1944 - Horsemen and Demons, The Only Game in Town

Santa Fe High School fielded an amazing basketball team in 1944. Coached by the legendary Pete McDavid, Santa Fe High School won 18 out of 19 district games, averaging 37 points a game to the opponents' 24. Stars included the great Bob Sweeney, Junior Quintana, Tony Gonzales, Harry Hunton, Bill Baca, Chicken Montoya – that’s Louie, by the way, Tony Chavez, John Reece, Bob Hollis and Edgar Mitchell.

In the first Horsemen-Demon game of the year, the Demons were heavily favored and the odds makers were right on the money. Though the Horsemen, coached by Mose Khoury, kept Demon shooting star Bob Sweeney limited to 13 points, the rest of the Demon team pumped in the shots. At the half, Demons led the Horsemen 25 to 5. At the final buzzer, the Demons claimed victory, 40 to 18. The only Horsemen standouts were Jake Olivas and Joe Frank Ortiz.

The second game of the season was a little better for the Horsemen. They only lost by 15 points. In fact, the Horsemen were so cold from the floor in the first half that the Demons scored 27 points to St. Mike's 3. Yes, you read that right – 3 points! To their credit, the Horsemen came back in the second half to out-score the Demons 22 to 12, but it just wasn't enough. Final score, Demons 49, Horsemen 25. Joe Frank Ortiz hit 10 for the Horsemen and Pete Alarid hit 7. For the Demons, Bob Sweeney dropped in 14 points and Tony Chavez chipped in 9.

Oh, by the way, the Demons also beat Horsemen in total sales of war bonds in 1944's war bond drive, by more than double. But Loretto Academy, tinier even than St. Mike's, beat the Demons in total sales by exactly $100. They sold $26,325 in bonds.

The Demons went on to sweep the district tournament and take third in the state championship. And that’s local sports 1944.

1971 - The School Year

Being a student in a Santa Fe school in 1971 required some stamina and, occasionally, some antibiotics. Here, I'll show you what I mean.

More than 100 students at Leah-Harvey Junior High and 12 visiting senior citizens were struck with food poisoning after lunch at the SF Mid-High cafeteria. 24 sought emergency room help; all but two were briefly treated and released. The two, both senior citizens, were kept overnight at the hospital for observation and released the next day.

Calvin Capshaw, principal of Leah-Harvey, reported students began getting ill about 1:30 and all were sent home. Sarah Barton, school lunch supervisor, did not know what the source of contamination might have been as all food – including food served to several hundred students who did not get ill – was prepared at the same time. Lunch that day consisted of Spaghetti in meat sauce, milk, coleslaw, garlic bread and an apricot wheat bar. Samples were sent to a state laboratory for testing where later analysis revealed that the spaghetti was the source of the food poisoning.

The Santa Fe School Board held a special meeting and urged a full investigation. They were particularly irritated about the principal's failure to inform other students of the rising number of illness. As it turned out, Mr. Capshaw did inform the teachers but did not instruct them or advise them to inform the students.

At De Vargas Jr High, about 30 students refused to go to school, instead marching toward the school administration building on Alta Vista, carrying signs calling for the return of school principal Edward Cole. The night before, the school board had announced the transfer of Cole to a post at Harrington Junior High School. The next morning, one parent, Nap Benavidez, told students gathered in the De Vargas school gym that the transfer had been political and that's when the students initiated the walk out and march. As it turned out, Ed Cole was perfectly OK with the transfer and told the students and the next day, classes at De Vargas resumed as normal.

Over at Santa Fe Mid-High, the school term was marred by several fights and disturbances so Santa Fe police Chief Felix Lujan ordered a crackdown, including a search of student cars. Recovered during the search were several “deadly weapons,” including a sawed off garden tool handle with nails embedded in the tip, various clubs, chains and one knife. Lujan said he thought most of trouble did not stem from students but from dropouts who continued to hang out near the school.

The high schools were a little calmer.

After 100 years as a boys only school, St. Mike's went completely co-ed in 1971 when the 7^th and 8^th grades were opened to accept girls. Girls had already been accepted in the upper grades beginning in 1968. With girls now at St. Mike's, there were a few changes. For example, St. Mike's started a drill team to perform during game half-times. Among the members of the first drill team: Bernadette Gutierrez, Debbie Varela, Rose Marie Rivera, Luana Valdez, Lori Salazar, Elinda Trujillo, Charlene Rodriguez, Denise Stuart; Anita White, Rosianna Noedel, Liz Trujillo, Cindy Wing, Roberta Garcia, Karmella Pacheco, Dolores Gallegos, Jovanna Block, Rosealine Chavez and Joly Sanchez. Oh, and, Jolene Schutz was voted St. Mike's High School homecoming Queen. She was escorted by Paul Montoya. By the way, at the game, St. Mike's lost to West Las Vegas, 12-7. Before I forget, the St. Mike's cheerleaders for 1971 were Mary Jo Gonzales, Jeanne Adelo, Jean Fox, Linie Rivera, Michelle Pacheco and Theresa Lobato.

119 seniors graduated from St. Mike's in 1971. Valedictorian was Deborah Wallace, Salutatorian Ray Z Ortiz. Diplomas were conferred by Archbishop James Peter Davis. Among graduating class were some names familiar to modern Santa Feans: George Adelo, Tim Bieri, Charles Bonal, Virginia Castellano, Bobby Digneo, John Fox, Rudy Miller, Carmen Montes, Mike Pick, Ed Regensberg, Cindi Lee Schifani, Nancy Storrs, Joe Tapia, James Womack and Roseanna Zamora.

600 graduated from Santa Fe High School in 1971. As usual, there were no formal valedictorian or salutatorian choices but commencement addresses were given by top students Steve Terrell, Donna Anglin and Lindalie Lien. School Board President Robert Sweeney presented diplomas. Special mention here for Rose Mary Barela who was selected as Sweetheart Queen for 1971. She was a junior, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roque Barela, and she presided over the Valentine Ball. Her attendants included Liz Sandoval, Carmen Gutierrez, Lourdes Perez and Lourdes Trujillo. Santa Fe High School cheerleaders for 1971 were Patty Rutherford, Judy Buchholz, JoAnn Vigil, Karla Alarid, Donna Savage and Margaret Ragle.

And at the only other high school in the city, there were 22 graduates of the Santa Fe Preparatory School. Steven Savage was the principal student speaker.

College life in Santa Fe was exciting too.

College of Santa Fe students staged a demonstration at the school's cafeteria and called for a boycott of classes in protest against the planned addition of an Air Force ROTC program. The demonstration ended abruptly after a bomb threat was called in and police cleared the group to search for explosives. None were found.

College of Santa Fe students still found time, between demonstrations and bomb threats, to hold the annual homecoming celebration. At the game's half time, the CSF Knights team captain crowned Geri Cruz, a sophomore majoring in business administration, homecoming queen for 1971. The grand homecoming parade, consisting of 7 floats, was themed a Winter Wonderland. Grand prize winner was the Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity with a float depicting Santa's Workshop.

Student elections at the College resulted in the seating of Santa Feans to top offices. Jerome Martinez, son of M/M Gregorio Martinez of El Rancho was elected President of the college's associated student government. Jerome was a junior, majoring in history. Active in campus organizations, Martinez was Secretary General of the UN Club, member of Pi Gamma Mu and the President's Honor Society. Fellow Santa Feans Michael Vigil was elected vice president and Jerry Rael was elected Senior Class President.

25 CSF students were honored for academic achievement by college's Honor Society, only for students with a minimum of a 3.5 cumulative GPA. From Santa Fe, there was Jim Barton, Gwen Davis, Mrs. Lee Chan, Edythe Mackey, Jerome Martinez, Rita Melady, Patrick T. Ortiz, Steven Schwartz, Louis Valencia, Michael E. Vigil and Carl Williamson.

At graduation, the seniors were addressed by Senator Joseph Montoya who decried violence in the nation's march to equality but praised peace movements. Several Santa Fe students graduated with high honors: Michael Armijo, Marguerite Blawis, Lee Chan, Dixie Pope, Chris Preston, Larry Gallegos, Art Gonzales, Ted Lopez, Edythe Mackey and Connie Rael.

Nobody cared, but 26 graduated from St. John's College. Top students were Gail Hartshorne of Sharon, Conn. and Steven Moser of Haiku, Hawaii. No Santa Feans in that graduating class.

The little students at Los Ninos Kindergarten, headed by the much loved Pauline Gomez, had the right idea in 1971. They celebrated the end of school with a parade around the Plaza on bicycles.

And that's school news from Santa Fe 1971.

1943 - The Santa Fe Fiesta

Yes, it's the Santa Fe Fiesta. The City's annual extravaganza, part pageant, part carnival and all Santa Fe. A triple event opened the 1943 Fiesta, including the De Vargas pageant, the coronation of the Queen and the Burning of Zozobra. All in one day.

Will Shuster, in charge of Zozobra, had especially tough duty that year since the paper shortage forced him to seek alternative burnable materials with which to build Big Z. No problem, said Will, he’ll do just fine. Oh, Will’s version of Zozobra for 1943 had two faces, not three as last year. Since Mussolini fell from power, the new Zozobra only had the faces of Hitler and Hirohito when it burned at the stake. Will Shuster’s new name for Big Z – Hirohitlerpuss.

Little accident, though. Jacques Cartier injured an ankle at the Zozobra burning. As it turned out, it was his very last leap of the dance and he slipped on some loose gravel and strained a ligament. The dancer recovered soon enough but he was unable to perform in the traditional La Fonda roof show later that night. Luckily, Billy Palou, La Fonda’s famous violinist, was home on furlough and filled in to provide the evening's entertainment.

The 1943 Fiesta Queen was the beautiful Maria Guadalupe Tapia, known more familiarly as Pita Tapia. Pita was sponsored by the Kiwanis Club. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Juan Tapia, 705 Galisteo. Just 18 and a recent graduate of Loretto Academy, Pita was attending the Capital City Commercial College. The Queen's court consisted of Princesses Alicia Lucero, 18, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Abel Lucero, 224 West Manhattan, a graduate of Santa Fe High, class of ’43, and working at the Bureau of Revenue; Dolores Porfiria Garcia, 19, daughter of Mrs. Martinia Garcia, 516 Alto St. Dolores was a senior at Santa Fe High where she was vice-president of her class and working for the summer at Taichert’s; and Juanita Quintana, 21, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ramon T. Quintana, 211 Chapelle, a 1940 graduate of Santa Fe High and employed as an assistant to Dr. W.C. Barton. Juanita’s sister, by the way, was Fiesta Queen for 1942.

The 1943 Fiesta welcomed back a favorite feature. Last year's “Caravanes de los Paisanos” proved popular enough to be brought back in ’43. That’s the parade of country folks come to town complete with vintage carretas. First prize went to Mrs. Walter Goodwin’s group for “the Spirit of Pojoaque,’ a gorgeous produce wagon. Dolores Otero got a nice prize for best buggy.

No cars in this year's Caravan – gas rationing, you know. And the war-time shortage of gasoline also affected the grand parade, which did have a few trucks and cars The parade started at City Hall and marched twice around the Plaza and back to City Hall.

The famous Tio Vivo was back for the 1943 Fiesta. That was the famous hand-operated merry go round and a Fiesta favorite. New for 1943 was the Tio Voladero, another hand operated kiddie ride, a kind of a a revolving swing, and very popular with the kids.

As for the adults at Fiesta, most of Santa Fe bars were closed, except for one or two near the Plaza. It’s not that no-one was drinking, it’s just that, with the war on, booze was in very short supply.

The Pet Parade was huge and the New Mexican printed the name of every entrant and their pets. Way too many to read. For example, Charles Kinsolving has 4 rabbits and one chicken, Helena Ruthling showed up with 2 rabbits, a pigeon, a collie and 2 miscellaneous dogs. You might know Helena from her nickname, Doodlet. Grace Olivas had a rabbit, Betty Larragoite brought a dog, Walter Davies brought a horned toad, Kevin McKibben took six snakes and a lizard and little Wally Sargent brought his little dog.

I’m always amused at that report, because Wally Sargent was my sixth grade teacher at Salazar School in 1958 although he’s better known as a real estate tycoon in Santa Fe now. He’s actually a great guy for a tycoon and he was very cool as a teacher. He drove a flashy turquoise blue 1956 Thunderbird, he'd say things like “you're cruisin' for a bruisin,' and he had a popular radio show on the weekend. He was simply too cool for school, Mr. Sargent.

And that's the Santa Fe Fiesta 1943.

The Spitz Clock on the Plaza South Side

1966 - Time Flies

If you’re in downtown Santa Fe and you want to know what time it is, just check the Spitz Clock on the northwest corner of the Plaza. It’s a Santa Fe landmark but it wasn't on that corner in the beginning.

In 1881, that tall street clock was first installed in front of the Spitz jewelry Store on the south side of the Plaza by the original owner, Salomon Spitz, a German immigrant merchant. The original clock didn't tell the time; it had no works. But Mr. Spitz replaced it with a working clock around 1900.

In 1916, the clock was knocked down by one of Santa Fe's earliest motorists. The replacement clock, installed the same year, was maintained for years by his son Bernard who took over the jewelry store in 1927.

When he turned 70, Bernard Spitz closed the jewelry store on the Plaza and opened another in the Coronado Shopping Center. But what to do about that tall street clock in front of his old store? Well, in 1966, in a quiet ceremony, Bernard Spitz presented the Clock to the City of Santa Fe and handed Mayor Pat Hollis the winding key.

The clock disappeared while the south side of the plaza was undergoing renovation to add a portal but the clock was reinstalled on the corner of Palace and Lincoln – where it stands today – in 1974.

To keep perfect time, the clock was wound every week by a man who had to climb a ladder to get to the clockworks. In 1964, it was repaired and, in the process, the clockworks were conveniently re-located to the base of the clock. Today, the city parks worker who winds the clock every five days or so no longer needs the ladder.

1950 - Apocalypse City

Have I mentioned Jim Riley? In 1950, James K. Riley was the manager of Santa Fe's Chamber of Commerce, an association of businessmen, bankers and merchants created to promote commerce in the city. This was 1950 and the nation was considerably spooked over the shocking news that the godless communists in Russia had an atomic bomb, which they got incidentally, by stealing our atomic secrets in their sneaky godless communist way.

In the wake of this news, the federal government began to form the Civil Defense Administration which, among other things, was tasked with establishing a wartime national capital, a strategic city from which to operate the government in the event Washington was destroyed by an atomic bomb. In early 1950, a number of cities were being considered as potential wartime capitals, including Salt Lake City and Denver.

The question occurred to James K. Riley, why not Santa Fe as the nerve center for a federal government after a nuclear apocalypse? As manager of the Chamber of Commerce, Jim Riley was apparently convinced of a bright commercial future in the aftermath of an atomic war. So he promptly telegraphed the state's congressional delegation to recommend Santa Fe, the nation's oldest capital as a candidate for the nation's wartime capital, to the Federal Civil Defense Administration.

In his request, Riley shrewdly pointed out that the Sangre De Cristos, a solid granite mountain range, would provide security and shelter for the necessary underground bunkers, and, as an added bonus, it was all on land already owned by the government as a national forest.

Sadly, nothing was heard from Paul J. Larsen, Director of the National Civilian Defense Board, who was charged with selecting the emergency capital. But, later that year, Jim Riley got nice “thank you for your interest” note from Senator Dennis Chavez.

1947 - Fiesta

The Santa Fe Fiesta of 1947. People remember it now for the crowds. The tourists and visitors came early and came by the thousands. Every hotel and tourist court in Santa Fe was full. The Chamber of Commerce pitched in to find rooms for 32 people in private homes. They came to experience the gaudy, glorious event and the Fiesta of 1947 did not disappoint. Let's take it day by day.

FRIDAY

Zozobra went down in spectacular flaming death right on schedule in a program directed by Big Z's creator, Will Shuster. The paper reported that Old Man Gloom moaned and groaned, waving his arms and hands wildly, as the flames licked higher and higher. All witnessed by an estimated 10,000 people. Then the crowd surged back into town to observe the coronation of the Fiesta Queen by the Archbishop on the terrace of St. Francis cathedral.

The Fiesta Queen was Pauline Padilla, a 1941 graduate of Santa Fe High School, nominated by the Sociedad Folklorica, and the daughter of the late Reyes Padilla and Mrs. Clara Padilla. She was attended by princesses Elvira Trujillo, Adelina Ortiz and Grace Montoya. Queen Pauline's gown was fashioned of imported French white lace, embroidered with silver flowers of eggshell satin. Oh, and the princesses were given crowns to wear for some occasions, made of tin with semi-precious stones.

After the coronation the music and the dancing on the Plaza started and would continue for three more days. The music from the Plaza bandstand included, Los Charros de Nuevo Mexico, Pedro Rodriguez, Villeros Allegres with dancers Lupe and Lily Baca; the Montezuma Seminary Choir, Johnny Valdez with the La Fonda Orchestra, Jenny Wells, folksinger, the Kellogg Marimba Orchestra, and Michnovich trio of Los Alamos, one played string bass, one played accordion and one played the clarinet and saxophone. They played folk songs, cowboy songs and Spanish melodies.

SATURDAY MORNING

The Pet Parade returned in 1947. A water famine at Fiesta time in 1946, shortened Fiesta to two days and the Pet Parade had been canceled that year. So there a great many entries in the 1947 parade. Grand prize went to Donna Margaret Clauser for the girls and Jim Calvin for the boys. Donna rode in a carreta drawn by a big white dog, Jim in an old fashioned carriage drawn by a burro. Interestingly, Donna's brother Donald won a blue ribbon and so did Jim Calvin's sister, Jane. The Parade judges handed out dozens of blue, red and white ribbons.

SATURDAY

A Parade, called the Entrada in 1947, wound its way to the Plaza on Saturday afternoon, led by the Kansas City Saddle and Sirloin club. Representing a caravan of Santa Fe Traders, more than 100 Kansas City clubmen rode palomino parade horses and drove stagecoaches and Conestoga wagons. The club was followed by the Santa Fe Sheriff's posse and the Mounted Patrol and pretty much anyone in Santa Fe who had a horse.

Dancers, both Jacques Cartier's dance students and pueblo ceremonial dancers, performed in the afternoon on the band stand and in the Palace courtyard.

At the armory, site of the Gran Baile de los Conquistadores, 12 artificial palm trees, each 14 feet high, were placed around the walls of the armory to make it appear more tropical. For some reason, the Conquistadores Ball had a Cuban theme. The ball, as always, was in honor of the Queen so there was a large platform for her, decorated in New Mexico red and yellow colors, and a bandstand for the Bob Summers Orchestra.

Over 4000 feet of crepe paper, both for the Armory and for the Palomino Club, where the Baile de la Gente was also held that same night. The gente had the Freddie Valdez Orchestra playing Spanish music.

The Women's Club & Library Association held a chuck wagon dinner behind the library, an event chaired by Mrs. W. M. Maraman. Edith Moya sang to the booklovers, along with a barbershop quartet which included Dr. Reginald Fisher, head of the New Mexico Museum at the time.

SUNDAY

Sundays were always the quietest of the Fiesta days. It began with a pontifical procession, led by the Archbishop. Anybody could join in. The procession led back to the Cathedral for the High Mass.

Don Diego De Vargas for 1957 was Juan Alderete. On Sunday afternoon, he led his lieutenants Jim Gabaldon, Carl Thomson, Ignacio Moya and Pete Olivas, cavalry and infantrymen to the exact spot before the Old Palace where DeVargas reclaimed Santa Fe for Spain in 1692. Most of the men are members of the Guadalupe post of the Catholic War Veterans, by the way.

One Sunday Fiesta event is so often overlooked. It's called the Merienda, for the ladies, presented by the Sociedad Folklorica. In 1947, it was held on the patio of Sena Plaza and there the ladies gathered to enjoy chocolate and biscochitos while admiring the fashions of an earlier time. Models included Senora Cleofas Jaramillo, a founder of the Sociedad Folklorica, wearing her wedding dress (which, with some alteration, she wore to President McKinley's second inauguration).

Other Santa Fe royalty participated, like Conchita Ortiz y Pino, Beulah Baca Read, Anita Thomas, Amelia Romero and Reynalda Dinkel who modeled antique shawls, rebosos, mantillas and dresses.

Sunday night, Archbishop Byrne led the solemn candlelight procession through the Plaza and up to the Cross of the Martyrs where he spoke, calling for national unity and a return to religion as antidotes to atheistic communism.

MONDAY

The Hysterical Parade featured floats and stunts with caricatures of prominent individuals and pertinent economic and political issues, paraphrasing Henry Drypolcher of the Santa Fe Junior Chamber of Commerce (the Jaycees) who promised over 50 entries of lampooning and poking fun.

My favorite was the Arroyo Hondo Hamburger and Hackamore Club, tweaking the nose of the city's honored guests from Kansas City. The winner was the Public Service Company lampooning the scarcity of housing for veterans, displaying a dilapidated privy wired for electricity and selling for an outrageous $19,000. The Second place float depicted Los Alamos “mad scientists' scrambling around a laboratory wielding geiger counters. Third place went to a two-float combo both aimed at “straw man” Governor Mabry and the man who really ran state government in 1947, State Revenue Commissioner Victor Salazar.

When last act left the bandstand, around 5 pm, the booths and rides were dismantled and the garbage trucks appeared to carry away the litter and the trash Fiesta always leaves behind.

Fiesta Council President Ben Martinez said, “ Our 235th Fiesta observance should be the greatest Santa Fe has ever seen. Every effort has been made to arrange a program to please everyone and yet include all the pageant and lore for which the festival is so well known.”

The Council President didn't mention the crimes. Yes, city police reported one burglary at the Koffee Kup Kafe, one attempted burglary at Franklin's on the Plaza, the looting of two cars over Fiesta weekend and two thefts, one a ring on display under the Portal. One Albuquerque crime victim recovered a jacket stolen from his car. He came across a boy wearing it while strolling round the Plaza and took it back.

Que Viva La Fiesta 1947.