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CLOUDCROFT ONLINE NEWSLETTER #4
April 21, 2000
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Dear Subscriber!

Springtime in the Sacramento Mountains. Summer residents are
returning one by one. You see them in the hardware store and the
grocery store, stocking up and catching up on village gossip.
We heard from a Roswell T.V. reporter last week. He said
Cloudcroft had the worst return rate on the 2000 census in the
state! We explained to him that there were a lot of census
packets hanging on the doorknobs of un-occupied homes; places
that are vacant for the most part accept for the summer. Year-
rounders should do their part-time neighbors a favor and take
those packets off the door knobs. They advertise the fact that
the house is not occupied. You can hand it over to your
neighbor when they come to town.

A new addition to the newsletter this week. We will devote
some space for the next several weeks to recount the life and
times of Winnie and Thomas Pittman...a Cloudcroft family that
influenced life in the village from 1905 until 1978. Thanks
to Steven Fiddler for supplying us the story.

Don Vanlandingham
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IN THIS ISSUE
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l. LOOKING AT THE WEATHER
2. VILLAGE POLITICS
3. INSIDE THE SHOP -- THE COONSKIN CAP
4. CLOUDCROFT ONLINE SPOTLIGHT -- SILVER CLOUD WATER ASSN.
5. A CLOUDCROFT PIONEER FAMILY
6. COMING EVENTS
7. CONTACT INFORMATION
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LOOKING AT THE WEATHER
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I am going to stick my neck out and say we've had our last snow
of the season. Temperatures the past week have been shirt-
sleeve except for a chilly spell early in the week. Highs in
Cloudcroft are reaching the low 60s and the lows are holding
above freezing. Unfortunately the Forest Service has upgraded
its fire rating for the Sacramento's to "extreme". The breezy
days are not helping the fire danger factor either. At the risk
of sounding like a broken record (you "boomers" remember
"records", don't you?) we need more moisture! For a complete
weather picture, see Cloudcroft.com's front page. Just type in
Cloudcroft.com on your browser's URL line.
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VILLAGE POLITICS
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The "new high school" issue has divided voters for the past 2
years in Cloudcroft. Two bond issues have been defeated.
Perhaps that division has come to an end. A special advisory
panel put together by the school board to arbitrate the subject
issued their findings this month. They said any plan to build a
new school should be abandoned and efforts should be placed on
remodeling the existing school facility.
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INSIDE THE SHOP -- THE COONSKIN CAP
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Like so many others, Toni and Carl Wright were frequent
visitors to Cloudcroft until they finally decided to move here.
They opened "The Coonskin Cap" in 1986 and later moved it to
The Emporium Building they purchased in 1992. The Coonskin
Cap specializes in souvenirs, collectibles and a full line of 
T-shirts. They have also expanded their line of toys at The
Coonskin Cap. They're on the Burro Avenue boardwalk.
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CLOUDCROFT ONLINE SPOTLIGHT -- THE SILVER CLOUD WATER ASSN.
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The Cloudcroft community is actually made up of several
residential developments. Most of them function as their own
villages, with their own bi-laws. They are held together in
most cases by one precious element...water. Each of these
"mini-villages" have their own water systems. Some are
notorious for their failure to function properly and the
political in-fighting they often cause among the residents.
The Silver Cloud Water Association is a gleaming exception.
Silver Cloud is located about 2 and a half miles from the
village on New Mexico Highway 130.

Under the direction of Paul Lofton, who took it upon himself
to learn all he could about municipal water systems, the Silver
Cloud Water Association has gone from an undependable
troublesome system to one the residents can depend upon day in
and day out. Lofton's wife Rita handles the association's day
to day bookkeeping and the thankless task of bill collecting
and complaint management. The Loftons are supported by a
group of dedicated residents that are there to help when
called upon. It is this spirit of cooperation that keeps the
system running smoothly.

Thinking of buying property in one of Cloudcroft's sub-
divisions? Be sure and check out their water situation. Hot
and cold running water is something we all take for granted
unless it's not there when you turn on the tap.
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A CLOUDCROFT PIONEER FAMILY -- PART I
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Winnie Edmiston married Thomas Jackson Pittman in Alamogordo on
May 5th, 1909. Thomas and his brother Gill owned a small
restaurant on 10th Street in Alamogordo when Thomas and Winnie
met. Winnie was one of eight children, brought up on a ranch
near Cotulla, Texas. She and Thomas may have never met had it
not been for the untimely death of Winnie's father when she was
5 and the sale of the ranch because of severe drought.
Winnie's sister Ione and her husband had moved to Alamogordo
and told the rest of the family they should move there, too.
Winnie, her brother Hugh and her mother arrived in Alamogordo
by train in 1905.

After Thomas and Winnie were married they moved to Belen, had
two children and would not return to the Sacramento Mountains
until 1915 when they moved to Rice Canyon and then, two years
later, to Cloudcroft where Thomas became manager of the
Cloudcroft Commercial Company, the village's grocery and
mercantile store. Thomas and Winnie Pittman would live in
Cloudcroft for decades to come, helping form the village's
uniqueness for visitors to behold to this day.

(Next week: The Pittman's early years in Cloudcroft)
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COMING EVENTS
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April 22, 11am at Zenith Park - Easter Egg Hunt
April 22, 1pm on Burro Avenue - Easter Bonnet Contest

May 20-21, High Altitude Classic Mountain Bike Race

Memorial Day Weekend
May 26-28, Rodeo at the G. Gordon Wimsatt Rodeo Arena
May 27-28, Arts and Crafts show at Zenith Park
May 28, 8:30pm - Mayfair street dance - Burro Avenue

June 3, National Trails Day - 10k walk
June 3, Cloudcroft Concert - Alamogordo Community Concert Band
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CONTACT INFORMATION
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