Snowmass history: Sound and silence

“Sound & Silence,” a headline in The Aspen Times read June 17, 1982. “The crowd was smaller, the barbecue lunch was tastier, and the entire Deaf Camp Picnic was more a day for locals than it has been for the last several years. As one picnic-goer said, ‘It was the most organized Deaf Camp Picnic I’ve been to since the old days when it was just a small off-season picnic for the locals.’

‘And,’ he added, ‘I had a great time.’

Raising money for deaf children from all over the country to attend the Aspen Camp School for the Deaf were many of Aspen’s finest local talents. Headlining the 14th annual picnic was the Dirt Band. Deaf children and picnic-goers danced beneath the bandstand. The buses ran smoothly. There was only one arrest. The sun broke through the clouds. The beer supplies held out just fine. All in all, despite the absence of picnic traditionals John Denver and Jimmy Buffett, everyone agreed that it had been one of the best ever.”