many more.  Temple Allen, then owner of the hickoryHouse, offered up his smoke oven for the 1,000’s of pounds of Barbeque Ribs as well as his kitchen for what amounted to two hundred pounds of his special coleslaw.  Bin after bin of cabbage, mayo and spices were trucked up to the picnic the morning of the big event.

Off in a corner of the field the “field Kitchen” was a bustling place while we all enjoyed the sweet sounds of Sandy Monroe and his band warming up as the opening and closing acts.  The sweet sound of his mandolin echoed through the valley.  Guests were only beginning to arrive and there was an excitement in the air.  My mom and her minion of volunteers were busy putting the final touches on everything from the raffle tickets sold and yet to be sold as well as making arrangements for the music, parking and places for everyone to sit.

Back in the kitchen a number of us were assigned the task of mixing up the bins of coleslaw.  More than 12 ten gallon bins were filled with
cabbage and there was mixing to do.  No able hands went un-used regardless of age.  On a day like today, child labor was not a bad thing.  My brother and sisters were all in the mix helping out where they could.  My sister Cindy was our moral support after an accident the day before while jeeping, she was a bit scarred up but her spirit was undiminished and we were glad to have her.

One of the adultvolunteers that took the lead on the “Great Coleslaw Mix” was a black local man by the name of Earl Wyatt who had a cleaning service in town.  He was very expressive and loved kids and kids loved him to, that was why we all flocked to help him in the coleslaw pits.  About an hour into the mixing he discovered his wedding ring was missing.  At first he thought he had taken it off only to be reminded by his
nearby wife that he never takes it off and was not about to today.  We quickly realized the ring was in one of the 12 plus bins of now “mixed” slaw.  The team of “slaw cooks” proceeded to dig through all of the bins, looking for a small gold band.  It is safe to say the air was filled with wisecracks of all kinds, “Maybe we should sell raffle tickets to east the slaw”, or “Does the guests who finds the ring get the owner as their husband?” assuming it would be a female guest.  After about 20 minutes of looking the ring was located, in his pocket.

This was only one of many great stories that came out of the annual Deaf Camp Picnics and my mom’s effort to host the best parties Aspen had ever seen.