Heroes

Citizens of the Year AND UNSUNG HEROES 2 0 14 T R A D I C I O N E S | T H E TA O S N E W S

2 0 14 T R A D I C I O N E S | T H E TA O S N E W S Section 1

Citizens of the Year: The Blake Family

Section 2 Louise Padilla Mary Spears Jean Nichols

Section 3 Lisa O’Brien Alex Medina Valorie Archuleta

Section 4 Jane Compton Tina Martinez

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ONE FAMILY. 58 YEARS OF MEMORIES.

Thank you, Ernie, Rhoda and the Blake family.

www.skitaos.org

Committee involvement makes Heroes possible

E

very year since 2001, The Taos News has honored a group of citizens for making notable contributions to the community.

As one might imagine, it takes some effort to seek out individuals who seek no attention. That’s why The Taos News employs another group of citizens for our annual Tradiciones focus group.

The 2014 committee included Eloy Jeantete, Esther García, Gordon Briner, Kathleen Michaels, Amanda Bissell, Gabriel Romero, Stella Mares McGinnis, Marilyn Farrow, Dolly Peralta, Elizabeth Crittenden Palacios and Joleen Montoya.

Congratulations on A JOB WELL DONE

In addition to myself, publisher Chris Baker, editor Joan Livingston and advertising manager Chris Wood were members of The Taos News staff in attendance. None of the paper’s staff members were involved in the selection process during the focus group.

The Blake Family

That said, the newspaper’s management team was responsible for the final selection of the Citizens of the Year, which were selected from nominees presented by the focus group.

and

The staff of The Taos News wants to thank the 2014 Tradiciones focus group for helping make this entire series possible.

— Andy Jones, special sections editor

Citizens of the Year Unsung Heroes of Taos!

Your commitment, hard work and perseverance have built a legacy for Taos’ future.

Photo by Geraint Smith

STAFF Robin Martin, owner • Chris Baker, publisher • Joan Livingston, editor • Chris Wood, advertising manager • Andy Jones, special sections editor • Michelle M. Gutierrez, lead editorial designer Ray Seale, production, technology and digital director • Ayleen Lopez, digital administrator • Tina Larkin and Rick Romancito, photographers • Elizabeth Cleary, Cody Hooks, Andy Jones, J.R. Logan, Robin Martin, Cody Olivas, Andrew Oxford and Rick Romancito,, staff writers CONTRIBUTORS Yvonne Pesquera,

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writer

On the cover Top: Peter Blake, Rhoda Blake, Wendy Stagg and Mickey Blake, photo by Tina Larkin.

Bottom, from left: Ernie, Rhoda, Mickey, and Peter and Wendy. Courtesy Taos Ski Valley

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Remember – “Hero” is a verb.

Please take one simple step now to support Taos County’s only domestic and sexual violence service provider and shelter.

Please support our Radiothon sponsors and contributors who support our services.

There is still time to give… at www.taoscav.org Send your check to CAV 945 Salazar Road Taos, NM 87571 Call 758-8082 to set up a recurring donation on your credit card.

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4 | Heroes

REDISCOVER TAOS THIS YEAR

We’ve had a busy summer here at Taos Ski Valley.

From breaking ground on new construction in our base area, to opening incredible lift-served mountain biking trails, expanding our hike-to terrain with the Wild West Glades, and building the all-new Kachina Peak Lift, it’s been a very exciting time for our resort and our community. And as the 2014 -15 winter season approaches, we’re finalizing plans for a year like no other. World-class terrain, events for all ages, ski school and guiding programs, and plenty more — all without the long lift lines and trappings of run-of-the-mill corporate resorts. We look forward to seeing you this year... It’s sure to be a season to remember!

AREA IMPROVEMENT HIGHLIGHTS: • New Kachina Peak Lift: - 1100 ft. lift (5 minute ride), topping out at 12,450 feet - Doubles TSV’s lift-accessed inbounds advanced terrain - One of the ski industry’s biggest developments of the year • Expanded hike-to terrain: Wild West Glades via West Basin Ridge • Improved, energy-efficient snowmaking upgrade: Will allow more open terrain earlier in the season • Remodeled favorites: Tenderfoot Katies, Rhoda’s and the Martini Tree • First phase of Base Area redevelopment: Includes improved parking-to-lift access with pedestrian-friendly streetcape, including shops and services

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EARLY SEASON EVENTS CALENDAR 11/27

Opening Weekend Celebration

12/13

Get the Girls Out Day

Don’t miss the kick-off of the 2014 -15 winter season, as this will be a season to remember. Join us for a weekend full of fun and entertainment!

Calling girls of all ages! Grab those skis or boards and come celebrate K2’s International Women’s Ski Day — filled with friends, fun and plenty of activities. Cap the night off with the inspirational and action -packed ski film “Pretty Faces” by SheJumps.

12/20

19th Annual Brew Master’s Festival: Reward yourself after a big day on the slopes and indulge in regional beers and food from NM and beyond, while checking out the hottest 2014 -15 ski & snowboard lines.

12/20 12/21

Consumer Demo Days Dreaming of a new snowboard or skis for this season? Or curious about the latest gear design and technology? Come test the newest skis and snowboards from industry leaders — at no cost!

12 /24

Christmas Eve Torchlight Parade A true Taos tradition. There’s no better way to enjoy the cheer of the holiday season than with beautiful torchlights illuminating the Ski Valley!

12 / 31

New Years Eve Celebration Say farewell to 2014 and hello to 2015 with a spectacular torchlight parade and fireworks. Then dance into the New Year southwestern style with nationally acclaimed Radio La Chusma in the newly remodeled Martini Tree Bar!

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NEW THIS SEASON – START ‘EM YOUNG ( FOR FREE!) This year we’re trying out a fun way to introduce our amazing mountain to the kids. 4th, 5th, and 6th graders are invited to come to TSV December 13 -14 & 20 -21 for a day of lessons and skiing or snowboarding — on us! Offer includes lesson, ticket and rental. Don’t miss this awesome opportunity to kick off a lifelong love of winter sports. Register for free online at skitaos.org, or call 1- 800 -776 -1111 for more details.

6 | Heroes

Citizens of

Honoring the Blake family’s contr

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f the Year

Photos by Tina Larkin unless unless otherwise noted

Clockwise, from top left: Ernie Blake, date unknown (courtesy photo); Rhoda Blake, date unknown (Courtesy photo); Rhoda Blake, present-day; Mickey Blake, present-day; Peter Blake, present day; Wendy Blake, present-day; Peter and Wendy Blake playing on the mountain as youngsters (courtesy photo); and a young Mickey Blake displaying a perfectly formed snowball (courtesy photo).

ributions to Northern New Mexico

A

By Robin Martin

t peak season, Taos Ski Valley employs almost 650 people, including full- and parttimers and holiday staff. TSV records show the payroll is about $5.5 million a year.

It is an area famous worldwide for its steep slopes, fluffy powder and excellent ski school. The resort is known world-wide, yet it was started with the dreams, hard work and perseverance of one family — the Blakes.

Ernie and Rhoda Blake started the ski area in 1955. Son Mickey Blake said his parents were in love with New Mexico, and wanted to move here from the East Coast. They were looking for any kind of business: “My father knew how to ski, and that’s how it started.” Ernie began by managing Santa Fe Ski basin, then developed TSV.

See BLAKES, Page 8

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Courtesy Photo

Three generations of Blakes celebrate the arrival of snowboarding at TSV on March 18, 2008.

In the early days, Ernie, Rhoda and their children did all the jobs that needed doing. Ernie sometimes answered the phone, saying “this is the janitor.”

Once there, skiers had to ride a steep surface lift up the mountain.

This first lift, built in 1955, was a T-bar. A wooden flange t’s not true that Ernie founded Taos Ski Valley. held behind skiers’ legs pulled them across the surface of the No, my mother did. He just took the credit,” snow. It was like riding an upside-down “T.” joked daughter Wendy Stagg.

There was so much untracked snow in those days that Ernie was the promoter. Rhoda was the people had to make very few turns, even on the steepest slopes. mechanical one, making sure lifts, rental skis The next year, a longer lift came from the Taos Winter and all other vital equipment worked. She laid Sports Club at Tres Ritos, east of what is now Sipapu Ski area. out the easier trails. Ernie laid out the steeper ones.

One of Mickey’s favorite memories is how generous the people In the early days the couple and their three children, of Taos were in helping the Blakes move it.

Mickey, Wendy and Peter, lived in a 14-foot travel trailer at the Ernie Santistevan of Kit Carson Electric Co-op helped reel base of the lift. The trailer had a table that turned into beds for up cable as the lift was dismantled for transportation; Ernie the two younger children and Mickey, the oldest, slept on a Martínez of the town of Taos water department cut bolts and bunk. Visitors slept on cots in the “hall.” took apart the towers; the Gonzáles family of Taos Gravel That first summer, when Mickey was 11, Wendy was 7, hauled the lift from the Peñasco Valley. Many other Taoseños and Peter was 4, their parents paid Mickey 50 cents an hour pitched in, directed by local doctor Al Rosen. to help clear a meadow where the base of the lift would be. He Helping Ernie assemble the lift were 16 men from subcontracted with his younger sister and brother at five or ten Taos Pueblo. In the snow, they carried the pieces on their cents an hour to help with the work. backs up what is now Al’s Run. Mickey said the crew tried Mickey remembers how the area was heavily wooded, with unsuccessfully to use a mule belonging to the Valencia family. many remains of the copper mining operations at Twining.

“But it was way smarter than the rest of us,” he said. Rhoda At that time, the Hondo Lodge and Taos Ski Valley remembers how it refused to work were synonymous, says Mickey. Rhoda remembers how she In those years “Taos died during the winter,” Mickey could see daylight through chinks in the lodge’s walls. Peter remembers. Locals were anxious to help build a business that remembers that the building was a log shell with a large and would provide jobs. He says that in subsequent years, the magnificent stone fireplace. The bricks in the building were family tried to repay the community for its help. made for the mines at Taos East, on the road to Twining.

A road was built to the top of the mountain in 1957. It It had been built as a hunting lodge, and never finished. In climbed up what is now White Feather, and then zigzagged its 1955 it was turned into a hotel by the Blakes and Twining Ski way down Al’s and Inferno runs.

Corporation.

Next, the Blakes bought another lift, this time from France.

Skiers would buy tickets at the Hondo Lodge and on Mickey remembers how the manufacturer, Jean Pomagalski, powder days, all ski valley personnel rushed out on the slopes. came across the Atlantic to supervise. It was to be the steepest Customers raised a flag at the Hondo, and the first person Poma lift ever built, and he was worried about the grade. down the mountain was obligated to stop and sell lift tickets.

Mickey remembers how, although he was older than 65, It took perseverance to get to the ski area. The road was unpaved until the early 1970s. In the early days it was winding Pomagalski shimmied up lift towers, without ladders or ropes.

Directed by Chilton Anderson, who was in later years a ski and either snowy, muddy or dusty. It crossed the river several instructor, they laid out all pieces of the lift in the parking lot. times. In some places it split into two tracks to go around a Then, in early October, it snowed three feet. The Blakes got tree.

From BLAKES, Page 7

“I

the lift running, but Wendy remembers how all winter, people kept coming in bringing pieces of the lift from the parking lot, asking “what’s this?”

In the early days, Anderson was not a good skier, but he was tall enough to reach up and replace the lift cable on the towers when it became dislodged. The Poma lift had a disk that skiers held between their legs, but didn’t sit down — it was supposed to pull them along the snow to the top. Rhoda is a small person, and remembers that because the lift was so steep and fast, it sometimes pulled her into the air. Each of the children had a special technique to keep from falling off.

Trail grooming then consisted of occasionally foot-packing the steeper slopes — skiers would ride the lift to the top and step down the hills sideways.

In the early days, Ernie, Rhoda and their children did all the jobs that needed doing. Ernie sometimes answered the phone, saying “this is the janitor.”

“Both my parents were ski instructors. One was a good one and it was not my father,” said Peter, who teaches skiing at the area today. The family has even produced a couple of thirdgeneration ski instructors.

In 1961 Taos Ski Valley built a Swiss Staedli chairlift to the top of Al’s Run and hired a full-time ski patrolman. They bought a Thiokol trail-grooming machine.

By the 1970s, the area had ski runs for all abilities, professional instructors and patrolmen, trail grooming equipment, hotels, and — during school vacations — lift lines. The road was finally paved in 1971.

The Blake family has grown. Mickey has four children and two grandchildren. Wendy has two children. Peter has seven children and six grandchildren.

The ski area has also grown. Today, it has 11 lifts — 12 beginning this winter with the addition of a new one to the top of Kachina Peak.

Hedge fund manager and conservationist Louis Bacon now owns TSV. But it was one family — with all odds stacked against them — that made the Ski Valley a success. Their efforts have made the entire region a better place. For that, the Blake family are this year’s Citizens of the Year.

Heroes | 9

The Blake family reflects on their lives at Taos Ski Valley

I

By Robin Martin

n August, I interviewed four of the five Blakes who were present at the founding of Taos Ski Valley. Only Ernie was not present. He died in 1989.

We met at the adobe home near Arroyo Seco belonging to Mickey Blake and his wife Ann. Rhoda’s house is farther north, in Des Montes. Peter lives near his mother, and maintains a stable of horses. Wendy and her husband Chris Stagg live at Taos Ski Valley.

Rhoda explained that she is “definitely retired,” for nine years now. She said she stopped skiing 12 years ago. Her children pointed out that she is 96 and has been smoking for 78 years.

Wendy said she is also retired, although her husband Chris is vice president for the new owners of the area, working with community relations and in the ski school. Wendy hikes, knits, reads and travels to see their children.

Mickey still works part-time at the ski area, “wrapping up things.” He is also researching old trails that lead into Taos.

Peter teaches skiing at TSV in the winter, and riding in the summer. In addition, he sells real estate.

I asked them all the same questions: Robin Martin: What is your earliest memory of the ski valley?

Rhoda Blake: The children trying to clear the field by the Hondo Lodge before anything else was built.

Wendy Stagg: Hanging out in summer: fishing, playing in the river. My early memories are not of winter.

Peter Blake: How the Hondo Lodge looked before the ski

area. It was a log shell. The area was very wooded.

PB: Porcupine.

Mickey: Driving up to the valley with my dad in his open Jeep on a very primitive, one-lane road that crossed the Río Hondo many times. Not all of the crossings boasted bridges.

But it was great fun ... in the summer. But in winter, the road was rarely plowed. Sometimes the Jeep would make it only as far as the Forest Service cabin near Taos East. We had to haul our supplies from there. My dad would lead the way and break track in the snow for the family.

RM: What is your least favorite run?

RM: What is your fondest memory of the ski valley?

RB: The early years, because it was very higgledy piggeldy.

MB: I have wonderful memories of my summers from about 1956-58. I was 12-14. My parents were in Santa Fe quite a bit, and they allowed me to stay on my own in the ski valley where I was free to explore as I wished. My horse, Velvet, and I knew practically every old mining trail and mine site.

WS: Summers as a kid.

PB: Summers riding in the valley, to Williams Lake and Bull of the Woods. Skiing during Christmas and spring break when I was a teenager.

They also recounted some sad times at the ski valley, such as the weeks at the end of Ernie’s life.

Mickey remembers climbing chair lift towers to chip off rime ice so the wheels would turn, being out in the bitter cold of early mornings with the wind blowing.

RM: What is your favorite ski run at Taos?

RB: Al’s, except you had to get out of the way of people coming up (on the surface lift).

WS: Porcupine, and the middle of Al’s.

MB: Porcupine.

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RB: The top of Al’s. I liked to ski around it. (Her detour through the woods was nicknamed Rhoda’s Revenge).

WS: North American.

MB: I’m not keen on Psychopath.

PB: I don’t have one. I like all the Ski Valley.

RM: Did Ernie ask the family to help name the ski trails?

All: No. RM: Who of her children is most like Rhoda?

All: Peter.

RM: Who is most like Ernie?

All: Mickey.

RM: What is the most important thing you would like your descendants to remember about the Ski Valley?

RB: That Ernie had a vision to do Taos.

PB: That both Ernie and Rhoda started TSV, and it took both of them to make it work. They did what they did because they loved it. They never saw that it would be a major ski resort, but built it because they loved what they were doing and the skiing. No one in the mid ’50s thought skiing would be big.

WS: I expect that at least through my grandchildren TSV will always be part of their lives, summer and winter ... It is really about a value system you share, the quiet joy of being on a mountain, summer or winter, as an integral part of life.

MB: That my parents built it from scratch when there was nothing.

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hEROES all of the unsung heroes & the Citizens of the Year!

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2 0 14 T R A D I C I O N E S | T H E TA O S N E W S

Tina Larkin

Taos High School family and consumer sciences, and culinary arts instructor Mary Spears laughs with Manage First students Jesus Perrez, 16 and Karina Acosta, 15 earlier this year. Manage First is a duel-credit course that was introduced last school year.

1 2 | Heroes

Tina Larkin

Louise Padilla inside San Antonio de Padua Catholic Church in Questa.

Louise Padilla A profile of faith and service to the community

L

By Yvonne Pesquera

ouise Padilla is a lifelong Questa resident.

Married to George Padilla, she is the mother of two adult children, Dean Max Martínez and Kari Martínez. She is the daughter of Adonario and the late Petronila Gallegos.

She looks back on what inspired her to run for a seat on the Questa Village Council and says, “After 20 years of sitting around the kitchen table and complaining, I decided to put my words into action.”

In March 2000, Padilla became the first woman elected for

the village Council in Questa’s history.

She has always felt a passion for helping others. She lets her heart –– and her strong faith in God –– lead her to various causes where she can lend her wisdom and her skills.

Padilla’s first lead role in volunteerism began with Community Against Violence in 2000. She was grateful for this organization’s help at a time in her life when she needed it. And she felt compelled to give back to them. So Padilla became an annual speaker on their annual radiothon and she has helped organize fundraising teams.

“Abuse is abuse. We have to put an end to the violence,” says Padilla. “Any $5 donation goes a long way.”

Around the same time, Padilla became involved with Taos Feeds Taos. She began as the northern representative for distribution (for the communities of Questa, Cerro, Costilla and Amalia) and was eventually nominated to become a board member. Padilla is still involved in the annual distribution of donated food. But her role has now expanded to include taking applications.

“People need to eat and especially at Christmas time, we help them so that maybe they can put one extra present under the tree. You should see the appreciation of the people and the light in their eyes,” says Padilla.

When Padilla was a councilor, she was a strong supporter of the Questa Fire Department and Questa Police Department.

Heroes | 1 3

“I live my life giving back to God. Without Him, we are nothing; we have nothing.

I ask Him to remind me of that everyday.”

—Louise Padilla

“P

ublic safety is important. And I saw that the ambulance service was in financial trouble. We needed to keep it alive and still need to here in Questa,” she says.

In 2010, Padilla worked with former mayor, Esther García, and fellow councilor, Evelyn OrtegaCoggins, to launch “The Questa Mayor’s Charity Ball.”

“The first recipient of those financial donations was the medical services,” says Padilla. The annual event has since been renamed The Questa Firemen’s Charity Ball, with funds directed to the ambulance services that are very badly needed.

Padilla is also a member of the San Antonio del Rio Colorado Historical Preservation Group (S.A.R.C.H.P.).

Padilla helps with feeding of workers (on the restoration of San Antonio de Padua Church in Questa) as well as taking a lead in fundraising.

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For example she helped organize “The Have a Heart Charity Ball,” which takes place on Valentine’s Day every year, with the first one taking place in 2013 to fundraise for San Antonio de Padua Church’s restoration.

She is also vice president of the Friends of the Questa Public Library. She started out on the advisory board for the library and was grateful for the opportunity to provide input and support.

Padilla then left the advisory board of the library and moved over to the nonprofit Friends of the Questa Public Library because, she says, “We have already outgrown our current location and see the need for expansion.”

She also has a passion for the annual Veteran’s Healing Field of Honor, which is held every Memorial Day Weekend. This past year marked the 10th year. For the event, they fly 1,000 flags in a local pasture to honor veterans, past and present.

“As a Questa Village Councilor, I was involved for the first

five years in small ways, but for the past five years, I have taken a lead role in organizing the event,” says Padilla. “For veterans, I can’t say enough of the sacrifices they make for our freedom.

I’m speechless about it. And it’s not just for the soldier –– but the family left behind too.”

She explains that military service runs in her family of four brothers and five sisters. Her father, Adonario Gallegos, was a Marine who fought in World War II. He fought in Iwo Jima, the bloodiest battle in the Pacific theater. Padilla has three brothers who also answered the call to military duty and one brother who has answered the call of public servant.

“I don’t do any of these things by myself. I know I can pick up the phone and get the help that I need,” says Padilla.

“People are so giving and ready to help in any way they can.”

She explains, “I live my life giving back to God. Without Him, we are nothing; we have nothing. I ask Him to remind me of that everyday.”

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1 4 | Heroes

Congratulations to the Blake Family and the Unsung Heroes

A great event inspires more than just the attendees.

It inspires the entire community.

At U.S. Bank, we are committed to making the communities in which we work and live a better place. Our commitment means supporting the programs and organizations that enrich the quality of life for our neighbors.

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Heroes | 1 5

Mary Spears Offering practical knowledge

By Andy Jones | Photos by Tina Larkin

A

sk any student who’s taken one of Mary Spears’ independent living courses at Taos High School about the difference she has made in their lives, and you’ll likely receive an enthusiastically positive response.

But even though teaching was her first love, and something she’s obviously very good at, it took her a while to get into the classroom. That said, she’s been at it long enough to make more than a few positive impacts in the lives of her students, mostly through her efforts teaching practical life skills at the high school.

Spears and her husband, Bobby Joe, moved to Taos in 1979 and since then she has filled numerous roles in the community.

She worked in the tourism industry and served as the nutritionist for the WIC program, among other jobs, but fate wouldn’t allow her to stay away from the classroom.

After graduating from Bowling Green State University in Ohio (Spears’ home state), she was certified as a teacher. She soon took a job in Lubbock, Texas working in administrative roles at Texas Tech University. It was in Lubbock where she met Bobby Joe, who was working with his uncle in the construction field helping that city rebuild after a devastating tornado in the mid-’70s.

When the young couple moved to Taos (where Bobby Joe’s father and step-mom lived), Spears found out she’d have to take a test to become a teacher in New Mexico.

“I was too chicken to take the test,” she says. “I worked downtown for a while and cleaned houses at the Ski Valley, all the normal stuff you have to do.”

Finally though, after seven years with WIC and numerous other years answering questions from tourists, Spears did take the test. It turns out there was nothing to worry about after all.

“I did fine, and I got my license,” she says. After that, she served as a full-time substitute teacher for almost two years before the GRADS (Graduation, Reality and Dual-Role Skills) program position at Taos High School became available in 1997. The program, part of a state-wide initiative, features curriculum that focuses on the needs of pregnant and/or parenting teens.

“They hired me the night before my first day of work. I showed up and there were six girls who had 4- to 6-month-old babies and five of the girls were breast feeding,” Spears recalls. “It was a learning experience for all of us, but it was wonderful.”

Spears says that when budget cuts took a toll on the program the community stepped up, with groups such as First Steps and and MEN Inc.’s Young Fathers Group offering services. Overall, the program has been a success.

“We’re all connected now, so we know we’re catching most of them,” Spears says. “Luckily, we don’t have the high numbers that we used to have.”

After three years of running that program, Spears moved into the family and consumer science position. Nowadays, she teaches child development and independent living classes, which include personal finance, food and relationships. Her role also includes THS’ successful culinary arts program, which she heads with 2011 Unsung Hero Benjie Apodaca.

See SPEARS, Page 16

Mary Spears with students from the THS Culinary Arts Program.

2011 Unsung Hero, Benjie Apodaca

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1 6 | Heroes

Mary Spears at her summer job, working as an interagency dispatcher with the National Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Indian Affairs.

From Spears, Page 15

“M

rs. Spears has been a great mentor to me and the program,” Apodaca says.

“She’s always thinking about the kids and their safety, education and home values.”

“We’re proud of the culinary team,” Spears says. “Benjie and I make a great team. He’s the chef part and I’m the other part, and it’s fun.”

This year, Spears has begun another new program: Academic and Career Exploration (or ACE).

“It’s an internship program,” Spears says. “The kids in the gifted and talented programs have opportunities to gain work experience but up until now there hasn’t been anything for the rest of the kids.”

To develop the program, she got some help from a

teacher at Atrisco Heritage High School in Albuquerque, where one of her daughters taught for the last several years.

“I try to facilitate knowledge instead of just teaching,” Spears says. “One of the cool things about what I teach is that you can adjust based on what the kids need.”

Over the years, Spears has consistently adjusted based on the needs of not only her students, but the needs of her own children as well. She served as a Girl Scout troop leader when her oldest daughter, Jamie Huss, was a child and was involved in youth soccer and hockey when her other daughter, Rachel Clevenger, was taking part in youth athletics. In fact, when Clevenger was among the first Taos High School girls to take part in the school’s soccer program, Spears signed on as an assistant coach so the team would have a full staff.

“She’s a team player at the school,” Apodaca says. “She’s awesome.”

Spears extends that team attitude over to her summertime position as an interagency dispatcher for the Bureau of

Land Management, National Forest Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs. Bobby Joe was with the Taos Volunteer Fire Department for two decades and the family lived in the apartment above the downtown fire department for 19 years.

If asked about what gives her the most pride, she will cite the accomplishments of the two children who she and her husband raised in that firehouse. Huss and Clevenger are both biology teachers at Sandia Prep in Albuquerque and between the two of them, and their husbands, they have given Mary and Bobby Joe three grandchildren.

When she’s not teaching, dispatching or spending time with her grandchildren, Spears enjoys reading, gardening and the solitude of her and her husband’s home near Fred Baca Park.

“That’s pretty much me I guess,” she says in her humble Midwestern style. “Now that I’m getting older, I take it as it goes. I try to keep my personal integrity but also enjoy life a little bit.”

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Heroes | 1 7

Jean Nichols ‘Upcycling’ her life and the lives of those around her

J

By Elizabeth Cleary | Photos by Tina Larkin

ean Nichols wishes she could stop having so many ideas, because she’s having trouble finding time to turn them all into reality.

I met up with Nichols at the Peñasco headquarters of Art for the Heart, the art therapy organization she founded in 1996, where she talked about all of the projects with which she is involved. There is of course Art for the Heart, an 18-year-old entity that hosts events like Hersday, a weekly meeting where women get together and work on art projects, and the Glam Trash Fashion Show, an annual event where folks can showcase outfits made from discarded items.

See NICHOLS, Page 18

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1 8 | Heroes

Jean Nichols at this year’s Glam Trash in the John Dunn House Shops.

D

From Nichols, Page 17

ay to day, Art for the Heart operates as a gallery and consignment boutique of upcycled fashions. The organization also hosts inexpensive and free art classes, and encourages anyone to come in and give basket-weaving, ceramics, or any of the other classes a try. Art for the Heart aims to bring out the inner artist in people, and artists can use their newfound talents to create art to sell in the gallery.

Nichols also manages La Comunidad, an organization dedicated to serving the general needs of the Peñasco community. La Comunidad acts as the fiscal agent for the Picuris-Peñasco Community Coalition, which manages the food bank. Since La Comunidad took PPCC under its wing, Nichols has become much more involved in helping with the food bank.

Nichols recently bought an old van that she plans to fix up so she can sell art and clothing at events around the state. The Peñasco gallery doesn’t see much foot traffic, and she used to

have a little gallery space at the Old County Courthouse on Taos Plaza, but it became too expensive to maintain. The van would be a way to give members’ art work and fashions more exposure and potentially put more money into artists’ pockets, Nichols says.

Nichols also uses her collection of clothing and odds and ends to provide costume supplies to local theater companies.

Nichols is also working on introducing more locally farmed products into the boxes at the food bank.

“When I see a need, I just want to help,” she said.

Nichols has lived in Northern New Mexico since 1968. Like many who visit the area, Nichols fell in love with it as soon as she got here, and bought land and settled down here soon after. Nichols kept busy protesting the war and even attended Woodstock in 1969. But unlike her peers, Nichols wasn’t there to enjoy the music and everything else the festival had to offer — she was there working security with Wavy Gravy’s Hog Farm collective, and says she worked harder during those few days than she ever has in her life.

Before she founded Art for the Heart, Nichols was working

in Santa Fe at a publishing company. She then founded Art for the Heart under the sentiment that art is healing, and her aim was to bring art as therapy to the Peñasco community.

Every so often it becomes evident that Nichols has achieved what she set out to accomplish – to heal people by bringing out their inner artist – and Nichols says this is the most rewarding part of what she does. A woman came in having recently left a high-stress job and was weary and convinced she had no artistic abilities. Now, Nichols says, the woman is a skilled quilt maker and finds joy and peace in what she does.

At the gallery on the day I visit, mannequins sport partially finished “glam trash” outfits as Nichols gets ready for the annual fashion show, which started in 2001. One mannequin has on a skirt made from Lay’s potato chip bags. Another has a halter top made from a sheet of tiles Nichols says she found at the dump.

Another has on a neon yellow sack with the CBS News logo on it, and Nichols says she plans to make a shirt or a dress out of it.

Nichols says she feels “blessed” to live in a place as beautiful as Taos County, and feels the need to give back.

“I try to live with a sense of gratitude,” she says.

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Heroes | 1 9

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2 0 14 T R A D I C I O N E S | T H E TA O S N E W S

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Alex Medina in front of his home.

2 2 | Heroes

Lisa O’Brien Listening, learning and getting things done

F

Story and photos by Rick Romancito

rom an early age, Lisa O’Brien learned an important lesson. By helping other people, you help yourself. That lesson has been woven through her life and it is why she was chosen to be one of this year’s Unsung Heroes.

“I was very excited and surprised,” O’Brien said about learning of the honor, bestowed by a committee of community representatives who have taken note of her efforts.

These efforts have involved her work with Child-Rite, the free adoption agency for special needs children and youth; the Taos Community Foundation, for which

she manages grant programs; Tri-County Children’s Advocates, for which she coordinated volunteer advocates; Taos Community Against Violence, and others going back to completion of her masters degree in social work from New Mexico Highlands University.

“It was definitely my family, my upbringing,” she said about the roots of her life in public service. “I’m from the Detroit area and my parents were very civicminded people, kind of hippie-radicals almost. So, local campaigns, school board elections, League of Women Voters, that all happened out of my house. That’s what I grew up around.”

This was in the 1970s, and for O’Brien, it was simply “what you did.”

Lisa O’Brien outside the Taos Community Foundation offices.

She said in elementary school she had a teacher who made a significant impact on how her life would turn out. “He encouraged me to organize a protest about something I was upset about at school. So, activism and social justice issues — I use that word now, but I didn’t know what that meant then — but there’s always been that piece in my family.”

That protest in the fourth grade revealed to her the cause and effect experience, that activism can result in change. And, for her, it all centers on the core value of “fairness.” As she entered the professional world, O’Brien said she sought out work that was “always around the under-served populations.” High school and college established that foundation and put her on the path of social work.

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Heroes | 2 3

O

Lisa O’Brien at her desk at the Taos Community Foundation.

’Brien admits that this is likely tied to her own personality traits. “I can remember when my son was 7 or 8 and we were walking into a school meeting and he said, ‘You know, mom, you don’t always have to raise your hand.’ And, I still remember that, because he was a good teacher for me at that time.” She said she learned from him that she doesn’t always have to coordinate the bake sale or become the chair of this committee or that.

“On the other hand, the work that I’ve done and the outreach that I’ve had in community has fed me. I love it,” she said. “I love working in groups, being in situations that sometimes can be challenging and take you out of your comfort zone.”

One of the tools she has become adept at using when

dealing with groups grappling with complicated issues, is an ability to find common ground.

“I think you find a place of being human with one another, that’s the first thing. Whether or not I’m in agreement with something that’s happening politically or in the community meeting or discussion, I — we’re all there for the right reasons, but we may have different ways of how to move something forward — but, it’s always passion and love and intent that brings people to the table.”

A lot of times, she said she relies on just sitting back and listening, following her intuition about when to push and times when letting go is more important. Last May, when PFLAG-Taos was having its second-annual award ceremony, O’Brien (an active member) was recognized for her “expertise, support, and open heart.”

“Lisa gave personal time in guiding the board of directors during the challenging transition in 2013 when Annouk (Ellis) was no longer able to lead,” according to PFLAG-Taos Board President Barbara J. Sheppard. “She is one of our strongest straight allies.”

Ellis passed away in December 2013. PFLAG is a national organization made up of “parents, families, friends, and straight allies united with people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered.”

O’Brien works in a variety of other groups in Taos, including Los Jardineros Garden Club and with a local quilting group. Along the way, she makes a lot of friends.

And, that, for anybody wondering how to get along in Taos, is how things get done here. This is a lesson O’Brien has taken to heart.

Photo’s by Sean Kelly Portraits, Taos, NM www.seankellyportraits.com

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2 4 | Heroes

Alex Medina Finding ways to help

By J.R. Logan | Photos by Tina Larkin

W

hen Alex Medina walked out of a movie a six years ago and saw a pile of unused popcorn in the movie theater popcorn machine, the first thing he thought of was finding someone who could use it.

“What do you do with that?” Medina asked the theater employee at the counter. “Would you consider giving it to the senior citizens?”

The theater said yes. And every week since, Medina has volunteered his time to pick up popcorn from Storyteller Cinemas and haul it over to the Ancianos building.

It’s a small gesture. But it means a lot to the seniors.

“It’s important to them to know there are people in the community that care for them, that they’re interested in what’s happening with them, and want to make their life a little more pleasant,” Medina says.

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“We knew what we had to do, in a certain time frame, and what milestones had to be met. And, hey, we did it.”

—Alex Medina

M

edina, 83, grew up in Des Montes but left Taos when he was 16 to join the Army Air Corps. He wound up working at the Army Depot in Pueblo, Colo. While there, he befriended an influential neighbor — Friedrich Duerr, a German-born NASA engineer who convinced Medina to move to Hunstville, Alab. and earn a degree in engineering. Medina ended up working with Duerr at NASA and was part of the team that developed rocket technology for the Saturn V rocket, which eventually delivered astronauts to the moon.

In the heat of the space race with the Russians, Medina says he was inspired by the brilliant people who’d been

assembled to get the job done. “There really wasn’t a lot of so-called pressure,” Medina says. “We knew what we had to do, in a certain time frame, and what milestones had to be met. And, hey, we did it.”

While Medina enjoyed his work, he said it was incredibly demanding. His seven-day-a-week schedule took away from time with his family.

That’s why, in 1976, at age 42, Medina moved back to Taos to build a house on some property he’d bought 20 years earlier. He’s dabbled in a few business ventures, but since coming home, Medina joined the Kiwanis Club, served on the Taos Municipal School Board, and has dedicated much of his time to finding ways he can help.

Jeanette García, a longtime Kiwanis member, says Medina stands out from the already big-hearted Kiwanis crowd. “He’s a really exceptional person. He’s done so much for the club and the community.” García says. “He always has ideas, he’s always thinking about ways to help somebody who might need help.”

For example, before hauling popcorn for the seniors, Medina spent eight years going to grocery store bakeries at the crack of dawn to pick up day-old pastries. He’d then take the treats to the Community Against Violence shelter bright and early.

See MEDINA, Page 26

Alex Medina in his corn field.

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2 6 | Heroes

Page Title

EPage RTitle OE ES S E R O

With the the support support of of the the Jesuits, Jesuits, With McNichols worked worked with with the the AIDS AIDS Hospice Hospice McNichols team of of St. St. Vincent’s Vincent’s Hospital Hospital in in Manhattan.

Manhattan. team received aa master master of of fine fine arts arts from from Pratt Pratt received Institute in in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, N.Y. N.Y. Institute

Working with with Working AIDS patients AIDS patients McNichols said said about about the the time time he he gradugraduMcNichols ated from Pratt, AIDS — then called GRID ated from Pratt, AIDS — then called GRID for Gay-Related Gay-Related Immune Immune Deficiency Deficiency — — was was for in the news. in the news.

He received received aa call call from from Dignity, Dignity, aa Catholic Catholic He gay organization, organization, requesting requesting he he say say Mass Mass for for gay people with AIDS. He had just finished readpeople with AIDS. He had just finished reading aa book book about about Father Father Damien, Damien, who who worked worked ing with lepers in Hawaii, and given the hysteria with lepers in Hawaii, and given the hysteria then surrounding surrounding AIDS, AIDS, he he saw saw aa connection. connection. then “I knew when I got the call, this was not not “I knew when I got the call, this was Nichols blessing at at aa ichols aa blessing just aa Mass,” Mass,” he he said. said. just l in in Arroyo Arroyo Seco.

Seco.

Afterward, McNichols McNichols was was approached approached by by Afterward, od at it because he is “dyslexic people who asked that he help people they od at it because he is “dyslexic people who asked that he help people they ns.” knew who who had had AIDS. AIDS. The The first first man man he he visited visited s.” knew her dissuaded him from going was so weak his caregiver fed him drops of her dissuaded him from going was so weak his caregiver fed him drops of ary, McNichols went to college orange juice juice from from aa straw. straw. ary, McNichols went to college orange gain he heard the message to With the support of the the Jesuits, Jesuits, McNichols McNichols gain he heard the message to With the support of ile he he was was painting. painting. The The next next worked worked with with the the AIDS AIDS Hospice Hospice team team of of St. St. ile to the seminary in Florissant, Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan.

He met with to the seminary in Florissant, Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan. He met with people of of all all faiths faiths and and learned learned about about their their people dained as a Roman Catholic beliefs. dained as a Roman Catholic beliefs. ishop James Casey, in Denver, Sometimes he he saw saw patients patients for for only only one one ishop James Casey, in Denver, Sometimes visit, sometimes sometimes aa week week or or aa year. year. “I“I wanted wanted visit, studied philosophy, theology to talk with them,” he said.

“This was the very From Medina,theology Page 25 tudied philosophy, to talk with them,” he said. “This was the very ouis University, Boston College, end of of their their lives.” lives.” ouis University, Boston College, end sity, and Weston School of sity, and Weston School ofedina says many of the women and ambridge, Mass. In In 1983 1983 he he Father Bill continues onin page 14 14 ambridge, Mass.

Father continues on page families there hadBill spent the night terrible anguish and fear. Someone like Medina coming by with a box of donuts was often a welcome surprise.

M

Alex Medina, pictured with his Kiwanis club certificate of achievement and a framed picture and article of himself that appeared in an issue of Kiwanis magazine.

“At that point there’s so much tension in their life. So much uncertainty. They didn’t know what they were going to do,” Medina says. “I could see the appreciation in their faces — the realization that there’s a community out there that is thinking about them. That somebody cares.”

García says in all the years she’s known Medina, he’s always been humble about his efforts. “He’s never looking for any recognition,” García says. “He never thinks that

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he’s done anything big. But he has. When it comes to volunteering, he’s there and ready to go.”

Eloy Jeantete, another Kiwanian, says the time Medina puts into delivering popcorn week after week is an example of his dedication to service. “It shows a lot about Alex, the way he cares for elderly people and takes the time to do such a thing,” Jeantete says. “He’s a very generous guy.”

Questa Mine congratulates 2014 Unsung Hero

Louise Padilla and salutes her many contributions to the community, including: Questa Healing Fields

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13 31313 1

Month X-X, X-X, 2010 2010 Month

San Antonio de Rio Church Historical Restoration Taos Feeds Taos Questa Citizens Ditch Association J.D. Powers Powers says says J.D.

“Chevrolet wins wins “Chevrolet the most most of of any any the manufacturer.” manufacturer.”

Community Against Violence Questa Public Library Village of Questa Councilor (12 years) Questa Fire Department Support Group Questa Senior Center UNM-Taos student “When in doubt, ask Louise to help”

says says says

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Heroes | 2 7 Tony Jojola’s bear fetishes are synonymous with the Unsung Hero

F

or the 14th year, as long as Tradiciones has been an annual publication put out by The Taos News, our Citizens of the Year and Unsung Heroes will be honored with a special award.

And just as it was in 2001, the honorees in 2014 will receive a one-of-a-kind glass bear fetish, courtesy of Isleta Pueblo artist, Tony Jojola. The bears are symbolic of the passion and wisdom that is reflected in the honorees each year.

"To a lot of American Indians [the bear] has a lot of meaning, about strength and courage, power and wisdom — a lot of attributes of the hero," Jojola has said about the significance of the award.

Bear fetishes are unique in the culture of New Mexico's Pueblos, and according to Zuni legend, the bear fetish is the guardian of the West, with power to heal and

“I like the Shared Table, because you might not think you need anything, but you just might.”

-- Taos 4th grader

transform human passions into wisdom.

Jojola has been making the bear fetishes since 1986, 15 years before they would become the symbol of the Unsung Hero.

The artist has worked in his field since 1975, when he was a student at the Institute of American Indian Arts of Santa Fe. Jojola also studied at Haystack Mt. School of Crafts in Maine, on a scholarship as an artist-inresidency.

He went on to an internship with the famous glass artist, Dale Chihuly (he later joined Chihuly's team of artists full time). Jojola came to Taos in 1996 to teach at the Taos Glass Arts studio at Taos

Economic Development Corp. He was also an instructor at Chihuly's Hilltop Artists program in Tacoma, Wash.

Chris Baker, publisher of The Taos News, and creator of the Tradiciones series, says it's always a pleasure to see the bears in homes and on desks around town.

“The recipients always tell me the same thing. ‘I have received a lot of awards and honors, but being named a hero is on the top of that list.’ This is a special award,” Baker says.

Jojola's work can be found in the permanent collections at the Denver Art Museum and the Heard Museum in Arizona.

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Checks payable to: Shared Table, PO Box 895, Ranchos de Taos, NM 87557

T he Shared Table

Providing food, health-care items, school supplies and good-will (2nd and 4th Wednesdays, every month, all year long @ El Pueblito Methodist Church and Ranchos Presbyterian Church)

Steve Wiard, Director,

BE A HERO Celebrate Diversity

575-758-3166

stevewiard@q.com

Taos Lions Club congratulates

Jane Compton, O.D.

for her efforts in directing & helping to make the Lions KidSight & Adult Vision Programs a Taos Success Story...

KidSight Program

Annually 85% of all students, PreK through 3rd grade, from 23 schools are screened, with hundreds of children being referred for treatment

Adult Vision Program in 2014 18 eye exams/glasses 1 cataract surgery

BE WHO YOU ARE. LOVE WHO YOU LOVE.

Together as a community we work toward full inclusion and acceptance of our rich diversity.

• Supporting ALL Families • Educating our Community through our Speakers Bureau, Scholarship Program & Monthly Meetings • Advocating Equality & Acceptance for ALL • BECOME A MEMBER TODAY!

Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender People Visit our website: pflagtaos.org or email us at: pflagtaos@gmail.com

We are looking for people just like you to join our Lions Club organization, to help in our ongoing efforts in making Taos a great place to live. For more info contact Andy Johnson, Membership Director at 575-776-1957 or email alfordjohnson@taosnet.com Funded in part by:

2 8 | Heroes

Valorie Archuleta Paying back the community by helping every one she can

By Cody Olivas | Photos by Tina Larkin

F

or the last four years, one day the week before school starts, Valorie Archuleta has given free haircuts to kids at her salon, It’s a Small World.

The first couple of years she said between 30 and 40 kids came in and got a hair cut. Then 50 kids came. This year 70 kids came in and got a free hair cut from her and Katrina Rivera. It’s mostly for elementary kids, but she hasn’t turned any older kids down who needed a haircut either. With so many people coming in, she gives them hot dogs and bottled water while they wait.

“I was a single parent,” Archuleta said. “If I wasn’t a hair dresser, haircuts would have been one of the last things to get — after clothes and supplies — and the last thing is one of the hardest to come up with.”

Helping people is something that she likes to do; it makes her happy. It’s also her way of thanking everybody who has helped her when she needed it.

“When my daughter got ill, the community helped me out a bunch,” Archuleta said.

Her daughter Arianna needed her first spine surgery six years ago. Archuleta had to quit her job to take care of her because Arianna needed 24-hour care for three months.

A LegACY of SeRviCe AfteR 20 YeARS of SeRviCe, RoCkY MountAin Youth CoRpS exeCutive DiReCtoR CARL CoLoniuS iS hAnging up hiS woRk bootS.

Photo by Tina Larkin

Carl’s passion for service built the Corps from the ground up, inspiring over 2,000 youth through his years of connecting community with youth.

A true success story of a corps member who has worked his way up, Ben Thomas is taking over Taos’ largest service organization.

As the faces change, RMYC’s mission remains steadfast: inspiring young adults to make a difference in their community.

1203 King Drive #3, Taos | 575.751.1420 | www.youthcorps.org

Heroes | 2 9

S

ince she had to quit her job at a different salon, Archuleta had a bake sale to raise some money. She also had a benefit dance — and one of her daughter’s favorite bands, Albuquerque’s Sorela, came up and played for free to help them out. People she didn’t even know also dropped off checks to help her out after reading about it in the dance in The Taos News.

“Without that help, I wouldn’t have been able to survive,” Archuleta said. “There’s no way I could go around thanking everybody so it’s my way of giving back.”

Giving away free haircuts is just one way Archuleta has tried to give back.

Archuleta has let many people hold bake sales in front of her salon for causes she felt have been worthy. Local dance teams have raised money there so they could travel to competitions.

People needing help with medical bills have done the same, like when her cousin was in a bad motorcycle accident.

Archuleta has often donated her day’s wages to help them out too.

Archuleta was born in Covina, California. She moved to Taos 20 years ago when she was 16. Her great grandparents lived in

for the past 19 years, she said her clientele has become almost like her family.

“It’s not like a real job,” she said. “I come in and chit chat all day, make someone happy and then it’s time to go home.”

Valorie Archuleta gives a young customer a trim as more filter into her salon, It’s a Small World Salon & Boutique, to receive free back-to-school haircuts.

Arroyo Hondo and her mom brought her here every summer to visit. When Archuleta moved to Taos, however, she was all by herself.

She stayed with cousins. At first, she attended high school, but then left and studied at beauty school instead, at Parks College in Albuquerque. After graduating, she got a job working in Chris Medina’s salon. Years later, Medina came and worked at her salon. He passed away in March, but Archuleta isn’t ready to rent out his space just yet.

When a client is struggling with something financially, she’s often given them a free haircut so they have one less thing to worry about.

“Anything I do for someone else, in my eyes it’s not a big deal,” Archuleta said. “I think we should all help each other.

There are so many people in this community who struggle.”

She described Taos as a “different world” where she’ll often meet someone new and by the end of the conversation they’re hugging.

Sometimes she has even given away her kids’ lunches to homeless people, and then told her kids she’d get them Her salon is a place where she’s part hair stylist, part nail artist, something else later. Her generosity sometimes causes her mom to caution her. “You’re too nice,” her mom says. part permanent-cosmetic tattooist and part psychiatrist.

“I get to hear all kinds of stuff,” she said. Letting her clients relax while she listens to their stories and cuts their hair usually brightens their days. After cutting many of the same people’s hair

For Archuleta, however, giving is a reward.

“I just want to do it,” Archuleta said. “My favorite part is doing something for someone else and making them happy.”

For Archuleta, however, giving is a reward.

3 0 | Heroes PAST CITIZENS OF THE YEAR AND UNSUNG HEROES 2001 Citizen of the Year: Luis Reyes Unsung Heroes: Shelley Bahr Paul Bernal Beatríz Gonzáles Nancy Jenkins Ida Martínez Celina Salazar Larry Schreiber Stephen Wiard Fred Winter

2002 Citizen of the Year: Eloy Jeantete Unsung Heroes: Paulie Burt Martha Dick Shawn Duran Lucy Hines Palemón Martínez Theresa and Rúben Martínez Joleen Montoya Mary Olguin John Randall 2003 Citizen of the Year: Nick and Bonnie Branchal Unsung Heroes: Richard Archuleta Elizabeth Gilmore Bruce Gomez Jane Mingenbach Patty Mortenson and Terry Badhand Cynthia Rael-Vigil Guadalupe Tafoya Bernie Torres Ted Wiard

2004 Citizen of the Year: Tony Reyna Unsung Heroes: Charlie Anderson Connie Archuleta Stephen Cetrulo Victor Chavez Ernestine and Francis Córdova Clay Farrell Dee Lovato Jeannie Masters Rosemarie Packard 2005 Citizen of the Year: Art and Susan Bachrach Unsung Heroes: Mardoqueo Chacón Juan “Johnny” Devargas Carmen Lieurance Ernie and Frutoso López Roy Madrid Betsy Martínez Isabel Rendón Johnny Sisneros Dr. Bud Wilson

2006 Citizen of the Year: Jenny Vincent Unsung Heroes: Francisco Córdova Telesfor González John Holland Vishu Magee Juan Martínez Luís C. Martínez Becky Miera Gabriel Romero Snider Sloan 2007 Citizen of the Year: Jake Mossman Jr. Unsung Heroes: Chilton and Judy Anderson Cindy Cross Shirley and Jerry Lujan Albino Martínez Max Martínez Ted Martínez Irene Párraz Corina Santisteven Michael and Sylvia Torrez

2008 Citizen of the Year: Cid and Betty Backer Unsung Heroes: Crestina Armstrong Trujillo Mario Barela Art Coca Mike Concha Rose Cordova Jeanelle Livingston Christina Masoliver Jake Mossman Sr. Nita Murphy 2009 Citizen of the Year: Rebeca Romero Rainey Unsung Heroes: Billy and Theresa Archuleta Carolina Domínguez Eddie Grant Mary Trujillo Mascareñas Connie Ochoa Marie Reyna Lawrence Vargas Frank Wells

2010 Citizen of the Year: Vishu Magee Unsung Heroes: Candido Domínguez Esther García Michael Hensley Cherry Montaño Mish Rosette Patrick Romero Charlene Tamayó Feloniz Trujillo Malinda Williams 2011 Citizen of the Year: Jim Fambro Unsung Heroes: Benjie Apodaca Patrick Delosier Cyndi Howell Chavi Petersen Mary Alice Winter Siena Sanderson Alipio Mondragón

2012 Citizens of the Year: Mary and Jim Gilroy Unsung Heroes: Marilyn Farrow Dennis Hedges Pat Heinen Judy Hofer Phyllis Nichols Loretta Ortiz y Pino Dolly Peralta Lillian Romero 2013 Citizen of the Year: Patricia Michaels Unsung Heroes: Edy Anderson Cynthia Burt Josh Casali and Mark Ortega Maria Cintas Father William Hart McNichols JoAnn Ortiz Effie Romero Fabi Romero

Roberto “Bobby” J. Gonzales

State Representative District #42 Democrat Congratulations to the 2014 Citizens of the Year and Unsung Heroes Your hard work and commitment make Taos the special place it is.

State Representative Roberto “Bobby” J. Gonzales District 42, Democrat

Thank you Taos County for your ongoing support. If I may assist you please call 575-770-3178.

Paid Political Advertisement

Paid for by the Committee to Re-Elect Roberto “Bobby” J. Gonzales, Marcos Gonzales Treasurer

You Can Be A Hero Too Bring your own bags when you shop at Cid’s and we contribute 10 cents for each bag to a non-profit in our community. Through your participation we donated over $20,000 last year to help them with their valuable work.

623 Paseo del Pueblo Norte • Taos www.cidsfoodmarket.com • 575-758-1148

VOTE

Saving the Day, One Car at a Time.

From emergency repairs to our Women’s Car Care Clinics, we’re always here to keep you informed, safe and on the road.

RONALD G. MONTEZ ON TIME. RELIABLE. TRUSTWORTHY.

Using only original equipment manufacturer parts, all of our maintenance services meet or exceed warranty requirements.

575.758.1658 1314 Paseo del Pueblo Sur

FOR TAOS COUNTY SHERIFF

I am humbly asking for your vote on Nov. 4th 2014.

I am a proud Taoseño who will continue to serve our community with the utmost integrity and unbiased leadership.

Humildemente pido su voto el 4 de noviembre de 2014.

Soy un Taoseño orgulloso que continuara sirviendo a nuestra comunidad con la mayor integridad y liderazgo Imparcial • NEW MEXICO LAW ENFORMCEMENT ACADEMY CERTIFIED: LAW ENFORCEMENT (25 Years) E911 TELECOMMUNICATION OPERATOR (Valedictorian) • RETIRED POLICE CAPTAIN ASSIST ANT CHIEF • SERGEANT TAOS POLICE DEPARTMENT • FBI NATIONAL ACADEMY GRADUATE • RECEIPITANT OF TOWN OF TAOS MEDAL OF VALOR • VETERAN OF THE US AlR FORCE • TAOS HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE

Serving Taos since 1974 Paid for by the Committee to Elect Ronald G. Montez Taos County Sheriff

Heroes

Heroes | 3 1

2 0 14 T R A D I C I O N E S | T H E TA O S N E W S

Tina Larkin

Jane Compton in her office.

3 2 | Heroes

Jane Compton ‘Not just eye care’

E

By Andrew Oxford | Photos by Tina Larkin

ven as an optometrist, much of Jane Compton’s work concerns the ears.

Talking, listening and building a rapport with the community she has called home since 1984 are part of what endear her to the job.

“There are so many interesting people here, whether it is people whose families have been here 400 years or people who moved here last week,” Compton says.

And many of them pass through the doors of her office on Paseo del Pueblo Sur. Chosen as one of this year’s Unsung Heroes, Compton can’t turn a blind eye to the reality that many local residents continue to live without health care. She has partnered with optometrists throughout the community, as well as the Taos Lions Club, to make its eye screening program a success.

See compton, Page 35

“Heroes are never perfect, but they’re brave, they’re authentic, they’re courageous, determined, discreet, and they’ve got grit.”

- Wade Davis

I’m honored to serve Taos County’s community of heroes.

Your dedication and tireless work inspires my service.

Jim Fambro

Taos County Commissioner District #1 “Still Serving You”

PAID FOR BY COMMITTEE TO ELECT JIM FAMBRO -MARIETTA FAMBRO TREASURER

W

Heroes Our Community’s Humble Hero

hen, I first heard about a little town of no more than 6,000 people in the Northern tip of New Mexico, I hesitated as the image of a single stop light, and a silent, tumbleweed dancing through the empty streets flashed before my eyes.

It took me one visit to realize that Taos was nothing like the picture I had created. It doesn’t take long for one to discover that Taos is truly unique. The eclectic community of artist, educators, authors, crafts men and women, poets, musicians, business people and renegades bring their unique gifts to the community.

Taos’ beauty is encompassed in its rich history and pueblo architecture, set against an amazing backdrop of Taos Mountains. The soul of New Mexico is said to be found here.

Inevitably captivated by the myriad of outdoor activities such as the Rio Grande Gorge, the Enchanted Circle, and Taos Ski Valley, I soon called this home.

Dyke, contributing to carton series, such as; Journey to the Center of Earth, Aquaman, Batman, and Spiderman, and being showcased by American Express, Ray Vinella is an incredibly humble man who is extraordinarily rich with love. I was intrigued by his description of Disney as a vain man, and Dick Van Dyke, who he described as a “great guy.” It was clear to me that all that mattered to Ray was the naked truth of one’s character.

Not the glitz or glam he called, “a bunch of bologna.”

I discretely find, every day, I am living next to artists of one form or another, and I am blown away. I will be forever indebted to each of the residents that I am blessed to be acquainted with.

Each of them, become a part of me; their history embedded and their stories carried on as a tremendous testament to life at its fullest.

being a bum.” He told me how he feels free to design the lifestyle he so chooses, with the support of our staff. One of the most touching things Ray shared with me, “I sold my house at a loss to come here to Taos Retirement Village. My life was much more important.”

Echoing the sentiments of many, another resident once told me, “I didn’t start living until I moved to Taos Retirement Village.”

I have learned that retirement should be embraced as a liberation and an entitlement to a life well lived. It should be celebrated as the

| 33

commitment of responsibilities of living day to day are fulfilled, and we are freed from our obligation to enjoy what matters the most to us individually; quality of time with a renewed passion and an excitement for life.

Our mission at Taos Retirement Village is to provide the means and support for our residents to achieve the lifestyle they choose.

Ray, and so many of the like are the true unsung heroes of Taos New Mexico, and to them, I express my deepest gratitude and respect.

“I didn’t start living until I moved to Taos Retirement Village.”

A truly hidden treasure, Taos reaches into the depths of one’s being and pulls those who it desires into its magnetic charisma, engaging one’s intimate passions and curiosity, while offering a subtle peacefulness.

I came to accept a job offer at Taos Retirement Village. True to Taos lifestyle, the environment that has been created is inviting and colored with a rich tapestry of experience.

The delicate approach that the staff holds true is simple: treat others as you would want to be treated. I am in the business of taking care of people. Today, a cynical undertone of the societal perceptions of the elderly, ring loudly, but hardly true. Our approach couldn’t be farther from the mainstream, and the vast background of the residents and their happiness, are an accurate reflection.

It has been my honor to meet and be challenged on a daily basis by amazing characters, who just so happen to be two, sometimes three times my junior years. One of which is Ray Vinella. A part from being one of the original Taos 6 a group accredited for the revitalization of artistry in Taos, working for Disney, working with Dick Van

Ray sweetly invited me into his home, and described his passions of painting that was none compared to the love of his life, his wife, who he faithfully stayed loyal to for 24 years. He shared with me the secret to a happy marriage: “Wake up every morning with the purpose of making your spouse happy.

Love each other.” In addition, he shared the love and pride he had for his three boys and the fondness of his first wife, who he shared 15 years with.

He took the time to go page by page with me through his book, self-titled, “Vinella.”

He pointed out his favorite works of art, the story behind each, and the personal meaning underlining each brush stroke. He shared with me his intimate family pictures that his sister had sent him on his birthday. He had a large Italian family, and seemed to be close to them all. He told me about his humbling beginnings in New York that inspired him to broaden his perspective and his desire for greatness.

Ray said to me, “I live in the now. I don’t care about yesterday or tomorrow. I live for today.” He showed a comfort in our services and that we support a carefree lifestyle.

When I asked him if he still paints he said, “I’m burnt out. I’ve been painting since I was 14 years old. I’m a bum now. I love

Ray Vinella

The Trusty SIDEKICKS, Support Behind the Scenes Within walking distance of Taos Retirement Village you will find the colorful artistry and blend of characters that make the Plaza so vibrant. The many museums, galleries, and unique boutiques make for an exciting shopping experience.

DH Lawrence and Georgia O’Keeffe are just a sample of the many influential artists that have been inspired by Taos living.

Spectacular showcasing of music and the-

atre come alive in this art mecca.

lifestyle in a family setting.

If that is not enough, tantalize your taste buds with an array of exquisite dining experiences. With a global perspective, join us as we celebrate an encounter with the true culinary arts.

One resident exclaimed that, “This is much more like a resort!” In addition, several residents share that their every growing circle of friends has never been so dynamic. Whether you enjoy a social atmosphere or solitude, you will find serenity in your decision to move here.

Taos Retirement Village is a reflection of Taos’ diversity, forward-thinking, environmentally conscious, and adventurous

Our staff recognizes aging as a vivacious

phase of discovery, peace, joy, and freedom! You are beautifully unique and our staff will go out of their way to recognize you as such in our personalized approach.

Join us on this intimate journey, as we promise a fulfilling lifestyle. No matter what our residents need, our commitment to caring is at the heart of everything we do!

TA O S

Retirement Village

To set up your customized tour, please contact Katrina Bryant; 575-758-8248.

We are located at 414 Camino de la Placita.

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3 4 | Heroes

Jane Compton at work with a patient.

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Heroes | 3 5 Compton said she “got all fired up,” noting the importance of vision to a child’s education, especially as elementary students go from learning to read to reading to learn.

T

From COMPTON, Page 32

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he partnership began when Compton heard a presentation about the initiative, which provides free eye exams to students and refers children to optometrists who might not otherwise receive eye care.

Compton said she “got all fired up,” noting the importance of vision to a child’s education, especially as elementary students go from learning to read to reading to learn.

“I said we ought to do something for the heck of it to see how big an issue this is,” she said. Compton agreed to accept referrals from the Lions’ KidSight program, which expanded to Taos in 2007, and provide free and affordable eye care to students who exhibit challenges during screening.

Forty-five second-graders participated in the first round of screening, Compton recalls, noting 13 needed glasses and only three had third-party health insurance.

The program has since broadened to provide approximately 1,700 local children with free vision screenings each year.

Compton says each pair of glasses can make a big difference.

“So much of our lives is visual. In school, you’re

watching the teacher, you’re reading the board,” she says.

“It is too easy for children with visual impairments to fall behind in school as they go from learning to read to reading to learn,” Compton said.

Yet 86 percent of New Mexicans entering the first grade have not had an eye exam and 70 percent of school-age children in the state have some form of visual impairment, according to the Lions Club.

“We can at least make sure kids have what they’ve got to have. We can actually make that happen,” she said.

And there’s no shrinking from that duty, according to Compton.

That Taos can be, at least in some respects, a tightknight community suits her.

“People who don’t want to feel connected to their community don’t stay here,” she says.

But she takes a blasé tone in discussing her own path to Northern New Mexico.

“It wasn’t like I woke up one morning with a passion for optometry,” Compton says.

A native of Galveston, Texas, Compton jokes she “was probably a little clumsy to be a dentist.”

She obtained a doctorate of optometry from the University of Houston and worked for approximately 2 ½ years in Santa Fe before buying a practice in Taos.

It may seem a jump to go from the City of Energy to the Land of Enchantment. Compton, though, suggests Taos has the best of both worlds.

“I believe we have unbelievable health care for the size of the community, but because it’s a small community, you get to know people,” she says.

More succinctly, Compton says working as an optometrist in Taos is “not a cattle call.”

Instead, it means building relationships and occasionally adjusting glasses for patients she comes across at the grocery store.

But passion returns to Compton’s voice whenever conversation turns to those who go without.

Lately, Compton says she has been seeing Taoseños who have never shadowed her door before.

Since Medicaid was expanded in 2013, for example, she says she has served patients in their late 50s and early 60s who had never had an eye exam.

“They fell through the cracks,” she says.

Compton may not have foreseen her role in patching those cracks, but, just as she can’t disengage from the community, she can’t turn a blind eye to the community’s needs.

“Accessibility — not just eye care — that seems a no-brainer,” she says.

Congratulations to Lisa O’Brien 2014 Unsung Hero

Just a few of her Accomplishments...

CASA (Court appointed advocates for children) PLAG Hospice Garden Club Past Taos Milagro Rotary President Paul Harris Recipient

Taos Milagro Rotary is dedicated to supporting Education, Literacy, Community Projects in Taos County, and International Community Projects

www.taosrotary.org Please Join Us! 7:20am Every Wednesday at Quality Inn

3 6 | Heroes

Tina Larkin

From left, Santiago “Mulu” Martinez, Tina Martinez, Nicolette Martinez and Haleigh Concha.

LEADER TIMELESS EMPATHIC PERSEVERANCE CONFIDENT EXTRAORDINARY Fourteenth Annual

Tradiciones El camino a través del tiempo

Former Taos Pueblo Governor, Tony Reyna, The Taos News’ Citizen of the Year, 2004

Tradiciones Our most important issue of the year, focusing on the positive contributions and progress made by individuals, volunteers, nonprofit and community organizations.

Heroes | 3 7

Tina Martinez Showing respect for the dance of life places,” Martinez said, recalling that he once met Walt Disney.

Martinez, though young, once met Elizabeth Taylor in Santa Fe. When she was a young girl, Martinez “had to dance what he erhaps it was an auspicious occasion, that New taught us. I did the rabbit dance, the Apache girl dance, and of York City performance by a group of Taos dancers course the war dances,” she said. many years ago. It was Tina Martinez’s first birthday, but also her “debut.” Wearing a small Together with her grandfather and brother, Martinez dress and beating on tiny drums, Martinez gave performed across Taos County, in front of the Taos Inn, the old her first performance as a Taos dancer. That day Jack Denver’s — with its wagons and classic cars — and in the augured well for the years ahead. town of Red River.

Martinez is a teacher at Taos Pueblo Day School. While she “We’ve danced in Red River every summer for over 30 years,” finds herself filling in here and helping out there, covering this she said. “I used to love to dance with my grandfather — that class and that, she is well known for the nexus of art and heritage was our time together.” that has been so central to her life — dancing.

Martinez danced until she was 17. She married two years Martinez comes from a family of dancers, her grandfather later and for six years, life took her away from her home at Taos the original driving force of their renown performances. He Pueblo. But when she herself had children and settled back into shared the Taos Pueblo dances and dancers with communities, the familiar contours of New Mexico, she found dancing anew dignitaries and Hollywood stars around the county. “It took him as a teacher.

P

By Cody Hooks

Martinez teaches traditional dances to students at Taos Pueblo, mostly for the annual Christmas play.

“Some of our dances are private. But dance should stay alive whether in a play or in the village,” she said.

Depending on the theme of the Christmas play, with the stock of Bible stories as well as local tales and flair, teachers help make elaborate outfits and show kids how to create costumes of their own. And they dance.

Martinez is a wealth of history, experience and know-how about the Taos Pueblo dances, and she said that she has always found joy in passing those customs on to her students. “All the kids benefit from my talent, from what I’ve learned,” she said.

“I’d rather them know more than me, do better than me and be out there in the world.”

“Some of our dances are private. But dance should stay alive whether in a play or in the village.” — Tina Martinez

See MARTINEZ, Page 38

3 8 | Heroes

Courtesy Photo

Tina Martinez’ students perform for Christmas at Taos Pueblo Day School.

“S

From MARTINEZ, Page 37

ometimes, kids don’t want to dance.

They don’t want to express themselves because they’re afraid, but I know they have it in them. Dancing is a part of us at Taos Pueblo and it’s a part of our ways. To dance, they have to put their heart into it — they have to know why they dance,” she said.

“You have to know where you’re from. You have to respect who you are.”

Dancing isn’t just a legacy Martinez shares with her students, but a love she’s gifted to her own children. Martinez took over those familial shows every summer at Red River, ensuring the future of the legacy her grandfather started.

One of her sons still dances, both as a public performer and as a member of the echelon of sacred dancers. “My grandpa loved him,” Martinez said. “Because he had the same love for dancing too. He would get down and do what my grandpa told him,” she said.

Her son doesn’t dance only for Taos Pueblo. Martinez’s father was Hopi, and now her son is exploring his own Hopi heritage by dancing in what she calls “that beautiful and amazing county.”

“It’s a part of him and his life,” Martinez said. She paused and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “I never ever expected my kids to say this, but one day they thanked me for being part Hopi. They thanked me. I can’t describe how honored I am.”

Martinez said the past year was a trying time for her family, with personal matters diverting her attention away from dancing. But with the San Geronimo feast days and the

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Christmas season, Martinez is ready for another cycle of teaching — and not just dance.

“We also have to get the language back,” she said, speaking of the Taos Pueblo language revitalization efforts. “And that starts with our young adults and very young kids. It took me a long time to speak our language fluently. I was like the kids now who understand what their family says, but can’t converse back.”

All the while, Martinez is still working on pursuits of her own. She’s finishing her bachelors degree at UNM-Taos, working toward becoming a full-fledged middle school math teacher.

The wholesale curiosity about life her grandfather instilled early on — the awed respect for music and culture, other people and other ways — feeds her still. “I want to travel,” she said. “I want to see what’s out there. I’ve seen a lot, but there’s always more.”

Heroes | 3 9

Capturing the faces of the Unsung

F Tina Larkin

or six years of Tradiciones' 14-year run, the woman behind the camera has been none other than Tina Larkin.

Her work has complimented the stories about the people, places and traditions that make Taos County such a unique place. And in most cases, the photos have added more depth and variety to the work of our writers at The Taos News.

Managing to make her subjects feel completely

her the best in her future endeavors. As one of her last cluster of assignments, the work she has done in this year's Tradiciones is among her finest as a photo journalist.

But while this publication marks the end of an era, it also ushers in the beginning of a new chapter at our photo desk. Taking on her first Tradiciones assignments this year is new Taos News Katharine Egli photographer Katharine Egli. at ease, while shooting an Egli is a native New exhaustive number of shots, Mexican who graduated Larkin's work has made the from Ohio University last six years of our special with a degree in sections increasingly more photojournalism in 2013. poignant and relevant.

In the past she was Her tireless commitment a photo intern at our over this time has been sister paper, The Santa appreciated by not only Fe New Mexican plus everyone here at The The Jersey Journal. Most Taos News, but also the recently she was the course countless community coordinator at The Santa Fe members who she has Photographic Workshops. come in contact with on her assignments.

We have every reason This fall, Larkin stepped to believe that Egli will continue the tradition of down as photographer photographic excellence from the newspaper to that was Larkin's calling pursue a career in the card. medical field. We all wish

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2013 Taos News Citizen of the Year, Taos Pueblo Indian, Patricia Michaels

“May your life be like a wildflower, growing freely in the beauty and joy of each day.”

- Native American Proverb

Taos Mountain Casino is proud to honor those who both exemplify the best of the past and who help us weave it into theFormer future. people PuebloThese Governor, Tony are our own links in what continues to be an unbroken circle of tradition at Taos Pueblo.

Photo: Tina Larkin