Dusty’s last stand a week-long event By Paul Andrew The most popular guy in Whistler this week is probably Paul Street, food and beverage manager for Dusty’s in Whistler Creekside. Why? "Because everybody wants to be at the last Saturday night party in Dusty’s," Street said on Wednesday. "You can imagine the kind of calls I’ve got," Street said. "People have called saying they've been coming to Dusty’s for 25 years and can they get tickets to the Powder Blues show? I have to say no because it’s sold-out. Even the Friday night show with Wunderbread is selling fast because, believe it or not, Dusty’s used to be a great discotheque." Dusty’s used to be a lot of things, but after April 2, Dusty’s won’t be anything, until next season when the new Dusty’s opens in the new Whistler Creek development, with as much original décor as possible. That’s actually part of the week-long celebrations planed by Richard Zimmer, Street and public relations staff at Whistler-Blackcomb. Street said much of the planning was done after they consulted Dusty’s 25-year regulars. The building opened during Whistler’s first official ski season in 1966, and since then, dignitaries, ski heroes and rock stars have all left their mark. Beginning on March 27, Dusty’s will host a theme or party each day or night to commemorate its past. Monday’s DJ blowout will have all three rooms pumping modern tunes from Whistler DJs such as Yuggy, Michael Ziff, Chris Viner and Shandy Ray, to name only a few. A slide projection in each room should add to the atmosphere. Tickets are $8 and the party begins at 9 p.m. Tuesday are Trivia finals and a walk down Whistler’s memory lane with Whistler Museum and Archives is scheduled for Wednesday. Thursday night, the last Whistler staff party at Dusty’s is bound to be a big hit, with rounds purchased for any excuse. The last weekend at Dusty’s is when most of the hard partying will happen. But you might want to stay sober for Speakers Corner, Saturday and Sunday between 3 and 6 p.m. "Jim Budge will set that up," Street said. "He’s also doing a walk through film with guys like Rob Boyd and Hugh Smythe. But that will probably happen when the place is empty. "And the shingles," Street continued. "We have about 2,000 shingles taken from the building, branded with Dusty’s logo. Dan Cave from the building and maintenance department had a crew working on that all week. We’re selling those for $2 a piece and all the proceeds go to the Whistler-Blackcomb Foundation." Sunday will probably be the best apres-ski and evening party Dusty’s has seen in a long time. An all day locals music-a-thon begins with Edgewise at noon, Steve Wright with Mazinaw have a 2 p.m. start, The Whole Damn County play in the heart of the apres-ski hour at about 3:30 p.m., followed by Guitar Doug and Sky Dog at 5 p.m. Whistler’s answer to the Grateful Dead, Dark Star, come on around 8 p.m. Steven and Peter Vogler wrap up the day and night with The Hounds of Buskerville at 10 p.m. "Tourist don’t seem to come here and neither do the one-year wonders," Street said. "That’s okay, this party isn’t really for them anyway. I just want everyone to know that it’s a party for everybody who has special memories of Dusty’s. The Speakers Corner is a perfect way to tell everyone that, this is where you proposed to your wife. Or maybe it’s a place where you introduced your girlfriend to someone and they ended up getting married."
