Holiday Fiesta at Millicent Rogers Museum is on

MRM HOLIDAY FIESTA

DRIVE-THROUGH ‘TAKE AND MAKE’

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By Tamra Testerman

The Millicent Rogers Museum has hosted an annual, multigenerational holiday fiesta for over 28 years. With a few COVID-19 modifications, a drive-through fiesta will still go on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., throughout the day, no appointment needed.

Karen Chertok, MRM’s director of education, said this year is in keeping with the spirit of Millicent Rogers who “would have risen to the occasion and done whatever she could to support local artists and reflect the unique and diverse peoples and cultures of the land Rogers embraced when she moved to Taos in 1956. This community event is a cornerstone of the museum fulfilling its mission of sharing and celebrating the arts and cultures of the Southwest and Taos. What better time to come together as a community and share the vibrant, multicultural celebrations of the season.” Chertok said planning for the event involved keeping a delicate balance between keeping staff and patrons safe while continuing a timehonored tradition.

“We discussed this as a staff and agreed that it was a priority to host this community-wide event in a COVID world,” Chertok said. “We had many photos of past events and a short online video of past holiday fiestas. What surfaced organically was what the holiday fiesta has always offered: multicultural arts and crafts projects in the different gallery spaces. In a COVID world, a drivethrough ‘take and make.’ We decided we could provide materials and project direction sheets, thanks to the generous support of a community member who donated funds for this project.”

Take and make

Chertok said many parents are familiar with the term “make and take,” where kids take part in an activity and take something home. This “take and make” will be a drive-through “where participants will enter via the museum parking lot and get the bags to take home and make fun projects with their families. Many volunteers from prior years will assist in preparation – while staying safe at home.”

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OPPOSITE: Creating one's own Christmas ornaments makes for a lasting memory. TAOS NEWS FILE PHOTO ABOVE: The Horseshoe Christmas Tree. COURTESY MILLICENT ROGERS MUSEUM

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Pandemic scheduling is in flux. Stay in touch with Taos museums in developing holiday planning.

Blumenschein Home & Museum and La Hacienda de Los Martínez

taoshistoricmuseums.org

Harwood Museum

harwoodmuseum.org

Mabel Dodge Luhan Historic House

mabeldodgeluhan.com

Millicent Rogers Museum

millicentrogers.org

Taos Art Museum at Fechin House

taosartmuseum.org

‘This is what our holiday fiesta activities were,” Chertok added, “So this holiday season we will have supplies for some favorites including ‘God’s Eye,’ which is a yarn project; “Flower Fairies” with colored pipe cleaners and flowers; snowflakes; menorah and/or dreidel activity; Kwanzaa placemat and crayons; stickers and glue sticks and treats. One of our museum members is going to provide cheese and cracker packs. We will put together 100 special bags based on last year’s number of 80 children attending the event with their parents.

If there are any bags remaining, they will be distributed through the Taos Community Foundation.”

Wish Tree

Wish Tree stars will be available for folks to fill out with their children at a table outside or in their car. Chertok said, “We will put up the Wish Tree in the lobby or on the portal as weather permits and post photos on the museum website. The MRM Wish Tree is a community project where people of all ages express their wishes as a community and share these through the stars hanging on the tree. Heartfelt sentiments and wishes are made by people from all walks of life – often leaving either no name or just a first name.

“During these unprecedented economic times, these free art supplies can provide a calming, creative activity,” Chertok said, explaining that the MRM Holiday Fiesta has always been a free event to thank and give back to the community of Taos. “Families can use the special art supplies to make a number of suggested projects or anything wonderful that speaks to your heart.”

Free family admission

Free admission for families is offered Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020. Visits must be reserved ahead of time, as only 40 people are allowed in the museum at a time, including staff. MRM can schedule family groups and COVID pods of up to five people every 20 minutes. Some smaller gallery spaces are closed.

Chertok said the museum purchased medical grade air purifiers and placed them throughout the museum. “We require signing in for potential contact tracing, use of hand sanitizer before entry, temperature check, social distancing between groups and masks at all times. We are New Mexico-Safe Certified for museums. We will schedule up to 18 family groups/COVID pods

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on that day. We ask that visitors self-assess their health prior to visiting.”

To reserve an appointment, schedule your visit early via email to karen@millicentrogers.org

For more detailed information, call (575) 758-2462 or see millicentrogers.org under the drop-down menu for “Visit.”

Take-and-Make arts and crafts activitiy bags are given out during this year's drive-through Holiday Fiesta at Millicent Rogers Museum, Dec. 5, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

RETURN OF THE LIGHT

FAROLITOS, LUMINARIAS AND LEDS

By Tamra Testerman

THere are a few things you can bet on happening this holiday season as the planet leans into the winter solstice and hibernation mode for the bears and some people. From the warmth of your car you can cruise the town starting in December and find lights – Christmas lights, farolitos and holiday displays.

Things are in pandemic scheduling flux, but here are a few routes to follow from Paseo del Pueblo Sur to Norte, sure to lift your spirit and inspire you as the challenging days of 2020 end.

Light shows

On hold for this year as of press time, Lighting of Ledoux harks back to romantic traditions from holidays past when candles and tin lanterns were used to gather round and tend the Tannenbaum or light the path to Christmas Mass.

This year there will be lights, but no gathering of more than five people is allowed at this time. Of course there could be a change, so double check frequently.

Shoppers will find an organic, nofrills celebration of the season where

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proprietors on the hidden narrow road of Taos’ oldest art district fill paper bags with sand and a single candle (or put out electric farolitos), creating a candlelit pathway amid the frosty night air. There may be the whiff of a piñon bonfire (what locals call luminarias). This year, no rules, no schedule, come as you are. Be sure to check the Taos News and Tempo for last-minute updates.

The Taos Plaza features traditional farolitos and thousands of bright lights outlining the plaza trees and strewn from the solid pine pillars to the portals of the adobes lining the square. The drive is a circular one so you’ll travel at a welcome snail’s pace as you traverse the historic grounds.

Travelling just a few blocks to the north you’ll find the only neon sign allowed in Taos, a turquoise and cobalt blue Thunderbird which rises above the Historic Taos Inn, where there are more twinkling lights and farolitos. Maybe if you roll down your window for a minute you may again take in the smell of a piñon fire, and maybe even wafts of roasting chiles in the crisp winter air.

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TAOS NEWS FILE PHOTOS

ON the corner before you head north is the Taos Art Museum and Fechin House. More farolitos and white lights cascade from the trees that Nicolai Fechin planted almost 100 years ago on the grounds. This 4,000-square-foot, asymmetrical, adobe Pueblo and Mission Revival house, with 24-inch walls, on Paseo del Pueblo Norte, is a jewel of Southwest architecture. The farolitos further enhance the charm of this Taos treasure.

Cid’s Grocery Store a few blocks down always suits up for the holidays, with lights and ornaments hanging from the Cid’s sign, street lamps and in the store windows.

The Lights of El Prado

Another few short blocks and you’ll find the crown jewel of neighborhood light festivals at the The Lights Of El Prado. Every year since the mid-’70s, Lee Gonzales has been lighting up his family’s corner of the world for the holiday season. What started as a family tradition sparked by his parents Carmen and Nick Gonzales, has developed into an extended family tradition that lights up their whole El Prado neighborhood, starting with Lee’s family home at 1108 Calle Isidro. This year there is a special tribute to those who have lost their lives to COVID-19. The light show goes on from Dec. 15 to Jan. 5, seven days a week, 5 to 10 p.m. On Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve the lights stay on until after midnight.

Lee said the show is very popular in Taos. “We watch the cars touring the neighborhood from our living room, some years we go outside and direct traffic. Some years we dedicate the light exhibit to a member of the family who passed that year with a memorial banner commemorating their life.”

Lee said what began with a few houses and the Gonzales family nativity scene, has expanded to include multiple dwellings, so many that he needs to set up the displays in November to be ready for the Dec. 15 debut. Technology has developed over the years. He used to manually turn the lights on, then came timers he’d set, and now he can control the displays by remote. The LED bulbs available now are brighter, he says, and more energy efficient so he’s switched to those.

One year a woman stopped in his yard, as many do, to take pictures. He went out to talk to her and she explained that her daughter, then stationed in Kuwait with the military, asked her to photograph Gonzales’ El Prado light show that she and her mother would come to every year when she was a child.

Lee used to be a teacher, and he now has grandchildren in school. He said he feels for the teachers and his grandchildren during these stressful, remote learning times. This year he said he hopes the show will uplift people as we approach the end of 2020, which has been such a difficult year. The lights are a reminder that someday this will be behind us. It has been and will continue to be hard, but we remain strong for each other.

To find your way to El Prado’s light show, go north on Paseo del Pueblo Norte to the area between the El Prado Liquor Store at 1102 Paseo del Pueblo Norte and Elevation Coffee at 1110 Paseo del Pueblo Norte. There is a loop through the Gonzales property which is kept clear even if it snows.

Because of ever changing COVID-19 protocols, check with Taos News for updates on closures and holiday events.

CLOCKWISE: Taos businesses don't skimp on holiday decorations throughout the town. Lighting farolitos in the Plaza. The towering white fir at Taos Plaza — and all the trees in the Plaza — will again be lit up in Christmas cheer.

HOLIDAY HOPEFULS

FIREWORKS AND TORCHLIGHTS MAY BE POSSIBLE AT SOME TAOS SKI RESORTS

By Tamra Testerman

ThE ski areas in Northern New Mexico are a perfect backdrop for a romantic holiday. Surrounded by the sweet alpine beauty of nature, it’s a fitting way to usher in 2021 after the doozy of a year 2020 has been. Modifications of tradition are the order of the day, and ski resorts in New Mexico are poised to follow guidelines to keep staff and visitors safe while still able to enjoy our famous powdery snow. At press time, ski areas are closed through Nov. 30, 2020, per Gov. Lujan Grisham’s order.

In non-pandemic years there typically are torchlight parades, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve traditions with holiday celebrants at the base of the resorts watching torch-bearing skiers swoop down darkened slopes, leaving red-lit trails lighting up the night sky. There is often live music, and Santa and Mrs. Claus often make a few stops in New Mexico for green chile cheeseburgers and biscochitos after a night of reindeer-flying from the frozen tundra of the North Pole (wink-wink). Just not this year, as of press time.

Ski area lodges, chateaus, hotels and restaurants are hoping to pull out the festive stops, however, with lights, farolitos and greens cascading into lobbies, over balconies, doors and rooftops. If allowed by the state Department of Health, restaurants will serve up holiday favorites and traditional New Mexican fare. Alpine pubs hope to keep the eggnog flowing and Christmas cheer glowing – all with masks and physical distancing as required.

If the parades do go on afterall, get out your mittens, wool hat, gator and/ or winter mask and dress warm – The Farmers Almanac says “this winter will be colder than normal, with the coldest periods in mid- and late December and mid- and late February, with the snowiest periods in late December and late February.

Pandemic scheduling is in flux, so check way ahead for reservations and to see what events may be going on. Here is a round up of activities tentatively scheduled for the holidays at your favorite ski resort.

Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve Torchlight Parade and Fireworks are holiday favorites in Red River.

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Angel Fire

Angel Fire Marketing Director Collin Wheeler said everyone “is keeping their fingers crossed for the Angel Fire Christmas Eve Fireworks and Torchlight Parade.” It’s a spectacular event that lights the way for Santa, and New Mexico is one of his favorite stops. Usually, he and Mrs. Claus frequent this resort, dropping in to say hello to all children, big and little. Director Wheeler said they are hoping New Year’s Eve promises the same royal revelry. Bundle up for the winter fun, and be sure to check the resort’s website for up-todate information, angelfireresort.com.

Red River

Red River’s Torchlight Parade and Fireworks on The Face slope is a traditional Red River classic. Eric Lucero, Guest Services Manager said everyone is hopeful these two special events happen this year. It is a favorite time of year for this quaint village. Look for shops and restaurants to light up chilly December nights with glowing farolitos and lighting displays. Check the latest holiday information at their website, redriverskiarea.com.

Sipapu

Sipapu is an ideal destination for skiers wanting a low key way to ring in 2021. Basically off-mountain events are not happening, except for physically distanced patio dining created over the summer to accommodate hungry snow hounds. The emphasis is early to bed, early to rise and hit the slopes in a family friendly atmosphere. Good food, warm lodging and a beautiful backdrop to celebrate the holidays. Check their website for up-to-date ski and holiday information, sipapu.ski.

Taos Ski Valley

The time-honored torchlight parades and fireworks for the holidays are not happening this year at Taos Ski Valley, in keeping with the Ski Valley’s Covid-Safe Certification protocols. TSV shops, restaurants and lodges, however, always suit up with lights, farolitos and holiday decor, creating a magical atmosphere for the ski community. Check for holiday updates at their website, skitaos.com.

Though probably not being held this winter due to COVID-19 protocols, some locals are still hopeful they will see a Red River Ski Area torchlight parade feeding down into the lights of town.