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Community spirit

May Selby

Aspen Young Professionals Association hosted its third anniversary party on Wednesday, June 7, at Genre Bistro. Unlike most functions hosted by AYPA, the annual networking event was simply an evening of socializing and kicking off the summer. With complimentary appetizers and a lively atmosphere, the party was open to the public for a nominal fee and free for members.American National Bank, Gibson Architects, Blue Tent Marketing and Genre Bistro shared the bill as event sponsors. According to Peter Scott of Blue Tent Marketing, a new media marketing company based in Basalt, the anniversary party served as an “excellent venue for social networking and business development within the ever-growing community of young professionals here in the Roaring Fork Valley. We look forward to continued involvement with AYPA and its members.”Carleen Joseph of Aspen Youth Experience noted she enjoys attending AYPA functions, which offer an opportunity to meet and connect with new friends as well as enlist potential volunteers for youth programs she coordinates.Charter member Jim Veshancey reminisced about the first AYPA get-together on the front porch at Genre several summers ago.

“There were so few of us here, we just sat at one table.” A mere three years later, Veshancey stood wide-eyed in the corner of the room, feeling just a little bit responsible for the impressive turnout. The various activities and events coordinated by AYPA throughout the year include a speaker series, barbecues, wine tastings, an annual benefit, community volunteer projects, and panel discussions on local and state political issues. To join or learn about upcoming events, check the website, http://www.aspenypa.com.Another group of young like-minded locals connected on Saturday, June 10, for “Go Roadless Day” throughout the valley. C-RAD is a group of residents of communities in the White River National Forest region focused on building support for continued roadless area protections. Their goal is to protect the recreational, economic and ecological values of our nation’s most-visited national forest by keeping its roadless areas as they are – roadless Approximately a dozen organized hikes concentrated on adopting roadless areas took place on June 10. Hikers dispersed throughout the White River National Forest in an effort to show their support to protect these threatened regions, which could be opened up to drilling, logging, mining and other development. On Wednesday, June 21, a roadless task force public hearing for the White River National Forest will take place at Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs from 5-8:45 p.m. The public comment portion of the hearing will start at around 7 p.m. To ensure massive pro-roadless representation at the hearing, C-RAD will host an “I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Roadless Areas” ice cream social from 4 p.m. on, in the parking lot of Mountain Sports Outlet. Everyone is welcome to stop by for ice cream, snacks, information and pro-roadless stickers to wear before heading into the hearing. For information on roadless area defense, visit http://www.wrroadless.org.