D ’Amici Italia! Friends of Italy picnic is held in Glenwood Springs each summer, Covid-19 years of interference excepted. For those who don’t know, Italians have had a huge influence on the Roaring Fork Valley, from Aspen to Glenwood Springs and beyond.

The first to arrive, most likely, was Fred Clavel, who settled in Woody Creek around 1884. The area reminded him of his native Italy, the climate was good and opportunity surrounded the upper valley. Silver-mining towns needed food for people and animals. Economic times were slow in the area of Val D’Aosta, northern Italy, and, for a younger generation, America had the sound of possibilities attached to it.