Sweet Summertime - Ghost Ranch Newsletter

Summer 2023 Newsletter

NEW WINESKINS Education and Retreat Centers need to think in novel and entrepreneurial ways in order to thrive. In the early decades when Ghost Ranch was established, it was novel, and churches, its primary constituency, were booming. The Ranch brought together a unique mix of art, music, spirituality, faith-based cultural analysis, social justice, environmental stewardship, and more in one of the most unique and sacred landscapes the southwest has to offer.   David Gill, Interim Executive Director

While the landscape remains a spectacular draw, our social and theological landscape has changed dramatically. Centers like the Ranch have to adapt, preserving the spirit that brought them life, but finding new forms. A biblical image is that of needing new wineskins for new wine. One such new “wineskin” at the Ranch is called “Goods for Good.” We have partnered with Good360, the national leader in product philanthropy. The Ranch is the first organization in New Mexico to be authorized to receive truckloads of products donated by corporations—such as construction, maintenance, and household supplies. We use what we need to enhance our facilities, and then share the rest with other community nonprofits. We recently received two truckloads of plumbing supplies and appliances, at a shipping cost to the ranch of about $3,400. Maintenance Director Eric Garcia estimates that the ranch has already put to use $7,500 of the donated materials and will use an additional $25,000 before year-end. We’ve already invited McCurdy Ministries in Espanola to share some of the donated items that we can’t use. It’s a novel program that is good for the Ranch and good for the community. Thank you for your continued support of Ghost Ranch as we embrace new “wineskins” in order to steward a place of great beauty for future generations.

WELCOMING NEW FACES TO GHOST RANCH

Joanne Lefrak, Program Director Joanne Lefrak brings 19 years of experience in museum, arts, and education to her new role as Program Director. Joanne oversees the development and operation of our educational, spiritual, outdoor adventure,and artistic offerings for over 45,000 visitors each year. Bringing together community, artists, and museum expertise is some of the most valuable work Joanne accomplished in her previous role as the Ring Director of Education and Curator of Public Practice at the contemporary art museum, SITE Santa Fe. We’re deeply grateful for the experience and insight that Joanne brings to our team and look forward to how she’ll continue to enhance the Ranch’s programming.

Laura Hand, Outdoor Adventures Manager Laura Hand’s history with Ghost Ranch goes back to the 80s when she came here for the summer with her parents. Laura has years of experience and certifications in K–12 teaching, personal training, lifeguarding,wilderness first responding, backcountry guiding, rock climbing, mountain biking, and mountaineering. The first weekend of June, Laura moved to New Mexico with her handsome son Jeremy (15), friendly dog Cheeky,and super sweet milk snake, Milky Way. Her recently graduated 18-year-old daughter Avery will be visiting soon before she leaves to attend Trinity University in San Antonio. It brings Laura joy to share Ghost Ranch stories along with her love of this landscape to all who visit this wonderful place!

SOUTHWEST BLUEGRASS CAMP

Every May for many years Ghost Ranch has hosted the Southwest Bluegrass Camp. A group of musicians, longtime friends and bandmates, teach bluegrass instruments for a few days, then encourage their students to perform. Next year’s workshop will be May 8-12, 2024.

STUDENTS FROM NAVAJO PREP

In April, we were delighted to host 80 students and faculty from Navajo Prep, an International Baccalaureate World School in Farmington, NM. Although the students are primarily from the Dinélands nearby, the school also attracts students from across the nation and internationally. The young people enjoyed a hike to the Coelophysis quarry followed by presentations and a scavenger hunt in the museums. They got to throw the atlatl across the Alfalfa Field, walk out to Georgia O’Keeffe’s house, and hear the Ghost Ranch story told at Ghost House.   Go Eagles! Learn more at navajoprep.com

HAPPY CAMPERS

Renovated Bath House   Renovations at the Ranch are revitalizing living spaces for our visitors, including a new roof on Staff House. The 3-month remodel of the Campground Bathhouse came to a close in May. The renovated bathhouse includes HVAC heating/cooling; new shower stalls; epoxy granular floor covering; low flow shower heads and faucets; bathroom stalls (with privacy doors); new sinks and counters; mirrors; LED lighting; a high-efficiency water heater; and new countertops and cabinets in the kitchen and laundry area. All the renovated walls include new insulation, sheet rocking, and paint. Campers will also notice electrical upgrades on some of our larger sites from 30 AMP to 50 AMP.

Parking for the campsites is now easily identifiable with 3/4” gravel marking each site and manicured landscaping. Work at the Historic Juniper Cottage is nearly complete, with a remodel of new floors, sealing of cracks, sanded-down walls with a fresh coat of paint, staining of the wood viga beams and wood accents, new countertop, and sink and shower low-flow faucets.   Historic Juniper Cottage

Lighting is ordered and, following our conservation initiative, Ghost Ranch has been replacing existing lighting to energy efficient LED lighting. O’Keeffe Cottage is currently under hard-hat construction and updating. On the schedule in the coming year are renovations to update Cedar 1 and 2, Piñon 1, 2 and 3, Garden, and Ghost House.

HUMMINGBIRDS FEATURED IN PRINCETON UNIVERSITY STUDY

The Ranch's high number of birds is perfect for a new study   What does Ghost Ranch look like to a hummingbird? Three scientists (Harold Eyster, U of Vermont; Ben Hogan and Sarah Solie, both of Princeton U) were delighted to spend a week in May in the beautiful landscape studying the hummingbirds that ornament Ghost Ranch. In addition to their incredible flight abilities and brilliant colors, hummingbirds have excellent color vision that helps them to select mates as well as find suitable flowers from which to drink nectar. In their research, these scientists seek to understand what the world looks like to hummingbirds, how they select mates,and how they find the best flowers.

MOUNTAIN CANINE CORPS Ghost Ranch was honored to host the Mountain Canine Corps this spring. Based in Los Alamos, NM, this Search & Rescue team assists law enforcement in locating missing people. The beautiful landscape at Ghost Ranch provided the perfect training ground, with varied geography and few distractions for dogs and their handlers.

2023 COLLEGE STAFF

We’re giving a warm welcome to the young adults who will be hosting Ranch youth programs and helping out in all departments this summer. Lead Youth Programmers Sarah Bellovich (U of Michigan) Jacob Zivin (St. Edwards U)

College Staff

Elena Alvarez (Laverne U, CA) Mel Bishop (Community College of Baltimore County) Avery Blair (VA Commonwealth U) Jayden Carroll (North Greenville U, NC) Andrew Coyle Holland (Gap Year, NC) Colleen Dreyer (Westminster College, PA) Dawn Varela (Laverne U, CA) Finn Webster (Hollins U, TN) Zachary Wadkins Daub (Loyola U)

Summer Coordinators Kaity Stone (Ft. Worth, TX) Aimee Zivin (Austin, TX)

VOLUNTEERS: OUR SUPERHEROES

Did you know that Ghost Ranch has its own band of summer superheroes? An intrepid group of people from all over the country wielding power tools and paintbrushes,saws and sewing machines, repair and beautify Ghost Ranch for three weeks in July. They work through a list that would daunt any Marvel superhero and they smile through the whole week. And to top it off, they create a community second to none. They are called Ghost Ranch Adult Service Corps!

Martha Murchison is a retired PC (USA) pastor who has been coming to the Ranch almost every year since the early 1990s. She’s enjoyed classes in art and spirituality in addition to volunteering her time and enjoying “great people, laughter, and stories” through Service Corps. “I love Service Corps for so many reasons: the great people, the laughter, the stories!”   Volunteer Martha is a longtime Adult Service Corps member.

Ghost Ranch volunteer and Adult Services Corps member Art Myers.   Art Myers was first introduced to Ghost Ranch in 1984 as he and his wife Jan stopped by on a whim. The two of them visited the Ranch often before Jan’s death afew years ago, and you can still find her arton display here. Art quickly discovered that this do-it-yourself mentality was a great fit with many of the Ranch’s needs and started working in the Adult Service Corps in about 2009. Some of the recent projects that Arthas spearheaded include constructing alake-side shelter, shade shelter for the horses, giving Casa Vista a new floor, and renovating the kitchen areas in Coyote and Tumbleweed.

If you are interested in joining this merry band and making a visible difference in Ghost Ranch facilities, we still have a few open slots in July. For $350 you get a dorm-style room, a week of meals, and a t-shirt fit for any superhero or super-heroine. No special skills required.

WEEKEND MERCADO The Mercado is an opportunity to feature local community artisans at the Ranch, on Fridays and Saturdays at the Welcome Center.

Artisans at the Mercado.   Steve Wikviya LaRance, Master Silversmith and Ghost Ranch instructor, at the Mercado.

SPIRITUALITY IN SILVER

Jamie Halpern, who has been teaching jewelry making and silversmithing at Ghost Ranch for 10 years, mused recently about a lesser-recognized aspect of this art form: its connection to spirituality. Jamie teaches a course focused on creating works of art to honor loved ones and significant life events. Pieces can take the form of a simple ring, bracelet, or pendant with a person’s name and the date of their birth or death. Participants can also make more elaborate jewelry with precious or semi-precious stones, or can incorporate bits from other jewelry or meaningful objects. Even a loved one’s cremains can be made into a memento, often using glass beads that are infused with ashes in the glass-making process.   Jamie Halpern is an accomplished silversmith, lapidary artist and metalsmith instructor.

This bracelet has a glass bead made from the remains of a loved one.   Creating such mementos offers participants a way to reflect on the spirit and life of their loved ones, and to express that love in art that celebrates and honors them. The fully-equipped Ghost Ranch jewelry studio provides an opportunity to learn the skills and techniques of silver jewelry-making in an awe-inspiring location with a long history in the creative arts. If you are interested in making a memento yourself, please check out Jamie’s next Making Mementos: Spirituality in Silver course, co-taught with Katrina Jameson, which will be held October 22-27, 2023. Master Silversmiths Steve LaRance and Jamie Halpern will also be teaching an intermediate/advanced course in jewelry-making and lapidary Sep 17–23, 2023.

THE MOVIE TOUR IS BACK Recently, our tour guide Trish Becker and Tours Director Julia Haywood watched all the movies that have been filmed at Ghost Ranch (yes, including all those gun-slinging westerns!). After writing a script, they went out to various film locations, and, while dodging cow piles and admiring the cute baby calves, they developed the new Ghost Ranch Movie Tour. Armed with references to pop culture, aliens, and some behind-the-scenes tales (pun intended), the tour visits shooting locations for a number of movies: City Slickers, The Magnificent Seven, 3:10 to Yuma, Red Dawn, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, DarkWinds, Adventures of a Mathematician, and many others. You can join the tour every Sunday afternoon this summer and fall. Of course, the real show stealers are the three burros that hang around along the road to nowhere and in the hanger used in How We Built The Bomb.

Our beloved burros, Don, Qui, & Xote, hang out near the Movie Tour route.

CELEBRATE YOUR BIRTHDAY WITH A GIFT TO GHOST RANCH

We’ve made it easy for your friends and family to donate to Ghost Ranch in honor of your special day. Simply visit this link and click “Start Fundraising” to create your own Birthday Fundraising Page. This is a great time to support the magnificent place that you love. Thank you for supporting Ghost Ranch!

Start a Birthday Fundraiser

GHOST RANCH WISH LIST

Support a specific program you enjoy or the general upkeep of the Ranch with a gift from our Wish List. To purchase a Wish List item, please email donations@ghostranch.org.

Tempera Paint Set - 1 - $122 - For cast painting during K–5 field trips 500-Gallon Rain Barrels - 3- $1,000 each - To collect rain water for landscaping 432-Count Set of Colored Pencils - 1 - $40 - For youth art activities at the museum LED Light Fixtures - 58 - $50 each - To create energy efficiency in Ranch lighting 330’ Measuring Tape - 1 - $20 - For dinosaur museum work UHF Radios - 30 - $352 each - To facilitate Ranch staff communication Shipping from Good360 - 1 - $2,250 each - Shipment of donated goods Acrylic Paint Set - 1 - $40 - For youth programs at the museum John Deere 330G Skid Steer - 1 - $75,678 - For maintenance of trails and roads Leather Sofas - 4 - $2,000 each - For Tumbleweed meeting spaces Desk Lamps w/ Charging Stations - 20 - $50 each - For guest rooms Shelves w/ Coat Hooks - 17 - $45 each - For Corral Block guest rooms

Ghost Ranch stewards a place of great beauty to nurture the human spirit and mind, discover the sacred, and care for creation. But we can't complete our mission without you. The National Ghost Ranch Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and our tax identification number is 23-7188767. If you have any questions about your donation, please email donations@ghostranch.org. GET IN TOUCH We'd like to hear from you! Send your Ghost Ranch stories, photos, and memories to us at info@ghostranch.org. Thank you for the many ways you support Ghost Ranch. We are looking forward to your next visit!