Surrounded by cultural artifacts near the front of the Cortez Cultural Center and paintings near the back, Executive Director Shere Holleman wiped down stacked black riser cube stands near the paintings in preparation for the evening’s Food and Culture Dessert Auction.
She sat down and pointed to the new coffee bar that was recently put in. While she hopes that October’s festivities bring people together, she also hopes that the community will transform the coffee counter into a coffee house.
Earlier this year during winter, the Cultural Center brainstormed fundraisers and ways to bring community members in. Their cultural specialist, Aaron Hammond, came up with the idea that since October was the month for harvest, it would be a perfect time to celebrate Southwest Colorado’s food and culture since, well, everybody eats.
This month, the Cortez Cultural Center is hosting Everybody Eats, a monthlong festival that brings the community together to celebrate food and culture during the most bountiful time of the year.
“We’ve all got food stories. ‘I hate this. I love this. My mother made me eat this, my mother made the best, my father made the best or this is what I grew up with,’” said Holly Tatnall, Cortez Cultural Center board president. “I don’t think there’s one person in the world that doesn’t have a food story. Food and culture create community.”
The festivities kicked off Oct. 6 with the Food and Culture Dessert Auction.
“Life is short, so we thought we’d start off with dessert,” Holleman said.
Throughout the month the Cultural Center will continue to hold Culinary Adventures where participants take part in guided tours at local businesses in Montezuma County and the celebration will close with Food from the Heart: Tastings sand Stories on Oct. 28.
So far, they gave tours at the Cortez Farmers Market, Pueblo Seed, the Ute Mountain Ute Farm and Ranch and Los Miramontes Lavender Farm.
Although the month is halfway complete, two more Culinary Adventures are set to take place this weekend.
Stonefish Sushi will host a sushi rolling tour on Oct. 21 and the next day, a tour will be held at Tomato Guys of Cortez’s greenhouse.
The finale event, Food from the Heart: Tastings and Stories will close the festival as cooks and storytellers share “tastes of the food they honor” while they narrate what the food means for them and their community from 5 to 7 p.m.
Further information and tickets can be bought on the Everybody Eats website.
As the Cultural Center has been at a crossroads and needs community support, they also thought up ways to bring in a sustainable revenue stream that would lure folks.
“I’ve talked with so many people who’ve lived here for 10, 20, 30 years and they don’t come in. There’s so much here. A friend of mine likes to say it’s an experience,” Holleman said. “It’s (the Cultural Center) always changing, so there’s a reason to come in often. We have the Native American dances in the summer and that brings a lot of folks, but it’s mostly tourists. What we really are trying to do is bring local people in.”
Their grand idea to help bring in locals came to light in August and with the help of the Cortez Rotary and volunteers, the coffee counter was built and the Community Coffeehouse was born.
“We’re not the early morning coffee crowd. It’s like the midmorning coffee break kind of crowd,” she said. “There’s always something new to see here and something stimulating to talk about. We want community conversation. What I like to say is we built the counter and it’s gonna take the community now to turn it into our community coffee house.”
Other volunteers have also cleaned and helped out with operations such as landscapers, painters, carpet cleaners and maintenance.
“Cleaning things up for a fresh start,” Holleman said.
As volunteers are currently being trained to work behind the counter and make special coffee drinks, people can still order during this month’s trial run.
Community Coffeehouse’s grand opening will precede Food from the Heart: Tastings and Stories on Oct. 28 and everything will be up and running to quench a coffee aficionado’s craving.
It will be open Tues. to Sat. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
