This Summer in Cloudcroft
There’s more going on than you may know. Our update brings you up-to-speed
The Village of Cloudcroft has a new Village Clerk, Library Director, and several open positions for hire.
The South Fork and Salt Fires are nearly contained, though Ruidoso and the surrounding areas have suffered severe flooding in their wake.
Read on for our summer updates.
What’s New?
Cloudcroft has plans for the summer, with new (and old) business in full swing.
On Monday, the village council swore in Julie Pinson, our new village clerk, and Roger Schoolcraft, our new Chief of Police.
Several positions remain open for hire on the village website: Water Operator, Police Officer, and Maintenance Employee.
Cloudcroft Reader spoke with the Chief of Police Schoolcraft. He said interviews for the open police officer positions are underway.
The Michael Nivison Public Library (MNPL) has a new library director, Karen Sonnenfelt.
Sonnenfelt previously served as Cloudcroft Chamber of Commerce Board President and authors books under the nom de plume Karen Rennings.
In the absence of a director and a full library staff, MNPL relied solely on library assistant and local student Ayla Yarbrough to remain open this summer. Yarbrough spearheaded the summer reading program, kicking things off with a water balloon fight (and clean up) at Deer Park.
The MNPL boasts a teen center, children’s area, and more—though operational hours vary this month:
July 8th—13th: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 11:00 AM—4:00 PM; Saturday 10:00 AM— 3:00 PM; closed Wednesday and Sunday.
July 15th—20th: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 11:00 AM—5:00 PM; Saturday 10:00—3:00 PM; closed Wednesday and Sunday.
July 22nd—27th: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 11:00 AM—5:00 PM; Saturday 10:00 AM—3:00 PM; closed Sunday.
Some old favorites are opening their doors for the summer season, as well as some new kids on the block:
The Cloudcroft Ice Rink Farmer’s Market starts on Sunday, July 7th at 11:00 AM—remember to bring cash.
Ski Cloudcroft will be serving wood-fired pizza, appetizers, summer tubing, and fantastic views from the patio on Friday, July 5th, at 4:00 PM. On Saturday and Sunday, it will open at noon.
Folks are welcome to volunteer with the local non-profit, Keep Cloudcroft Clean, for a Dry Canyon cleanup on Saturday, July 13th, at 11:00 AM.
The Village of Cloudcroft is celebrating Independence Day with a “patriotic concert,” parade, and street dance this Saturday, July 6th. Festivities commence at 1:30 PM in the Otero County Electric Cooperative Courtyard.
The Cloudcroft Sandwich Shop is open for business, offering gigantic cookies and classic sandwiches. Located at the end of the Burro Street Exchange by the post office, it is open daily from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM (but is closed on Wednesdays).
The Cloudcroft Brewing Company now offers spirits; their Mountain Smoke Whiskey and Skywater Vodka are distilled in-house.
A new dog boarding and grooming facility is just outside the village: Fairy Tails Groom and Board. Owner Rocky Morin currently operates at the former location of K and K Kennels, where she served as manager. She can be reached at 518-953-7432.
Good news: the village’s $2.3 million Colonias Project extension was approved through September of this year. The project focuses on “communities in Southern New Mexico that lack basic infrastructure for water and wastewater, solid waste disposal, flood and drainage control, roads and housing.”
The pickleball courts remain unfinished.
Mayor Craig Turner and Public Works Supervisor Joe John Carrizal reviewed the court status with Linda Hamilton, Cloudcroft pickleball club president, on Wednesday. The “holdup” is the lack of fencing around the courts. Play can’t commence without a fence due to safety concerns.
The Pickleball in the Clouds Tournament, scheduled July 27th-28th, is open for registration. The Cloudcroft Pickleball Facebook group tracks on-going news throughout the summer.
High Altitude orders Olukai pickleball shoes—just ask.
Do you have a business, announcement, or event in Cloudcroft? Email hannah.dean@cloudcroftreader.com to let us know.
The Fires, The Floods
On Thursday, the Southwest Area Incident Management Team 5 issued a final update on the South Fork and Salt Fires.
Both are currently listed at 87% containment and have burned over 25,000 acres in the Mescalero and Ruidoso areas. Two people died from the blaze, and over 1,400 structures were affected.
Rains soon dampened the fires but posed their own risk. In a literal wave of disasters, severe flash flooding plagued the area.
Many who returned to Ruidoso were placed under evacuation once again, with more than a hundred reported water rescues.
The FBI began collaborating with many other entities to discover the causes of the infernos. The Bureau of Indian Affairs announced that the South Fork Fire was caused by a lightning strike—Source NM reported on recent storm activity in the area at that time.
The cause of the Salt Fork Fire is still under investigation—with a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for the blaze.
The Incident Management Team will disconnect their public and media phone lines over the weekend, and the Inciweb updates will discontinue on July 7th. For information on the fires beyond those dates, folks can contact the Mescalero Apache Tribe, the Lincoln National Forest, and the New Mexico State Forestry Division.
Utilities and clean-up crews are actively repairing the damage. The Incident Management Team reminds citizens:
“Please remember to slow down along roadways and in communities as fire personnel, equipment, and utility vehicles continue to work in the area.”
Fire mitigation and management remain priorities for Lincoln National Forest.
National Forest Service (NFS) Public Affairs Officer Amanda Fry states,
“Our crews on the Sacramento Ranger District are hard at work, moving forward with a mechanical fuels reduction project in the area.
This joint project with the State of New Mexico's Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD) Forestry Division is an important step forward in protecting wildland-urban interface communities and mitigating large-scale wildfires in the future.
This important project will be ongoing through next year, and we will continue to provide updates on progress.”
Village of Cloudcroft grant-writer Lauren Groesbeck announced that the Village of Cloudcroft was recently awarded a $380,000 grant for “fuels reduction” and fire mitigation.
Cloudcroft Emergency Medical Services and Fire Chief Erich Wuersching released the village’s Emergency Alert Plan. Find out how to reach the signal here.
Cloudcroft Reader recently interviewed the Sacramento Hotshots. Read about their grueling work, lifestyle, and what we can do to protect our homes.
In a discussion with the Mayor of Cloudcroft, he said fire was his biggest concern for the village. Catch parts One, Two, and Three of that interview.
Coming soon, an interview with Sacramento Ranger District Fire Management employee Caleb Finch on the NFS fire mitigation plans for the public lands surrounding Cloudcroft.