Published in the Durango Herald on April 10, 2015
If you saw a group of people giddily clinking glasses at the Ore House on Tuesday, you might want to find out what they were celebrating.
They were the Top Fundraising Team and the Top Theme Team at the Dave Spencer Ski Classic at the end of February, and the award comes with $50 gift cards thanks to the generosity of the folks at the restaurant.
Dave Trautmann’s team raised $18,000.
It seems like the variations on the theme of the Arc of History are endless and endlessly entertaining.
Trautmann’s team – which also included Brian Shafer, Miles Lillard and Michelle and Mark James – took on the theme as the T. Rex Tumblers, putting on their creative caps to get the sculpture fit for skiing. Lillard used his mojo on some Domino’s Pizza boxes, so they became the rocks. Trautmann took on the tail, scoring a vaccuum hose, nozzle intact, at the Methodist Thrift Shop. And Shafer, continuing his run as the top fundraiser who’s also an Adaptive Sports participant at the event, with $7,000, became the dinosaur head. In fact, he had two dinosaur heads, a large one for the costume competition and a smaller one he could put atop his helmet so he could get under the safety bar on the lift and ski. Trautmann raised almost $4,700, and Lillard brought in $5,800, so they came in first and second place in the Top Fundraising Adult Category.
(Shafer, who has been on the team for nine years, is also in charge of the aforementioned glass clinking, a responsibility he takes quite seriously.)…