"2026 HONOREE LUNCHEON
MAY 3RD, 2026 - NOON

Sagebrush Inn Convention Center - Taos, NM

HONOREE:
Professor Emeritus Deacon
LARRY TORRES

Professor Emeritus, Deacon Larry Torres
A native of Taos, New Mexico, where he was born in 1954. He has taught all levels of education and retired after 43 years in the classroom. He was professor of French, Russian, Spanish, Latin, Italian and Bilingual Education and retired from both Taos High School and UNM-Taos in 2018. Furthermore, he was a founding father of the School for International Studies in Memphis, Tennessee.
In addition to a teaching career, and garnering various local, state, and national accolades, Larry Torres has published over four thousand articles in newspapers and magazines on many aspects of New Mexican Culture and Religion. His most recent novels include various bilingual books like: Los Matachines Unmasked, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, In the Footsteps of the Hermit, The Children the Blue Nun, Journal of a Cowboy, The Boy who Never Was, Swamp Creatures of the Hispanic Southwest, and La Martinada, The Life and Death of Padre Martínez.
He was ordained to the Permanent Diaconate by Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, in June of 2014. He has been an active Deacon of the Church of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe in Taos for the last two years.

Guest Speaker: Andy Torres
I was born and raised in Arroyo Seco. I grew up on my parent’s ranch where we raised sheep, cattle, horses, pigs and chickens. We had to milk two cows every morning before going to school plus take turns walking a mile each way, morning and evening, to open the corral gate in the morning and close or lock up the sheep in the evening. From the age of 13 to the age of 19, I worked evening at the Casa Cordova restaurant as a waiter.
After high school, I attended NMSU where I received a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education with a minor in Spanish. I was recruited to work on my MA at NMSU while traveling to Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico to supervise student teachers. Half way while working on my Masters Degree, I was offered a job teaching fifth grade at Penasco Elementary School in the fall of 1983. I taught a total of 7and a half years. I was appointed as Bilingual Director for two years and then promoted to Elementary School Principal. I left the Penasco Schools after twelve years. I ended up working as Middle School Assistant Principal for two years in the Pojoaque School System and climbed the ladder of success rather quickly. I was Director of Bilingual and Federal Programs for another two years; Associate Superintend for two years and Superintendent for one year. I then applied for the Superintendency in Penasco where I served for two years. I was then offered the superintendency in the Mesa Vista School system where I served for three years. I then returned to the Pojoaque School District where I finished off my profession as Assistant Principal for a year and a half. With 25.5 years behind me, I retired. I now do a lot of volunteer work at my granddaughter’s school, serving the catholic church choir, through the Knights of Columbus and the Morada.

LUNCHEON RESERVATIONS

$40.00 - $45.00

Buy now

TCHS Lectures are Free to Members
and available to the general public for a requested $5.00 Donation

Admission is "1st Come, 1st Served" to the Maximum Capacity of "80".
(Capacity is mandated by the Town of Taos Fire Department)



The Taos County Historical Society is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1952 and dedicated to the recording and preserving of the irreplaceable in Taos County.
Membership is open to anyone upon payment of dues.
For additional information on the programs, activities and history of Taos visit the Society's website at www.taoscountyhistoricalsociety.org

The Society encourages support through membership.
 

AYER Y HOY
2025 Winter
Issue #59

Browse the Ayer Y Hoy's Winter 2025 issue:

•An Electric Coop Changed Taos
by Michael Miller

• Restoring The Vigil House & Torreon
by Gail Wendorf

• New Mexico Historic Churches
by Frank Graziano

• Who Was Walter Willard Johnson?
by Dave Cordova

AYER Y HOY
2025 Summer
Issue #58

Browse the Ayer Y Hoy's Summer 2025 issue:

•The History of the Taos County Fair
by Monica Wilder

• Josefa Carson & Ignacia Bent
by Elizabeth Cunningham

• Exploring Vaquero Culture
& La Idomia de Los Norteños de Rio Arriba
by Michael Miller

• When It All Began for TCHS
by Paul C. Figueroa

• Very Intersting History
by Dave Cordova

AYER Y HOY
2024 Winter
Issue #57

Browse the Ayer Y Hoy's Winter 2024 issue:

•"The Duran Chapel"
by Fr. Juan Romero

• Ceran St. Vrain
"A Gentleman of the Frontier"
by WB Francis T. Cheetham
(edited by Dave Cordova)

•Tradiciones y Historias
"Las Cabanuelas"
by Michael Miller

AYER Y HOY
2024 Summer
Issue #56

Browse the Ayer Y Hoy's Summer 2024 issue:

•"Carson Colcha"
A Graves Family Legacy
by Lisa Graves-Cordova

• Taos-The Sacred Valley" and
"Ranchos de Taos Mystery"
from the Book:
Living Legends of the Santa Fe Country
by Alice Bullock

•History of the Archives & Library-TCHS
by Paul C. Figueroa

•2024 TCHS HONOREES
"The Taos News"
The Taos County Historical Society was formed in 1952 for the purpose of "... preserving the history of the Taos area...". It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization managed by a volunteer Board of Directors. Monthly meetings, the first Saturday of the month are held at Kit Carson Electric Boardroom with a featured speaker are open to the public and supported through memberships. These are also open to anyone upon payment of annual dues. For more information visit the Society's website, ww.taoscountyhistoricalsociety.org

Taos County Historical Society
has successully launched
"TAOS: A Topical History"

320 pages, 26 chapters and contributors.

Mil Gracias, A THOUSAND THANKS, does not begin to cover the many, many individuals to whom we owe a debt of gratitude. This debt is not only the living but also to those men and women who long ago began to preserve the journals and documents we now depend upon for knowledge of the past: the chroniclers who accompanied the explorers and settlers and who, dusty, tired and hungry, sat in the light of a candle to record in their journals the events of the day and the Franciscan clerics who made detailed reports of their canonical visits to the mission churches of Nuevo México.

Corina A. Santistevan
Acknowledgements in "Taos: A Topical History"

If you would like to order a copy from the
Taos County Historical Society
please send a check for $40 (book+shipping) payable to
Taos County Historical Society and mail to:

Taos County Historical Society
PO Box 2447
Taos, NM 87571



Email us

Phone: (575) 770-0681

PO Box 2447 • Taos, NM 87571