Nancy Ellis
Correspondent
The Chronicle-News
Marggie Ferrendelli has a wide, welcoming smile that precedes her every greeting. And, when you combine that enthusiasm with her obvious high level of energy, it’s no wonder she was plucked by History Colorado from a highly competitive field of applicants to become the new director for the Trinidad History Museum.
After being tapped, she spent a week in Denver at History Colorado headquarters, meeting the professionals who, she says, “were amazing, and eager to help move the museum forward in Trinidad.”
Marggie Ferrendelli is a local, married to Victor Ferrendelli and a hands-on partner in farming land that was homesteaded by his family more than a century ago. Even with their children now grown and gone, theirs remains a tight-knit family. The Ferrendelli farm, Crystal Blue Organics, is located halfway between Hoehne and El Moro, and was USDA-certified organic in 2018. Today the farm produces pinto beans, alfalfa and sometimes winter wheat, depending on how much water is available, she says, as well as fresh eggs.
Marggie Ferrendelli most recently completed a stint with the City of Trinidad Economic Development as director of the Corazon de Trinidad Creative District and Historic Main Street boards, and as facilitator of The Commons @ Space to Create, and she sees a valuable parallel between that role and her new one with the history museum.
The complex of historic buildings at the Trinidad History Museum encompasses an entire block on E. Main Street, just across from the post office, and includes the Bloom and Baca mansions, the Barglow building, the adobe Santa Fe Trail Museum, and expansive lawn and gardens. It is owned and operated by History Colorado, a state agency, as part of its group of community museums and sites. Over the past decade, Trinidad History Museum has experienced multiple turnovers in directors, a significant loss in its volunteer base and physical deterioration and neglect that has been obvious to numerous citizens and local businesses. There’s also been considerable criticism of museum shows that feature stand-and-read placards replacing many previous artifact-rich exhibits of Trinidad’s unique history.
This past spring, at the urging of group of concerned citizens, History Colorado brought department heads and its executive director Dawn DiPrince to Trinidad to conduct several open meetings for community input and to focus on the future of the museum complex, including plans for reviving the formerly lush but long-neglected gardens. (Partnering with volunteers from the Main Street group, an expanded rose garden was planted late this spring after repairs to the watering system.) Other planned community meetings in June and July were put on hold until a new director was hired.
Despite Ferrendelli’s lack of specific museum experience, her vision for the Trinidad History Museum’s future and her commitment to the community really stood out during the interviewing process, according to Eric Carpio, History Colorado’s chief community museums officer and director of Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center, who attended the Trinidad History Museum’s monthly Coffee & Conversation on August 2. Speaking to a crowded table of attendees at the early morning event, Ferrendelli introduced herself, vowing she will always listen to community concerns, and that she stands ready to “bridge the gap, and find a balance between what can be done and what people want to see.” She cautions it will take time, then asks for patience as she leans into details of her new position and the certain challenges of managing the historic properties.
Already there’s a buzz: Ferrendelli has signed up several new volunteers in her first day on the job, and she promises there will be many more to come. As the Coffee & Conversation came to a close, there was clearly a positive vibe in the air as participants filed out of the Bloom Mansion into the cool air of another beautiful morning in historic Trinidad.
