For locals, it felt like a really fun block party. For visitors, it was a chance to expand their definition of Questa.
On Saturday, June 8 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Questa Creative Council hosted an event that brought together several of their active projects. The Questa History Trail, the Questa Music Series, and Questa Art Market were all represented, to make for a true celebration, presenting some of what’s best about our village.
The market shelters were filled with local artists and craftspeople plus a couple well-loved food vendors. And music played all day. Up the hill, the Questa History Trail team were on hand to guide walkers around the half-mile trail.
“This is really something not to miss. Everyone who lives here should walk the history trail,” said Kate Cisneros. Kate was a founding member of the Questa History Trail team that formed shortly after the mine closed.
The day quickly became too hot to walk the full trail, but those who missed out were provided a map and information to return to this self-guided walk on a cooler day! Happily, the informational signage along the trail and the well researched website (QuestaTrail.org) is available 24/7.
Walking the trail with guest experts on hand certainly enhanced the experience for the early birds who arrived before the heat set in.
Retired history teacher and QCC Board member Flavio Cisneros served as a docent at St. Anthony’s, having been a valuable consultant to the trail’s creation, and active in the church’s reconstruction efforts—a man uniquely qualified to field the many questions that came his way.
Archaeologist Carrie Leven, formerly with the US Forest Service, was also on hand, having helped write the Questa History Trail website, and photo-documented the church restoration. “I [even] had a conversation with a visitor who’d found what may be a pit house on her property in El Rito,” she reported. “The pithouses found at the Questa VFW Cemetery were well over 1,000 years old,” she explained.
Community activist Claire Cote has collaborated with the trail team since its beginning, and was on hand with her Questa Stories project, presenting the many “story boxes” with the village’s oral history, shared through individual Questeño recordings.
Down at the Market site, music from the Arellano Brothers inspired dancing and sing-alongs: Rodney’s bass accompaniment and harmonies to Chris’s heartfelt melodies and guitar were performed in both English and Spanish. When the Arcane Ramblers took the stage at 2 p.m., there was plenty of toe-tapping and swirling on the dance floor, too! One of the vendors, Sophia Licata, took the mic as they jammed together to a 1920s fast foxtrot tune. She later remarked that it was a great event for her and the other Art Market vendors because the live music was “so awesome!”
The food selections were planned to offer something for everyone; Casey cooked delicious veggie and meat pilafs, cooked up and stir-fried while you watched. Wendy Medina’s booth was hopping. She made quiche for the occasion, along with her usual tasty posole, Frito pies, and desserts… and refreshing hibiscus tea.
Youngsters had fun coloring with chalks on the concrete dance pad when it wasn’t taken over by dancers, and they enjoyed a kids’ craft table. And they inevitably found a water hose to cool off from the heat of the afternoon. It was truly a Questa-style celebration!
