Letter from Chuck Downing
Recreation – September 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Martha & Ed,
In your August 2005 edition, you have a section called “Central Attractions”. While several attractions in Leadville were included there, I was disappointed that there is no mention of the Mineral Belt Trail.
The Mineral Belt Trail is an 11.6-mile, paved bicycle trail circling Leadville. It is available year round for non-motorized activities–biking, jogging, walking, cross country skiing and snowshoeing. The MBT is owned by Lake County, but administered in part by a volunteer Board. I think that you did a story about the Trail in a past issue.
So, to my question. How does an attraction get to be listed in “Central Attractions”?
Thanks for a great ‘zine.
Chuck Downing
Leadville
Dear Chuck,
“Central Attractions” used to be “Regular Events” until there got to be too many of them to put at the beginning of the calendar. So we pulled them out to stand alone (at least for the summer), and renamed them so they wouldn’t be confused with “Ongoing Events.”
There’s no particular criterion for any calendar items. We put in what people send us, as long as it’s in our region, open to the public, and the information arrives here on time.
And I also add places when notices come in about their season openings; or several calendar items mention them; or after I come across mention of a place I think readers might be interested in.
The list is frequently changed and never wholly complete. But we try to keep it current, and sometimes leave places out for a time when we can’t find an address, or phone number, or schedule.
Also, even though we don’t ordinarily list restaurants, inns, or movie houses, we do include establishments that offer regularly scheduled live en tertainment — especially if the business has a website where readers can get additional information about offerings.
To tell the truth, I can’t quite believe that we left the Mineral Belt Trail out, since we’ve walked on it many times, and we’ve published articles about it.
And the only reason I can think of for the omission is because it didn’t happen to get mentioned in any calendar items in May or June, when we were both keeping our eyes out for walking trails and parks. So thanks for the reminder.
Martha
