Come on over to Scott Carlsons Pottery Gallery on Thursday, June 20th at 6 pm and enjoy a night of FREE music brought to you by Roots and Wires & Seco Live.  This is going to be an incredible show so arrive early and ready to dance.

Cantos de Taos Friday June 8, 2012 7:00 pm Holy Trinity Church – Old Church, Arroyo Seco, NM

Cantos de Taos is a chamber vocal ensemble comprised of returning students of the Taos Opera Institute who are directed and accompanied by a faculty member of the TOI.

Arriving just a few minutes before the performance was scheduled to start; we were greeted with an enthusiastic hello from the performers setting up a makeshift performance space just outside an entrance to the side of the Arroyo Seco chapel. The doors of the church were still locked. Once the performers had managed to locate an electric receptacle for their digital piano, their preparations wholeheartedly and without any doubt, nimbly indicated to all of us “the show must go on.” As patrons assembled outside, some set about repositioning their vehicles in the fashion of a tailgate party to accommodate make shift seating for themselves and others. With only a few minutes to spare before “show time” someone appeared with the keys, and thankfully so. A sigh of relief was quickly in the air. Both cast and audience were grateful to resettle into their respective places indoors instead of outdoors.

Without a written program, the singers and director took their respective turns at announcing each piece. With no pen and notebook on hand, specific performance details of the performers names and the musical offerings are not furnished in this account. The Most Holy of Trinity Church, offers exquisite acoustics. Combine this with the pristine silence of a wholly engaged audience; a rare, remarkable and profound music experience took place.

Those of us who were in attendance, a small audience of 18 members, were for that moment some of the luckiest human beings on the planet. The aural clarity, the musical selection, the tranquility and stillness; all created an impression that erased the mind clear of any thought, leaving us with the sensation of feeling that perhaps was the closest thing to a communal experience of spirit within in a secular gathering. That evening we were witness to the coexistence of transcendence and timelessness, as the music was both offering and blessing.

After the performance and with the audience disassembled, the director of Cantos de Taos wisely staged an impromptu rehearsal with his talented group, rehearsing at the center of the “sweet spot” within the Most Holy of Trinity’s aural gallery. The clarity of sound that exists in this sacred space was and is transformative. Taos is known for both its historical and sacred places. This church in specific is only on occasion open to the public. (A detailed historical account of the Most Holy Trinity Church can be found here. It is noteworthy that if you visit this blog, the invention of their company name, Archinia, has a byline, “Design Infused with Spirit” that sheds further light upon the Most Holy of Trinity Church as a setting for the mystical performance of the Cantos de Taos.)

The religious historian, Mircea Eliade, coined the word, heirophony, to signify the manifestation of the sacred in this world (though historically thought) to exist without human endeavor. Words fall short, even made up ones, to attempt to adequately articulate the purity of the evening’s experience that those in attendance received through the gifts of these four young voices and the skilled musical accompaniment of their director; embraced with essence by the space of the Most Holy Trinity Church. There, Spirit dwells.

We all have our short time on earth and the play of duality manifests each day. On this day in Arroyo Seco, we were given a gift from the divine as if to be in Heaven on Earth, a sacred space indeed.

Glen’s Taos Diary Video
Jim Kimmon’s Video
Donald Gialanella’s Video

Lovely site, informative, and simple to use.
LouAnn Breimon

By Andy Dennison, TAOS NEWS
Thursday, February 21, 2008 6:28 AM MST

The United States Postal Service will be expanding its post office in Arroyo Seco, but where that will be is still up in the air after a public meeting Wednesday (Feb. 16) at the Arroyo Seco Community Center.

Community members have 15 days to weigh in on the issue before postal officials enter the bureaucratic process of deciding the final location.

A contingent of Arroyo Seco residents would like to see the community center lease land to the postal service so that a new, enlarged post office would be closer to town than it is now, and adjacent to the community center.

However, some members of the board of the Arroyo Seco-Valdez Neighborhood Association, which runs the community center, don’t want it in their front yard. Neither do at least two members of the Taos Municipal School Board, which owns the former school property. Plus, the Torres family that currently leases a third of an acre around the corner for the current post office is willing to negotiate to lease a larger lot for the 2,000 square foot facility that post office officials say they need.

“It’s still a possibility,” said Neal Ogden, former neighborhood association board member who is pushing for the community center site.

Morris Arellano, who has spearheaded the effort to get Taos County to buy the property so that legislative money can be used for improvements, expressed frustration: “This puts us back another six months. We were that close to the transaction (transferring ownership to the county), but now we can’t use the money.”

***Please attend a US Postal Meeting on Wednesday, February 20, 2008, 6:30pm at the Arroyo Seco Community Center***
Opinion - Save our Post Office
The possibility the communities of Arroyo Seco and Valdez could lose their Post Office is a perilous possibility for all citizens, businesses, and visitors.Many people in Arroyo Seco are compelled to walk to the Post Office. Automotive traffic and pedestrian traffic are in a state of “peacefully co-existence” in the village of Arroyo Seco.
A lease with the post office at the Arroyo Seco Community Center (ASCC) is a way to improve and enhance the automotive and pedestrian ingress and egress around this significant anchor property. These improvements would provide more parking and connect this property to the entire village of Arroyo Seco. A connection of this depression era, Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) constructed property to the entire village of Arroyo Seco is important for the continued prosperity of Arroyo Seco.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt envisioned the CCC projects of the New Deal as a means to provide jobs, and improve the community. A lease with the Post Office would be a strong start in the process to allow this historical property to continue to provide a benefit to people in the community.
A lease with the United State Postal Service (USPS), on a portion of the undeveloped land, is a way to create cash flow for the Arroyo Seco Community Center (ASCC) to offer more programs for the communities and improve the infrastructure of the Arroyo Seco School buildings. The USPS would be an anchor for additional community based improvements on this property.
Who knows? Maybe even some REAL affordable housing for the folks who live and work in Arroyo Seco.Untreated septic fields are a problem in all of Taos County. This problem predates the advent of ASCC and their lease of this subject facility. A lease with the USPS and new construction may have the STATE of NM require ASCC to install a treated or closed septic system.
Something, one day, will happen to improve the Arroyo Seco School buildings, and adjacent property. We do hope the very active community members of the village of Arroyo Seco, may have some direct input in this process. Thank you for your consideration of our opinion we must Save the Arroyo Seco Post Office.
Friends of Arroyo Seco offers support to save the Village of Arroyo Seco Post Office.

Please visit the blogroll entitled Save the Arroyo Seco Post office to see how you may assist in preserving the Post Office for our village.

Si se Puede!

Yes we can!

Arroyo Seco Post Office Meeting

By Andy Dennison

Wednesday, February 13, 2008 12:59 PM MST

Post office officials will hold a community meeting Wednesday (Feb. 20) to talk about expanding or relocating the Arroyo Seco postal facility.

The meeting will begin 6:30 p.m. in the main building of the Arroyo Seco Community Center at the corner of NM 150 and El Salto Road.

Postal officials contend that the existing facility — on the S-curve past Holy Trinity Parish — has outgrown its customer base. Estimates indicate that a 1,024-square-foot building is required to meet current and future demands — whether through expanding the existing building or putting up a new one.

U.S. Postal Service plans surfaced several months ago when some members of the Arroyo Seco-Valdez Neighborhood Association suggested putting up a new building adjacent to the Arroyo Seco Community Center. The center, which was an elementary school, is in the process of having its ownership transferred from the Taos County school district to the county.

Since then, school and county elected officials have objected to putting the post office on community center property.
Free at last TSV will allow snowboarding in 2008
Management says ‘it is time’

The following is an e-mail from the Taos Ski Valley:

December 14, 2007

Dear Friend ,

After much contemplation Taos Ski Valley has decided to open our slopes to snowboarding beginning March 19, 2008. It is in the adventurous spirit of Ernie and Rhoda Blake we welcome the challenges and anticipate the opportunities that this decision implies. While there are many reasons why we have chosen this season to make such a significant change to our company’s policy the foremost factor is we feel simply that it is time.

For several seasons the debate has been more directed as to “when” rather than “if” snowboarding would be permitted at Taos Ski Valley. It has been the opinion of the Blake Family and TSV’s management that the timing was critical. Let us emphasize that this decision is the result of careful planning and consideration. We recognize many challenges that will result from this decision but feel ultimately it will benefit Taos Ski Valley, Inc., its employees and the community at large.

It is the goal of the Blake family and current management to continue the legacy of Taos Ski Valley. Equally to take care of you, our devoted staff and loyal friends, who for so long have helped us take care of our Mountain and the Taos Ski Valley legacy. We ask you to join us as Taos Ski Valley, Inc. transitions into the future with its spirit and ideals firmly rooted in the past.

Cordially,
Alejandro, Adriana and Mickey

BIG SECO NEWS as reported by the TAOS NEWS.
County, school board say no to post office on Arroyo Seco community center land
By Andy Dennison

Friday, October 26, 2007 9:40 PM US/Western

A plan to relocate the post office branch on the grounds of the Arroyo Seco-Valdez Community Center came up against strong opposition from members of both the Taos school board and county commission.

In a joint meeting Oct. 17, representatives of the Arroyo Seco-Valdez Neighborhood Association told the elected officials that the U.S. Postal Service tentatively wants to move from its small office on the S-curve of NM 150 to more spacious digs around the corner on property next to the community center buildings. Specifically, postal officials would like to put a 30-by-60-foot modular building on one-third of an acre just south of the existing center, with access on El Salto Road.

However, the school board, which still holds the deed to the property, and county commissioners, who seek to buy the property, both felt that a post office was not in line with the “community center” concept.

“We leased to them for the purpose of a community center,” school board president Arsenio Córdova said. “I envisioned playgrounds, a tutoring center, things like that. Not a government building.”

The existing post office has become cramped, in part because of the closure of the Valdez branch last year and population growth in the area. In the past year, postal service officials have analyzed about five sites in the area and narrowed their preference down to the community center location, according to Tom Jacobs, real estate specialists for the U.S. Postal Service.

Neal Ogden, president of the neighborhood association that runs the community center, told The Taos News that the group “will no longer advocate for that.”

“Our first priority is to preserve a community center,” Ogden said.

Initially a school owned by the Taos school district, the community center buildings have symbolically been donated to Taos County. Once a survey is completed, the county can officially take ownership, according to County Attorney Sammy Pacheco.

Jacobs said that the location is a “very good site,” particularly because it was within walking distance of the central business district of Arroyo Seco.

Ogden had said that because of its proximity, the post office would have generated more interest in community center’s programs.