Feliz Navidad 2013

the chocolate trail • mis crismes • christmas at the pueblos

feliz navidad

Winter 2013-14 • The Santa Fe New Mexican • santafenewmexican.com

The Tradition Continues

FREDERICo The Abalone Collection 101 W. SAN FRANCISCO ST.

Santa Fe

505-988-1866

S WAIA

WIN TER

I N D IAN

MARK ET

NOVEMBER 30 - DECEMBER 1 SANTA FE COMMUNITY CONVENTION CENTER Artist DemonstrAtions, film screenings, youth Activities, AnD PerformAnces feAturing AcclAimeD musiciAn AnD Performer BriAn frejo AnD six-time WorlD chAmPion hooP DAncer nAkotAh lArAnce!

santafeindianmarket.com . facebook.com/swaia . 505.983.5220 Photos by kitty leaken taken at the 2012 sWAiA Winter indian market

2013 Feliz Navidad

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S a n t a Fe

Celebrate

December 21

DESERT CHORALE

2pm & 7:30pm

your holiday season with the gift of SONG!

December 22 1pm & 5pm

The Lensic, Santa Fe’s Performing Arts Center

Carols and Lullabies

Cathedral Basilica of St Francis – Santa Fe Dec 14, 19, 20, 21, 23 8pm Immanuel Presbyterian – Albuquerque Dec 22 4pm

The BIG Holiday Sing

Cristo Rey Church – Santa Fe Dec 15 4pm

The Lighter Side of Christmas

LewAllen Galleries Downtown – Santa Fe General Admission Dec 17 6pm

In the Midnight Hour with Voasis

produced by Deke Sharon Music Producer of NBC’s The Sing-off and Music Director of the hit musical comedy, Pitch Perfect

Warehouse 21 – Santa Fe Dec 28, 29 4pm, Dec 28, 29, 30, 31 8pm

Deke Sharon

ASPENSANTAFEBALLET

THE SANTA FE DESERT CHORALE Joshua Habermann, Music Director Winter Festival | DEC 14 - 31

Tickets start at $25.

Receive up to 40% off regular ticket prices with groups of ten or more.

For more information, call 505-983-5591.

TICKETS: 505-988-1234 or online at www.aspensantfeballet.com

Voasis CORPORATE SPONSORS 

FOR SFDC WINTER FESTIVAL DETAILS AND TICKETS VISIT: desertchorale.org or call 505.988.2282.

Winter Festival 2013 is made possible, in part, by the National Endowment for the Arts; New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs; and the City of Santa Fe Arts Commission and 1% Lodgers’ Tax.

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2013 Feliz Navidad

PREFERRED HOTEL PARTNER 

BUSINESS PARTNER 

Investment Management SEASON PRESENTING SPONSOR

OFFICIAL AIRLINE OF ASPEN SANTA FE BALLET

GOVERNMENT / FOUNDATIONS 

Melville Hankins

MEDIA SPONSORS 

Family Foundation

Partially funded by the City of Santa Fe Arts Commission and the 1% Lodgers Tax, and made possible in part by the New Mexico Arts, a Division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

cover photo Kitty Leaken cover design Deborah Villa

owner Robin Martin publisher Ginny Sohn

feliznavidad

PuB LiS HED NOVEMB ER 24 , 2 0 1 3

managing editor Ray Rivera editorial creative director Deborah Villa 505-986-3027 magazine editor Emily Drabanski copy editor Kris Ota advertising advertising director Tamara Hand 505-986-3007 marketing director Monica Taylor 505-995-3888 art department Elspeth Hilbert, Jeana Francis advertising layout Rick Artiaga advertising sales

Blair clark

Inside

Art Trujillo, 505-995-3852 Vince Torres, 505-995-3830

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Mike Flores, 505-995-3840 Wendy Ortega, 505-995-3892

Christmas different

10 Magical Madrid

Julee Clear, 505-995-3825 Matthew Ellis, 505-995-3844

12 Giving thanks at Hanukkah

technology technology director Michael Campbell

14 Mis Crismes

production

18 The Chocolate Trail

operations director Al Waldron assistant production director Tim Cramer

22 Away in a Southwestern manger

prepress manager Dan Gomez press manager Larry Quintana

24 Los Pastores

packaging manager Brian Schultz

26 Alternative Gift Market

distribution circulation manager Michael Reichard

28 Christmas at the pueblos

distribution coordinator Reggie Perez

32 A labyrinth of light

web digital development Natalie GuillĂŠn

34 Fanciful footwork

santafenewmexican.com

36 Winter Indian Market

address office: 202 E. Marcy St.

36 Winter Spanish Market

hours: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday advertising information: 505-995-3852

38 Spider Woman’s Daughter

delivery: 505-986-3010, 800-873-3372 for copies of this magazine, call 505-428-7622

39 Music for the holidays

or email rperez@sfnewmexican.com

42 Holiday happenings Gene Peach

2013 Feliz Navidad

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t n e r e f f i d s a m t s i Chr en own ev t n w o D

ts

e heritag h c i r te city’s a r b e l e c

kitty leaken

By Arin McKenna

The Christmas holidays may be the time when Santa Fe most lives up to its moniker, “The City Different.” Even something as prosaic as a holiday tree lighting has its own unconventional twist. Events such as the re-enactment of a medieval mystery play (Las Posadas), a festive gathering in the country’s oldest continually occupied public building and the Canyon Road Farolito Walk are truly exceptional. Enjoy Santa Fe’s distinctive take on Christmas at these four free events.

Holiday Lighting

6 p.m. (Festivities begin at 3:30 p.m.)

Friday, Nov. 29 Santa Fe Plaza

The city’s holiday lighting event has elements that would be familiar anywhere in the United States — and some that are pure Santa Fe. “It was just sweet,” said county resident Joni Holub, recalling a past lighting event. “The little Santa Claus hut was very quaint and very simple. Nothing really elaborate. And they had Mrs. Claus there, and she was really sweet to the kids. And all kinds of people, as is typical in Santa Fe.” This year’s festivities start around 3:30 p.m. with the Girl Scouts selling cookies and hot chocolate as the Girl Scout Choir performs. Formal entertainment, scheduled at 4:10 and 5 p.m., usually includes a local church choir and a band. Santa Fe Brass will perform again this year, and Sol Fire usually takes the stage after the ceremony.

Santa and Mrs. Claus’s appearance around 4 p.m. is executed in true Santa Fe style. The Clauses are transported to the Plaza on a vintage fire truck, which heralds their arrival with its siren. Roger Lamoreux has been delivering the Clauses to the event for nearly 20 years, decorating his fire truck with several hundred Christmas lights for the occasion. The fire truck takes a loop from The Shop: A Christmas Store on Palace Avenue, up Washington Avenue to Marcy

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Street, then down Lincoln Avenue to San Francisco Street. For Lamoreux, volunteering his time for this event and the tree lighting at the State Capitol (5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 2) — as well as all the hours spent stringing lights on his fire truck — is a labor of love. “It’s just something I like doing,” Lamoreux said. “It’s kind of a magical little deal.”

Volunteers begin lighting 1,000 farolitos around 4:30 p.m., which will illuminate the Plaza until the main event at 6 p.m., presided over by Mayor David Coss, city councilors and other officials.

City crews spend three to four weeks arranging plastic farolitos along the portals on three sides of the Plaza, stringing 10,000 lights in trees and mini-lights around the gazebo, Santa’s Hut and other areas. Inflated penguins, puppies and polar bears are placed throughout the Plaza for the event.

The crowd counts down so the children delegated to flip the main switch and those stationed at four other power sources can illuminate every light in unison.

“When the lights all turn on after the countdown, it is so magical!” said Bobbi Mossman, fiscal administrator for Santa Fe’s Public Works and Transportation Departments. “There are plenty of oohs and ahs and everyone just looking up and around to see; plenty of smiles on the old and the young.” Mossman, who coordinates this and several other events, added, “I can only imagine that if it would snow, the scene would be absolute beauty.”

For more information, contact Mossman at 955-6979.

GeNe peach

ÉN Natalie Guill

Christmas at the Palace

5:30-8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13 Palace of the Governors (Palace Avenue on the Plaza)

Christmas at the Palace, which takes place in one of the country’s most historic settings, is the type of event where old friends meet and generations of family members build memories year after year.

“It’s such a welcome part of the holidays to have this beautiful community event. It really is magical,” said Frances Levine, director of the New Mexico History Museum. “We’ve seen kids grow up there. You meet them when they’re five or six, and suddenly they’re going to college.”

Half the charm of Christmas at the Palace is the ambiance of the 400-year-old Palace of the Governors, the oldest continually occupied building in the United States. The thick adobe walls and viga-and-latilla ceilings provide a comforting embrace on a cold December night, especially in the glow of Christmas lights.

This time of year the Palace courtyard harkens back to 18th- and early 19th-century Spanish traditions, with visitors treading paths outlined with farolitos or sipping hot apple cider and nibbling bizcochitos (our state cookie), while warming themselves around luminarias.

The interior celebration is more reminiscent of the United States Territorial period, with theme-decorated Christmas trees, musical entertainment and Santa and Mrs. Claus making the rounds.

Youth groups and local performers sing, strum and fiddle in various rooms of the Palace. Past performers have included young musicians from the Santa Fe Concert Association’s EPIK Artists Program, plus the ensembles High Desert Harps and Enchanted Strings, with Coro de Agua Fría singing traditional carols in the Palace courtyard.

One favorite activity is printing a holiday card on one of the Palace Print Shop’s hand-operated presses, a tradition many Santa Fe families have carried on for years.

Levine’s favorite moment is when the doors open at 5:30 p.m. “It’s the expectant faces when you open up and everyone comes through the doors,” she said. “Santa greets them at the doors and everyone follows him into the Palace. It’s such a beautiful moment.” Levine looks forward to reconnecting with guests she has welcomed to the event for many years. “I get to stand there all night and welcome people into the heart of their community. How cool is that?” Levine said. “It’s really, really, really fun.”

Share the Christmas spirit by bringing nonperishable food items to donate to The Food Depot, Northern New Mexico’s food bank.

On Dec. 13, both the Palace and the New Mexico History Museum close at 3 p.m. to prepare for the event, with the Palace opening again at 5:30 p.m. For more information call Kate Nelson at 476-5019 or visit www.nmhistorymuseum.org.

Las Posadas

5:30-7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 15 Palace of the Governors (Palace Avenue on the Plaza)

The re-enactment of Jesus’ birth known as Las Posadas (The Inns) harkens back to the medieval mystery plays, which educated the masses about the Catholic faith in a format that was part ceremony and part entertainment.

When the Spanish arrived in the New World, the priests saw the similarities between mystery plays and the ceremonial dances of the indigenous people and petitioned the Vatican for permission to enact Las Posadas as a means of conversion.

This dramatic recreation of Mary and Joseph’s search for shelter has never died out in Northern New Mexico. It is usually performed as a novena, with the re-enactors visiting a different home each night for nine nights.

The event, sponsored by the New Mexico History Museum/Palace of the Governors, takes place in one night on the Santa Fe Plaza. Parishioners from Santa Cruz de la Cañada (Holy Cross) Church have been performing the drama here for more than a quarter century. Volunteers pass out candles as the crowd gathers outside the Palace of the Governors. The procession approaches and the choir first sings Mary and Joseph’s plea for shelter, then singers respond with the innkeeper’s harsh denial. A devil appears on the rooftop to jeer the holy couple. The choir continues singing as it leads the procession from one stop to the next on its circle around the Plaza.

Roger Atkins has played one of those rooftop devils. “It’s a tradition that I knew nothing about until my wife Mary Anne Redding and I went to Las Posadas.

And I was really just taken aback by what a great tradition it is,” Atkins said. “I mentioned to Mary Anne that if there’s ever an opportunity to get on a roof and be one of those devils, I want to do it. My opportunity came, and I took it.”

Atkins calls the re-enactment “extremely powerful.” “Probably the most powerful part for me is when I’m up on the roof, the look on faces of the people that play the part of Mary and Joseph,” Atkins said. “They look angelic. They’re looking up, their faces are glowing, and I’m actually seeing them — in playing the part of the devil — as no one else will see them except for the other devils. And, of course, I’m up on the roof jeering them and being a mean old devil. It’s really quite wonderful.”

Perhaps the most powerful moment for the crowd is when the last verse is sung at the massive gate into the Palace courtyard. A deep hush falls on the crowd; the silence is electric. Then a song of welcome rings forth and the heavy double doors slowly swing open, welcoming the crowd into the farolito-lit placita to enjoy cider and bizcochitos around blazing luminarias. Local mariachis lead the crowd in familiar Christmas carols sung in Spanish.

The Palace and the New Mexico History Museum both close at 3 p.m. Dec. 15 to prepare for the event. For more information call Kate Nelson at 476-5019 or visit www.nmhistorymuseum.org.

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Farolito Walk on Canyon Road

6-9 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 24 Note: Area streets close from 5:30-10 p.m.

Special Santa Fe Trails buses available. Details below.

In Rudolfo Anaya’s delightful Christmas story, The Farolitos of Christmas, his young heroine, Luz, has the inspiration to place candles in paper bags to light the way to her house on Christmas Eve, since her grandfather is too ill to cut firewood for traditional luminarias.

When friends ask what she is doing, she tells them, “We’re going to catch falling stars.”

There is no better description for the farolitos lining Canyon Road on Christmas Eve, which is also known as La Noche Buena. It is as though hundreds of falling stars shine from adobe walls and rooftops to light the way for the Christ child. The glow of the farolitos — augmented by Christmas lights dangling in trees and threaded through chile ristras — brings an aura of enchantment and mystery to the thick adobe walls of this 18th-century neighborhood.

Miniature farolito balloons soar into the night sky like something from the Arabian gene peach Nights. The aromatic scent of piñon smoke drifts through the air. Music resonates from gallery patios as strolling carolers and shifting groups warm themselves at luminarias. Several galleries welcome walkers in from the cold, some serving hot cider to take the chill off.

The promenade is crowded and at times boisterous, but the best way to enjoy it is to quietly breathe in the radiance of the farolitos with the crisp night air. Let the enchantment of the night and the deep reverence that has radiated through this city “of the Holy Faith” since its founding pervade your marrow. If you give the walk a chance to truly move you, something much more profound than a memory may take root in your soul.

Street Closures for Farolito Walk: Canyon Road, Acequia Madre and Delgado Street close to all motor vehicle traffic at 5:30 p.m. and start to reopen at 9 p.m., although it might be 10 p.m. before they are all open.

Special bus service for Farolito Walk: Park at either the Santa Fe Place Mall off Rodeo Road or the South Capitol Rail Runner train station (between Alta Vista Street and Cordova Road). Buses depart continuously from those locations starting at 5:30 p.m. and drop passengers at the former PERA building on Paseo de Peralta (near Canyon Road). The last bus leaves from the PERA drop off point at 9:30 p.m. The cost is $2 round trip; children ride free. For information, call 955-2001.

For more information about the Farolito Walk, call Barbara Lopez at (955-2110) or email bvlopez@ci.santa-fe.nm.us. photos gene peach

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store1750@theupsstore.com www.theupsstorelocal.com/1750

Guadalupe & Catron

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d i r d a M l Magica

tmas past is r h C f o s y la liday disp n Disney e v e Enchanting ho s p a h r e p ns of many — o ti a in g a im d ignite Story by Arnold Vigil Photos courtesy Mary Huber Some folks will tell you that the movie Wild Hogs, with all its glitz and glamour and its cast of Hollywood heavyweights, such as John Travolta, Marisa Tomei, Tim Allen and Martin Lawrence, put the historic coal-mining town of Madrid on the map.

But locals know better.

An ironic twist connects the Disney movie with the town: Disney Corporation’s founder, Walt Disney himself, might have drawn some significant inspiration from the Madrid of Christmas past in building the iconic empire that we all know today as Disneyland. And in addition to the coal industry, past Madrid Christmas displays may be what really put Madrid on the map.

In the 1930s, Walt Disney visited Madrid with Walter Lantz, the creator of Woody the Woodpecker, to visit Lantz’s brother Paul, a creative blue-collar type who worked for the Albuquerque and Cerrillos Coal Company, which owned and operated the town. Local lore suggests that the two illustrating giants marveled at the bright exhibitions that the town put on for Christmas, with many of the displays created by Paul Lantz in his spare time after working in the mining

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Toyland was a children’s paradise, with wonderful free rides, built from discarded mine equipment, and a real railway, with steam locomotive and cars.

town’s power plant.

Those in the know, such as Melinda Bon’ewell, president of the Turquoise Trail Association and co-owner and curator of the Madrid Old Coal Town Museum, said there’s an uncanny resemblance when one compares the early photos of Madrid’s Toyland with the early Disneyland, both coincidentally boasting a miniature railroad for enthusiastic tykes.

Bon’ewell said Toyland was actually a popular amusement park designed for children that was situated within the town’s main holiday display area at what is now known as the Oscar Huber Memorial Ballpark. Toyland boasted displays based on nursery rhymes such as “Old Mother Hubbard” and featured a small Ferris wheel that gave rides only to dolls and a miniature train that was a favorite of the children. All of the displays were handmade by the miners, other company employees and perhaps a few creative volunteers.

Many old-timers say the historic Oscar Huber Memorial Ballpark was once the first illuminated baseball field west of the Mississippi. The coal-fired power that made it possible for the elite Madrid Miners baseball team (once a prominent minor league farm club of the Brooklyn Dodgers) to play at night also made it possible for literally thousands of twinkling colored lights to illuminate the foothills of the Ortiz Mountains from about 1921 to 1941.

Bon’ewell suggested that Thomas Edison might have played a part in the Madrid power plant’s ability to supply abundant coal-fired electricity to a

completely wired town.

According to The Turquoise Trail, a new book by Laurie Evans Frantz, published by Arcadia Publishing Company, the holiday extravaganza in Madrid at one time boasted lighted displays that stretched from more than a mile long throughout the town’s main street to a smattering of side streets and even to the tops of the surrounding piñon- and juniper-studded hills. Other wooden displays, which filled four warehouses when in storage the rest of the year, included a memorable 36-foot-tall illuminated Christ figure and a 109-foot lighted Christmas tree on top of a hill, as well as the cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, the Lion and the Lamb and the Birth of Christ.

Frantz said local historians tell the village legend of a Capt. Theodore Moffitt who was piloting a Trans America Airways passenger airplane over the illuminated town one particular December night in 1937. Moffitt reported that he saw the Virgin Mary within the lights of the huge hilltop Christmas tree from his seat in the cockpit. Capt. Moffitt’s vision prompted the airline to reroute all nearby nighttime holiday-season flights over Madrid. Many of the nation’s largest circulating newspapers of the time also carried stories about Christmastime in Madrid.

Many of the photographs of Madrid in The Turquoise Trail had never been published before. Frantz collaborated with Bon’ewell on the project. Bon’ewell acquired the images from Mary Huber, the 93-year-old daughter of the late Oscar Huber, who at one time owned the Madrid mining company.

Oscar Huber started out as a superintendent of the coal-mining company around 1918 and later bought controlling interest of the business in 1936, after the owner George Caseman was killed in a drilling accident in Southern New Mexico. Much of Madrid’s heyday, when it produced more than 250,000 pounds of coal a year and was home to more than 2,000 residents and miners, occurred under Huber’s watch.

Huber directed the miners to found an employees’ club, and each employee was prompted to contribute between 50 cents and a dollar a month to the coffers.

These funds were then used for community causes, such as a town-wide Fourth of July celebration and the Christmas in Madrid display. Frantz said that in 1938 the Christmas event boasted 40,000 holiday lights that attracted up to 80,000 visitors. Within the next two years, the number of visitors increased to 100,000, and the supply list included 6,000 square yards of canvas; 23 miles of wire; 1,500 spotlights; more than 100,000 total lights, including 40,000 colored lights; and 500,000 kilowatts of electricity — all mostly paid for by the employees.

“These weren’t the kind of lights you get at Wal-Mart,” Bon’ewell added.

Why the lights went out in 1941 Sadly, the event’s greatest display was also its shortest in duration and its last, until the contemporary resurgence of the event by today’s Madrid merchants and townsfolk. In 1941, local historians said the town flipped on the switch to the popular light display, but it was quickly pre-empted by the Dec. 7 news that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor, sending the United States into war. The switch was quickly turned off and Madrid, after 20 years of bright Christmases, was to remain dark during the holidays for at least another four decades.

World War II affected every nook and cranny of this nation and Madrid was no exception. With many of the miners entering the service and the need for the American citizenry to conserve the country’s resources, the tremendous amount of energy needed to power the Madrid holiday display could not be justified. A drastically reduced event occurred in 1942, and the extravaganza was discontinued altogether in 1943.

The mining company also saw a rapid decrease in production, but it managed to stay in business during the war and actually supplied high-quality coal to the War Department. And that coal, about 15 truckloads a day, Bon’ewell said, made its way along windy N.M. 14 into and through Santa Fe and over the Rio Grande on Oñate Street Bridge in Española before reaching the top-secret destination: a newly constructed gated city we now know as Los Alamos, site of the Manhattan Project, which produced the world’s first atomic bomb.

During the war years, all of the Madrid Christmas displays were put into storage until the Madrid Supply Company sold most of them to the City of Gallup for $700.

Sadly, the displays were permanently darkened when they were destroyed in a fire.

In years past, visitors walking through the Madrid Old Coal Town Museum could

The Madrid Ferris wheel appeared in Collier’s Magazine in December 1942. still glimpse some of the surviving wooden Christmas displays, which never made it to Gallup, stacked behind warehouses or workshops or garages. The beauty of the 50-year-old museum is that one gets the feeling that everything is still in its original location, just as when the workers left for the day decades ago.

Bon’ewell and her staff are busy improving and organizing the museum as well as working with the rest of the community on the continued resurgence of the Madrid Christmas display.

Modern Madrid rekindles event The advent of natural gas and other cheaper energy sources quickly spelled doom for Madrid’s coal-mining company, which owner Oscar Huber closed in 1954. As the miners left and the dust blew in, Madrid became a ghost town for the next 20 years.

In 1975, Oscar’s son Joe Huber, who inherited Madrid, decided that instead of selling the whole kit and caboodle for $250,000 like his father tried to do, selling off bits and pieces might be a better way to go. In this way, some of the houses were sold for as little as $1,000 and $2,000.

Madrid’s population eventually grew from practically zero to about 200-300 creative people who today are doing their best to move the community forward while holding on dearly to the rich history that created their town. High on their to-do list is continuing the legacy of Madrid Christmas.

This year the Madrid community is once again uniting to put up an impressive lighted display along Main Street during the holidays. While many of us also know that street as N.M. 14, it could also easily be called Phoenix Avenue or Resurrection Boulevard.

If you go Today’s Christmas in Madrid sparkles all December until Christmas, with thousands of twinkling lights, several restaurants and more than 40 shops open daily and closing late on Saturdays. Weekend festivities include free refreshments, Santa Claus and entertainment. Don’t miss the Christmas parade at 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7. www.visitmadridnm.com.

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h a k k u n a H t a s k n a h t g n Givi ting menorah ligh a z la P e v ti s fe rings include Seasonal offe

By Sharon Niederman Why is this Hanukkah different from all other Hanukkahs? On this Hanukkah, we eat not only applesauce and latkes (potato pancakes), but also turkey and cranberry sauce.

On this Hanukkah, for the first time since 1899, the first day of the Festival of Lights falls on Thanksgiving, Nov. 28, the festival of pilgrims and football.

The lunar Hebrew calendar requires a leap year every so often to keep observances running smoothly, and this year the calendar will be adjusted by adding an extra month. That’s why Hanukkah, which customarily falls closer to the winter solstice, is so early.

This Hanukkah season will commence with Thanksgiving feasting and lighting the menorah, followed by a very busy schedule of festivities around Santa Fe. This also means that the holiday shopping season starts early, so people need to scurry to find their Hanukkah presents.

The Hanukkah tradition of eight days of candle lighting uses the menorah, a nine-branched candelabra, which includes a center candle, or shamash (attendant), set at a different level than the others and used to light the other candles, one per evening. This ritual candle lighting marks the miracle recounted in the Book of Maccabees. Following the Maccabeean revolt against the Greeks and the imposition of Hellenistic customs, the Hebrew tribe reclaimed the desecrated Second Temple in Jerusalem during the second century B.C. The Talmud recounts that there was only one sanctified vial of oil — enough to burn for one day.

Miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days.

Each day of Hanukkah, which customarily falls during the depth of the longest nights of winter, the light of the menorah grows brighter. “The soul is like a candle,” said Rabbi Berel Levertov of the Chabad Jewish Center of Santa Fe. “We are reminded to make our own candle shine — for someone else — through our spirituality, through overcoming darkness. We place our menorah in the window or the doorway, to bring a growing joy to the outside world.”

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In the spirit of the holiday, Santa Fe’s Hanukkah events are multigenerational and open to the public. Most are free and all are educational and fun. If you have a menorah, bring it along and be prepared to share your light.

Since Jewish holidays begin on the evening before the first full day, start Hanukkah right with a sunset menorah lighting on the Plaza on Wednesday, Nov. 27.

Then, at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 29 at Chabad Jewish Center, 242 W. San Mateo Road, enjoy a community dinner, with a menu of chicken soup, challah, kugel, gefilte fish, roast chicken, latkes and sufganyot ( jelly doughnuts) — traditional Jewish holiday fare. Both latkes and sufganyot are fried in oil, signifying the miracle of the oil. This dinner includes a speaker. For reservations, please contact chabadsantafe.com or call 983-2000.

That same evening, Temple Beth Shalom, 205 E. Barcelona Road, will begin a Family Chanukah Service at 6:30 p.m., with candle lighting and music.

On Sunday, Nov. 24, Temple Beth Shalom will host an all-you-can-eat Latke Lunch and Torah Fair, with games and activities for all ages, for a nominal charge.

This event will commemorate the temple’s yearlong Year of the Torah, during which members have been restoring a rescued Holocaust Torah from Czechoslovakia. For information on the fair, please contact joy.rosenberg@sftbs.org.

One of Santa Fe’s premier holiday events, Chanukah on Ice, runs from 4-6 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 2 at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center, 3221 W. Rodeo Road, www.chavezcenter.com. This joyous party is especially family-friendly, with Hanukkah music, kosher refreshments, hot cocoa, juice and of course, latkes and doughnuts. The event is free and open to the public; skate rentals are $3.

Still want more Hanukkah? Head to the Santa Fe Plaza on Sunday, Dec. 1, for the festive lighting of a sculpted ice menorah and special Hanukkah music. The party begins at 3 p.m.

If you miss the big celebration on Dec. 1, just remember that throughout the Hanukkah holidays the Plaza menorah, a large contemporary piece crafted by Santa Fe artist Ilan Ashkenazi, will be lit every night at sunset.

May all your latkes be crispy and light.

David Russell

SFCA THE SANTA FE CONCERT ASSOCIATION 2013-2014 PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

Joyce DiDonato

November

Family Concert Series: SFCA EPIK Artists November 17, 2013

December Ballet Next

Donnell Leahy & Family Celtic Holiday Concert December 2, 2013 The King’s Singers December 6, 2013

Claire Huangci

Family Concert Series: Christmas Eve Dress rehearsal December 24, 2013 Christmas Eve with The SFCA Orchestra and Caroline Goulding December 24, 2013

Curtis on Tour

Family Concert Series: New Year’s Eve Dress rehearsal December 31, 2013

New Year’s Eve with The SFCA Orchestra and Claire Huangci December 31, 2013

January

Family Concert Series: The Barber of Seville Dress Rehearsal January 8, 2014

Opera The Barber of Seville January 10, 2014 January 11 & 12, 2014 Notes on Music The Sing-Along of the Nibelung January 16, 2014 Family Concert Series: Mozart and Mendelssohn violin concertos January 26, 2014 4:00pm

March

David Russell, guitar March 7, 2014

Notes on Music Mendelssohn March 11, 2014 Family Concert Series: Curtis on Tour Chamber Music March 18, 2014 Curtis on Tour Chamber Music March 19, 2014 Joyce DiDonato March 31, 2014

April

2013 Van Cliburn Gold Medalist Vadym Kholodenko April 1, 2014

Ballet Next, Stars of ABT and other companies April 25 & 26, 2014 For more information, go to SANTAFECONCERTS.ORG

TICKETS: 505.988.1234 Vadym Kholodenko

The King’s Singers

Caroline Goulding

2013 Feliz Navidad

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s e m s i Mis Cr Youngsters once went door to door for treats without the tricks

Story by Arnold Vigil Illustration by William Rotsaert Just as children excitedly venture door to door through darkened neighborhoods on bone-chilling journeys to solicit Halloween treats, the youth of Northern New Mexico used to participate in a similarly enthralling tradition on Christmas morning — and the macabre was most definitely not the reason.

From left: Leroy Romero, John Sena, Pancho Sena and Patric Lucero at the Lucia and Gordon Sena home, Pojoaque, Christmas morning 1956.

Courtesy Marquita Sena

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2013 Feliz Navidad

Instead, these niños were partaking in a Christmas Day tradition known to many elder norteños as Mis Crismes, which oftentimes was just as exciting to the rural homeowners as it was for the children.

“Mis Crismes was real common here in the Pojoaque Valley,” said Gail Martinez, who grew up practicing the now mostly obsolete tradition with her siblings while growing up in the Jacona area in the 1950s and ‘60s. “We would get up early on Christmas morning and walk for miles and miles and miles to all the neighbors’ houses and sing Christmas carols. We were invited in.

“That was real Christmas! We looked forward to that every year. We had fun, laughing and walking.”

Martinez said some of the neighbors then would feed whoever showed up at the door traditional Northern New Mexican dishes such as empanaditas, posole and red chile, tamales and bizcochitos. During each of the neighborly encounters, every child also was given a bag filled with goodies or any other items the homeowner deemed fit to give, such as pencils, erasers or other common household items.

“I remember we used to look forward to going to one particular neighbor’s house who we thought were rich,” Martinez said.

“We used to see all the presents they would get and be in awe. [At home] we usually would only get one — or two, if we were lucky.

I guess we sang pretty good because they always gave us a lot of stuff.

“They gave us bags full of nuts and candy and other stuff we usually didn’t get.”

Martinez said by the time she and her siblings returned home hours later, they were usually all wet and cold from the waisthigh snow and cold winter temperatures. But her now- 85-year-old mother, Mary Roybal-Woodson, would always have a warm house to return to and hot food and drinks ready for the children.

2013 Feliz Navidad

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2013 Feliz Navidad

during those Depression-era years was a visit to Jacona’s local store, which was owned by Pablo Sena, a pillar of the community and former Santa Fe County sheriff who was the closest thing to

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But the highlight for the Pojoaque Valley children

Santa Claus in that impoverished area.

“There were only kids, no adults,” Martinez remembers. “We walked right through people’s yards — there weren’t very many fences back then. Our parents didn’t worry about us; they knew we’d be back.”

Treats delighted Depression-era children Martinez was raised on the very same Roybal family land as her mother, who during the Great Depression years in the 1930s also partook in the Mis Crismes tradition and naturally passed it along to her children.

Roybal-Woodson said most of the local families at the time were very cash poor and the children usually didn’t get a Christmas present at home. Instead, their gift was to get up as early as possible on Christmas morning and beat the other neighborhood kids to the punch on the Mis Crismes trail.

Roybal-Woodson said the Pojoaque Valley children never failed to rise with the sun on Christmas morning, often in competition with each other, even after a late Christmas Eve with midnight Mass and all the activity going on at the historic Nambé church. And the night before Christmas was a busy one for them, indeed, with both young and old making and maintaining luminarias (small bonfires) at the school and the church, singing on the back of a pickup truck and finally gathering inside the church for midnight Mass. It wasn’t until the wee hours of the morning that the families would return home, only for the kids to rise just a few hours later.

“We didn’t expect gifts,” Roybal-Woodson said. “We’d go from house to house for Mis Crismes. Then, after all the children returned home, the family would walk across the road and chop down a Christmas tree.

We’d bring it back home and decorate it with paper chains.”

She distinctly remembers two sisters who lived nearby and always dressed in black, and whom everyone referred to as las viejitas (little old ladies). She recalls that the two elderly women always would give out the little sugar-covered, orange-slice candies. “They would always look forward to the kids to go by,” Roybal-Woodson said. “They were very poor.”

But the highlight for the Pojoaque Valley children during those Depression-era years was a visit to Jacona’s local store, which was owned by Pablo Sena, a pillar of the community and former Santa Fe County sheriff who was the closest thing to Santa Claus in that impoverished area. “[Pablo Sena] made sure he made bags for all the kids in the valley,” Roybal-Woodson remembers. “That was the highlight of Christmas, going to Don Pablo’s store and getting those treats.”

Pablo Sena’s granddaughter, Marquita Sena, still lives a stone’s throw away from where Pablo’s store was located, and she remembers her grandfather preparing for Mis Crismes. Some of the goodies are still fresh in Marquita’s mind, such as oranges and the hard ribbon candies and other Christmas candies that are difficult to find these days.

“Most of the kids would have the old flour sacks, and he would put the goodies right into their sacks,” Marquita fondly recalled. “I remember our family also preparing for all the kids coming to our house for Mis Crismes.”

Another nearby resident of the Pojoaque Valley also memorialized the Mis Crismes tradition. In 2002, “Mis Crismes: A story by Alfredo Lujan,” won The Santa Fe New Mexican’s Holiday Short Story Contest.

Lujan, who was raised in Nambé and also teaches English and coaches in Santa Fe, wrote a delightful story about his own childhood Mis Crismes experience.

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2013 Feliz Navidad

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Chocolate Trail Hitch a ride to taste-bud bliss

Story by Heather Apodaca • Photos by Kitty Leaken

It’s that time of year when sugary chocolate Santas line the supermarket shelves like rosy little soldiers, and every corner café proffers a cup of hot cocoa.

I decided to give my taste buds a break from the standard holiday sweets this season — on Santa Fe’s artisanal “Chocolate Trail.”

While Santa Fe has long been a culinary destination, over the last several years a small group of artisanal candy makers has worked to put the town on the finechocolate map.

The city’s Chocolate Trail meanders through the heart of downtown and connects the following chocolate shops, each offering a different take on the season’s most popular treat.

Todos Santos goodies

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2013 Feliz Navidad

Above left, Kakawa Truffles: Blood Orange Chipotle, Earl Grey, Pomegranate, Goat Cheese, French Dark and Sea Salt Caramel and Pinon Caramel Above right, ChocolateSmith: Lemon Poppy Seed with Cranberry and Tangerine Cream Bark and White Lemonade Lavender Bark

KaKawa ChoColate house

1050 E. Paseo De Peralta 982-0388 Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sunday, 12 noon-6 p.m.

My first stop on the Santa Fe Chocolate Trail is tucked right off Paseo de Peralta, near the foot of Canyon Road. Kakawa Chocolate House offers an ode to the history of chocolate. Here I found bliss in the form of a small cup of liquid chocolate “elixir.” Be warned — this is not your typical hot cocoa. It is a much richer, more intense experience closer to chocolate’s historical roots that will leave you in rapture.

Each of Kakawa’s 18 chocolate elixirs (eight of which are offered daily) is historically researched. The menu is divided into Meso-American elixirs, based on ancient Aztec and Mayan recipes and made of 100 percent dark chocolate, and milder European flavors that, at 72 percent dark chocolate, are closer to what you would think of as traditional hot cocoa.

“After the Spanish brought chocolate back from Central America, they took it to Europe, and you started getting sweeter, milkier, more citrusy drinks,” says Tony Bennett, the owner of Kakawa and somewhat of a chocolate scholar.

I preferred the sweeter European varieties, such as the 1790s Jeffersonian

elixir, which is based on Thomas Jefferson’s personal hot chocolate recipe.

Chocolate purists will enjoy the Zapoteca, based on a recipe used by the Zapotec Indians and made from 100 percent pure dark chocolate and sweetened only with coconut sugar.

If you can’t decide, the knowledgeable staff is happy to provide samples and offer recommendations to suit your tastes.

The shop also has an in-house bakery offering gluten-free brownies and other confections, as well as truffles and homemade ice creams.

This time of year brings out Kakawa’s seasonal peppermint elixir, perfect for those looking for the taste of the holidays.

C.G. hiGGins ConfeCtions

847 Ninita St. & 130 Lincoln Ave. (a half-block north of the Plaza) 820-1315 Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sunday, 1-5 p.m.

With two stops on the trail, one at the intersection of Ninita St. and St. Francis Drive and another brandnew location right off the plaza, C.G. Higgins is the ideal place to stop for an afternoon respite from the crowds.

Both locations have such a warm, inviting atmosphere (not to mention free Wi-Fi) that you’ll have to be careful not to wile away too many hours of your day here. An afternoon latte from the coffee bar, one of their signature truffles

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enhance your own trip down the trail with a visit to the Santa fe museum of international folk art’s chocolate exhibit, which runs through early January, and you’ll be a connoisseur in no time.

ChoColateSmith kitty leaken

Chocolate-making implements and ingredients are part of the Santa Fe Museum of International Folk Art’s chocolate exhibit, running through early January. and a chance to put up my feet in one of their cozy red armchairs made for the perfect escape.

“What I really like about the Santa Fe Chocolate Trail is that each of us put our own unique spin on the chocolate business,” said owner Chuck Higgins. “We each share a chocolate passion that manifests in our own special way.”

This shop’s unexpected truffle combinations, including blue cheese (trust me, it’s worth at try), mango habanero and smoked applewood salt make it difficult to pick just one. But it’s doubtful that you’ll be disappointed, whichever you choose.

“Our staff enjoys suggesting and creating unusual and interesting new flavors,” said Higgins, who has been in the candymaking business for the last 35 years and operating C.G. Higgins for the last 12.

Locally inspired flavors like raspberry chipotle and chocolate chile are also popular.

If you need a break from chocolate, you’ll find a variety of caramel corn and other handmade confections here as well.

todoS SantoS ChoColateS & ConfeCtionS 125 E. Palace Ave. #31 982-3855 Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

My next stop on the trail was Todos Santos, a jewel of a shop tucked into Sena Plaza. Lavishly wrapped treats peek out of every corner of this tiny little store.

I could have easily spent an hour just poking around and staring in wonder at the display cases. There is where you come if you are looking for a chocolate gift with the “wow” factor.

Owner Hayward Simoneaux got into the chocolate-making business by collecting chocolate molds, and his commitment to intriguing chocolate forms has endured to this day.

“I starting collecting antique chocolate molds, just because I thought they were cool,” he said. “Then I started learning how to make the chocolate molds.

Finally I started playing around with making chocolates, and it just snowballed from there.”

The shop specializes in chocolate milagros coated in edible 23-karat gold or silver leaf. Simoneaux makes the molds by hand from his personal collection of milagros, which are traditional religious folk charms. There are also golddusted Buddhas, silver amulets and a bevy of other treats that are so beautiful you will hardly want to eat them.

The shop also offers truffles, toffees and all sorts of unusual sweets, as well as a wild collection of regional folk art. An artist from Albuquerque makes one-of-a kind Pez dispensers that you have to see to believe, and a Santa Fe papier-mâché artist creates artistic vessels in which Simoneaux serves up his treats.

Todos Santos celebrates its 15th anniversary this spring.

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2013 Feliz Navidad

851 Cerrillos Rd. 473-2111 Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; Sunday, 12 noon-5 p.m.

Located in an unassuming strip mall across from Railyard Park, ChocolateSmith is the perfect place to stop in for a quick chocolate pick-me-up on the way to your next shopping stop.

As I walked in, I was greeted by a meticulously clean and sparkly interior lined with shining cases full of treats. The airy, open kitchen allowed me to watch the candy makers at work as I perused the offerings, and the staff was happy to offer samples, which helped me appreciate the store’s more unusual flavors.

Their chocolate bark immediately caught my eye. Flavors like white chocolate lemon lavender, lemon poppy seed with cranberry and tangerine cream were a lighthearted surprise after the rich truffles at C.G. Higgins.

Owners Jeff and Kari Keenan locally source as many of their ingredients as they can. Cleverly packaged treats such as backpacker’s weatherproof chocolates and tins of lavender seeds make for great stocking stuffers.

❄❄❄ Enhance your own trip down the trail with a visit to the Santa Fe Museum of International Folk Art’s chocolate exhibit, which runs through early January, and you’ll be a connoisseur in no time. The exhibit documents the history of cacao, tracing its roots as a sacred crop in Meso-America to its arrival (and subsequent sweetening) at the high courts of Europe and finally to the typical Hispanic table. You’re guaranteed to leave with new insight into the most ubiquitous of holiday sweets.

Need more incentive to join the Chocolate Trail? The scientific community has been offering its own enticement to add a daily dose of chocolate to your diet. A recent study by scientists at Harvard Medical School suggests that two cups of hot chocolate a day can help prevent memory loss. Who couldn’t use a little help with that this time of year?

Stop by Señor Murphy’s to savor the bolitos It wouldn’t be Christmas without a treat from New Mexico’s perennial favorite candy store — Señor Murphy’s. It’s always a treat to wander around the little shop in La Fonda, with its dazzling assortment of brightly-colored packaged candies and display cases brimming with fine chocolates and locally inspired sweets. Their bolitos, sumptuous chocolate balls rolled in nuts, taste exactly like Christmastime to this New Mexican, and their green chile peanut brittle proves there isn’t a sweet out there chile can’t improve. With two locations in Santa Fe and two in Albuquerque, it’s sure to be right on your shopping trail at some point this season. For locations, go to www.senormurphy.com.

— Heather Apodaca

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Away in a Southwestern manger Blair Clark

Navajo Carved Wooden Nativity by Harry and Isabelle Benally, 1995

Regional Nativity sets reflect culture

By Arnold Vigil Most of us have a classic image of the Nativity etched into our minds — a primitive barn replete with manger and farm animals.

Wise men from faraway lands bear gifts and, along with Mary, Joseph and shepherds, surround the baby Jesus while the mighty North Star dominates the night sky.

The iconic scene is often re-created and displayed during the holidays in neighborhood yards, in churches and — especially after Thanksgiving — in advertisements. Some Northern New Mexicans even dress the part of the main characters in re-enactments such as Las Posadas, performed on the Santa Fe Plaza and throughout the region. In addition, many charming and accessible representations of the birth of Jesus can be found in the wide array of locally created Southwestern-style Nativity sets. These re-imagined scenes contain distinct cultural elements and symbols of the Southwest.

Susan Topp Weber, owner of Susan’s Christmas Shop at 115 E. Palace Ave., estimated that she has about 100 Nativity sets in her shop that range in price from about $20 to, as she jokingly said, “If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.”

(That’s about $3,000, she finally admitted, after some friendly ribbing about the high cost of 20 bucks!)

Weber knows Nativities inside and out, and she’s been studying, collecting and selling them since she created a Nativity scene out of salt dough in 1975 that now sits in the permanent collection at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The author of two books published by Gibbs Smith about Christmas, Christmas in Santa Fe (2010) and Nativities of the World (2013), plus another in the works, Weber has sold the works of many Southwestern artists who convey the region’s diverse cultures and styles through their Nativity sets.

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“It would have a regional style,” Weber said of what constitutes a Southwesternstyle Nativity. ‘The hair is also a clue to the style.”

For example, Weber points out the difference of a Nativity bearing the style of the Diné (Navajo) culture in comparison to one reflecting the culture of the Pueblo people. In one Nativity carved out of wood by a Diné artist, the wise men carry gifts of corn, a woven Navajo rug and a sack of “Blue Bird” flour; all wear Navajo moccasins; and the baby Jesus rests on a cradleboard. The elements give clues to the traditional everyday items of the Diné.

On the other hand, a set made by a Pueblo artist is fashioned from clay with traditional Pueblo symbols evident throughout. Joseph is often depicted kneeling with a folded blanket draped over his shoulder, a traditional way for a Pueblo man to dress for a special occasion, she said.

Weber also fondly recalls the Nativities that were made by the late Cochiti Pueblo artist Wilson Romero. He created Nativities out of stones that he would pick up on the pueblo’s lands, and he decided on the spot what the stone would depict. “He would walk around and pick up stones and say, ‘This one wants to be a hawk,’ or ‘This one wants to be a bear.’ ” Stones, clay and wood represent just the tip of the iceberg of innovative materials that artists use to fashion Nativity sets. Local santero Charlie Carrillo once produced a Nativity in the Spanish colonial style that was mass-produced from a mold with resin, a fragile plastic-like material.

“We sold them by the thousands,” she said, adding that Carrillo was unfairly criticized locally for the piece. “They thought it was too commercialized. There’s a place in this world for both of these things.”

The sets were originally produced at a factory in the Philippines. “[The Filipino factory workers] seemed to understand the Spanish colonial style,” because their country was once occupied and influenced by the Spanish culture just like the Southwest, she said. The Filipino factory eventually closed and the production of Carrillo’s mass-produced Nativity was moved to a factory in China. The Chinese

had problems right from the start, however, and the arrangement didn’t last, Weber added. Today, Carrillo’s mass-produced sets are collector’s items, just like many of the one-of-a-kind sets.

Indeed, we might never again see the unique Nativity creations of Ana Mae Salazar, of Velarde, who used to fashion larger-than-life-size sets out of chicken wire and tumbleweeds — that’s right, tumbleweeds. For decades, Salazar’s Nativities, pesky stickers and all, would grace the exterior of the popular restaurant, Rancho de Chimayó.

“It got to be too hard to make them,” said Salazar, who is now in her 60s. Her family’s Velarde roadside produce business, Flor del Rio Decorations, occupies most of her time now. She’s known for her chile wreaths and corn decorations.

“I kept all the arroyos clean because I’d collect all of the tumbleweeds. All the neighbors used to call me and ask me to clean their yards. I just quit doing them.”

Salazar said the Jaramillo family, owners of Rancho de Chimayó, started ordering and displaying her creations about five years after the eatery opened in the early 1970s. The tumbleweed collection, which also included a sled and reindeer in addition to the Nativity, was replaced each time the pieces dried and fell apart or blew away. The unforgettable sets became a holiday staple, but the tradition ended after fire destroyed the restaurant several years ago and Salazar ceased making them.

Salazar said she even used to make a 16-foot-tall Christmas tree out of tumbleweeds in front of her Velarde home, but she never replaced it after it was vandalized. She hopes her daughter will someday brave all the scratches and cuts and take up the art of tumbleweed Nativities.

Weber also cited many other artists, such as Louise Ortega, of the artistic Ortega family from Tesuque, who makes Nativity scenes out of driftwood, and her relative John LeRouge, who makes the sets out of finished wood.

David Nabor Lucero is known for his beautiful Nativity in the Spanish colonial style, which was commissioned by Santa Maria de la Paz Catholic Community.

The piece is displayed during the holiday season at the church at 11 College Avenue.

Weber fondly recalls the late Ann Mills, who lived in Santa Fe from the 1950s to the 1990s and made Nativity ornaments out of colorful embroidery; Mills also created a do-it-yourself kit to make Nativity scenes out of fabric.

“You can use almost any material,” Weber said. She mentioned Suzy O’Neill, a Santa Fe collector, who one day decided to make a Nativity out of wine-bottle corks.

The wise men are shaped out of corks and their hats are bottle caps with stars.

One of Weber’s favorite Nativity makers was the late Chris Thomas, whose father was a Pima Indian and mother was from Laguna Pueblo. Thomas made more than 53 Native American–inspired Nativity scenes and they all sold out at Susan’s Christmas Shop. Thomas attended St. Catherine Indian School in Santa Fe (closed in 1998) and died at age 50 in 2005.

“I knew that I had better take pictures of [Thomas’ Nativities] before they were all sold,” Weber remembered. Photos of these sets are on the shop’s website, www.susanschristmasshop.com, which also contains photos of many other Nativity sets.

For many Nativity collectors it’s a delight to meet the artists. In 2005, Weber sponsored the national convention of Friends of the Creche, a group of Nativity collectors, scholars and artists. About 250 attended the convention, titled “Land of Enchanting Nativities,” in Santa Fe. Weber took attendees to the Jemez Pueblo feast day on Nov. 12. They met some of the original creators of the distinctly Southwestern Nativity sets they had seen and collected. The group was immersed in the Pueblo culture. They were invited into the homes of Jemez Pueblo artists, where they enjoyed a traditional feastday meal.

“They’re still talking about that,” she said.

Blair Clark

Driftwood Nativity by David and Louise (Ortega) Alvarez, 1995

Courtesy

Nativity by Wilson Romero

✩✩✩ In addition to Susan’s Christmas Shop, a variety of downtown merchants carry Southwestern-style Nativity sets, most notably The Shop: A Christmas Store at 116 E. Palace Ave. For more information go to: www.theshopchristmas.com.

Blair Clark

Acoma Parrot Nativity by Chris Thomas, 2003

2013 Feliz Navidad

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Los Pastores

My family’s treasured Christmas tradition Story and Photo by Kathryn Córdova The Christmas holidays give many families in Northern New Mexico an opportunity to return to treasured cultural traditions, such as preparing special regional dishes, decorating with a Southwestern flair, singing favorite carols in English and Spanish, as well as performing in Christmas pageants. For my family, it wouldn’t be the Christmas season without participation in Los Pastores (The Shepherds’ Play).

The 16th-century Spanish drama re-enacts the shepherds’ search for the newborn Christ child. Along the way, the shepherds experience temptation, human weaknesses and problems with the weather.

In the end, they encounter the holy family and rejoice.

Hundreds of years ago, the Catholic Church used a sequence of plays called autos sacramentales (acts of faith) to illustrate lessons of faith. During these times, few people could read, so church officials relied on oral tradition (including Los Pastores) to spread their messages.

The play’s cast of more than 20 members has included participants of all ages — ranging from one month old (when a baby serves as the Christ child) to more than 80 years old.

Cast members reside throughout the region, including Taos, Española, Albuquerque and San Luis, Colorado.

My own family lives in El Prado, just outside of Taos. My husband and I, our daughter and our son, William, who fills the role of St. Joseph, all participate in the play.

I spoke with two members of my family to find out what the play means to them.

“One of the most exciting rehearsals is the first one, when we meet with the children,” said my daughter, actress Theresa “Tessa” Córdova, who as other logistics for 33 years. co-director works on the music and with the For many families who don’t perform in Los Pastores, their holiday tradition children. “This is the time when they learn their role for the year. Sometimes, is to attend a performance — even when that involves out-of-town travel. Past children start with the play at a really young age, usually as baby Jesus or as a performance venues in New Mexico include churches and community centers little pastor. As the youngsters gain more experience, their role expands. The in Albuquerque, Las Vegas, San Juan, Santa Cruz, Española, Chimayó, Taos young actors view this process as ‘working toward a promotion,’ ” Tessa added. and Santa Fe. Colorado performances have occurred in Antonito, San Luis My husband, Arsenio Córdova, serves as director and an actor in the and Cortez. The troupe has also performed in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. production. A composer who publishes with Oregon Catholic Press, he As a cast member, I can attest to the strong sense of accomplishment and considers the music an important aspect of the production. “We keep true to camaraderie associated with the play. For me, participation in Los Pastores the original version of the play, and that includes music,” Arsenio explained. provides the true meaning of Christmas, and I can’t think of a better way to “However, it seemed strange to me that some of the characters did not have a begin the season. voice in all the action. For example, the [traditional] play features Mary and This year’s Santa Fe performance, slated for Friday, Dec. 20, includes a Joseph walking in with the Christ child. They merely stood there. The couple blend of several traditions in one evening at St. Anne’s Catholic Church, did not greet the pastores who sought them over a long distance, during a 511 Alicia St. Festivities begin with a 6 p.m. Mass, followed by a rosary and a long period of time, so I composed ‘Canto de María y José’ and other songs to procession from the church to the parish hall. At the hall, those gathered will enhance the production.” participate in Las Posadas, the songs of Mary and Joseph’s search for shelter Arsenio heads Sangre de Cristo Liturgies, a multi-faceted company before the birth of the Christ child. Following this tradition, the cast of devoted to the preservation of the history, culture and traditions of Northern Los Pastores begins its performance.

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2013 Feliz Navidad

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Alternative Gift Market AlternativeGiftMarket Taps into true spirit of season

By Kay Bird If you ask Santa Fe author James McGrath Morris, there’s room by the menorah or under the Christmas tree for a book, a tie or a game. There’s also room, he believes, for “a nonmaterial gift that enhances the recipient’s life as much as the present in the box.”

The fourth Alternative Gift Market is set this year for Dec. 6-15 in DeVargas Center. Morris and his wife, Patty, started the market in 2009 to make shopping for a life-changing gift as easy as buying woolen mittens.

They started the market with two lofty goals: to raise money for nonprofits providing human services and to change the notion of gift giving in a wealthy society.

During the market’s first year, the couple sold gifts from Alternative Gifts International at the Santa Fe Convention Center. Alternative Gifts International collects donations for international causes by giving shoppers the chance to designate charitable gifts to international agencies in the name of relatives, friends and associates.

“It worked,” Morris said. “We raised about $5,000.

It was just the two of us. It convinced us that it would work.”

The following year, with the international market acting as the fiscal agent, Morris included Santa Fe nonprofits and created a board of their representatives and of volunteers. The next two years were exponentially more successful, with each raising at least $30,000 for local and international charities. In 2012, the market raised $40,000.

“By pairing the two together, we can provide support locally but connect to areas that have greater need,” he said.

Morris acknowledges the amounts are merely drops when compared to some charities’ buckets of funding, but they are beneficial when placed into smaller buckets. “The vision became, not only do we offer support to groups that provide human services, but also that the amount raised makes a huge difference to their budget,” Morris said.

The low-cost gifts do have a significant impact on the lives of recipients. For example, Morris said, donors can pay $30 for a solar cooker to give to a mother in Guatemala. The woman, who might otherwise spend most of the day gathering kindling to cook her family’s meals, can then spend more time raising her family or developing the means to earn an income to support them.

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2013 Feliz Navidad

Alternative Gift Market

“The gift doesn’t just enhance someone’s life — it can alter it,” Morris said.

Dec. 6-15 DeVargas Center Hank Hughes, the executive director of the New Fridays, Dec. 6 & 13, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.

Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness, said the funds Saturdays, Dec. 7 & 14, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. raised during the market go to the coalition’s New Mexico Sundays, Dec. 8 & 15, noon-5 p.m.

Veterans Helping Homeless Veterans project. When Monday, Dec. 9 & Thursday, Dec. 12, added to other smaller donations, the funding builds up.

5 p.m.-7 p.m.

“This money helps provide emergency shelter for people who are coming in out of the cold,” Hughes said.

The funds also help provide transitional housing and supportive housing for vets with disabilities or chronic illness.

A donation-as-gift also can alter the donor’s feelings.

Santa Fe author Lucy Moore said the market is the perfect antidote to the holiday pressure to buy more. Any shopping binges Moore indulges in at the market only make her feel happier about the holidays.

“The spirit is just what it ought to be,” she said. “It’s all about giving. I pick things to match recipients’ interests — children’s books donations for my 6-year-old grandsons, water filters for my son who works on water projects in the Middle East, counseling for a homeless vet for my husband. I can get carried away at the AGM and buy gifts for friends I wouldn’t buy a commercial present for, just because it’s so much fun.”

By and large, the recipients of Moore’s gifts have been as enthusiastic about receiving them as she is giving them.

“I have heard great responses from those who have received AGM gifts,” Moore said. “It’s like a relief that they are getting something that [they] can enjoy and appreciate and be proud of. And they don’t have to return it or hide it in the closet or eat it.”

And, as they say, imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Moore noted that a couple of friends have started reciprocating, buying her gifts from the Alternative Gift Market.

Where your dollars go This year, these local nonprofits and programs are among those that will benefit from the Alternative Gift Market:

· Interfaith Community Shelter · La Familia Medical Center · NM Veterans Helping Homeless Veterans · St. Vincent Hospital’s Books for Babies New Mexico · Santa Fe Public Library’s Books and Babies Program · Esperanza Shelter for Battered Families

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A

sense of eternity

Christmas Eve at pueblos reflects a mix of sacred traditions

By Arin McKenna

Kiowa author N. Scott Momaday was 12 years old when he and his

parents moved to Jemez Pueblo in 1946. In his children’s book, Circle of Wonder: A Native American Christmas Story, Momaday wrote, “My first Christmas there was beyond my imagining. On

Christmas Eve the bonfires were lighted, and sparks rose among the stars. The air was cold and crisp and scented with sweet smoke.

The night sky was radiant; the silence was vast and serene. In all the years of my life I have not gone farther into the universe. I have

not known better the essence of peace and the sense of eternity. I have come no closer to the understanding of the most holy.”

It does not take the eyes of a child to discover a “sense of eternity” at the pueblos on Christmas Eve. A processional weaving through luminarias on an ancient plaza, sacred Deer or Buffalo Dances and the Spanish-influenced matachin dances all have the power to uplift the soul.

Deborah and Elmer Torres, of San Ildefonso Pueblo, have attended vespers ceremonies at many of the pueblos, both on Christmas Eve and on the evening preceding the feast day for a pueblo’s patron saint. “Taos is the most beautiful,” Deborah said. “That to me epitomized the whole vespers. Just the ambiance of being in Taos. Sometimes there is snow, with the bonfires all around and the procession coming through for their evening prayer.”

Following a vespers ceremony in Taos Pueblo’s San Geronimo Chapel, the archbishop of Santa Fe leads the procession of the Virgin Mary through the 1,000-year-old plaza. Men at the front of the procession shoot rifles announcing the arrival of the Virgin as the procession weaves between huge bonfires and then returns to the church.

San Ildefonso Pueblo has similar ceremonies on Jan. 22, the evening before their feast day, as do many of the pueblos on the night before a feast day.

Anthony Gutierrez, sacristan of Sandia Pueblo’s Saint Anthony’s Church, described Christmas Eve dances within the church. He said on Christmas Eve two groups dance. “We just call it the Christmas dance, in celebration of the child Jesus being born,” Gutierrez said. “We dance at the church, then the next morning we’ll dance at the [pueblo’s] plaza.”

At Sandia Pueblo the dances usually begin before the 11 p.m. Christmas Eve Mass. Respectful visitors are welcome there and at most of the pueblos. “It is a church, so just be respectful in that way. No loud talking. People are there for prayers, so [you should] not interrupt them,” Gutierrez said. “It is open to whoever Gene Peach

Above, Santa Clara Pueblo Matachin Dance, Christmas Day Facing page, Gerald “New Deer” Nailor Matachines at Picuris, 1982 13 x 17 1/2 inches Picuris Art Shop, Hotel Santa Fe

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2013 Feliz Navidad

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comes by. If [you] come by and see a pew that looks empty but there’s a blanket on there, somebody has reserved it for their family, so keep that in mind.”

Some pueblos observe Christmas Eve with the same ceremonies every year. At others, such as Nambe and San Ildefonso, religious leaders decide a few days in advance whether ceremonies will take place. Contact tribal administrative offices to confirm if a pueblo is having Christmas Eve or Christmas Day ceremonies and if the pueblo will be open to the public.

“Sometimes it’s just Mass. Sometimes they come out in procession around the plaza,” said Ernest Mirabal, former governor and tribal elder at Nambe Pueblo.

“Then the procession goes in and the singers come out and sing. Then the singers go back in the kiva and they are done for the night.”

Picuris Pueblo calls its observance the Night Dance. The ceremony begins in the church, followed by a procession around numerous bonfires burning on the plaza that eventually returns to the church. Pueblo members participate in the matachin dances, while Los Hermanos, a lay brotherhood from the neighboring villages of Río Lucio, Peñasco and Vadito, recite the rosary throughout the procession. After a short break, the matachin dances — introduced by Spanish missionaries — begin again within the church. The entire sequence, including the fire-lit procession, is repeated again around 6 a.m. on Christmas Day. Cultural interactions are prevalent at both Christmas Eve and vespers ceremonies. “So many, many people used to come to the ceremonies from the neighboring communities. Many of the elders who have been exposed to it before do still come, especially during the nighttime procession,” said former Picuris Governor Gerald Nailor. “This has been carried on for as far back as I can remember, and I’m 72 years old. And prior to that, because I heard stories of some funny things that happened during those times from my mother.”

Similar cultural interactions take place at San Ildefonso’s feast day vespers.

“A lot of the neighboring communities — El Rancho, Jacona, Los Alamos folks — come for the Mass, and they participate in the whole thing. So you have tribal members plus nontribal members,” Elmer Torres said.

“Because it’s a Catholic thing, the majority of San Ildefonso church members are actually Spaniards from the communities around the pueblo. There are maybe a couple of handfuls of Natives [who] go to San I, but the rest are not,” Deborah Torres said. “So it’s a mixture. It’s not necessarily San Ildefonso Pueblo members at church, and it is offered for anybody.”

Nailor has attended the matachin dances since he was a child. His earliest memories involve two figures called the abuelos (the grandfathers), who carry whips and maintain discipline during the dance. “The part I liked best about the matachines dances is [that] we used to taunt the abuelos, so we could be chased by them — because they carried whips,” Nailor said. “It was the best part for mischievous kids, taunting them and having them chase you and disappearing into the dark.”

Few members of the younger generation still participate (and those who do attend do not taunt the abuelos), but some still express interest and youngsters are encouraged to dance. For Nailor, seeing the matachines today invokes memories of the past, particularly changes he has observed. “One point I see is how the abuelos are not as aggressive now as they were growing up,” Nailor said. “They’re too old to run now or jump over bonfires.”

Some pueblos will have traditional Native American dances after their Christmas Eve Mass, either in the church or on the plaza. For Nailor (and for many Pueblo people), the ceremonial dances of his native religion, such as the Buffalo and Deer Dances, hold true spiritual meaning. They are considered sacred. “This old lady from Picuris told me, ‘We always did this before the Spanish came. We always celebrated this because of the equinox [and solstices],’ ” Nailor said. “Those are special: the change of seasons, and being thankful those changes are occurring, because it gets you ready for other things.

“So to us, the matachines is not that big. It’s just a Christmas dance, this foreign concept that came in. It’s not that close to the heart, like the Deer Dance is, or the Buffalo Dance, and the songs that go with those. They’re so beautiful. I have respect for the Christian ceremonies, but it’s their place. I’m not a part of that.” Nailor added that his spiritual beliefs center on “the animals, the things that grow, the waters, the solar system, people…[and] everything that has eyes. All these versions of change.”

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2013 Feliz Navidad

rick romancito

Christmas Eve at Taos Pueblo

Guidelines for pueblo visitation Visiting pueblos or attending feast day dances provides remarkable opportunities to experience another culture. Showing respect for the pueblo regulations and etiquette allows you to have a rich and rewarding experience without mishap.

• Call ahead to confirm event dates, as well as access to tribal lands. Sometimes tribal leaders need to restrict access because of private ceremonies or for other reasons.

• Although most pueblos are open to the public during daylight hours, the homes are private. Enter a pueblo home as you would any other — by invitation only.

• Pueblos are not amusement parks or living history museums but residential communities. Behave as you would want others to in your community.

• Some pueblos may charge an entry fee.

Call ahead to find out if there are fees associated with visiting.

• Sketching, recording and any other means of audio or visual reproduction is prohibited at most pueblos, although most do allow photography with the purchase of a camera permit. Permits cost about $5 to $15 and may be purchased at tribal offices or visitor centers. (At many pueblos, camera permits may only be purchased at tribal offices Monday-Friday.) Never photograph an individual or private property without asking permission. Tribal officials may confiscate cameras, cell phones or other equipment if photography regulations are violated.

• Refrain from bringing a cell phone onto pueblos. Tribal officials could confiscate cell phones if they feel they might be used for photography or recording. Also, the ring tones and personal conversations can disrupt other visitors’ experiences, as well as daily tribal life.

• Tribes value traditions, customs and religion. Some actions and/or questions could be offensive, so refrain from pressing for answers.

• Do not climb ladders, walls or other structures. Structures may be several hundred years old and easily damaged.

• Do not remove artifacts, pottery shards or other items.

• Kivas and cemeteries are off-limits to non-Pueblo people. Churches may also be off-limits and are definitely closed to nonPueblo people if surrounded by a cemetery.

• Alcohol, weapons and drugs are not

allowed in the pueblos.

• Do not bring dogs to the pueblos.

• Littering is strictly prohibited.

• Obey all traffic and speed limit signs.

Children and pets play near the roads. Also be cautious of livestock on or near main roadways.

• Observe all signage indicating OFF LIMITS. • If organized tours are offered, stay with your tribal guide at all times.

Rules of etiquette during ceremonial dances

• Pueblo dances are religious ceremonies,

not performances. Observe them as you would a church service, with respect and quiet attention. Do not interrupt non-dance participants by pushing in front of them, blocking their view, asking questions or visiting with friends.

• Photography is usually prohibited on feast days.

• Silence is mandatory during all dances and pueblo ceremonies. This means no questions about the ceremonies or dances while they are underway and no applause during or after the dance or ceremony.

• Do not talk to the dancers or approach them as they are entering, leaving or resting near the kivas.

• Plazas have been blessed for the dances and are considered holy space. Do not walk across a plaza even if the dancing has stopped: Keep to the edges.

• Tribal communities do not use the clock to determine when it is time to conduct activities. Acts of nature, as well as the sequence of events that must take place (some not for public viewing), usually determine start and finish times for ceremonies.

• If you are invited to a feast day meal, there are some simple guidelines. If the table is full, join those waiting in the living room until everyone who arrived before you has been served. Do not linger at the table. It is polite to take desserts such as fruit pies as you leave so that others can be seated.

Thank your host, but a payment or tip is not appropriate.

(These guidelines were assembled from several sources, including Than Povi Fine Art Gallery, www.thanpovi.com.)

Sacred dances

Schedule of feast days and holiday observances All dances are subject to change.

Call ahead to confirm event dates and protocol, as well as access to tribal lands, especially for TBD (to be determined) listings. Not all tribal leaders had determined their dances before this publication went to press.

There are times when tribal leaders must restrict access because of private ceremonies and for other reasons.

Pueblo offices are usually closed on the feast day.

December 11

• Pojoaque Pueblo: Our Lady of Guadalupe Vespers

• Tesuque Pueblo: Our Lady of Guadalupe Vespers

• Santa Clara Pueblo: Our Lady of Guadalupe Vespers

December 12

• Jemez Pueblo: Matachin • Pojoaque Pueblo: Our Lady of

Guadalupe Feast Day • Tesuque Pueblo: Our Lady of Guadalupe Feast Day; Bow and Arrow, Comanche and Buffalo Dances • Santa Clara Pueblo: Our Lady of Guadalupe Feast Day

December 24

• Acoma Pueblo: Social dances

(traditional dances for public view) at midnight • Nambe Pueblo: Christmas Eve Mass followed by Buffalo, Deer and Antelope Dances • Laguna Pueblo: Christmas Eve Mass, 10 p.m.; Deer, Harvest, Arrow and other dances after Mass • Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo: Torchlight procession of the Virgin, Vespers and matachin • Picuris Pueblo: Christmas celebrations and matachin • Sandia Pueblo: Dances at St. Anthony church, 7 p.m.

• San Felipe Pueblo: Dances after Christmas Eve Mass • San Ildefonso Pueblo: Christmas Eve Vespers • Taos Pueblo: Vespers and procession of the Virgin Mary with dancers (around sunset) • Tesuque Pueblo: Christmas Eve procession

December 25

• Acoma Pueblo: Christmas Day dances • Jemez Pueblo: Buffalo and animal dances • Laguna Pueblo: Harvest Dances • Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo: Matachin • Picuris Pueblo: Matachin • Sandia Pueblo: Dances in the plaza, 9 a.m.

• Santa Ana Pueblo: TBD • Santa Clara Pueblo: Christmas celebrations and various dances • Santo Domingo Pueblo: Christmas Day dances • San Felipe Pueblo: Christmas Day dances

• San Ildefonso Pueblo: Christmas celebration

• Taos Pueblo: Deer Dance or matachin • Tesuque Pueblo: Christmas Day dances

• Zia Pueblo: Buffalo Dance

December 26

• Acoma Pueblo: Social dances • Jemez Pueblo: Buffalo and animal dances • Laguna Pueblo: Harvest Dances • Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo: Turtle Dance • Santa Ana Pueblo: TBD • Santo Domingo Pueblo: Corn Dance • Tesuque Pueblo: TBD • Zia Pueblo: Buffalo Dance

December 27

• Acoma Pueblo: Social dances • Laguna Pueblo: Harvest Dances • Santo Domingo Pueblo: Corn Dance • Zia Pueblo: TBD

December 28

• Acoma Pueblo: Social dances • Laguna Pueblo: Harvest Dances • Picuris Pueblo: Holy Innocents’ Day Children’s Dance

• Santo Domingo Pueblo: Corn Dance • Zia Pueblo: Corn Dance

January 1

• Most pueblos: Various dances,

Transfer of Canes of Authority to new tribal officers • Jemez Pueblo: Matachin • Picuris Pueblo: Transfer of Canes Ceremonial Dance • Santo Domingo Pueblo: Corn Dance • Taos Pueblo: Turtle Dance • Tesuque Pueblo: Turtle Dance

January 5

• Jemez Pueblo: Buffalo and animal dances

• Sandia Pueblo: Dances at St. Anthony church, 7 p.m.

January 6

• Jemez Pueblo: Buffalo and animal dances

• Laguna Pueblo: TBD • Nambe Pueblo: Three Kings’ Day • Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo: Three Kings’ Day

• Pojoaque Pueblo: Three Kings’ Day • Sandia Pueblo: Dances in the Plaza, 10:30 a.m.

• Santa Ana Pueblo: TBD • Santo Domingo Pueblo: Three Kings’ Day

• Taos Pueblo: Deer or Buffalo Dance • Tesuque Pueblo: Three Kings’ Day

January 22

• San Ildefonso Pueblo: Vespers

Evening w/firelight procession, followed by Deer and Buffalo Dances

January 23

• San Ildefonso Pueblo: Deer and

Buffalo Dances at dawn, followed by Comanche Dances throughout the day

January 25

• Picuris Pueblo: St. Paul's Feast Day

Gene Peach

Santa Clara Pueblo Matachin Dance, Christmas Day

Directions Acoma Pueblo: 505-552-6604 or 800-7470181. South on I-25 to I-40 west and take Exit 102. Turn right and follow the curved road toward Sky City Casino. Turn right at the stop sign, and travel approximately 16 miles south to Sky City Cultural Center. puebloofacoma.org.

Jemez Pueblo: 575-834-7235. North on U.S. 84/285 to N.M. 502. N.M. 502 becomes Trinity Drive in Los Alamos. Follow Trinity Drive until it ends at Diamond Drive and turn left. Turn right on N.M. 501, then right on N.M. 4 to Jemez. tourism@jemezpueblo.org or jemezpueblo.org.

Laguna Pueblo: 505-552-6654. South on I-25 to I-40 west and take Exit 114 to N.M. 279. lagunapueblo.org.

Nambe Pueblo: 505-455-2036. North on U.S. 84/285 to N.M. 503. Two miles to pueblo entrance on the right. nambepueblo.org.

Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo: 505-852-4400.

North on U.S. 84/285, which becomes N.M. 68. Left on N.M. 74 (north of Española), then one mile west to pueblo.

Picuris Pueblo: 575-587-2519. North on U.S. 84/285. Turn east on NM 503. Continue 11 miles to Juan Medina Road, turn left. Turn right when Juan Medina Road ends at N.M. 76. Continue on N.M. 76 when it turns left at Truchas. Turn left when N.M. 76 ends at N.M. 75. The pueblo entrance is a quarter mile down on the right.

Pojoaque Pueblo: 505-455-2278. North on U.S. 84/285. Turn right at second stoplight in Pojoaque, with an immediate left on Cities of Gold Road. Continue past the Cities of Gold Casino and up the hill to the church.

San Felipe Pueblo: 505-867-3381. South on I-25 and take Exit 252.

San Ildefonso Pueblo: 505-455-3549.

North on U.S .84/285 to N.M. 502. Six miles west on N.M. 502.

Sandia Pueblo: 505-867-3317. Call in December for schedule of dances. South on I-25 to Exit 234. Northwest on N.M. 556 two miles, then north on N.M. 313 for three miles. sandiapueblo.nsn.us.

Santa Ana Pueblo: 505-867-3301. South on I-25 and take Exit 242 to U.S. 550/N.M. 44. Drive west for 10 miles. santaana.org.

Santa Clara Pueblo: 505-753-7330. Call in advance to determine whether the pueblo is dancing. Take U.S. 84/285 north to N.M. 502 west. North on N.M. 30 to the pueblo entrance.

Santo Domingo Pueblo: 505-465-2214.

South on I-25 and take Exit 259. North four miles on N.M. 22.

Taos Pueblo: 575-758-9593. North on U.S. 84/285, which becomes N.M. 68. Pass through Taos to entrance. taospueblo.com.

Tesuque Pueblo: 505-983-2667. North on U.S. 84/285 for nine miles.

Zia Pueblo: 505-867-3304. South on I-25 and take Exit 242 to U.S. 550/N.M. 44. Drive west for 18 miles.

2013 Feliz Navidad

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A labyrinth of light

Winter Solstice Festival brightens the longest night

By Douglas Conwell Although winter solstice marks the longest night of the year, at the Santa Fe Children’s Museum, 1050 Old Pecos Trail, it is also one of the brightest. Hundreds of farolitos light a giant labyrinth, and bonfires warmly beckon visitors from 6 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 21, during this evening of community and celebration.

“This is a fun and really special way to celebrate the season and all the activities at the museum,” said architect Courtenay Mathey, who has been directing the labyrinth event for more than 15 years.

“People love walking through a labyrinth lighted with 365 farolitos,” Mathey said. “They can gain a deeper appreciation if they come at noon during the day to see how it gets created with just five wooden stakes and a piece of rope — it’s an amazing, self-describing geometry.

“The form is created with a series of concentric circles and a single path, all leading toward the center. But sometimes the path leads you to the outside perimeter just when you thought you were about to get to the center. The paradox is you are indeed farther down the trail, although sometimes farther from the center point. But you can’t get lost; it’s a single winding path that leads to the end.”

For those feeling frazzled by the often-frantic pace of the holiday season, a walk around the labyrinth can offer a sense of peace and refuge.

“One year a young man showed up in a bad mood and wanted to leave. But his friends urged him to do the walk,” Mathey explained. “Once he moved through the path and came out, he was laughing and his whole mood shifted.”

The entire evening’s event is designed to lift spirits. In addition to the labyrinth, local musicians will bring drums and instruments to play around

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outside bonfires. Adults and children alike are encouraged to join in.

“You don’t have to be a professional musician — it’s all about trying something new,” said Julie DeFeo, museum community relations director. “There will be African rhythms as well as others, but you don’t have to know them to join in.

And everyone is invited to bring their own instruments.”

Take a break from playing or dancing to the music, and drop by one of the “s’mores” (roasted marshmallows and chocolate graham cracker sandwiches) stations. Listen to tall tales and legends of the season from New Mexico and throughout the world, told by volunteers skilled in the art of storytelling.

When walking through the grounds of the museum garden during the evening, visitors will come upon a new addition to the grounds: an adobe horno (oven).

The structure was built this year by the New Mexico Conservation Corps under a grant from the Cornerstones Community Partnership. The Los Alamos National Bank supports ongoing events that feature cooking in the horno, including the winter solstice celebration.

“We want to help highlight Native [New Mexican] culture and cooking,” said DeFeo. “An adobe horno is embedded in that culture of self-sufficiency, deep cooperation and a knowledge of sustainable practices, not to mention sensitivity to and knowledge of our precious earth itself. All our materials for the oven came from within 100 feet of the structure.”

Get ready for delicious foods that are flavored with the truly local taste of the earth, spiced with laughter and fun that permeates the Santa Fe Children’s Museum year round.

Community is the keyword for the museum and volunteers are welcome in every phase of the winter solstice event. To help prepare for the evening or to volunteer anytime throughout the year, contact DeFeo at 989-8359, ext. 103 or jdefeo@santafechildrensmuseum.org.

Admission for the Santa Fe Children’s Museum’s Winter Solstice Festival: $5 per person, free for children under 1.

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33

Fanciful footwork

photos ©2012 Rosalie o'ConnoR photogRaphy

‘The Nutcracker’ delights kids and the young at heart

By Craig Smith Children have it all over adults when it comes to bringing fantasy to life through imagination. Kids can immerse themselves so strongly in make-believe that it becomes a new reality for them; and it lasts in their hearts long after the moment has passed.

When you’re talking about Tchaikovsky’s beloved ballet The Nutcracker, there are many rich moments for yearning young hearts.

Hopeful would-be ballerinas concentrate on the Queen of Snow or the Sugar Plum Fairy or the lovely corps of dancers in the Waltz of the Flowers. Aspiring soldiers and adventurers root for the Nutcracker Prince and his cohorts, who battle the Mouse King and his sneaky subordinates. Some will focus on the lovely Christmas tree with gifts piled up beneath the branches. People of all ages will be dazzled by the lights, movement and allegorical magic of the whole unfolding story.

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet’s production, which first took the stage in 2004, returns this year to the Lensic Performing Arts Center on Dec. 21 and 22. This representation offers a mix of the classic and the unusual, said ASFB artistic director, Tom Mossbrucker.

“People always want to know what’s different about The Nutcracker every year, and really nothing’s different — our production is a mix between

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traditional and a little bit of a twist,” Mossbrucker explained. “I think people want the tradition of going to Nutcracker, but they want something different.

So our first act is very traditional” — filled with nostalgia, humor and dreamtime adventure — “but the second is very untraditional, with a circus theme.”

The circus does take place in the traditional Land of Sweets, though, so there are visual delights — from candy canes and a giant cookie and ice cream cone to dances celebrating the virtues of coffee, hot chocolate, tea and cake. Eyes usually light up with pleasure watching The Nutcracker, but there might be some stomachs rumbling, too.

Tchaikovsky’s vision Tchaikovsky wrote The Nutcracker in 1892, on a commission from the great Russian choreographer Marius Petipa. It premiered Dec. 18 of that year at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia. The scenario was based in a spooky story, “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” by the German fantasist E.T.A. Hoffman, as adapted by the French writer, Alexandre Dumas, senior. Petipa was authoritative with Tchaikovsky, telling him exactly how long solos and ensemble numbers should be, and in what meter — requests the composer smoothly executed, and with his trademark orchestral beauty and melodic invention. That was standard practice with a big ballet: The composer was there to cut his music to measure, not indulge in symphonic inspiration that might sound good but not suit the dancers.

Aspen Santa Fe’s production here will highlight students of the company’s local school. Their roles will range from the young heroine Clara and her mischievous brother Franz to tiny bees and gum drops, rascally rodents, dancing toys, perambulating alphabet blocks and party guests who just can’t wait to get their Christmas presents open. It’s all part of the magic.

Tchaikovsky really did write a luminous score, though he told a friend in confidence that he thought it was not as good as his composition The Sleeping Beauty. In fact, audience reaction was tepid: The viewers apparently expected a big spectacular story ballet, while what they got was a more intimate setting of a quasi-fairy tale. In addition, the prima ballerina who danced the Sugar Plum Fairy was apparently an excellent dancer but not especially beautiful.

Perhaps the fact that Petipa took sick before rehearsals began and trusted the development of the ballet to his assistant, Lev Ivanov, had something to do with the lackluster reception. In contrast, the orchestral suite the composer soon arranged from the ballet got much more currency for decades.

According to dance historians, the first performance of The Nutcracker outside Russia came in 1934 in England. The Ballets Russes performed excerpts in the U.S. in the 1930s, but the first complete American performance came in 1944 at the San Francisco Ballet. The New York City Ballet’s version by George Balanchine took stage for the first time a decade later. After that, the work grew in popularity around the country, first gradually and then quickly.

There now are scores, perhaps hundreds, of mountings by both professional and semi-professional dance companies during the holiday season. The Nutcracker is to dance companies what Handel’s Messiah is to orchestras, Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors is to opera companies and A Christmas Carol is to theater groups: a perfect piece for the holidays.

Local students dance with the stars The Nutcracker not only features adult dancers, but also dozens of children.

Aspen Santa Fe’s production here will highlight students of the company’s local school. Their roles will range from the young heroine Clara and her mischievous brother Franz to tiny bees and gum drops, rascally rodents, dancing toys, perambulating alphabet blocks and party guests who just can’t wait to get their Christmas presents open. It’s all part of the magic.

“We usually have about 120 students in the Santa Fe show,” Mossbrucker said.

“That’s all ages from our school, beginning at age 5, all the way up to our advanced kids. It’s the time of year when our young dancers get to work with professional dancers — our company and the professional dancers and actors we hire in.

“The kids do their own recital once a year; that’s all for them. Then they do this professional collaboration. Some of our Folklorico program kids will be in Nutcracker this year, which is great.”

The Nutcracker always gets put together pretty quickly: The ASFB school kids begin work on it rather far out, around early October. The company itself rehearses for three weeks, the guest dancers for two and the actors and special effects performers shortly before the opening.

“We have all the different facets, then it all comes together in a rush,” Mossbrucker said. “We’re beginning in Aspen this year, so when we get to Santa Fe, we’ll be all ready to open up the curtain.”

If you go The Nutcracker, performed by Aspen Santa Fe Ballet Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St. 2 & 7:30 p.m. Dec. 21; 1 & 5 p.m. Dec. 22 $25-$74; 988-1234 or visit ticketssantafe.org

2013 Feliz Navidad

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Winter Indian Market Artists enjoy intimate feel of smaller SWAIA market

By Kay Lockridge Let the holidays — and shopping — begin as the Eighth Annual Winter Indian Market kicks off the season of faith, fun and family in Santa Fe during Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 30-Dec. 1) at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center (201 W. Marcy St.). “[The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts’] Winter Indian Market is a beautiful holiday tradition in Santa Fe,” said John Torres Nez, SWAIA’s chief operating officer and market coordinator. “Join us for fantastic shopping, artist demonstrations, film screenings, Native dance and flute performances and hot cider by the fireplace [in the Convention Center’s lobby].”

More than 200 award-winning Native artists from throughout the United States and Canada will display and sell their artwork during the two-day market.

They will be joined by world-champion hoop dancer and Cirque du Soleil star Nakotah LaRance (Tewa/Navajo/Hopi/Assiniboine) and Native flute and hand drum player Brian Frejo (Pawnee/Seminole), who will perform both Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

Contemporary painter Alex Peña (Comanche/San Ildefonso Pueblo) said he particularly enjoys the “much more intimate feel” of the Winter Market, as opposed to that of the summertime Indian Market, which draws more than 150,000 to the Plaza each August. “Winter Market is different…because it is much smaller; [summer] Indian Market can be overwhelming both to myself and to the collectors and viewers.

“During Winter Market, the pace is much slower [and] allows me more time to speak with those who come to my booth … and build relationships with them. …

I know they appreciate the time I can spend talking about my work, process and goals.

“SWAIA has a great mission, in that it still honors tradition but is also forwardthinking by including artists like myself who are working in a broader context of contemporary art.” Peña added that he does not gear any of his work to specific seasons or causes but plans to bring many different pieces, including “a number of new pieces that are reflective of my current direction in art making.”

Jeweler Victoria Adams (Cheyenne) agreed with Peña when she said the Winter Market is “a great kick-off for the holiday season.” Its relaxed atmosphere, she said, “encourages people to take more time to enjoy the market and all the fantastic art available for sale and all the amazing artists who create it.”

Adams will offer a variety of jewelry pieces, including bracelets, necklaces and both large and small pins, pendants and earrings, some of which will be new designs priced, as she said, “with gift-giving in mind.”

Highlights of the weekend include what SWAIA traditionally calls openstudio artist demonstrations, with five artists working on and selling their art in open cubicles, and the raffle of two miniature Christmas trees with ornaments created by the artists. Raffle tickets are $10 each or $100 for 12 and may be bought throughout the two days. The drawing will be at 3 p.m. Sunday (Dec. 1). Winners need not be present for the drawing.

Another annual Winter Market favorite is the silent auction featuring artwork donated by the artists, plus items from shops, hotels and other businesses. The auction is scheduled for Saturday (Nov. 30).

For those interested in design, visitors to the Winter Market will find Fashion Row, spotlighting the creative designs of Native fashion designers. The clothing will be for sale, as well.

As at last year’s Winter Market, admission will include screenings of the six award-winning 2013 Class X films selected at this year’s Summer Market.

New events at Winter Market include the NextGen Intensive Performing Arts Workshop Showcase, a youth art exhibit with work created by young artists participating in the Santa Fe Indian Education Program and a Youth Artist Table with hands-on activities for visiting youngsters.

“The Winter Market is growing every year, with this year’s Market the biggest

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©2013 SWAIA/KItty leAKen

Hoop dancer Nakotah LaRance so far in terms of the number of artists and events,” said Tailinh Agoyo, SWAIA public relations/marketing director. “It truly is a community event, inviting locals to celebrate the holiday weekend.”

Cowgirl BBQ will cater the market, with food available for purchase in the lobby area. Don’t forget the free hot cider by the fireplace!

If you go Eighth Annual Winter Indian Market

Santa Fe Community Convention Center, 201 W. Marcy St. 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 30, and Sunday, Dec. 1. $10 per person, $15 for a weekend pass, available at the door.

Free for members and children under 12.

For more information, visit www.swaia.org.

Winter Spanish Market moves to the Duke City Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town hosts the 25th annual Traditional Winter Spanish Market during Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 29-30), making this the first time the market has not been presented in Santa Fe, home of the Spanish Colonial Arts Society, sponsor of both the Summer and Winter Markets.

“It’s a trial, although we have a multi-year contract with the hotel that will give us time to showcase the changes,” said Market Coordinator Maggie Magalnick.

“It will be an exciting challenge for the society, artists and collectors and visitors.

“The city of Albuquerque, including Mayor Richard Berry, is backing the market and provides a bigger audience for the wonderful art created by the 100 artists who will show and sell their work. The hotel [which is owned by Jim Long, a past president of the society] has provided the room in which the market will be presented and is offering special packages to both artists and out-of-town visitors. There’s plenty of free parking in the [outside] parking lot.”

In another departure from years past, the market will run Friday afternoon and evening (2-9 p.m., Nov. 29) and all day Saturday (9 a.m.-5 p.m., Nov. 30), rather than Saturday and Sunday. A one-time admission fee will enable the ticket holder to come and go both days ($6 per person; $10 per couple; children under 12 admitted free).

— Kay Lockridge

SANTA FE EXCHANGE PICTURE FRAMES ART SUPPLIES ART CLASSES PAINT & GLASS AUTO GLASS

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JEWELRY AND COLLECTIBLES 525 West Cordova Road • 505.983.2043 Tuesday - Friday 10:30am - 5:30 pm • Saturday 12 pm - 5pm

A Joyous Christmas From

The UniTed ChUrCh of SanTa fe Whatever your journey, you are welcome!

Sunday, Dec. 22

8:30 am & 11:00 am

Service of LeSSonS & caroLS for aLL ageS Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24

5:00 pm

chiLdren’S caroLS and candLeS Service 7:00 pm and 11:00 pm

candLeLight ServiceS

(Childcare at 5:00 and 7:00. Communion at 7:00)

The UniTed ChUrCh of SanTa fe

The Rev. Talitha Arnold, Senior Minister The Rev. Brandon Johnson, Associate Minister Jacquelyn Helin, Steinway Artist; Karen Marrolli, Choral Director

1804 Arroyo Chamiso (at St. Michael’s Drive, near the hospital) 988-3295 | www.UnitedChurchofSantaFe.org 2013 Feliz Navidad

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Spider Woman’s Daughter Another Hillerman weaves a suspenseful tale

By Kay Lockridge

santafe newmexican .com/ WEATHER

Current Conditions 7-Day Forecast Interactive Radar Map

You turn to us.

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2013 Feliz Navidad

Ever wonder what happened to author Tony Hillerman’s iconic Navajo lawmen, Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee? Anne Hillerman, daughter of the legendary mystery writer, answers that question with a focus on a formerly obscure character — a policewoman who holds her own with the men — in her first novel, Spider Woman’s Daughter.

In her book, the saga continues when an unknown assailant shoots retired Navajo Police Lt. Joe Leaphorn, and the only witness is Navajo Police Officer Bernadette Manuelito. With her husband and colleague, Sgt. Jim Chee, Bernie must find the killer before s/he finds them. The game is on, and the stakes are high for America’s favorite Southwestern law-enforcement characters.

The new novel returns to familiar Indian Country landscapes where Officer Manuelito investigates and solves a crime that eludes the male lawenforcement personnel. The book, out just in time for the holiday gift-buying season, is published by HarperCollins, publisher of Tony Hillerman’s awardwinning mysteries.

Tony Hillerman, who died in 2008, introduced Manuelito about midway in the 18-book series, and she became Jim Chee’s love interest; in fact, they eventually married. She continued to be a secondary character, however.

“Bernie deserved her own book,” Anne Hillerman maintains. “She was a main character waiting to happen. Bernie can solve crimes on her own and does not need to be rescued by ‘the boys,’ as she was in my Dad’s next-to-last book [Skeleton Man] in 2004.”

Until now, Anne Hillerman was a writer of non-fiction books that mainly featured food and gardens. Then she and her husband, photographer Don Strel, took on the daunting job of following and highlighting the trails of Leaphorn and Chee. The book Tony Hillerman’s Landscape: On the Road with Chee and Leaphorn was the result, and it was during presentations of the book that Tony Hillerman’s many fans questioned whether there might be more stories forthcoming.

In fact, several mystery writers suggested that she carry on the series, and she agreed.

“I was missing Dad and the books, which developed into the much-loved series.

I, too, wondered what happened to these characters,” Hillerman said. She began writing the new book in 2009 and subsequently contacted HarperCollins, which had published both Tony Hillerman’s books and Anne Hillerman’s book about the landscape.

Carolyn Marino, her father’s long-time editor at HarperCollins, championed Anne’s book and encouraged her, suggesting that “it didn’t have to be perfect. With that in mind, I was able to finish the book and ship it off last September,” Hillerman said with satisfaction.

Hillerman was given a two-book contract and is working on the second book — a follow-up to Spider Woman’s Daughter that she hopes “will be as much fun to read as it is to write.” Summer, 2015, is the target date for this novel.

“It’s interesting,” Hillerman noted, “that I was given three years to write the first novel and only 18 months for the second. I guess they figure I know how to do it now, and I feel confident that I can.” She added that her 85-year-old mother, Marie, also supported the effort and provided valuable copy-editing skills. Hillerman, 63, is the oldest of Marie and Tony’s six children.

Hillerman, like her father, is used to working on deadline because they both began their careers as journalists. She said she began writing books part time “while juggling motherhood, daughterhood, wifehood and a job as a newspaper reporter.” She continues her journalism career as a restaurant critic for the Albuquerque Journal and Journal North Santa Fe. Hillerman also is a founding director of the Santa Fe-based Wordharvest Writers Workshops and the Tony Hillerman Writers Conference, presented every November in the City Different. She and Strel also serve as guides for the Road Scholar (formerly Elderhostel) trips through Indian Country in September and October.

Santa Fe Desert Chorale

’Tis the season for holiday concerts All concerts are in the Lensic Performing Arts Center unless otherwise noted.

For performance venues outside Santa Fe, ticket prices, and more information, see each organization’s website or call the listed number.

New Mexico Gay Men’s Chorus

www.nmgmc.org 569-0097

Dec. 13, 7:30 p.m.

Holiday Concert James A. Little Theater, New Mexico School for the Deaf

New Mexico Performing Arts Society www.nmperformingarts.org 474-4513

Dec. 1, 4 p.m.

Annual Winter Solstice Concert: Music of Bach & Carols of the Season Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel

Santa Fe Concert Association

www.santafeconcerts.org 984-8759

Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m.

A Celtic Holiday Concert Donnell Leahy & Family Dec. 6, 7:30 p.m.

The King’s Singers Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi Dec. 24, 5 p.m.

Christmas Eve with the SFCA Orchestra, Joseph Illick, conductor Beethoven Violin Concerto (Caroline Goulding, violin); Symphony No. 4 Dec. 31, 5 p.m.

New Year’s Eve with the SFCA Orchestra, Joseph Illick, piano & conductor Poulenc Concerto for Two Pianos with soloists Claire Huangci & Joseph Illick; Brahms Symphony No. 2

Santa Fe Desert Chorale

www.desertchorale.org 988-2282

Dec. 14, 19, 20, 21, 23, 8 p.m.

Carols and Lullabies Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi

Dec. 15, 4 p.m.

The Big Holiday Sing Cristo Rey Church Dec. 17, 6 p.m.

The Lighter Side of Christmas LewAllen Gallery Downtown Dec. 28 & 29, 4 & 8 p.m.

Dec. 30 & 31, 8 p.m.

In the Midnight Hour with a cappella ensemble Voasis Warehouse 21

Santa Fe Pro Musica

A Shop as Unique as the Museum Itself

www.santafepromusica.com 988-4640

bOOKS

Dec. 20 through Dec. 24, 6 & 8 p.m.

A Baroque Christmas Loretto Chapel

Find something of interest for everyone—jewelry, cards, decorative objects, gifts, the largest selection of O’Keeffe reproductions available, and Words/ Works, a new book of Georgia O’Keeffe quotes.

Dec. 28, 6 p.m.

Dec. 29, 3 p.m.

The Brandenburg Concertos St. Francis Auditorium

=

GIFtS

=

jewelry

=

cAlendArS

Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra & Chorus www.santafesymphony.org 983-1414

Nov. 24, 4 p.m.

Handel’s Messiah Tom Hall, conductor Dec. 5, 7 p.m.

Carols & Choruses Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi Dec. 15, 4 p.m.

Christmas Treasures Joseph Young, conductor

Santa Fe Women’s Ensemble www.sfwe.org 954-4922

Winter Festival of Song Dec. 13 & 19, 7 p.m. Loretto Chapel Dec. 14, 3 p.m. First Presbyterian Church Dec. 21, 3 p.m. Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel

Serenata of Santa Fe

www.serenataofsantafe.org 989-7988 Dec. 11, 5 p.m.

Secret Soiree: Winter Tales Fundraiser; call for details & location.

2 1 7 J o h n s o n s t r e e t, s a n ta F e , n M 8 7 5 o 1 5o5.946.1oo1 = okeeFFestore.org

— Craig Smith

2013 Feliz Navidad

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❅ ❅ ❅ ✳ ❆ ✳ ✳ ❆ ❆ ❄ ❄ ❄ RAILYARD & GUADALUPE DISTRICTS Warm up

For Inspired Living and Giving

with sweaters from

CLOTHING 984-9836

FOLK ART, TEXTILES, JEWELRY, CANDLES, BOOKS, CDS 1O 9 8 1/ 2 SO U T H S T F R ANC I S DR I V E @ P E N ROA D MON – S AT / 1O – 5 982 .2 592

FINE ART AND CRAFTS FROM LOCAL JURIED ARTISTS RAILYARD PARK

Paseo de Peralta at Guadalupe Next to the Farmers Market Saturdays, April thru December 8:00 am to 1:00 pm

❄❅ ✳ ❆ ❄❅ ✳ ❆ ❄ ❅ ✳ ❆ www.SantaFeArtistsMarket.com

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2013 Feliz Navidad

contemporar y jewelr y • sanbusco market 500 montezuma st • santa fe • 992.0020 www.eidosjewelr y.com

❅ ❅ ❅ ✳ ❆ ✳ ✳ ❆ ❆ ❄ ❄ ❄ RAILYARD & GUADALUPE DISTRICTS “For it is in giving that we receive”

St. Francis of Assisi

We wish everyone a Bow Wowie, Meowie Holiday and Happy Hanukah, too!

Serving Santa Fe’s Dogs & Cats & Their Humans since 1995!

Sanbusco Market Center

500 Montezuma Ave. • M-S 10-6, Sun 12-5

982-9374 • www.tecatu.com

photo: Grin & Bark photography

Bring in a dog or cat food donation, and receive 15% off any purchase at Teca Tu for the months of november and December 2013.

❄❅ ✳ ❆ ❄❅ ✳ ❆ ❄ ❅ ✳ ❆ 2013 Feliz Navidad

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Holiday happenings

Museum and historic site events offer family fun and festivities Ongoing

By Arin McKenna

Museum of International Folk Art. The exhibit Brasil and Arte Popular includes graphic woodblock prints, colorful ceramic and wood folk sculptures, toys, puppets and religious art. Admission fee. (Sundays free to New Mexico residents with I.D.)

When you need a break from the hustle and bustle of the season, a trip to one of our city’s museums or nearby historic sites could offer you the respite you desire. Many of the museums have holiday programs that offer fun for the whole family. Also, don’t forget you can always stop at one of the museum gift shops if you still haven’t finished your holiday shopping.

In addition to the events featured in this calendar, many museums host a monthly lecture or series. Check out brown bag lectures at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture and the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, talks on art history and collecting at the New Mexico Museum of Art, gallery talks at the New Mexico History Museum and the lecture series at the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art. Nov. 29, 5-7 p.m. Pablita Velarde Museum of Indian Women in the Arts. Opening reception for Gathering of Dolls, an exhibition from Native Barbie to Skookum, plus traditional dolls surrounded by works of doll symbols.

Admission fee.

Dec. 1, 2-6 p.m. Museum of International Folk Art. World AIDS Day Observance. Panel discussion with community scholars and leaders engaged in projects that address HIV/AIDS in diverse community settings, culminating with a candlelight observance on Milner Plaza. Admission fee. (Sundays free to New Mexico residents with I.D.) Dec. 8, 1-4 p.m. Museum Of Indian Arts & Culture.

Winter Traditions, a community holiday celebration featuring Native American storytelling, dance performance and hands-on activities. Admission fee.

(Sundays free to New Mexico residents with I.D.) Dec. 8, 1-4 p.m. Museum of International Folk Art. Winter Celebration. Celebrate winter holidays with hands-on art making, live music, refreshments and more.

Admission fee. (Sundays free to New Mexico residents with I.D.) Dec. 8, 5-8:30 p.m. Coronado Historic Site (formerly Coronado State Monument). During Christmas at Kuaua, the site will be decorated with hundreds of flickering farolitos and thousands of Christmas lights, with a large bonfire (weather permitting). Santa’s Workshop starts at 5 p.m., with kindly elves helping children make Christmas ornaments. At 6 p.m., Friends of Coronado State Monument will sponsor a program of music, traditional Pueblo dancing and Native American storytelling and provide bizcochitos and hot apple cider. Free.

Dec. 13, 5:30-8 p.m. New Mexico History Museum/ Palace of the Governors. The 29th anniversary of Christmas at the Palace. Enjoy performances by musicians, a visit from Mr. and Mrs. Claus and a chance to print Christmas cards on an historic, hand-operated press. Farolitos, bonfires and hot cider in the courtyard.

Enter through the Palace of the Governors at 105 W. Palace Ave. Both museums will close at 3 p.m. to prepare and the History Museum will remain closed during the event. Free.

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Museum of Spanish Colonial Art. The exhibit A Sisterhood of Saints/Una Hermandad de Santas will run through the spring in the Spanish Market Gallery. Artists represented are present or former Spanish Market artists.

Admission fee. (Sundays free to New Mexico residents.)

Kerry ShercK

Farolitos light up the ruins during the Light Among the Ruins holiday celebration event at Jemez Historic Site.

Dec. 14, 1-5 p.m. New Mexico Museum of Art. Public opening of Renaissance to Goya: Prints and Drawings from Spain, with Spanish guitar music by local artists throughout the afternoon. Admission will be free during the opening.

Dec. 14, 5-9 p.m. Jémez Historic Site (formerly Jémez State Monument). During the annual Light Among the Ruins, the walls and paths through the ancient pueblo are adorned with 1,000 farolitos. Pueblo dancers perform traditional dances beside the luminarias and Native American flute music floats through the night. Light snacks. American Indian arts and food for sale by local vendors. Free.

Dec. 15, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. New Mexico Museum of Art, St. Francis Auditorium. Flamenco Fire. Experience the passion with local talent, students and emerging artists.

Informal demonstrations. Free.

Dec. 15, 5:30-7 p.m. New Mexico History Museum/ Palace of the Governors. A re-enactment of the centuries-old tradition of Las Posadas, depicting Mary and Joseph’s search for lodging. The candle-lit procession travels around the Santa Fe Plaza and concludes in the Palace courtyard with carols and refreshments. Both museums will close at 3 p.m. to prepare for this event. Free.

Dec. 21, 6-9 p.m. Santa Fe Children’s Museum.

Winter Solstice Festival, a celebration of the longest night of the year. Enjoy a farolito labyrinth, flying farolitos, a drum circle, storytelling and warm snacks. Admission fee.

Dec 22, 1-4 p.m. New Mexico Museum of Art. Annual Holiday Open House starring the Gustave Baumann Marionettes. Puppet plays at 1 and 2:30 p.m. Photos with the Baumann Santa Claus marionette sitting on your lap are at 1:30 and 3 p.m. Create your own puppet character all afternoon. Refreshments and music. Free. Please bring non-perishable food items for the Food Bank box.

Dec. 28-Jan. 5 Santa Fe Children’s Museum. Train Week. Become an engineer at the museum’s annual train event where you get to build scenery, stop by the switchyard and more. Admission fee.

Santa Fe Botanical Garden. GLOW: A Winter Lights Event transforms the garden. Opening Dec. 5 and running for the next five weekends until Jan. 4, ThursdaySaturday nights, 5-8 p.m. Admission fee.

Santa Fe Children’s Museum. Come watch Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends as they travel through the Island of Sodor. Dec. 11 through 27. Sponsored by the Santa Fe Model Railroad Club. Admission fee.

Details

For more information, contact the following organizations.

Coronado Historic Site

nmmonuments.org/coronado-state-monument 505-867-5351 From I-25, Exit 242, take U.S. 550 1.7 miles west to Kuaua Road.

Jémez Historic Site

nmmonuments.org/jemez 575-829-3530 From I-25, Exit 242, take U.S. 550 west to San Ysidro, right on Route 4 for 18 miles.

Museum of Indian Arts & Culture

indianartsandculture.org 710 Camino Lejo, 476-1250

Museum of International Folk Art internationalfolkart.org 706 Camino Lejo, 476-1200

Museum of Spanish Colonial Art spanishcolonialblog.org 750 Camino Lejo, 982-2226

New Mexico History Museum/Palace of the Governors nmhistorymuseum.org 113 Lincoln Ave./105 W. Palace Ave. 476-5200

New Mexico Museum of Art

nmartmuseum.org 107 W. Palace Ave., 476-5072

Pablita Velarde Museum of Indian Women in the Arts pvmiwa.org 213 Cathedral Place, 988-8900

Santa Fe Botanical Garden

www.santafebotanicalgarden.com 715 Camino Lejo, 471-9103

Santa Fe Children’s Museum santafechildrensmuseum.org 1050 Old Pecos Trail, 989-8359

Must Have Books for those who love New Mexico

Susan can personalize copies of these books for you.

Must Have Ornaments for those who love New Mexico

Susan’s Christmas Shop 115 E. Palace Avenue, Santa Fe, NM 87501 505-983-2127 • www.susanschristmasshop.com

of Santa Fe

505.469.1107 505.577.0964

80 East San Francisco Street, Santa Fe NM 87501