D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
March 2010
The To-Do List
March forth into an activity-filled month.
Hear in the Southwest: For a month that's traditionally kind of sleepy around our corner of the state, waiting for spring to truly, well, spring, this March presents a mighty crowded calendar. Music buffs, in particular, will find that March blows in a lion's share of musical events. Start with the fabled Glenn Miller Band on March 1 at the Rio Grande Theatre in Las Cruces. Janis Ian follows at the same venue a few days later, March 4.
The Boulder Acoustic Society plays twice on a swing through southwest New Mexico, March 5 at the Buffalo Dance Hall in Silver City, as part of the Mimbres Region Arts Council's Folk Series, and March 6 at the Rio Grande Theatre. Described as "indie-folk," the BAS draws from Appalachian roots, gritty gospel and contemporary urban sounds, with five albums to its credit. The group is made up of the percussion and thumping bass of Scott Aller and Neil McCormick plus the dual lead vocals of multi-instrumentalists Scott McCormick and Aaron Keim. "Punchline," the band's current release on Austin's Nine Mile Records, has been hailed as "a new wave of American roots music."
If all that music gives you happy feet, good news: March 7 is the annual Look Who's Dancing!, with local celebrities performing at the NMSU Pan American Center in Las Cruces. It's an offshoot of the Big Band Dance Club, which you read about in our January issue.
On March 13, the music continues in a different key at the Rio Grande with Rudolf Budginas, a musical prodigy who debuted with the Lithuanian National Symphony at age nine. As an adult, Budginas' passion is giving classical music a broader audience appeal.
March 13 is also the opening of New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music, a Smithsonian traveling exhibit on view through April 24 at the Geronimo Springs Museum in T or C. Read more about this event: American Roots Music, in this issue.
The Vienna Boys Choir comes to the Rio Grande Theatre on March 23. The choir, formed way back in 1498, performs some 300 concerts each year, in front of more than half a million people.
On March 28, the Silver City Public Library's "House Concert" series concludes with AlmaZazz!. The musical duo of Eileen Sullivan and Judy Mitchell, whose tunes are inspired by Old World dance music and the delicate airs of Ireland, Scotland and the Shetland Islands, will perform around the premiere of Hunger, a one-act play by Desert Exposure contributor Victoria Tester. The play also has an Irish lilt: It's a tragicomedy about a Silver City woman who returns to Ireland as a romantic tourist, only to find the fierce ghost of her mother living beneath the ruins of a famine cottage.
Another local play, Who Invited Falstaff? by Frost McGahey, will riff on the Bard of Avon with WILL-sponsored performances March 31 and April 4 at the Silver City Women's Club.
Marching Around the Region: As those last entries suggest, however, there's also plenty of non-musical entertainment to pencil in on your calendar. March 6 brings the annual Camp Furlong Day and Cabalgata Binacional to Pancho Villa State Park in Columbus. The free activities commemorate the 1916 raid into Columbus by the forces of General Francisco "Pancho" Villa. Up to 100 riders on horseback from Mexico cross the border at Palomas and are joined by American riders as they parade through Columbus and into the park. Activities there include American and Mexican musicians, actors, folklorico dancers, special speakers, local artists, food vendors, Loretta's Barbed Wire Band, trick horse rider Carlos Herrera, military re-enactors and museum exhibits. Back again this year is the Mezcal de Durango acting troupe, which plays Revolutionary soldiers with a musical — and often ribald and humorous — twist.
It's Silver City that's really gearing up for International Women's Day on March 7, with a gathering at the Visitors Center parking lot followed by a parade down Bullard Street. The theme is "Honoring Women in Celebration," and organizers urge, "Come as yourself, the wildest self you dream of, or as a woman/goddess who has inspired you."
March also brings the annual Cowboy Days at the Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces, March 13-14. But don't want until the weekend: The museum's spring tree and plant sale starts March 11, and our own Jeff Berg will be putting folks in the mood that same evening with a screening of made in New Mexico Western movie favorites.
That's also the start of the annual Rockhound Roundup in Deming, March 11-14. More than 100 vendors and guided field trips are among the attractions for those who prefer their pleasures geological.
And speaking of plants, as we were a few lines back, mark March 13 on your calendar for the Eighth Annual Gila Native Plant Society Sale at WNMU. You can read all about it — and meet the local legends of native plants — in this month's Southwest Gardener column.
While you're at WNMU, mosey on over to A Creative Approach for Successful Aging, presented by the Western Institute for Lifelong Learning (WILL) and Grant County Community Health Council, also on March 13. That evening, it's Moonlight Lounge, a concert featuring Melanie Zipin and Z Factor, plus a silent auction and gourmet snacks. The event, at the former Elks Club on Texas Street in Silver City, is a benefit for Gila Regional Hospice Service.
If you'd rather lock and load than dig and plant, March 13-14 is also the weekend of the High Desert Gun Show at the National Guard Armory in Santa Clara. Firearms fans can browse more than 80 tables of new, used and antique guns, ammo, reloading components and equipment, knives, collectibles, turquoise and silver Indian jewelry.
Back on the subject of WNMU, the clay department will hold a pottery sale on March 20 — but it's at the Silco Theater downtown, not on campus. A large variety of clay pieces will be for sale, featuring work by WNMU students, faculty, and professional potters. The artists have all donated their work, and proceeds will benefit the pottery program. On campus, meanwhile, the clay department is also featuring "Bowls for Souls in Haiti," a display and sale of bowls in the McCray Gallery, through March 19. All proceeds from the sale of bowls will go toward disaster-relief efforts in Haiti. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.