El Morro puts books on sale

By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — El Morro National Monument has announced its annual discount book sale will be Saturday during Thanksgiving weekend.

The visitors center offers a 15 percent discount on all items except for the Zuni fetishes, Superintendent Kayci Cook-Collins said.

The event will run from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. El Morro is about one hour southwest of Grants on New Mexico Highway 53. It is about an hour southwest of Gallup, on the same highway.

During the event, harpist Susan Olin will perform. Olin is an employee of the Nation Park Service and performed at the book sale last year.

A Navajo potter, Damon Tso, will have pottery he has crafted for sale and Quentin Quam Sr., a Zuni silversmith will also have some of his work on hand for sale.

“Mr. Quam may be working on some jewelry during the event,” Cook-Collins said.

There will be music CDs with American Indian flute music as well as traditional New Mexico music available, she said.

The annual book sale at the monument has been going on for more than a decade.

“This is a perfect opportunity for area residents who are having guests over during the Thanksgiving weekend to come out and find unique Christmas gifts this year,” she said.

The admission fee to the monument, which has a number of original, historical inscriptions by Spanish explorers on the sandstone cliffs, will be $3 per person, the usual fee, she said. Teens and children 16 and under are free.

The variety of books is immense, she said, including books on Spanish colonial history, the history of western expansion in the American west and a special children’s corner with posters, pop-up books and alphabet books, she said.

There are more than 200 book titles, posters, post cards, National Parks Monopoly, wildlife playing cards, an ancient dwellings pop-up book, cut and make Kachina dolls crafts sets, hiking staffs, El Morro T-Shirts and some 100-year commemorative items remaining from last year’s centennial celebration.

Some of the book titles include: “Zuni Pottery,” “Creatures of the Desert World,” “Wildflowers of the Desert,” “Who Were the First North Americans?” “Acoma: Pueblo in the Sky,” “Life in A Pueblo,” “Totally Chile Cookbook,” “Encyclopedia of Native Americans,” “Foods of the Southwest Indian Nations” and “Cacti of the Desert.”

Refreshments including cookies, hot coca and cider will be provided at no cost to visitors. The Monument is closed Thursday for Thanksgiving but is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. The book sale event ends one hour prior to closing on Saturday.

Information: El Morro Visitors Center, (505) 783-4226.

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