OUR 1991 FOUNDERS

ANDY HOSPODAR

JIM CADWALLADER
Passed February, 2011

       After interviewing both Andy and Jim, I was told that initially Cloudcroft Light Opera Company (name given to us by Jim Cadwallader) was established mainly to draw and entertain tourist and give them something to do with their evenings while visiting Cloudcroft. At that time costs were covered by passing the "HAT" at intermission. Everyone seemed to appreciate the performance indicated by their donations that covered all initial costs. Jim said it took all of the money he had in savings to put on that first performance. He was involved with the acting group in Alamogordo and by forming a group in Cloudcroft would keep him from going up and down the mountain so often. It seems once a person becomes settled in this area they just dont care anything about leaving, even for short distances.

          In Jim's case, this was and still is very much appreciated. Andy took over the reins of choosing plays and performances for the group. This was during the time when Andy and Jim worked together to recruit people in town who were interested in helping. Donations of time and "stuff" were generously given to initially perform the first Christmas show.   All of the hard work and great efforts by both Andy and Jim produced an outcome that is really fantastic.

        In the beginning, Andy was involved with an acting group in El Paso and his participation here kept him on his beloved mountain top. You can still see both Jim and Andy around town. Jim's activities keep him in the town of Mountain Top and his daily assistance is greatly appreciated at the nearby High Rolls Senior Center. Jim says that with the problems he is having with his breathing it is best he stay down there at the lower elevation.

         You can still see Andy running around town everyday and driving Cloudcroft's ambulance. He is on call 24 hours carrying people here and there for needed medical services and also, serving the Senior Center in Cloudcroft weekly taking vital signs. After a short visit to Maryland with VISTA recently, Andy says that he will never leave this beautiful mountain top ever again. He missed us - aren't we glad.

by Mware

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CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY

CLOUDCROFT LIGHT OPERA COMPANY

1991 - Establishing Cloudcroft

1500-1850 Mescalero Apaches, believed to have migrated from an Athabaskan group in Alaska, settled in the area known today as Southern New Mexico and Northern Mexico. This settlement took place around 1541 and made the Mescaleros the first known, historically documented occupants of the Tularosa Basin. In 1810, the Mescalero tribe signed a peace agreement with the Spanish, ending decades of skirmishes and fighting.

1860-1870 In 1862, the first Hispanic settlers, escaping flooded areas of the Rio Grande, settled on the western foothills of the Sacramento Mountains, in an area known today as the town of Tularosa. Seven years later, refugees from Socorro, New Mexico founded the community of La Luz, just south of Tularosa. These two groups lived in adobe huts, grew a variety of fruits and vegetables, and raised cattle, sheep, and horses.

1870-1899 Stories of lush grasses, free land, and new opportunities brought the first Anglo settlers to the Tularosa Basin. Primarily Texans, the first white settlers arrived in the mid 1870s. The abundance of land encouraged homesteading in the vast open spaces. However, significant settlement did not take place until 1897, when the El Paso and Northeastern Railway opened. The Alamogordo and Sacramento Mountain Railroad was formed to operate a line from Alamogordo up to the proposed resort of Cloudcroft, and the Alamogordo Lumber Company was establised for the purpose of operating a lumber industry in the Sacramento Mountains.