Doug Kerr
Well-known member
This past Saturday (2014.05.10), the Alamogordo (N.M.) Downtown Merchants' Association sponsored a Renaissance Faire. This involved blocking off from vehicular traffic the entire Alamogordo downtown area (that is to say, New York Avenue between 9th Street and 10th Street). Citizens were invited to attend in "period attire".
There were numerous booths for local artist and artisans, lots of good food, and the eclectic shops along New York Avenue were buzzing. And of course the people watching was fabulous!
This shot, by a paparazzo in a full-dress kit outfit (well, that is certainty suited to some period) caught some of the royalty of our little desert town:
Douglas A. Kerr: Alamogordo royalty
Left: Carla, Queen Ladybird of the New Mexico Roadrunner Chapter of the Red Hat Society. This was her first public appearance since completing a long series of hospital stays.
Center: Alamogordo Mayor Susie Galea. She had a busy day, since there was also a big event at nearby Holloman Air Force Base, with flybys from World War II aircraft and such.
Susie was recently restored to office by the first ever citizen's vote for the office (before this term the mayor was elected by the City Commission from their ranks). Alamogordo has what is formally called a "weak mayor" form of governance. When the good ol' boys on the Commission elected Susie, they thought that was what they were actually getting. They were very wrong.
They spent almost her whole term looking for a way to rewind that tactical error. They finally contrived a sneaky parliamentary trick to unseat her. But by that time, the citizens had enacted a change to the city charter such that henceforth the mayor would be elected by the citizens. And Susie won for the next term handily.
Right: Two princesses of the clan of Galea.
It was a lovely event.
Best regards,
Doug
There were numerous booths for local artist and artisans, lots of good food, and the eclectic shops along New York Avenue were buzzing. And of course the people watching was fabulous!
This shot, by a paparazzo in a full-dress kit outfit (well, that is certainty suited to some period) caught some of the royalty of our little desert town:
Douglas A. Kerr: Alamogordo royalty
Left: Carla, Queen Ladybird of the New Mexico Roadrunner Chapter of the Red Hat Society. This was her first public appearance since completing a long series of hospital stays.
Center: Alamogordo Mayor Susie Galea. She had a busy day, since there was also a big event at nearby Holloman Air Force Base, with flybys from World War II aircraft and such.
Susie was recently restored to office by the first ever citizen's vote for the office (before this term the mayor was elected by the City Commission from their ranks). Alamogordo has what is formally called a "weak mayor" form of governance. When the good ol' boys on the Commission elected Susie, they thought that was what they were actually getting. They were very wrong.
They spent almost her whole term looking for a way to rewind that tactical error. They finally contrived a sneaky parliamentary trick to unseat her. But by that time, the citizens had enacted a change to the city charter such that henceforth the mayor would be elected by the citizens. And Susie won for the next term handily.
Right: Two princesses of the clan of Galea.
It was a lovely event.
Best regards,
Doug