Honoring History

BELEN—History came alive Sunday afternoon as the Valencia County Historical Society presented awards to several local residents who have worked to preserve and highlight the county’s history.

John Taylor, the society’s vice president, started the meeting with the election of officers, including Richard Melzer, president; Roberta Scott, treasurer; Sandy Schauer, secretary; and members Kathleen Pickering, Louis Huning, Stephanie Zuni and Donna Pedace.

The first award given was the Rio Abajo Award to Ronnie Torres.

“The Rio Abajo Award is for a person who has done the most to promote and preserve Rio Abajo history over the last year,” Taylor told the crowd at the Belen Public Library. “This person is richly deserving of this, and many of you know of his spectacular collection of historical photographs.”

Torres, a former Belen mayor, city councilor, VCHS president and local business owner, has been collecting photos of the Hub City, people and places in Valencia County for years.

“I love local history, and I’m always doing what I can to preserve and learn as much as I can about it,” Torres said after the ceremony. “The award is icing on the cake.”

The Education Award was given to Paul Parmentier, a geologist who has written several articles for local history books as well as a monthly column in the Valencia County News-Bulletin.

“The award goes to a person who provides a new and different outlook on the history on the Rio Abajo and Valencia County,” Taylor said. “When we think of history, we think of the people and the buildings, but (Parmentier) talks about the real ancient history — the geology — how the mountains were formed, how the volcanos were formed.”

This year’s Preservation Award was given to Patsy Torres, a Belen native who has helped unearth some fascinating history at her grandfather’s property in Plaza Vieja.

“The Preservation Award is given to a person or group that successfully helps preserve a location of great value in Valencia County,” Taylor said. “One of the oldest churches in the Rio Abajo is Our Lady of Belen, and when we think of the church, we remember the church with the tall steeples on the other side of town near Felipe Chaves’ house, which was not a coincidence. He made sure the church was over there.”

Taylor said the original site of Our Lady of Belen at the corner of Wisconsin and Ross was discovered thanks to the willingness and intrigue of Torres.

“It’s been my dream to have found the remains of the old church, the foundation and remains of people there,” Torres said. “We would always hear stories about it, and we were always so curious about it.”

Torres remembers visiting the Harvey House with her granddaughter, telling her about where the church once stood. She remembers meeting historian Samuel Sisneros, who was curious about what she was talking about.

“I talked to him, and he said there were a lot of people who lived and traveled in the area, and he was able to get archaeologists to come here and they started digging,” Torres said. “It’s just an exciting thing for me to be able to honor my ancestors.”

The ancestral remains recovered during the Historic Belen Bioarchaeology Project will be reburied during a gathering open to the public at Our Lady of Belen Catholic Church, 101-A N. 10 Street in Belen, at 10 a.m., Friday, Feb. 21, with a Mass at 11 a.m. and burial to follow. A reception will be held at the church after the burial.

The VCHS Red Brick Award was presented to Los Lunas resident James Rickey.

“The Red Brick Award is for just the consistent volunteer work and to promote and preserve Valencia County history from classrooms to podiums and other places,” Taylor said. “We honor Jim Rickey.”

Rickey thanked Taylor, saying he also mentioned he helped to start the Friends of the Los Lunas Library in 2015, which provides funding for the library and the Los Lunas Museum of Heritage and Arts.

“We’re very proud of it, and that’s my primary accomplishment, but I want to thank you all for this as well,” Rickey said.

The last award, which will be renamed the Jim Sloan Lifetime Achievement Award, isn’t given out every year, but this year was special — two people were recognized — VCHS members Roberta Scott and Sandy Schauer.

“The people who receive this award give a big contribution to history in Valencia County,” Taylor said. “We weren’t able to select just one person, because there are two wonderful people.”

“I’ve been here so long, I’ve become historical myself,” joked Schauer, who was once a News-Bulletin reporter and public relations specialist. “It’s an honor to receive this award.”

Roberta Scott, who retired as a Small Business Development Center manager, also thanked those who gave her the honor.

A presentation on La Llorona was also presented by Rosalia de Aragon at the annual meeting.