El Morro on White House Christmas tree

By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — The National Parks system was honored this year by having Christmas tree ornaments representing every park and monument on the White House tree as part of President George Bush's National Park Centennial Initiative.

The ornament from the Grants area represents El Morro National Monument whose Superintendent Kayci Collins said: “Park Ranger Daniel Fagergren stepped up to the artistic plate for El Malpais and Calvin Chimoni, a masonry worker for the parks system created the El Morro ornament.”

Collins and her staff were one of 391 National Parks sites that were invited to send ornaments by First Lady Mrs. Laura Bush.

Mrs. Bush is the honorary chair of the National Parks Foundation and vacations at a national park every year with friends, Collins said.

Both of the park service employees were invited to attend a White House reception hosted by Mrs. Bush.
Chimoni said it was an honor to be part of the project.

“It was certainly not the easiest painting project either ... the most challenging part of painting on a spherical surface was choosing a medium which would adhere without smearing or running,” he said.

Chimoni said he has several photos of El Morro that he used as reference points and discussed the final painting on the ornament with several of the park service staff members.

The ornament shows the “rock” park of El Morro and reflects the rich Native-American, Spanish and American heritages.

Fagergren said he enjoyed working on the project and paint the El Malpais National Monument ornament.

He said he wasn't sure what would adhere to the ornament but finally settled on acrylics.

“There were no back-up ornaments available if I messed up,” he said. He applied the acrylic paint heavy and stayed away from thinner to make it the proper density to adhere and look right.

A note accompanying the El Morro ornament to the White House reads: “In years past, El Morro served as a resting place for Spanish and American travelers; and a home to Native Americans approximately 800 years ago. Today, many inscriptions and petroglyphs are found throughout the sandstone walls of El Morro.

“While the inscriptions and petroglyphs remind us of our unique heritage, the idea to capture each culture through time is depicted on the ornament.

“The image of El Morro serves as the focal point and the following Native American petroglyphs, the Spanish and American inscriptions are represented beside each other.

Last but certainly not the least, the green border around each image represents the National Park Service.”

To contact reporter Jim Tiffin call (505) 287-2197 or e-mail: jtiffin.independent@yahoo.com.