Tío Coco: Up in flames for benefit of city

The secret’s out. Zozobra’s cousin, Tío Coco, will be burning in July at Fort Marcy park for the National Governors Association conference.

Somehow, we can’t get too outraged that one of Santa Fe’s best traditions — a replica, not the real thing — is going to be trotted out for high-powered politicos, their friends and families. To be honest, we are impressed with Zozobra creator Will Shuster. The artist who decided that santafesinos needed a way to burn the gloom away once a year also had the good sense to create Tío Coco.

That alternative giant marionette was burned first at the opening of the film Santa Fe Trail, starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland and Ronald Reagan, in a private event at Fort Marcy. In 2013, Tío Coco also was burned privately for the Kiwanis International Southwest District’s midyear conference.

So, despite concerns that this midsummer burning violates Shuster’s intent, it appears the wily artist had it all figured out. He gave his creations to the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe, with the stipulation that Zozobra was for the people of Santa Fe. It kicks off the activities of the annual Fiesta de Santa Fe, with the burning ceremony easily one of the more popular events of the year. As is tradition, thousands of people descend upon Fort Marcy to see the 50-foot marionette go up in flames. With him go our collective and individual troubles and concerns. Old Man Gloom embraces them all.

What will happen at Fort Marcy in July is a different event — it’s a show, put on for visitors, just as Shuster himself did for the Hollywood crowd. That the Kiwanis Club members and Zozobra event chairman Ray Sandoval are taking this on should be an occasion to thank them. This is a lot of work, all from volunteers.

After all, the event is scheduled for just a few weeks after the Fourth of July fireworks, which the group also helps put on — Kiwanis, if you remember, saved the fireworks show for Santa Fe. That’s on top of presenting Zozobra and organizing Santa Fe’s annual New Year’s Eve party on the Plaza. (One bonus of the extra burning: The governors are buying 2,000 Zozobra tickets for this year’s event to be handed out to low-income families. Even with ticket prices reasonable again, the cost of attending Zozobra can be a stretch for some families.)

We trust the smaller crowd attending Tío Coco will have less impact on the neighborhood. We do understand neighbors’ concerns — Fort Marcy is a much-visited and loved part of Santa Fe, and traffic and noise make their mark. Residents of such attractions as Ragle and Franklin E. Miles parks understand the neighbors’ pain, as do folks living by the rodeo grounds right about now.

The conference, though, is a coup for Santa Fe — and kudos to all in state and city government, including Gov. Susana Martinez, who nabbed it. That’s true even though the website for the association misspelled the name of our town as Sante Fe. With top politicians and the reporters who follow them here July 19-21, plenty of news will be made, datelined — we trust — Santa Fe, N.M.