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Hey, Spike! welcomes back tumbling Tumbleweed

Miles F. Porter IV
Special to the Daily
Special to the Daily

Summer on The Summit is in full roar, and it’s most welcome after a lengthy — and needed — wet spring.

Tonight and most of Saturday, Bernie Murphy is hosting his “keeping the Buddy Nicholson ODI spirit alive” musical gathering at Murphy’s Irish Pub in Silverthorne.

You’ll get to see local favorites Tumbleweed, Tennessee Hat Band, the Rifters, and Richmond Brothers, all of whom played the Old Dillon Inn for decades.



While the once-popular Mexican food restaurant and bar today sits vacant, the fun times are recalled and new ones will be added to the mind’s memory bank.

And having gone to Adams State College in the late 1960s and early ’70s, with many of them, like Big Jim Conder, John Sanders, Fred Spears, Billy Clark, Donnie Soapes, Don and “Diamond Jim” Richmond, Spike can attest to their talents as educated musicians.



“My hat goes off to Bernie Murphy for holding this event that means so much to so many. Since the early 1970s, the Alamosa-based music scene produced some of the best pickers and bands in the region,” says Big Jim. “From the early incarnations of Tumbleweed and the Hat Band came a cadre of musicians who are all still actively and professionally engaged in music, whether in Texas, Maryland or Colorado. “

“It’s been about 35 years since the Hat Band played together with these assembled musicians, but, I’ll guarantee it’ll sound better than ever. The many fans of good music and fun times will add immeasurably to the true sense of reunion,” Jim notes.

“The fact that all these great musicians are taking the time to take a break from reality and come to Murphy’s Irish Pub and play their incredible brand of music for all of us oldtimers from the glory days at the Old Dillon Inn is truly humbling to me. These guys are heroes to us,” says Bernie “Maddog” Murphy.

“We cannot wait, and our friends are coming in from all over the planet to join us — Ruby is even coming from Bali. Others are coming from California, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Virginia, Texas and Illinois, all over Colorado. Sounds good to me,” he adds.

***

A Summit Daily reader writes:

“After a month of carrying my backpack around Spain, I have finally managed to get you a picture,” emails the lovely Hillary Papp, also known as the Toast of Prost, where she’s worked when not traveling.

“Everything is going great, I have been been beaching it for the last couple weeks,” Hillary says from the island of Ibiza, off the coast of Spain.

Earlier this spring, the Dillon Valley homeowner was in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Her note led us to Google and here’s your geography lesson today:

“Ibiza Town (pop. 49,516); Ibiza is an island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses.

“The relatively small island and its cities have become world-famous for their associations with tourism, nightlife, and the electronic music the island has originated. It is well known for its summer club scene which attracts very large numbers of tourists, but the island’s government and the Spanish Tourist Office have controversially been working to promote more family-oriented tourism.”

Miles F. Porter IV, nicknamed “Spike,” a Coloradan since 1949, is an Army veteran, former Climax miner, graduate of Adams State College, and a local since 1982. An award-winning investigative reporter, he and wife Mary E. Staby owned newspapers here for 20 years. Email your social info to milesfporteriv@aol.com


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