Steamboat Today: Photos for September 6, 2009

Tom Thurston, driving the team connected to a the four-wheeler, and employee Evan Brill-Kowles use a four-wheeler to train sled dogs. Thurston hopes to have the dogs ready to compete in this year's Iditarod and several other planned races.

Published on September 6, 2009

Sled dog racer Tom Thurston spends a few moments with Blackbear at the kennel before hitching the dog up for an early morning run along a county road near Oak Creek.

Published on September 6, 2009

Steamboat Springs bikers Ian Prichard, right, and Barkley Robinson prepare for Saturday's race during the Steamboat Springs Stage Race at Marabou Ranch.

Published on September 6, 2009

Kelsey Butler, of Steamboat Springs, hits over Glenwood Springs' Kenzi Caple in Saturday's Demon Invitational championship match.

Published on September 6, 2009

Tom Thurston's dogs are ready to hit the road after a short break on a training run along a Routt County Road near Oak Creek.

Published on September 6, 2009

Thurston checks the paws of his dogs after a training run. Thurston says the inspection is part of his daily routine. It prevents injury and prepares his dogs for the checks during grueling races like the Iditarod.

Published on September 6, 2009

Steamboat Springs senior Colleen King directs the ball past Glenwood Springs junior Taylor Nicola in Saturday's Demon Invitational championship match.

Published on September 6, 2009

Thurston talks about his dogs and what it takes to get them ready for races.

Published on September 6, 2009

Tom Thurston visits with his lead dogs during a stop at the halfway point of a training run on a county road near Oak Creek. Thurston uses the stop to water the dogs and train them for what life will be like on the trail during races like the Iditarod.

Published on September 6, 2009

Tom Thurston's huskies pant while waiting for water at the halfway point of a training run along a county road near Oak Creek.

Published on September 6, 2009

Thurston, driving the team on the four-wheeler, and employee Evan Brill-Kowles train sled dogs along a county road near Oak Creek. Thurston hopes to have the dogs ready to compete in next year's Iditarod and several other races.

Published on September 6, 2009

Thurston talks about his dogs and what it takes to get them ready for races.

Published on September 6, 2009

Matt Dunsmore falls from Crazy Legs during the 2008 PBR Rocky Mountain Bull Bash Professional Bull Riding event in Steamboat Springs. Gates for this year's Bull Bash open at 3 p.m. today at the Brent Romick Rodeo Arena.

Published on September 6, 2009

Seventeen-year-old Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club freestyle skier Taylor Miller launches off the ramps Saturday at Bald Eagle Lake during the inaugural SSWSC Huck-a-thon. Miller finished third in the men's division.

Published on September 6, 2009

Soroco High School junior Ceanna Rossi sets the ball during practice Thursday.

Published on September 6, 2009

A banner over Lincoln Avenue advertises events in Steamboat Springs. The city has developed new framework for how it allocates money to community support organizations that include the Steamboat Springs Pro Rodeo Series, Mainstreet Steamboat Springs and the Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association.

Published on September 6, 2009

Soda Creek Elementary School teacher Beth Leech leads her class outside after school Friday. Enrollment in Steamboat Springs schools increased slightly this year despite the economic recession, which some administrators thought would have caused families to leave Steamboat.

Published on September 6, 2009

Eric Baldwin takes off Saturday in his 1941 Boeing Stearman biplane.

Published on September 6, 2009

Eight-year-old Brooks Birkinbine, of Steamboat Springs, smiles as his mother, Betsy, takes a picture of him in the nose of the World War II-era North American B-25 Mitchell Bomber.

Published on September 6, 2009

Charlie Huff of Crawford pilots his J-3 Piper Cub built in the 1940s.

Published on September 6, 2009

Jen Alexander finishes her ride in Charlie Huff's plane Saturday during the Wild West Air Fest. The festival continues today from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Published on September 6, 2009

The Mac Ranch carries a full line of Apple products.

Published on September 6, 2009

Mac Ranch technicians Chris Dickson, right, and David MacMaster work on a machine.

Published on September 6, 2009

Elissa Daly and Dave Sessions opened the Mac Ranch on Eighth Street last month. Sessions said the Mac Ranch is growing despite the shrinking economy.

Published on September 6, 2009

The Hayden Chamber of Commerce hired Mary Pat Dunn, an artist and the Hayden Heritage Museum director, to paint the 2006 Centennial Seal on the outside wall at Yampa Valley Regional Airport. Kevin Copeland made the original artwork.

Published on September 6, 2009

John Kole

Published on September 6, 2009

Hayden Public Library's new teen corner includes youth-focused reading materials and games.

Published on September 6, 2009

A summer's worth of work went into the new teen corner at Hayden Public Library. Library Director Ana Lash, right, shows off photos of the process at a ribbon-cutting Thursday. Lysa Valora, left, helped design and create the corner.

Published on September 6, 2009

Local banker John Kerst, who was named the 2006 Business Leader of the Year and the 2005 Philanthropist of the Year, is being honored as a community advocate for health care.

Published on September 6, 2009

Larry Bookman, director of emergency medicine and chief medical officer at Yampa Valley Medical Center, is being honored for his more than 40-year career in health care. Bookman and John Kerst, pictured below, are the first winners of the Doc Willett Health Care Heritage Award.

Published on September 6, 2009

Kathy South-Woodford plays the drums with her children Liam, 3, middle and Noah, 5. South-Woodford will be teaching Music Together classes, for parents and children ages 4 and younger, in Oak Creek beginning Sept. 15.

Published on September 6, 2009