1948 - The Last Valedictorian

 

Ralph Eagle Getz, 1948 Santa Fe High School Valedictorian

It came up in a lunchtime conversation with an old friend, herself a graduate and former teacher at Santa Fe High School. She mentioned Roy Stephenson, memorable from her high school days because he was smart and funny and because he was the valedictorian of Santa Fe High School’s Class of 1967.

I was surprised by this claim – not that Roy Stephenson (who I knew much later from my years in the law profession) wasn’t smart and funny. By all newspaper and yearbook accounts, Roy was popular, smart and funny. He was also literary, publishing poems in the local paper(see The Santa Fe New Mexican, April 23, 1967), and athletic, a star tennis player for the Demons. For the class talent show, Roy was MC at the event under the pseudonym of Jack S. Phogbound and he was known to come to school in costumes, feigning another personality, for the amusement of his classmates. At the annual Sadie Hawkins dance, he won a prize for the “loudest suspenders.” He seems like a fun guy.

But he was not the valedictorian for Santa Fe High School Class of 1967. It was not because he didn’t have a great GPA (he did – 3.93, the second highest GPA that year) nor because a lack of extra-curricular activities (he had plenty – tennis, drama, debate and more) nor because he wasn’t popular among the faculty (he was). For his achievements, Roy was named a ‘speaker’ for commencement. But Roy Stephenson was not the valedictorian because Santa Fe High School did not name a valedictorian or a salutatorian in 1967.

In fact, there had been no valedictorian or salutatorian at Santa Fe High School since 1948, the year that Ralph Getz won the title and delivered the valedictory address. Interestingly, the salutatorian, Thomas Moore, Jr., missed the top by a GPA score that was a thousandth of a point difference less than that of Getz’. Both Ralph Getz and Tom Moore won scholarships to Harvard University.

In 1949, the newspaper report (Santa Fe New Mexican, June 22, 1949) on the commencement exercises for Santa Fe High School, listed awards galore for students – sports, band, academics – but never mentions either a valedictorian/salutatorian or a ‘speaker.’

In 1950, it became clear that the high school had abandoned the traditional valedictorian/salutatorian model in favor of a Top Ten model. I learned this in an article (Santa Fe New Mexican, June 4, 1950) about Mariano “Nano” Sanchez, a 1950 graduate of Santa High School, headed to Georgetown University planning to study astronomy. The article goes on to say:

Nano was one of the ten top students in the 1950 graduating class, a selection which has replaced valedictorian and salutatorian at the local school. (emphasis is mine)

In 1951, this new Top Ten tradtion morphed into a top five per cent and, over the years, a top ten percent and those students were listed in the newspaper as such.

A survey of newspaper accounts of high school graduations for the years 1951 to 1987, displayed a pattern. The local newspaper, in reporting graduations at all area schools, typically identified the valedictorian and salutatorian from each area school – except Santa Fe High School which always named two “speakers.”

These ‘speakers” at Santa Fe High School were chosen in the beginning by faculty; later, contests and try-outs were held among the top students to be a speaker. But the notion of a top GPA leading automatically to a valedictorian title was simply forgotten at Santa Fe High School. In later years, the high school recognized top students (far more than any Top Ten) by appointing them members of the “Royal Blues,” (fyi, the school colors are blue and gold). The “Royal Blues” honored the school’s top students (without any particular ranking) and regularly featured them in the school annuals and occasional newspaper reports.

In 1962, the newspaper reported on Santa Fe High School graduate Dawn Gerber, who gave one of two commencement addresses at the graduation ceremonies. Here’s the pertinent part of the newspaper article which can be found at the Santa Fe New Mexican “Spotlight on Education” feature, published on June 7, 1962

Both she [Dawn] and Rose Marie Garcia, who gave the second commencement address, were chosen by the faculty from the top five per cent academically of their class after speech try-outs. Santa Fe High did away with the traditional system of valedict-orians and salutatorians long before the present administration which does not remember the specific reason for the change.(emphasis is mine)

(Dawn’s own life story is interesting and tragic. At age 5, she nearly drowned in the Santa Fe River – and was rescued by her brother, Dean, who received an award for his heroism. In high school, she was a volunteer at St. Vincent Hospital, part of a group called ‘candy stripers” for the distinctive uniform they wore. In the program for the commencement exercises, Dawn’s achievements were briefly listed but erroneously identified her role at the hospital as a ‘candy stripper.” Probably not so amusing, as she was headed to Southern Methodist University. She was at SMU only a month when she joined a group on a bus trip for a religious retreat. The bus rolled over and the only student killed was Dawn Gerber.)

A survey of past Santa Fe High school annuals (the yearbooks are titled ‘Para Manana’ and they are freely available at Issuu and at the ‘throwback’ page of the Demon Tatler, the school’s newspaper website), reveals that the words valedictorian or salutatorian never appear in the years 1949 and 1987, though the ‘Royal Blues’ were always listed and pictured and, occasionally, a top GPA, would be noted.

In 1966, for example, the top GPA at Santa Fe High School was held by Gilbert Montoya. Gilbert was headed to Stanford after graduation (or maybe NMSU and he was also an alternate appointee to West Point). He wound up as an architect, practicing in Georgia, Tennessee and South Caroline. I knew Gilbert from my Casa Solana neighborhood where my brother Gene and I often played pickup basketball at a nice lady’s house on Caminito Alegre (ironically, precisely across the street from where I now live; in fact, when we grew hot and dusty from playing ball, we would often go to the house across the street – now my house – to cool off under the carport.)

The usual players (besides me and Gene) were brothers Steve and Louis Padilla and brothers Gilbert and David Montoya. We called Gilbert ‘Bugs’ because he was short-tempered and ‘bugged out’ when frustrated. Years later, I met him at a party (by this time, he was a big time architect and I was a mere district judge). “Hey, Bugs!” I greeted him. He did not like it and told me so. So if you ever meet Gilbert Montoya, for God’s sake, don’t call him “Bugs.”

The point is that Gilbert, though apparently fulfilling all the traditional requirements for valedictorian was not even named as one of two commencement speakers at his own graduation. See the Santa Fe New Mexican article in the May 26, 1966 issue, the article entitled “Top Students to Address Commencement Exercises in Northern New Mexico.”

The article states that

Santa Fe High School has for the past several years chosen two seniors from the top five per cent of the class to deliver commencement addresses. (emphasis mine). This year, Linda McLarry and Sheila Riddle will be the speakers at ceremonies beginning at 8 pm May 26 in Sweeney Gym.

As you can see, Gilbert Montoya – Mr. Top GPA and putative valedictorian -- is not mentioned at all.

Now comes Roy Stephenson.

In 1967, the newspaper reported on upcoming graduation exercises, listing and depicting the top students from every local school – Santa Fe High, St. Mike’s, Loretto, Pojoaque, Santa Fe Prep and even the New Mexico School for the Deaf. Every school identified a valedictorian and salutatorian – except Santa Fe High School. Santa Fe High School, instead, named Marsha Long (who had the top GPA) and Roy Stephenson as “class speakers,” while the remainder of the school’s top ten per cent, academically, wore red tassels (instead of the usual gold) on their mortarboards at graduation.

And so it went on for years, the tradition of ‘speakers’ at Santa Fe High School rather than valedictorians or salutatorians, never provoking comment or question.

Here’s an interesting note from the Santa Fe New Mexican in its May 20, 1984 issue. For context, the note was appended to a feature article, entitled ‘The Best and the Brightest,’ a story about the valedictorians and salutatorians from St. Michael’s High School and Santa Fe Preparatory School and their struggles to achieve their high ranks. While the feature article says nothing about Santa Fe High School, the note does:

NO VALEDICTORIANS AT SFHS

By tradition, Santa Fe High School does not name a valedictorian or salutatorian. Instead four student are chosen as speakers for graduation ceremonies. This year, the two speakers from the High School’s main campus are Kimberly Medrano and Amy Schwendi-mann. Patricia Chacon has been selected from the Alternative High Campus. And Celine Martinez will represent Vo-Tech.

To qualify for selection, speakers must have a C average or better.Speakers compete for selection based on a trial speech, their grades and participation in school and community projects. The high school probably doesn’t name a valedictorian or salutatorian because there are so many students with A’s – eight from the main campus alone this year, says Assistant Principal John Sena.(emphasis is mine)

In 1985, 1986 and 1987, Santa Fe High School continued the tradition of ‘speakers,’ while the other schools continued their tradition of valedictorians and salutatorians.

In 1988, however, Santa Fe High School named its first valedictorian and salutatorian in nearly forty years. In the ‘Places and Faces’ column in the Santa Fe New Mexican for May 29, 1988, Mayor of Santa Fe Sam Pick announced the recipients of the Mayor’s “Muchas Gracias” certificates, young people who displayed “outstanding personal, academic and extracurricular achievements.”

Among those listed were “Valedictorian Manuel Rodriguez and Salutatorians Paul Armijo and Daniel Gehred of Santa Fe High School.” Each of these students earned a perfect 4.0 grade point average and each had earned awards in scholarly competitions. In 1988 – and every year thereafter – Santa Fe High School named a valedictorian and salutatorian (and, as you can see, sometimes two salutatorians).

In my research, I was never able to ascertain exactly why Santa Fe High School switched from valedictorian/salutatorian to Top Ten and later, top five per cent, top ten percent and “Royal Blues.” It became the common practice for forty years and, I suspect, most people simply forgot that, for a time, there were no valedictorians at Santa Fe High School.

But I can make a guess as to why Santa Fe High School returned to the valedictorian/salutatorian(s) model in 1988. The brand new Capital High School held it’s first graduation in 1988 – and a valedictorian and salutatorian were named. I think that prompted Santa Fe High School to switch back to the old tradition.

As to Roy Stephenson, I am certain that Roy was all he was cracked up to be – smart, funny and popular in High School. But Roy Stephenson was not the valedictorian for the Santa Fe High School Class of 1967. No one was.

As I write, it is the year 2025 and Santa Fe High School has been naming valedictorians and salutatorians steadily since 1988 – that’s about 37 years. Long enough, I suppose, for people to forget that for a period of 40 years, Santa Fe High School did not have a valedictorian or salutatorian.

1943

1943 - Wartime America, Small Town Santa Fe

1943 - America at War and winning. In the Pacific, in Europe, in northern Africa, the allies were turning the tide of the war.

At home, Americans faced rationing of cheese, meat, canned food, shoes and gasoline. And coffee, sugar and butter. But Americans didn’t just give up the luxuries, they gave as well, holding drives to collect scrap metal, rubber and cooking fat. And they invested millions of dollars in war bonds. Women took the place of men in the factories and America knuckled down to the job at hand.

Santa Feans did their part, too. Daily, the newspaper encouraged citizens to save cooking fat, paper, scrap metal and rubber for the war effort. And they did.

The paper even carried a chart of enemy planes, just in case a Japanese zero was considering strafing the Santa Fe Plaza. The paper reported who was drafted, who was killed or injured in the war, who got medals and who came home.

The War was personal in Santa Fe. When Corregidor fell in May 1942, thousands of Americans, hundreds of them New Mexicans serving in the 200^th Coast Artillery, were taken prisoner. Those few who survived the infamous Bataan death march were held in camps deep in the Philippines. New Mexico Governor John Dempsey immediately began plans to get an information flow to New Mexicans with sons and brothers held prisoner as well as efforts to get the prisoners as much aid as the Japanese would allow.

One prisoner, Sgt. Walter Charles Kiesov, managed to get a postcard to his mother, Mrs. Charles Kiesov, reporting that he was well. Sgt. Kiesov was first reported killed at Bataan but then his name appeared on the prisoner list. Other Santa Fe boys, thought to be lost, turned up at prison camps in the Phillipines, including Pvt. Francis Bert Powell, son of M/M C.F. Powell of Garfield Street, Sgt. Francis Van Buskirk, son of M/M J.A. Laudenslager, Corp. Rubel Gonzales, son of Mrs. Frank Gonzales, Candelario Street, Corp. Joe T. Lucero, son of Mrs. Willie Lucero, East Alameda and Corp. Ray Tucker, son of Mrs. William T. Tucker, Ninita Street. Many more such notices were received throughout 1943.

And the local paper also highlighted our war heroes, two. Sgt. Manuel Duran received a purple heart for injuries he got while saving his crew members and his bomber, attacked returning from a bombing mission. A fierce fire broke out and Sgt. Duran assisted the wounded, jettisoned ammo which was about to blow up and put out the flames. He is the son of Mrs. Matt Duran, widow of the late Matt Duran who ran the Torreon Shoe Shop on College Street.

And Lt. Edwin Lamme also won a purple heart for serious injuries to his hand when his Flying Fortress was hit by an anti-aircraft shell over France. Ed, the son of M/M Kenneth Lamme who ran a photography studio in Santa Fe, was most famous as the youngest ever to graduate from St. Mikes High School, called St. Michael's College in those days.

Major Miguel A. Otero wrote home to tell of a chance meeting with another Santa Fean – Sgt John Stevenson in North Africa. Both were in the Air corps and ran across each other at the same post exchange. Otero was a lawyer in town, the son of Governor Miguel Otero and married to the famous flyer, Katherine Stinson Otero. Stevenson was the advertising manager for the New Mexican until he was drafted.

Silas Garcia went off to the Navy in style, courtesy of a party thrown by the Misses Mary Jane Montano and Eloisa Baca . Guests included Charlie Thayer, Joe Padilla, Joe Frank Ortiz, Don Rodriguez, Mike Abeyta, Bennie Gonzales, Pete Alarid, Eddy Apodaca, Walter Stark, Tilly Baca, Alice Lucero, Margaret Martinez, Viola Tapia and Ferbie Longacre. Games, dancing and refreshments for all.

Capt Finlay MacGillivray of Santa Fe demonstrated he was proud of his Scots ancestry when his named his bomber the “Hoot Mon.” In 1943, McGillivray was serving in New Guinea piloting A-20 attack bombers. In fact, he received the Air Medal and a letter of commendation for his service there. Mac was a Santa Fe High School graduate and a football star at UNM before the war and he wrote often to his mother, Della MacGillivray, at 130 W. Houghton Street.

Wondering about the women in the war effort? Then consider Lena Alarid, the first Santa Fe girl to enlist in the WAVES – that's Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services. She was a nurse stationed in Washington D.C. and held the rank of lieutenant. She was the daughter of Fred Alarid, 206 Chapelle. Eight other Santa Fe girls were in WAVES in 1943: Eloisa Eckert, Paulina Gonzales, Hulda Hobbs, Dollie Ruth Johnson, Jane E. Means, Ernestine Quintana, Irma Wildering Smith and Mary Francis Sullivan.

And six Santa Fe girls were on the front page of the monthly newsletter for the Tulare Air Base in California as the prettiest aircraft mechanics around or “gal wrench-wrestlers,” as the newsletter put it. They were Ernestine and Teresa Alarid, Santana Gonzales, Anita Bustos, Amy Norton and Agnes Lucero. According to the newsletter, the six were trained at the Santa Fe municipal airport where these “belles of the balpeen hammer” learned their craft.

1943 – Wartime America, Small Town Santa Fe. 

1966 - The Danish Bride

Have I told the tale of the Danish Bride? It all happened in 1966.

Dorte Meyer, a young student from Copenhagen, was traveling through the United States when she wandered through Santa Fe. At the downtown Plaza Bar, she met 28 year old Santa Fean Anton Miller and it was love at first sight.

When Miller proposed marriage, Dorte was agreeable but she wanted to observe old Danish wedding customs. The first of which, it turned out, involved the bride's shoes. The custom in Denmark required the young couple to collect pennies in a champagne bottle – from friends, family, even strangers – and use that money to buy the bride's wedding shoes. Apparently, it was bad luck to obtain the shoes any other way.

So Anton and Dorte acquired a large champagne bottle and posted it on the counter at the Plaza Bar, with a little note explaining its purpose. Soon enough, the jug began to fill with pennies.

Plans were made for the wedding, the license, flowers, justice of the peace and about a month later, the wedding day came. Gene Petchesky, owner of the downtown Guarantee store was contacted and asked if he would sell the bride her wedding shoes in the Danish Custom. Gene, a smart businessman, said yes even though he had no idea what the Danish custom might be.

Anton Miller arrived to pick up his bride on a bicycle, placed her on the cross bar and pedaled over to the Plaza Bar. There, they retrieved a full champagne bottle of pennies and pedaled over to the Guarantee Store. There, the bride tried on every pair of white shoes in stock, finally settling on the first pair she had tried on. That, I believe, is an American custom.

When it came time to pay, the bride called for the champagne bottle, pulled a hammer out of her purse and smashed the bottle, spraying pennies everywhere. All this to the astonishment of Gene Petcheskey and his staff. But once the custom was explained, Petcheskey took it in good humor and set his staff to count the pennies – $15.91 – which he accepted as payment.

Then the couple pedaled to the Justice of the Peace for the ceremony but there was a short delay as the best man was sent back home for the forgotten marriage license. He also made a short detour for flowers which the groom had also forgotten. The best man didn't say where he got the flowers, but he did say that it was lucky he lived next door to a cemetery.

After the ceremony, the happy couple repaired to the Plaza Bar for the reception where the bride was treated to an ice cream sherbet and the wedding party toasted with traditional Swedish gloegg, a hot spiced drink. Apparently pretty potent as well, because the groom – barely wed 4 hours – was later arrested on Lincoln Avenue for public drunkenness and drunk driving on a bicycle. The complaint was lodged by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Miller of Garcia Street, who weren't able to convince their intoxicated son to come home.

Oh, carrying a bride on a bicycle is also a Danish custom but not in this case. Between them, Anton Miller and Dorte Meyer owned six cars and one airplane but none of them worked. And they owned two bicycles, but one of them had been stolen earlier in the week. So, as it happened, the one bicycle was all the transportation they had.

1954 - Old and New

For all the emphasis on history and tradition, the City is always ready to try something new.

Take the Plaza in 1954, for example. That year the Kiwanis Club asked the City to build a bandstand, reviewing stand and a public comfort station on the plaza. It would cost about $12,000 and the Kiwanis offered to pitch in on the funds. As well, the Club asked for a better display space for the ship's bell from the USS New Mexico with some informative bronze plaques. At the time, the ship's bell was installed on the northwest quadrant of the Plaza, mounted on a concrete platform perfect for sitting and people watching. While the City Councilors were interested in the ideas, nothing ultimately came of them.

The City had already begun to beautify the Plaza by installing an iron fence and gates around the Soldier's Monument. That was Henry Dendahl's idea. He got the fence from the old Manderfield estate and the gates from the Staab house, plus donations of labor and materials from Plaza merchants. Dendahl planned an annual painting of the fence with a free lunch at the Canton Cafe for all the volunteers.

The big news on the Plaza was the work on the ancient Palace of the Governors. Workmen put up scaffolding right on Palace Avenue and, to howls of protest from Santa Feans, began removing the ends of the vigas which protruded from the portal. Turns out the vigas had rotted at the ends and were leaking rain water under the roof. New dummy viga ends would be installed so the Palace would look the same. Around the corner on the Lincoln Avenue side, the old adobe bricks over the gate – the one with the blue door – to the patio were giving way so they were replaced – with pumice block. Fake vigas and pumice block . . . I don't think I'll ever look at the Palace of the Governors the same way again.

1954 is the year that the First National Bank – originally located on the east side of the Plaza, picked up and moved to the west side of the Plaza, taking over the space that used to be – well, pretty much everything – the New Mexican printing plant, a movie theater, a Buick dealership and, coming full circle, the original site of the First National Bank when it first opened in 1871 – right on the corner of Lincoln and Palace where it stands today. That was quite an undertaking but the Plaza was only roped off for one day – the day the money and safe deposit boxes were moved. Levine's moved into the Bank's old space – a beautiful example of Greek Revival archictecture first built in 1912. In 1957, under the guidance of John Gaw Meem, Levines remodeled the building to conform to the prevailing Santa Fe style, trading gothic colums for classic wooden posts.

Around the corner from the Plaza, in Cathedral Park, the Archbishop's old house was torn down, condemned as a firetrap. It was an elegant old territorial structure with a full portal and balcony running the length of the house facing Cathedral Park. At one time, it served as the City's first St. Vincent Hospital, beginning in 1865, and later as an old folks home.

In 1954, La Fonda removed thefountain and pool in the patio, replacing it with flagstone to accommodate the Indian dances it featured every summer. Santa Feans were sad to see that fountain go. Across the street, the Camera Shop installed a drinking fountain, but it just wasn't the same.

Still on San Francisco Street, Evan Wilson opened a new cafeteria and soda fountain, called El Refresco, on the northeast corner of Burro Alley. It was right across the alley from Wilson's old popcorn stand in the Lensic Theater Building. That's where he got the nickname, Popcorn Wilson. Oddly, the new place served only ice cream and malts – no popcorn.

And 1954 is the year the St. Francis Cathedral rectory was remodeled. Old timers remember the old peaked roof and huge concrete steps leading up to the high front door. The remodeling removed the roof, created a new lower street side entrance and made the building more Santa Fe style. It was used, in 1954, as office space for the Archbishop and pastor and included a vault where parish valuables were kept.

Up Washington Avenue, a row of 7 large elm trees in front of the Scottish Rite Temple was removed leaving the street pretty bare. Those trees had been planted in 1912 but elm disease was killing them and they'd been breaking up the sidewalks for years. The Temple reported plans to replant using blue spruces. Around this same time, Washington Street was closed off for several days in the summer of 1954 so the phone company could lay underground cables.

The biggest building project in 1954 was the city's first municipal swimming pool. Most of the city's civic organizations, chiefly the Optimists, organized a drive for the pool, raising enough money to buy a large piece of the Penitentiary land – part of the old dairy farm -- which they promptly donated to the City which planned to build the pool facility with a cigarette tax revenues. While the formal name of the pool facility was the Santa Fe Municipal Swimming pool, Santa Fe kids invariably called it the “munici-pool.” These days the pool bears a new name in honor of legendary coach Salvador Perez.

Another piece of Santa Fe history disappeared in 1954. The Gross Kelly Company – a Santa Fe institution since 1879 – was sold to a Texas company. Dan Kelly, Jr., in his first year as president and chairman of the board – just like his father and grandfather were – confirmed the sale. The business continued the distribution of New Mexico products as before with most of the Gross Kelly staff still in place, but the name --- Gross Kelly & Company – was retired.

In 1954, the second oldest Spanish fort in the nation was discovered in Santa Fe. Or better said, re-discovered. Old timers in the city still remembered the fortification known as La Garita – Spanish for bastion or jail – located on a small rise north of Santa Fe, more or less midway between Fort Marcy Hill and the Scottish Rite Temple.

Historians say that it once was used by the Spaniards to hold political prisoners, a few of which were executed by firing squad against a nearby wall. But it had fallen into disuse by the time the Yankees arrived and, over time, began to deteriorate. By 1900, it had lost its roof. Kids played on it, treasure hunters dug around in it and, in the early 50's, it was actually used as a dump site. There exists an old faded photo, taken in 1912, which still shows one wall standing, perhaps the very wall used for executions.

But in 1954, Bruce Ellis, an archaeologist who lived just 50 feet from the site on Washington Avenue, became interested in the site and, with funding from the NM Historical Society, began to poke explore the ruins.

By the end of the summer, Ellis and his crew had uncovered the foundations, revealing the ancient floor plan. It was roughly in the shape of a diamond with 2 bastion towers at the long ends, with a center hall and rooms and jail cells on either side, all enclosed within 3 foot thick adobe walls. La Garita, Ellis said was probably built shortly after completion of the Palace of the Governors and that was built sometime before 1680.

That's typical Santa Fe, history right in your own back yard.

U.S.S. Santa Fe

1942 – The Lucky Lady

The US Navy's newest Light Cruiser launched in June 1942, named after our little City, The USS Santa Fe. The honor of christening came to Caroline Chavez, the daughter of District Judge David Chavez and, therefore, the niece of US Senator Dennis Chavez. She was 14 at the time and a big hit at the launching, with a pretty pink dress and carrying a bouquet of red roses.

For the launching, the traditional champagne bottle contained no champagne at all but water taken directly from the Santa Fe River, right off Alameda street, and blessed by the Archbishop.

The USS Santa Fe served with distinction during the war. She was called the Lucky Lady, for fighting in several battles and always escaping unharmed. 13 Battle Stars, she earned, the USS Santa Fe. She's gone now, scrapped at the end of the war. But the ship's bell, all 900 lbs of brass, is on permanent display at City Hall. I always like to give it a little tap as I leave the building, just to hear it ring.

The Flying "Thing"

1953 - The Year a UFO Landed on Bishop's Lodge Road

Dateline October 25, 1953.

Jimmy Milligan, 16 yr old Santa Fe High School junior, reported sighting an unusual flying “thing.” Milligan was driving home about 9:30 pm, returning from the Young People's Fellowship Dance at the Methodist Church, and heading north on Bishop's Lodge Road, just passing the baseball field.

Suddenly, he saw a ten foot long object floating floating directly across the path of his car. Milligan swerved off the road and got out of his car. On the dirt embankment in the weeds, Milligan saw a metal object, about 10 feet long, shaped like two flat boat hulls attached together.

Milligan said, “ Naturally, I was a little bit scared and hesitant about getting too near it. But when I reached out my hand to touch it, it raised straight up in the air for a couple of feet and took off in a steep climb toward Santa Fe.” Milligan drove home in a hurry

“You should have seen him when he came in the that door,” Milligan's mother said. “He was white and shaky. He looked so odd.”

“I want to tell you something, “ young Milligan told his mother. “You and Daddy'll think I'm crazy but it happened. I'll swear it did. On a stack of bibles.”

His father, B.F. Milligan, a repair foreman for the phone company, took Jimmy back to the site and, together they searched for it. “We didn't see much,” Mr. Milligan reported, “ because there was only the light of the moon to see. We didn't have a spotlight in the car.” Although Jimmy was shy about telling anyone about his story, the newspapers learned of it and persuaded Jimmy to give an interview.

He told the New Mexican reporter that he nearly struck the “thing” with his car as he was driving home. The object was metal colored, like aluminum and shaped like a great big bullet, about three feet high, ten feet long and five feet across. While he was reluctant to touch the object which was resting on an embankment, his curiosity made him reach out. As he did so, the “thing” began roaring and rose up in the air and began climbing in to the air.

“There wasn't any glow or spitting fire,” Millingan reported, “I couldn't feel any heat. No smell of carbon monoxide in the air. When it was taking off, it made a sound like a washing machine, but even faster. You know how a small airplane engine sounds. It was sort of like that, only more high pitched.”

Milligan's mother, a teacher at Harvey Junior High School, said that her son has never been the over-imaginative type of boy, prone to making up tall tales. She said Milligan was a good student with a B average at Santa Fe High School, who spent his free time tinkering with his car, an old roadster.

When queried, Brigadier General G.G. Eddy, commanding officer of the White Sands Proving Grounds issued a public statement, doubting that that “thing” came from the proving grounds. He disclosed that there were many projects of a highly classified nature at the Proving grounds but that he was not at liberty to talk about them.

There are no later news accounts of any further investigation into the October 25 sighting or any explanation for the “thing” that Milligan saw. “You know,” Milligan told the reporter, “I kind of wish I had hit the thing as it came in front my my car. Then I'd have some proof, all right!”

During the course of his interview with the local newspaper, young Milligan drew sketches of the “thing” and helped a New Mexican artist sketch the object for publication. The next day, on the front page, the newspaper published the story and the artists sketches of the unidentified flying object that landed on Bishop's Lodge Road.

1973 - On the Santa Fe Plaza

I was reminded the other day, as I lounged on a bench on the Santa Fe Plaza, of the great controversy of 1973 about this center of the city, the Plaza. The same Plaza which had welcomed loafers like me for more than 300 years.

In 1973, the Plaza was a fire storm of debate. That's the year that the City decided to make the Plaza a no-parking zone, catching the Plaza merchants off guard. Within days, 35 of those merchants, led by Tom Moore and Walter Kahn, organized to reverse the City's decision but the City was holding fast.

The City had built two spacious parking lots – one behind J.C. Penney's and one across the street from the Hilton hotel, neither of which were being used by down town shoppers. The City thought that banning parking on the Plaza would divert shoppers to those lots.

After some wrangling, a solution of sorts emerged. The merchants would give their customers one hour of free parking in any city lot and pay the City for it themselves with dues collected from all the plaza merchants. In this way, the City got money, the merchants got customers and everybody was more or less happy.

Of course, parking was a problem on the Plaza anyway in 1973. The City had embarked upon an ambitious plan to improve the Plaza, to the tune of $150,000 – half of which came from a generous federal grant. Plans for the venerable center of the city included the following:
—The streets that bordered the Plaza would be paved either with
brick or colored concrete. And since those streets were considered part of the city's “arterial” road system, the state kicked in another $67,000. And the plaza merchants, led by the First National Bank chipped in another $29,000.
—The present bandstand would be demolished and a portable band-
stand structure would replace it.
—The banco (bench) which surrounded the Frontier Monument
would be reduced in size.
—The bell from the battleship New Mexico would be removed to a
site in the Capitol complex, next to the Bronson Cutting statue.
_The Gen. Kearney marker and the End of the Trail markers, however, would remain intact.
And the whole plaza would receive extensive landscaping and all of this work under the direction of Santa Fe architect John Gaw Meem.

Well, it all sounded good but then a curious thing happened. Since the Plaza was being renovated anyway, the City Council unanimously decided to remove the monument in the center of the Plaza. That bears repeating. The City Council – unanimously – voted to remove the 110 year old Civil War Monument from the center of the Plaza. When the news hit the papers, Santa Fe might as well have been struck by a meteor. What an uproar!

The City Council were apparently responding to a letter from Governor Bruce King who had been urged to request removal of the monument by someone from the American Indian Movement which believed the Monument was, and I'm quoting here, "a source of perpetuating racism and prejudice through the character assassination of our forefathers." This was because the plaque on one side of the monument read:

"To the heroes who have fallen in the various battles
with Savage Indians in the Territory of New Mexico."

That “savage” part apparently rankled the sensibilities of the modern-day Indian of 1973. The other plaque on the monument, by the way, honored union soldiers who battled the rebels during the Civil War.

Citizen reaction was predictable. First, there were those lofty-minded individuals who were racing to be politically correct, urging the removal of the obelisk so as to not to hurt the feelings of any Indian whose eyes might fall upon the plaque. It was, they claimed, the Spaniard or the Anglo who were the savage ones, not the beleaguered Indian.

Interestingly, the five nearby Pueblo Governors were united in keeping the Plaza monument where it was and to let history stand. "This is a reminder of what happened in the past," said Governor Paul Baca of Santa Clara "We feel much the same way about our history, that it should not be changed to fit the times." And savage might even be accurate, Baca said, because “we didn't give up our lands without a fight.”

Then came the historians, who argued that the wording on the plaque merely reflected the times and only survived as a curious but beloved anachronism. Its removal would be tantamount to book-burning or re-writing history. One even pointed out that the term “savages” only referred to the nomadic Apache and Navajo – opponents in a bitter war for two centuries – not our peace-loving neighbors, the pueblo Indians.

Then there were the die-hard Santa Feans who didn't want any change in Santa Fe at all, no way, no how. So what, they wrote to the editor of the local paper, all that happened too long ago to make a difference. One suggested a petition, not to remove the monument, but to recall the City Councilors who voted for the stupid idea.

Them came the jokesters who mocked the controversy. James B. Alley, a local lawyer proposed a second monument dedicated to “the Indians Who Saved their Land and Culture from the Barbarian Hordes of Anglos Who Descended upon Them from Urban Neon Jungles." Then there was the wag who said that as long as we're getting rid of offensive monuments, let's take down the Statue of Liberty with that insulting reference to immigrants as “the wretched refuse.” Then there was the prankster who taped up a cardboard sign on the monument itself to replace the word Indians with Conquistadors so that it read the “Savage Conquistadors.” By the way, this was many years before someone actually chiseled out the word “savages” and solved the problem once and for all.

As it happened, the City had no say about the monument. In fact, any effort to take it down would exact a severe penalty and not just the wrath of the voters. Turns out the Plaza was a both a National Historic Landmark and a protected State Cultural Property. So, no changes were possible on the Plaza without serious federal and state legislation. Oh, and that $75,000 federal grant the City was about to receive to fix up the Plaza – well, the federal government said the City might as well kiss it goodbye if the Plaza Monument were removed.

Even the City Council, dumb clucks that they were, could see the handwriting on the wall. They hastily convened and – unanimously – rescinded their vote to remove the monument from the Plaza. Instead they favored a plan to add yet another plaque to the Monument, explaining the other plaques. This was the same plan, incidentally, which was favored by the Governor of NM, the Indian Pueblos and federal government. The new text would read:

Monument texts reflect the character of the times in
which they are written and the temper of those who
wrote them. This monument was dedicated in 1868 near
the close of a period of intense strife which pitted
northerner against southerner, Indian against white,
Indian against Indian. Thus we see on this monument,
as in other records, the use of such terms as 'savage'
and 'rebel.' Attitudes change and prejudices hopefully
dissolve.

And that's what happened on the Plaza in 1973.

By the way, the 1973 Santa Fe City Council consisted of eight busy men, mostly sober businessmen, who donated their time to lead the city – Robert Berardinelli, Elmer Longacre, Sam Pick, Robert Stuart, Joseph Allocca, Clarence Lithgow, Alex V. Padilla and Mike Scarborough. It was this City Council that will always be remembered in Santa Fe, not for benevolent government or progressive leadership, but for the jaw-droppingly awesome stupidity of their unanimous vote to remove the Plaza Monument in 1973. And the next time you see one of them, tell them I said so.

1967 - The Game of the Year

In 1967, both St. Michael's High School and Santa Fe High School put together great football teams. Coached by Donnie Baca, the St. Mike's Horsemen starters included Louie Tapia, Don Dawson, Art Sandoval, Mario Trujillo, Isaac Pino, Andrew Lucero, Barney Solen, Juan Aragon, Bob Manzanares, Floyd Miller and Ronnie Segura. The SFHS Demons, coached by Austin Basham, featured Hoyt Mutz, Tom Garcia, John Jones, Waldo Griego, Bern Mullings, John Sanchez, Bobby Rougemont, Johnny Gallegos, Jimmy Romero, Jerry Kloeppel and James Trujillo.

Donnie Baca predicted a clean win but Austin Basham didn’t expect a close game at all. Still, St. Mike’s – just off a nice win over West Las Vegas – was favored over Santa Fe High which just got bombed by both Clovis and Los Alamos. On the other hand, the Horsemen had not won a football game over the Demons since 1960 when Donnie Baca was still playing on the varsity squad. The outcome of the 1967 game, however, would surprise everyone.

It was a capacity crowd at Magers Field in 1967. The first quarter was all defense and the teams did little but trade punts. In the second quarter, the Demons took advantage of a Horsemen fumble on the St. Mike’s 13. On the next play (for no gain), a penalty against the Horsemen put it on the 5. Then, Demon quarterback Bobby Martinez threw a pretty pass to Bob Rougement in the end zone for the score. The conversion attempt was no good. Demons 6, Horsemen 0.

Just as the second quarter drew to a close, Horseman Louie Tapia intercepted a Demon pass and raced 32 yards for a stunning touchdown. The conversion failed but, at half-time, the score stood 6 to 6.

The Demons came out for the second half on fire. Quarterback Bobby Martinez capped a 65 yard drive with a sneak from the 3 yard line. The conversion was good and the Demons led 13-6. A few plays later, Horseman quarterback Juan Aragon hit Barney Solen on a short pass; Barney looked trapped but he suddenly put on a burst of speed and raced all the way to the end zone. The conversion was good and the score was 13 all.

By this time, the Demon spirit had waned considerably and the Horsemen were suddenly showered with great opportunities. An interception put them on the Demon 1 foot mark but the Demons held them off. A few minutes later, Horsemen Tim Layden picked off another Demon pass and the Horsemen had a first down on the Demon 30 with 4 minutes to go. Before the Horsemen could close the deal, Demon Teddy Pepperas intercepted a Horsemen pass and time ran out.

The Horsemen Demon Game of 1967 ended as a tie, 13 to 13. It was and would remain the only tie game between the arch-rivals in their entire history of competition.

1952 - The Deadly Race

55 Santa Fe boys signed up to compete in the official 1952 Soap Box Derby, sponsored by the New Mexican, Santa Fe Motor Company – which provided all the special soap box derby wheels, and the Optimist Club, with Orlando Fernandez as president.

Without listing every single racer, here’s just a few for us old-timers:

Donald Gonzales from Don Cubero St, Eddie Ray Scarafiotti, 343 W. Manhattan, James VanderSys from Camino Alire, Johnnie Kirk and Joe Carrier, both from Allendale Street. There were the Brennand brothers, David and Dan, from Zia Road, Jimmie J. Martinez, 1610 Young St., Edward Ortiz, 319 W. Gomez and Clarence Lithgow from Griffin Street. And dozens more.

And one of them was a killer.

It wasn’t Alfred Gonzales, the 12 yr old driver of car no. 34, sponsored by Johnnie’s Nite Club. But doesn’t it strike you as strange that a night club would sponsor a car in the soap box derby? I only mention Alfred because he was the eventual winner of the 1952 derby, winning a trip to Akron, Ohio for the finals. Alfred was the son of Mr. And Mrs. Manuel A. Martinez, 1601 Jay Street. It was the six-grader’s first race.

So who or what killed Elizabeth Riley?

Mrs. Riley, 85, was visiting friends in Santa Fe just in time to attend the Annual Soap Box Derby of 1952. Standing on the sidewalk of Marcy Street with her friends, Mrs. Riley watched several home-made racers go by. Suddenly, one racer – mever identified – swerved out of control, hit the curb and flew off the track, striking Mrs. Elizabeth Riley. She suffered a broken leg and was immediately hospitalized. Mrs. Riley seemed to be getting well but soon complications of a broken leg and old age set in and she died, after lingering for about three weeks in St. Vincent Hospital, under the care of Dr. Bergere Kenney. Her remains were returned to California for burial.

This is a true story, the story of the only fatality ever claimed in a Santa Fe Soap Box Derby.

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.