The Boat

Danny Crooks

Danny Crooks says he never wanted Steamboat to close on his shift. The once-outspoken Crooks is now uncharacteristically soft-spoken, clearly humbled and hurt by having to line up a closing concert series and look for a new building at the same time. "It sounds kind of corny, but I don't know if I'll ever get over it," says Crooks, who's managed Steamboat since 1989 and owned the business since 1996. "It breaks my heart." Crooks' support group is his family: both his nuclear family (wife Leslie and son Sean of Piggiehat) and his extended family (the hundreds of local musicians who he's fed weekly at his famous musician-only barbecues). "They're trying to be strong for me, but you can tell from the looks on their faces and in their eyes how heartbroken they are."