May 1 proclaimed ‘Enjarradores Day’
May 1 was officially proclaimed “Enjarradores Day” by the state and Taos County Board of Commissioners at the Sagebrush Inn Convention Center, 1508 Paseo del Pueblo Sur in Taos.
Taos County Historical Society created the proclamation honoring the Ranchos Church Enjarre Committee Volunteers, the annual preservers of the famous San Francisco de Asís Church in Ranchos de Taos, at an Honoree Luncheon last Sunday (May 1).
Three volunteer Enjarre committee chairs accepted awards for their respective volunteer groups: Tommy Tafoya, who organizes all the operations, tools, materials and volunteers for upwards of two weeks prior to the annual remudding of the church each June; Rebecca Trujillo, who organizes people, procurement, preparation and presentation of food for all the enjarré volunteers; and Guadalupe Tafoya, who organizes an intensive clean-up crew of the church interiors, including repainting and repairs as needed, pews, stairwells and artwork, as well as interior upkeep year-round.
Taos County Commissioners Darlene Vigil and AnJanette Brush, with County Manager Brent Jaramillo, read the proclamation to the audience and each was presented a plaque by Father Mike Garcia at the awards banquet.
‘Cuentos de Taos’
Elmo Baca of Las Vegas is the well-known historic preservation expert and consultant who spoke at the awards luncheon held on Sundy, and presented two of his 16 video cuentos/stories created in 2012 by ‘Cisco’ Guevara and the late Vicente Martinez.
Set in the Mural Room of the Old Taos County Courthouse, Baca said he and videographer Ted Schooley conducted the interviews over two days, surrounded by the murals of Bert Phillips, Victor Higgins and more — an experience Baca called “a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Responding to Baca’s questions in 2012, the televised Vicente recalled how Taos Plaza was “the center of everything — food, department stores, insurance, the
movie theater, bars, the La Fonda — it was the center of life for the whole county.”
The Public Health Office was upstairs in the old county courthouse, where a young Vicente went with his birth certificate to allow him to play sports. He laughed at how he had tripped going out of the building and broke his wrist, so he never got to play on that year’s baseball team.
At age 14 or 15, he said he also testified at the courthouse about a murderer. When questioned about how many shots the murderer was casually firing around town, teenage Vicente said, “Something like two, but not less than one!” Laughing hard at himself on the video, Vicente was pretty clear that, as teenager, he was just trying too hard.
Baca asked about Vicente’s connection to Taos’ famous Padre Martinez, and Vicente said he was the great-great-grandson of Padre Martinez. He also noted that he and his son owned and were living in the Padre Martinez home.
“All the artists came into the grocery story [where he worked],” he said about the relationships among the artists and community of Taos. He pulled weeds for Ernest Blumenschein. Vicente and daughter Helen Blumenschein were friends for many years. “They were all just regular folks,” he said.
His favorite event was seeing famous cowboy storyteller “Max Evans get his butt plunked through a plate glass window after raising hell in my parents’ bar,” he recalled. “Evans liked to pick big fights in bars, and I was bartending that night. It was May of 1961. There was a funeral wreath on display in the window and he landed right under it. He used to get drunk and dance on the tables.”
As for what he thought was the best quality of Taos, Vicente said “I think its diversity. When we were growing up there was no distinction between communities. But I think there’s rivalries between communities now in Taos.” The one thing he felt would give back heart to Taos would be to bring people together on the plaza, like the summer Taos Plaza Live weekly music series.
The Cisco Guevara video was cancelled due to technical difficulties, but initial video shots promise more rollicking tales of old and new Taos. Baca and the historical society are working on making the cuentos hopefully available in a year.
The author of 10 historical art and architectural books, Baca is also the owner and manager of the Indigo Theater, a boutique cinema he refurbished and opened in 2015 in the historic Baca building at 146 Bridge Street in Las Vegas, N.M.
In 2012, Baca was a consultant to the Taos Arts and Cultural District and project director for a pilot program “Cuentos de Taos” to engage the community through interviews and storytelling. The Historical Society publishes the semiannual “Ayer Y Hoy en Taos/Yesterday” and “Today in Taos County and Northern New Mexico,” with Editor Dave Córdova. The historical society sponsors many Southwest-history related events, lectures and field trips.