BRECKENRIDGE - A bluegrass tribute to the jam-band Phish - and by extension, Sean Travis, Michael Winepol and Lindsay Malkiewicz - wafted over the cold August air at Carter Park on Sunday, when about 200 friends and family members gathered to celebrate three lives cut short.

Travis, Winepol and Malkiewicz died in a head-on car wreck in Underhill, Vt., Aug. 13 while en route to a Phish concert in Coventry, Vt. Vermont State Patrol officials believe Travis fell asleep and drifted into the oncoming lane of traffic.

Those who gathered Sunday were there to remember the good times - Travis' goofy smile and his quirky sense of humor, the costumes he'd wear to events and his thoughtfulness, charity and passion for life.

Travis moved to Summit County after attending college, and he was supposed to go on to a career in veterinary medicine, his mother Vicky said. But no, Travis' friends reminded her repeatedly throughout the day: "Sean T" was meant to be a bartender.

"Sorry, Herschel," Matt Thompson said to Travis' father. "He thought bartending, going to shows and snowboarding was the pinnacle of civilization."

Each story brought laughs, but beneath them all was the knowledge that there were a lot of hurting families in Summit County this week.

"You, the people of Breckenridge, are one of those families," Herschel said. "How much can one family take? We will hurt for a long time."

Herschel said his son moved to Colorado for the skiing, boarding and the mountains, and he enjoyed life to the fullest. Every year, Herschel visited his son in March, when Travis would introduce him to his friends, saying, "This is my Pops. I'm hanging out with him this week.'"

He spoke of Travis' love for Malkiewicz, and how glad he was to see his son so happy when he was around her.

"She had this gorgeous smile, this flirtatious sense of humor," Herschel said. "They had so much in common. I told her I hadn't seen Sean this happy in a long time, and she said she hoped she could continue to do so. A friend told us some day, someone would sweep him off his feet. It has ended here on Earth, but it will go on for eternity for them."

And there are other stories.

Herschel noted - much to the surprise of some - that his son, a hard-core Phish-head, once even took Malkiewicz to a Wayne Newton concert in Las Vegas.

"Can you imagine Sean liking Wayne Newton?" Herschel said to a laughing crowd. "He didn't even like vocals in his music."

Friends told stories about Travis showing up at barbecues with pigs hooves and throwing them on the grill. Or arriving late to a bowling game - wearing a 1980s suit with paper bowling pins and the name ACE emblazoned upon it. The "rusty gold chains" topped it off.

The mullets he sported, the grilled cheese sandwiches he sold at Phish shows, the "Spank Me" license plate sported on his van - all of it was quintessential Travis.

Other friends - some of whom traveled here from the East Coast - told the crowd of the trio's last night when they laughed and smiled until the early morning.

Thompson remembered meeting Travis at a Red Rocks concert. They got to talking, and Travis invited them to come visit him at the Salt Creek Saloon.

"We'd come by the Creek once, twice a week," Thompson said. "But it was October, the Salt Creek was closed. We thought he was pulling a trick on us; this bar isn't open. Oh man, we loved him so much."

Friends said Travis was the kind of guy who could turn a bad day into a good one, who was willing to give someone the shirt off his back - "but only because he liked taking his shirt off," one woman said.

Numerous friends reminded each other that Travis often told them to take life a little less seriously, to spend time on themselves, friends and family and not work so hard.

"The greatest gift was how he brought so many wonderful people together," said Mike Slavin, manager of the Salt Creek. "He knew how to pick people, although some people say he didn't pick them. They just surrounded him."

Herschel said he has spent the last few days wondering why God took the three away so soon.

"How could this be? How could God let this happen?" he said. "For some, this is God's plan; He's got a better future planned for us and them. Otherwise, what happens on Earth makes no sense.

"But I believe there's no way God would take these three away and cause this much pain. God's like parents: He gives them this body and soul but eventually they go out on their own and live their own lives. He gives us this gift and He can't save us from the evils here on Earth. They're in God's care now."



Jane Stebbins can be reached at (970) 668-3998, ext. 228, or jstebbins@summitdaily.com.