2021 SEPTEMBER 11 ISSUE FALL IS IN THE AIR & SO IS COVID

This time of year, Corrales is primed to harvest an abundance of fall festivities. With cooler days, chiles roasting, monsoon rains tapering off and leaves beginning to turn, it’s clear fall is in the air. But so is COVID. Even before Harvest Festival launches September 25, the village will open up for the Corrales Art and Studio Tour September 10-12; the Corrales Ditch Run (formerly known as Corrida de Corrales) September 19; the “Got Art, Corrales” fundraiser for the Corrales Arts Center at the Old Church September 11; a concert in La Entrada Park September 18 featuring trumpeter Bobby Shew; a  September 19 presentation at the Old Church on New Deal artwork produced in New Mexico during the Great Depression; and a meet-and-greet for Pet Mayor candidates in La Entrada Park also on September 11.

Mask-wearing will be required, if not strongly suggested, at each of these. The coronavirus is on a new surge here, as elsewhere, even though 77.1 percent of adult New Mexicans had been vaccinated  by September 1. At that time,  399 COVID-19 cases had been recorded among Corrales residents during the pandemic. Statewide, 4,552 New Mexicans had died from the disease, and nearly a quarter-million have been diagnosed with it. Nationwide, on a typical day 1,500 people die from it, and 100,000 are hospitalized with it. Again this year, the Kiwanis Club of Corrales has organized the Harvest Festival, led by Lane McIntyre. Regarding pandemic precautions, “We continue to closely watch everything going on with a close eye on Balloon Fiesta and state regulations,” McIntyre said.

As usual, it takes dozens of volunteers to pull off an event as large as the Corrales Harvest Festival has become since it started as the Apple Harvest Festival in the mid-1980s. “We are actively looking for more volunteers, and having them head to our website for sign-up.” Find the “Volunteer” button at the top far right side of the home page at www.corralesharvestfestival.com.

The entertainment line-up for the upcoming Harvest Festival includes Mood Swing at 11 a.m. Saturday, followed by Powerdrive at 1 p.m. and then Last Call at 3 p.m. On Sunday, Zoltan and the Fortune Tellers will perform at 11 a.m.,  followed by Mezcla Latina at 1 p.m., and then January Storm at 3 p.m. At 77 percent, New Mexico has one of the highest rates of vaccination in the nation. But, as Mayor Jo Anne Roake advised recently, “the highly contagious delta variant is like ants at a picnic. Keep wearing a mask, social distance and avoid crowded settings.”