Mercury Can Be Found In April Skies

April Skies
By Jon Spargo, Tech Astronomy Club

During April, the tiny Planet Mercury will probably put on its best show for 2010. From the 1st through the 15th it can be found about 10 degrees above the western horizon starting about one half hour after sunset. During this period, it will slowly fade from magnitude -0.9 to +1.4. By the 15th binoculars may be necessary to see it.
Brilliant Venus will be easy to spot as it blazes away at magnitude -3.9. During the first two weeks you can use Venus as a guide to finding Mercury. On the 3rd, the two planets will be separated by only 3 degrees, Mercury being a bit lower and to the right of Venus.
Mars is high overhead in the early evening and continues to fade as the Earth continues to put more distance between Mars and us. From the 16th through the 18th Mars will be just one degree north of the center of M44, the ‘Beehive Cluster.’ This will be a good time for viewing both through binoculars and small telescopes before the waxing Moon arrives in the neighborhood on the 20th and 21st.
Recently passing opposition, Saturn will be visible just about all night long for the entire month. The rings will continue to close during the month heading for a minimum of just 1.7 degrees in mid May. Because of this and the increasing distance from Earth, Saturn’s magnitude will fade slightly as the month progresses.
This month, we welcome Jupiter back to the early morning skies. You will find it low in the east about 1 hour before sunrise. By the end of the month it will rise 2 hours before sunrise making it a bit easier to find shining at magnitude -2.
The Moon will be last quarter on the 6th, new on the 14th, 1st quarter on the 21st and full on the 28th. Beginning on the 2nd about one hour before sunrise, the Moon will make yet another impressive pass through the constellations Scorpius and Sagittarius. On the 3rd the waning gibbous Moon will be a mere 1 degree above the bright orange star Antares which is said to be the “heart” of the scorpion. Antares is also known as the ‘rival of Mars’ because of its orange color. On the western horizon, the crescent Moon will be found just one degree above tiny Mercury on the 15th about 1 hour after sunset. On the 21st, shortly after dark, the Moon, Mars and M44 (the Beehive cluster) will form a nice little group of objects

Mercury Can Be Found In April Skies

Lady Warriors Roll On

By John Severance

SOCORRO – For the third straight tournament, the Socorro girls golf team secured a qualifying leg for state.
This time, though, the Lady Warriors did it on their home course at New Mexico Tech as they rolled to victory in the Seery Invitational.
Socorro scored 371 as a team, outdistancing Bosque School (391), Ruidoso (430), St. Michael’s (440), Ruidoso (453) and Belen (454). The qualifying score was 405, which means Bosque also earned a qualifying leg for state.
Even so Socorro coach Margaret Stanley was not satisfied and she does not expect her team to be either.
“I’m expecting a lot more from them now,” Stanley said. “I should have two girls shooting in the 70s and another in the 80s and my fourth player should be breaking 100.”
The Lady Warriors were led by medalist Kristen Cline, who shot an 84, one stroke better than Jamie Palermo of St. Michael’s. Socorro’s Shania Berger was third with an 86 folowed by Taylar Jaramillo of Belen (87) and Bella Sanchez of Bosque (88).
For Socorro, Brittani Webb added a 100 and Mirijana Gacanich had a 118.
“It was disappoint for my top three players. They have to play better,” Stanley said. “Each of the players have something to work on. With one, it’s driving. With another, it’s chipping and putting and with another, it’s course management. So we have a variety of things to work on.”
One positive for the Lady Warriors is they have qualified for state as a team and Cline and Berger have qualified individually.
“We’re in so that’s a little pressure off,” Stanley said. “We just have to get better though.”
Socorro will be back in action in Ruidoso Friday for the Great Eight Tournament.
“It’s supposed to be 43 degrees with rain and wind,” Stanley said. “It should make for a Good Friday.”

Lady Warriors Roll On

Baseball Team Looking For Answers

Mountain Mail Reports

The Socorro baseball team fell to 7-7 on the season after dropping four games in the past week.
On March 30, the Warriors traveled to perennial power Sandia Prep and dropped a doubleheader 5-4 and 11-5.
On March 26, the Warriors, playing in windy conditions, fell to Estancia 25-4 and 11-3.
“It’s been a rough stretch,” Socorro coach Alan Edmonson said. “We have played a lot of games in a short amount of time and that taxes our pitching and takes a toll on us.”
Edmonson said the Warriors played better against Sandia Prep. The Warriors gave up five runs with the four of the runners initially reaching base by a walk and the other by an error. “Our pitchers are just walking too many batters,” Edmonson said.
The Socorro coach was not about to make excuses for his team when it came to its performance against Estancia.
“Both teams had to play in that wind,” Edmonson said. “I am the last guy to make excuses for my team or myself. We just have to play better.”
Socorro will be on the road Thursday at Tularosa and will face Valencia on April 6 before starting district play the following week.

Baseball Team Looking For Answers

Warriors Golf Team Struggles At Seery

By Nicky Romero
For the Mountain Mail

The 2010 Seery Golf Invitational team winner was St. Michael's High School, who shot 331. The tournament medalist was Lovington's Taylor Arreola, who shot a 77 for the day.
Visiting teams were from Robertson, Los Lunas, Lovington, Bosque, Belen, Hope Christian, St. Michael's, Capitan, Ruidoso, and Valencia.
The Socorro golfers did not take advantage of their own course on this beautiful and sunny day. As a team, they shot 347 and placed 4th in the invite. Freshman Willie Schaffer shot a team-best 84. Ryan Romero was right behind shooting an 86. Zane Lam had an 88. Randall Romero and Joe Carilli both posted an 89.
SHS Coach Russ Moore said, “Today we had excellent weather, one of the best days for scoring this year. Unfortunately, we probably had our worst day of the year as far as playing. We just did not perform as well as we liked to. However, we have seven other tournaments that we can play in and have an opportunity to have three legs.
“I have full faith in my team's ability to come through. Everybody has a bad day. The teams we had here today were probably the best 3A competition that we will play all year long in any tournament. The other teams didn't play as well as they wanted to either. In fact, we only had one team that picked up a leg today and that was St. Michael's and they barely picked up their leg by one stroke.
“It's early in the year and everybody's still a little bit rusty. The kids haven't been able to practice as much they want and they just don't quite have the confidence and trust in their swings right now. That is what is hurting us right now. As we keep on practicing and the weather gets better, I think we're going to come along and go a long way in the month of April.
“We have a week off to reevaluate and practice and try to get our five best players and try to get a leg.”
Behind St. Michael's first place team finish was second place Lovington, who shot a 333. Hope Christian finished in third place with a 336.
Trailing Arreola for medalist honors was St. Michael's Parker Ashton who posted an 81. Third place and fourth place finishers were Hope Christian's Tannon Davis and Austin Lopez who shot 81. Fifth place was taken by Miguel Macias of St. Michael's, who also shot an 81.
This was Lovington's Arreola second medalist win in the last two days. He hopes to keep the streak going.
Arreola said, “It was a good win. I didn't play as well as I wanted to. But I putted really good and that saved me. It's a tough golf course. You got to hit it straight, place the ball well, and got to hit it solid. Fortunately, I played well enough to recover from all that.”
The Socorro JV Team finished with a total of 378. Individual scores were as follows:
Nathan Vega (84), Robert Smith (92), Eric Mitchusson (100), Ray Chavez (102), and Bryan Melanson (109).
Socorro's next tournament will be on April 8th at the Sierra Del Rio Golf Course at the City of Elephant Butte.

Warriors Golf Team Struggles At Seery

Socorro JV Off To 4-4 Start

The Socorro Junior Varsity Baseball Team is off to a 4-4 record this season.
Fourth year Coach Kenny Gonzalez is proud of his hard-working team.
His team split a double-header with the Magdalena varsity team on Saturday. Socorro lost the first game 8-7.
Gonzalez said, “In the last inning, it was actually very close. We had two guys on base with one out. We had a batter, Gabe Torres, a young freshmen, who hit a line drive that Bryce Milligan caught. He was able to get a double play. If that shot goes through, it will probably land up being a standup triple. Gabe's a pretty fast kid and the two guys on are fast kids. We could have won the game, but it was a great play by Milligan.
“Ignacio Chavez pitched the entire first game. He did a wonderful job on the mound.”
The Socorro JV won the shortened second game 7-6 in six innings called because of the two hour game rule.
“Actually, we scored the winning run in that last inning. All my boys did great, because we're a young JV with eighth graders and freshmen and a couple of sophomores. We're playing varsity teams. We played Pecos and Magdalena's varsity. I think our JV has an up and coming future.”
The Warriors host Magdalena Thursday.

Socorro JV Off To 4-4 Start

Softball Team Struggles Against Laguna

By Nicky Romero
For the Mountain Mail

SOCORRO -- The Socorro softball team was swept in a home doubleheader 8-5 and 13-10 by the Laguna Lady Hawks on March 25, dropping its record to 7-6
In the first game, Socorro jumped on Laguna in the second inning to take a 4-0 lead. Gina Rico and Maureen Trujillo both hit two-run singles.
Laguna (5-5) came back in the third inning to take the lead 5-4. Pitcher Maureen Trujillo finally finished the inning with three straight groundouts.
In the fifth, Socorro tied it with a two-out double by Brittany McDaniel, who scored on a double by Rico.
Laguna scored the go-ahead run in the sixth on an unearned run. The Hawks added on two more runs in the seventh for the final 8-5 margin.
“It was very disappointing,” Socorro coach Gary Apodaca said. “Defensively and offensively, we couldn't do anything. It's like we reverted back to a team with no experience. It was a disappointing game all around.”

In the nightcap, Laguna scored five runs in the first inning. Four of the five runs scored were unearned on two Socorro throwing errors.
The Lady Warriors got one back in the first on a triple by Trujillo and a sacrifice fly by Vanessa Jojola. Laguna scored two more runs in the second on a home run for a 7-1 lead.
Socorro's bats came to life in the third and tied the game at seven. Kristen Gonzales and Courtney Edmister both hit doubles early in the inning to help score three runs. Rico hit a line drive into right, which the fielder dropped for two unearned runs. Chantilly Gallegos tied the game with a single and scoring the run from second.
Both teams battled back and forth the rest of the way. Socorro took a 9-7 lead in the fifth on singles by Amberli Benavidez, Gallegos, and Trujillo.
Laguna tied the game in the seventh on a single and two doubles. In the bottom of the inning, Socorro had a player on second base with one out and a chance to win, but she was thrown out stealing at third.
Both teams held steady in extra innings. Trujillo's pitching seemed to get stronger as the game wore on.
Socorro's defense and pitching tired in the 11th inning. Laguna scored on three consecutive singles and took a 10-9 lead. They scored three more runs on another single and a double over the head of the left fielder.
McDaniel and Rico were able to get on to start the bottom of the 11th and hoping for a comeback. Benavidez singled down the left field line to bring in the runner from second. The other runner was thrown out trying to reach third for the second out.
Socorro threatened with bases loaded, but a fly out to left ended the game.
“We played one inning that was really good,” Apodaca said. “ We had good defense and hit the ball well and got seven runs in one inning. We couldn't do much after that. ”
Socorro traveled to Estancia on Monday and won 16-9.

Picture: The Socorro softball team discusses strategy after losing the first game of a doubleheader against Laguna-Acoma last week.

Photo by John Severance

Softball Team Struggles Against Laguna

Steers Open Baseball Season With Young Team, New Coach

By Nicky Romero
For the Mountain Mail

Magdalena baseball coach Manuel Martinez is preparing the team for his inaugural season. He understands the commitment and discipline it takes to make a winning team. Martinez played on the Steers' baseball team in the late 80's and helped win a state championship in 1990 and took third place in 1991.
“Basically, we have to start the season teaching the kids the fundamentals of baseball,” Martinez said. “Going back to the basics, being that they haven't played in the past. But I'm looking forward to a positive season.”
The Steers' district competition this year will be East Mountain, Estancia, and Santa Rosa, who are all 2A teams. “We have a tough district,” he said.
Martinez talked about his starting lineup.
“Ryan Alguire, a returning starter and senior, is a kid who can play pretty much play any position on the field. But we're going to concentrate on him being our catcher this year and one of our pitchers. Another starter from last year is Bryce Milligan. He will be our pitcher.
“We have an eighth grader starting as our third baseman, Malachi Bain. We have a freshman starting at shortstop, Filimon Padilla and a freshman. At second base, we have Rico Romero, a senior and a returning starter. The first baseman is freshman Dylan Julian.”
“The left fielder is Estevan Pino. The first year he's ever played and he's a junior. Center fielder is sophomore Daniel Hand, a good all-around athlete. The first time he's ever played baseball, but he's picking up the game pretty good. Our right fielder is senior Robbie Zamora and also the first time he's played baseball.”
“Helping Milligan and Alguirre in pitching, will be Dylan Julian, who will bring a southpaw presence to the team. We also have Isaac Pino, Malachi Bain, and Daniel Hand.”
“So far, all of these kids are giving me 100 percent, they're doing a good job, and I'm proud of all of these kids. Everybody's excited about the new season, especially me.”
Martinez picked up his first career win on Saturday, March 27. The Steers traveled to Socorro to play their JV team and won 8-7 in the first game and lost the second game 7-6.
Magdalena will again play a double-header against the Socorro JV on April 1.

Steers Open Baseball Season With Young Team, New Coach

Luna Fire Department Gets Its Training In

Luna News
By Kaye Mindar

Editor’s note: Beginning in this issue, Kaye Mindar’s column will appear every two weeks.

With windy season upon us in Luna, the Luna Volunteer Fire and Ambulance ask for your help in watching the weather closely as conditions change rapidly. The fire department was called into action to fight a five-acre wildfire call a couple of weeks ago.
A mock disaster training went well for the department a couple of Saturdays ago arranged by Robert Newport, Sam Harris and Fire Chief Charles Moyers; the department received hands-on training in triage and rescue behind the Luna Service station with vehicle extrication, victim triage and an after action review with a luncheon. There will be more training scheduled in the future and more departments in the county participating.

Population Increase

Luna Valley’s population of about 170 increased last Thursday by 1. Congratulations go out to Chase and Tami Quetel on the birth of their son Arthur Gage. Dad, mom and sisters are doing well as extended family also is showing great pride in their new baby boy.

Luna 4-H

The Luna Valley 4-H is working to prepare for our annual spring bake sale and rabies clinic to be held Friday April 23; time and place to be announced. The support of the community is invaluable to our 4-H and the service provided is important to our pets’ health and well being.

Lunatic Stitchers

The Lunatic Stitchers are preparing for their spring overnight crafting social. These women paint, sew and enjoy good friends and fun with their overnight socials and are a great asset to our Community Center in keeping it clean and adding to the provisions of the building that are available to all.
There are big changes on the horizon for our community center in moving the playground to the grounds and other maintenance that is being tended to.

Luna Summer Activities

With our summer season quickly approaching, the Luna Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is planning for bi-monthly activities for all who visit the area. There are many projects planned and many volunteers needed. Contact Idonna Bradford if you can help in any way.

Preparedness corner

It is time to rotate our shelves and take inventory in our emergency supplies. If you haven’t begun it is never too late and if you have begun it is never ending and is a wonderful way of life to know you are doing all that you can. Contact Joyce Laney for canning dates and order forms available. There are special shipments of fresh fruits being planned with enough participation later this season; keep an eye out for more details as they become available.

Genealogy corner

A new idea for your family reunion this summer is a large family wall chart posted for all to see. It will prove to be one of the most popular items at many family reunions as it shows all the family members and how they are related. You can start with the main ancestor and show all the cousins, aunts, and uncles and other relatives attending the reunion, and it lets you see how everyone is hooked together. You can even add pictures of family members before hand or as they attend.

Quote of the week:

“There's nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend with chocolate.”
~Linda Grayson, "The Pickwick Papers"

Luna Fire Department Gets Its Training In

Wagner To Address Members in Quemado

Quemado News
By Debbie Leschner

Charlie Wagner, Socorro Electric Co-op Board Trustee for our area, will speak in Quemado on Thursday, April 8. The first session will be in the Quemado Senior Center at 11 a.m; the second at 6 p.m. in the Quemado Community Center.
Wagner will discuss the proposed resolutions to be voted upon at the Annual Membership Meeting of the SEC in Socorro on April 17, 2010.
The talks will include both the member proposals passed at the District 5 and District 3 meetings in October, 2009 and the alternatives just proposed by the SEC Board. The focus will be on the member propositions with an explanation of the reason for the proposals and the effect they will have on the cost, transparency, equitable voting and districts and also the need for members to attend the Annual Meeting to vote the member propositions into the SEC By-laws. An informal question and answer period will follow.

The Quemado Senior Center Pool Tournament will begin at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, April 6 with exercise class on Tuesday and Friday at 1 p.m. Along with Quilting and Bingo on Thursday, April 8, there will be an Easter Party around 10:30 a.m. with an easter egg hunt. All seniors are welcome to come and join in the activities. Call 773-4820 to make your reservations if you are having lunch. A center fundraising Bake Sale will be held on Friday, April 9 from 8:30 a.m. till sold out.

The Quemado School will have no school on Monday, April 5. Students will be at the State FFA in Las Cruces from Tuesday through Friday. A track meet will be on Friday, April 9 against Magdalena.

Thank you to the First Baptist Church and the Quemado Community Choir for an inspirational Easter Program. For those of you who missed it or would like to sing in future choirs, there will be a Christmas program and possible something this summer.

Note: Know of anything going on or a special event in a family or school, please let me know. Call 773-4119 or email at mmquemado@hotmail.com

Wagner To Address Members in Quemado

Sylvia’s Sweet Slumber Swiftly Seems Awfully Scary

Sylvia
By Anne Sullivan

Sylvia snored and snorted on. As she twitched and twisted in her sleep it was obvious that she was dreaming.
Sylvia was hungry. It must be the journey, she thought. I know I had breakfast with biscuits before I started the day’s digging.
Besides hunger, Sylvia felt victorious, if somewhat tired after her journey down the Great Hole. She knew she was in China, in Shanghai. Where in Shanghai, she had no idea. There seemed to be a river by the street where more people than Sylvia had ever seen before were busy heading quickly in both directions.
Strange, it was getting dark and many colored lights were coming on, all reflecting in the river, changing shape as they blinked on and off. How could it be dinnertime already?
She spied a large black dog ahead of her attached by a leash to what looked like a policeman. My mother always taught me to ask a policeman for directions if I ever got lost, she remembered. Not that she was lost but her food was.
Sylvia approached the large dog and asked, “Can you please tell me where I can get something to eat?”
The large dog had an equally large bark. “Where’s your leash? Where’s your person?” He interrogated her. “Do you have a license? What are you doing here all by yourself?”
“I’m hungry. I need chow,” said Sylvia in what she hoped was Chinese.
The big dog bared its teeth and laughed. “You don’t look like you need anything to eat. You’re fat. You need to get out and do some Tai chi.” With that, he lunged at her and broke loose from the policeman. Choosing the better part of valor, Sylvia ran. The black dog chased after her and she ran and ran until she was puffing so hard she had to stop. She looked back to see that somehow terror had made her swift and she’d managed to outrun the big dog.
She ducked into an alley. No bright lights here. She almost tripped over a bench so she decided to wait until she could see properly. She sniffed. Something was cooking. Maybe it was her dinner.
A man wearing a dirty apron and a peculiar tall hat stepped out of a door, a cigarette drooping from his lips. The light from inside made it easier to see. The man smiled at her.
Sylvia sat down and wagged her tail in her most appealing manner. The man, still smiling, motioned her inside.
Eagerly she entered a small room which she deduced was a kitchen. She inhaled cooking smells, not of anything she could recognize, but definitely food. An enormous pot of something was bubbling away on top of the stove.
The man reached down to pet her. Sylvia’s tail wagged faster and faster. Then the man hugged her. How nice. No one had hugged her since she’d left Swingle Canyon.
Suddenly the man’s arms tightened around her. The smile left his face. He picked her up – all 70 pounds of her – and with no effort at all tossed her into the soup pot on top of the stove.
Sylvia screamed as she threshed around in the hot liquid.
“Help, help”, she cried.
“What’s the matter, Sylvia?” I asked. “Did you have a bad dream?”
“Oh, oh, where am I?” she screeched.
“Silly dog, you’re in your bed. Where else would you be?”
“I was in China and I was hungry.”
“Was that why you woke up? You’ve been asleep for quite some time. You were dreaming and it must have been some dream you were having.”
“It was. I was actually in Shanghai and it was time for supper there. Speaking of supper, isn’t it time for mine?”
“Not a chance. It’s not even noon yet. I thought you were eager to do more digging in your Great Hole.”
“I think I’ll fill it in,” she said, stretching.

Sylvia’s Sweet Slumber Swiftly Seems Awfully Scary