This was the first time the Gaden Monks have come to Gunnison. However I have a bit of a history here. I lived in Gunnison shortly after my daughter was born. We moved up here, living at Johnny Towner’s trailer park, during the winter of 1982/83. It was a tough economic time and we made a living cutting, splitting, and delivering firewood. What I always remembered though was how great the people were. We met so many people willing to lend a hand, share some conversation, and always it seemed with a smile. So even though we eventually had to move back to California to make a living, I have always hoped to return. So I really was happy to have this opportunity.

We met our organizer, Hannah, in Aspen Colorado. She was bold enough to take up the task of bringing us to Gunnison and quickly got Sherrill and Richard on board. Sherrill and Richard were kind enough to put us up in their house and soon had six monks on their hands.

Our visit to Gunnison was sponsored by the Sanctuary, Quarter-Circle Circle Ranch, and the Western State College Multicultural Center. We would also like to thank the Gunnison Art Center for allowing us to use their facility.

Our kick-off event was the film, Dalai Lama Renaissance, at the Gunnison Art Center and we had a nice turnout which allowed us to meet many members of the community. The next day we were out at the Farmer’s Market letting people know we were in town visiting. It is a great market and they even had live entertainment – a great country and rock singer with little children dancing in the grass. We met a lot of people while Hannah and Sherrill passed out fliers and got the word out. It worked well because that night we ran out of seats at the Art Center.

Another highlight of our trip was our visit out to Ann Bertschy’ ranch place for a house blessing. She has an incredible place filled with goats, sheep, rams, turkeys, a lama, dogs, cats, and all kinds of kids. She is also hosts the local 4-H group. The place was filled with family and friends (both human and animal) and everyone had a great time. I posted a lot of pictures from there including our Lama feeding the lama.

I have more to to write about, but always it seems limited internet access – hopefully soon =)

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