Telluride Contest: Festi-Love
I wasn’t there those many years ago as Tony, a single father, walked into Town Park with his son, Dylan, in tow. They had come to experience the music and activities during the Telluride Bluegrass Festival with open ears and open hearts. Somewhere along the way they met Teresa and, as the story was told to me, she followed them home and happiness prevailing as it often does, she never left.
Prior to TBF in 2008 Tony and Teresa decided to wed in Town Park during the Pre-Fest activities. Dylan’s suggestion of a Tye-Dye Wedding turned into a project for the young teen and he took it on with a seriousness no wedding planner ever had. You see, Dylan’s idea was to tye-dye t-shirts as wedding attire for the Festivarian guests, gifts to give rather than receive, and on that note the party had already begun for their little family. Lists of names were made, shirt sizes guessed and purchased along with dye. Dylan was on a mission of his own making and the end result would remain a memory that none of us would ever forget.
Not long after arriving in Telluride, for the 35th Anniversary of the festival, I heard that the Festivarian Family had been invited to a Tye-Dye wedding on Sunday prior to the festival’s start. It was amazing to watch as the camps became excited for the happy couple. Camp WanderIn would hold the wedding and the “Jailhouse Boys”, Rob and Tommy, decided a proper reception should be in order and set out on a mission of their own. By Sunday afternoon a wedding band was well practiced and they played as the Bride walked towards her groom through a sea of Tye-Dye shirts made by their son Dylan. It was a joy to hear later that Dylan had been read each name, or the name of a couple, and then went off to pick colors that he thought would suit each individual.
Yet, there was still one mystery that I couldn’t quite figure out the entire time the vows were being said. Behind the Bride and Groom, the Preacher and the Mayor, there lay on the table a rock weighing down a twenty-dollar bill. Thinking it may be a Western Custom that I hadn’t come across in my life I asked Jailhouse Rob if he had noticed the rock and they money. He just grinned. “Tell me”, I insisted. “It’s from George, the gentleman that empties the dumpsters everyday. You see my dear, everybody’s family during Festival!”