LAS CRUCES – Each month in 2022, Las Cruces Sun-News reporter Leah Romero showcased a number of hidden gems, hometown heroes and local landmarks — the people and places in and around our community that deserve to be recognized and celebrated.
Driving down west Picacho Avenue often means a trip to La Llorona Park by the Rio Grande or a stop in at Valley Pizza, Ice Box Brewing Company or maybe Picacho Peak Brewery. Add Sassy Grass Juice Bar to that list, especially for health-savvy Las Crucens.
Customers enter a lounge space when they step into the juice bar, with pool tables, couches, TV monitors and more at the ready. Further inside, you’ll find a juice bar with juicers ready to ask, “how do you feel” today?
Sassy Grass is at 3100 W. Picacho Avenue Suite #2, sharing a parking lot with Valley Pizza. Owner Ramsey Lengal opened the business in March 2021 with the intention of sharing his devotion to juicing with the public.
More:Hidden gem: Sassy Grass Juice Bar a spot for healthy treats, hanging out
Working from home became the norm for many people early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, as did taking on new hobbies like baking bread. One Las Cruces man combined the two into a business he now calls Venice Beach Bagels.
Gerard Hinderlich, 47, is originally from Santa Monica, California but moved to Las Cruces about a year before the pandemic. His family moved to the borderland and he followed suit to help care for his mother, Elena Alicia Hinderlich, who has Alzheimer’s Disease.
Hinderlich’s background is in exercise physiology and he ran his own studio in California, but he retired from the profession when he made the move east. So how did bagels enter the picture? He explained that he wakes up early in the mornings and watches the news. One morning, he caught a story about a woman who started baking bagels and distributing them in her New York City apartment building. After some trial by error, Hinderlich was handing out bagels to friends in the area.
More:‘Schmear campaign’: Las Crucen spreads bagel enterprise across city
Many have noticed the large TACOS sign and mobile food truck between two shipping containers in a once-empty dirt lot at the corner of Bataan Memorial West and Roadrunner Parkway.
The name of the mobile food truck isn’t all that evident until customers park and walk between the containers to find El Guapo Taco, which took over the corner at the beginning of 2022.
A gem hiding in plain sight, the taco truck attracted quite the crowd in only a few months at the site. Though the food truck is no longer on that corner, the El Guapo truck is still around, popping up at various locations or making food for delivery. Follow on Facebook to see where the truck is located today.
More:El Guapo Taco stakes its claim between two shipping containers in a dirt lot. Check it out.
A love of bringing people together over food turned into a full-time home business for Steph Butler, who offers specialty cakes and macarons.
Hello Cakery & Macarons is a home-based bakery in Las Cruces run fully by Butler, who said she has always filled the role of “family baker” and enjoys the creative outlet it provides.
“I’ve really enjoyed the way that food brings people together at special events or funerals, weddings. All the times when we really need to connect with people, we do it over food,” she said.
More:Hidden gem: Hello Cakery & Macarons can serve up your next sweet treat
Driving north on Valley Drive, you’ll soon find yourself among pecan orchards and farmland. You’ll also find the Blue Moon Bar & Grill if you travel far enough.
The Blue Moon has been a part of the Doña Ana County bar scene for over half a century. But because it is located in Radium Springs, Las Cruces area residents have not always known about it.
The building where the bar is located was built in 1920s, according to Dana Jorgensen, marketing representative for the business. She said it first became a bar in 1965 under Peter Cooper and Candice McDonald. Ownership has changed hands several times but current owners, Ronnie and Naomi De La O, have family history in the line of business.
More:Blue Moon Bar & Grill draws on more than a century of history, but with a new facelift.
Walking into Burn Lake Trading is truly like stumbling upon a treasure chest full of unique, vintage and antique finds tucked away in a shop along Solano Drive. Donna Bourgoin and Jim Mack opened the vintage market in November 2021. The couple has been picking and collecting items throughout the years and it was finally time to open up their passion for customers.
“We have storage units of stuff, we’ve been picking forever,” Bourgoin said.
“What happens is you end up collecting so much you have to open a store,” Mack said.
The building space they’re located in, 301 N. Solano Dr. #4, was previously an optometrist’s office.
More:Hidden gem: Burn Lake Trading Vintage Market holds something for everyone. Check it out.
History and culture are synonymous with the Town of Mesilla and is showcased through the many shops and businesses operating within the town. One such shop, Rincón de Mesilla, is working to celebrate Hispanic culture through its business and community events.
Rincón de Mesilla is next door to NM Vintage Wines and across from the Fountain Theatre off the plaza («rincón» translates to «corner» in English). It has been open for about a year now, but some might not be as familiar with it as outings since the COVID-19 pandemic are still slowly returning.
More:‘Did you find your treasure?’: Rincón de Mesilla celebrates Hispanic culture
There are many small towns that dot the desert between Las Cruces and El Paso, including the community of Santa Teresa, which has a main roadway that funnels drivers through the port of entry and into Mexico.
But the southern New Mexico community is also home to the hidden gem of the War Eagles Air Museum, which houses about 35 vintage civilian and military aircraft in its hangar. The building also abuts the active runway of the Doña Ana County International Jetport. It is a must-see for anyone interested in aviation, automobiles and history.
War Eagles Air Museum was originally a private collection established in the late 1980s by John and Betty MacGuire. About ten years ago the collection became open to the public and others started adding to the aircraft and automobiles — donating items or loaning them. At least seven of the planes currently on display were purchased by the MacGuires, according to Dominique Clark, the museum’s director of marketing.
More:Hidden gem: Santa Teresa’s War Eagles Air Museum a step back into history
Anyone who has been to Hatch knows about the huge signs and figures that point the way to a well-known burger joint in town. But just down the street and around the corner is another restaurant serving great food within a welcoming atmosphere, and often without the long lines.
The Pepper Pot is a family-owned restaurant led by Melva Aguirre. The restaurant opened around 35 years ago.
Aguirre comes from Torreón, Mexico, the youngest of eight siblings. When her older siblings started crossing the border to live in the United States, she went along too. She started working in her new country by picking vegetables in the fields. She said this is how she got to know the farmers who work in the Hatch valley.
More:‘I’m harvesting my work’: The Pepper Pot a hidden gem in Hatch
Las Cruces is by no means short of coffee shops, but some are a bit more off the beaten path than others.
Border Brew Coffee House is inside the Border International building at 2701 W. Amador Ave. It is a work truck dealership with locations in Las Cruces, El Paso and Alamogordo.
General Manager Charlie Cogdill explained that the business has been operating for about six years and there has always been some sort of coffee station incorporated into the Border International building, specifically with the Las Cruces location.
It started as a self-serve drink station but grew to be a larger operation offering different types of coffee beverages and pastries. Now, sandwiches, breakfast items and specialty coffee and tea drinks are on the menu.
More:Check out Border Brew, a hidden gem of a coffee shop inside truck dealership
What do yoga, reiki, tarot and sourdough have in common? Energy.
Several years ago, Gina Lawrence Grandjean combined her interests into one company, Rise. She has taught yoga for nearly a decade and provides reiki and tarot readings to customers at a local spa. She has been selling homemade bread out of her home since 2018. She is also a college assistant professor, teaching technical communication and gender studies in New Mexico State University’s Department of English.
“What I identify (my business) most as is it’s a witchy business that really lets me do a lot of healing work in the community,” Lawrence Grandjean said. “’Rise is like the common factor between all of these things, even if the word means a different thing in each of those contexts … My whole thing is about connection and finding the magic in the little things in life.”
More:Rise: Las Cruces small business offers pop-ups at local restaurants
A good book isn’t hard to find, especially when you know where to look.
You may not realize it if you drive by the unassuming building near the Mesquite Historic District, but Casa Camino Real is a keeper of stories. The bookstore has been around for about 20 years, first in a location off the Mesilla Plaza and for another 10 years in its current Tornillo Street location.
Shelves and boxes of books will greet you when you open the door, as will the aroma of hot coffee or chocolate and the call of “hello” from behind the shelves by owner Denise Chávez.
More:‘The books are sacred’: Casa Camino Real ready for literary explorers
On his first attempt to scale Africa’s tallest mountain, Las Cruces businessman David Hill failed. His leg fractured about 4,000 feet from the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro and he had to be carried down the mountain.
Hill, the owner of Ride On Sports, a sports accessory store for biking, hiking, backpacking and other activities, was determined to head back to Africa and take a picture atop the tallest free-standing mountain in the world.
In December 2021, less than three years after suffering the debilitating injury and in his sixties, Hill successfully summited the 19,341-foot-tall Mount Kilimanjaro.
“So many people have said to me, ‘you inspire me to do this and do that,’” Hill said. “That wasn’t my purpose, but I’m certainly glad that people are inspired.»
More:Las Crucen summits Mount Kilimanjaro on second attempt, 3 years after debilitating injury
Jenny Matsler of Las Cruces collected dozens of medals during her years involved with Special Olympics New Mexico and in 2022, she got her first opportunity to compete during the national games in Orlando, Florida on the state’s bocce team.
Jenny was born with Williams Syndrome, a chromosomal disorder that causes developmental delays and other medical problems. Her stepmother, Nila Matsler, said Jenny is very high functioning and added that the disorder also means she is highly social.
“She’s never met a stranger, ever,” Nila said.
Also this year, Jenny was one of 12 statewide Special Olympians selected to be the featured at Chick-fil-As throughout February to promote cookie sales.
More:Las Cruces Special Olympian headed to the USA games this summer
Storytelling has long been a custom in communities to pass down culture and history. Some storytellers are writers, some are filmmakers and others simply speak.
One such storyteller is Florence Hamilton of Las Cruces. This 100-year-old Black woman has more than a century of personal experiences to talk about, but she also makes a determined effort to share Black history.
More:Hometown Hero: ‘Mama’ Hamilton continues sharing Black history through storytelling
“The adventure continues,” said Penny Duncklee in her room at the Rehabilitation Hospital of Southern New Mexico.
Duncklee, 85, is a well-known artist in the Las Cruces area, particularly for her watercolor paintings and nature photographs. But her life took a drastic turn recently after a dog attack outside her home in mid-March.
On March 16 at about 6:30 p.m., Duncklee walked out of her home on 2nd Street to find two strange dogs playing in her front yard. She was on her way to take photos of the sunset. She said they had collars on, but she had never seen them before.
“They were nice looking dogs, and I walked out the door and they kind of trotted over to me,” Duncklee recalled. “I reached out and … patted its head and said hi, and it grabbed my hand.”
Time slowed down for her, but Duncklee said that for about 15 minutes the dogs took turns attacking her.
More:‘The adventure continues’: Las Cruces artist positive and recovering after dog attack
And here comes Anita Rockett crossing the finish line!
Positivity is practically Anita Rockett’s middle name — the woman exudes it from the moment you meet her. But her exuberance was nearly cut short one day on a lake at age 19.
Rockett, 69, was a 19-year-old sophomore in college in 1972. One day that August, she was spending time with family and friends waterskiing at a lake in southern Florida. She said it was a busy day out on the water. She was getting pulled when the boat engine stalled, leaving her bobbing in the water.
A boat traveled close by her, alerting her that she needed to make herself visible. Rockett said she lifted the tips of her skis out of the water as high as she could. What happened next would change her life forever.
More:‘I’m not going to quit ‘til I get there’: Las Cruces woman remains active 50 years after accident
Four years ago Tiffany Hilliker sat crying in the middle of a store among empty shelves that should’ve been filled with baby formula.
She was living in Washington at the time and a formula shortage in the state meant she couldn’t feed her 3-month-old son, Jay. He was born premature and struggled to latch, meaning she wasn’t able to breastfeed him.
Jay developed varying medical issues and required Alimentum, a hypoallergenic formula for infants. Hilliker said when the formula shortage hit, she visited nine different stores and was able to purchase «maybe six cans,» which didn’t last long. When the recent formula shortage hit the U.S., she took matters into her own hands.
More:Meet a Las Cruces mom who donated her breastmilk amid the formula shortage
Eddie Gutierrez is one of the best-known performers around southern New Mexico and El Paso, one who champions acceptance and bringing groups of people together into a large community.
Gutierrez, a hairdresser by day, may be better known by his stage name: Ivonna Bump.
As Ivonna Bump, Gutierrez performs in drag at area restaurants and bars and events throughout the year. Flamboyant costumes, music performances and comedy are all part of the experience at a drag show. And you can expect lots of audience interaction when Ivonna Bump is emceeing.
More:Drag queen Ivonna Bump a leader, role model in Las Cruces
Roxanne Livingston has been working in the events planning and bridal industry for nearly 15 years — between starting her business Elegant Events and taking over Renee’s Bridal. She’s used to helping brides find their dress and pulling off big events. Now, she’s the one donning the gowns.
Livingston, owner of Livingston Bridal and Events, decided to take part in the Mrs. New Mexico American pageant this year, an experience new to her. Mrs. American is a sister pageant to the well-known Mrs. America contest.
More:Las Cruces business owner representing New Mexico in Mrs. American pageant
Manuel Pacheco has long held the title of “Coach Manny” with Las Cruces children and their families. Though he is now retiring from coaching sports, he remains an important figure in his students’ lives.
Pacheco has been coaching middle and high school football and basketball for 34 years. He also coached a year of track, Little League baseball and a men’s football team as part of the Pig Bowl — a competition among area law enforcement teams.
He has been with various schools and club leagues, getting to know children from all over town from fifth grade to their high school years. Early on, Pacheco said different grades and even different schools joined together to make up a team. The Mesilla-Valley View Elementary Cowboys football squad were one such team and the first Pacheco coached.
“Then as it progressed with the population growing, of course, they had to separate the divisions,” Pacheco said. “I coached mainly at a specific school.”
More:‘They’re all my sons’: Las Cruces’ Coach Manny retires after 34 years
The catalogue of feature length films created in the Las Cruces area grew this past week with the release of “Abnormality,” created by one of the city’s youngest filmmakers.
Xzavier Estrada, 18, wrote and directed “Abnormality,” a 90-minute movie inspired by the Netflix documentary, “American Murder: The Family Next Door.” The documentary takes a look at the murder of a Colorado man’s pregnant wife and two young children.
Estrada’s film is a work of fiction where he reimagined the story and extended it to see what might have happened if this person was released from prison. He explained that he enjoys taking true stories from books or documentaries and putting his own twist on them by recreating the situation in a fictional setting.
More:Young Las Cruces filmmaker premieres feature length movie
Between losing his mother and undergoing 16 heart surgeries, Marqus McDermott has had to navigate quite a lot of hardship over the past few years. But he hasn’t lost his drive.
McDermott, 25, is a musician originally from Nashville, known by his stage name, M.Qu. He said he has always been interested in music and particularly loves jazz. But he was hooked when, in fifth grade, he heard Nat King Cole’s Christmas album.
He picked up the trumpet and played all through high school, and continues to play now, though he also plays piano, guitar and sings. McDermott started attending Belmont University, studying music and music business.
More:‘Crazy faith’: Nashville transplant making name for himself in Las Cruces
The COVID-19 pandemic took many things — a sense of security, social opportunities, time with family and friends. One Las Cruces artist is giving back in honor of her longtime friends by joining the annual art show started at their temple.
The art show was put on hiatus amid the pandemic but returned this year for a show from 1 to 4 p.m. Dec. 4 at the temple, 3980 Sonoma Springs Ave.
Annetta Hoover, whose work has won awards internationally as well as state-side, is among the artists featured at the show. Originally from Kentucky, Hoover started painting in high school and continued everywhere she has lived, moving from place to place with her military family. She’s now been a resident of Las Cruces for about 36 years.
Hoover describes her artistic style as impressionistic, similar to that of her longtime friend, Ruth Ann Sugarman.
More:Las Cruces artist honors friends by joining art show fundraiser at Temple Beth-El
For more than a century, Mesilla’s Fountain Theatre has been a staple of entertainment in southern New Mexico and it continues to be the local arthouse theater for the Mesilla and Las Cruces area.
The Fountain Theatre is at 2469 Calle De Guadalupe, Mesilla and has been in operation since the early 1900s, though the building itself dates back to the late 1800s. It’s right next to La Posta de Mesilla, off the town’s historic plaza.
More:Fountain theater in Mesilla spotlights independent, under-represented films for community
Most locals in search of hiking trails know of Dripping Springs or Tortugas «A» Mountain, but there are also beautiful places to explore further north, within the Doña Ana Mountains.
The Doña Ana Arches, also known as the Needle’s Eye, are natural rock formations considered a little-known landmark in the county. The Doña Ana Mountains are east of Interstate 25 and north of the Del Rey/Los Colinas neighborhoods. Explorers will find hiking, biking and ATV trails. Doña Ana Peak and the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park are also nearby.
More:Doña Ana Arches: Scenic local landmark and challenging hiking trail
New Mexicans may not have an ocean to dive into, but the white sands in the south ensure there is plenty of beach to take advantage of.
White Sands National Park is one of New Mexico’s most beloved natural landforms and, with weather warming up, a fun outing for both locals and visitors.
The area between Alamogordo and Las Cruces, off US 70, is the largest gypsum dune field in the world and was designated a national monument in 1933 and then a national park in 2019. It is also surrounded by federal White Sands Missile Range land. It is a popular tourist attraction, but the frequent activities held at the park bring out locals as well.
More:Full moon nights and sunset strolls: See summer events at White Sands National Park
Lujan’s Bakery has been a treat for some and a weekly stop for others for more than half a century and it continues to be a staple in the community.
Lujan’s, located at the corner of Lohman Avenue and Mesquite Street, originally opened in 1955 under Alfredo Lujan and his mother, Julieta. Rene Lujan, one of Alfredo’s son’s, explained that his father grew up in El Paso after his mother moved them from Santa Rita near Silver City. Her husband had died, and she needed to find work.
While in El Paso in the 1940s, Julieta started working at a bakery, where she came to find out that Las Cruces didn’t have a Mexican bakery at the time. She and Alfredo decided to corner the market and moved back to New Mexico.
Lujan’s Bakery was originally located on Church Street, near where the U.S. Post Office is now. Leah learned how the company has evolved into the landmark it is today.
More:‘Everybody knows us’: Lujan’s Bakery remains a mainstay in Las Cruces after over 65 years
Downtown Las Cruces is full of restaurants, shops, new developments, historical buildings and ghosts.
The Old Doña Ana County Courthouse, at 251 W. Amador Ave., has a long history in the community going back to when it was built in the 1930s. It was officially completed in 1937 with four stories, including a basement. The jail annex was added in 1969.
The courthouse included a courtroom on the second floor, county administrative offices and jail cells for male and female prisoners along with federal prisoners. According to David Crider with Southwest Expeditions, which currently occupies the building, the courthouse was in operation until 2008 and is listed on the National Historic Register.
More:Local landmark: Old county courthouse a historic location and home to paranormal activity
North of Las Cruces are the ruins of Fort Selden, a Civil War-era military camp that is now a state museum open to locals and visitors alike.
Prior to the Civil War, the area Fort Selden sits upon was home to the Mogollon people. The Native American people lived there as early as 400 A.D., according to New Mexico Historic Sites.
Spanish conquistadors established the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro trail through the area in 1598. The over 1,500-mile path connected Mexico City to New Mexico’s San Juan Pueblo, crossing through the Village of Doña Ana and other communities. The Fort Selden area was known as Paraje Robledo, or a welcome campsite. Use of the path continued through 1882.
More:Local landmark: Fort Selden offers look into prehistoric, post-Civil War New Mexico
It’s the time for outdoor adventuring and Doña Ana County has several places for people to get away for a while.
Southern New Mexico is well-known for its mountain- and desert-scapes, many of which include campsites and dispersed camping areas. Whether you stay overnight or for several days, you’re sure to enjoy the outdoor experience.
While there are Bureau of Land Management sites such as Aguirre Spring Campground that are designated camping areas, there are also many dispersed camping sites, also overseen by the federal government, located outside designated campgrounds. These areas are no less appealing, though they do offer fewer amenities like restroom facilities, fire pits and trash removal.
More:Here’s your guide to BLM camping areas in and around Las Cruces
Have you ever wondered what kind of living things inhabited the earth before the dinosaurs? A national monument and city museum in the Las Cruces area have some answers — with several fun hiking trails to boot.
The Prehistoric Trackways National Monument is located in Doña Ana County about 10 miles northwest of Las Cruces. The monument is overseen by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and encompasses about 5,280 acres of desert in the Robledo Mountains.
According to information from the BLM’s website, the monument was established in March 2009 to conserve the many resources found in the area, including a large number of Paleozoic-era fossilized footprints of amphibians, reptiles, insects and other animals.
More:Local landmark: Prehistoric Trackways National Monument offers hiking, fossils for visitors
Stahmann pecan farms has been around for nearly 100 years, famous for pecan harvests and a former country store in La Mesa. The pecan trees within the farm also provide a beloved scenic drive.
The drive along Highway 28 from Mesilla toward El Paso is one for the picture books, particularly when you get to the rows upon rows of pecan orchards. During the summer, the trees provide a respite from the blazing sun and in the fall, the view is constantly changing as the leaves turn orange and yellow.
For a large part of the year, the canopy of branches are a popular photo session spot. Just about any local you talk to will have a photo of themselves posing in the middle of the two-way road, framed by the Stahmann pecan trees.
More:Stahmann Farms pecan orchards make for scenic drive along Highway 28
High up on a hill off Interstate 10 west of Las Cruces stands a large roadrunner sculpture. Have you seen it?
The Recycled Roadrunner is 20 feet tall and 40 feet long. It’s made up of materials found at the Old Foothills Landfill off Sonoma Ranch Boulevard by Olin Calk and Dan Smith.
Recycled tennis shoes make up the roadrunner’s underside while phones, keyboards, crutches, kitchen utensils, hubcaps, golf clubs and myriad other items make up the bird’s wings and body. The sculpture is the perfect subject for a roadside game of I Spy, especially as you get closer to it.
More:Recycled Roadrunner a must-see landmark for locals and visitors alike
Do you decorate with luminarias or farolitos?
Aside from the famous red or green question, New Mexicans have long debated what the little brown bags filled with sand and a candle are called. Though the answer is different depending on where you are in the state, the conclusion is the same — it’s time for the holidays.
More:It’s almost time for luminarias! Here’s what you should know about the centuries-old tradition
Have you ever wondered about the Christmas tree made out of lights that appears on the Twin Peaks hill every holiday season? It’s a tradition that goes back several decades.
Louis Gariano, who founded Moongate Water Company, started placing over 100 lights in a tree outline on the East Mesa hill in the late 1980s. It was a way for him to give back to the community, said his son, Jeff Gariano.
“It’s his gift to the community to say Merry Christmas and have a safe and happy holiday,” Jeff said of his father.
More:‘His gift to the community’: Christmas tree light display a decades-old tradition
Damien Willis is a Lead Reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News. He can be reached at 575-541-5443, dwillis@lcsun-news.com or @DamienWillis on Twitter.
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