YOUR AD HERE »

Locals 2011: Linda Danter

Rallying for a cause

Nicole Inglis
Linda Danter founded Steamboat’s Rally for the Cure breast cancer fundraiser. Now in its 13th year, the event sells out at 212 participants and raises more than $30,000.
John F. Russell





Linda Danter founded Steamboat’s Rally for the Cure breast cancer fundraiser. Now in its 13th year, the event sells out at 212 participants and raises more than $30,000.
John F. Russell

— When Linda Danter was a young girl, she hated the color pink. As a tomboy and sports fanatic, she made her mother cover up the pink in her room by painting her walls blue.

Now, as the founder of Steamboat’s Rally for the Cure breast cancer fundraiser, she finds herself with drawers full of pink paraphernalia.

“It’s a ton of work,” says the retired physical education teacher. “I think I’m nuts. It possesses me.”



It’s because of all the women and their families who have been touched by breast cancer that she dedicates herself to organizing the annual golf tournament.

In its first year, the rally raised $1,136. Now in its 13th year, the event sells out at 212 participants and raises more than $30,000.



Two-thirds of those funds stay in the area through the Yampa Valley Breast Cancer Awareness Project and the rest goes to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Not a dime gets spent on administrative costs: She and her husband pay for the postage for thank you notes.

Danter, a Brooklyn, N.Y., native, moved to Steamboat Springs in 1976 with her husband, Rich. The pair always had dreamed of living in Steamboat, but their jobs as teachers in the Boulder Valley School District meant commuting three and a half hours to work for 23 years.

Still, they were never tempted to move to the Front Range.

“I love where we live, I’m just so proud of it,” she says with more than a hint of New York accent. “I love to show it off.”

If there was ever a poster girl for the Steamboat lifestyle, Danter would be her. In winter, she skis every day. And in summer, it’s all golf. She works at the Steamboat Golf Club, as an ambassador for Steamboat Ski Area and as the volunteer coordinator for Storm Peak Laboratory, where she helped launch more than 100 weather balloons this past winter as a part of a cloud study.

“She has this unbelievable energy,” says longtime friend Mary Effinger. “She gets behind something and doesn’t stop until it’s taken care of.”

Any good day for Danter is a “three-sport day,” which might include a hike with her Labrador retriever, Sunny Delight, a round of golf and even bowling.

“I love where I live,” she says. “And I hate to travel. I love to be here, no matter what season it is.”


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Steamboat and Routt County make the Steamboat Pilot & Today’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.