ACES Summer Kick-Off

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Summer in Aspen is a beautiful thing. June nights are long and sweet, and Aspens and cottonwoods are exploding in a verdant celebration of the growing season. And each year, near the summer solstice, ACES brings our membership together at Hallam Lake to enjoy live music, scrumptious food, and good company.

The 2014 Picnic on the Preserve was sponsored by Obermeyer Asset Management. Their support makes this event possible! Please be sure to thank Wally and the entire Obermeyer team for their involvement.

The music this year was brought to you by Crested Butte’s own Free the Honey. This quartet of talented women entertained the crowd with enchanting vocal harmonies and lively Americana riffs. Check them out when they return to Aspen on the fourth of July to play Justice Snows.

The food this year was prepared by local chef Kevin McCullen and featured ingredients from Rock Bottom Ranch. All the salad greens were grown in our climate battery hoophouse (funded in part by a Green Key grant from local partner CORE) and all the chicken and pork products were raised at the Ranch as well. Beer was sourced from Aspen Brewing Company. We love serving their beer because we recycle their spent grains into feed for our animals!

Thank you to the over 300 people who attended the event, welcomed our new naturalist staff, and kicked off what is sure to be another amazing Aspen summer!

View the complete photo album on ACES’ Flickr page. Thank you to photographers Weston Boyles and Elizabeth Boyles.

~ Olivia Siegel, Community Outreach Director