Tradiciones — Heroes 2020 by The Taos News

U N S U N G H E R O E S

TED WIARD 2020 CITIZEN OF THE YEAR

Unsung Heroes WEEK 4 4 • 10 08 2020

20TH ANNUAL HONORAR A NUESTROS HÉROES

Unsung Heroes

Tradiciones

WEEK 4 4 • 10 08 2020 • 20TH ANNUAL HONORAR A NUESTROS HÉROES

Citizen of the Year TED WIARD

GAYLE AND PETER MARTÍNEZ

NICKIE MCCARTY

KATHLEEN BRANCHAL GARCIA

FLORENCE MIERA

DAVID MAPES

MARY ROMERO

LUZITA TRUJILLO

DAVID MAES O N T H E COV E R

Citizen of the Year Dr. Ted

Wiard stands in front of

Golden Willow Retreat’s

capilla, a chapel built by some

of Wiard’s homeschooled kids, at the retreat center in Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico. Photo by Morgan Timms

S TA F F

Robin Martin, owner

Chris Baker, publisher

Staci Matlock, managing editor

Virginia L. Clark, magazine editor Karin Eberhardt, creative director

Chris Wood, advertising director

Morgan Timms, photographer

Sean Ratliff, production manager Amy Boaz, copy editor John Miller, reporter

Jesse Moya, reporter

Matthew Narvaiz, reporter CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Dena Miller

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Rick Romancito

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02 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

WHAT IS AN UNSUNG HERO? All those who kept us fed. All those who kept our economy going. All those who kept us safe. All those who delivered what we needed. Every parent that became a teacher. Every teacher that conquered technology. Everyone who got tested. Everyone that physically distances. Everyone that wears a mask. You are all our heroes by keeping our community safe. Thank you, Taos.

Let’s keep up the good work. The Town of Taos recognizes all the men and women making our community a better place during trying times. Essential Workers Small Businesses Doctors and Nurses Holy Cross Hospital US Postal Service Taos Police Department Taos Volunteer Fire Department Taos Fire Department Taos County Sheriff’s Ofﬁce Taos County EMS NM State Police USFS and BLM Fire Responders

MASK UP, TAOS! Town of Taos / 400 Camino de la Placita news@taosgov.com / taosgov.com / 751-2002

03 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

HONORING TAOS HEROES

COMMITTEE SELECTS 2020 UNSUNG HEROES

2020 Tradiciónes Selection Committee from left, Elizabeth Crtittendon Palacios, Ernie Ortega, Joseph Quintana, Ernestina Córdova, Marilyn Farrow, Kathleen Cornbringer Michaels and Stella Mares-McGinnis. VIRGINIA CLARK/ TAO S N E WS

eroes are ordinary people living extraordinary lives, no matter how unrecognized or unrewarded their gifts of daily living may be.

Now in its 20th year, Tradiciónes celebrates the goodness and bravery of courageous people in Taos who constantly seek to improve conditions for their neighbors, working in every way to make available the best that any one person or the community can offer. And

all typically under the shadow of anonymity – some Unsung Heroes simply decline to be named. Each year Taos News calls on members of the community to choose and nominate the Unsung Heroes and Citizen of the Year, those people quietly moving and shaking our little world here in Northern New Mexico. The 2020 Héroes selection committee included Ernestina Córdova, Marilyn Farrow, Stella Mares-

McGinnis, Kathleen Cornbringer Michaels, Taos Magistrate Judge Ernie Ortega, Elizabeth Crittendon Palacios and Joseph Quintana.

just took notes and applauded the committee members’ choices of Unsung Heroes and nominations for Citizen of the Year.

a self-selecting choice, considering the new era of trauma and healing ushered in by the novel coronavirus pandemic of 2020.

Taos News staff coordinating this 20th anniversary event and edition is publisher and Tradiciónes founder Chris Baker, managing editor Staci Matlock, advertising manager Chris Wood, creative director Karin Eberhardt and me, Tradiciones editor Virginia L. Clark. Though present at the meeting, we

Citizen of the Year, however, is chosen by the publisher and managers from the list of nominees presented by the selection committee. Choosing Citizen of the Year is always challenging given each year’s field of unparalleled nominees, but Golden Willow Center founder and counselor Dr. Ted Wiard was almost

The Taos News staff thanks all of the members of this year’s selection committee for their due diligence in bringing to light such wonderful people of Taos, especially considering the extra effort required to safely meet within state and local departments of health guidelines. Virginia L. Clark, magazine editor

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others?”

– Martin Luther King, Jr.

04 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

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05 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

CITIZEN OF THE YEAR TED WIARD

GIVING TIRELESSLY AND SELFLESSLY TO ANYONE IN NEED

s t o r y b y STACI MATLOCK

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continues page 08

06 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

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Citizen of the Year

Ted Wiard continued from 07

ed Wiard, a former Taos tennis coach and avid player of the sport, stepped onto a court this summer for the first time in 24 years. He was more than a little nervous. “First it was super awkward. I was afraid I was going to fall on my butt,” Wiard said. “But really my fear was, I was waiting for a phone call. I worried if I picked up the racket, someone was going to die.” In his life, tennis became synonymous with loss and a mountain of grief. In 1989 while he was getting his professional tennis coaching license in Phoenix, Arizona, he received the call that his brother Richard Wiard had died in a fishing accident in Alaska. In 1991, when he was at a tennis tournament in Phoenix, he learned that his wife, Leslie, his Taos High sweetheart and mother of their two young daughters, had been diagnosed with cancer. She died two years later. And on July 29, 1996, he was coaching the Taos High School tennis team at a tournament in Albuquerque when he received the call that his two daughters and his mother-in-law had been in a car crash. His daughter Amy, 6, and his mother-in-law, Rachel, died that day. His daughter Keri, 9, was flown to an Albuquerque hospital where she passed away the next day.

Citizen of the year Ted Wiard stands near an altar in the capilla at Golden Willow Retreat Center in Arroyo Hondo.

continues page 10

08 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

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Citizen of the Year

Ted Wiard continued from 08

Devotional items donated by Golden Willow Retreat participants.

ver time, he turned his own overwhelming grief into a career helping others navigate loss and trauma at all hours of day and night, in all kinds of situations. He’s set up grief support groups, offered his time to be with families after a loved one dies and been a shoulder to lean on for many, many Taoseños. For that devotion, he is this year’s Citizen of the Year. “I feel really, really strongly that he gives himself tirelessly and selflessly to anyone who needs him,” said Joseph Quintana, who nominated him for the award and whose own family Wiard has helped. “He’s always ready and willing 24/7 to get in there and help people heal. And he does so with such compassion. He more than deserves it.”

Life before Wiard is a community builder and a bridge between people, according to his longtime friend Kurt Edelbrock. “He has done some things for this county that has kept it from getting into north-south type or gang or ethnic warfare,” Edelbrock said. “I’ve seen him diffuse so many situations that this community is just a much better community because of him.” At weddings, at funerals, or after traumatic events, Wiard “celebrates the individual spiritual values of everyone,” Edelbrock said. “His ability to bring this all together is amazing.” That ability might have found its seeds in Wiard’s childhood. He spent his first few years in Los Alamos. That’s where he learned tennis. And that’s where he explored religion for the first time. “In third grade, me and one of my friends would take our $1.90 on a Sunday and have breakfast at a diner at 7 a.m. and then go find a church and go – different ones. No clue why,” he said. “There was something in me that was always curious about this vehicle called religion, but more interested in spirituality.” His family moved to Taos, where his mom let him stay at a commune for a few weeks at age 13. He gleaned a bit more about different views of spirituality. By the time he was in Taos High School, he was an accomplished skier and tennis player. There he met Leslie Devlin. After graduation, he went to the University of Nevada-Reno and then University of New Mexico to ski race. Devlin went to New Mexico State University and studied journalism. He joined her at the university and played tennis. They married and returned to Taos in 1985 where Leslie took a job at the Taos News. Ted became a teacher at Enos Garcia Elementary and was coaching the Taos High tennis team. Then the world caved in.

A broken man Wiard was crushed when Leslie died. He was beyond broken after he lost his daughters. “The pain and confusion I felt from 1996 to 1999 were so excruciating that all I wanted to do was die and be done,” he said. But every time he came close, something pulled him back. “After Leslie died, she lived on through the girls. I couldn’t give in to grief because I had them to raise,” Wiard said. Without his daughters, he was unmoored. “But I thought about Richard, Leslie, Keri and Amy, who did not have a choice in dying, so how could I? And

Dr. Wiard lights and places a candle at the Golden Willow Retreat’s

capilla altar beside devotional items left

over the years by the retreat center’s clients. couldn’t wrap my life around raisme in the present is a major reason any of my success and service has ing them anymore.” been able to happen.” After rehab, he went to Terra He found a Taos that still welNova Ministerial School in Cedar comed him. Mountain, North Carolina. He “This town raised me – Taos Ski was asked to think about how he Valley, and the town, the people. would minister. They raised me. From the pueblo, “Mine was to put a flashlight in the dark that someone in need can from Ralph Vigil in Ranchitos to the Medinas in Cañón,” he noted. choose to use,” he said. “It is not “When my life dissipated, this town my job to tell you how to use it.” helped me and welcomed me back, He became dean of admissions which didn’t have to happen.” and financial aid of Brevard College in North Carolina. “That allowed Becoming of service me to realize I could still function Reclaiming life in the world. I was doing well, but In Arroyo Hondo, Ted and Mar“I believe we have to claim we it didn’t feed me,” he said. cella built Golden Willow Retreat have been victimized in order to By then he had also met and while he also taught at Arroyos empower ourselves to start to heal married Marcella Metcalfe, who del Norte Elementary School. The or we look for rescue and continue he met in ministerial school and following year, they homeschooled being a victim,” Wiard said. “I had who would help him on his path some kids who helped build a been victimized. I had been amputo healing. She suggested they chapel. tated. My family had been stolen.” He became a licensed clinical move back to Taos to realize a He chose to begin healing. “I therapist and certified grief counlong dream of his – a grief support had to choose to heal in order to selor. He quickly became a person center. honor Keri and Amy. I had to start the community sought out for It was hard to come back to back into the world.” emotional help. It wasn’t easy. He said he didn’t Taos, especially with a new wife. “And I wasn’t the Ted that left in handle things well sometimes. 1996,” Wiard said. “Luckily Taos is Finally, he went to rehab, even though he didn’t drink or do drugs. a welcoming place and Marcella is a strong woman. Marcella’s quiet “As an athlete, as a caregiver for presence of holding space, keeping Leslie, I had to be sober. After she things in some sort of order and died, my drug of choice was Keri and Amy. When they were gone, I honoring my past while trusting continues page 12 I thought about a best friend of mine who was 13 when his dad died by suicide. I remembered that pain so well. I couldn’t put my family through that kind of pain.” Wiard traveled and ended up in Australia, as far from Taos and the memories of his family and his pain as he could go “without leaving the planet.” There, he had some moments of revelation and he began to think there was something larger at work in his loss.

10 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

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11 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

Dr. Ted Wiard kneels in the center of the labrynth located at Golden Willow Retreat Center in Arroyo Hondo.

Citizen of the Year

Ted Wiard continued from 10

lorence Miera, a social worker with Taos Municipal Schools, and one of this year’s Unsung Heroes herself, remembers the terrible grief her family went through when her nephew Eric Tollardo was shot and killed with two others at the former Mustang gas station in Ranchos de Taos. She had attended a lecture Wiard had given on grief some time before and had been struck by his grace. She convinced her sister, Eric’s mom, to see him for help shortly after the tragedy. “Knowing he had lost children, too, made a difference. You could see the bond between them,” Miera said. “He had all the right words. He was just amazing with her. She was able to calm down. And for the first time agreed that possibly she needed therapy.” Wiard earned his master’s in counseling with an emphasis in

Below: Kneeling in the snow at the base of Kachina bowl, Ted Wiard delivers a blessing before placing wreaths in the snow, honoring avalanche victims Corey Borg-Massanari and Matthew Zonghetti. Taos Ski Valley hosted a community wellness gathering on Mar. 7, 2019, where dozens united at the site of the Jan. 17 avalanche to remember the victims and honor the community that rallied around each other in the wake of tragedy. ‘On that day I watched this whole community come together in such a beautiful way,’ Wiard said. ‘We honor Corey and Matt and their enthusiasm for this mountain. for this valley, for community, and for the celebration and excitement of life. … On the other side, still skiing with us.’

MORGAN TIMMS/TAOS NEWS

grief and loss at Southwestern College and New Earth Institute in Santa Fe. In 2015, he earned his doctorate, focused on leadership behaviors in the midst of change. In addition to Golden Willow Retreat, he also now runs Golden Willow Counseling, focused on helping people who are dealing with grief related to any kind of loss. But it is the calls for help at odd hours day and night, the educational talks he gives and the bodies he blesses at the request of families – all on a volunteer basis – for which he is most honored. He helped start grief support groups from Taos to Albuquerque. When COVID-19 hit, they switched to virtual meetings. He’s called to offer support during tragedy. When an avalanche killed two young skiers at Taos Ski Valley in 2019, he led a ceremony to honor them. When another avalanche buried a woman at a TSV cabin, he offered emotional support to those who helped dig her out and rescue her. When teachers or students die, Wiard helps staff

and other students grapple with the emotional fallout. When the pandemic hit, he worked with University of New Mexico-Taos and the Taos County Chamber of Commerce on videos to help people understand the feelings they might encounter as school and business closures upended life. And along with running Golden Willow Retreat, he and Marcella opened Golden Willow Counseling on Salazar Road in Taos. Sales of a book he wrote with Carol Poteat, “Witnessing Ted: The Journey to Potential through Grief and Loss,” largely go to give away copies to other people. “The book gives people the chance to see that grief is a natural and normal healing process from loss,” he said. “My ministry is truly trying to help educate people because I believe, cognitively, I believe we need some finger holds to feel safe enough to do the emotional work.” And finally, he feels safe enough to return to the tennis court, finding joy again in a sport he once loved. G

TAOS NEWS FILE PHOTO

Ted Wiard retreats to his meditation room, a bungalow carved into his bedroom wall.

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12 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

PAST CITIZENS OF THE YEAR AND UNSUNG HEROES 2001

2004

2007

2010

Citizen of the Year: Luis Reyes

Citizen of the Year: Tony Reyna Unsung Heroes: Charlie Anderson Connie Archuleta Stephen Cetrulo Victor Chavez Ernestina and Francis Córdova Clay Farrell Dee Lovato Jeannie Masters Rosemarie Packard

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 Santistevan Michael and Sylvia Torrez

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

2008

2011

Citizens of the Year: Cid and Betty Backer Unsung Heroes: Crestina Armstrong Mario Barela Art Coca Mike Concha Rose Cordova Jeanelle Livingston Christina Masoliver Jake Mossman Sr. Nita Murphy

Citizen of the Year: Jim Fambro Unsung Heroes: Benjie Apodaca Patrick Delosier Cyndi Howell Alipio Mondragón Chavi Petersen Siena Sanderson Mary Alice Winter

Unsung Heroes: Shelley Bahr Paul Bernal Beatríz Gonzáles Nancy Jenkins Ida Martinez 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 Martinez Theresa and Rúben Martinez Joleen Montoya Mary Olguin John Randall

2005 Citizens 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 2009

2003 Citizens 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

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

Citizen of the Year: Rebeca Romero Rainey Unsung Heroes: Billy and Theresa Archuleta Carolina Dominguez Eddie Grant Mary Trujillo Mascareñas Connie Ochoa Marie Reyna Lawrence Vargas Frank Wells

2012 Citizens of the Year: Jim and Mary Gilroy Unsung Heroes: Marilyn Farrow Dennis Hedges Pat Heinen Judy Hofer Phyllis Nichols Loertta Ortiz y Pino Dolly Peralta Lillian Romero 2013 Citizen of the Year: Patricia Michaels Unsung Heroes: Edy Anderson

Cynthia Burt John Casali Maria Cintas Father William Hart McNichols Mark Ortega JoAnn Ortiz Effie Romero Fabi Romero 2014 Citizens of the Year: Ernie Blake Family Unsung Heroes: Valorie Archuleta Jane Compton Tina Martinez Alex Medina Jean Nichols Lisa O’Brien Louise Padilla Mary Spears 2015 Citizens of the Year: Randall Family Unsung Heroes: Walter Allen Mary Ann Boughton Carl Colonius Liz Moya Herrera Melissa Larson Addelina Lucero Bruce McIntosh Thom Wheeler 2016 Citizen of the Year: Elizabeth Crittenden Palacios Unsung Heroes: Benton and Arabella Bond Paul Figueroa Carl Gilmore Judge Ernest Ortega

Ernesto Martinez Medalia Martinez Sonny Spruce Becky Torres 2017 Citizen of the Year: Kate O'Neill Unsung Heroes: Juan Abeyta Claire Cote Brian Greer Max Ortega John Romero Jimmy Stadler Larry Torres Connie Tsosie-Gaussoin 2018 Citizen of the Year: Francis Córdova Unsung Heroes: Jill Cline Francisco Guevara Lucille and George Jaramillo Deacon Donald Martínez Jesse Martínez Andrew Montoya Polly Raye Angel Reyes Janet Webb 2019 Citizen of the Year: Art Abreu Jr. Unsung Heroes: Dave Córdova Virginia Couse Leavitt Russ Driskell Mary Alice Martínez Julianna Matz Sharon Nicholson Rob Nightingale Bennie and Edna Romero

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13 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

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Unsung Heroes WEEK 4 4 • 10 08 2020

20TH ANNUAL HONORAR A NUESTROS HÉROES

U N S U N G H E R O E S G AY L E A N D P E T E R M A R T Í N E Z

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16 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

AND FAMILIES wellness of its congregation and Northern New Mexico at large. “We both believe in the Christian approach to life’s difficulties, whether that’s addiction or family assistance or myriad other issues,” Gayle said. “We both also share a desire for building fellowship and for letting people learn how to be strong. It’s a means of developing healthy families throughout our community.” Living Word’s summer activities – online vacation Bible camp, family drive-in movies and annual back-to-school supplies drive – are on the wane, but the energy of the Martínezes is not. The expansive space of Living Word is home to a multitude of services including the joyful noise of creative worship; bible studies; men’s and women’s

The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate action of its members. — Coretta Scott King (1927-2006)

he year 2020 has unquestionably brought community to the forefront with its extraordinary challenges and tests of faith and good citizenship. In such trying times there are many who rise to the top, like cream, and enrich the lives of those around them. Peter and Gayle Martínez are among those who have made community and compassion their avocation. As pastors and spiritual leaders of the nondenominational Living Word Ministries in Questa, the couple has devoted years to the

ministries; Kingdom Kids and Fearless Kids; and a special program for preschoolers. “Gatherings are always an important part of our church,” Peter said, including those conducted through Zoom and their Facebook page. Socially distant Sunday services at 10:30 a.m. have recently resumed at the church and, as scheduling allows, other in-person events are held in strict accordance with state guidelines and best practices. The couple also noted that future plans for the development of their training center is moving forward, which, for now, will primarily be an online shared resource for the congregation and the local community of pastors with whom they collaborate. continues page 18

Pictured: Pastors Peter and Gayle Martínez are among those who have made community and compassion their avocation.

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Unsung Heroes

Gayle and Peter MartÍnez continued from 17

Divine intervention How does one even begin to establish a ministry? The Martínezes have an answer: divine intervention. “In 2006 we were approached by the Assembly of God church and asked if we would consider being their pastors,” Peter recalled. “They had the church and no pastor; we had the calling and years of spiritual community experience, but no church. It was a good fit for all of us.” After receiving the property deed, the Martínezes lost no time in implementing a building expansion that, today, can accommodate 250 congregants, prayer and healing rooms and a community garden. “It’s the blessings of the Lord that made this happen,” said Peter. “With His favor we have accomplished much for our congregation,” which includes members from Taos, Questa and surrounding environs, but also Costilla, and the Colorado towns of San Luís and Jaroso. It is not only the fellowship of Living Word for which the Martínezes are recognized, however. The couple has spent decades serving Taos and the surrounding region on many different fronts. Peter, whose familial ties in Taos are generations deep, officiates full time in his role as pastor of Living Word. But locals still remember the other hats he has worn, including as the former owner of both Taos Pro Speed Oil & Lube and Viva Sports. He was a physical education teacher at the Taos Christian Academy and coached varsity basketball in the public schools. Of her early years Gayle said, “I grew up on [New York’s] Long Island and after college moved here [to Taos], where my father’s family was. Then I met Peter and never left.” She noted that her paternal grandmother, Celina Salazar, was named one of this newspaper’s first Unsung Heroes for her church involvement and community service. “She’s 101 years old now, and still as active as ever.” Once settled here, Gayle established a well-regarded professional reputation with her work for the Town of Taos, the Taos Chamber of Commerce and, now, Holy Cross Medical Center. In addition to being a Living Word Ministries pastor, Gayle believes her unique skills add another dimension to seeing Living Word move forward. “My experience with community and economic development, communications and marketing, and coordinating between government and business has been valuable to the growth of our church,” she said. “As we had to accommodate the quarantine and social distancing, we found ourselves ahead of the game in using online tools because we already had them in place. We taught our congregation how to use those tools to stay in touch with us and each other.” “Our blessings, which are many, have come to us in different ways, but always with the favor of God,” Peter reflected. “It’s this sharing in this community that makes us want to do more. It’s the people we get to walk with that make us strong.”

he Martínezes recently celebrated their 36th wedding anniversary and are proud parents of a son, Joshua, who is married to Thanya and with whom he has two children: Elanya, age 7, and JJ, age 5. Their daughter, Amanda, is married to Jason Motzer. “Though they don’t live in Taos, they are always near to us.” Faith, they believe, is demonstrated by showing up for the ones you love and for the ones you don’t yet know. “Gayle and I believe every community has a destiny,” Peter concluded, “and, in being a part of that here, we can help Taos achieve its best.” G

As pastors and spiritual leaders of the

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UNSUNG HERO FLORENCE MIERA

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20 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

CARE L O T S O F P E O P L E want to help homeless,

hungry and hurting kids in Taos, but they don’t know where to start. That’s where Florence Miera steps in. Because of her unstinting effort on behalf of Taos youth and families, she was chosen by this year’s Taos News focus group to be one of 2020’s Unsung Heroes. “What?” Miera said over the phone when informed of the honor. “That’s so great. But there are so many other people doing good things. Oh, wow.” Florence Miera, is a licensed clinical social worker in Taos, an adjunct professor at University of New Mexico-Taos, social worker and homeless liaison for Taos Municipal Schools and a clinical therapist for special education youth. “She’s just amazing,” says Jill Cline, St. James Episcopal youth minister, about Miera. Cline was selected as a 2018 Unsung Hero and is thrilled that Miera is being honored. “The heart she has and everything she does for the community is just awesome. Whenever I’m around her she always has a smile on her face, even with all the time and effort she takes to turn things around. She works with the homeless. At Christmas she’s feeding the kids, getting Christmas presents; also helping kids being raised by grandparents. What she does goes a thousand times above and beyond any expectation of any ‘job’ she has.” continues page 22

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Unsung Hero

Florence Miera continued from 21

iera assists with behavioral health programs throughout the county. In her role with Taos schools she is on campus at every school in town once per week. As a result of all this, she is able to keep a pulse on what is going on in the community with regard to kids and families. “She has connections to a multitude of resources and people,” Cline said, adding as an example,“When a great grandmother ends up all of a sudden having one or sometimes even several grandchildren to care for, Florence is able to connect with various locations to help them get clothes, food, sleeping supplies, etc. She is out in the evenings and on weekends, on her own time, helping people in need find the bare basics to simply survive.” Cline said Miera works with the state (Children, Youth and Families Department of New Mexico), but also for people with no state support as well, “driving around house to house, doing so much that’s not part of her job. She has connections to unknowns in the community, helping homeless students navigate what they might qualify for in 504 or IEP (Individual Education Plan), for kids experiencing some special needs, either in physical or learning situations.” “It’s all about empowering innocent children,” Miera said, noting the rewards are many. “They’re anywhere from pre-K through high school and in their eyes there’s a light that sparkles through when they know you care. Oh, it’s pretty amazing.” She does crisis intervention, said Marilyn Farrow, a nominating committee member. Whether suicidal or even homicidal, she assesses them. “That’s often when their hearts open and they tell you their stories,” Miera explained further. “Like one kid, with one foot over the bridge, literally; then got into a program, doing deep work. When you see them graduate and they go, ‘I’m graduating!’ Yes. This work is rewarding.”

iera has two daughters, Santana and Destiny, three grandchildren, Darian,15, Giovanni, 9, and Zianni, 9 months. She made sure her daughters had higher education – she worked five jobs for years to get them through college, because she said getting her undergraduate degree turned her own life around, ultimately leading her to get a Master’s of

Unsung Hero Florence Miera pictured on the

S lide Trail in Ranchos de Taos.

community organizing at Highlands University in Las Vegas, New Mexico. She said incredible grief and loss led her to what she does now. Her father Ruben Miera, also a social worker, died in a car crash when he was 27 years old and she was 19 months old, at the same time her mother, Edna Martínez Miera, was pregnant with her little sister. Florence was 18 and 19 years old when her mother was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer from which she died two years later, sending Miera into “a tailspin, into the unknown,” she said, as she and four siblings suddenly had “to become young adults.” Death continued to loom large in her life. The same year her 33-year-old sister died of cancer, her nephew was murdered at a gas

station in Ranchos de Taos, and her niece was run over by her niece’s boyfriend. Three of her mother’s siblings also died of cancer. “I have had to start over a couple of times in my life,” Miera said. “I have hit rock bottom before. I totally understand hardship and loss in many areas of life. There was a time in my life after my divorce that I lost my home. My daughters and I had to move in with my younger sister. During this time she was diagnosed with breast cancer.” Starting over yet again since the pandemic, with the rest of the world, means state-mandated pandemic restrictions complicate things for doing in-person and virtual visits, and telephone care for students. “All of it is hard,” she said. “Most of the students I serve have

22 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

difficulty getting online. Some of them struggle with a permanent place to live. They move from home to home or place to place. Many of them live with grandparents who do not know or understand technology. They do not want to use it. Mental health issues create fear that others are invading their space using technology. Some believe that the virus is entering because of internet 5G. “I use Zoom. I canvas, email, text and phone calls to support my students during COVID. I also visit homes and take food and supplies: tissue, hand sanitizer, hygiene items donated by community members: Valle Escondido golf community – food, hygiene and more; Taos Mountain Outfitters and Larry Adams – help with coats, shoes, sleeping bags, tents for couch surfers; St. James – food,

food and more food support; and many, many more generous donors.” Florence Miera remembers where she came from and that makes all the difference she says. “In the past I wasn’t the best kid. When I think of middle school – the hormones; there’s acting out. We’re changing in middle school. And when you’re rebellious, like I was – I would walk right out of class in middle school! So I get it. These kids think I have no idea – Um, yes, I do. “I couldn’t do this alone,” Miera said. “I DO do amazing work, but the sad thing is, I’ve been through it all, the people I love have experienced it all. I’m more effective because I’m so used to it all.” “She’s an absolute gift to this community,” Cline said. G

On being recognized as one of Taos’ Unsung Heroes!

We sing her praises unto the Lord!

Heroes Start at Home As we navigate the 2020 Pandemic one thing has been made very clear: Leaders start at home. Thank you to the families working so hard to keep us safe, keep business moving and keep your kids engaged with remote learning. I always want to hear how I can help our communities. Call me at 575-770-3187

Roberto “Bobby” J. Gonzales

The St. James Food Pantry is proud to help Florence help people in need.

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Congratulations Nickie and Florence! You are incredible women who show that you love our children

Nickie McCarty

Florence Miera

Taos Municipal Schools

23 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

BUILDER OF BIG THINGS UNSUNG HERO NICKIE MCCARTY

s t o r y b y MATTHEW NARVAIZ

p h o t o s b y MORGAN TIMMS

24 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

or nearly 30 years, Nickie McCarty has been either a teacher, a coach or, most recently, an athletic director. Born in Ratón, New Mexico, over the decades McCarty has lent her talents to innumerable students and families in Taos County. Besides her many jobs in teaching and sports, according to 2020 nominating committee member Stella Mares-McGinnis, McCarty has “organized and volunteered for Taos Feeds Taos, Taos Youth Football League, Taos Little League. She coordinated track, football and baseball – including the men’s league and girls softball; plus she’s active with blood drives, toy and clothing drives, student government, proms, homecoming and much, much more,” Mares-McGinnis said, adding that McCarty also focused on teaching life skills in a leadership class, among other things. McCarty began as a teacher in Questa in 1992 and taught math for a couple years while also coaching for the volleyball team. She and her husband were trying to have kids, she said, so they decided to move to Taos. That's when a job opened up in 1994 at Taos Middle School. continues page 26

Taos High School athletic director for the past decade, Nickie McCarty helped bring conventions of the New Mexico Association of Student Councils – a conference that spans three to four days and brings in thousands of students and teachers to the Taos area – both in 2007 and 2011.

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Unsung Hero

Nickie McCarty continued from 25

n 1995, she landed a job as a math instructor at Taos High School – the place where she finished out her career in education just this past summer when she retired as athletic director. She taught math until 2010 when she took the athletic director job. But one of her most impactful positions at the school was that as a student council sponsor. McCarty had started off as a junior class sponsor for some time before, eventually, becoming the student council sponsor in 2001. As the student council sponsor, McCarty helped bring big conventions of the New Mexico Association of Student Councils – which is a conference that spans three to four days and brings in thousands of students and teachers to the Taos area – both in 2007 and 2011. “Those were big things,” McCarty said. “Not every school can say they did [this.] I really am proud of my student council.” While McCarty still helped with student council after taking the athletic director position in 2010, her priorities started to change more towards sports. But that, as it turned out, was a good thing. As athletic director for Taos High School the past decade, McCarty has orchestrated a plethora of championships in a variety of different sports. In 2014, 2016 and 2017 girls cross-country brought home three team titles, including an individual title from Ella Katz in 2017. In 2018, the football team won its

first-ever championship. There have been five championships in cheerleading and eight championships in either boys or girls track and field, as well as numerous individual champions in crosscountry, golf and tennis – all under the leadership of McCarty. “There's nothing better than those state titles,” McCarty said. “But it's more than just those championships. It's seeing these kids who didn’t think they could do it, or were maybe kind of shy ninth graders, and by the time they are seniors they are just such good leaders.” McCarty said winning is her favorite thing, and that all the coaches were just as big a part – if not bigger – than hers when it came to winning championships. Because she had that mindset for

so long, she was recognized as 4A Athletic Director of the Year in 2018 by the New Mexico Activities Association. “It's kind of how I am,” McCarty said. “I don't really like to settle – I like to be the best.” McCarty said that the hardest part of her job was disciplining kids, because she knows that there's always more to the story. A good work ethic has always been something that McCarty has had. She said that she got that motivation from her mom – who was also an educator. “My mom,” McCarty said through tears. “She was such a great educator, principal – and, you know, just me wanting to make her proud.” McCarty's mom passed away in 2004. She also mentioned both of her sons – Kevin, 23, and Ryan, 21 – as her motivation. Faith is the biggest motivation, she said.

of most students in one or another in such a positive way.” While McCarty is no longer an educator at Taos High School, it doesn't mean that she's done with helping kids. In fact, McCarty is looking at what's next in her life – and she says that maybe becoming a public speaker or maybe a preacher will be that next journey. “I am taking some ministry classes,” McCarty said. “And I would love to really focus hard on youth and just continuing to help them in other ways now.” G

illian Torrez, superintendent of Taos Municipal Schools – and McCarty's former boss – had high praise for the work McCarty accomplished in her time as athletic director at Taos High School. “Because of Nickie [McCarty], our athletics program went beyond athletic excellence and competition and built a culture of care and service that was building-wide from homecoming to dances to blood drives,” Torrez said “Her kindness touched so many student lives over her long tenure in Taos Municipal Schools and she touched the lives

26 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

Unsung Hero Nickie McCarty says winning is her favorite thing.

IT IS MY PRIVILEGE TO CONGRATULATE

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27 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

Over 1000 Years of Sustainability In response to the Coronavirus Pandemic, our Pueblo’s been closed since late March. We miss our visitors, fellow Taoseños and our old day to day life. But the safety of our culture comes first. With only 2800 members we’re a small tribe with a big goal: Safety. Until we can meet again in person, please visit us online at: wwwtaospueblo.com

28 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

U N S U N G H E R O E S

DAV I D M A P E S

Unsung Heroes WEEK 4 4 • 10 08 2020

20TH ANNUAL HONORAR A NUESTROS HÉROES

U N S U N G H E R O K AT H L E E N B R A N C H A L G A R C I A

THE GIVING WAY

s t o r y b y JESSE MOYA

p h o t o s b y MORGAN TIMMS

W H E N

Kathleen Branchal Garcia was growing up, Taos to her was a small place of community, tradition and celebration, a place where neighbors gather with friends and those friends become family. It has been her work and honor over the years, she says, to maintain all of what used to be, what is and what will be Taos. “I think it's really important to give and be part of the solution rather than expecting others to do it,” Branchal Garcia said. “You learn so much more by giving from yourself.” She grew up in Ranchos de Taos and was involved in many of the traditional happenings of the Taos area. One of her most memorable contributions was her time on the Fiesta Court and her current work as the Fiesta Council’s treasurer. continues page 32

In order to keep the spirit of community going when it’s not fiestas time, Branchal Garcia has shared her talent and passion for music with members of the San Francisco de Asís Church choir.

30 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

Thank you front line workers!

Serving the community for over 20 years

1340 Maestas Road, Taos (575) 758-2300 31 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

Unsung Hero

Kathleen Branchal Garcia continued from 30

Unsung Hero Kathleen Branchal Garcia says it has been her work and honor over the years to maintain all of what used to be, what is and what will be Taos.

s a 1982 Taos Fiestas Princesa in her teens, Branchal Garcia began learning the songs and dances of the Fiestas de Santiago y Santa Ana. This was the beginning of her long history of community participation that she is known for today. “She loves Taos. To her, it is truly home,” said Don Francisco Trujillo, president of the Taos Fiesta Council. “She is very faithful to her church and community.” Trujillo and Branchal Garcia were both honored royalty on the same fiesta court. Taos still remembers when this court painted the town with celebration. “We were literally thrown out of the adult church party, so we decided to make our own,” Trujillo said laughing. After being rushed out of the adult festivities, Trujillo said that year’s court decided to have a party of their own as they loaded up in trucks and drove to whatever dance halls and hangouts were open. From Taos to Arroyo Hondo, the teens drove around performing

La Marcha to the crowds, securing their status as Taos royalty. The night ended on the side of the road in Arroyo Hondo when the truck ran a flat tire and the group had to be assisted by the sheriff. With the teenage fun behind them, the two would see each other again years later as associates on the Taos Fiesta Council. Trujillo said he brought Branchal Garcia onto the council later in life because he knew she was the right person for the job and could honor both the treasurer position and the 100-year-old tradition of the fiestas as a whole. She even served as the president of the council for a short time. The longstanding festival in Taos means more than just the Mass and the parties to Branchal Garcia. For her, these fiestas are a “Welcome Home” event for Taos, a chance to celebrate with friends, family and visitors. It’s a time of year when all of Taos comes together. “There is nothing that is similar to the fiestas,” she said. “It’s

important to keep it going.” According to Branchal Garcia, helping with the fiestas is a way to help preserve the culture of Taos and to ensure that future generations can celebrate and have fun for years to come. This year, the council and community were devastated to make the decision to cancel the fiestas for only the second time in its history. The pandemic protocols prohibit social gatherings.

n order to keep the spirit of community going when it’s not fiestas time, Branchal Garcia has shared her talent and passion for music with members of the San Francisco de Asís Church choir. For several years, Branchal Garcia has enjoyed her time as a key member of the Ranchos church choir, time that was unexpectedly interrupted recently when a positive COVID-19 test shut her world down for an entire month. Cases of COVID-19 in Taos County began to see a slight uptick in May and Branchal Garcia’s fortunes fell to the virus on May 27.

32 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

After feeling ill for a few days beforehand, she decided to get a test, which confirmed her fears. “All of the sudden, I started to feel chills,” she said. “I thought it was just allergies so I stayed home and isolated myself in my office. I started to struggle with a shortness of breath.” The virus took all her energy, and worst of all, her voice. Well into July, Branchal Garcia was unable to speak without a rasp in her throat. As of August she was still working to get back her singing voice. The woman who tirelessly gives so much to her community, was confined to a small space during her recovery, but still managed to have a positive outlook for the future. In her position as chief procurement officer for the New Mexico Correction Department, she couldn’t stop working for long. Branchal Garcia oversees the purchases for all seven state correctional facilities. This work is especially important due to the fact that she has to ensure the public’s money is spent in the correct, legal way. Working through COVID-19 was tough, but eventually Branchal Garcia was able to muster some strength and immediately began looking for ways to help those around her. Despite her quarantine, she was still able to manage a bit of work for the fiestas and the church remotely. For Easter Mass, Branchal Garcia was able to remotely facilitate the choir and give the community a small sense of normalcy while she recuperated at home. She was already providing some music for the online Masses, but helping for Easter gave her a lift she needed in her isolation. “That really helped me, because I was starting to get really depressed not being able to go to Mass.” she said. “The Easter Mass really took me home, because it really provided some support for me in all my depression.”

ecovery was not easy and was more than a monthlong battle for this community queen. “I can still play my guitar, but I can’t sing,” she said. “I just get too winded.” After two negative tests for the virus, Branchal Garcia was designated as officially recovered by the New Mexico Department of Health. Once she started feeling better, her work for the community took off yet again. Unable to fully return to choir efforts and full fiestas duties, due to the cancellation of the event, Branchal Garcia said she had to do something to help those around her. She even began baking small chocolates for community members as a symbol of hope in trying times. “I felt like I needed to help,” she said. “I feel like COVID has really made people want to reach out and make a difference.” Choir, fiestas work, community volunteering, working through a deadly illness – none of it stops Branchal Garcia. “I don't believe that I'm a hero,” she said. “What I have given as a confirmation facilitator, as a music choir director, the fiesta council, is nothing in comparison to what I have received.” continues page 34

Growing up, Kathleen Branchal Garcia said Taos was a small place of community, tradition and celebration, a place where neighbors gather with friends and those friends become family.

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33 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

Kathleen Branchal Garcia

music with members of the San Fr

Unsung Hero

Kathleen Branchal Garcia

34 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

shares her passion and talent for

rancisco de AsÃs Church choir.

MORGAN TIMMS/TAOS NEWS

35 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

STAYING ON POINT U N S U N G H E R O DAV I D M A P E S

s t o r y b y LYNNE ROBINSON

avid Anthony Mapes opened his eponymous fine art gallery in November of 2011. The space served as both a showroom for his New Mexico Furniture Company and an art gallery. He has revitalized the Taos Gallery Association, while helping create more community between the artists themselves. Longtime Wilder Nightingale Fine Art gallerist and artist Rob Nightingale (a 2019 Unsung Hero himself), said he’s happy to hear Mapes is being recognized. “Several years ago, the Taos Gallery Association had gone into hibernation,” Nightingale said in an email. “Lack of participation was a major factor. One day David came by and asked me if it was still active. I said yes, I'm just waiting for someone to step up to the plate. Well, he did. He rallied galleries and artists studios to join, re-did the website, tried effortlessly to get everyone involved with sharing events though the TGA and social media, etc. Always brainstorming on how to put the Taos Art scene ‘OUT’ there for all to see (visitors, locals and local government) and show the importance and vitality the Taos art scene is to Taos and its economy.” “Taos has always been about the arts,” Mapes said, “and I feel the

need to make certain that the focus stays there, which is why I try to be involved in all aspects of marketing Taos.” We posed a few questions to Mapes recently, after informing him he was a 2020 Unsung Hero.

p h o t o s b y MORGAN TIMMS

David Mapes standing in his gallery.

Tell us how you landed in Taos? My father (David Mapes) brought me here with my brother Larry and sister Maria when I was 11 years old for a visit in 1969. He was introduced to Taos by his childhood friend Ken Jenkins, writer, educator and husband of the longtime, revered Taos teacher Nancy Jenkins. My father moved to Taos soon afterward and opened the toy store Tio Vivo with his new wife Kathy. As a creative soul, Taos spoke to me in ways Los Angeles never was going to. By the time I turned 18, I knew I was going to live in Taos.

I rode my bicycle all over the valley and spent hours with my brother digging holes and playing with matchbox cars in the dirt. Our family was involved with the civil rights fight and attended many demonstrations for equal rights and against the Vietnam war. As the police became more of an antagonizing force causing violence and riots, my parents stopped taking us as the events became more dangerous. We worked from home volunteering for the NAACP. I had my first membership card when I was 7. I attended college, but was hell bent on starting my own business,

Can you talk a little about your life prior to arriving here? I grew up just north of downtown Los Angeles, in Granada Hills in the San Fernando Valley in a house my grandfather built. In the beginning it was quite rural and relatively close to the beach. The valley developed quickly and freeways were springing up everywhere. I had a lot of freedom as a kid,

36 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

a business that combined art and science, my two favorite subjects. After a few typical jobs as a gas station attendant and pizza delivery guy, I started working for Hillview Community Mental Health Center (formally Golden State). My mother, Eva, worked there along with a family friend of my parents from our NAACP volunteer days, executive director Carl McCraven, who eventually became my mother’s second husband. I was fortunate to have two fathers. My extended family was a bonus. continues page 39

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37 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

David Mapes in his woodworking studio this year.

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38 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

Unsung Hero

David Mapes continued from 36

t 21 I started working for Astro Pyrotechnics (with a little help from my brother) where I met a mentor, nationally renowned pyrotechnic designer Gene Evans. Still working for Hillview, I cut my teeth on professional fireworks on weekends at the Hollywood Bowl, often shooting pyrotechnics in sync to the beat of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Eventually I became a licensed pyrotechnician and then the fireworks displays supervisor for Knott’s Berry Farm and

Six Flags Magic Mountain, two major theme parks in Southern California. During all this, at 18, after inheriting my grandfather’s woodworking tools, I had been building exotic hardwood jewelry boxes and started a business called “The Way of the Grain.” By the mid-’80s I was still longing to make Taos my home. My brother built this giant trailer from the frame of an old Airstream and he helped me move a literal mountain of stuff from L.A. to Taos.

You are a furniture maker as well as a gallery owner – how have you managed to juggle the two over the years? When I came here I branched into furniture-making pretty quickly. First I started building for other people, but soon had my own designs and style. Things were going well until the Great Recession of 2008. I pretty much had to start over. My wholesale accounts ended overnight and it took a while to reach the retail market directly. That’s how the gallery started.

Soon after arriving in the Kit Carson Road space with many empty walls, I reached out to artists I had forged relationships with through my art-panel and stretcher business to see if they would like to show. I had a prior experience with having an art gallery in the 1990s, called “Flower Power” in a new addition to the Cantu Building. The location was very difficult for a gallery so I closed it after a short time. continues page 40

“Leadership and Learning Are Indispensable to Each Other” – John F. Kennedy

Thank you to all of our Heroes for their Service. www.taoscounty.org 39 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

Unsung Hero

David Mapes continued from 39

ut this time I thought I would go big. Initially we were on a good track, I made lots of furniture and that separated my gallery from the others. But the gallery business was changing and I wasn’t changing fast enough to keep up. Also, my enthusiasm for building furniture was waning. And I had become more active in the community. Three years ago I enrolled back in school, this time in a great program at UNM-Taos Digital Media Arts – essentially film school. I continue in classes today. I saw it as a potential career change opportunity as I had some experience in the industry when I lived in Los Angeles. Only now it is on the computer and I can turn my imagination into film mostly in the comfort of my own home.

You have spent the past several years marketing and promoting art in Taos. Do you feel that your efforts have paid off? Absolutely. There was no citizen involvement other than an unofficial marketing group (Tuesday Marketing Group) that met weekly over the phone with the PR firm and a group focused on collaborative advertising. There were successes. And the PR firm was often working in a vacuum because there was not enough input from the community. People would send details about a weekend event days before it was to occur, not with enough time to market it. Also there were a lot

of relationships between different groups such that the whole marketing thing was hard to understand. It was complicated. In the meantime, out of frustration with the lack of any real influence by the Tuesday Marketing Group, I was working on the idea of an official marketing committee sanctioned by the town of Taos. I looked at different marketing committees and found some bylaws that could work and began rewriting them to fit a government model. Town councilor at the time, former Taos Mayor Fred Peralta, graciously agreed to help me make the bylaws work and current town manager Rick Bellis helped with the final edits while being supportive of the community involvement. We were ratified by the town council; members are nominated by the mayor and confirmed by the council in the spirit of community involvement. The committee members are representative of the various interests in Taos. In marketing Taos we cannot and will not trample on our own cultures and risk destroying them in the process. There has to be a balance. The committee has a history of successfully leading the Town into new marketing directions via input from the community. We have influence but we don’t attempt to micromanage the town’s director of marketing and tourism Karina Armijo, because she listens and makes adjustments based on the input of the citizens who show up, as well as from direct recommendations by the committee.

Mapes helped create an official town of Taos Marketing Committee.

How are you holding up in these days of uncertainty?

As well as the rest of us I imagine. For me, it took some time to get over the shock, and as is with shock, I didn’t know I had it until I got over it. Then there is the reality to deal with. When I came to realize that this is having a profound impact on society and how it will impact us for years to come, I decided in spite of the devastation and tragedy, we may come out all the better since it’s forcing us to reevaluate our lives and society. Nothing like a cold hard stop to what was madness anyways. G

David Mapes amid his woodworking studio.

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40 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

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41 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

CULTURE, OUR HERITAGE AND OUR TRADITIONS OUR

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44 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

U N S U N G H E R O M A RY R O M E R O

AN OPEN-HEARTED LIFE s t o r y b y STACI MATLOCK

or years, people from Taos Pueblo and visitors to the historic village have enjoyed the aroma of freshly baked bread as they walk to the pueblo’s central plaza. Often the smell comes from a simple house on the corner of the main road, across from the Taos Pueblo government offices on Veteran’s Highway. There, Mary Romero spends hours heating up a traditional adobe horno with cedar and baking perfectly rounded loaves. Some she sells as Mary’s Baked Goods at a table set outside the gate to the home she shares with her partner of 34 years, Rodney Concha, a jeweler, and where they raised their daughter Megan, and son Jon Paul. Many other loaves of horno bread she gives away when someone, especially a child, needs one. “Some people can’t even afford bread,” Romero said. “By my way of thinking, it is only flour. We can always buy more.” She’s the person who makes a lot of the bread for Taos Pueblo ceremonies and she’s generous about giving it away, said Kathleen Cornbringer Michaels, who nominated Romero for the Unsung Hero award. “It was a surprise, a big, big surprise,” Romero, 52, said about receiving the Unsung Hero nomination. “My family, myself, we all

got caught off guard. It’s an honor.” Romero said COVID-19 has upended traditional activities at the pueblo. “Two days in July they didn’t dance,” she said. “It’s kind of a heartache for us because we count on these ceremonies for prayer and for our way of life. It’s just part of our religion. When this happened it was a little frightening.” She said they are hoping the pandemic will be contained enough that the Feast Day can still take place Sept. 30 at the pueblo. “They pray for everyone – not just the pueblo, not just the town of Taos, but for the whole world,” she said. “Makes me feel really humble to be a part of that.” Ilona Spruce, director of Taos Pueblo’s tourism department, said Romero is “just a really good person. She’s pretty heartfelt. At the end of the day, there’s times she would just give the parking monitors loaves of bread for them to take home – they are tourism employees. She’s kind in that gesture.” Romero was raised at Taos Pueblo. Her father died before she was born and her mom worked to raise her four children. When Romero was about 10 years old, her mom married Joe Struck. “He was a wonderful man,” she said. continues page 46

p h o t o s b y RICK ROMANCITO

One of Mary's Baked Goods well-used bread pans.

Father, Brother, Counselor, Educator, Mentor.... Citizen of the Year. Congratulations, Ted.

Thank you for making Taos a better place. Your Friend- Kurt, TAOS TENNIS

45 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

Unsung Hero

Mary Romero continued from 45

photos by RICK ROMANCITO

Mary Romero's traditional horno bread, before and after baking.

he met Rodney Concha in high school but she didn’t start dating him until later. She worked at the Taos News and then worked for a gallery on Taos Plaza before launching her own businesses. In 1997, she and Concha opened a small, popular eatery in their courtyard. They sold hamburgers, hot dogs and Frito pies. When children showed up to buy something with pennies and dimes, they never turned them away. “And Rodney wouldn’t let me take their money,” Romero said with a laugh. “We would always make sure they had food. We always tried to do for the younger generation.” She learned to make traditional horno bread from Concha’s mom, Pauline Concha. She remembers Boy Scouts lining up outside of the horno waiting for a fresh loaf of bread. Concha kept a tub of butter on hand for them, too. “[Pauline] was a little 5-footnothing lady but she was full of power,” Romero recalled with a laugh. When their children were little, Romero served a term on the board of the Taos Day School. In recent years, the family has fallen on hard times. Concha fell ill with kidney disease and eventually had to stop making his jewelry. Romero said their now-adult children – Jon Paul and Megan – have been there to help her with him. Megan picked up his tools and began making jewelry as well.

In January, Concha broke his back in an accident. Surgery was postponed due to the coronavirus. Now that he’s better, they are trying to help him become stable enough physically to go on a kidney transplant list. Despite those hardships, Romero still makes her bread as often as she can. It takes four armloads of cedar to heat up the horno to the right temperature. “It burns hot and then also the aroma when you pull out the ashes is amazing.” True to her nature, Romero directs attention away from the reasons she is being honored as an Unsung Hero to thank other people. “I want to say thank you to healthcare workers, especially those with their own families,” she said. “They work so hard to take care of us. I just pray for them, and all my teachers at Taos Day School, who have such a creative way of taking care of our kids.” Hers is a simple life, an openhearted life, one committed to her family and the pueblo. “I’m not like a millionaire,” Romero said. “I don’t have the greatest car or the biggest house, but I feel pretty rich in life. I feel like I’ve had a really good life with my family.” For the many small acts of generosity and devotion over the years, Romero is an Unsung Hero. Want to know what Mary’s Baked Goods look like? Follow her on Instagram at MarysBakedGoods. G

46 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

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Couse Enterprises, Inc. ta o s , n e w m e x i c o

An Engineering Landmark in Taos The Kibbey Couse Machine Shop and Laboratory at the Couse-Sharp Historic Site is a hidden gem within a hidden gem. The son of noted painter E.I. Couse moved his young family back home to Taos in 1929 and set up an extensive shop to work on his inventions. The most significant of these was a mobile machine shop to repair mechanical equipment in the field. In a lab converted from a kitchen, he also assayed for local mines and produced distilled water for Doc Martin. He returned to New Jersey to set up a factory, and by June 1944 produced more than 1,600 Couse Mobile Machine Shops, playing a significant role in Allied victory in both the European and Pacific theaters. Kibbey’s lab, office, machine shop, and garage remain much as they were in 1936 and are part of free tours of the historic site. Visit couse-sharp.org to find out how you can see the town’s best-kept secret!

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47 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

U N S U N G H E R O LU Z I TA T R U J I L L O

UNSTOPPABLE VOLUNTEER, TEACHER, ACTIVIST, ARTIST s t o r y b y DENA MILLER

p h o t o s b y MORGAN TIMMS

uzita Trujillo stands comfortably in the yard of her cozy adobe home, and runs her hand along the fine exterior wall surface flecked with straw. “This was my grandmother’s home,” she said, “and my father grew up here. I actually stuccoed this myself. I did it by hand to make it look like mud,” a practice she said she perfected from the two weeks she once spent volunteering at the annual enjarré (mudding) of San Francisco de Asís Mission Church in Ranchos de Taos. It’s just one of the many skills and talents that define Trujillo, whose diminutive presence belies her giant heart. Teacher, fabric artist, community activist, dancer, volunteer, tutor – the list goes on, as noted by Ernestina Córdova, who nominated Trujillo to be one of the 2020 Unsung Heroes project of the Taos News. “I’ve known Luzita for years and every time I’ve seen her she’s doing something else – always working and giving of herself,” Córdova said. “I admire all of Luzita’s volunteer work, especially with the children. And she’s just such a nice person,” all of which contributed to Córdova’s nomination of Trujillo. continues page 50

Unsung Hero Luzita Trujillo stands amid her summer garden.

48 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

Types and tools of Luzita Trujillo's textile trade.

49 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

Unsung Hero

Luzita Trujillo continued from 49

órdova and her husband, Francis, are themselves active in the community, including decades of service to Taos Feeds Taos. “It’s very meaningful when you’re recognized by your community for the contributions you make,” Córdova continued, noting that she received the same honor in 2004 and that her husband, Francis Córdova, was named Taos’ Citizen of the Year in 2018. If you’ve stopped in to the Talpa Community Center, located on State Road 518, then you probably know Trujillo as a part time librarian. Then again, maybe you know her as the volunteer art and ceramics teacher, or the summer reading program coordinator. If you hear traditional Spanish music emanating from the center, then it’s a sure bet she is inside coaching her dance students who perform as Los Niños Bailadores. “I teach the group the dances that early settlers to the region brought with them,” she said. “I want our children to know and remember our Spanish culture and traditions,” she explained, a heritage they then share with the community during Fiestas or at events hosted by such venues as the Millicent Rogers Museum, the Martínez Hacienda, the Taos County Fair and the Taos Community Auditorium. She never charges families for the training and when costumes are required for her dancers Trujillo makes them herself, pro bono. “I have so much fabric that I’ve collected over the years that I could open a store,” and with one peek into her sewing room – where her finely crafted magic takes place – you realize that is not an exaggeration. Trujillo has served as secretary to the Talpa Center’s board of directors for years and is actively involved with its Taos Community Artists Co-op, located in the Old Taos County Courthouse at 121 North Plaza. Her intricate pillows and wallhangings usually feature Our Lady of Guadalupe, and her jackets, quilts, aprons, place mats and fiesta skirts are among the coop’s most favored offerings.

Luzita Trujillo’s large and varied collection of santos, many of which she has gathered through years of international travel.

When her dancers need costumes Trujillo makes them herself, pro bono. S he has so much fabric collected over the years she says she could open a store. Here is her sewing room where her finely crafted magic takes place.

50 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

Trujillo’s intricate pillows and wallhangings usually feature Our Lady of Guadalupe, and her jackets, quilts, aprons, place mats and fiesta skirts are among the Taos Artist C o-op’s most favored offerings.

“Of course much of my schedule has changed because of COVID19,” she noted sadly. “We have decided to close the co-op for the near future and we can’t have the kinds of classes at the center that we had been having.” Now, her fabric art mainly includes making cloth masks along with fellow members of the Talpa Quilters Guild. “We’ve been donating them to Picuris Pueblo and to El Pueblito Church’s Shared Table.” Fun fact: Trujillo’s affiliation with the Talpa Community Center long transcends the time she has recently devoted to it. “Well, my roots go back to when I was a little girl,” Trujillo said. Growing up the oldest of seven siblings, she noted, “It used to be our school, one little room with students from a Head Start

program to eighth grade. My father was the principal of the school and an eighth grade teacher. He insisted during school hours that we call him ‘Mr. Trujillo,’ ” she laughed. “At home after school we went back to normal.”

fter her divorce, Trujillo began attending New Mexico Highlands University, from which she received both a bachelor’s and a master’s in elementary education with minors in Spanish. She taught for 29 years in the Taos Municipal Schools system in Kindergarten through third grades, and taught Spanish at the high school level. She was also designated as a resource teacher, administering a program for which she had written a successful

Taos Academy Charter School

grant designed to make bilingual education consistent across the classrooms. There’s no surprise that for this dynamo a single decades-long career wasn’t enough. Trujillo spent time at the University of New Mexico-Taos teaching bilingual classes, and for nine years was also a fixture at the Taos Day School at Taos Pueblo, where she tutored in the afterschool program covering mathematics and gifted math, a gifted arts program and sewing classes. She even found the time to be a contributor to the Taos News, featuring upbeat stories for the Spanish section of the paper. “Only fun stuff,” she said. “Feast days, marriages – any positive events. No politics!” The role most precious to

Staff honors all Taos Community heroes.

her, however, is being a mother to Val Girón and Luís Girón, the latter who “lives with God now,” the victim of a tragic motorcycle accident. Trujillo is also a devoted grandmother to grandson, Santiago Girón, and granddaughters Naomi and Natasha Snake. Right now the only thing slowing her down is the coronavirus. After attending summer language programs in Spain years ago, she is looking forward to dusting off her suitcase and heading back there once more. “I hope this is over sooner rather than later, and I can travel again.” In the meantime, there’s no doubt that Luzita Trujillo will find plenty with which to keep herself busy. G

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U N S U N G H E R O DAV I D M A E S

KEEPER OF HISTORY—AND APPLE TREES

s t o r y b y JOHN MILLER

p h o t o s b y MORGAN TIMMS

n mid-August, David Maes was down in the Ranchos Valley, tending to a 100-tree apple orchard that’s been in his family for generations. The fruit on the branches blushed with color, signaling the final days of summer and the start of the fall harvest. This year’s is special – as it marks the 100th anniversary since the first tree was planted. Maes’ grandfather, Fidel Torres, planted the first row in 1920. Then another the year after that, and then another, until more than 100 trees shaded the valley, where Torres lived with his wife, Elvida Struck, and their 11 children. “He had a strip of land that went all the way from 518 to the Ranchos Highway, all the way down through the valley up into Llano Quemado, which was very common in those days,” Maes said during an interview at the Taos News in August. “Everybody owned large pieces of land and everybody had farm animals and orchards and that’s how they lived.” That history matters to Maes in a way it probably doesn’t for many other people, especially those whose roots in a particular place don’t run as deep as his do in the Ranchos valley.

David Maes in Ranchos de Taos amid the abundant apple orchard.

52 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

Like many other generational Hispanics in Northern New Mexico, Maes feels that the story of the people who came before him is integral to his own, and therefore worth tending to, like the trees. That connection to the land and people of Northern New Mexico is the reason why Maes knew that he would never put down roots anywhere else. Today, as a member of the Taos County Historical Society, he is known as a knowledgeable historian. He easily launches into lengthy discussions of Comanche raids, Catholic influence and how one Spanish lineage connects to another. But Maes also developed a knowledge of the wider world before he decided it was time for him to settle in the valley where he was born.

‘I need to go out and see the world’ Growing up in Ranchos in the 1950s and ’60s, Maes remembers riding with his sister in the back of his parents’ Studebaker on the way to Taos Plaza and passing neighbors along the way who still drove horsedrawn wagons. “In those days, everyone knew everyone else,” Maes said. “It was a very tight-knit community. At least half our time was spent meeting and greeting.” Maes attended St. Francis Catholic School in Ranchos, which was run by Dominican nuns from Grand Rapids, Michigan. He went on to middle school in the Taos school system, where his father worked as a junior high principal. At Taos High School he was senior class president and captain of the football team. Upon graduation in 1966, he

went to University of New Mexico, majoring in sociology and minoring in psychology. In the early ’70s, Maes left Taos County for a few years to become a social worker, but he didn’t stray farther than Albuquerque and Las Vegas, New Mexico. He returned home in 1974 to resume living with his parents and worked for the local child protective services office. “I was single and I was pretty much carefree, and I remember coming home from work one day and calling several of my friends to go out and have a beer with me and everybody was married and nobody wanted to have a beer with me,” Maes recalls. He said to himself: “What am I doing here? I need to go out and see the world before I settle down like these other guys.” continues page 54

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Unsung Hero

David Maes continued from 53

The sea calls That August, at 25, Maes signed up for officer training school with the U.S. Coast Guard. “I liked the mission of the coast guard, which at that time of course was saving lives, search and rescue,” he said. “It looked like a real job, instead of just going out and preparing for war, which is really what all the department of defense services do.” Many firsts came all at once: He had never been out of New Mexico before, never been on an airplane or a ship before. He had never seen the ocean. Maes boarded an aircraft in Albuquerque on his way to Newport News, Virginia, with a final destination of Yorktown, Virginia, where the US Coast Guard Training Center was located. He graduated four months later as a junior officer. He believes that he was “the first native New Mexican to have earned a commission as a Coast Guard officer,” but has never been able to verify that claim. His first duty station was based out of New Orleans, Louisiana. After that, he had options as to where he would go next. “I always knew I would return home to retire, so I decided to travel as much as possible while I was on active duty,” he said. “I requested, and usually received, orders to various overseas duty stations.” Maes decided first to go to Guam, a tiny U.S. island-territory of only 210 square miles in the Western Pacific. He worked as a buoy tender, a job that required him to maintain and replace navigational buoys in the ocean. After two years, he traveled to his next duty station in Puerto Rico, another territory located in the northeast Carribean Sea, where he developed a specialty stopping drug traffickers. His son, Dominic, was born there in 1985, and after a 12-year stint in the service, he returned home to New Mexico to focus on being a father.

Final station Maes remained in Taos for 10 years, during which time he resumed his career in social work and worked as a juvenile probation officer. But as a Coast Guard reservist, his old job kept calling him back. He answered in 1998. “I was recalled to active duty to assist with specific missions, all involving maritime law enforcement,” he said, adding that his fluency in Spanish made him an especially attractive candidate for the job. In Haiti, the Dominican Republic, return trips to Puerto Rico, and his final duty as Coast Guard Attaché in Mexico City, where he worked with the Mexican Navy, Maes spent much of his time stemming drug trafficking, as well as human trafficking. He met his wife, Margarita, while stationed in the Dominican Republic, where he was “in charge of a team and an operation to interdict drugs coming up from Columbia into the south coast of Hispañola,” he said. During his final two years of service, he helped to promote the first maritime law enforcement agreement between Mexico and the United States, which was signed by the Mexican Congress in the fall of 2007, shortly after Maes retired. “There were many folks who worked on the landmark agreement,” he said. “I was proud of the achievement, and glad to have played a part.”

Unsung Hero David Maes stands in front of the Talpa Torreón that he and the Taos County Historical Society preservation committee redid in July 2020.

54 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

Returning to his roots Maes’ father, Abiguel, passed away three months before he retired, so he moved into his family home in Ranchos de Taos when he returned to the United States. Over the 10 years that followed, he immersed himself in community service. In 2008, he accepted an invitation to join the Ranchos Neighborhood Association and two years later became president. He worked on land-use plans for his hometown and helped halt the development of a proposed Dollar Store in Ranchos. Since then, Maes has embraced a role as a local historian. From 2011 to 2012, he served as a board member with Taos Historic Museums. He has been a Taos County Historical Society member since 2008. His achievements include authoring several essays on the history of the area.

Folklore and preservationist “He does a lot for us. He is one of my board members and he’s in charge of folklore and local history, but he’s also a very active member of the preservation committee,” said Ernestina Córdova, president of the Taos County Historical Society. Córdova grew up with Maes in Ranchos and nominated him for an Unsung Hero award this year. “I know he’s very, very active at

David Maes displays a bumper crop of apples in his Ranchos orchard this year.

the church,” she added. “I know he reads and is always helping them with the enjarré (the annual re-mudding) of the church.” Maes is also currently involved in restoring the historic Talpa torreón. Roughly translated to “keep” in English, the structure served as a kind of watchtower during Comanche raids in the 18th and 19th centuries. “It’s one of only two torreónes left in Taos County,” Maes said. “According to some other research, there were probably 40 or 50 of them throughout the county back in the Comanche days. The reason I’m so involved in this one is it belonged to my great uncle,

Antonio Vigil.” Maes said tests performed by the University of Arizona date the structure to 1820 or 1830. Of all his projects, the Torres orchard remains one of the most reliable places to find Maes these days. It remains one of his favorite pieces of history to keep alive, along with the help of four other owners. “Together we care for the orchard, pruning the trees, irrigating, and harvesting the apples every fall,” he said. “We keep the orchard going in remembrance of the many years of hard work my grandfather invested. And, oh boy – what good apples!” G

CONSERVATION POSTER CONTEST

Poster Contest Theme: IMPORTANCE OF “SOIL HEALTH” The Conservation Poster Contest provides kindergarten through twelfth grade students an opportunity to convey their thoughts about soil, water and related natural resource issues through art. It also highlights the educational outreach efforts of conservation districts and their state conservation associations, auxiliaries and agencies. CONTEST CATEGORIES

K-4 • 5th grade - 8th grade • 9th grade – 12th grade All poster entries should be sent to your local conservation district in form of pdf. or jpg. Visit tswcd.org/taos-swcd-poster-contest/ for contest rules, forms and instructions. For further information contact Taos Soil and Water Conservation District at 575-751-0584 or Charlotte Martinez – cmartinez@tswcd.org

55 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes

2020 Taos Pueblo Governor Edwin Concha. Photo by Rick Romancito, Taos News.

To visit Taos Pueblo is to walk in a sacred place where life continues from the earliest of human existence.

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

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56 TRADICIONES Unsung Heroes