Phyllis Eileen Banks is both writer and artist.Her articles have appeared in Southern New Mexico Magazine, FYI, Vision Magazine, Roswell Daily Record, New Mexico Magazine, Ranger Rick, Concern, Anchorage Daily News, and other periodicals. In addition, with Cynthia Smith she authored The Anchorage Fun Book.
Much of her experience has been as an editor.Her editorial experience includes The Alaska Presbyterian, The Alaska Heart, newsletter of the Alaska Heart Association, the book COCAHINIA (Consultation on Church and Human Need in Alaska), and Roaming Southern New Mexico.
"I have invisible antennae that 'vibrate' when something doesn't seem right.Of course editing someone else's work is easier than editing one's own," she says.
People stories, historical pieces, and travel writing are her favorites.She and her husband, Hal, moved to New Mexico from Alaska.
"New Mexico has some of the same mystic of Alaska – wide open spaces, different cultures.The transition was easy," says Eileen."It is truly The Land of Enchantment and no matter where you reside you carry it with you."
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Sierra Blanca, 12,003 feet (originally known as Baldy), towers above the surrounding country and is home to Ski Apache, owned by the nearby Mescalero Indians. The cool pines and summer showers bid welcome to lowland residents who come to escape the heat, many from Texas. Texas twang and Texas license plates abound on the streets of Ruidoso. The jet planes that are parked at the Sierra Blanca Airport, built in 1986 on the Fort Stanton Mesa, also have Texas as a home base.
Ruidoso's oldest building is the Old Mill, originally known as Dowlin's Mill, as that was the name of the settlement. The mill is a famous landmark on Sudderth Drive dating from Civil War days. Other buildings along this six-mile main street are of varied and eclectic architecture, some painted in eye-catching lavenders, yellows, and turquoises or left in rustic wood exteriors.
Another intriguing landmark is the upside down sign of the now defunct Wild Snail Restaurant. It is often used as a point of departure when giving tourists directions to another part of town. Though the restaurant has been gone since the early 1970s, the fact that the sign is still there and in its upside down position attests to the unpretentiousness of the town.
Adjacent to Ruidoso to the east, but a separate community, is Ruidoso Downs. Next door to the Downs is a place called Hollywood. During the Depression of the 1930s, lots for cabins were sold for as little as $59.50. Hollywood has since been swallowed by Ruidoso Downs although it still has a thriving post office. The race track is located in the Downs as is the Museum of the Horse. Nearing completion is a visitors' center for Billy the Kid Country.
Nearby points of interest include the Inn of the Mountain Gods and the Mescalero Indian Reservation, the historic town of Lincoln, Capitan, home of Smokey the Bear; the Merchant Marine and Military Cemetery at Ft. Stanton, Spencer Theater, White Sands National Monument, Alamogordo Space Center; and Sunspot, home of the largest observatory in the world.