October was hopping at the Wingfield House! We participated in several community events including Aspenfest, Ft. Stanton’s Trick-or-Treat Trail, and the Xterra World Championships. The Xterra event brought people from 41 different countries to Ruidoso, and our banner display brought some of our history to life for them. We also hosted an Art in Nature Family Fun Day and our 2nd Anniversary Celebration.
Our new exhibit “Carmon Phillips: Capturing Mid-century Ruidoso” opened during the 2nd Anniversary Celebration on October 22nd. It features 60 photographs from the 1950s and 60s by photographer and Ruidoso booster Carmon Phillips. During the anniversary celebration, we also unveiled our beautiful American 250 Memory Quilt, which was completed by the Ruidoso Stitchers and Quilters from blocks painted by our visitors. Many thanks to our sponsors for the anniversary celebration: Contour Airlines, Southwest Contracting & Associates, and The Agency.
In October, we also prototyped a “Homeschool Fridays” program with a homeschool group from Ruidoso, focused on archeology in the area. We had 5 Friday sessions throughout the month with about 200 participants in total. It was successful and can be something we do by request or that we can adapt each year going forward.
All-in-all it was a busy month and a joy to experience as a resource for the Ruidoso community!