"Can we have a hint?" September Event at Mesilla Valley Mall

An Amazing Event

We the amazing Mesilla Valley Iris Group and The Las Cruces First church at the Mesilla Valley Mall this last weekend. So much to do!

Also amazing performances from Zed Rin, Local Bodega and Larry Ocean, bringing amazing music and beats to the mall. It was great to see all of our patrons
purchasing food, having lunch and bobbin’ heads and tapping feet to the rhythms of our local musicians.

Amazing variety

Having a great attendance of vendors for the bazaar, there was everything from handcrafted leather purses, to beautifully made cement rock pots, hand drawn artwork, stunning paintings and absolutely gorgeous jewelry.
We had the honor of seeing all of our friends here at the mall, something that hasn’t been experienced in a while. It’s a good feeling to be social at a place where many thought to be dead. It’s far from it. So many families, friends, couples casually walking the mall and enjoying the stores at the mall, it would be a great loss to close an establishment such as the Mesilla Valley Mall.

The Day of Tokens

We feel that one of the greatest things that happened were the phone calls that we received after the event. This is how it went down:

7:30 pm: Sitting down on the recliner, getting comfy to watch the new Thor movie on Disney plus. Phone rings, on the other line sounds like a 12-13 year old.
“Hi, are you guys done?”
me: ” Excuse me? done with what?”
teen: ” With the hidden tokens…”
me: “Oh! well, the event ended at 6pm today…did you find the 5 tokens?”
teen: “Um, well…we only found 3. What are the prizes? or is that a surprise?”
me: well, they kind of are. Find the last 2 tokens and I’ll tell you what the are.”
Teen: “Ok, thank you!” -Quickly hangs up.

7:45 pm: Taking shoes off and propping up my feet. Phone rings again.
“Hi, it’s me again, can we have any hints?”
At this moment we thought the tenacity and ambition of this young person was absolutely adorable.
Me: “Hint of the prizes? or the tokens?
Teen: “Tokens ( I hear other teens in the background, “ask him where we can find at least one!” ) “Could you tell us where we could find just one?”
Me: ” Well, to be honest with you, my son hid the coins, so even I don’t know where they are!” and it was true. My son hid them, so I had no clue. I asked my
son for a clue, told me and I relayed the message. “Yeah, you can find some near Barnes and Noble”.
Teen: “Oh cool! ok thank you!” Abruptly hangs up.

7:55 pm: Partly into the movie, getting some snacks ready. Phone rings.
“Hey we found them! where are you?”
Me: “Well, I’m at home now, but I’ll be at the event tomorrow…”
Teen: “oh….ok. well, we’ll be back next weekend then. Can we meet then?”
My wife tells me, ” Let’s go meet them now, they made an effort, we should too.”
“Okay”, I reply putting my shoes on. On the phone, “Hey, since you found 5 tokens we’ll meet you in front of the food court in 5 min.”
Teen: “Oh my God, really!? (turns from the phone and tells other teens: “Hey, he’s coming to meet us!” “YES!” “DUDE THAT’S SO COOL!”) ok, are you sure?
we don’t want to bother…”
Me: “Not at all, see you in a bit.”

At the Mall calling the teen: ” hey I’m here, I’m outside my vehicle…see me waving?”
Teens find me and come running. They had made a group effort to find the 5 tokens. The excitement on their faces were priceless.
“So what do we get?” The teens asked, “We really don’t care what we get, it was fun finding them!”
I reply, ” Well you get to choose, a t-shirt, a gift certificate for tacos, a gift certificate for coffee, a gift certificate for a cheescake or a bag of chicharrones.” We had just acquired
a chicharron business and sold during the event.
Conversation amongst them: ” The shirt is cool, but we can’t share it…Oooh how about the cheesecakes? we’ll split it in 5! NO! the tacos! I love tacos!
How about the chicharrones? I think those are easiest to share! yeah? ok, chicharrones it is.” Looking back at me, ” thank you sir, we’ll take the chicharrones.”

“Ok, sounds good. Tell you what, I admire your ambition, each of you take a bag.” Their faces lit up like they had just received news that they’re going to Disneyland.
“Oh my God, are you serious?” One of the kids started hopping in excitement.” BEST NIGHT EVER!”