Evergreen Throws a Party with Purpose for the Youth of our Mountain Towns

All Images: Mountain Music Fest

Under the blue sky and evergreen trees, Mountain Music Fest filled Buchanan Park with sounds of local music and laughter. While the festival itself is all about the grooves, the real heart lies in the cause it supports off the stage. Proceeds from every ticket sale went directly to the Wooden Hawk Foundation–an organization dedicated to supporting the children and young adults in the mountain community’s school systems.

The core mission of the Wooden Hawk foundation is to promote confidence and real skills in kids in and around the community. If you got a chance to wander around the festival grounds you’d have stumbled upon the vast array of talents that local Clear Creek High School students chose to showcase from handmade crafts to songs and dances celebrating their diversity and creativity. It served as a space for the next generation in the mountain community to express themselves and be seen. 

One of the more unique initiatives of the Wooden Hawk foundation is their high school program that teaches kids how to design, build and tune their own skis and snowboards from scratch at school. From building the core to grinding bases, students practice the kind of detail-oriented skills that will serve them in their careers in the future. The program also serves to surpass some of the boundaries present in the world of outdoor sports. “At the core, students really learn to translate what the dimensions on paper do to the skis or board on the hill,” says Ben Shay, a former Clear Creek student and instructor of Rec and Tech. “It’s cool to see them have that ‘aha moment’ where it clicks and they know how a build change will change the feel of the board.”

The program isn’t just about learning technical skills, students also gain confidence. Most begin the semester with little to no experience with tools and design and exit capable of independently operating shop equipment and teaching others how to do so. “I know that for the vast majority of my students their goals and aspirations aren't to build skis or boards or even tune skis or boards as a professional pursuit,” explains Shay. “But having the ability to problem solve tricky situations or have the knowledge to use a wide variety of tools I know will translate to so many other outlets in their life be it that they become and engineer, a mechanic, or they are building some IKEA furniture or hanging shelves on their wall years down the road.”

It doesn’t just stop in the shop either. The Foundation is partnered with Loveland Ski Area to let the students take their new gear for a rip. It’s a blend of work, play and pure stoke that is driving the community forward. 

Festival goers got to play a part in the initiative, too. Ticket holders were invited to drop their skis and snowboards off at Buchanan field the day before the festival and get a top-notch tune from students at Clear Creek High School during the festival. Where else can you get a tune up with a one day turnaround?

Every ticket sold to the festival went straight to funding the Foundation’s projects across Jefferson County. These initiatives give students direct access to real-world career paths and opportunities, including ski tuning and repair, alongside mentorship, shadowing, and financial backing. As the foundation advertises, the goal is to give the kids experience to explore without committing to the traditional path of a college degree if they’re not sure they know what they want to do.

Festival organizer Pamela Lush-Lindquist expressed it best: “Mountain Music Fest is about students,” she said to FREESKIER. “The Wooden Hawk Foundation created the festival not only as the main fundraiser for our education projects, but also to give students a one-of-a-kind, real-world experience they couldn’t get anywhere else. Students are at the heart of everything: they run and manage marketing, stage, sound, lighting, finance, site organization, and even parking.”

All in all, Mountain Music Fest hit all the high notes. From great local music to an exceptional local cause, it’s a must-attend event next summer that you can feel good about supporting. Whether you want to jam out, check in with the local talent or connect with the community's youth, you’re in for a real treat (and maybe even a tune!)