Gypsum considers inviting Up With People to town

Up With People, the international, service/education music group might come to Gypsum next February.

“The last time they came here was in the mid-1980s,” said Ross Morgan, who is an engineering technician for the town but came before Gypsum Council members as a citizen last week to propose the idea with Gypsum Special Events Coordinator Marie Sanders.

“(Sanders) and I started talking about what we could do to bring people into town during a time of year that is normally slow for us,” Morgan said. “We’re asking you (Gypsum Town Council) tonight, are you interested in seeing Up With People Come here?”

After some discussion, the council members said they were.

Morgan said it would cost $100,000 to bring Up With People to the area and asked the town to consider donating $20,000 to the cause. The council has to decide if it wants to make a firm commitment relatively soon.

“(Up With People) needs to know by May so that they can make arrangements,” Morgan said. “We won’t have to pay them then but they need a commitment.”

He added that Eagle Valley High School is willing to donate its auditorium for the musical performances and that the town of Eagle expressed interest in supporting the event as well.

The Up With People Global Education Program is composed of young performers who apply to the program from all over the world. The group travels and spends about a week at each stop. The members spend the bulk of their time doing community service projects while staying with host families. They wrap up their stay with a big concert.

Morgan said all net proceeds from ticket sales benefit the host community and it would be up to Gypsum how much it wants to charge for tickets, if anything.

“The group would also provide more than 1,000 hours of community service in one week,” he said.

Council members told Morgan and Sanders to continue lining out the details for more consideration at a future meeting.