July 1-7 | 8-14 | 15-21 | 22-28 | 29 into August
JULY
Saturday 01
Silver City/Grant County
Mudcats—Live music. Part of Penny Park's Music in the Park program. 8 p.m. Penny Park Amphitheater, 1305 Grant St.
534-0261, www.pennypark.org.Melodrama Theatre—"Billy the Kid or It's Just a Little Gun Play." Every Friday and Saturday. See the March 2006 Desert Exposure. 8 p.m. Pinos Altos Opera House, 388-3848, www.pinosaltos.org/melodrama.
Kim Young—7 p.m. Buckhorn Saloon, Pinos Altos, 538-9911.
Silver City Farmers' Market—Come sample the tastes of Grant County, with fruits and vegetables available from spring through first frost. Many organic growers, herb and flower vendors and other specialty stalls. 8:30 a.m.-noon every Saturday. 6th and Bullard St. 536-9681.
Las Cruces/Mesilla
Book and Art Sale—Through July 4. New, used and first edition, out of print books, multicultural art, posters, tapes and music. Popcorn, paletas/fruit popsicles and Choco-Locos chocolate-covered bananas. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Cultural Center de Mesilla, 2231 A Calle de Parian, 523-3988, bbf@zianet.com, www.borderbookfestival.org.
Big Blast Baseball Tournament—Also July 2, 4. Youth baseball tournament. Paz and Harty fields.
Folks and Fixin's: Making Food in Time—A look into the different ways people have prepared their meals over time in New Mexico. Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, 4100 Dripping Springs Road. 522-4100. www.frhm.org.
Heartland—Disarmingly realistic in its depiction of the realities of frontier life, this 1979 film is a strong antidote to the cliches of traditional Westerns. This semi-documentary slice of life is based on the diaries of Elmore Randall Stewart about her days on the Wyoming frontier in the early 20th century. It's a feminist statement about a woman raising her small daughter alone and scrapping for a living. Note that this film series has moved from the Farm and Ranch Museum to the Fountain Theater. $3, free to Mesilla Valley Film Society members. 1:30 p.m. Fountain Theater, 2469 Calle de Guadalupe, 524-8287 / 522-0286.
Neil Young: Heart of Gold—Through July 6. This movie records for posterity a two-night August 2005 Nashville concert engagement performed by Young. Early last year Young underwent successful treatment for a brain aneurysm. Much of the material heard here comes from last year's post-diagnosis album ''Prairie Wind,'' in which Young took stock of everything in his then-precarious life. Nightly 7:30 p.m. Sunday matinee 2:30 p.m. $6, members $4, students and seniors $5, matinees $5, Wednesdays $4. Fountain Theater, 2469 Calle de Guadalupe, 524-8278, www.fountaintheatre.org.
Peru Mestizo: Life and Art in a Colonial Kingdom—Through Aug. 12. Focused on the style of art produced by the Cuzco school of Peruvian-born mestizo and Indian painters in the 17th and 18th centuries. NMSU Museum, 646-3739.
Racing Modifieds—Southern New Mexico Speedway regular season. Super Stocks, Street Stocks, Legends. 5 p.m. Southern New Mexico State Fairgrounds, 11 miles west on I-10, exit 132. 524-7913, www.snmspeedway.com.
The Complete History of America (Abridged)—Through July 23. By A. Long, R. Martin and A. Tichenor. The play that does for American history what the Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) did for the Bard. Thursdays 7 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays 8 p.m., Sundays 2:30 p.m. $9, students and seniors $8, Thursday $6. No Strings Theatre Company. Black Box Theater, 430 N. Downtown Mall, 523-1223, www.no-strings.org.
Columbus
Between Fences—Through July 29. Special exhibit, part of Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program. See story in this section. 10 a.m.—Columbus historian Richard Dean discusses the 1916 raid by Pancho Villa on the village of Columbus. Pancho Villa State Park, 531-2711.
Sunday 02
Las Cruces/Mesilla
The Complete History of America (Abridged)—Through July 23. See July 1. 2:30 p.m. $9, students and seniors $8. Black Box Theater, 430 N. Downtown Mall, 523-1223, www.no-strings.org.
Monday 03
Silver City/Grant County
Open Mic—7 p.m. Buckhorn Saloon, Pinos Altos, 538-9911.
Las Cruces/Mesilla
Annual 4th of July Electric Light Parade—9 p.m. Begins at Apodaca Park, corner of Solano Drive and Madrid St., goes to Hadley Ave., then to Walnut Ave. Followed by the Low Rider Band—R&B, jazz, rock—at 10 p.m. 528-3170/541-2200.
Rivers Academy Bowl-a-Thon—Bowl for 55 minutes, with free shoe rental, get a goodie bag from sponsors including a shirt and enjoy the Good Old American Buffet. $15. 5-9 p.m. Sun Lanes Bowling Alley, 1201 E. Amador Ave. 522-1232, Dawn@HelpingHandsEvents.com.
Tuesday 04 [INDEPENDENCE DAY]
Silver City/Grant County
Independence Day Celebration—"Grant County Salutes Our Hometown Heroes." 7-10 a.m. cowboy breakfast by the Kiwanis Club; 10 a.m. parade downtown; 7 a.m.-6 p.m. food‚ arts and crafts and entertainment; 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. BBQ lunch by Kiwanis Club. Gough Park, 538-3785, info@silvercity.org, www.silvercity.org.
Ice Cream Social—Cool off after the parade at the Fourth of July Ice Cream Social in the tree-shaded courtyard of the Silver City Museum. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Silver City Museum, 312 West Broadway, 538-5921.
Independence Day Fireworks—Display will be ignited from the gravel pit behind the Grant County Administrative Building on Hwy. 180. About 8:45 p.m.
Las Cruces/Mesilla
Annual 4th of July Celebration and Fireworks—5:30 p.m. Gypsy Gitano, Latin rock; 6 p.m. The Four Count Band, top 40; 7 p.m. Let It Ride, country; 8 p.m. Tracy Lawrence, country; 9:30 p.m. welcome, national anthem and presentation of the colors; 10 p.m. fireworks. Hadley Complex, 1600 E. Hadley Ave.
528-3170 / 541-2200.5th Annual Bling Bling Car Show—Low rider (custom and street), hot rods, muscle cars, euro, classics, full size trucks, 4X4s, motorcycles. 6 p.m. Hadley Complex, Hadley St.,
541-5181.Independence Day 8K Run/Walk—524-7824.
Live Music—8-11 p.m. High Desert Brewing Co., 1201 W Hadley, 534-0298.
LaUnion
6th Annual Country Picnic at La Vina Winery—Croquet, badminton, water slides and a jumping balloon for kids with a nine-hole putting green set up for the big kids. La Vina Winery, 4201 S. Hwy. 28, 882-7632, stark@lavinawinery.com.
Wednesday 05
Las Cruces/Mesilla
NMSU Memories: The First 30 Years—Artifacts and photographs provide a glimpse into the first 30 years at NMSU, when it was called the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts. NMSU Museum, 646-3739.
Thursday 06
Silver City/Grant County
Acoustic Cafe—Silver City Storytellers. $3. Doors open at 7 p.m. Dos Baristas Coffee Gallery, 112 W. Yankie St., 388-5952.
Book Signing—Kathy Sykes Howell, David's Promise: A Young Man's Struggle with Cystic Fibrosis. 4-6 p.m. Desert Blossom Books, 117 E. College Ave., 388-3475.
Live Music—7 p.m. Buckhorn Saloon, Pinos Altos, 538-9911.
Spider Man—(PG-13) Part of Penny Park's Movies in the Park series. Movies every Thursday at dusk (around 8 p.m.). Penny Park Amphitheater, 1305 Grant St., 534-0261.
Las Cruces/Mesilla
The Complete History of America (Abridged)—Through July 23. See July 1. 7 p.m. $6. Black Box Theater, 430 N. Downtown Mall, 523-1223, www.no-strings.org.
Live Music—8-11 p.m. High Desert Brewing Co., 1201 W Hadley, 534-0298.
Friday 07
Silver City/Grant County
Hummingbirds—Through July 10. New Mexico's only hummingbird bander, Joan Day-Martin, leads guests as they observe banding demonstrations and slide presentations and participate in guided bird walks. See story in this issue. $760 includes accommodations. Bear Mountain Lodge,
(877) 620-2327, mgonsior@tnc.org, www.bearmountainlodge.com.Live Music—7 p.m. Buckhorn Saloon, Pinos Altos, 538-9911.
Melodrama Theatre—8 p.m. Pinos Altos Opera House,
388-3848, www.pinosaltos.org/melodrama.Pirates of the Caribbean—Part of Penny Park's Movies in the Park series. Movies every Thursday at dusk (around 8 p.m.). Rated PG. Penny Park Amphitheater, 1305 Grant St.,
534-0261, www.pennypark.org.Las Cruces/Mesilla
A Summer of Song: New Mexico Corridos—Through Sept. 16. Photographs, text and music in this exhibit allow viewers to learn about the traditional corridos (ballads) of New Mexico. Branigan Cultural Center, 500 N. Water St., 541-2155, museums.las-cruces.org.
Darwin's Nightmare—Through July 13. The Nile perch was introduced to Lake Victoria some 40 to 50 years ago, an apparent attempt to replenish the overfished waters that led to the extinction of hundreds of indigenous species. Bitter ironies come thick and fast in Hubert Sauper's documentary, and the most obvious one may be that this unnatural abundance of a profitable protein source coexists with inhuman levels of famine and poverty. Quietly outraged and actively upsetting, the film spirals out from a case study of one cannibalistic killer to a far bigger and more rapacious fish. 2006 Oscar Nominee for Best Documentary. Nightly 7:30 p.m. Sunday matinee 2:30 p.m. $6, members $4, students and seniors $5, matinees $5, Wednesdays $4. Fountain Theater, 2469 Calle de Guadalupe, 524-8278, www.fountaintheatre.org.
Some Enchanted Evening—Through July 9. Favorite songs by Rodgers and Hammerstein. $9, $8 students/seniors. Fridays and Saturday 8 p.m., Sundays 2 p.m. Las Cruces Community Theatre, 313 N. Downtown Mall, 523-1200, www.lcctnm.org.
The Complete History of America (Abridged)—Through July 23. See July 1. 8 p.m. $9, students and seniors $8. Black Box Theater, 430 N. Downtown Mall, 523-1223, www.no-strings.org.
July 1-7 | 8-14 | 15-21 | 22-28 | 29 into August