After retiring to the historic mountain town of Durango, Colorado with her husband, Suzanne Parker noticed that she would sometimes see people strolling downtown who were dressed in period attire from the late 1800’s. An avid seamstress who first picked up a needle and thread about the age of 12, her interest in Victorian attire was piqued – and the rest, as they say, is history – literally! It didn’t take long before she and her husband were immersed in all things Victorian.

Soon, Suzanne was approached by the then mayor of Durango, who wanted to know if she would be interested in putting together an event that would celebrate the town’s history. In short, she was VERY interested! As Chairperson of the Steering Committee for the Durango Heritage Celebration, she organized several like-minded ladies and gents who were already interested in preserving and celebrating Durango’s history. These good folks became the steering committee for the celebration, which blossomed into a three-plus day affair. In the four years since its inception, Suzanne reports that most of this group of “worker bees” remains the same. You can find out about the Celebration, and “meet” the steering committee by clicking on the “about DHC” tab on their website at http://durangoheritage.org/.

Suzanne agreed to be interviewed by Recollections as their fourth annual Heritage Celebration is being planned. Sue McDonald, who writes for Recollections, attended last year’s celebration, and is currently making plans to attend this year as well. The dates will be October 6 – 9, 2011.

Recollections: How many people attend the Durango Heritage Celebration?

Suzanne: It’s a bit difficult to estimate the total number of people who attend our annual Oct. event. We have the records of ticketed and reserved activities, but many locals only attend the free-of-charge ones. I would estimate that about 200 to 250 people attend at least one of our activities.

Recollections: What are your favorite things about the event?

Suzanne: Gosh, there are a lot! I think the top favorite for me is how many really great people I meet, both in planning, soliciting funding, promoting the event and, of course, those who attend the DHC! I feel now, after three years of completed events, that many of our returning guests are my friends and I love corresponding with them and hearing how much they enjoy the event. I also enjoy the planning and organizing that go into this event – most of the time anyway! I’m a planner, so this is perfect for me and provides me with a lot of satisfaction. Third, of course, I love having a reason to make all kinds of new Victorian and Edwardian costumes each year; things I plan to wear myself, and things I make for others who help with our event and those we offer for sale in the Durango Emporium. And finally, I love attending our activities and seeing and hearing how much people are enjoying themselves. It’s a gift, really!

Recollections: Have you had any surprises while planning or having this event?

Suzanne: The all-time biggest negative surprise occurred during our first year, when we were holding our Victorian Ball in our old Power House, which had no water and no restrooms. The day of the ball Durango had very high winds and, sure enough, during the ball, one of the Porta Potties blew over! A good surprise was how easy it was to fund our event. There’s been nothing bad so far, but it’s not over yet!

Recollections: You mentioned how easy it was to get funding for the event. Who were the major contributors?

Suzanne: If I said it “was easy” to get funding for the Heritage Celebration, I misspoke a bit. I should have said that we have found local businesses and private contributors to be very generous to us, but that’s the way people and businesses are here. They do support events that bring visitors to our town, so we were fortunate to have that. Also we have a Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) that has been extremely supportive of our event from its beginnings. That group is funded in part by the City of Durango and in part by our downtown merchants. Besides our BID, our other major contributors have been the First National Bank of Durango, La Plata Electric Company, Conoco Phillips, the Strater Hotel, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and the Southwest Community Foundation. Besides these, we have also benefited from small business contributions, and are grateful for all the support we have received.

Recollections: How did you settle with the Strater Hotel as your central venue? Of course the site is perfect, but did they approach you, or was it the other way around?

Suzanne: To be very honest, I don’t believe our event could occur successfully without the fabulous Historic Strater Hotel http://www.strater.com/ and the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad http://www.durangotrain.com/. Locally our Victorian group, Mrs. Camp’s Town Ladies & Gents (named for Durango “first lady” Estelle Camp), participates in many activities that involve the Strater Hotel, as well as the D&SNGRR; the Strater’s owners, Rod & Laurie Barker, are also members of our group. It is an ideal “marriage” and is mutually beneficial. As the event was initially being organized, it was just logical to hold many of the activities at the hotel, in order to allow our participants to experience even more of Victorian and Old West life in Durango. The ultimate way for our guests to immerse themselves in that experience is to stay at the hotel during our event, thereby truly “living” in Victorian Durango!

Recollections: Do sales from the Emporium benefit someone? (Author’s note: The Emporium takes place on Friday morning each year. Attendees can browse for items like parasols, capes, hats, reticules, fichus, gentlemen’s cravat ties and top hats and other “must have” Victorian accessories. The 2011 Emporium will be expanding to include more merchandise.)

Suzanne: The Heritage Celebration is a non-profit corporation, under the federal requirements of a 501(c)(3). All proceeds from our event, other than those made by our various participating businesses, are returned to the event coffers to help fund the next year’s event. Everyone who works on the event is a volunteer, including me and the rest of our event’s steering committee. I estimate that I personally spend an average of around 15 hours a week every single week of the year on organizing this event, getting sponsors, making items for the Emporium (along with others), creating marketing and more. That’s the long answer! The short one is that sales from the Emporium are directly returned to the event for the next year’s event.

Recollections: I know the activities are different year to year. Do you have a basic “template” for the three days, and then fill in the slots?

Suzanne: We do seem to have sort of a “template” for the activities included each year in our event. Thus far, the Heritage Celebration has included every year the Heritage Train Ride, a tea or luncheon and historic fashion show, our Grand Victorian Ball, a Victorian dance class, an historic tour of one of our cemeteries and various presentations with historic interest.

Recollections: Do you have any words of wisdom for others who might like to do something similar in their home towns?

Suzanne: First I’d have to say that it takes a TON of time, energy and organization to make it as successful as those who give us feedback report that it is! Sometimes my husband says he thinks I have a new job, although I’m technically retired — and there are many more individuals who contribute along the same lines. In my experience, an event such as this is most likely to be successful in a smallish historic town, which is very supportive of the event. Eventually word-of-mouth becomes great advertising, but along with that, I believe good purchased marketing to specialty audiences is critical. I would always be happy to share our experiences with others who wish to try an event similar to ours, and I wish them good luck! I do believe our sluggish economy has made this and other events more difficult, but that will improve — someday!