NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, May 21, 2025, CANCELLED NOTE THE 5:00 PM START TIME at the WNMU Museum: This special monthly GCAS meeting is the GCAS's annual fundraiser for the WNMU Museum, with which we are so closely allied. Dr. Patricia (Pat) Gilman will be our honored presenter explaining, What Are Tropical Macaws Doing in Mimbres Sites? Watch this space for the date and topic of our next meeting.

NEXT FIELD TRIP: Sunday, June 1, 2025. The GCAS’s next field trip – WEATHER PERMITTING - will visit the Twin Pines site in the upper Mimbres Valley where we will have the opportunity to see directing archaeologist Fumi Arakawa and his crew’s work. This is Gila National Forest land with Mimbres habitations built on top of pithouses and a great kiva. Some petroglyphs are nearby. Access is slow going along rocky roads but high-clearance or 4WD vehicles are not required. However, the trip to Twin Pines takes about 2.5-3 hours from Silver City driving up the Mimbres Valley and into the west side of the Black Range; or about 2.5 hours driving from Truth or Consequences through the east side of the Black Range on an easier road. Overnight camping (boondocking, no amenities) may be available near the Beaverhead Work Center. GCAS members will meet at the Beaverhead Work Center on NM Hwy 59 at 11:00 AM on June 1. To protect this sensitive site, interested GCAS members should contact Marianne at [email protected] for more specific directions.

Our MAREC Donors Are Sharing the Love
Old Pueblo Zoom Program of Special Interest

MAREC Progress Report - Phase II

A few spots of bad weather have periodically slowed down work in the two rooms the GCAS is rehabbing in the historic Wood House, but during the past several weeks one GCAS volunteer, working solo, has completed the floor repairs. Floor-leveling and plywood sheathing are done and the floor in both rooms awaits finishing with engineered hardwood flooring. The below-ground-level work is back-breaking.

4 - Lab demo  Josh and KyleKudos go to Josh Reeves and our GCAS President, Kyle Meredith, for having demolished the ceilings in both rooms and cleaned up all the debris. They worked quickly and efficiently and their results were first rate. The photo on the right shows them in full demolition action in the lab, preparing the rooms for the next step in the project: upgraded electrical wiring.

The GCAS volunteer who repaired the floor joists began the electrical installation as soon as Josh and Kyle had finished their job. With a view to supporting the field schools who will return to our area post-pandemic, two floor-mounted electrical outlets have been installed for use at the future library's work table; as well as two handy bookshelf-mounted charging stations for small electronics like phones and tablets. Also installed are the supports for a ceiling fan and 6 LED ceiling lights in each room.

It has been good to have volunteers who own pickup trucks and step up time and again to haul debris to the landfill. Thank you again, Josh and Kyle; with a special tip o' the hat to Kathy Hill, President of the Imogen F. Wilson Education Foundation, who has hauled away debris several times - not just driving her pickup, but with a trailer attached. In these early stages of the project we need as many volunteers as possible to help haul away debris, whether one time only, or on repeated trips. Please contact President Kyle Meredith or email the GCAS if you can help with this or any other task that comes to mind. You can make this project move along in many different ways, large or small.

Stay tuned for our next update in late March/early April, which might include news of more wiring adventures, the arrival of the two exterior doors that are on order, or perhaps demonstrate a protective encapsulation of a defunct fireplace...

Thank you, everyone, for making this project possible.

/s/ webmaster

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