Our youth, our community, our future

We have watched in amazement and appreciation as the Community Youth Center Warehouse has taken shape at its site on Church Street across from Community United Methodist Church. Thanks to many volunteer hours and donations of muscle and money, the 4,500-square-foot facility is almost ready to open to the youth of the community.
Only one thing is missing – and it could be you.
Did your New Year’s resolutions include anything about being more involved in the community? Or do you have a passion you could share with young people? Could you simply sign up to be on-hand to help support the goal of providing a safe and secure place for our community’s youth?
The Warehouse features a large space, with a recreation area, a commercial kitchen, fully equipped computer lab, a stage for performances and state-of-the-art sound and audio-visual equipment.
Based on a national concept relatively new to New Mexico (but a growing movement in Texas), the program features a center-based location for youth, 7th through 12th grades, to have a safe, supervised place to meet, do homework, enjoy recreational activities, take informational classes, produce concerts and much more, after school, in the evening and on weekends.
The goal of Warehouse Director Cathy Thurman is to have 50 volunteers in place during the hours of operation, Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays through Saturdays. Volunteers may download an application from the Warehouse Web site, ruidosoyouthcenter.org, and a background check will be required.
For additional information, you may contact Thurman at 257-4170. Your generous gift of your time will help make the center a success.

Feeling like no one cares about a project you have given 20 years to must be quite depressing. The Ruidoso Concert Association has announced that without the involvement of new board members and volunteers for shows, their curtain will close for the last time at the end of the 2008 season. (See ¡Vámonos!, Jan. 25.)
Money ... volunteers ... audience - all seem to be lacking, to one extent or another, so several questions could be asked:
• How can the 501(c)(3) best entice music-lovers to put in volunteer time to continue to bring such acts as the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Glenn Miller and Duke Ellington orchestras to audiences in Ruidoso?
• How can an organization that has been largely dependent on lodgers tax dollars (with declining amounts over the last few years) attract sufficient donations to continue to provide quality performance to a largely local audience?
• How can the group boost their resources to attract an audience for their shows?

Anyone care to weigh-in on this issue?

Vital Community

When folks hit the street in Midtown Ruidoso on Halloween, I was reminded again of how important our connections with each other are in a small community. Smiles, handshakes, and hugs were all around as people greeted each other, taking just a little time out of their day-to-day to enjoy walking up and down the sidewalks. The costumes were great, of course, and the merchants were generous in giving out candy to all the superheroes, princesses, and other characters (young and old) that promenaded - it reminded me of the Latin American tradition of strolling around the plaza on a Sunday afternoon to enjoy the local color and greet friends and neighbors. It would be so nice to be able to experience a vital Midtown a lot more often.

Keeping the arts alive

Vital Signs - Yes, the arts communities are alive and well ... well, depending on who you talk to! And, from my experience, they can remain so only if we all work together.

Designed to be an arts and entertainment blog that covers both Lincoln and Otero counties, it is intended to be a forum for ideas and suggestions, for collaboration and conversation, as well as a means for getting the word out about our adventures in all aspects of the arts.

I hope it will not only serve as a forum, but will also ultimately lead to a better ¡Vámonos! Our Ruidoso News Web site will soon include the means for posting your events, performances, gallery openings, community meetings and such, which will help get information to the folks you wish to reach, as well as assist me in getting them into both the print and online versions of ¡Vámonos!

For now, let's get the ball rolling. Simply post your ideas and suggestions. Start a conversation. How can we improve collaboration between various organizations? How can we better establish our area as an arts destination for tourists? What other questions come to mind? And share with us your dreams, your events, your accomplishments.

I will respond to as many comments as time allows, and of course you may use it to respond to each other's posts. Suggestions as to new topics may also be sent to me via email at skashmar@ruidosonews.com.

Thanks for joining in!