Send your scuttlebutt to Scuttlebutt@SoprisSun.com.

There’s got to be something in the water … or the burgers

After all, something must be contributing to Peter Olenick’s athletic prowess. Congrats to our local hero for capturing gold medal at the X Games by winning skiing high air, the new event that closed out the games. It could be something in the water or it could be something in the burgers at the Red Rock Diner, which is owned by Peter’s dad, Bob.

What about in Jake’s case?

Was it something in the water or in the burgers at the RRD? We don’t have the answer but as we already reported, Jake Zamansky also grew up in Carbondale and was recently named to the U.S. Olympic Alpine Ski Team. What you might not know is that Jake will appear on NBC tonight at 7 p.m., when the network will air a profile of Carbondale’s first Alpine Olympic skier. He will also be featured in the documentary, “Truth in Motion: The U.S. Ski Team’s Road to Vancouver.” You can catch the trailer for the documentary at truthinmotion-movie.com.

Helping dogs and Haitians

In case you don’t remember the scuttlebutt we published recently about part-time Carbondale resident Dr. Leslie Capin, here’s a reminder: Her Chihuahua, Dr. Papidies, won the “World’s Cutest Dog” competition online and Leslie donated the prize money, $1 million, to a couple of animal shelters in Denver. Well, according to one of The Sopris Sun’s best gossip gatherers, Leslie also helped organize a medical team of 600 doctors from around the country to go to Haiti. Their final destination is Carrefour Children’s Hospital just outside of Port-au-Prince. As of Jan. 25, the group had made it to the Haitian border. Stay tuned for an update.

This is a good story

In fact, the play titled “The Budget Meeting,” about superheroes in tough economic times, is a great story. And it was written by Carbondale native Josh Fitzpatrick.
The 17-year-old Roaring Fork High School junior was one of two valley teens who had their plays selected for a performance by Theatre Masters, an Aspen-based national organization that awards and highlights young playwrights and actors.
Notably, Josh and Anna Holley, a senior at Glenwood Springs High School, whose play is titled “Just a Day at the Doctor,” were the only high schoolers who made the cut. Most of the winners were graduate students. Both plays were recently performed in Aspen at the Black Box Theatre where Josh and Anna were recognized and awarded $200 apiece for their works. Hopefully, a performance at the Thunder River Theatre in Carbondale is in the near future, then … on to Broadway.
A wee “scuttlebutt”
Our columnist Geneviève Joëlle Villamizar, who writes “Getting Grounded,” knows a lot about landscape design, gardening and growing things and offers some interesting thoughts to Sopris Sun readers. We’d like to congratulate Geneviève who is growing her own “little walnut,” as she refers to her pea in the pod due in late July. We know how knowledgeable Geneviève is, but we didn’t know about how polite she is. Geneviève e-mailed our editor and asked if The Sopris Sun would mind if she could use “Scuttlebutt” as “a nickname from time to time.” He naturally gave her official permission, but he didn’t tell her that The Sopris Sun wants royalties for the use of the name.

The Sopris Sun is an Aquarian, too

Although we don’t like to pat ourselves on the back (in public), in this case we’ve decided to break the rules and actually brag about the fact that our first birthday is coming up on Feb. 12. So happy birthday to ourselves! We have to say that our newspaper is a pretty good example of the typical Aquarian in that we like ourselves (obviously), we have good communication skills, and we’re sociable.
Because we are sociable we would like you to help us celebrate our first year. We are throwing our birthday party on Thursday, Feb. 18, at the Pour House. For more info, you take a look at our ad on page 5.
Along with us, there are some other important Aquarians celebrating their birthdays this week, including Joe Goodman, Ray Bradford, Gloria Miller and Shirley Hunt. Happy belated birthday to Aquarians Laura McCormick and Megan Larsen.