El Rinconcito español

Más vale maña que fuerza = Skill is worth more than strength.

Pa’ pendejo no se necesita maestro = To be a fool you don’t need a teacher.

Más vale doblarse que quebrarse = It’s better to bend than to break.

Submitted by SOS-panyol, Placitas—Spanish instruction that focuses on oral communication skills, www.sospanyol.com.

Historical society presents a talk on NM railroad history, plus Hawaiian music, dance, luau

The Sandoval County Historical Society will meet September 11 at 3:00 p.m. at the Delavy House Museum. The program will feature New Mexico railroad historian Vernon J. Glover, who will talk on some of the more obscure parts of Sandoval County railroad history.

The honoree at the meeting will be Luciano Lucero, a White Pine and New Mexico Timber Company trainman.
Kathy Glidden, of Algodones, will be the featured artist, and Lavinia Correa will present the music and dance of Hawaii and a luau.The program is free and open to the public.

The DeLavy House Museum is off Highway 550, west of Bernalillo, between the Coronado State Monument and the Star Casino.

Amanda Mae LaPrelle is new Sandoval County Queen

On August 7 Amanda Mae LaPrelle was crowned Sandoval County Queen at the annual Sandoval County Fair in Cuba, New Mexico. Included in the 2005-06 Queen's Court are Princess Renee Dill, daughter of Clinton and Lori Dill, from the Jemez area, and Sweetheart Vanessa Taylor, daughter of Lee and Michelle Taylor, of La Cueva.

Amanda is twenty years old and the daughter of Jim and Jan LaPrelle of Placitas. She is entering her junior year at the University of New Mexico, majoring in sign-language interpreting. Her plans are to obtain her master's degree in occupational therapy and open a hippotherapy business. Amanda enjoys singing in her church's praise band, playing her flute, creative art, and working at a local radio station.

Amanda will be representing Sandoval County as she competes for the title of New Mexico State Fair Queen, September 22 to 24. The crowning of the new State Fair Queen will be prior to the rodeo on Saturday, September 24.

History project continues at Placitas Library

—BOB GAJKOWSKI

General and President Dwight David “Ike” Eisenhower in Placitas … the founding families of Placitas … Kris Kristofferson and Ali MacGraw “convoy” along Highway 165 ... the (gold?) mine at Tunnel Springs … San Antonio Mission and Las Placitas Presbyterian Church … the archaeological dig at San Jose de las Huertas … Indian Flats … the Las Huertas Land Grant … the Allen’s Transmission Shop on Tierra Madre … the Placitas Riding Club … DOORCO … Ojo de la Casa … the ghost towns of Tejon and Coyote

These people, places, and events are part of the history of our community. They and many others are the subjects of the Placitas Community Library History Project. For library patrons, scholars, and those with curiosity about the the place where they live, this ongoing written and audiovisual record of the village and the greater Placitas area will provide an opportuity to learn the whats, wheres, whens, whys, and hows of the community.

You can be a part of the project. Join with the Placitas Library to help preserve our “history of place.” The project invites you to conduct interviews or to be interviewed, to research past newspaper reports and other library sources, to interpret, to draft reports, and to gather photos, stories, and documents pertaining to this area. The project welcomes these and any other talents that you can contribute. A little time contributed by many will make this an informative and enjoyable undertaking.
To paraphrase Jerry Ortiz y Pino, a village is more than an accumulation of buildings. If it is a living, breathing community, there is a mix of history and technology. It is the presence of our ancestors as much as it is our attempt to entice newcomers.

If you are interested in participating in the project, please call me at 771-0253, or leave your name and number at the Placitas Library, on Tierra Madre Road, just west of the Merc, in Placitas.