Aaron Rogers may be reached at aaron@scdai lypress.com.

By AARON ROGERS
Daily Press Correspondent
Last week, a contingent of representatives from The Commons: Center for Food Security and Sustainability visited Open Space Brewing Company in Santa Clara to check out the process that owner Matt Leef is using to brew a new beer that will be released in conjunction with the food security nonprofit.
In addition, The Commons will have Open Space Brewing as a beverage vendor at their upcoming Gala in the Garden, set for July 20 from 6 to 10 p.m.
“The theme we chose this year is ‘The Art of Food,’” said Iris Nolasco, director of The Commons. “We chose ‘The Art of Food’ to highlight these small craft vendors within our community.
“Open Space Brewery is small but getting going, and we want to be able to celebrate that and make sure that we are helping grow the economy as well,” she continued. “We are going to have vendors like TGI Frybread there. We are going to have some other home cooks who are using [our] commercial kitchen to cook, including the Mint Chip Creamery. We believe that food is what brings us together, and we see that every day — and so the gala is raising funds to support all the activities that we do.”
Part of the celebration is to collaborate with Open Space for a plum saison brew that will be released this month. The craft beer is brewed using Silver City produce, including from the garden at The Commons.
The gala is an important annual fundraiser supporting much of the activity that The Commons is responsible for throughout the year.
“At The Commons, we have our food distributions that feed Grant County,” Nolasco said. “We do five different distributions feeding over 700 families each month. A family can include one person or four people, so that comes out to a good percentage of the county.
“We also have our gardens and educational space for people to learn how to do food production, what that looks like, harvesting,” she continued.
In addition, The Commons works to help people who are looking to start or expand a business in the food industry.
“We have a commercial kitchen for folks to come in and use,” Nolasco said. “So people just getting started can utilize The Commons’ commercial kitchen and can salsa or do things like that as a value-added product if they are looking to start or expand their own small business.”
Other plans for The Commons include expanding their footprint in the county.
“We are already in the Mining District,” Nolasco said. “We just don’t have a location that is our own. We operate out of the Fort Bayard Theater with our monthly pantry distribution. We have been talking with the village of Santa Clara about purchasing a plot of land on that main Fort Bayard Street so that we can move our monthly distribution into a permanent location. We are basically looking at immediately trying to move the food distribution, but do it in a new way like we did in Silver City with our Choose Your Own Pantry so that folks can come in and have a little more autonomy over what goes into their food boxes.”
The Art of Food Gala is July 20 from 6 to 10 p.m. and is open to anyone. Tickets cost $35 and are available through the thecommonsgrantcounty.org or at their office, located at 501 E. 13th St. in Silver City.
“We have a lot of people on the ground collecting sponsorships and items for an auction,” Nolasco said.
Aaron Rogers may be reached at aaron@scdailypress.com.

By AARON ROGERS
Daily Press Correspondent
On the morning of June 17, the South Fork Fire and Salt Fire were both reported on the Mescalero Reservation west of Ruidoso. By the end of the day, the entire community of Ruidoso was on mandatory evacuation status, leaving residents with very little time to gather important belongings.
The only road open to get out of town was the highway to Roswell, so many folks spent at least that first day in makeshift shelters along the way or in Roswell itself.
With so many people displaced at a moment’s notice, Roswell and other communities began to coordinate housing for people until it became safe for residents to return home and assess damage to their community.
As the fire grew last week, Grant County businesses, organizations and citizens were among the many to step up to help those in need. The village of Santa Clara coordinated with W&N Enterprises and their Food Basket stores to collect donations. Western New Mexico University set up a donation drive on campus, and lifelong resident Mandolin Jade Luna worked with businesses and community organizations to deliver supplies over the weekend.
“My college roommate attends the Church on the Move in Roswell,” she said. “I saw a Facebook post saying they needed help, so I figured I would load up a truck and trailer with all I could.”
Luna and her college roommate, Becca Marrujo, played softball together at New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, N.M., another community that has recently experienced the devastating effects of a wildfire. When Luna saw the Facebook post, she put out her own Facebook request to drop donations off, and word quickly spread to include other sites, including Gila Regional Medical Center, Townwolf Treasures and The Pretty Parlor.
“The ‘Guadalupeans’ from the Catholic Church in Bayard also helped a ton in collecting items,” Luna said. “My family and close friends were helpful. I couldn’t have done it without all the help.
“I wasn’t expecting the abundance of donations we received,” she added. “The church was really grateful.”
Luna and her friend, Dadan Placencio, drove the supplies all the way to Roswell to deliver to the church. The pastor there estimated that there was well over $15,000 in supplies, ranging from clothing to hygiene products to pet and baby supplies, as well as monetary donations and gift cards.
Last Wednesday, the village of Santa Clara also sent out a request for help in collecting donations.
“Roland [Madrid] was the first person who contacted me and asked if we could do this for the community,” said Santa Clara Mayor Arnold Lopez. “So I said ‘sure,’ it would be a win-win situation just helping the folks out in Ruidoso.”
Santa Clara Fire Chief Larry Montoya then coordinated drop-offs at the village fire department, even staying late to give people a place to help after hours.
According to Lopez, the Food Basket stores, PepsiCo and Dollar General all made sizable donations of bottled water, toilet paper and paper towels.
“We can pull from all of our different vendors,” said Food Basket owner Deborah Nennich. “We called our vendor partners and had our store managers alert customers of the opportunity to help donate to the cause. Charlie Schultz of Coca-Cola Company in Deming purchased two pallets of bottled water, and W&N [the Food Basket parent company] matched that and also donated two pallets.”
Monday, seven pallets of products were sent to Ruidoso, driven by Village Maintenance Supervisor Angel Granadino, Mayor Lopez and resident volunteers Roland Madrid and Larry Rios.
Another drive was organized by Mario Sanchez, director of marketing and communications at Western New Mexico University. The university was taking donations over the past few days at its mailroom on the lower floor of the Student Memorial Building.
On Tuesday afternoon, about 20 university staff members and students were loading up a school van, two school pickup trucks and two personal pickup trucks with supplies that had been donated.
“The Western New Mexico University community has truly united in support of those whose lives have been forever impacted by the South Fork and Salt fires,” Sanchez said. “This collective effort includes generous donations from WNMU employees, students, local partners and neighbors, all working together in solidarity of the residents of Ruidoso and the Mescalero Apache.”
Those supplies were scheduled to be delivered to Ruidoso this morning, as residents of that community return to their homes or to assess damage. One drop-off will be for displaced residents, while another will serve the needs of wildland firefighters and a third will be delivered to the Inn of the Mountain Gods, which has been serving as a temporary shelter for displaced tribal members and other area residents.
“Tragedy isn’t going to heal in a month,” Santa Clara Mayor Lopez said of the ongoing challenges the Ruidoso community will face. “It’s going to take years, and these people are going to have to pick up somewhere else down the line. Whatever we do here, it’s just a little grain in the sand, but it shines — and if we’re doing it in good faith and a good way, it’s going to go a long way.”
Aaron Rogers may be reached at aaron@scdaily press.com.

By AARON ROGERS
Daily Press Correspondent
Sometime in the late 1990s, Jeanette Hamilton-Muise, a Grant County barrel racer, first experienced an Exceptional Rodeo during a pro rodeo in eastern New Mexico.
“I was amazed at the rodeo in Lovington,” Hamilton-Muise said on Thursday. “They put on a great rodeo with the entire town participating. They had local businesses, the rodeo clowns and everyone came out to watch the Exceptional Rodeo.”
That experience sparked a Wild Wild West Rodeo event here that’s now two decades and running.
“I came home and talked to Pat Bearup about it, and he asked if I wanted to run it,” Hamilton-Muise said. “The first one was in 2004, and I have been doing it ever since.”
This year’s event, the Humphreys Enterprises Exceptional Rodeo, is scheduled to kick off Saturday at 5 p.m., before the Wild Wild West Rodeo main event starts at 7. It will mark the 20th year that the event has been held in Grant County, and Hamilton-Muise has been there every step of the way.
The Exceptional Rodeo is open to people with developmental disabilities, and over the years they have had as many as 18 participants here. This year, there are 15 people signed up. According to Hamilton-Muise, the event is always a big hit with participants, and the community provides a goody bag for each one.
“This is actually going to be the first year that I won’t make it,” she said. “With the rodeo scheduled so late this year, I would have had to miss my summer vacation.”
But the show is going on without her, thanks in part to all the help Hamilton-Muise has received over the years.
“Kimberly Pearce is taking on my role at the rodeo this year,” she said. “Between her and Joan Dewbre and Silke Schneider, they will make sure all the events are set up and ready to go. We have 15 helpers this year and I wish I could name them all but I know I’d leave people out.”
Hamilton-Muise mentioned Alaina Dunivan in particular, who has helped take all the photographs in recent years, and Bob and Donna Comyford, who have provided horses for all the equestrian events since the very beginning.
“I really am grateful for all the help every year, because it takes so much to put it on,” she said. “I also want to thank Linda Humphrey and Humphreys Enterprises for sponsoring us every year. Without all this community support, it wouldn’t be possible.”

Aaron Rogers may be reached at aaron@scdaily press.com.

By AARON ROGERS
Daily Press Correspondent
With the nearby Gila National Forest in a very high state of fire danger and a handful of notable fires occurring recently around Silver City — including three on Boston Hill in just the past couple of days — fire officials want to remind residents to remain vigilant and careful to prevent a catastrophic wildfire.
“We had three fires around Boston Hill in the past 24 hours,” reported Aaron Seavers, assistant fire chief for the Silver City Fire Department. “It’s hard to say what caused those fires. However, the police found a man who was asleep about 50 feet away from one of them. They told him to leave the area.”
In addition to those fires, the June 1 fire on private property off of Rosedale Road has the community and county officials discussing preventive fire measures as well as potential public actions in the wake of the fire response.
“Recently, there was a structure fire in Grant County, just outside of Silver City,” read a Facebook post by the Gila National Forest on June 4. “During the incident, private drones were spotted flying above and around the fire. Although aerial support from the Forest Service was not requested for this incident, the presence of drones in the air would have blocked our ability to provide support.”
In a follow-up email, Maribeth Pecotte, the public affairs officer for the Gila National Forest, confirmed that the post was intended to remind the public about how wildland and urban agencies often work together to fight fires that pose a risk to people and private property.
“If [private drone flights] were to occur on a fire such as last year’s Rico Fire, the outcome for Pinos Altos residences could have been very different, as that fire relied on aerial response to stop its forward progression toward houses,” she said.
“Drones can severely hamper our efforts to control wildfires,” Seavers added. “The Forest Service is a great resource for us, and they absolutely will not dispatch aircraft if there are drones in the area. We ask the public to please not fly drones near our fire scenes, for the safety of the firefighters and the public.”
Besides the grounding of aircraft to fight fires, flying a drone around an active fire can come with serious consequences for the drone pilots as well. On their website, the Federal Aviation Administration reminds the public that “If you fly, firefighters can’t.”
According to the website, it is a federal crime to interfere with firefighting aircraft, regardless of whether restrictions are established, and violators can face penalties including up to 12 months in prison and fines up to $20,000.
“The Silver City area is at risk for a wildfire,” Seavers said. “We’ve had a few weeks of hot and dry weather. The winds are expected to be in the 20-miles-per-hour range all this coming week. Although there is some hope for rain later in the week, we are preparing for the worst. We’re asking the public to be diligent in keeping safe.”
The Gila National Forest is operating under a “very high” level of fire danger, just one step from the highest “extreme” level when the most serious fire restrictions are considered.
“We appreciate the cooperation of all visitors in helping to keep our forest safe and enjoyable,” said Gila National Forest Supervisor Camille Howes in a press release on June 14.
Aaron Rogers may be reached at aaron@scdaily press.com.