Maddie Vincent
Free gelato, free music and the annual town of Snowmass Village community photo.
That was the magical combination Aug. 15 that brought a local crowd in the hundreds to the penultimate concert of the summer on Fanny Hill.
Featuring an ice cream, or gelato, social with town of Snowmass Village council members and staff, soothing groove tunes from The Samples, and the community photo full of colorful T-shirts signifying when each person moved to the Aspen-Snowmass area, the Aug. 15t event was an all-around success.
“There was an incredible turnout this year,” said Rose Abello, director of Snowmass Tourism. “So many people like (the community photo), so I think we’ll continue to do it as an annual thing.”
Abello said in 2017 during planning for the 50th anniversary celebration of Snowmass Village, she and town officials discovered a community photo that was taken for the 25th anniversary.
So, Abello said the town decided to bring back the photo idea, asking people to dress in colors to show when they moved to the area in 2017. The town liked the photo event so much, they decided to start doing it every year.
“It’s just a fun way to annualize our community,” Abello said.
One of the community photo participants was Catalina Cruz, who sported a white jacket to show she moved to the Aspen-Snowmass area in the 1970s.
Cruz has been a ski instructor for Aspen Skiing Co. for more than 30 years, and said she hasn’t seen much change to Snowmass in that time frame, except for the new Base Village.
“I love Snowmass, it’s not ever that crowded and is always really mellow,” Cruz said. “It’s got a really neat small-town culture, especially at events like this (the free summer concert series).”
Barbara Lande and Stuart Bronfman expressed similar thoughts. Wearing red clothing to show they started coming to Snowmass in the 2000s, the couple said they live half of the year in their Top of the Village condo and the other half in Vermont.
For the past six years, they’ve earned their shiny pins for skiing over 100 days on the mountain, and have a daughter who lives in the area full time.
“We love the sun and the variety,” said Lande as she and Bronfman listened to The Samples. “We absolutely love it here.”