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BRECKENRIDGE — During this last squeeze of Ullr week, let us pray, implore, dance, whine and beg for snow. Powder so deep, we have to wear snorkles. Powder so deep, it tickles our collar bones. Powder so deep, we have to dig tunnels.
OK, maybe not that deep, because the last time Breckenridge residents had to tunnel their way out of front doors, they ended up short of food and supplies for nearly three months.
But maybe if every Summit County skier and rider visited the Barney Ford House Museum this season to view “Breckenridge Captured on Glass: The E. Stewart Collection,” which features the Big Snow of 1898-1899, we could collectively visualize, and thus will, at least get enough big dumps to bury our cars a few times.
Really. We should try it. The worst that could happen is we get a little “snow lust” from looking at Stewart’s historic photos of townspeople standing in snow tunnels, waiting for the railroad, which was forced to cease operations for 79 days from February to April because of the white stuff.
“Some of Stewart’s photos depict the Rotary Snowplow clearing the tracks after the 79-day blockade,” said Larissa Enns, events and communications director of the Breckenridge Heritage Alliance. “It was clearly a significant moment for the town that year.”
Stewart was an amateur photographer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Breckenridge Heritage Alliance created 27 contact prints from his original glass plate negatives. In addition to the Big Snow season, his pictures depict children, parades on Main Street, the buildings on Main Street and early-day Carter Park (at the time it was Ball Park and looked very different than today’s park).
“The collection documents a noteworthy period in Breckenridge’s 150- year history,” Enns said. “Stewart’s photographs capture the town and its residents during a time of prosperity and growth.”
The exhibit was made possible by the Summit Historical Society. It will remain on display until April 2009, so get over there to burn images of Big Snow into your mind. Then, start using Jedi mind tricks, or whatever New Age vibes ya got to make it snow.
OK, maybe not that deep, because the last time Breckenridge residents had to tunnel their way out of front doors, they ended up short of food and supplies for nearly three months.
But maybe if every Summit County skier and rider visited the Barney Ford House Museum this season to view “Breckenridge Captured on Glass: The E. Stewart Collection,” which features the Big Snow of 1898-1899, we could collectively visualize, and thus will, at least get enough big dumps to bury our cars a few times.
Really. We should try it. The worst that could happen is we get a little “snow lust” from looking at Stewart’s historic photos of townspeople standing in snow tunnels, waiting for the railroad, which was forced to cease operations for 79 days from February to April because of the white stuff.
“Some of Stewart’s photos depict the Rotary Snowplow clearing the tracks after the 79-day blockade,” said Larissa Enns, events and communications director of the Breckenridge Heritage Alliance. “It was clearly a significant moment for the town that year.”
Stewart was an amateur photographer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Breckenridge Heritage Alliance created 27 contact prints from his original glass plate negatives. In addition to the Big Snow season, his pictures depict children, parades on Main Street, the buildings on Main Street and early-day Carter Park (at the time it was Ball Park and looked very different than today’s park).
“The collection documents a noteworthy period in Breckenridge’s 150- year history,” Enns said. “Stewart’s photographs capture the town and its residents during a time of prosperity and growth.”
The exhibit was made possible by the Summit Historical Society. It will remain on display until April 2009, so get over there to burn images of Big Snow into your mind. Then, start using Jedi mind tricks, or whatever New Age vibes ya got to make it snow.
