Farwell to Dr. V
Farewell to a family favorite
It was a sad day for many in Taos when pediatrician Dr. Sylvia Villarreal decided to retire at the beginning of this year.
For the beloved Dr. V., however, it's a longoverdue second attempt at retiring and — as she spoke with The Taos News on what happened to be her 72nd birthday — this time, she says it will stick.
Her first retirement in the late 1990s was from the field of medical academia in San Francisco and at the urging of both Loretta Ortiz y Pino (the late chief medical officer for Holy Cross Hospital) and Charles Anderson to move to Taos. The latter had established the Taos Clinic for Children andyouth and Dr. V., after a trial of working in the practice, relocated and ultimately became the clinic's sole owner in 2000.
With over two decades at the helm while seeing her young patients, “The timing feels right for me and I'm happy to finally be at this place in my life. It is admittedly hard to leave in the middle of an ongoing pandemic,” she reflected, but noted the practice is in good hands. TCCY has been acquired by Taos Professional Services, a subsidiary of Holy Cross Medical Center, so there is no interruption of care or service to families.
The former Robert Wood Johnson Scholar and Kellogg Fellow attended Stanford (CA) School of Medicine and completed her internship and residencies at the University of Colorado, Denver. “My background was always in academics, which was exhausting,” she recalled. “When I moved to Taos I fell in love with the community, and the families I've worked with always made my job fun,” a welcome change for her.
The biggest strength she brought to Taos, Dr. V. believes, is, “I'm a good diagnostician. I consider myself a ‘kid mechanic,'” she laughed, alluding to her father's Air Force career as a mechanic's instructor. “I grew up in a blue collar family and knew from a young age that using your hands was important.”
“And it's what I always told my patients. I'd tell them to learn a trade and learn it well. Learn how to become a good rancher, for example, and make a good living here. Or, maybe leave for a while and see what else is out there in the world. But you can always count on your hands.”
It's just one example of how Dr. V. truly looked after the whole sum of each youngster in her care, which explains the deep connections she constructed with them over the years.
Now it's time to focus on her passion for travel and fly fishing. “I've always been a wanderer, beginning with my family moving from Hawaii to California to canal zone Panama for my dad's service career, through to the various research projects I've been a part of in places like Patagonia and South America, so I'm looking forward to it.”
“And I love fly fishing. I mean, I really, really love fly fishing. I'll still be here in Taos for the warm weather, but some tropical fishing sounds pretty good, too.”
The community is full of good wishes for Dr. Villarreal and a few lucky ones may even run into her by the river, fishing pole in hand.
WITH $ 30 AND A LOT OF
determination, Cinnamon Bird set out to start her own business.
Five years later, she's established a boutique apothecary business selling her own blends of herbs and healing ingredients formulated into teas, salves, balms, tinctures, potions and capsules. Her cozy little apothecary shop is located at 114 Kit Carson Road in Taos.
“In the beginning, Taos was hard [but] it has also been so good to me,” she said. “When I came to Taos, it just seemed to take care of me. There's not a day that I don't thank God for all the blessings I've received here.”
Bird, a single mom, says that she became more interested in herbs and natural healing when her two children (now grown) were diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. She was curious about hemp and the healing properties of CBD which she had heard about claims that it helps with diabetes so she signed up for classes with a longtime herbalist. She says the claims were actually concerning Type 2 or adult onset diabetes but in the class she learned more about the other uses of CBD and hemp.
Bird says the way she was raised made her appreciate the benefits of growing her own food, canning, drying and freezing it for future use. Bird says that her family had a garden, cattle and horses. She says as a child she was immersed in a “natural, homeopathic way of living.”
So after learning about hemp and CBD she decided to make a topical salve with some feedback from her massage therapist. After going back and forth over the dosage strength and finding a milligram quantity that was efficacious she went out with the first batch of salve and it sold out quickly. Bird took the earnings and put it back into making more and now it has become a business with stores and spas stocking her products in multiple states.
“I make everything in small batches and it works because I am very particular
about what I put in it,” she said. “I always make sure that it is going to work.”
Bird's background is in journalism. For years she ran her own magazine and there she had to do everything from ad sales to writing, graphic design and marketing. She had freelancers to help but she says she did the bulk of the work herself. With that experience, she easily created her own labels and packaging. She says that her goal was to avoid adding more waste to the landfill. She also created her own promotional materials and took her own photos. She also has some experience in education. She taught elementary school students and college courses on marketing for small businesses in Pueblo.
Stress and anxiety, insomnia and boosting the immune system are the three most popular requests Bird says she gets. She has herbs, teas and various other options for treating these complaints. She also sells a variety of other locally sourced products from other Taos businesses.
Bird's adult daughter Sophie helps out in the store and was the model on the vintage style logos and marketing. Sophie says her mom has been an inspiration and she enjoys working with her.
One day Bird got a call from a former Shark Tank judge who was a fan of her products who wanted to partner with her and could procure backing to grow the business into a corporation but she said no. Bird asked how he had heard of her and found out her products were ranked the top in Colorado. She did build a dedicated following through word of mouth and beat out big Denver companies to get her products used and sold at the downtown Wyndham spa in Colorado Springs.
Bird's next project is to outfit a traveling apothecary van so she can provide products on the go for people who need “something for what ails them.”
She says it will be similar to a vet truck (but for humans) and a sort of “gypsy wagon” like the traveling salesman, or “the medicine man.” She can carry concoctions and potions directly to those who need them. She said that the pandemic has inspired many people to return “back to the earth,” and to seek out plant based remedies and folk medicine. She sees it as an opportunity to educate people because “so many people need to know about herbs.”
Due to COVID-19, HEART House transitioned to HEART’S Hotel Program in October 2020 for the safety and health of the guests and staff. To avoid any outbreak, HEART of Taos believes this is the safest way to continue to support women and families facing homelessness during a worldwide pandemic. The Taos CARES Crisis Housing Program began in December 2020, with Dreamtree Project as the fiscal agent and employer of the program staff, and HEART as the manager of day-today operations. The CARES Program is a collaborative effort, operated by Dreamtree Project in partnership with HEART of Taos. In fall 2021, management transitioned to Dreamtree with HEART serving in an advisory capacity. For more information about Dreamtree please visit www.dreamtreeproject.org. In 2021, Taos CARES provided 154 individuals with shelter and services in 16 hotel rooms using federal CARES Act funding and funding from HEART for 4 rooms. Please help support women and families by going to https://taosheart.org/how-you-can-help/ to donate.