By Ashley Lodato
A stylishly dressed young local woman recently overheard the following from a visitor who was perusing the racks in the French Quail in downtown Winthrop: “I can’t imagine where people who live here would wear this kind of clothing.”
Where indeed?! It may be true that much of the time we’re wearing ski garb and Carhartts, but when we have somewhere to go we clean up real nice.
Little Star Montessori held a sweet “land circle” ceremony last week, with songs and short speeches welcoming the new pieces of land into the school’s campus. For many years Little Star’s playground has been functional but quite small given the number of students that attend the school; the new property gives them space for a sledding hill and even a short Nordic ski track. If anyone thinks that pre-schoolers don’t need much outdoor play space, just imagine spending four hours inside a building with 75 kids under the age of 6 who haven’t had a chance to run around outside and get their ya-yas out.
Speaking of running around getting your ya-yas out, spectators and racers alike were happy for the return of the Doggie Dash, after a year without it due to last winter’s lack of snow at the Town Trailhead. The brilliant blue skies and sun probably helped with attendance, and people turned out in droves to watch the crazy canine-human racers run (or merely saunter) around the oval loop. Costumes were better than ever and the racing pool included Marilyn Monroe (Richard Wasson), Red Riding Hood (Lynette Westendorf), a pirate (Midge Cross), and a monkey with a banana dog (Ben Nelson).
But the crowd favorite, and the man who went home with the allegedly “coveted” Golden Poodle prize (although does anyone really covet a 2-foot tall gold-painted poodle statue? really?), was hammerhead shark John Cochran and his surf shorts-wearing dog Timber from Okanogan, who traveled over the Loup to snatch the best costume prize right out from under the local competitors’ noses in a close but uncontested clapping/cheering vote.
And one last thought, from the mouths of babes. An upcoming Nordic race in Kelowna, B.C., puts young racers in categories such as “Bantam,” “Midget,” “Pee Wee,” and “Atom.” When one racer was told that she would be a “Midget,” she immediately asked “So what’s my little sister, a dwarf?”
