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Food & Wine

Mary Eshbaugh Hayes
The staff at Aspen Magazine welcomed partygoers last Wednesday to a reception at the St. Regis kicking off the 2005 Food & Wine Magazine Classic. Left to right are Sari Tuschman, Liz Judge, who is moving back to the Chicago area, Lauren Mock, Jill Benner, and Marisa Maddock. MEH photo.
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In spite of the rain and the snow, most people still had a great time at the 2005 Food & Wine Magazine Classic in Aspen. There are so many photos I will be running them this week and next.There is just so much to attend, like the Grand Tastings, cooking demonstrations by celebrity chefs, the wine tastings, the cheese tastings, luncheons by whiskey makers, book signings, the best new chefs dinner, the best student chef awards, the publisher’s dinner at the Sundeck … your head is spinning by the end of the weekend, and not just from the alcohol. And this year Aspen Magazine gave a huge cocktail reception as a kickoff for the Classic in a big tent at the St. Regis that was attended by locals from throughout the valley.The Holland America Cruise Line has joined with Food & Wine magazine to offer the Culinary Arts Center, which will take top chefs, wine experts and cookbook authors on cruises to mingle with the passengers and give cooking classes. Sounds like the Aspen Food & Wine Classic at sea. Aspen chef Charles Dale will be the featured chef on an 18-day cruise through the Panama Canal starting Sept. 24. You can learn more by visiting http://www.hollandamerica.com. When I crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 1949 on my way to a tour of Europe, I sailed on a Holland America ship named the Tabinta. However, it wasn’t a cruise ship, but an old Dutch troop ship that had been converted to a student ship.Did you know that Andy Stone is president of the Colorado Press Association, an organization that counts most newspapers in Colorado as members? Andy, a former editor of The Aspen Times, is editorial director for Colorado Mountain News Media, which owns the Times as well as the other newspapers in the Roaring Fork Valley (except the Aspen Daily News) and newspapers from Summit County to Rifle.Longtime former Aspenite Kathy O’Shana was in town this week from the Cape to sell her Aspen house on Gillespie.Sorry, I read the ad in the Daily News wrong about the book signings by local authors at Explore Booksellers. James Salter will sign copies of his new book, “Last Night,” Tuesday, June 21. Former longtime Aspenite Martie Sterling will sign copies of her book, “Pearly Everlasting: A Novel of the Aspen Silver Camp,” Wednesday, June 22. Race car driver Janet Guthrie will sign copies of her book, “A Life at Full Throttle,” Thursday, June 23. All three events will be from 5-7 p.m.Holly Anne Theobald graduated May 22 from the University of Kansas School of Law in Lawrence, Kan. Holly received the degree of juris doctorate at the hooding ceremony in the Lied Center in Lawrence. She has accepted a position in Topeka, Kan., with the law firm of Alderson, Alderson, Weiler, Conklin, Burghart and Crow. She is the daughter of the late Robert Harper and Terri Morris Theobald of Snowmass and is the fourth generation of the Harper family to enter the law profession. Family members attending the ceremony included her mother and brother, Dustin Theobald, her grandmother, Florine Theobald, and special friend Seamus Smith, attorney in a law firm in Topeka.

The Christopher Walling Pearl is one of the pearls on display through September alongside the U.S. National Gem Collection in the Natural History Museum’s Harry Winston Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution. The pearl, named for Christopher Walling, a jewelry designer in Aspen and New York, is abalone with brilliant iridescent colors and high luster. Aspen is experiencing a bad year, with several deaths from drugs, alcohol and suicide. In response, the Aspen Valley Medical Foundation is holding a conference on local mental health issues on Wednesday, June 22, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Hotel Jerome. Panels of locals will discuss personal stories of drug and alcohol addiction, and the families left behind will discuss suicide. There will also be discussions of how Aspen responds as a community. Call (970) 544-7371 to register for the conference.There is one more week to sign up for the Aspen Writers’ Foundation Summer Words Literary Festival, which will be held June 26-30 at the Hotel Jerome. This year the festival will embrace “World of Words: Ireland,” shining a spotlight on the vast literary heritage of Ireland. For more information and to sign up call the Writers’ Foundation at (970) 925-3122.Undercurrent … Be sure to fill in all the dates on your summer calendar of things you want to attend. Keep it by the phone so you can add things quickly.