Magdalena Village Hall.

 

The Village of Magdalena is trying to draw visitors in by plane, motorcycle and automobile, with a fly-in in August, a motorcycle poker run in September and a car show in October.

Magdalena Mayor Richard Rumpf is hopeful that upcoming fall events will bring tourists to the village and benefit local businesses.

The first of these events will be a fly-in Saturday, August 21 at the Magdalena Airport. The New Mexico Pilot’s Association will be holding their quarterly meeting there beginning at 8:30 a.m. The meeting is open to the public. Rumpf is hopeful the fly-in will generate more usage of the airport, which recently underwent some upgrades, including cutting down trees and refurbishing the pilot’s lounge after a water leak.

“We’re looking at people to maybe put some hangers in,” said Rumpf. “The more planes we have here, we get more money from the federal government to maintain the airport.”

Along with bringing in pilots, the airport also gets used for medical transfers by helicopter, said Rumpf, so more usage could benefit the community.

On September 25, there will be a motorcycle bike run through town, starting at 9 a.m. at the Magdalena Fire Station. The poker run will encourage motorcyclists to visit different businesses to put together a poker hand. Any money raised will go toward the Kid’s Science Café, an out of school science program for kids in Magdalena.

The second Magdalena Highway 60 Car Show will be October 16, beginning at 9 a.m. The first car show was held in 2019, but the show planned in 2020 was cancelled.

Tourism plays a big role in the historic village, said Rumpf. Although tourism dipped in 2020 with the pandemic, the village’s gross receipts tax and lodger’s tax still did well.

“There was a dip in tourism but people were shopping local,” said Rumpf. “They didn’t want to go to the big box stores. They didn’t want to be around that many people.”

 

Cathy Cook, El Defensor Chieftain