MVA Logo
Issue 95
August 2016
In This Issue
Special events across the U.S. will celebrate the National Park Service 100th Anniversary in August
Entrance Fees Waived for the NPS Birthday through the Weekend
Find Your Park to Celebrate the Centennial
USS Mesa Verde to Visit Namesake National Park
Welcome to MVMA's New Executive Director!
Four Corners Lecture Series Continues
Celebrate 100 Years of the National Park Service with our Centennial Apparel
Quick Links
Find Your Park
NPS Centennial
Mesa Verde Museum Association
Join Our Mailing List
About Us
The Mesa Verde Association is a joint membership program of the Mesa Verde Museum Association and the Mesa Verde Foundation. Your MVA membership supports both of these 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations.
 
The Mesa Verde Museum Association (tax ID 84-1404606) provides educational and interpretive material to visitors of Mesa Verde National Park through an active publishing program and the operation of retail bookstores online, in the park, and in Cortez, CO. Our services enhance the visitor experience and promote stewardship of Mesa Verde's world-renowned archeological resources and natural landscapes. Proceeds from all Association operations are donated to the park's interpretive, research, and education programs.

Mesa Verde Foundation (tax ID 84-046967)
funds capital improvements, projects, and programs for Mesa Verde National Park. Our projects include partial funding for the new Visitor and Research Center at the park's entrance, rehabilitation of the horse facilities at Morefield to support the park's historic horse patrol, funding for important stabilization work at Cliff Palace, and funding of a Lecture Series at Mesa Verde.
 
You are receiving this email because you are a member of the Mesa Verde Association or because you purchased a product from the Mesa Verde Museum Association. To ensure that you continue to receive emails from us, add info@mesaverde.org to your address book today.
Welcome to "Verde Views," the e-newsletter for Mesa Verde Association members and friends. This periodic publication will keep you informed about Association news and events, park happenings, new products and special sales.
Special events across the U.S. will celebrate the National Park Service 100th Anniversary in August
Photo courtesy of Olde America Antiques
The National Park Service invites visitors of all ages to join in the celebration of its 100th Birthday throughout the month of August. Mesa Verde will kick off the Centennial Birthday Celebration on August 25, 10:00 a.m. at the Visitor and Research Center with speakers and birthday cake. In addition, there will be activities throughout the day including: Curation Tours (please call 970-529- 4614 or 970-529- 5074 for reservations), Native American Dances, a Historic Walking Tour, and a special Campground Evening Program.

Eight members of the USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19) crew will be on hand to help the park celebrate the Centennial. They will also work on a trail project while in the park August 23-26.

"We invite our friends and neighbors to celebrate the National Park Service's birthday with us", said Superintendent Cliff Spencer. "We're honored to have crew members from the USS Mesa Verde present for the celebration."

The birthday celebration at Mesa Verde is sponsored by our Park Partner Osprey Packs.

A sampling of nationwide events is available on the National Park Service website www.nps.gov, and many more can be found at FindYourPark.com and EncuentraTuParque.com.
Entrance Fees Waived for the NPS Birthday through the Weekend
Park entrance fees will be waived nationwide from August 25 through August 28 to encourage everyone to celebrate the National Park Service's 100th Birthday.  The entrance fee waiver does not cover amenity or user fees for activities such as camping, boat launches, transportation, or special tours.
Find Your Park to Celebrate the Centennial
On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the act that created the National Park Service "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for future generations."

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of that moment and to look ahead to the next 100 years, in early 2015 the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation launched the Find Your Park / Encuentra Tu Parque movement. Inspiring people from all backgrounds to celebrate and support America's national parks and community-based programs, this movement invites people to discover and share their own unique connections to our nation's natural landscapes, vibrant culture, and rich history.

"August - our birthday month - will be a nationwide celebration of national parks, and we're inviting everyone to the party," said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. "We like to think that we look pretty good for 100, and with so many events and activities to commemorate this milestone, we hope all Americans will join us to celebrate the breathtaking landscapes and inspiring history in our nation's parks and public lands. Whether it is in a distant state or in your own community, there are hundreds of ways and places to find your park!"

About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 412 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Visit us at www.nps.gov, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/nationalparkservice, Twitter at www.twitter.com/natlparkservice, and YouTube at www.youtube.com/nationalparkservice.
USS Mesa Verde to Visit Namesake National Park
USS Mesa Verde Sailors will travel to their namesake Colorado park to support the National Park Service Centennial Birthday Celebration, set for Aug. 25. The eight-member contingent will be led by Capt. Randall Peck, commanding officer of the Navy's amphibious dock landing ship, which is homeported in Norfolk, Virginia. While at the park, the travelers will take part in a community relations project to repair and preserve the 2.4-mile Spruce Canyon Trail, a scenic loop that winds through a wildlife habitat; take part in celebration ceremony; tour the park and Balcony House cliff dwelling; and meet with the ship's sponsor, former Colorado Senator Ben Nighthorse-Campbell and his wife, Linda Campbell.

The group will also visit nearby Shiprock (N.M.) High School and their Marine Corps Junior ROTC unit there; meet with various local and state officials in Albuquerque and Denver; visit with local Navy League chapters and present colors at an Albuquerque Isotopes baseball and Denver Broncos football game.

USS Mesa Verde website: http://www.public.navy.mil//surflant/lpd19/Pages/default.aspx

USS Mesa Verde facebook: https://www.facebook.com/USSMesaVerdeLPD19/ 
Welcome to MVMA's New Executive Director!
Teri Paul has joined the MVMA team as our new Executive Director. She comes to us from Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum in Blanding, Utah where she was Museum Director and Park Manager of two state parks for 13 years, and curator and exhibit designer for two years before that. Teri is not a stranger to south west Colorado. Prior to taking the position in Utah, she lived near Marvel, south west of Durango. While living outside of Marvel, she taught courses in anthropology and archaeology at Pueblo Community College (now SW Colorado Community College) in Durango; started the Northwest New Mexico Archaeological Site Stewardship Program out of Salmon Museum in Bloomfield, NM; and worked as a staff archaeologist for Western Cultural Resources Management, in Farmington, NM. In addition to her work in archaeology she has a background in non-profit management that includes serving as Managing Director of the Windstar Foundation in Old Snowmass, CO. She is happy to be living back in Colorado with her two dogs and two cats.

E.D. Paul said, "I am thrilled to join the Mesa Verde Museum Association and to be working at the premier national park of our region. The staff has made me feel right at home. It is exciting to join MVMA as we begin a new chapter for the organization. Later this fall the Board of Directors will meet to update our Strategic Plan that will lead us into the next five years. New and exciting projects are on the horizon! Park visitation is higher than ever, which means the bookstores are doing very well this year- thanks to the great work of our staff, our members and our visitors- and this success means greater levels of assistance for Mesa Verde National Park and its interpretive mission." 
Four Corners Lecture Series Continues    
Join us for another incredible year of educational and enlightening programs with the free Four Corners Lecture Series.  Numerous programs are scheduled at locations throughout the Four Corners region. 

Ben Bellorado
Building Murals, Textiles, Pottery, and Rock Art: Using Cross-Media Approaches to Understand Identity Expression in the Northern Southwest
August 24, Wednesday, 7:00 p.m., Anasazi Heritage Center (hosted by SCCA and AHC)

Laurie Webster
Re-Excavating Ancient Textiles, Baskets, Wood, and Hides from Southeastern Utah: Latest Findings from the Cedar Mesa Perishables Project
August 27, Saturday, 2:00 p.m., Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum, Blanding

Dawn Mulhern
Mortuary Practices of the Durango Basketmakers
September 8, Thursday, 7:00 p.m., Lyceum, Center for Southwest Studies, FLC (hosted by FLC and SJBAS/CAS)

Brandt Hart
San Juan River: Then and Now
September 10, Saturday, 4:00 p.m., Rusticks Gallery, Bluff (hosted by Friends of Cedar Mesa)

Starr Tafoya
Pottery Demonstration, Firing, and Sale
September 10, Saturday, 10:30 a.m., Visitor and Research Center, Mesa Verde National Park

Susan Ryan
Chaco Canyon and the Rise of Complexity in the Middle and Northern San Juan Regions
September 17, Saturday, 2:00 p.m., Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum, Blanding

Laurie Webster
Re-Excavating Ancient Textiles, Baskets, Wood, and Hides from Southeastern Utah: Latest Findings from the Cedar Mesa Perishables Project
October 6, Thursday, 7:00 p.m., Anasazi Heritage Center (hosted by SCCA and AHC)

Leigh Kuwanwisiwma
The Hopi Connection to the Four Corners
October 13, Thursday, 7:00 p.m., Crow Canyon Archaeological Center

R.E. Burrillo
The Lens of History: Documenting Impacts to Archaeological Sites on Cedar Mesa Through Comparative Photography
October 22, Saturday, 2:00 p.m., Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum, Blanding (hosted by Friends of Cedar Mesa)

We hope you'll join us for all of these free programs! The full lecture series schedule can be found here.
 
This lecture series is generously sponsored by Mesa Verde Foundation, Mesa Verde Museum Association, and Mesa Verde National Park, as well as the Anasazi Heritage Center, ARAMARK Parks and Destinations, Bureau of Land Management, Cortez Cultural Center, Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum, Fort Lewis College Office of the President, Department of Anthropology, and Center of Southwest Studies, Friends of Cedar Mesa, Hisatsinom Chapter of the Colorado Archaeological Society, KSJD Dryland Community Radio and the Sunflower Theater, and the Southwest Colorado Canyons Alliance.
Celebrate 100 Years of the National Park Service with our Centennial Apparel
Show your love and support of the National Park Service with an NPS Centennial t-shirt and  hoody!  These garments are made of performance material that wicks perspiration away from skin, transporting moisture to the outside of the fabric where it evaporates, keeping you dry and comfortable.  

Click here to view our entire selection of NPS Centennial products as well as Mesa Verde 2016 tees celebrating our sister native culture parks! As always, members will receive a discount with the use of your discount code, and proceeds from your purchases support Mesa Verde National Park. 

Not a member yet? It's easy to join! Just click here or call us at 970-529-4445 for assistance.

Misplaced your member discount code? Just call or email us at info@mesaverde.org and we'll be happy to provide it to you!