Historias de la familia, amor, aventuras, y desventuras dichas por la gente de nuestro país

Voces de Nuestro País ~ Voices of Our Area are monthly story gatherings celebrating local voices and culture. Featured local guests share stories of family, community, history, love, land, work, adventures, and misadventures.

Coming up: Voces de Nuestro País will offer two sessions in August on the 15th and 22nd. Come to Questa Library for our thirteenth session, “Daniel Lamb & Kenny LaCome: History & Inspiration”. Daniel Lamb has deep roots in Taos County, growing up in Red River and attending school in Questa at La Cienega. With an academic career in Social History he worked with Augustine Martinez to establish UNM Taos. Lamb owns and manages All Seasons Inc., his family business and is serving his first term as a Town Councilor for Red River.

Kenny LaCome grew up in Taos, as a motorcycle technician and racer. He became a paraplegic after a road-racing crash in 1983, but went on to become a pioneer in adaptive sports, competing at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Paralympics and earning a U.S. patent for his sit-ski suspension design across 38 seasons of Alpine and cross-country sit-skiing. He is a Certified Living Foods Health Educator and advocate and has been growing sprouts and drinking wheatgrass juice for more than four decades.

On Aug. 22 join us for a field trip to Cerro Vista Farm 10 a.m.- 12 noon, for food-growing stories with Daniel Carmona & Gaea McGahee. Daniel Carmona has spent 47 years farming in the high-altitude, short-growing-season conditions in Northern Taos County, cultivating his own seed to select the best-tasting, cold-hardiest varieties. He has been growing food commercially at Cerro Vista Farm for thirty years. Drawing on decades in local organic food systems, he believes farms like his must form close partnerships with restaurants and grocery stores to stay relevant and successful.

Gaea McGahee is a community organizer and entrepreneur in Questa who founded the Questa Farmers Market in 2016 and owns and teaches at Yoga Sala, a community space for movement arts. In 2024, she launched the Cultivo Project, a nonprofit youth farming initiative, which trains young people in sustainable agriculture while strengthening the local food system in northern Taos County.

Looking Back: Our twelfth session in July featured brothers Joseph and Ricky León, who kept us laughing as they reflected on their upbringing in Cerro and their careers and life beyond. They shared nostalgic stories of farm life, mutual hatred for the shag carpet of their childhood home, family bonds, and local characters that shaped their community. Joseph recounted his distinguished federal career, including roles in the Forest Service and BLM and Ricky shared about his many years with Kit Carson Electric. The brothers also swapped wild tales, from legendary local figures and animal encounters to the deep camaraderie forged during many years spent as wildland firefighters. The conversation was a beautiful tribute to the traditions and enduring spirit of the region, celebrating their lifelong dedication to community and family.

Each event is recorded and released as an audio and video podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music; search “Voces de Nuestro País” to find these new sessions. By sharing these stories virtually, we hope to extend and multiply the sense of community connection that is felt during the live gatherings. Please tell your friends and family!

MC Michael Rael and Claire Coté host these monthly gatherings and podcast episodes, in collaboration with Questa Library and Voices of the Northern Rio Grande, a program of local nonprofit, Localogy. Audio recordings, videos, and images from “Voces de Nuestro País” events are also added to the growing digital community archive, a local repository and resource established by Voices of the Northern Rio Grande and Questa Public Library with support from the Manitos Community Memory Project. Thanks to Wyman Edwards for Video Recording and Dan Kuehn for website design and upkeep. Learn more about the community archive and listen to community stories at QuestaStories.org.

Don’t miss this month’s events: Sat. August 15, 2 – 4 p.m. “Daniel Lamb & Kenny LaCome: History & Inspiration” at Questa Library on and Sat. August 22, 10 a.m.- 12 noon “Daniel Carmona & Gaea McGahee: Keep it Growing” at Cerro Vista Farm, 198 Lower Buena Vista Rd, Cerro, NM.

If you have stories you’d like to share,
please let Michael Rael or Claire Coté know. Email Michael at rael870@gmail.com
or Claire at QuestaStories@gmail.com
or call or text (575) 224-9066.

Voces de Nuestro País

History & Inspiration
Sat, Aug 15 • 2 – 4 p.m.
Location: Questa Public Library

Keep it Growing
Sat, Aug 22 • 2 – 4 p.m.
Location: Cerro Vista Farm, 198 Lower Buena Vista Rd, Cerro, NM

Can’t attend in person? Episodes are also available as a podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music. More information at https://questastories.org/