SouthernNewMexico.com » Events

La Viña — April Jazz Festival and October Wine Festival

CharlieMcDonald — Sat, 11 Jan 2003 07:30:05 +0000

Technorati Tags: southwest,Las Cruces,Dona Ana,fall,spring

If God forbade drinking
would He have made wine so good?
— Armand Cardinal Richelieu

What hath Bacchus wrought? Drive down to 4201 Highway 28 at La Union, New Mexico and you’ll find out. Twice a year vintners Ken and Denise Stark stage their festivals at La Viña Winery – the April Jazz Festival and the October Wine Festival. Both times of year are delightfully sunny and warm in Southern New Mexico.

Locals and tourists alike eagerly await these yearly fêtes champêtres. The winery is just a short jaunt from El Paso or Las Cruces, where most of the revelers reside, but folks come from as far away as Florida and Ohio, delighted to be in the midst of southwestern merrymaking, oohing and aahing about the friendliness and ambience at the Wine Festival. I met Frank and Barbara Brooks, retirees from Ohio now transplanted in Las Cruces, who said, “This is the perfect place to retire, and this festival is just one more appealing thing about it.” Dallas fans sometimes even miss their beloved Cowboys to attend the festival. Believe me, it takes something momentous to drag them away from their TV’s.

The adobe winery sits in the middle of 25 acres of grapevines in the Mesilla Valley where Dr. Clarence Cooper, a Physics professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, planted the root stock between 1973 and 1980. Although he no longer participates in the winemaking, his logo featuring a barrel-maker (a cooper) still adorns the wine labels.

Things didn’t always go smoothly at the Wine Festival. “The first year we expected 200 people, and about 2,000 showed up. We were really ill-prepared, and we ran out of everything,” Dr. Cooper said. Since then, he enlisted the aid of The Lions Club and public radio station volunteers from KRWG at New Mexico State University and KTEP at The University of Texas at El Paso, (who still assist the Starks today) and things straightened out.

The Starks moved here from Albuquerque (Ken had been winemaker for Anderson Valley Winery) in 1991 and bought the winery in 1992. The Jazz Festival is their brainchild. “We drew about 1,700 people for the first one in ‘95, and we hope to double that this year,” said Ken.

The lineup for each year’s festival varies, but these old favorites are likely to perform: Mike Francis, piano; Gerald Hunter, trumpet; Curt Warren, guitar; Steve Smith, mandolin; Hollan Sudderth, vocalist; Yobosó; Jazz Pizzaz; and Gordon Butler, violin. The music here is mostly just for listening, but as the day wears on, a few hoofers will venture onto the concrete dance floor.

If you like jazz, you’ll love it in this vineyard setting. You can sit under the mulberry trees or one of the parti-colored tents and drink in the jazz along with your wine. With the Franklin and Organ Mountains as a backdrop to the stage, you can get lost in the ambience.

The big one, the Wine Festival, takes place in October. It’s more of a harvest festival, because the recent crush will have been put into the vats for aging; the wines served will be earlier vintages. Varieties include Cabernet Sauvignon, barrel-fermented Chardonnay, Red Zinfandel, Johannesburg Riesling, White Zinfandel, and Rojo Loco red, a blend necessitated by the 58 days of extreme heat in 1994 – the reds were too light for cabernet, so this semi-sweet red was born. Caveat: Open bottles are not permitted at the festival, so plan to take bottles and cases home with you. The open bottle law helps keep things calm at the event. “We average one fight a year, and it’s usually between a man and wife,” Ken Stark said.

When you arrive at the festival grounds, you’ll have to park in an alfalfa field about a quarter-mile away, then walk to the entrance. For a modest fee, you can ride from and to the parking lot in James Babb’s horse-drawn wagon. Dressed like a drover, Babb is genial, and he lends a little southwestern flavor to the weekend.

You can dine al fresco here while strolling mariachis serenade you. Food vendors peddle a staggering array of foods: corn-on-the cob, ice cream, hamburgers, turkey legs, all types of Mexican foods, and bread, cheese, and fruit baskets. The Tatsu Japanese Restaurant from Las Cruces sells tantalizing Teriyaki on a stick, and the Marriott Hotel’s Chatfield’s Restaurant hawks Bananas Foster. No outside picnic baskets are allowed.

Artists and artisans line the perimeter of the festival grounds. As you wander past the vendors, you’re likely to see everything from stained glass to wood carvings to ristras. One engraver will etch your name into a wine glass or brandy snifter for free – the catch is you have to buy the glass. Another artisan makes wooden Santa Clauses and Uncle Sams suitable for standing guard in your yard. As you wander from stall to stall, you’ll socialize with the vendors and the other festival goers, whether you know them or not. It’s easy to palaver in this atmosphere. Just try it.

Music wafts through the air at the Wine Festival, also. Besides the mariachis, you’ll hear country, 50s and 60s rock, and Mexican tunes. Dance till you drop on the 60 by 60-foot concrete dance floor. If you’ve never seen the wine-making process, take a tour of the winery – it will cost you a buck. Tours commence every hour. Feel free to ask questions.

Bacchus hath wrought fun at La Viña. Plan to drive down and see for yourself.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Celebrating Leap Year Bithdays at the Leap Year Capital of the World — Anthony, New Mexico/Texas USA

burchd — Sat, 11 Jan 2003 07:26:28 +0000

Technorati Tags: Anthony,Dona Ana County,event

Park in Anthony Photo courtesty Anthony Chamber of Commerce.

Anyone who was born on February 29 must definitely feel cheated out of having a regular birthday party on their special day. One person, living in the two-state city of Anthony, NM/TX, did something about it. And in doing so brought a special tourist attraction to her home town.

In 1988, Mary Ann Brown, a 1932 Leap Year Baby, formed the Worldwide Leap Year Birthday Club. She took her idea to the Anthony Chamber of Commerce and proposed her city claim the title “Leap Year Capital of the World.” The Chamber followed through and sponsored a festival to celebrate this unusual date. The then-Governors Garrey Carruthers, New Mexico, and William B. Clemens, Texas, joined in proclaiming that title for Anthony. Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico read it into the Congressional Record on October 14, 1988.

The length of the festival depends on what day of the week February 29 falls and the goal is to have the largest number of Leap Year birthday celebrants ever gathered in one place.

Leap Year 2000 was a unique celebration of the Millennium. It marked the first Leap Year to fall in the century year since 1600. In addition, it was only the second Leap Year Day to be celebrated in a century year since Pope Gregory XIII adjusted the Gregorian Calendar in 1582 to accurately account for the 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 6 seconds which it takes for the world to make one complete revolution around the sun. Century years that cannot be divided evenly by 400 are not Leap Years. It is just one of the odd details in the calculation of time designed to keep the calendar in sync with the equinox.” So, along with the unique celebration we learn unique information.

Applicants for membership in the Worldwide Leap Year Birthday Club have included individuals from across the United States as well as from Germany, England, Canada, Norway and Mexico. People have come from Munchen, Germany, New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, Oregon, Wisconsin, California, Illinois, New Mexico and Texas to celebrate their Leap Year birthdays, and even wedding anniversaries, at the Worldwide Leap Year Festival at Anthony.

The Leap Year 2000 Festival included a Leap Year Day Parade, Hot Air Balloon lift off, Chuck Wagon Breakfast, hayrides, Antique Tractor Show, golf tournament, Huacha (Washer) Tournament, tours of the valley, Golden Oldies ‘Big Band of the Rio Grande’ Concert and dance, Square Dancing, 10K Run, 2 mile walk, carnival, petting zoo, juried Arts and Crafts Festival, International Food Booths, fireworks, and it was, of course, the biggest Worldwide Leap Year Birthday Party ever held. A special feature was a personal concert by Graham Nash of “Crosby, Stills and Nash.”

Now that someone has made Leap Year Birthdays special, anyone born on February 29 anywhere in the world is eligible for membership in the Worldwide Leap Year Birthday Club that has grown from 0 to 300 paid members since 1988. Dues are only $20 every four years for a membership certificate and a t-shirt. Send for an application to: Worldwide Leap Year Birthday Club, P O Box 1086, Anthony, New Mexico-Texas, USA 88021.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Come All Ye Tramps and Hawkers

CharlieMcDonald — Fri, 10 Jan 2003 07:19:16 +0000

Technorati Tags: event,Las Cruces

Prig: he haunts wakes, fairs and bear-baitings.
— The Winter’s Tale, IV,3,109

You’ll not find prigs at the annual Las Cruces Renaissance Craftfaire this November, but you’ll find plenty of good, clean fun.

Perhaps a few jugglers, a few mimes, a few armored knights engaged in combat, surely a few jesters. But no prigs. You’ll probably encounter a wench hawking flowers or cookies in her best Eliza Doolittle accent, “Hey, lye-dee. Buy a cookie frum a poor gel. Just 50 cents. ‘Taint much tapie.”

Onlookers marvel at the royal family who preside over the weekend’s festivities, complete with Elizabethan costumes and push-up devices (called busc boards) for the ladies. These things are very uncomfortable, according to one of the courtiers. But . . . anything for authenticity.

History

Surely one of the best Renaissance Fairs between Houston and San Francisco, the Las Cruces Faire started humbly enough at the Holy Cross Retreat near Mesilla Park. When that venue proved to be too small, the fair was moved to the Downtown Mall before ending up at Young Park on Walnut Street – which proved to be the perfect spot. And there it seems destined to stay. Visitors come back every year to celebrate with a near-religious fervor. Mike and Bobby Sherman of El Paso have been bringing their son Colin since he was a baby.

“We really look forward to it as a highlight of the fall season,” Bobbie said. “We have been meeting some friends, Pam and Gary Pippin, up here for years, and we were really disappointed last year when we had to go to Odessa for Colin’s soccer tournament. We just felt something was missing.”

Food

While strolling around the park, you’ve your choice of repast at thirty food booths. Not all comestibles are from the Renaissance, but what the heck? Your stomach won’t know the difference. Choose from barbeque brisket, red enchiladas, puffy gorditas, bulging burrritos, piquant caldillo (what else would you expect at a Southwestern event?), bratwurst, turkey legs, and Philly sandwiches. For your sweet tooth, you’ll find snow cones, ice cream, and brownies. There’s even a booth with nothing but chocolate by (who else?) the Unitarians. Wash it all down with coffee, tea, and soft drinks. Sorry, no alcoholic beverages are served here. The food booths are manned by volunteers from non-profit groups, and their rental fees go to other Las Cruces cultural groups.

Entertainment

Performers of all stripes keep the three major stages and several minor stages hopping. Runa Pacha will play traditional Incan music, not very Renaissance-y, but entertaining. Jewels of the Desert will entertain the royal court with Middle Eastern dancing in full costume. Members of the Society for Creative Anachronisms put on mock battles throughout the day. In addition to all this you’ll see fiddlers, pipers, magicians, Renaissance singers, and even a dragon floating on the lagoon. Boat rides and tethered hot air balloon rides are available at the lagoon, also.

Shopping

Fair goers who thrill to shopping will find dozens of peddlers hawking their wares – from paintings to sculpture to stained glass. You’ll find grotesque and whimsical puppets – even an eight-foot tall Toothless Fairy, AKA Meredith Edwards of Albuquerque, whose business name is OddJects d’art. There’s even a medieval book seller.

Plan to do a little early Christmas shopping at the Faire and save some time at the malls.

Parking

Parking is free, but limited. Caveat: Don’t park on Walnut Street or you’ll find a ticket on your windshield. Take Lohman off I-25 to Walnut, take a left and follow

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.