Twirl - Mornings on MainStreet

Special Guest Amber Vasquez discusses all things Twirl, what they do, and some of their programs and the importance of families in the community.

Mornings on MainStreet airs every third Thursday of the month on KNCE 93.5 True Taos Radio. This episode originally aired on March 19th, 2026.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Mornings on Main Street. This is season two, episode three. And today we are going to be talking about the importance of families downtown and on the plaza. Um, things are moving and shaking downtown, and before too long, uh, downtown Taos is going to be crawling with kids. But fear not, Taosenos, this is exactly what we want to see. Um, as we like to say here at Main Street, Taos Plaza, and our downtown is for everyone. So stay tuned. We'll introduce you to our guest and we'll get we'll get going here with Mornings on Main Street right here on 93.5 KNC.

SPEAKER_02 0:41

Really, the overall goal of the show is to help build the movement to really revitalize our downtown. Main Street Radio here on True Toast Radio. So the Main Street program was developed to start to address and really uh revitalize these historic downtowns and historic neighborhoods throughout the country.

SPEAKER_01 1:01

It is important to show folks that the historic downtowns district is very watchable and will enjoy the amenities that exist.

SPEAKER_03 1:26

Good morning once again here at 93.5 KNCE and to all of the listeners out there on the World Wide Web at trueTausradio.com. This is Mornings on Main Street. My name is Charles Whitson. I'm the director for Taos Main Street, and we come to you once a month, the third Thursday of every month, to do our show here, Mornings on Main Street. Um we like to we like to talk to people, uh businesses, act activities, events. We like to, we like to really focus on on the things that make our downtown uh a vibrant and exciting space for our community. Uh this uh month, we want to, we really do want to hone in on our first strategy. So if you remember from last month, we always talk about Main Street has to adopt several strategies to really help revitalize our downtown. Um those strategies are you know about vibrant civic space, they're about a diverse and dynamic and creative economy, and they're about responsible tourism in a community-focused district. So this month, we're really gonna hone in on that first strategy of vibrant civic space for our community. Um, we've identified in it, you know, over the years some real, really some key demographics that we want to make sure that we do a better job with attracting to our downtown. Um, we want to make sure that our downtown is welcoming and friendly and they have things to do. And one of those demographics is absolutely youth and families with kids. So we thought it would be a perfect fit to bring on our guest this month. Uh, our guest is Amber Vazquez. She runs the early childhood and play space programs for Twirl. Uh, she is also an instructor at the Tausmount Dance Academy, and she also works for the Paseo project. So she does, she does quite a bit. Um, but we're thrilled to have her on this morning to have this conversation with her. Amber, welcome to Mornings on Main Street.

SPEAKER_00 3:18

Good morning.

SPEAKER_03 3:20

Excellent. So um as we get going here, we always like to start with a question for our guests. Now, Amber spends a good amount of time working downtown. So um we have to we have to preface this question just you know by saying um going to work doesn't count. But um what is what was the last uh one of the last things you did downtown that wasn't going to work? And what's one of your favorite recent memories of of our downtown?

SPEAKER_00 3:50

Um oh boy, okay. So I do spend a lot of time working, so that makes it really hard. But um I think just being downtown every day drinking coffee in the plaza, watching the interactions of locals and visitors and children is one of my favorite things, people watching in the in the plaza. Um it's always an interesting scene down there. You never know what's going to be happening. Someone's playing a guitar or somebody's, you know, dancing, or it's fun. I love being down there. Um and then a favorite memory there are so many things that happen downtown. I mean, we've got the paseo and the Halloween festivals and fiestas, but the simplest one is the one that really sticks with me, and that is watching on a random Thursday a bunch of kids come out and do some Christmas caroling. I think it was first and second graders from Taus Charter. And they were just, they wanted to go sing for the community. And this was a space where they felt like they belonged and they felt like they would see their community, and that's where they went and they sang Christmas carols, and it was so cute. And it really made me realize that we have this amazing space that our kids feel like they belong.

SPEAKER_03 5:21

Oh, I love that. I love that. And and you know, I think I think for the general activity and the vibe of of downtown, you you have stuff like that needs to happen randomly and and frequently. Um, so we we certainly, you know, want to do our best to kind of help support more things like that continuing to happen in our in our downtown. So again, today's the thrust of today's conversation is going to be talking about the importance of families and kids in our downtown. Um we're gonna wrap, we're gonna finish off today's show with talking about a really cool new event that Amber and Twirl are doing that's really gonna be focused on kids in our downtown. But I wanted to throw just a couple of fun facts out there about kids in Taos now. Arsenio helped kind of pull some of this data together. Um, I think some of it comes from the 2020 census. But, you know, here we go. So we know that there are there are approximately 2,500 kids under the age of 13 in Taos County. Um, there are 18 elementary schools in Taos County, which seems like way more than when I grew up here for sure. Um, that includes 10 public elementaries, seven charter schools, and one school under the Bureau of Indian Education. There are three uh Head Start programs in Taos County. However, there are plenty of private and stay-at-home and other daycare options for kids. Um something really cool that I'm thrilled to see New Mexico leading the way on. Um free universal childcare has begun in New Mexico. Um, the first state in the U.S. to guarantee no cost childcare, and it's now fully in effect uh statewide. And and another uh little tidbit that we that we found here was that Twirl was actually named one of the top 15 spots for kids in the US by a CNN poll in 2014. Were you were you with Twirl back back then?

SPEAKER_00 7:14

I was. I have been there longer than I care to admit.

SPEAKER_03 7:18

Do you remember this? I do, yeah. Very cool.

SPEAKER_00 7:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:22

So yeah, that was kind of one of those things as we were looking stuff up. We were like, oh, that's that's really cool. I didn't I didn't realize that that twirl had some some national profile.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

Yeah, I know. It's actually really fun to be there all the time because people come in from all over the world, all over the country, and they always say, I wish we had something like this back home. So it's pretty cool that in our little town of Taos, we have something that really inspires people all over the country.

SPEAKER_03 7:51

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. A very, very unique space. My kids have have grown a little uh a little out of twirl, but I mean, there was a point in their lives where I mean, sometimes we had to like um consciously not drive past twirl um because then it was like, oh, twirl, the playground. We need we we need to go there right now.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 8:14

So uh moving on, um there's uh, you know, one of the things that we're excited about with Taos Main Street is is some of the improvements that they're actually making on the plaza. Now I know that they recently have broken ground again, and we want to say, like, hey, let's let's not panic. Most things aren't really going anywhere. They're really just making some improvements to things that already happened. And one of the things uh that the county was really, really passionate about when they decided to to make these improvements to the plaza was let's make sure that we we make improvements that are friendly to people. Like the the purpose of the plaza is it it is a civic space for everyone. And we want it to be more than just a backdrop for tourists to come and take a picture. We really want it to be programmed, we want it to be lively, we want music, we want kids' activities, we want all the things uh possible happening in that plaza. Um, so you know, I think our downtown has has probably gone through quite a few iterations of maybe maybe being a little more community and family friendly, and maybe not being not as family friendly. One of the things that uh growing up here, of course, that I always remember was um the pool. Before the Youth and Family Center was built, we had the pool um at Don Fernando Hall, which is where uh the current town council chambers are. For those of you who are newer to our community, um, but I'm sure those of you who have been here a while remember that's that's where the pool used to be. And so that was a huge attraction in itself, right? You have the community pool right in the middle of downtown that gives people from all over the county a reason to kind of come to our downtown, bring the kids to the pool. And then, you know, one of the things that happens as an outcome of that a lot of the time is that when you're downtown, when you're close to stuff, when you can just walk over to a restaurant or a coffee shop, like that really facilitates like commerce. So the more time that and the more reasons we give our community to spend in our downtown, the better it is for the the the economics of downtown. Um Amber, what real, you know, real talk, real assessment here. What what is your assessment on how family friendly and kids friendly our downtown is currently?

SPEAKER_00 10:45

Uh I definitely think it's getting better. Um you know, I think one of the misconceptions from our local community is that there's nothing to do downtown for kids or families. And there is so much going on. And um, you know, the more we're able to shed light on what's happening downtown for kids and families, the more we're able to get our families out into the downtown area and build memories and um you know, interact with it, the better it'll be because those memories move forward with these kids. The kids grow up, they have these wonderful memories of being downtown touse and um they come back as adults and they want to take care of that. They want to build on that, they want to create new memories with their families, and they want to respect that history. So I think um for me bringing families out and finding ways to engage families in this area is super important.

SPEAKER_03 11:59

Absolutely. Uh love that speaking you speak in main main street language there, and maybe maybe don't even know it. Um that's that that's a beautiful point. Um, and I think oftentimes you're you're right on the money in that that sometimes there's a perception, right? That that there's nothing nothing going on, there's nothing for for for kids and families to do down there, but there actually is. You know, obviously we've got twirl, the play space, all of the programming that comes with twirl. Um, we don't have the pool anymore, but we have we have Red Willow Park. Um, you know, we have Little League. When when Little League is happening, it's like there's a huge influx of of kids and families in our downtown. Um, we have all kinds of stuff that happens at the TCA just what, two weekends ago, there was Night of a Thousand Stars, which was just like packed and flooded with kids, kids and families in in our downtown area. Are there any other things that I haven't mentioned that that people should start to realize, hey, that that actually is in our downtown, and that is for kids and families.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

Oh my gosh, there are so many. And at the risk of talking about kids girl, um I have a whole list. Should I go through that?

SPEAKER_03 13:13

Yeah, tell us. Tell us. I think again, let's let's break that perception down a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 13:18

Yeah, okay. So, of course, there's Toral, which is a nonprofit organization that has free programming. I'm gonna plug us really quick. Uh, free classes, programs, um, events, family activities. Every single day we have a beautiful playground, um, and it's all free and it's all there for our community to use. Uh, we have Imagine Museum, which is such an amazing space for kids. It's just all literally imagination and creativity. Um, the Harwood has programming. They often have free entrance to locals. They have art activities and programs that they do. The Taos Public Library, and they have all their morning uh story times and they have events. Um there's also, of course, the stores like Taos Rockers and Chocolat and Amina's children's store that has so many fun things for kids. Uh, we also have tons of restaurants downtown that cater to children. Of course, we have you know, ice cream and chocolate that you can't easily pass up. Uh and then the TCA, which is just man, they are the busiest people I know. They are just bringing out all kinds of things all the time. They've got the film fest coming up, they've got all kinds of events and music, and I don't know, you just can always find something fun to do. And then our beautiful park, which also has all the summer music programming. Um, and then we just have our our everyday day events that happen in the plaza. And that's the town doing things, that's different organizations having their festivals. Uh, so I feel like you can always find something to do on a weekday, on a weekend um with your family in the plaza.

SPEAKER_03 15:23

Yeah, that's great. And and and that's that's really what we want to see. I mean, you know, one of one of the sort of the basic the basic tenants, you know, out of out of Main Street is that at the end of the day, people attract people. And so if if there's not many people in your downtown, if it doesn't feel lively and vibrant, like there's lots of people in there, um, that's that's usually detrimental to attracting more people. You know, people don't tend to to stop in areas where there isn't really anybody around. But when they see people around, you know, that often kind of lends uh leads to a sense of curiosity. Oh, what's happening here? Maybe we should stop and get out and and check that out. Um, so it's it's critical for for a downtown and its its community purpose and its economy to really be feel vibrant and lively um as often as possible.

SPEAKER_00 16:16

And that's what makes bringing families into downtown so important because families bring that energy and they bring each other and they bring community. And I think that's you know, that's super important.

SPEAKER_03 16:30

Absolutely. Absolutely. And, you know, one again, one reason we're super excited about the actual uh infrastructure improvements that they're making on the plaza itself is that those were are really trying to focus on making it more more friendly to people just in general when there aren't activities going on. Uh, some some shade, some seating, um, just a more friendly space for people to to spend uh to spend just normal time drinking coffee or or talking with with friends, colleagues, having an outside meeting, those kind of things. But really also with the expansion of uh the refurbishment of the gazebo, the uh expansion of the the bandstand on the gazebo, a complete overhaul of the electrical systems on the gazebo and uh a new roof and and and new uh new accessibility, um, it's really going to make the gazebo like an amazing place for events, activities, for performances. And that's something that we're really uh hoping to see as a result of of this major infrastructure investment is like, is will it lead to more activities, events? Will people say, hey, you know, we were thinking of doing this thing, we weren't really thinking about doing it on the plaza, but now maybe that is the spot. So we want to see we want to see the plaza once again return to um you know, return to one of the best venues in town for for activities and events.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

Absolutely. And I think one of my favorite things that has happened with all this construction is the accessibility has really improved. Adding ramps in, making the ground nice and flat and even, you know, it it makes it so much easier for folks who need a steady surface and uh who can't go up and down the stairs.

SPEAKER_03 18:25

Yeah, absolutely. I think that and that's a big part of things too, is you want to make sure that everybody, everybody can access those spaces. That's critical for for families and people of of all ages. Um, we're gonna take a quick, a quick brick station break here, and then we're gonna come back with more mornings on Main Street and talking about uh the importance of families and kids on on our plaza. Good morning. We are back again with mornings on Main Street. You are listening to 93.5 KNCE and streaming on the World Wide Web at trueTouseRadio.com. My name is Charles. I'm here with Amber Vasquez from Twirl from Taos Mountain Dance Academy from the Paseo project, and we're talking about the importance of families in our downtown. Um, I wanted to go back. We we just left off on kind of this important series of infrastructure improvements that are currently happening on on our plaza. Um, there is uh I want to offer just a few details um on some of those those improvements that the the county is planning on making. Um they did break ground, I'm sure people have already seen. And I want to say don't don't panic. Um, this the county has hired a very good construction company. They were the same company, uh RN RM construction that did the gazebo refurbish refurbishment. Um they were able to really stick on a tight timeline and complete phase two of the project, you know, between roughly August and November of last year. So this early uh sort of early spring summer that we're experiencing has enabled them to break ground almost a full month early. And they are planning on being complete in June. So um they are going to be fully redoing the perimeter sidewalks of the interior plaza, um, making sure again to like strengthen accessibility points, making sure that anybody that may have a mobility challenge can easily kind of access the center of the plaza. Um there's gonna be new lighting uh for safety and beautification. There's gonna be new crosswalks again to increase accessibility and safety. Um the areas of the hardscape or the brick surface that that haven't been redone yet are gonna be fully redone, leveled out, so we don't have any of that un uneven ground and tripping hazards. Um there is gonna be some uh uh a a how how how can I say this? Um some some uh removable shade structures that they're going to put in for those evening summertime events when the sun is in the west of the sky and it's really hard to kind of see any performances on the gazebo. Um there's a mobile shade structure that they'll be able to take in and out that they that they're gonna work on installing. They're reducing the footprint of the Veterans Memorial. The Veterans Memorial is not going away. Please, please again don't panic as you see them working in that area. It's really again about accessibility, making sure that people can actually get up, can experience the the uh the veterans memorial up close while reducing some of its overall footprint. So some of the walls um that that are that are in rough shape on the plaza, some of those are coming out, some of them will get refurbished. But overall, the idea is it's going to be a much more friendly, uh, friendly, inclusive space for for everyone. Um, I did want to talk, go back to our our kids and family um conversation and I don't I don't want to say what the next the next piece to be overly reductive about about um marketing or economics, but I think that that kids attracting kids and families to your downtown actually makes a huge amount of economic sense. Um there's a reason why most of the biggest companies in the world really focus in on that 25 to 49 demographic. Anybody who's taken a marketing class probably knows about this demographic. Um, but it tends to be the demographic where people have kids. Um, people are in the heights of their careers, they tend to have some of the highest level of purchasing power. Um, they're making sort of bigger uh life purchases during during that time. And, you know, again, that's that's the most common demographic for people who have kids, and they're always looking for things to do with their kids. Now, something that that I've certainly observed um over time, you know, in in my role as Main Street, is that you know, this perception of lack of opportunity or things for kids to do in our downtown, um, it really shortens the amount of time that people spend there. Um and you, you know, once you realize, hey, if people spend less time in our downtown, that means they're probably spending less money there too. Um, so a lot of times, like even with the visitor economy, for example, um, we see people come, they take a lap around the plaza, they're sort of wondering, well, what else is there? Where else should I go? Um, and you know, if you have young kids, you know, right, Miss Amber, that you have a limited amount of time for to take your kids into shops with before they start sort of losing interest and and wanting to do something else. So, you know, having things for kids to do in our downtown really means that, like, hey, look at look at this cool playground at Twirl. Like, maybe maybe dad and the kids can can hang out for her a little bit here for a little bit, and mom can go actually spend a little time in some of those shops she saw that she really wants to to visit. But it's hard to visit when you have a two and a three-year-old. Um so what from your perspective at Twirl, what do you like, how do you s how do you guys kind of see that that economic impact that families, families bring to our downtown?

SPEAKER_00 24:32

Yeah, I think that's I mean, we see it very clearly because we have the playground. So yes, we get dads and uh or one of the partners hanging out while the kids all go crazy in the playground. And uh, and then the other partners out having a great time shopping, which is awesome. Um one of the things that we field a lot at twirl is talking about restaurants in the area, because oftentimes they're wondering where to take the kids to get something to eat. So we know all the restaurants very well, and we are always recommending them to go places. Um, eating in the plaza is a huge, huge economic piece, I think. Um, whether that be snacks, something quick, coffee, or full meals, people are always looking for places to eat, which um which is fun. Uh and then I think the other piece is just moms, moms and dads going out and getting that little piece of touse to take home with them. Um so yeah, that's what we see the most.

SPEAKER_03 25:47

Yeah, absolutely. And you know, I can I can kind of think of it too. And again, if we're giving them more, more time to spend in our downtown, that that may translate into multiple snacks and meals if they're able to spend an a full afternoon or maybe even a day in our downtown, as opposed to a couple hours. Maybe they get one meal in and then they kind of move on and do something else. But if there's enough for a family to do downtown, that turns into a day. And they're so then there's multiple snacks, multiple coffees, maybe lunch and dinner, or breakfast and and lunch. So I think again, like we're not trying to be reductive here, but it's there's a lot of real economic sense to making sure that there are lots for families and kids to do in your downtown. So, Amber, tell me, in in your time with Twirl, um, and you you said you you've certainly been there uh longer than you care to admit, have you seen what's what's your assessment on on change you've seen for for our downtown being uh family friendly? Have have you seen you said free previously that you've seen it sort of get better? It can you can you articulate like what are some of the ways maybe you've seen it get better and are there any like larger community dynamics that contributed to it either being better or less friendly for families?

SPEAKER_00 27:22

Yeah, I definitely have seen it get better. I think a huge driver of that is the town. Um, and the town having their events there. Um having the the music, I can't think of the Thursday music during the summer uh is incredibly fun. It brings the community out, it brings out the families. Uh having that gone for a while was really sad. And I think um whenever there's big events like that, it really pulls the community together in a really beautiful historical space. Um but even aside from the big events, just seeing the different schools that are around there walk their class and have lunch in the plaza or um, you know, stopping to hear a busker playing his guitar. It just creates this safe space for our community to feel like they belong there, feel like it is partially theirs, um, and and want to hang out and be together there. That that community building piece is so important. And it's important for our community to feel like they can go somewhere commune and understand each other. And so that's what I've really seen grow over the few years is um is just this willingness to be part of the community specifically there in the plaza and downtown.

SPEAKER_03 29:10

Yeah. So, you know, you you guys really get maybe one of the most accurate snapshots of of this dynamic um with your position at Twirl. And so maybe, maybe let's take this in two parts. Let's let's let's kind of answer this question for for visitors and then for residents of our community. I mean, what what are you guys seeing is one of the main uh motivations for for parents or grandparents to kind of bring the young ones down to Twirl and down to the plaza area?

SPEAKER_00 29:43

Um I think if initially for locals they come because it's something to do with their little ones. Um you know, we we do have our giant playground, we have classes, we have events, and so they come specifically for that. But in coming to Twirl, uh it becomes this, as you say, full day downtown because they're gonna go see a movie or they're gonna go grab lunch. And um they just they come often to my class and we do our singing class or our dancing class there at Twirl. And then I hear all the moms and grandparents and caretakers talking about, oh, where we're gonna go to lunch, and then we'll come back and play at Twirl, and then we'll go grab a coffee, you know. So they're planning out their day, and I can really see how being downtown is so helpful uh for these families. The other thing that happens that's really interesting is especially for new parents, they don't know any other parents. You know, this is the first time they've had kids, and so they meet each other there on our campus and they start creating a new community that is supportive to them. And that little community grows together. And it's really fun to see how they take over downtown themselves and what they do down there.

SPEAKER_03 31:19

Yeah, that's great. I can certainly speak to when when my two were were young. Um meeting meeting other parents with kids who are who had kids that in the same age range as yours was really was really great. You know, you you made friends like that, your kids made friends like that. All of a sudden you're exchanging numbers and saying, hey, let's our kids seem to like each other. Let's let's get them together again or come back to the same place. Um so that's that's great. I mean, and that's that's like sort of basic community building stuff that maybe we don't think about as as you know as as the real intention, but it's kind of like this outcome that's happening organically.

SPEAKER_00 32:00

And an essential, you know, you you need that community and you don't know it until you're in the in the thick of it. And then suddenly you're you're wondering, where do you where do you find other people with kids? You know, and hopefully downtown is where to go.

SPEAKER_03 32:17

Yeah, absolutely. So um at Twirl, are you guys what are you guys seeing? Um, do you have specific uh specific demographics that you guys are are sort of maybe maybe focusing on at this point, saying, hey, you know, we we really want to see more of you know these community members, you know, coming. And here's how we're sort of thinking about that and trying to do that. Do you are you guys thinking about those type of things?

SPEAKER_00 32:47

For sure. Um, and our focus is zero to 12 years old. So we're really interested in school age kids and their families. Um, we really do, I mean, I have a special focus on zero to eight-year-olds, so very young children. Um, and we're always trying to figure out how do we speak to these communities? How do we speak to our community as a whole and give them a place to be? A lot of people don't realize we are a nonprofit. So we do have a toy store, but all that is a mission-driven toy store. It's only educational uh toy products, and all the money that we make goes back into the programming. So it supports our programming. And that programming is hopefully as free or as low cost as we can possibly make it so that our community can access it. Um, and that is one of the ways that we're trying to reach out to our community as a whole. We realize and recognize that there are limitations as far as transportation goes. Um, so we do a ton of programming out in the community away from our campus. Um, again, trying to make that free or as accessible as possible. But but yeah, I mean, it's always a trick for every organization to reach out to the whole community, but we are trying.

SPEAKER_03 34:24

Absolutely. I, you know, I feel like, you know, community, community engagement really, you know, in the nonprofit sector, you know, is is really central to most of the mission. Um, you know, it's it's easy to kind of say that like, hey, this is uh, you know, we we have these community engagement like activities that we do, but really it's something that it's like it's just an ongoing effort, you know. Like you've I don't think you can ever truly say, like, oh, well, we solved, we solved community engagement for our organization. It's just like this ongoing sort of practice and ethos, certainly for us at Main Street. And I would imagine it's similar for for you at Twirl.

SPEAKER_00 35:06

Yeah, and it's a changing landscape. I mean, we have new people moving in all the time, and it just it changes what our community looks like. So you always just have to have your eyes open and be aware of what's happening.

SPEAKER_03 35:20

Absolutely. So give us give us an example of of some of the stuff um that you guys kind of are are maybe have done in the past or looking to do here in the future that is kind of you know getting getting outside of the downtown and working on that community engagement piece from from Twirl's perspective.

SPEAKER_00 35:40

Yeah. So I'll tell you about one of my programs. It's called um uh wordplay. What is it called? I don't remember. Uh it's called Wordplay. And it is a place-based literacy and STEAM program for early childhood. STEAM is teaching science, technology, math, engineering, and art. Um, and I do that. I go into the classroom and I will tell a story. Uh, I do it through music, theater, and dance, of course. So I'll tell a story, I'll make the kids sing with me, I'll make them dance. But the whole thing is about asequias, or the whole thing is about, you know, uh plant life here in northern New Mexico. And so it's very science and literacy based, but we are we're learning through fun and play. And that's what Twirl does best. Um, it's always also we try really hard to make our programs bilingual. Um, so bringing in the cultural piece and bringing in the language piece is super important. We bring our programs to every single school in Taos County. And sometimes that is working with all those 2,500 kids that you mentioned earlier. Uh, we we visit a lot of kids in a lot of classrooms.

SPEAKER_03 37:08

Yeah, that's great. Um, love, love that. And yeah, I mean, what a what a what a a brilliant approach. And I mean, I think I think anybody that has kids has probably come to the realization, you know, if if there's some way to have to have fun, um, kids will absolutely just soak anything up, you know. Um, and even, you know, mine are mine are about team, you know, I have a teenager and a soon-to-be teenager, and it still kind of applies to them in some ways. Like if you there's something fun, then they are like, hey, I I don't mind learning and something new and cool if there's if there's something fun associated with it.

SPEAKER_00 37:47

Oh, for sure. And I I mean, actually being a teacher of one of your children, uh, I know that play is such a motivator, but not just for kids. I mean, play is a motivator for adults too. Who wants to sit in a stuffy meeting? You know, we we are built to be active and move and learn through play. And I don't know. I I think that's just important for all of us as humans.

SPEAKER_03 38:15

Yeah, well said, well said. So uh we are we are here mornings on Main Street. We're gonna take a quick break, and when we come back, we're gonna really dive into to this new activity, uh, kids crawl. So so stay tuned. We'll we'll be right back. Welcome back. Uh this is Mornings on Main Street. I'm Charles in studio with Amber Vasquez from Twirl, Taos Mountain Dance Academy, and the Paseo project. You're listening to 93.5 K N C E streaming worldwide on TrueTauseRadio.com. We want to finish this final, uh, this final segment of the show this morning, really talking about something new and exciting that we we are thrilled about when uh when Miss Amber came and talked to us about the idea. Um we are try we are partnering with with Twirl to to help be a part of this and to make this happen. Um, but it's a new uh kids crawl that's happening in our downtown. So Amber, why don't you just, you know, tell us first about sort of the idea, how you guys came up with it and and where we are, what it looks like. Just just give us give us everything.

SPEAKER_00 39:23

Okay. Charles, I am so excited about this. And I think uh, hey, out there, Taoist community, you guys are gonna be excited too. Um, part of my job is talking to the community and collaborating and with projects. And as I was doing this last year, I realized how much cool stuff is happening downtown, how many cool events and family-oriented things are going on. And so I started talking to folks about we should all do it on the same day. Wouldn't that be cool? And we have just families go from event to event to event, and uh it grew legs really quickly. I think it's gonna be so fun. We're calling it the kids' crawl, and we're hoping that kids and families come out, take over downtown full of play and activity. Um, we've got 13 partners right now who are all gonna be doing hands-on activities for families, for young children. This is happening April 25th from noon to four. Um, everything will start off at twirl. They'll make a little passport there at twirl, and this passport will take them to all the cool locations and hands-on activities that are happening downtown during this time. They get a stamp every time they they do an activity and they have a chance to win prizes everywhere, which is always fun.

SPEAKER_03 41:00

Um very motivating, right?

SPEAKER_00 41:03

Always. Um, we're partnering with Imagine Children's Museum, the Harwood, the Taos Public Library. Of course, Main Street will be doing a dance party in the plaza. Uh, we will be partnering with Taos Rockers, Chakala will be doing hands-on activity, Amina's Children's Store, the Field Institute will activate uh the Red Willow Park with games. We'll be working with Legacy Cafe and Cafe Sagrado. Um, and then the whole thing will culminate at the TCA for the Taos Films Fest. And they've put together a special kids' block just for this event, which will utilize films for kids and also films that were made by kids in our community. So that whole thing runs from noon to four. It's kind of a come as you wish, participate in as much or as little as you want, but come downtown and take over with us because we're really excited about bringing play and fun to downtown.

SPEAKER_03 42:16

Yeah. See, uh, I love that. And um, you know, we I've we've certainly seen, you know, and I've seen in other places, you know, this idea of kind of a downtown crawl. And it can have sort of a unique theme. It can be focused on more adult style activities or or young adult style activities. But to have one that's like really focused in on kids, I think is is really, really exciting. And I think it's just it's it's amazing it's an amazing example of the way um the way that our community will come together, you know, when when they're and coalesce around an idea. I mean, when you guys first told us about this, I mean, we sort of didn't even really need to know exactly what it was to just immediately be like, count us in. Like, I don't know what what that means yet, but like we want to be involved. And it sounds like a lot of these other organizations, it was it's just like really easy to say, oh, great, like we're already doing stuff like this. Absolutely, we can plan on on doing it on a specific day and making it part of like a larger, a larger and broader activity in our downtown.

SPEAKER_00 43:29

Yeah. And you know, I think it speaks to our community too, that all these really amazing independent organizations are just, they just want to work together. We just want to be, you know, a community for our families. And I think that's really exciting.

SPEAKER_03 43:46

Yeah. So again, the idea behind the crawl is that you know, they'll they'll have sort of a starting place, right? Twirl, we're starting, you're starting at twirl, and then there's gonna be all of these different locations. Throughout our downtown, where you're going to be able to visit, participate in an activity. You know, if you see something that that you like or you're hungry along the way, like there's going to be plenty of places to stop for for food and drink. Um, and the idea is to, again, you know, it's to really get people circulating in the downtown, which is, I mean, you know, if if we could have stuff like that happening all the time, I think I think the dynamics of our downtown would shift in a way that people probably can't quite envision. But this is this is an amazing, like, new new activity, new idea. Um what uh like what what else what else should people know about this?

SPEAKER_00 44:46

Um, you know, we're still in the planning stages. And because it's the first one, we're not even quite sure what we should know. But I think it'll be really interesting. I mean, how many of our young people in Taos County have never been to a museum or have never been into the library? And I think this is an opportunity to check out these spaces and get familiar with them, get a library card, um, you know, check out some of our restaurants downtown and and really just get a feel for what it's what it's like downtown. There's so many cool things to do and just come down, get familiar with all that's available.

SPEAKER_03 45:32

Yeah, absolutely. Um obviously this this this is uh an activity that's that's totally free, correct? Like you you don't have to spend uh any money if you don't want to to come and engage with this. Um what tell us tell us about the date, the date and time again.

SPEAKER_00 45:51

Yes, now I need to look at notes. Hold on. So we are April 25th, 12 to 4. 12 o'clock, it begins at twirl and then at 4 o'clock or 3:30-ish, it'll wrap up at the TCA with the TAS Film Fest. Um, and really the in-between is is up to your imagination. You can do the rest of it as you see fit.

SPEAKER_03 46:17

Yeah. You know, another thing that I really like too is I like that, you know, that this is something, you know, typically April is kind of considered shoulder season, you know, in in our downtown. So I think I think it's really, really great that we have folks out there who are saying, like, hey, you know, we know we have lots of stuff that happens, you know, in the May to October window. Um, but what about what about a little before that? You know, what about during some of this time that's kind of we typically don't have a lot of visitors, there's not tons of people downtown anyway during that time. And I think I think that's a really smart, uh, a really smart way to really demonstrate to the community that it's like, hey, there are lots of things that we are intentionally planning and directing for you. Like, again, like this isn't just something, you know, visitors, they're welcome too. But like, we're not intentionally saying like we're doing this to bring more visitors to town. We're saying we're we're doing this for the people who live here, for the families who live in towns.

SPEAKER_00 47:26

Exactly. Yeah, we are really hoping that our community comes, you know, and and of course we always welcome visitors, but yeah, these are our people here.

SPEAKER_03 47:37

Absolutely. So again, you you heard it here, uh, kids crawl, amazing new uh new event and activity going on in downtown Taos April 25th, correct? That's a Saturday from noon to four, happening all over downtown. You start at Twirl, you end up at the at the kid at the film fest at the TCA. Um, sounds like an awesome time. And you know, I it is a kids crawl, but it's like this sounds pretty fun to me too, as an adult. Yes. So uh uh we love everything about it. We'll certainly be uh partnering with this amazing group of organizations to help uh help promote this event. If if people want to find out more about this, where where's the best place for them to go right now?

SPEAKER_00 48:23

Yeah, so the best place is uh the twirl website. It's twirltous.org. Um and we are getting all of our partners up there right now. So yeah, come check us out.

SPEAKER_03 48:37

Good, good. We'll we'll also be helping with the general promotion of this event too. Um, you guys will have it up on social media, I assume, too. So if people want to follow Twirl on social media, where can they find you?

SPEAKER_00 48:50

Um, we are Twirl i on Instagram and TwirlTouse on Facebook.

SPEAKER_03 48:56

Great. So make make sure to to follow them uh on social media as well, check out their website to find out more. Uh, you can also find out uh, you know, as as this moves forward, you can find out stuff about this on tausmainstreet.com as well. Um, and you can find us on social media uh at Taos at Taus Main Street on both Instagram and Facebook. So to kind of conclude our our section here, we like to we like to kind of start with a question for our guest and end with a question for our guest. So our our ending question is really about, you know, if you um, you know, like a vision from from you, like if you if our downtown continues to to grow and engage the community more and be more friendly uh towards towards families and kids, like what are what are some of the things that you'd really like to see in the future for our downtown to really ensure that it continues to be welcoming, inviting to families and kids. Um you can think big here too.

SPEAKER_00 50:00

Gosh, I think I mean when I think vision, what I would love is for families to just automatically think of that as a place to go. Um, you know, right now it's it's like, oh, we're gonna take the family to bowling or take the family, but how cool would it be to say, hey, let's go spend the afternoon in the plaza and we'll do all the things that happen there. You know, it's I think that is something to aspire to is just make it the place to go for our community. Um and what that means, I'm not sure. Uh having things for for families to interact with, for families to see, for families to do. Um I think we're we're well on our way there. I think it's just bringing awareness to what is happening.

SPEAKER_03 50:58

Awesome. I love that. I love that vision. And what always amazes me is like how how much alignment there is sort of just across sectors in our community around a vision like that for our downtown. I think I think we really are on the same page more often than we're not. And I think a lot of people like want the best for our downtown. They want the best for our community. Um, and I think this this vision of of more community and more things for families um and and people of all ages to do in our downtown really helps advance that vision. So we know that that that's not easy work, but we're gonna continue to work on that as Main Street, and we're gonna continue to work with partners like Twirl and all the amazing organizations who really, who really are the ones who have the boots on the ground and are really making, we're already making our downtown a vibrant and inviting civic space for our entire community. So uh I think that's a great place to close. Um, I want to really thank uh Amber Vasquez again for taking some time to come and join us on Mornings, uh Mornings on Main Street this morning. Um we're thankful, thankful to K and C E and all of their technical support from their staff. Always thankful to Howie helping us kind of get started and get rolling here in the morning. Um make sure you join us next month. Remember, Mornings on Main Street happens every month, third Thursday, 9 a.m., where we'll be talking to a new, a new guest with a new topic. And again, the show is really about kind of exploring topics, exploring uh, you know, talking with people, talking about projects, talking with organizations and businesses, all the folks that really contribute to our downtown being the vibrant uh civic space that it is. Uh it's 9 55. We're I we're done done for the day. So again, uh, thank you again for listening and join us next month, the third Thursday, for Mornings on Main Street again. Thank you, and we'll see you next time.