Las Cruces Academy

Introduction

The October newsletter is very late because two of our crucial members devoted several weeks to campaigning for Tuesday's elections, and also because we were waiting to finalize some information regarding Cherries & Chocolate, which certainly hasn't been ignored. We've got 9 days left until Cherries & Chocolate, and preparations are in full swing!

Cherries & Chocolate

As I said above, Cherries & Chocolate is just 9 days away. We have quite a collection of dessert recipes—along with volunteers to make them—lined up. Cherries & Chocolate isn't just about desserts, though. We want it to be a fun night that will earn money for the Academy, and give all our donors something in return for their generosity; with that in mind, we've arranged a truly unique silent auction with items from around the world, and live acoustical music for the duration of the event. We're very excited. Everything below is at the Cherries & Chocolate web page, but I'll give you a sample of what's there so you can go and see just how extraordinary it's going to be. We have 20 desserts, ranging from cream puffs and crème brûlée to zucchini bread and peach fruit crisp, and you can taste as many as you like. For the silent auction, we have 26 items ranging from relatively large glass pieces (both kiln-formed and stained) to exotic plants from Madagascar to hand-painted plates from Peru and Mexico to a silver bracelet by L. Notah (which a surprised jeweler valued at several hundred dollars). Most of the silent auction items are pictured on the Cherries & Chocolate web page.

Tickets are $50 each, $40 of which can be counted as a tax-deductible contribution. To buy a ticket, you can go to one of five locations. Those locations are Durango Bagel, Jesse's KC BBQ, Enchanted Gardens, Unravel Yarn Shop & Gallery, and Unsettled Gallery. Addresses and maps can be found at the Cherries & Chocolate web page. If you're debating whether to buy a ticket, I'd like to give you three good reasons to. The first is obvious: to come taste a wide variety of delicious desserts with other supporters of education in a beautiful historical house, and maybe even leave with one of the many items from our silent auction. The second is our main purpose for the event: each ticket and winning silent auction bid raises money for the Academy; Cherries & Chocolate has the potential to raise well over $5,000, which would pay for quite a few tables and chairs. The third reason actually stems from the second reason; we would like to approach foundations for large-scale funding of our permanent campus, and many of those foundations' goals fit our purposes very closely. However, those same foundations demand evidence of significant community support. The more we raise at this event, the more community support we have to show those foundations. In short, every dollar you donate has the potential to turn into much more than a dollar in support for the Academy, and you'll have a good time helping us out.

Finally, we'd be remiss if we didn't thank the donors and volunteers turning the plans for Cherries & Chocolate into reality. First on the list are Len Gambrell & Lori Miller, who have generously given us their time and use of their gorgeous house for the night. Dr. Fred Bugbee, of the NMSU Music Department and two of his graduate students, Mike Armendariz and Rob Keedy, are donating their time to provide us with live music. Catherine Abeele, Mary Canavan, Connie Maxwell, Kathleen Roman, David Gutschick, and I are making the desserts. Sandra Cantrell is providing silver service. Edith Daniell, Linda Kay, and Edward Lifschitz have provided some of the recipes. Aldershot of New Mexico is providing live flowers. For drinks, we have Ocotillo Roasters Coffeehouse to thank for generously supplying us with coffee. And finally, we have people who have donated items for the silent auction: Harry Hellmuth, Mary McDonald, Darlene Armstrong, Amrita de Soyza, Robert Foster, David Gutschick, Michelle Lambert, Judy Licht, Connie Maxwell, Tom Packard, and Dan Philpot.

Despite the generosity of all these people, we can still use help. We need helpers to set up & clean up after the event, as well as to make sure that the dessert trays are kept full.

General progress

Our library continues to grow rapidly, in large part due to the continued generosity of Mary McDonald, who alone has donated about 2,000 books in total, about 200 of which have arrived since our last newsletter. Mary is not the only one making significant donations to the library, though. We'd like to thank Monika Mojica for donating an entire set of science textbooks for elementary school level science.

It's less concrete than the growth of the library, but we're pleased with progress on both the temporary and final location for LCA. Because regulations for school buildings are much more demanding than for other types of buildings, the temporary location, which we will announce at Cherries & Chocolate, will require some renovations. We expect to have an architect (and contractor) for the renovations shortly, which will put us well ahead of schedule for our 2009 opening. Plans for the permanent location are not as far along (and we can expect a significant delay between purchasing and the beginning of construction), but we are receiving help from several people and have a few promising locations in consideration.

Best Wishes,
Dr. Lou Ellen Kay
Director, Las Cruces Academy