NGA ROUNDUP
DEAR TÍO
Try as they might, organizers couldn’t keep regular Santa Feans from enjoying the private, for-governors’-eyes-only burning of the nearly 50-foot-tall marionette known as Tío Coco, a faux-Zozobra (or is that “Fauxzobra”?) burning held only for the governors, their families and special NGA guests Friday night.
Dozens of cars were parked on Artist Road, where area residents enjoyed what view they could muster of the half-hour fireworks show and burning.
As the marionette began to burn, a few children shouting, “Burn him! Burn him!” could be heard at the Cross of the Martyrs, which offered a limited view of the festivities.
A few passers-by stopped at the Cross of the Martyrs to observe the happenings below. Not all were pleased.
“They really did make a full-fledged copy of him,” one woman muttered before storming off. “It’s such a shame.”
Organizers, who tried desperately to keep the event secret before the details were finally revealed in The New Mexican, were clear they did not want members of the general public at the ritzy nighttime soirée, a one-of-a-kind offseason burning of Old Man Gloom — a nearly century-old Santa Fe tradition.
City and state police flooded the area around Fort Marcy Ballpark for the special, VIP-only event, closing a couple of streets for hours Friday night. A helicopter buzzed overhead. The park itself was completely closed to public access; the park permit was granted by the city, which redacted almost all of the permit information. Still, you might’ve heard the noise. A loud half-hour fireworks show ended at 9:30 p.m., only minutes after Old Man Gloom — or the impostor burned in his place for the governors’ sake — crumpled in flames.
It seemed the event, for all the noise and hullabaloo and secrecy, went off without much of a hitch, at least from a security perspective.
But it was difficult to ascertain for certain, as organizers kept prying eyes clear of the Fort Marcy environs. A voicemail left for a police spokeswoman was not returned after the event concluded.
was briefly able to gain access as the event began, but convention personnel quickly identified the reporter and ordered him to leave. That marked the second straight night a New Mexican reporter was bounced from a nighttime NGA “social” gathering.
At Fort Marcy Ballpark, past the police blockades, there were mariachi performers. There was a hot air balloon. There were massive white tents for dinner seating.
There was also Zozobra, in all his gloomy glory.
Er, Tío Coco, as organizers prefer you call him.
The Kiwanis Club, which puts together the annual burning of Zozobra each fall, insisted the marionette it built for the governors was, in fact, Tío Coco, Zozobra’s cousin — a transparent attempt, critics said, to head off the charge that a beloved local cultural tradition had been co-opted at the expense of inconvenienced nearby residents.
Tío Coco was identical to Zozobra — white smock, enlarged fingers, the traditional eyes, ears and hair.
Identical cousins, common enough.
NEVER TRUMP
It can be hard for local residents to believe anyone would not want to come to Santa Fe, especially in summer.
So, with the National Governors Association in town, rumors have run rampant that President Donald Trump would pay a visit to the City Different.
But alas, the association said Thursday it does not anticipate anyone from the Trump administration showing up. On Friday, a spokeswoman said again that the association had not received any confirmation of any plans to attend.
Media reports indicate Trump went from the White House to his golf course in New Jersey on Friday.
Vice President Mike Pence attended last summer’s gathering of the National Governors Association in Providence, R.I.
But there has been no public indication that he would attend Santa Fe’s event.
Instead, he has traveled in recent days to Illinois and Missouri and was scheduled to visit Georgia and Tennessee on Saturday, the last day of the governors’ gathering.
This year’s event drew about 20 governors from states around the country.
And judging from the criticism of the Trump administration from Democrats and attitudes about his trade policies among Republicans who could at best be described as worried, many may not be thrilled to see the president or his vice president.
That is to say nothing of Santa Fe itself. Trump only won 20 percent of the vote in the county.