Steamboat Springs Real Estate | Colorado Group Realty Blog

THURSDAY, JULY 2^nd

9-10:30 AM    Downtown Historic Walking Tour, Tread of Pioneers Museum

12:15 - 1 PM Music on the Green, Yampa River Botanic Park, Strings Festival

8:00 PM         The Neville Brothers at Strings Pavilion, Strings Music Festival

FRIDAY, JULY 3^rd

9-11 AM         Nordic Ski Jumping Competition at Howelsen Hill

10 AM - 4 PM Art on the Mountain in Gondola Square

12-1 PM         Brown Bag Lunch Series, Tread of Pioneers Museum

5-8 PM           First Friday Artwalk, downtown Steamboat Springs

7:00 PM         Steamboat Springs Pro Rodeo Series at Romick Arena

8:00 PM         The Neville Brothers at Strings Music Pavillion, Strings Music Festival

SATURDAY, JULY 4^th

7-10 AM         Pancake Breakfast at Little Toots Park, Steamboat Springs Lions Club

8 AM - 2 PM MainStreet Farmers Market, 6^th Street next to the Courthouse

9:00 AM         18^th Annual Steamboat Sprint, Lincoln Avenue, Running Series

9:30 AM         4^th Annual Cross Country/Nordic Combined Roller Ski Race,    Lincoln Avenue

10:00 AM       4^th of July Parade presented by the Yampa Valley Bank

                        Parade theme: Steamboat Seasons….Celebrating the Beauty

10 AM - 4 PM Art on the Mountain in Gondola Square

11 AM - 1 PM Pioneer Day Block Party at the Tread of Pioneers Museum

featuring a free community concert with Steamboat Swings

celebrating the Museum’s 50^th Anniversary

12:30 PM       4^th of July Ski Jump Extravaganza, Nordic Combined competition, Howelsen

7:00 PM         Steamboat Springs Pro Rodeo Series at Romick Arena

7:00 PM         Western BBQ at the top of the Gondola, Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation

9:00 PM         4^th of July Fireworks display at dark following the rodeo, Howelsen

SUNDAY, JULY 5^th

8:00 AM         31^st Annual Mountain Madness Half Marathon & 10K, Howelsen

10:00 AM       Saddleback Ranch Cattle Drive, Lincoln Avenue

10 AM - 4 PM Art on the Mountain in Gondola Square

1 - 4 PM        Cow Town Ranch Tour, Community Ag Alliance

3:30 - 4:30 PM Cowboy Church featuring Yampa Valley Boys and preacher

Kevin King, Romick Arena

5:00 PM         Mountain Valley Bank Ranch Rodeo at Romick Arena, Heritage Ranch Family Awards

6-7:00 PM      Emerald City Opera Concert, Keaton Covillo, tenor, with Yvette Look, piano. United Methodist Church

Popularity: 1% [?]

Steamboat Springs - Historic Routt County officials hope a first-time fundraiser - for Diamond Window Cabin at Stagecoach State Park - on Sunday, will lead to future opportunities to preserve the county’s iconic landmarks.Fixing up the more than 100-year-old cabin, a homestead on the Yellow Jacket Pass (now Routt County Road 14), is part of the group’s cultural heritage initiative, said Historic Routt County Executive Director Towny Anderson.

He said interest from the pubic to restore Diamond Window Cabin, which is sagging into the hillside on the southern side of the pass, helped prompt the group to hold the fundraiser.

“It’s as important to Stage­coach as the Moore barn is to Steamboat,” said Stagecoach resident Wes Hunter, who attended the fundraiser with his wife, Mickey.

The cabin, in a corner of the Morrison Creek Valley, sits overlooking the historic route of a stagecoach line running north from the rail terminal at Wolcott to Steamboat Springs and beyond Hahn’s Peak.

Anderson said cultural heritage is one of the fastest-growing segments of local tourism, and the preservation of Diamond Window Cabin was a big part of promoting that in Routt County.

“It’s an icon of South Routt,” he said about the cabin. “It’s stood at the head of Stagecoach Lake for more than 100 years now. It’s a landmark.

“The idea of the fundraiser is to celebrate our heritage.”

The fundraiser also included a barbecue, hiking, biking around the lake, prizes, and silent and live auctions of art depicting the cabin.

Historic Routt County has a number of projects like Diamond Window Cabin that it’s working to restore or to get added to the county’s register of historic places. Anderson said an annual fundraiser would help the organization’s efforts to restore aging structures like the cabin.

Historic Routt County hopes to raise another $10,000 to reach its goal of $20,000. That funding will be dedicated toward stabilizing the foundation, repairing and replacing damaged logs, reconstructing the roof, and re-establishing proper drainage. A couple of years ago, braces were added to the inside of the cabin to help stabilize it through winters after it was added to the county’s register of historic places in 2005.

www.steamboatpilot.com

Popularity: 3% [?]

The nation wide real estate slow down has descended upon the Yampa Valley. The number of transactions in Steamboat Springs for the first four months of 2009 was substantially less than the number of transactions for the same time period in 2008. Sales of single family homes were off 31%, condos and townhomes were off 80%, and lot sales were off an astounding 88%. Along with the drop in number of transactions, average sales prices per square foot decreased. The price per square foot of single family homes dropped by 25% to $343 per square foot, while the price per square of condos and townhomes dropped by 15% to $379 per square foot.What else do we know about the Market?

Inventory in all segments of the market is at historic highs, meaning a great selection of properties to choose from.

If you truly want to sell your property in 2009, it appears that you will need to be priced 15 to 25 percent below the all time market high of late 2007.

Interest rates continue to be extremely attractive, although underwriting standards have tightened significantly.

Showing activity has picked up in April and May as compared to January through March. Buyers are slowly coming back to the market.

High inventory, low interest rates and falling prices have combined to make this an opportune time for savvy buyers to strike a deal.

Popularity: 5% [?]

For Kim Keith, obsession started with two hours in a butterfly garden.A friend had commissioned the Steamboat Springs photo­­grapher to take a character portrait. Keith started resear­­ching where she could find butterflies and booked The Butter­fly Pavilion in West­minster for two hours early one morning in Nov­ember 2008.

Soon after the shoot, Keith was reading up on butterfly symbolism, hanging small wire insects on her rearview mirror and sifting through the product of her photo shoot to find the work that would become a series of butterfly photos featured this month at Colorado Group Realty.

“I just kind of got obsessed with them,” Keith said about her subject. That interest grew the more she researched the topic, discovering mythology and symbolism for the insects as she went.

As Keith began selling the photos - starting with a show at Artists’ Gallery of Steamboat in January - she heard personal anecdotes about butterflies appearing at personal turning points.

“It makes it meaningful. It’s not just pictures of insects to me anymore. It’s really symbolic of change and resurrection,” she said. Now Keith wants to go back to the butterfly pavilion and has considered making a trip to a rain forest.

The show at Colorado Group Realty features about half a dozen large butterfly images, as well as a collection of prints. The office has been participating in First Friday Artwalk for about a year. In late March, a wall hanging system installed by Steamboat painter Susan Schiesser introduced more permanent wall space, said Laurie Peter, who does marketing for Colorado Group Realty and co-curates its art. Schiesser is working with the office to get new local work on the walls each month.

“We’re calling it our alternative art venue,” Peter said.

A new style

With its light subject matter and sharp colors, this show is a break from the way Keith normally approaches photo subjects. She moved to Steamboat nine years ago to work for local photographer Jim Steinberg and later started a studio that specializes in “Bodyscapes” - close-up black-and-white portraits of nude subjects. The butterfly collection has pushed Keith to consider doing more projects in color, she said.

“There are so many things that don’t translate in black and white. With the butterflies, there are a couple that are silhouetted that seem black and white, but when you see the colors that are there, you just can’t bypass that. There are subjects that you just can’t do without color,” she said.

Keith plans to take a camera with her on a hike up Mad Creek this weekend and will be ready to capture the clusters of purple butterflies that gather by the water there. The setup follows the same lines as her shoot at the butterfly pavilion: Make a plan, bring a camera and be prepared to capture what’s there.

“I’m more of a person that creates a situation rather than finds it, and from this situation came all of these findings,” Keith said about her time at the butterfly pavilion. She won’t be making the leap to wildlife photography any time soon; Keith said she just wants to choose subjects that have meaning to people.

“I never plan on what to take pictures of. I never planned to take pictures of butterflies - because Bodyscapes is like the be-all, end-all for me,” she said. “But I think you have to keep yourself open to whatever life brings you.”

www.steamboatpilot.com

Popularity: 7% [?]

Steamboat Springs - Last weekend’s Carpenter’s Ball attracted 180 revelers and raised $40,000 for Routt County Habitat for Humanity, enough to give the nonprofit agency a funding start on four new affordable condominiums in addition to a single-family home progressing in Hayden.

“Considering the economy, the fact that the community rallied and stepped up for us - I was pleased and impressed, for sure,” Routt Count Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Tommi Weeden said.

Habitat is well into the construction of the Hayden home, with drywall and roofing next on the schedule for construction manager Leif Myhre, Weeden said. He’s apt to need some skilled help with that phase of the project.

The project will receive a boost when volunteers from Colorado Group Realty turn out at the job site for Colorado Group Realty Builds Days, in their upcoming 3 scheduled days in May.

Weeden said companies and institutions that volunteer at Habitat homes are one of the most effective forms of volunteerism at the job because the individuals involved already know how to work well together.

“It can be fun for them when they get the feeling that their group can make a difference,” she said.

A portion of the proceeds from the Carpenter’s Ball will be used to leverage the next Habitat project - a building containing four two-bedroom condominiums, part of a green building project known as Eco Corral, listed by Joy Rasmussen of Colorado Group Realty.  The project is being developed by Classic Homes on Hilltop Parkway in Steamboat Springs.

Weeden said her agency would have an opportunity to finish the framed affordable units at Eco Corral for $90,000 apiece if it can raise about $200,000 between now and September.

The green building practices being used at the project would make the condos more affordable to live in, Weeden added.

“If we could pull that off, it would be remarkable,” she said.

People interested in making a contribution or volunteering to work on the home in Hayden should call Weeden at 970-871-6101.

www.steamboatpilot.com

Popularity: 4% [?]

The wait is over for Steam­boat Springs Nordic combined skier Taylor Fletcher, son of Colorado Group Realty Broker/Owner, Penny Fletcher.

“This is something that I’ve been worked for, and been waiting to happen for a while,” Fletcher said Tuesday. “It’s awesome. I did not know that it was going to happen.”

The U.S. Ski Team rewarded Fletcher, as well as his Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club teammates Brett Den­­­ney and Nick Hendrickson, for their hard work and determination by nominating them to the U.S. Ski Team’s Nordic combined squad.

They are among six local skiers who earned a spot on the 2009-10 U.S. Nordic Combined Ski Team, which national ski officials announced Tuesday. However, the team will not officially be named until later this spring, once the athletes have accepted the responsibilities of being a part of the U.S. Team.

As expected, Todd Lodwick and Johnny Spillane were named to the “A” team, and will join Billy Demong, of Vermontville, N.Y., on the U.S. Ski Team’s top tier.

The “B” team includes Steamboat’s Bryan Fletcher and Alex Miller, who were on the team last season. Steamboat’s Taylor Fletcher and Denney were also named to the “B” team.

Hendrickson, of Park City, Utah, also was named to the team along with veterans Brett and Eric Camerota. Hendrickson spent last winter in Steamboat Springs training with the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club.

www.steamboatpilot.com

Popularity: 4% [?]

Steamboat Springs - Jennifer Schubert-Akin made it 15 for 15 during Monday’s 113th Boston Marathon.

The longtime local runner completed her 15th straight Boston Marathon on Monday, in 3 hours, 59 minutes and 36 seconds.

It was the 14th time she’s finished the race in less than four hours. The only year she didn’t break the four-hour barrier was in 2002, when she missed the mark by 36 seconds because of 86-degree weather.

“It’s always a thrill to finish this race,” Schubert-Akin said from Boston on Tuesday. “The fact that it was the 15th in a row was very special. The first one was in 1995. I never thought I’d be back 14 years later running every one.”

Bart Kounovsky (COO at Colorado Group Realty) was the only other Steamboat finisher. Kounovsky finished the race in 3:29:47.

Kounovsky, who was spending the rest of the week in Boston with his family and attending a Red Sox game Wednesday, said he was happy with his time especially considering it was only his second marathon.

“The first half of the marathon I was trying to pull myself back so I didn’t run too fast, but also trying to drink it in,” he said. “I actually really enjoyed miles 16 through 21. Heartbreak Hill is there and that’s where the people are really screaming at you.”

Although Kounovsky has never run the New York City or Chicago marathons, he said he couldn’t imagine them being any better than Boston’s event.

“It’s amazing. With the way the finish is, all the people at the finish and the way the town turns out for it,” said Kounovsky, who, despite qualifying for next year’s event with his time, was unsure if he’d make the return trip.

That’s the same sentiment that’s kept Schubert-Akin coming back for the last 15 years. Although she doesn’t anticipate running any ultra-marathons this summer like she has in the past - she finished the Leadville Trail 100 last year - there’s little doubt she’ll be back in Boston to attempt No. 16.

“Absolutely. I’m already looking forward to it,” she said. “It’s hard to describe. It’s a pretty special event. It’s a pretty special race.”

www.steamboatpilot.com

Popularity: 4% [?]

Steamboat Springs-based Big Agnes has been honored as a recipient of a 2009 Backpacker magazine Editors’ Choice Award, according to a news release. The company makes sleeping bags, pads and tents.

Big Agnes was honored with an Editors’ Choice Green Award for its new Salt Creek Recycled 2 tent. In the current issue of Backpacker, the 2009 Gear Guide, Big Agnes also received accolades for new product in addition to the green award, the release stated:

■ “Best All Around” single/lightweight tents: Fly Creek UL1 Tent

■ “Best All Around” in mountaineering category: String Ridge 2 Tent

■ “Innovative Idea” for tents: Slide Mountain SL3 Tent

■ “Top Ultralight” for sleeping bags: Pitchpine SL40

Also, SNEWS Magazine’s winter issue listed co-founder and Big Agnes partner Bill Gamber as one of the outdoor industry’s 2009 “Power Players” of the year, according to the news release.

Popularity: 12% [?]

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO - “We have been members of the First Friday Artwalk for a year now, and want to support the local art community” said Annamarie Shunny, member of the board of directors.  “We have expanded our exhibit area to better showcase the wealth of talent in the Yampa Valley. Our new gallery hanging system gives our alternative exhibit venue a professional component that guest artists will find attractive.”

Colorado Group Realty has been a longtime advocate of the arts community.  One of the seven areas supported by the Colorado Group Realty Charitable Foundation is in fact the arts.  The Foundation was established in 2006, and since then has granted over $40,000 to local non-profit organizations

This month on display is a vibrant show with pieces from Janice Lawrence and Susan Schiesser.  The theme, Mud-Luscious, taken from a poem by e.e. Cummings, embraces spring with landscapes, vibrant floral and wild birds.

In addition, a permanent collection on loan from local artist Michelle Ideus is also on display.

“We are looking forward to working with the local art community to showcase our local talent” added Annamarie.  Artists interested in applying for an exhibit should contact co-curator Laurie Peter at 870-8800 or Susan Schiesser at susanschiesser@comcast.net.

Popularity: 12% [?]