Blogkeeping, part 2

Saturday's SEEDS meeting, Marketing committee plans, Jude's Taos adventure - all good news - catches me up. Jude's news is big so catch her full write up @ Notes from Straw Mountain. Here's a hint: Taos area galleries and visitors are about to discover Jude's fiber art and altered couture...

Jude's hand painted bags on display, Firenza Gallery, Arroyo Seco

Also in passing mention but, like the above, worthy of & scheduled for separate posts: Red Kingston reports that the Mountainair Gymkhana Rodeo Association got a lot done on their Feb 14 workday. Another workday is scheduled for Feb 28, all day & starting at 9 am. Feel free to don work clothes, pack a lunch and show up (to work, not gawk or loiter). Besides getting the grounds ready for the FIRST Gymkhana Rodeo of the season, March 8, MGRA is also helping Mountainair get ready for the RFD-Best of America by Horseback cross continental trail ride, which will overnight at the grounds on May 12. I'm assuming the TV camera crews won't be bedding down in stalls. That's national coverage. Don't we all want to be well turned out and at our best? Then show up for the workday and pitch in.

The annual Health Fair is Saturday March 7, the day before that first rodeo event of the season. At the high school I think - not much in the way of details sent my way yet Kay Stillion and I will table sitting for iCreate/SEEDS - sharing a table w/ B Street Market.

February seems to have been busier than usual. Don't know about the rest of you, but I am usually still hibernating. The extra activity (or facsimile thereof) is due to Salinas' program for the Gran Quivira Centennial, which kicked off this month with lectures through March, every Friday, 7 pm in the Shaffer Conference Room. There will be more throughout the year - so far April and May. Activities will coordinate with other community events and celebrations whenever possible, so bookmark the Schedule.

The rest, if memory serves, are meetings - many to plan spring and summer activities. The Chamber of Commerce's marketing committee is going gangbusters if I say so myself. We'll be unveiling plans for a Discover Mountainair campaign at the next chamber meeting ~ advertising, professional quality original graphics, portal page linking to member pages and local online resources.

pottery canteen from Gran Quivira:
Centennial & Discover Mountainair emblem

That focuses on tourism. Next up for the marketing committee: local business. Bear in mind that it's impossible to separate them - and the possibility a misrepresentation to boot. They are related, the local economy breathing in and breathing out. If the byword of tourism/visitor campaign is "Discover Mountainair," then that of the local campaign would be "the buck stays here."

Yet another February meeting, Dale Harris and I met last Saturday (at Alpine Alley & Shaffer) to go over plans for the 2009 Poets & Writers Picnic. Synergy is the byword here as plans coordinate efforts with and focus on both Sunflower Festival and Centennial. Not much in the way of details to share, but the Art Council had a February meeting as well. I only knew about it because members were drifting into the Turner Inn conference room as the Chamber marketing committee was trouping out. Serendipity is as good a source as any, even if, by definition, less reliable.

works in progress at Clayworks, photo by Jude Mowris

More March: March 20, Mountainair Clayworks Show, work from recent hands-on workshops, cooperative members & potter-in-chief Tomas Wolff. Here's hoping for a March entry from Cibola Arts to keep it company. An MMAC (art council) event and something from Arts, etc (oil painting group) would round out the month nicely - March winds blowing the arts our way.