Kiwanis Club vows to address Zozobra complaints

From the Santa Fe New Mexican - by Chris Quintana - Members of the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe said they are the first to admit that this year’s Zozobra burning didn’t go as well as it could have. Ray Valdez, organizer of the annual Will Shuster’s Zozobra, and Raymond Sandoval, an attorney for the local Kiwanis Club, said they know the pacing of this year’s event, the Fire Dancers, the Judge, the wind delay and the music selections have ruffled Santa Fe’s collective feathers. Sandoval said the group is always honored to host the event, which requires a balance of new and old elements. The Kiwanis Club inherited the event from the late artist Will Shuster in 1964, and since then, the burning has attracted a much larger crowd, which naturally creates logistical issues for the organizers. And plenty of people are complaining about those issues. A blog on the Santa Fe Reporter’s site condemned the event for its high prices and the drawn-out performance. Moreover, Santa Fean Heather Burke has started a petition in favor of lowering the cost and making the event more family-friendly. Burke said she created the petition so she, and others like her, could voice a growing concern about Zozobra. Moreover, she said she chose to address the petition to Mayor David Coss because the Kiwanis Club is a private nonprofit. Burke said that after she found out about the $20 ticket cost this year, she wrote a letter to the Kiwanis Club and the mayor — and while she received a response from the mayor, she hasn’t heard from the club. She said she didn’t attend this year’s burning because of the price tag. Read more

Kiwanis Club vows to address Zozobra complaints