Winston Spring Fiesta To Feature Burro Races, Cow Chip Poker

Date: March 26, 1999
Editor: D'Lyn Ford, (505) 646-6528, dlford@nmsu.edu

LAS CRUCES -- Pack burro races will highlight this year's Winston Spring Fiesta April 17 in Winston.

The Western Pack Bureau Association will be holding burro races during the festival, said Mike Cook, director of New Mexico State University's Rural Economic Development Through Tourism (REDTT) project.

"The competition is open to anyone who wants to walk or run alongside a burro over a 15-mile course that passes through the lower elevations of the Black Range Mountains, with climbs and descents of about 1,500 feet," Cook said.

"This is really a fun event for the entire family," Cook said. "Visitors get a chance to spend a few hours in an old silver-mining town that boomed in the late 1880s and early 1890s. A lot of the old buildings are still standing."

Cow chip poker also will be a part of the festivities. This event features a 50-square-foot fenced arena divided into 5-foot squares. Each square is sold to a player.

"When all the squares have been sold, a well-fed cow is released into the arena to do what nature intended," he said. "When the chips fall, the winner of the lucky square receives a cash prize."

Other activities will include a parade, horseshoe pitch, flea market, barbecue lunch, bake sale and activities for children.

REDTT, a project of the NMSU Cooperative Extension Service, promotes agriculture through tourism.

Proceeds of the fiesta benefit the Winston, Chloride, Chiz and Dusty Community Association.

For more information about the fiesta, contact Don and Dona Edmund at (505) 743-2736. They also can be reached by e-mail at edmund@zianet.com.

Or, contact REDTT at (505) 646-8009 or visit their new web site at: www.nmsu.edu/~redtt.