David Groenfeldt
Water, Water Everywhere…
Santa Fe Watershed Association hosts multi-pronged water care festival
Water scarcity is no joke in New Mexico. In fact, New Mexico’s rivers were named America’s most endangered in 2024 by the nonprofit American Rivers, and if that doesn’t scare you…
Even so, Santa Fe is lucky to have a passionate group of people whose aim is to protect our waterways—the Santa Fe Watershed Association. Founded in 1997 when local hydrologist Paige Grant noticed gravel mining in the Agua Fría Village was getting out of hand as it stripped away most of the habitat along the banks of the river, the association works across a three-pronged approach of education, advocacy and volunteerism.
With initiatives including Adopt-A-River and Adopt-an-Arroyo, the folks at the SFWA have worked to ensure the protection of the local waterways, wildlife habitat and clean water for all, and this week hosts its Second Annual Watershed Fest—a days-long, family-friendly series of events focused on caring for the local watershed and environment.
“We want to raise awareness around the watershed, around how litter is -really bad in our city and how so many different things impact our drinking water,” Stewardship and Outreach Coordinator Lorraine Chow tells SFR. “Our goal is to bring people of all backgrounds together to unite over the celebration of our watershed.”
The festival includes a walk-and talk-with founder Grant at the Leonora Curtin Wetland Preserve; a community clean-up collaboration with the city’s Toss No Más program; a film night; a history tour with local naturalist Ben Shulman; a -recycled art party; plus a happy hour with the Watershed Association crew at Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery for the grand finale.
“I’ve led groups of high schoolers who aren’t psyched at all,” Chow adds, “but then, after removing hundreds of pounds of trash from the arroyo, they realize the importance of protecting our watershed and keeping it healthy.” (Adam Ferguson)
Second Annual Watershed Fest: Various times and locations Friday, Sept 20-Thursday, Sept. 26. Free Registration required for some events, santafewatershed.org/watershed-fest-2024
Courtesy warhammer40000.com
For the Glory of the Imperium!
If you’re not an RPG or gaming dork, go ahead and skim past this one. As for the rest of you? With the recent release of Saber Interactive’s Space Marine 2 some 13 years after the first game in the series, Warhammer dances in the heads of many a nerd. And whether you’re reeling from the bizarre lore for the first time or a seasoned Warhammer vet, WZKD Games has you covered with open play days at its Southside location. In short (because the actual lore is dense and spans thousands of years), Warhammer is indeed hella complex, but players of any level are encouraged to check it out…by us…the nerds who work at SFR. (Alex De Vore)
Warhammer Open Play: 10 am-8 pm Thursday, Sept. 19; Saturday, Sept. 21; Sunday, Sept. 22 and Tuesday, Sept. 24. Free (but pay for gaming accouterments, duh). WZKD Games Southside, 4250 Cerrillos Road, (617) 838-5149
Courtesy beastlybooks.com
Hey, Ladies
If we can be frank here for a second, Beastly Books at the Jean Cocteau has been killing it. That Legend of Zelda event that merged classic gaming with book love? So glorious. This week’s talk with performer Josh Gad? So rad. Also this week, find the LALA LAND BACK DRAG TOUR making its way to George RR Martin’s little bookshop that could and can and does. Featuring Indigenous queens Landa Lakes and Lady Shug, the event not only has some of the best drag names ever, it is totally family-friendly and chock-full of storytime goodness. Drag story events have only grown in popularity in recent years, and we’re very much here for it. (ADV)
LALA LAND BACK Indigenous Drag Story Hour: 3-4 pm Sunday, Sept. 22. Free (but registration required). Beastly Books, 418 Montezuma Ave., beastlybooks.com
@odieleigh / instagram
Ode to Odie
Though some of us struggle with the flash-in-the-pan nature of musicians who hit sudden social media fame, there are special exceptions, and Michigan-based singer-songwriter Odie Leigh is one such artist. Leigh catapulted into the public consciousness in 2022 with her viral song “Crop Circles,” but has since proven a heavyweight songwriter with staying power across a variety of styles including folk, indie-pop, garage rock and more. Leigh hits Meow Wolf this week for her Santa Fe debut—don’t you want to check it out before she’s selling out much larger venues? (ADV)
Odie Leigh: 6:30 pm Tuesday, Sept. 24. $20. Meow Wolf, 1352 Rufina Circle, (505) 395-6369
