Historical society presents dramatization,
Martinez and Garcia family get-togethers

The Sandoval County Historical Society will present  “La Nina,” a chautauqua-style dramatization by Deborah Blanche, on April 6 at 3:00 p.m. Blanche will present the story of Nina Otero-Warren, New Mexico educator, early feminist, public-welfare director, politician, author, and businesswoman.

An exhibition of the works of Bernalillo artist Eduardo Gonzales will also open on April 6 and will remain through the month of April. Delavy House is open every Sunday from 2:00 to 4:00 pm.

The society’s calendar also includes a monthly get-together of different families from Sandoval County. On April 27, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., the get-together will be for the Martinez families. It is open to all members of the Martinez families and the public is welcome. On May 18, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., the get-together will be for the Garcia Family.

The dramatization on April 6 is made possible by the New Mexico Endowment for the Humanities and is part of the monthly program hosted by the society on the first Sunday of every month. Programs are held at the Sandoval County Historical Society DeLavy House, at the end of Edmond Road, off Highway 550, west of the Coronado Monument and immediately west of the Phillips 66 Gas Station.

April festival at Placitas winery benefits land-stewardship program

Photo to come: Rio Puerco, south of Cuba, New Mexico

Anasazi Fields Winery is currently finalizing details for an expanded version of its Fruits of the Earth Festival. The annual event is held on the weekend nearest Earth Day. This year, the event will be April 19 and 20 from noon to 6 p.m. each day at the winery.

There will be live acoustic folk and rock music, food, art, wine tasting, winery tours, and wine sales. The featured release wine for the event will be 2000 New Mexico Raspberry. Admission is $10 for adults (includes a wine glass), $4 for youth fourteen to twenty. Children under fourteen will be admitted free. All proceeds from the gate will benefit the State Land Stewardship Program of Forest Guardians.

For the past decade, Forest Guardians has been bidding on state-land grazing leases. Two of the parcels on which leases have been acquired encompass one thousand acres and are located along several miles of the Rio Puerco, a few miles south of Cuba. On one parcel, which was acquired six years ago, several hundred cottonwoods and willows have been planted. The trees have not only survived the drought but are flourishing.

On April 26 and 27, Forest Guardians will be planting cottonwoods and willows on the second parcel, which was acquired last year. Volunteers can sign up for the planting at the festival. Contact Forest Guardians (242-3014 in Albuquerque, 988-9126 in Santa Fe) or Anasazi Fields Winery, 867-3062, for more information.

Carpooling to Fruits of the Earth 2003 festival is strongly recommended.

Mountain biking in the Placitas Open Space

—Ty Belknap

At one of the public meetings to develop a master plan for the Placitas Open Space, some hikers were aghast at my suggestion that mountain bikes be allowed. For years, I'd been whizzing by those signs that limit access to pedestrians and equestrians.

Judging by the relative absence of knobby tire tracks, most people don't seem to realize that unmotorized bikes are now authorized by the master plan.

Jim Hasenauer, a contributor to Writers on the Range, writes, "Bikes are muscle-powered, human-scale, quiet and nonpolluting. The tradition and history of bicycle use on the wild lands of the West goes back to the 1880s. Bicycling is trail-based recreation. We may range as far as horses and runners, but our impacts on the trails and on plants and animals have been shown to be similar to those of hikers.

Michael Carroll is also a contributor to Writers on the Range. He writes that mountain bikes can tear up the wilderness. "Sure, all-terrain vehicles are more damaging than bikes, but we’re kidding ourselves if we claim that we don’t also take a toll on the places we ride through. What’s more, since mountain bikes were developed some fifteen years ago, our impact has magnified. Bikes can go places that were all but inaccessible before, thanks to advances that have led to lighter and stronger materials, suspension systems similar to those on off-road vehicles and gearing that enables riders to conquer steep slopes."

In a spirit of inclusiveness and in an effort to encourage residents to use the open space for recreation, The Las Placitas Association has asked me to lead a mountain bike tour of the open space in April. If Gene McClain isn't off riding in Moab, he will also be on hand to offer suggestions. Gene is one of the few to leave tracks of tires and running shoes in the open space.

Most of the single-track trails are most suitable for hikers. Bikes and horses will do the least amount of damage if they confine themselves to several established jeep trails. The terrain is sometimes demanding, with steep hills and loose sand and gravel. There are better places to ride around here, like the National Forest land off NM 165, but I don't like to waste time transporting my bike in the car when it's hard enough to find an hour in the day for exercise.

There are private entrances through the subdivisions that border the open space, and there are the official entrances on the east and west sides. I usually enter the through private land on the east side and traverse the open space along the pipeline or the creek. During spring runoff in a wet year, you can strip down and cool off. In a dry year, the sand along the creek makes for hard peddling, especially if you follow a popular equestrian route.

There are barbed-wire cattle gates to deal with when leaving the open space. The road gradually climbs from the Las Huertas Wash up through the BLM land north of Placitas then loops back to my neighborhood through Indian Flats and onto Camino de las Huertas.

So there. Maybe you won't need the guided tour. There are several different loops and there are some single tracks to play in. You might want to come just to show your support for the open space, compare notes, or socialize. We will meet at the west entrance to the Placitas Open Space at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 5, and ride around for about two hours. Wear a helmet and gloves and bring a water bottle. For more information or to carpool from the Merc, call Elaine Sullivan at 771-1171.

To get to the west entrance, drive north on the I-25 frontage road, turn right on Camino Manzano, left on Santa Ana Loop , then left and drive to the end of Cloudview.

Bird Hike on the Open Space

On April 26, Hart Schwarz, well-known New Mexico naturalist, will lead a birding hike in the Open Space in Placitas. Participants will depart from the East entrance at 8:30 a.m. The hike will last until approximately noon. Bring hats, sunscreen, water, and snacks, as needed. To carpool to the entrance from the Merc, call Elaine Sullivan at 771-1171. The hike is organized by Las Placitas Association.

Volunteers help low-income residents repair homes

Rebuilding Together Sandoval County is an affiliate of Christmas in April and serves southern Sandoval County. RTSC performs rehabilitation and needed repairs for low-income, elderly, and handicapped home owners. The National Rebuilding Day is Saturday, April 26, and Rebuilding Together volunteers are planning several projects for that date. People skilled and unskilled who would like to volunteer should call 896-3041 for more information, project locations, and times.

An insider’s view of pueblo life

The Corrales Historical Society and the New Mexico Endowment for the Humanities will present “The Way of the Drum,” a talk by Arnold Herrera, on April 3 at 7:00 p.m. at the Old San Ysidro Church in Corrales. Herrera will discuss tribal political structures, language, ceremony, clans, society memberships, social problems, and the roles of men, women, and children in modern pueblos. Herrera, a native of the Keres-speaking Pueblo of Cochiti, is an accomplished drum maker, silversmith, composer, and singer. He has presented at the Smithsonian Institute, and is comfortable fielding questions of all types about pueblo life.The free program is fully accessible to people with disabilities. Refreshments will be served after the program. For further information, call 897-9109.