Archive for April, 2008

Special Presentation:
“Life of a Rodeo Announcer,” with Doug Mathis
May 1, 7 p.m.

Doug Mathis, one of the top rodeo announcers in the country and an actor, will talk about his illustrious career. Co-sponsored by the New Mexico State University rodeo team and the Farm & Ranch Heritage Foundation. Free.

Harvest Cooking Class
May 6, 2-4 p.m.

Come learn the secrets of preparing shelling peas, rhubarb, and onions as our chef, Carol Koenig, prepares delectable recipes you can make at home. Pre-registration is required. $30

Lecture Series: “King of the Road”
May 8, 7 p.m.

Leslie King, author, editor and photographer will take us on a journey through the state’s back roads and small towns in this engaging presentation. She will be signing her most recent book, King of the Road. Free

San Ysidro Day Processional
May 15, 10-11 a.m.

Join us for a traditional processional and blessing of the Museum’s fields, animals and gardens. Participating in the procession is free.

Cooking with Class
May 20, 6-8 p.m.

Join us for this gourmet dinner and enjoy the fun and fellowship as we learn new culinary skills. Pre-registration is required. $30.

Upcoming Summer Programs for Kids
June 17
Cowboy 101
Grades K-3
9 a.m.-noon

Callin’ all cowpokes! Sharpen your cowboy skills by takin’ ropin’ lessons, learning how to saddle up a horse, and moseyin’ around our cattle pens. Pre-registration is required. $20 June 19

Cowboy 101
Grades 4-6
9 a.m. – noon

Callin’ all cowpokes! Sharpen your cowboy skills by takin’ ropin’ lessons, learning how to saddle up a horse, and moseyin’ around our cattle pens. Pre-registration is required. $20.June 24-26

Pottery Camp
Grades 2-5
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Shape and mold clay into creative objects during this introduction to pottery making. Children should dress in clothing that can get dirty and should bring a lunch. Pre-registration is required. $60.

Visit www.nmfarmandranchmuseum.org to see all of our summer classes for kids
For more information, please call (575) 522-4100.

The City of Las Cruces Railroad Museum, 351 N. Mesilla, will hold the first ever Railroad Days celebration from April 24th to April 26th from 10:00am to 4:00pm at the museum. Railroad Days will mark the 127th anniversary of the arrival of the first train in Las Cruces.

The New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter train will also be stationed at the museum. Thursday, April 24th will be Senior Day for residents to “Share their Railroad Memories” on camera for the museum’s archives. (The Dona Ana County Community College’s Digital Imaging and Design Department will provide filming.)

Friday, April 25th will be Student’s Day with special tours for large groups and activities for the kids throughout the day. On Saturday, April 26th, the Rail Runner Express will be parked next to the depot and available for tours. In addition, Harvey Girl re-enactors from the Railroad and Transportation Museum of El Paso will discuss working for the Fred Harvey Company and the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Railroad. A barbershop quartet, the Code Breakers, will provide entertainment at 12:30pm followed by a welcome ceremony for guests.

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad train arrived in Las Cruces on April 26, 1881. The event is free.

For more information contact Rebecca Slaughter, Assistant Museum Manager at 575/647-4480. The TTY number is 575/541-2161.

LAS CRUCES — It’s not often you see two people playing checkers inside a museum exhibit.

But then there are not many exhibits like the new mercantile in the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum’s Heritage Gallery. The recreated general store is part of the “Going to Town” portion of the “Farm Life in New Mexico: Then & Now” exhibit.

When museum visitors walk into the mercantile, they are stepping back into an early 1900s version of what has become the mega retail store of the current times. These exhibits help visitors compare and contrast the way things were in the past with the way they are now, according to Dave Lundy, the museum’s exhibits curator.

“And we’re not just showing them what an old mercantile looked like,” he said. “We want them to be immersed in a historical environment. We want them to experience it.”

And experiencing it includes having a seat on a wooden bench in front of the store window near a wood-burning stove and playing a game of checkers or another old-fashioned game. These old stores were not just a place to buy and sell items, but also a meeting place for people in the rural communities to gather and visit.

The mercantile exhibit features hundreds of artifacts and props that would have been in an early 1900s store serving a rural community. There are food bins with beans, rice and produce, as well as other canned goods and hard candy in jars. There are pots and pans, traps and rifles, fabric and dresses.

Nestled on one end of the store is a replicated post office, including a window and individual mail boxes from actual southern New Mexico post offices.

The museum staff researched the planned exhibit by studying old photographs of general stores from this time period, and visited an original mercantile at Chloride, N.M. Staff and volunteers from the museum’s exhibits department created the exhibit store, which is one of the museum’s most ambitious exhibit projects ever.

The museum is open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for senior citizens and $2 for children ages 5 to 17. For more information, please call (575) 522-4100.

by Bianca L. Granado 

Grab your sombrero, maracas and dancing shoes and join in the festivities at the annual Cinco de Mayo Fiesta Saturday, May 3 and Sunday, May 4 on the Mesilla Plaza.

The celebration begins at noon on Saturday and will continue until midnight. Sunday’s events begin at noon and continue until 7 p.m. Emily Guerra will serve as master of ceremonies.

“With Mexico being so close to New Mexico and many people having such strong ties to a Mexican heritage, it is important to keep this cultural tradition alive,” said Kristie Medina, Special Events Coordinator for the Town of Mesilla.

The Cinco de Mayo celebration will include about 30 vendors offering a variety of products including arts, crafts, games, drinks and lots of food. Children will not be left out of the celebration as there will be piñatas and a greased pole climb. As is tradition with Cinco de Mayo celebrations, entertainment will include mariachis, ballet folklorico dance groups, flamenco dancers and live music.

Posters and advertisements for the fiesta will feature artwork by Mesilla Elementary School fifth-grade student Miranda Hernandez. Hernandez’s artwork was chosen as part of For the Love of Art Month in the Las Cruces/Mesilla area in February.

Cinco de Mayo, the Fifth of May, commemorates the victory of Mexican soldiers over the French army at historic Battle of Puebla in 1862. Although the Mexican army was eventually defeated the Battle of Puebla was a victorious and proud moment in history for Mexico as the smaller, poorly-armed soldiers defeated a larger, much more equipped French army.

There is no admissions charge for the festivities. Alcohol, smoking and pets are not allowed on the plaza. Attendees may bring folding chairs for their convenience. For more information, contact the Town of Mesilla at (575) 524-3262.

The New Mexico Library Association’s Annual Conference will be held Wednesday, April 9 through Friday, April 11 at the Corbett Center on the New Mexico State University campus.

“The convention gives great opportunities to network with other librarians throughout the state,” said Lynette Schurdevin, circulation manager for the Thomas Branigan Memoral Library. “We have the chance to find about new technologies and how to better reach the community.”

Highlights of the conference include pre-conference sessions covering intellectual freedoms and government information and keynote presentations from American Library Association president Loriene Roy. There will also be a youth literature luncheon featuring award-winning City of Ember author Jeanne DuPrau.

The conference is open to all persons who pay non-member conference fees.

For more information on the conference and fees contact Schurdevin at 575-528-4009.

by Bianca L. Granado

A celebration of literature in the borderland region is fast approaching as the Border Book Festival returns with a weekend full of activities, entertainment and of course, books!

“Return: the 14th annual Border Book Festival” will be Friday, April 18 through Sunday, April 20, in Mesilla, and feature artists like Cristina Garcia, author of A Handbook to Luck, Quincy Troupe, poet editor and author of 17 books, and Grammy nominated vocalist, composer and arranger Perla Batalla.

Other highlights include Libros y Más, the festival trade show that will take place on the historic Mesilla Plaza and features local, regional, national and international authors, presses and artists. Three plaza stages include the Main stage, the Children’s Storytelling tent, and the Lucha stage, which highlights Lucha Libre, Mexican wrestling and poetry.

The main stage will feature music on the Plaza with La Familia Vigil, with featured musician Cipriano Vigil, a national treasure who has played at the Smithsonian will offer “Cancion Nuevo,” New Mexican music as well as Radio La Chusma from El Paso, offering the sounds of Afro-Mexican reggae cumbia.

The children’s storytelling tent, the Tent of Wonders, will feature children’s authors and storytellers Amy Costales, author of Abuelita Full of Life, Lupe Vargas and Her Super Best Friend, Adalucía Quan, author of The Song of the Coconut, La Chica de Mendiburo and The Magic of Clay, and Sudeshna Sengupta, painter and festival poster and bookmark artist who will tell stories of India.

The Lucha Stage, a bona fide wrestling ring, will feature Lucha for Literacy, an exhibition of Mexican wrestling by masked wrestlers Magno, Rey Escorpion, Astroman and Peluchín, Jr, followed by a reading by Xavier Garza, author of Lucha Libre, The Man in the Silver Mask, Griselda “La RaNa” Muñoz, recognized slam poet and Osvaldo Ogaz, a Mexican Lucha poet.

“The Border Book Festival, Inc. believes that literature and the arts can bridge the many boundaries—racial, ethnic, generational, cultural, socio-economic and gender biased—that divide our community,” said Denise Chavez, Director of the Cultural Center of Mesilla.

For more information on the festival, a schedule of events or to purchase tickets contact the Border Book Festival at 575-423-3988 or visit their website at www.borderbookfestival.org.

by Bianca L. Granado 

The soul swinging sounds of blues and jazz mixed with the seductive tastes of wine are not to be missed at the La Viña Blues and Jazz Festival Saturday, April 26 and Sunday, April 27 at La Viña Winery.

Admission is $10 dollars for anyone 21 and older. This admission price includes a complimentary wine glass and up to six tastes of wine or the choice of one glass of wine. Admission for 12 to 20 year olds is $5 dollars, and under 12 year olds are free.

The celebration will include food vendors, arts and crafts, and some of La Viña’s newest wines.
“This is when a lot of our new wines get released for the first time,” said Ken Stark, Owner of La Viña Winery. “It will be nice to introduce the new wines to people.”

Stark said this will be the first major festival of the year and it usually coincides with the Blues and Heritage Festival in New Orleans.

Entertainment includes music by PT & The Cruisers, the Kat Crosby Band and Marty Olivas and Qbism, among others.

“We love Jazz music and what little jazz music venues we have in the area go a little to late for me, so I never go. So, it’s nice to have a day where we can sit out on the grass and have a glass of wine and listen,” Stark said.

And visitors won’t have to worry about parking. Stark said there would be nine acres of parking available to the large crowd he is expecting. La Vina Winery is located at 4201 S. Highway 28.

For more information contact La Viña Winery at (575) 882-7632 or visit their website at www.lavinawinery.com.