There they were: a parade of tiny horribles in Halloween costumes. Lining one end of main street to the other, a children's crusade about the size of an army, a shocking number of parents with their children, a throng of little precious pirates and ghouls and fairy queens, all, despite the fun-filled fanfare, rolling by as evidence of just another heartbreaking social problem in a "maxed out" mountain resort community.

"Maxed out," at least, in terms of childcare and pre-school options in not just Telluride, but in every community in San Miguel County, was a frequently repeated phrase during Thursday’s gathering of the San Miguel County Child Care Task Force meeting. The Halloween parade, which included 550 students from the Telluride R1 School District in grades kindergarten through third, was much commented on at the beginning of the meeting. Especially if one considers the uncounted number of tykes in the slow stampede below those lower-level grades who trailed behind the older students, most of them organized into a meandering line of cute smiles and wee-waves to onlookers by the various pre-school entities in town.

And those are the kids who were lucky enough to get into a childcare/pre-school program. Not those on waiting lists, or, those yet to be born, who are also placed on waiting lists for limited facilities in town by parents-to-be who are antsy about the challenges they and their children will be facing without child care/pre-school placement at any cost.

"I’m sure the needs were more realized after the Halloween parade," said County Commissioner Elaine Fischer, who chairs the task force. "This is something we need to deal with as soon as possible."

Another indicator of community concern: More than 20 extremely busy people showed up for the mid-morning meeting in the Telluride Fire District conference room. They represented the broad spectrum of pre-school operators, local residents, parents, teachers, and politicians. That included mayoral candidate Terry Tice, but not his political counterpart, Telluride Councilmember and mayoral candidate Stu Fraser, who is the town's liaison to the task force. However, both he and Tice were on record for attending the October meeting.

Noted Tice: "What's needed is a clear description of the programs that exist, and how they are not meeting the demand. We need to determine where to get the funds, and we need to assemble a list of people who are inclined to fill these positions, as well as what facilities might be available at what locations.

"It needs to be a brainstorming kind of thing."

That brainstorm had reached gale-force winds at Thursday's meeting, all ringing with a sense of urgency.

"We are all maxed out," said Megan Berry, program director for Rockies After-School Program. "We need more facilities as soon as possible."

In attendance Thursday were Allan Gerstle, the county social services director; Cathy James, director of Bright Futures; as well as Andrya Brantingham, of Norwood's Wright Stuff Foundation and candidate for the Norwood Board of Education. Also pitching in were representatives for the Telluride Pre-school, Wilkinson Public Library, the Telluride Early Childhood Center Board, the Telski Children’s Program, and several members of the Rainbow Pre-School Board of Directors.

Full text available at the Watch