SOMOS News

Posted by Jim Kimmons, Broker/Owner • November 9, 2009 • Printer-friendly

ULTIMA IS HERE!
Thank you to Summer Wood, Alison Gonzales, George Jaramillo and ALL of the committed volunteers for an incredible event @ the Taos Library Public Library and @ the TCA on Saturday!!! KUDOS to all of you!

PAINT A MURAL, PAINT AN OWL, READ A STORY!

Taos Big Read offers kids and adults a full slate of free fun this coming week
Kids of all ages will have a chance to celebrate New Mexico’s culture and traditions on Saturday, November 14, as the festivities of the Taos Big Read continue.

Fourth- through eighth-graders are invited to join Taos artist Lorrie Bortner to paint a mural based on the themes in Rudolfo Anaya’s novel, Bless Me, Ultima. Kids will meet the artist for a planning/drawing session on Thursday, November 12, from 3:30 until 5:30, at the Taos Public Library Community Room. They’ll put brush to board in a Saturday workshop, noon to 5pm, at the Taos Youth and Family Center. Kids who miss the planning session are still welcome to come and paint on Saturday.

Not old enough for the mural painting? Kids aged three to nine won’t want to miss Story Time at the Taos Children’s Library. The first 15 to arrive will receive a FREE copy of The Santero’s Miracle, a bilingual children’s book, hardbound and with beautiful full-color illustrations. It’s written by Rudolfo Anaya and illustrated by Taos’ own Amy Cordova. Come Saturday at 10:30 for a spirited, interactive reading of the book and take home your own copy!

Young people aged 10 and up will thrill to get up-close and personal with great horned owls and other wildlife in “Ultima’s Owl and Other Raptors,” a presentation by the Wildlife Center of Espanola. Held at the Taos Public Library Community Room from 10:30-11:30, it features animals who have been rescued and rehabilitated but are unable to fend for themselves in the wild. Young people can learn the peculiar facts about owls and other raptors, and find out how humans have made life challenging for them – and learn how to help. The program is sponsored by Friends of the Taos Public Library, and is free to all.

Adults won’t be slighted this weekend, with a free presentation on “Wild Medicinal Plants of Northern New Mexico.” In a nod to the role of herbal medicines in Bless Me, Ultima, Robert Hawley, co-owner of Taos Herb Company, will speak on the role of herbs in healing and health-related issues in northern New Mexico. “The Spanish people have long relied on Curanderas and Sobaderas for their healing needs and remedies,” Hawley explains. “Taos Herb Company found a niche in this ‘herb wise’ community where the long-lived, time-honored tradition of using herbs for medicine was established.” Hawley’s presentation will be held at the Taos Public Library on Saturday, November 14, from 1 to 3pm.

And on Tuesday, November 17, adults and teens can find out what goes into “The Making of a Children’s Book” with local legend Amy Cordova, painter, illustrator, and collaborator with Rudolfo Anaya on a number of popular children’s books. What do publishers want? What makes a compelling story? What format should you use? She’ll answer these questions and a host of others from aspiring writers and illustrators at her interactive talk at the UNM Early Childhood Resource Center, 1335 Gusdorf Road, Suite Q. The talk will run from 7 until 8:30 pm, and be preceded (6-7pm) by an informal, facilitated group to discuss Bless Me, Ultima.

These free events are part of the Taos Big Read. The program is sponsored locally by SOMOS and the Taos Public Library, and continues through December 5. For more information about The Big Read – including a schedule of free events and book discussion groups – visit www.taosbigread.org, or call SOMOS at 758-0081.

All events are FREE. Come join us!

What’s a BIG READ? It’s a project of the National Endowment for the Arts, and is sponsored here in Taos by SOMOS, Taos’ premier literary organization, in collaboration with the Taos Public Library.

The idea is that all of us who live in Taos County will read the same book at the same time and be inspired to talk about the issues it raises.

If you’d like to find out more, including info on contests, discussion groups, kids’ activities, and a full schedule of events,

please check out the program website at

www.taosbigread.org

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts

in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest.

SOMOS USED BOOK SALE!!
Every weekday from 10-1
10 mass market books for $1!!!

HAIKU SUBMISSIONS WANTED

Anyone interested in writing haiku about any aspect of Taos, and willing to let it be posted online, please email to janet@taoswebb.com or, if you have a Twitter account, submit at http://twitter.com/taoshaiku

These haiku will be part of a new website, TaosSacredPlaces.com, that will launch later this week. The site will be part of the town’s new marketing campaign.

Visit www.nmbook.org for continuing news and events!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

TELLEBRATION is a worldwide event that takes place annually on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Within that 24 hours, stories are being told around the world.

Join the Taos Tellebration on Saturday, November 21st, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Taos Public Library.

There will be eight talented storytellers telling wonderful tales. This event is free to the public.

Contact Gail Berry for more information by calling 575-751-3442.

THIS PROJECT IS MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY NEW MEXICO ARTS, A DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS, AND THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS, MAG DIMOND, THE VIRGINIA WELLINGTON CABOT FOUNDATION, THE PETER & MADELEINE MARTIN FOUNDATION FOR THE CREATIVE ARTS, HEALY FOUNDATION and the TAOS COUNTY LODGERS TAX.

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SOMOS
www.somostaos.org somos@somostaos.org <mailto:somos@somostaos.org>
233 B Paseo del Pueblo Sur P O Box 3225, Taos NM 87571
575-758-0081 FAX 575-758-4802