The 2021 Corrales Harvest Festival was cancelled less than three weeks before it was scheduled to launch over the weekend of September  25-26.

The organizers, the Kiwanis Club of Corrales,  made the decision to avoid COVID-19 exposures. In a statement, the club explained, “Because we cannot control the environment of most of the major locations of the festival in a way that offers protection for the safety of children attending, as well as the kind, generous people who volunteer to put on the festival, we believe that staging the festival this year may well put them at risk of coronavirus infections.”

The 2020 festival was cancelled as well.

Native American Community Academy (NACA) has been awarded $20,000 by the N.M.  Outdoor Recreation Division. This summer, students participated in growing crops on the Trosello farm at the north end of Corrales. The non-profit incorporates “land-based learning as part of a holistic learning approach. Many of the school’s students have experienced historical separation from their ancestral lands due to forced relocation and assimilation practices. Healing those relationships with the land is an essential part of enabling students to heal from the generational trauma of colonization and grow into holistically healthy adults.”

The program aims to help students better understand the holistic connection between land leadership, community, health, and their own native identity.

The division’s Outdoor Equity Fund also  awarded $20,000 for a Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program, supporting monthly, in-depth outdoor education for students and their teachers from low-income schools by collaborating to collect field data to track long-term change in the Middle Rio Grande bosque.

The first-of-its-kind Outdoor Equity Fund was created to increase equitable access to the outdoors for all youth. 

“Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has recognized that New Mexico’s outdoor recreation areas are an important asset for creating jobs and boosting public health,” Economic Development Department Cabinet Secretary Alicia J. Keyes said. “The second round of grants from the innovative Outdoor Equity Fund will help organizations throughout the state with outdoor programming and education.”

More than 80 proposals were submitted for the grants

The fifth annual Placitas Garden Tour on Sunday September 19 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. will once again pair access to exquisite local gardens with artists creating work at each site. For the first time, the tour selected individuals working in both two- and three-dimensions, presenting garden art as well as paintings that reflect the beauty of nature when displayed indoors.

Featured artists include Juan Wijngaard, Barbara Burzillo, Reid Bandeen, Jim Holley, Bev Nagy, Rebecca Nolda, Carol Ordogne and Gayle Elaine Scott. Their work can also be seen in the Placitas Community Library’s Gracie Lee Community Room Gallery September 15 through October 21.

Additional information about where to purchase tickets and other details can be found at placitasgardentour.com.

Geologist David Mayerson died in his home here July 8 at age 68, succumbing to pancreatic cancer after nearly two years. A regular early morning cyclist in the Bosque Preserve, he also enjoyed hiking and cross-country skiing with friends in the Jemez Mountains. He volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and other non-profits.

After studying at Harvard and Wesleyan Universities, Mayerson earned a master’s degree in geology at the N.M Mining and Technology. He traveled widelyboth for his profession and for pleasure with his wife of 31 years, Glenda Moore, whose dedication eased his last months despite the pandemic.

He is survived by her, his mother,  Louise and brothers Mark and Ben, in addition to nephews and a niece.

An exhibition of artwork created during the pandemic has been mounted at Tortuga Gallery in downtown Albuquerque. Among the 40 artists participating in the show “Grief & Gratitude” is Corrales Comment’s graphics specialist, Katie Neeley with a painting titled “Ecdysis” and another “Self Portrait.” The show with 72 pieces opened September 3 and continues through September 26. It was conceptualized and organized by Jane Westbrook, and Rafael Black curated and hung the exhibit.

The gallery is at 901 Edith Boulevard SE.

See the website for a list of hours and events: tortugagallery.org.

The Albuquerque Historical Society invites the general public to a free walking tour along Central Avenue from First Street to Eighth Street Saturday mornings. It departs from Tucano’s Brazilian Restaurant at 10 a.m. where a guide will be waiting. In a virtual program September 19,  the society presents authors Richard and Shirley Cushing Flint speaking on their book: Overhaul: a Social History of the ABQ Locomotive Repair Shops. The AT&SF railway maintenance shops were the  state’s largest employer from the 1880s-1950s. Its payroll drove the local economy.  For more info go to the website, albuqhistsoc.org.

In a related event September 25, the society presents a free open house for the historic Locomotive 2926,10 a.m.  to 5 p.m. at 1833 8th St. NW.

Now, finally, it seems that no one doubts that climate change is happening. This article offers a continuation of a United Nations report’s findings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) titled “Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis.” The scientific report has a summary for policymakers with four sections: The Current State of the Climate; Possible Climate Futures; Climate Information for Risk Assessment and Regional Adaptation; and Limiting Future Climate Change. The first two topics were reported, mostly verbatim, in Corrales Comment’s August 21 issue. The last two are offered here.

That 41-page summary is directed at you, as a citizen, and the people you choose to set policies in your best interest. So you need to understand what’s going on, and then do what it takes to persuade public and private decisionmakers to address the documented crises. Below are verbatim excerpts from the report’s summary for policymakers. Each of the scientists’ findings is followed by references to technical reports and other data from which they are derived. Those references are not included in what follows. Many of those findings include an assessment as to the probability of (or confidence in) accuracy; those are included here.

• C. Climate Information for Risk Assessment and Regional Adaptation Physical climate information addresses how the climate system responds to the interplay between human influence, natural drivers and internal variability. Knowledge of the climate response and the range of possible outcomes, including low-likelihood, high impact outcomes, informs climate services – the assessment of climate-related risks and adaptation planning. Physical climate information at global, regional and local scales is developed from multiple lines of evidence, including observational products, climate model outputs and tailored diagnostics.

• C.1. Natural drivers and internal variability will modulate human-caused changes, especially at regional scales and in the near term, with little effect on centennial global warming. These modulations are important to consider in planning for the full range of possible changes.

• C.1.1. The historical global surface temperature record highlights that decadal variability has enhanced and masked underlying human-caused long-term changes, and this variability will continue into the future (very high confidence). For example, internal decadal variability and variations in solar and volcanic drivers partially masked human-caused surface global warming during 1998–2012, with pronounced regional and seasonal signatures (high confidence). Nonetheless, the heating of the climate system continued during this period, as reflected in both the continued warming of the global ocean (very high confidence) and in the continued rise of hot extremes over land (medium confidence).
• C.1.2. Projected human caused changes in mean climate and climatic impact-drivers (CIDs)36, including extremes, will be either amplified or attenuated by internal variability (high confidence). Near-term cooling at any particular location with respect to present climate could occur and would be consistent with the global surface temperature increase due to human influence (high confidence).
• C.1.3. Internal variability has largely been responsible for the amplification and attenuation of the observed human-caused decadal-to-multi-decadal mean precipitation changes in many land regions (high confidence). At global and regional scales, near-term changes in monsoons will be dominated by the effects of internal variability (medium confidence). In addition to internal variability influence, near-term projected changes in precipitation at global and regional scales are uncertain because of model uncertainty and uncertainty in forcings from natural and anthropogenic aerosols (medium confidence).

• C.1.4. Based on paleoclimate and historical evidence, it is likely that at least one large explosive volcanic eruption would occur during the 21st century. Such an eruption would reduce global surface temperature and precipitation, especially over land, for one to three years, alter the global monsoon circulation, modify extreme precipitation and change many CIDs (medium confidence). If such an eruption occurs, this would therefore temporarily and partially mask human-caused climate change.
• C.2. With further global warming, every region is projected to increasingly experience concurrent and multiple changes in climatic impact-drivers. Changes in several climatic impact-drivers would be more widespread at 2°C compared to 1.5°C global warming and even more widespread and/or pronounced for higher warming levels.
• C.2.1. All regions are projected to experience further increases in hot climatic impact-drivers (CIDs) and decreases in cold CIDs (high confidence). Further decreases are projected in permafrost, snow, glaciers and ice sheets, lake and Arctic sea ice (medium to high confidence). These changes would be larger at 2°C global warming or above than at 1.5°C (high confidence). For example, extreme heat thresholds relevant to agriculture and health are projected to be exceeded more frequently at higher global warming levels (high confidence).
• C.2.2. At 1.5°C global warming, heavy precipitation and associated flooding are projected to intensify and be more frequent in most regions in Africa and Asia (high confidence), North America (medium to high confidence) and Europe (medium confidence). Also, more frequent and/or severe agricultural and ecological droughts are projected in a few regions in all continents except Asia compared to 1850–1900 (medium confidence); increases in meteorological droughts are also projected in a few regions (medium confidence). A small number of regions are projected to experience increases or decreases in mean precipitation (medium confidence).
• C.2.3. At 2°C global warming and above, the level of confidence in and the magnitude of the change in droughts and heavy and mean precipitation increase compared to those at 1.5°C. Heavy precipitation and associated flooding events are projected to become more intense and frequent in the Pacific Islands and across many regions of North America and Europe (medium to high confidence). These changes are also seen in some regions in Australasia and Central and South America (medium confidence). Several regions in Africa, South America and Europe are projected to experience an increase in frequency and/or severity of agricultural and ecological droughts with medium to high confidence; increases are also projected in Australasia, Central and North America, and the Caribbean with medium confidence. A small number of regions in Africa, Australasia, Europe and North America are also projected to be affected by increases in hydrological droughts, and several regions are projected to be affected by increases or decreases in meteorological droughts with more regions displaying an increase (medium confidence). Mean precipitation is projected to increase in all polar, northern European and northern North American regions, most Asian regions and two regions of South America (high confidence).
• C.2.4. More CIDs across more regions are projected to change at 2°C and above compared to 1.5°C global warming (high confidence). Region-specific changes include intensification of tropical cyclones and/or extratropical storms (medium confidence), increases in river floods (medium to high confidence), reductions in mean precipitation and increases in aridity (medium to high confidence), and increases in fire weather (medium to high confidence). There is low confidence in most regions in potential future changes in other CIDs, such as hail, ice storms, severe storms, dust storms, heavy snowfall, and landslides.
• C.2.5. It is very likely to virtually certain that regional mean relative sea level rise will continue throughout the 21st century, except in a few regions with substantial geologic land uplift rates. Approximately two-thirds of the global coastline has a projected regional relative sea level rise within ±20% of the global mean increase (medium confidence). Due to relative sea level rise, extreme sea level events that occurred once per century in the recent past are projected to occur at least annually at more than half of all tide gauge locations by 2100 (high confidence). Relative sea level rise contributes to increases in the frequency and severity of coastal flooding in low-lying areas and to coastal erosion along most sandy coasts (high confidence).
• C.2. Cities intensify human-induced warming locally, and further urbanization together with more frequent hot extremes will increase the severity of heatwaves (very high confidence). Urbanization also increases mean and heavy precipitation over and/or downwind of cities (medium confidence) and resulting runoff intensity (high confidence). In coastal cities, the combination of more frequent extreme sea level events (due to sea level rise and storm surge) and extreme rainfall/riverflow events will make flooding more probable (high confidence).
• C.2.7. Many regions are projected to experience an increase in the probability of compound events with higher global warming (high confidence). In particular, concurrent heatwaves and droughts are likely to become more frequent. Concurrent extremes at multiple locations become more frequent, including in crop producing areas, at 2°C and above compared to 1.5°C global warming (high confidence).
• C.3. Low-likelihood outcomes, such as ice sheet collapse, abrupt ocean circulation changes, some compound extreme events and warming substantially larger than the assessed very likely range of future warming cannot be ruled out and are part of risk assessment.
• C.3.1. If global warming exceeds the assessed very likely range for a given GHG emissions scenario, including low GHG emissions scenarios, global and regional changes in many aspects of the climate system, such as regional precipitation and other CIDs, would also exceed their assessed very likely ranges (high confidence). Such low-likelihood high-warming outcomes are associated with potentially very large impacts, such as through more intense and more frequent heatwaves and heavy precipitation, and high risks for human and ecological systems particularly for high GHG emissions scenarios.
• C.3. Low-likelihood, high-impact outcomes could occur at global and regional scales even for global warming within the very likely range for a given GHG emissions scenario. The probability of low-likelihood, high impact outcomes increases with higher global warming levels (high confidence). Abrupt responses and tipping points of the climate system, such as strongly increased Antarctic ice sheet melt and forest dieback, cannot be ruled out (high confidence).
• C.3. If global warming increases, some compound extreme events with low likelihood in past and current climate will become more frequent, and there will be a higher likelihood that events with increased intensities, durations and/or spatial extents unprecedented in the observational record will occur (high confidence).
• C.3.4. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation is very likely to weaken over the 21st century for all emission scenarios. While there is high confidence in the 21st century decline, there is only low confidence in the magnitude of the trend. There is medium confidence that there will not be an abrupt collapse before 2100. If such a collapse were to occur, it would very likely cause abrupt shifts in regional,weather patterns and water cycle, such as a southward shift in the tropical rain belt, weakening of the African and Asian monsoons and strengthening of Southern Hemisphere monsoons, and drying in Europe.
• C.3.5. Unpredictable and rare natural events not related to human influence on climate may lead to low likelihood, high impact outcomes. For example, a sequence of large explosive volcanic eruptions within decades has occurred in the past, causing substantial global and regional climate perturbations over several decades. Such events cannot be ruled out in the future, but due to their inherent unpredictability they are not included in the illustrative set of scenarios referred to in this Report.

State Representative Daymon Ely has raised the alarm that consumers have not been compensated for losses incurred from “illegal door-to-door sales tactics that allegedly ensnared uninformed consumers into binding 20-year power purchase agreements that ended up costing homeowners more than they were currently paying PNM.” Corrales attorney Ely has filed a complaint with the N.M. Attorney General saying that office has allowed private attorneys to receive $700,000 which could have gone to people who he thinks were victims.

“The Attorney General’s office is failing New Mexico’s consumers and the public’s right to transparency and open government,” Ely has written. “I do not say that  lightly but, after months of reviewing pleadings and orders, talking to consumer advocates and hearing directly from the Attorney General, that is the inescapable conclusion. And, without a change in the culture at the Attorney General’s office, that failure will be hard-wired into the AG’s future prosecutions.”

That stems from complaints in 2017 that a solar power company was using high-pressure tactics when dealing with homeowners. “In 2018, on behalf of 2,300 consumers, the AG’s office filed a strong complaint against the company. Two years later, the case was resolved. As a result of the settlement, the consumers received no compensation and the long-term agreements remained.”

Ely said, the most shocking thing was that while the defendant company paid money as part of the settlement, that was not distributed to homeowners. “But instead of the money going to the consumers who had been allegedly bilked, $700,000 went to the private attorneys hired by the AG, and the remaining $1.2 million was used to help fund the operations of the AG’s office.”

Volunteers are needed for two upcoming efforts to remove invasive plants and litter in the Corrales Bosque Preserve. On Saturday morning, September 18, the Corrales Bosque Advisory Commission will direct volunteer efforts to remove seed heads of the Ravenna grass in a willow swale east of the levee mile marker 1.0. “The Bosque Advisory Commission tries to do this project yearly in an attempt to reduce the number of seeds which will germinate in the spring to become new invasive plants,” the commission’s Joan Hashimoto said. “Even removal efforts of a few  hours can be very  helpful and make a difference.”

Bags to collect the seed heads will be provided, but volunteers should bring sun protection, gloves and hand pruners. The Ravenna grass seed head removal effort will begin at 8:30 a.m. and continue until 10:30.

By Scott Manning

In 2018 the City of Rio Rancho entered into a power purchase agreement with Affordable Solar, an Albuquerque firm, to use electricity generated from the large solar electric farm located in Corrales’ Far Northwest Sector to partially power the nearby Wastewater Treatment Plant #2. Through the agreement, Rio Rancho  purchases about two megawatts of electricity from the solar farm at a reduced rate and uses this electricity to cover about 20 percent of the power needs at the sewage treatment plant.

According to Annemarie Garcia, the Public Affairs Division Manager with the City of Rio Rancho, the City entered into the agreement because the project fits with the City’s goal of developing efficient public infrastructure to meet the current and future needs of its residents. The City says the power purchase agreement has been successful and that it would consider similar agreements in the future. The City does not intend to build on this specific agreement, however, because there are no plans to expand the electricity generation capacity of the solar farm.

The Corrales-based Health Security for New Mexicans campaign is collaborating with the N.M. Office of the Superintendent of Insurance to work through details of a plan to implement a state plan for near-universal health care. Corrales’ Mary Feldblum explained the current status in an email to supporters last month. “Representative Debbie Armstrong, Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino, and several of us from the Health Security for New Mexicans Campaign met with the superintendent of insurance, Russell Toal, and some of his staff earlier in the summer,” she reported.

“The superintendent wants to hire consultants to get going with the design process as soon as possible, rather than wait for an advisory council to be created (which will take some time to set up). We raised the importance of an advisory council in terms of oversight. Transparency and public input are key factors in this process to design our own New Mexico health plan,” she added.

“We presented several issue areas that we considered top priority to research. The Superintendent felt that researching the first four priority issue areas would be reasonable in the first year. Others will have to be researched in subsequent years of this multi-year process. She listed the top four priority issue areas to be researched during the fiscal year that ends June 30, 2022.

“1. Investigation of federal waivers and agreements (regarding Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act’s Waiver for State Innovation, etc.) that will set the parameters of what we can and cannot do. Obviously, we want to maximize federal funding, and compliance with current regulations is necessary to make the Health Security Plan a reality.

An illustrated talk about artwork in New Mexico produced through the federal government’s New Deal programs will be given Sunday afternoon, September 19 at the Old Church. The free talk event by the Corrales Historical Society and the N.M. Historical Society will be illustrated by images or murals, paintings, sculpture and posters produced for the New Deal over ten years starting in 1933.

Kathy Flynn, executive director of the National New Deal Preservation Association, will give the presentation, starting at 2 p.m. The State’s COVID safety restrictions will apply. Flynn said more than 90 communities in New Mexico have New Deal public art. “New Mexico was one of the most active states during the New Deal era from 1933 to 1943, particularly in the arts. Today it is home to over 100 works of art created through the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration, which our organization is dedicated to preserving for future generations.”

If you’re curious about plans to create a new park east of Corrales Road in the central part of the village, you might want to stop by a new booth at the Sunday Growers’ Market. Illustrative panels are displayed behind a table for members of the Village-appointed Corrales Interior Drain Committee which is gathering public input for recommendations to the mayor and Village Council. The long drainage feature and ditch bank roads owned and maintained by the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District between Corrales Road and the river are valued as a green belt, wildlife habitat, access to residences and recreational trails, as well as kids’ routes to and from schools.

Current chair of the Interior Drain Committee is Doug Findley, son of the founder of the Corrales Bosque Preserve, the late Jim Findley. He was joined by Lou Murphy tabling at the September 5 Growers’ Market. Among those who stopped at the table were Conservancy District Director Mike Hamman, Mayor Jo Anne Roake and Elena Kayak, former chair of the Corrales Bicycle, Pedestrian Advisory Commission.

“We had about six to eight people stop,” Murphy reported, “some who do  not live in the village but it prompted others to stop.  We handed out more surveys to be completed.” A survey has been mailed to residents near the Corrales Interior Drain to learn what changes, if any, should be considered to the long drainage ditch east of Corrales Road. The cover letter accompanying the questionnaire explained its purpose.

“The Corrales Interior Drain was constructed in the 1930s to lower the water table and reclaim flooded farmland. The Interior Drain runs from East Valverde Road south to the Corrales Clear Ditch and Bosque Preserve, culminating just south of East Meadowlark Lane. The 26 acre, 120-foot-wide drain is owned and maintained by the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy.

“Today, the Interior Drain serves many uses, providing access to homes, farms and the elementary school, recreation for biking, horseback riding, hiking, fishing and bird watching. It is a vital nature sanctuary with entry to the Bosque Preserve. In recent years, use of the ditch banks along the Corrales Interior Drain have given rise to concerns about increased traffic and associated dust and potential contamination of water in the drainage ditch.

By Scott Manning
Second in a series

Given the ongoing drought and expected water shortages from the Rio Grande due to climate change, well water is being eyed in Corrales and elsewhere —even though the aquifers here are sustainably replenished only by river flow and snow in the Sandias. The drought has impacted the past two growing seasons for farmers here. Some Corrales farmers rely on available surface water to irrigate their fields. This past winter, the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (MRGCD) anticipated further droughts and advised farmers to reduce their farming operations because access to irrigation water for the duration of summer 2021 was not guaranteed.

These water restrictions are difficult for farmers, but there is an alternative: pumping well water from the aquifer below the Corrales Valley. According to Mike Hamman, chief engineer and CEO of the Conservancy District, his office has not encountered many farmers who have applied to pump well water rather than irrigation with surface water. In contrast, more farmers use well water in the Elephant Butte Irrigation District.

Hamman suggests that certain obstacles may stand in the way of farmers adopting well water pumping. First, the farmer would need well water rights. In 1956, the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer “declared” the Rio Grande Underground Water Basin, and closed the aquifer to new wells for large-scale farming. This policy limited large farm wells but allowed for domestic well drilling.

Some longtime farmers in Corrales who began farming with groundwater before 1956 have groundwater rights which allow for well water pumping. But other farmers would need to obtain groundwater rights before they could begin pumping. Second, a farmer switching to groundwater would likely have to invest in additional water infrastructure and technologies like a drip irrigation system. This infrastructure can be costly to implement compared to the cheap and easy use of surface irrigation water.

Despite these obstacles, some smaller farmers who grow high-value crops like fruits and vegetables or delicate plants have embraced groundwater pumping. One such farmer is Courtenay Koontz, owner of the tree nursery Trees of Corrales. For Koontz, the adoption of a groundwater-fed drip irrigation system was the best choice for his business. Koontz explains that the physical constraints of his farming operation require a drip system: plants in the nursery are planted in containers such that they are elevated above ground. A simple surface water irrigation scheme that floods a field would not work to water these plants. Koontz also needs consistent water delivery and quality to ensure that the plants in the nursery thrive. Drip irrigation delivers clean aquifer water to the trees in a set amount on a routine basis.

In contrast, surface water irrigation leads to irregular watering cycles in which a field is flooded and soaked with water and then dried. Additionally, the quality of surface irrigation water is subject to environmental and human factors beyond the control of the farmer: surface water may contain pesticides, debris, or seeds from upstream plants. Koontz wants to limit this water variability.

Koontz says he prefers to use groundwater over surface water, and he would convert all of his farming operations to groundwater if he had sufficient water rights. Koontz owns groundwater rights, and his business is subject to oversight by the Office of the State Engineer. The State Engineer limits the volume of groundwater Trees of Corrales can use each month; Koontz must submit water records demonstrating his compliance with the agreement. And should the water authorities suspect water overuse, they can directly verify it.

This kind of agreement between farmers and the State Engineer aims to give farmers access to groundwater and ensure responsible use of the aquifer. Water authorities across the state are monitoring water supplies because New Mexico communities and farmers rely on this precious resource. Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury was reported earlier this month warning that “New Mexico is looking at potentially losing almost all of its snowpack in the next 50 years.”

Stansbury said the challenge is how to prepare for that while preserving “cultural practices, agriculture and survival of our communities.”

If the aquifer under Corrales is unlikely to be adequately recharged by Colorado snowmelt in the future due to climate change, there’s another recharge method already under way.

Data from the 2020 census has been released indicating Corrales’ population remains well shy of 10,000. If the tally is to be believed, this village has grown by less than 500 people since the 2010 census. Corrales’ population was 8,329 a decade ago, up from 7,334 in the year 2000. The count last year puts us at 8,778, said to represent a 5.39 percent increase over 2010.

The official U.S. Census recognizes Corrales as New Mexico’s 24th largest town. It remains a wealthy town, even by national standards. The median annual household income here is $85,580, substantially higher than the median household income across the entire United States, which stands at $65,712. While the median household income is reported to be $85,580, the average household income here is even more impressive at $120,363. The median is found by establishing the income level at which half of the population is below that, and half above. The census places the poverty rate in Corrales at 4.95 percent of the population.

Another measure of economic prosperity is the per capita income, which was reported at $52,315. That is one and a half times greater than per capita income for the entire metropolitan area and twice that for the state.

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 http://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.”