(Mountainair, New Mexico, Feb. 4, 2020) – February speakers for the Fifth Annual Winter Lecture Series sponsored by Salinas Pueblo Missions National, Western National Parks Association and the Manzano Mountain Art Council include historians sharing vintage photographs of Belen and churches, and discussion about Mountainair’s Shaffer Hotel and its purported paranormal activity. The lectures are all scheduled at 1 p.m. on three consecutive Saturdays, Feb. 15, 22 and 29.

Belen in photos – is the topic of the lecture Saturday, Feb. 15. Historian of the Belen Harvey House Museum Jim Sloan will share his collection of vintage photographs. A member of the Belen Historic Review Board, the Valencia County Historical Society board of directors, and the administrator of a popular Facebook group called ‘Belen Memories’, Sloan is a great resource for local authors.

Catholic Churches in New Mexico is the focus of the lecture Saturday, Feb. 22, with David Policansky. He and his wife Sheila split their time between New Mexico and Cape Cod in Massachusetts. With a Ph.D. in biology from the University of Oregon, Policansky taught biology and worked as a staff officer and scholar at the National Academy of Sciences. He began photographing churches in 2005.

The Sloan lecture Feb. 15, and the Policansky lecture Feb. 22 will be held at the Manzano Mountain Art Council headquarters at 101 E. Broadway in Mountainair, at the intersection of Highways 55 & 60.

The Shaffer Hotel in Mountainair is the setting for the lecture Saturday, Feb. 29, with Dixie Boyle and Donna Deiner when the discussion will be about the Hotel and its reputation for paranormal activity. Both former teachers, Boyle and Deiner present living history programs for museums, historical societies, libraries and other organizations. They became involved in living history while working as Park Guides for Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. Please make reservations for the lunch special at the Shaffer, (505) 847-2888.