To the Editor:
A logo at San Antonio Elementary?
Great! I see that the school is now named after a San Antonio, Texas, basketball team. Actually, as an alum of San Antonio Grade School (1945-1952), when the school included grades one through eight, I remember the principal, Pete Eaton, decided to name the school’s athlete team the Bullets, but I’ll settle for Spurs.
What I would like to see done at San Antonio Elementary is the reconstruction of the stage, which was used at Christmas and the end-of-school to draw in members of the community for theatrical productions. In my last year, a Tom Sawyer play was performed at year end, and I was a proud member of the cast. The director was Mr. Valenzuela.
The stage was a fixture in most high schools and many grade schools built before 1950. At the high school level, the stage was at one end of the gym. In grade schools, as at San Antonio, it was an elevated area at the end of one room, and the adjoined room could be opened by folding back the wall so that a fairly large crowd could view the productions.
It would be great to have that ambience again at San Antonio Elementary.
Ben Moffett
Bosque Farms
Recycling Will Help Landfill Plight
To the Editor:
The future of the Socorro landfill, operated by the city of Socorro and located south of town on Highway 1, is on shaky ground. The Environmental Department of the Solid Waste Bureau of New Mexico recently rejected the city’s application to continue operating the landfill and the city is applying for a temporary permit. Our garbage will need to be transported to Valencia County if the city cannot get a plan approved. The community can do more to help keep our landfill open.
We are keeping some material out of the landfill by recycling, expanding the landfill’s useful life. The list of materials that can be recycled and the participating organizations attests to our community recycling efforts (See the Socorro Chamber of Commerce website: www.socorro-nm.com “Recycle Now” link). This fact should demonstrate to the NM Environmental Department that we, as a community, support a good solid waste management program.
We have an opportunity to increase our commitment to professional solid waste management, relieve landfill pressure even more, and increase our community’s list of recyclable materials. Chris Michel, owner of Morning Woodcutters, is a graduate of NMT with a degree in environmental engineering. He has operated his recycling business here for two years and, with community support, he would like to expand. He has a plan that could help relieve stress on the landfill and provide a valuable product.
He would like to obtain space in the Socorro industrial park, or other area, and begin diverting yard wastes and other compostable materials to that site. Yard waste (branches, cuttings, leaves) can account for 20-30 percent of the volume going into a landfill. He will add water, labor, and his education and experience and generate compost, a great product for agriculture and horticulture.
Compost is superior to peat moss or manure for amending the soil and if your property is at all like mine, the soil will benefit from amending. A large-scale composting operation here might eventually generate several jobs. Large and small property owners could benefit and help the community by contributing raw materials and purchasing a locally made product. Even if we end up hauling our refuse out of the county, a composting operation here would certainly save a lot of transport fees.
Chris is taking a survey to measure support throughout our community - government entities (county, city, NMT, BLM, K-12, et al), nonprofit organizations, private enterprise, families, and individuals - for a large scale composting operation. If you have any of the raw materials (leaves, grass clippings, branches, manure, shredded paper, agricultural waste), might purchase compost, simply like this idea, or have comments, organizational ideas, or services to offer, please call Chris at 838-2202 or me at 838-4512 or download the survey questionnaire at Chris’ website: www.morningwoodcutters.com.
The city should inform the New Mexico Environmental Department of these ongoing efforts and future plans when they reapply for a landfill permit.
Mike Finn
Socorro, NM
(Mike and Thelma Finn own and operate Hope Farms Nursery just south of the Socorro city limits – they do not have curbside trash pickup. They haul their trash to the landfill about every two months. They also contract with Chris Michel to collect their paper, plastic, glass, cans, and cardboard and put those materials into the recycling stream.)
The Mountain Mail Opinion Page is meant to be a forum for a diverse range of opinions. The Mountain Mail encourages signed letters to the editor or guest columns. Anonymous letters will not be considered for publication.
Please limit the length of letters to 500 words. We reserve the right to edit for content, style and grammar.
Letters will be printed in a first-come, first-served basis, although e-mail submissions may receive higher priority. The deadline is 5 p.m. Tuesday for the following Thursday’s paper.
Readers can send letters to Mailbag, PO Box 1912 Socorro, NM 87801; hand-deliver to the Mountain Mail office in the Adobe Plaza at 413 N. California St.; e-mail to mountainmaileditor@ yahoo.com; or fax to (505) 838-3998.
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