Aspen T.R.E.E. Community Thanksgiving Dinner (& Warren Miller).

The Chefs were cooking at Aspen T.R.E.E.For the 7th year in a row, Aspen T.R.E.E. presented their FREE Community Thanksgiving Dinner.  Once again it was a plentiful feast enjoyed by all.  About 700 diners rolled through the Aspen High School cafeteria to a enjoy a full-on farm-to-table  FREE Thanksgiving Dinner.

 Click Aspen T.R.E.E. to learn more about all their good work and their push for a sustainable future.

The cooking, the serving, the cleaning, it's all done by volunteers.  The free community dinner is one of my favorite events of the season.   It's a true cross-section of Aspen's populace. From the bro-brah ski bums to the senior citizen brigade to young families with tons of kids...everybody showed up for the tasty, locally produced chow.   Even a few billionaires couldn't resist a FREE Community Thanksgiving. As always, the spirit and camaraderie at Aspen T.R.E.E. was fun and exciting.

A. Party got right in there, serving meals, bussing tables and greeting guests.  We almost forgot to take some sick pix...but we didn't.  

Click: Aspen T.R.E.E. (& Warren Miller) to see the best ones.

Later that night...

Lane, Casey and Tats passing out swag at Warren Miller.For the 65th year in a row Warren Miller presented his annual ski flick at The Wheeler Opera House.  A packed house showed up on a cold & snowy night (thats how we love it) to revel in the ski porn of No Turning Back.   As always the footage, the scenery, the athletes and the shredding was phenomenal.  But the buzz in the crowd was even better.   Many of us here in Aspen have already been ripping on Ajax all week...so there were a lot of stiff legs climbing the stairs at The Wheeler.   Hosted by one of Aspen's favorite ski bums Lane Johnson along with his able assistants and fellow POW chasers Chris Tatsuno and Casey Vandenbroek, No Turning Back resulted in a near riot.  Well not really...but the crowd was pretty rowdy.  Spurred on by the 3 headed emcees...the Wheeler turned into a full on dance party.  One thing is certain...everybody was praying for POW.

Click for pix.  Aspen T.R.E.E. (& Warren Miller).

The hostesses at Aspen T.R.E.E.. Service with a smile for 700 people.It's always a blast at the Aspen T.R.E.E. free Thanksgiving Dinner.The Wheeler exploded in a full-on dance party at Warren Miller's ski film No Turning Back

Giving Thanks with Aspen T.R.E.E.

About 1000 free meals were serves at Aspen High School.For the 6th consecutive year Aspen T.R.E.E. provided a free Thanksgiving dinner to the entire Aspen Community.  It's estimated that 1000 dinners were served last night at the Aspen High School commons. Roaring Fork Valley residents from every demographic category enjoyed a tasty feast prepared with almost 100% locally grown and sustainable foods.  It's a farm to table experience for everyone.  It's a great way to share in the abundance of our community.

Click 4 Pix: GIVING THANKS

Aspen T.R.E.E.  stands for Together Regenerating the Environment through Education.  Eden Vardy the executive director of Aspen T.R.E.E. has been beating the drum of sustainability in Aspen for years.  His farming activities and educational programs have helped to create awareness in one of the most aware places in the world.

The Community Meal is one of my favorite events of the social season in Aspen.  First of all its a celebration of Thanksgiving...one of my favorite holidays.  Those of us that live in Aspen and the neighboring areas have plenty to be thankful for.   Secondly it indicates that the start of a new ski season is upon us.  

The Aspen Community Meal brings everybody together.  Billionaires (well maybe just millionaires) dine with homeless people.   It bridges generations of Aspen locals...from babies to seniors...the room is filled with smiling faces.  It's apparent that everyone loves to be served a free Thanksgiving repast and sit amongst their neighbors and peers.  This year A.Party enjoyed it from a different angle.  I was a volunteer waiter serving section 3 under the supervision of our Captain, Jill Dorken Schultze.  JDS and I, along with Debbie from Aspen Powder Tours got into a  rhythm of efficiancy...we slayed it.  We  served about 100 meals in 1 1/2 hours.  While I probably don't have the correct  temperament for a permanent position in the food service industry...waiting & bussing tables at the Aspen Community Meal was a fabulous experience. Getting payed with smiles and glowing holiday faces made me feel like a billionaire.   

So thanks to ASPEN T.R.E.E. for all you do.  Thanks to my fellow volunteers for pitching in, and thanks for the Roaring Fork Valley  community for reminding me what a beautiful life we lead.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING from ASPEN SPIN.

Click 4 Pix: GIVING THANKS

The kitchen staff...all volunteers made the evening flow. Click 4 pix.Some of the many volunteers at the Aspen Community meal by Aspen T.R.E.E. click 4 pix.A group of 8 bro-brahs invaded section 3. No problemo...everyone chowed. Click 4 pix.Aspen T.R.E.E. Exec. Dir Eden Vardy stands proudly with his dad Itzik . Click 4 pix.

Aspen Community Dinner with Aspen T.R.E.E.

Eden Vardy, founder of Aspen T.R.E.E. with Aspen's Mayor Mick Ireland. Click for pix.Thanksgiving dinner for 1500 people.  Niiiice!!!

Almost 4,000 pounds of food was consumed last night in Aspen. All of it locally grown, all of it organic and sustainable and it was  all free for everyone.  Thank you to Aspen T.R.E.E. (Together Regenerating the Environment through Education) for hosting The 5th annual Aspen Community Dinner.

Click 4 Pix:  Aspen Community Dinner

Nutritious eats were served up "farm to table" hot and tasty at Aspen High School by Aspen T.R.E.E. and a large cadre of volunteers and supporters.  Turkey and all the fixin's was grown and raised entirely right here in the Roaring Fork Valley.  The Aspen Community Dinner has quickly become one of AspenSpin's favorite events.  The free feast draws a very eclectic crowd and feeds people from all walks of life.  It's a true community gathering.  The holiday atmosphere and the "open house" feeling creates a mixture of local families, young people, rippers & shredders, and some folks who live right on the edge here in our Valley as well as some of Aspen's most affluent residents.   It's all in good fun and the room is filled with the smells and sounds of a home cooked Thanksgiving meal along with plenty of smiling faces.

We here in Aspen have plenty to be thankful for.  Our beautiful home is surrounded by mountains that  effectively shelter us from some of the harshities of real life.  Plus we recreate harder than almost any other town in the world.  Thanksgiving means a lot of different things to a lot of different people.  This year I'm especially thankful for our environment...or what we have left of it. Please read my previous article, The Party Farm.   It's a true story about my fears of climate change or global warming..whatever you want to call it.  I explored contributing to an urban farming project in Detroit (my home town) as a way to take action.  Eden Vardy and Aspen T.R.E.E. helped educate me about farming and sustainable lifestyle practices prior to my trip to Detroit.   Eden gave me a crash course,, the twitter version of farming 101.  The Aspen T.R.E.E. and their small farm off Highway 82 just outside of town is an example of what can be.  They GROW, LEARN SHARE and INSPIRE.  Their mission:  Empower Youth and Community through Positive, Solution Oriented Sustainability and Healthy Food-Shed Education.  

Click to learn more about Aspen T.R.E.E.The Farm-to-Table Community Dinner is something Aspen should be proud of as a community. We are leaders in sustainability...and each and every one of us can help spread the word to friends and relatives.   We are on the forefront of the climate war...and make no mistake...the war is on.  

I especially enjoyed the joy and excitement on the faces of those being served and on those volunteers doing the serving.  Taking part in the Aspen Community Dinner made me feel warm and fuzzy all over.  The fact that opening day for ski season is 2 days from now, there's very little snow and it was sunny and 50 degrees today may have contributed to the warm aspect of it.  But it was a great event and we at AspenSpin support the great efforts of Aspen T.R.E.E. 

Click 4 pix:  ASPEN COMMUNITY DINNER

Volunteers worked the kitchen at the Aspen Community Meal hoste by Aspen T.R.E.E. Click 4 pix.Max and Shlomo and the boys getting ready to chow down at Aspen T.R.E.E.'s FREE Dinner. Click 4 Pix.Willie was cracking up at The Aspen Community Dinner. Fun for All. Click for pix.