Adios to beloved pioneers

By S. Derrickson Moore dmoore@lcsun-news.com LAS CRUCES — We said adios to some major figures in Southern New Mexico’s arts and cultural community in 2012, some of whom were true pioneers in fields ranging from space and astonomy to the arts. Some of us were lucky enough to get to know some of these sterling souls. We’ll miss them, but their spirits live on in so much we have come to love about our unique Las Cruces style of life. • Space pioneer Lowell Randall died Jan. 3 at age 96 in Las Cruces. “Lowell was the last surviving member of a team of great pioneer rocket scientists who launched the U.S. space program,” said Joe Gold of Las Cruces, Randall’s biographer. A contemporary and New Mexico colleague of legendary rocketry pioneer Robert Goddard and Pluto’s discoverer Clyde Tombaugh, Randall’s career at a rocket engineer stretched from the 1930s through World War II and late 20th century space program research, and included duty as chief test engineer with the U.S. Naval Research Station at Annapolis, Md., and work with corporate and governmental programs throughout the U.S. to develop and test cutting-edge technology for a series of rockets, aircraft and intercontinental ballistic missiles, before his 1978 retirement from White Sands Missile Range. • Patricia “Patsy” Edson Tombaugh, community leader, educator, artist, and muse and cheerleader for her astronomy pioneer husband Clyde, discoverer of the planet Pluto, died Jan 12 in Las Cruces. She was 99. An educator herself and sister of another space pioneer, James Edson, she was also an accomplished artist and founder of arts and cultural organizations here. She was a PTA president and Brownie leader, a member of Women’s Improvement Association and American Association of University Women. She helped start the Las Cruces Community Concerts Association, the Unitarian Church of Las Cruces and the Astronomical Society of Las Cruces and was president of what later became the Doña Ana Arts Council. With Clyde, she went on lecture tours throughout the world to raise funds to establish a post-doctoral astronomy chair at NMSU. To the end, she good-naturedly lobbied for Pluto’s full planetary status, and she guest-starred with her family and was cheered by celebrities and scientists who expressed their devotion to the little planet in “The Pluto Files” a 2010 PBS NOVA special. She was there for the 2006 launch of the launch of NASA’s New Horizon Mission, schedule to reach Pluto, with Clyde’s ashes on board, in July, 2015. • Music lover and philanthropist Jack Ward, whose support inspired an annual choral festival that engaged vocal music enthusiasts of all ages, died March 11 at Memorial Hospital. He was 94. “Jack was always in the music building mixing with both students and faculty. He knew everyone and everyone loved him. Jack was part of the music program and we will miss him very much,” said Jerry Ann Alt, then-Director of Choirs for New Mexico State University. The annual Jack Ward Invitational Festival traditionally invites an area high school choral group to perform with NMSU’s Choral Department. Ward was also a recipient of the Doña Ana Arts Council (DAAC) Papen Family Award, and a dedicated volunteer. • Long-time Doña Ana County Commissioner D. Kent Evans, who died May 29 at the age of 72, was lauded for his community service, which included founding efforts for the Whole Enchilada Fiesta and the Conquistadors and support for Boy Scouts, 4-H and the Southern New Mexico State Fair and Rodeo. His career included 12 years in aerospace human resources and manned flight awareness in Cocoa Beach, Fla., before he moved to Las Cruces in 1975, where he worked with Lockheed and the Physical Science Laboratory at New Mexico State University and was also actively involved with Spaceport America. • Sharon Bode-Hempton, artist and arts advocate, and longtime head of Las Cruces city museums, died Aug. 1, She was 69. For 17 years, she served as director of a city system that initially included the Branigan Cultural Center, Las Cruces Natural History Museum and Log Cabin Museum (since relocated) and led efforts to expand and enhance the quality of area museums. She envisioned a downtown cultural corridor of city museums and galleries, a vision that has come to fruition in recent years. She worked to refurbish downtown buildings to house additional museums, including the Las Cruces Museum of Fine Art in a building next to the Branigan Cultural Center, and the Las Cruces Railroad Museum in the old Santa Fe Depot. She championed its move of the Las Cruces Museum of Natural History from Mesilla Valley Mall to its present location. (It opened in November in a renovated building). Under her leadership, city museums expanded venues for regional artists, increased the number of exhibitions and added interactive educational experiences, classes, lectures and other special events. An artist and collector herself, Bode-Hempton exhibited nationally and internationally. • Lynn Nusom, award-winning cookbook author, chef, restaurateur, travel writer and food columnist, died Aug. 1 at his home in Hillsboro. He was 74. He established an international reputation as an expert on the fiery foods and kitchen traditions of New Mexico and Arizona and created so many popular cookbooks, many of which were revised and republished in slightly different forms, that even he was uncertain of the total number. Many were bestsellers not just in New Mexico, but also throughout the United States. Among his most popular were “The New Mexico Cookbook,” which has sold more than 100,000 copies since it was first published in 1990, “Christmas in New Mexico,” “Christmas in Arizona,” “Sizzling Southwestern Cookbook,” “The Tequila Cookbook” and “Billy the Kid Cookbook.” He was also wrote food and travel articles for national magazines and was a weekly food newspaper columnist the Las Cruces Sun-News since the late 1990s, and before that, for the Las Cruces Bulletin for 13 years. He and his wife, Guylin Morris Nusom, a Las Cruces native, opened businesses that included a restaurant, Café Provençal (later named The Eatery), at the site of what is now Coas Bookstore. • Matthew Thomas Runsabove, 68, a longtime supporter of the American Indian Center at NMSU, died Aug. 20. He was Lakota (Sioux) and grew up on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota and graduated from St. Francis Indian Mission School and Haskell Indian Institute in Lawrence, Kan. He was employed as an electronics buyer as well as a social worker. He moved to Las Cruces in 2002, and shortly thereafter, co-founded Indigenous Nations for Community Action, a service organization, acting as executive director and president for several years. He helped to establish a tribal scholarship under the auspices of INCA for students in need at New Mexico State University. During the winter holidays, he would help get food baskets and presents to students at the university. • We said goodbye to two community leaders who in recent years were known best to many for their support of the Border Book Festival. • Community leader Roberto L. Frietze, whose historic adobe building in front of his Mesilla home was Border Book Foundation headquarters for many years. He died Aug. 13 at age 84. • Faride Faver Chávez Diener Miller Conway was a policewoman, detective, owner of a security guard business, a bail bond business, a licensed professional massage therapist and a talented bead artist, interior decorator and chef. She died Dec. 6. She was 73. In her later years, she was a frequent sight at Border Book Festival Foundation events, hosting and volunteering for the festival founded by her sister, author Denise Chávez. Adios to all the artists, cultural and community leaders and pioneers who did so much to enrich our lives in the Mesilla Valley. S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at 575-541-5450. Follow her on Twitter @DerricksonMoore.

Savor Christmas Week in Las Cruces

By S. Derrickson Moore dmoore@lcsun-news.com LAS CRUCES — There have been some real, soul-gratifying triumphs this year, but it’s also been a year of challenging trials for almost everbody I know. We’ve lost some leaders who made vital contributions to Las Cruces’ cultural community and many of us have said “adios” to dear friends and relatives. It’s a time when we seem compelled to take stock of where we’ve come from, where we’ve been and where we’re going. But for most (even those of us who haven’t managed to crank out a holiday newsletter or tackle a Christmas card list), all that can wait. It’s Christmas week in Las Cruces and most of the holiday hoopla is over. We’ve lived through the mercantile events: Christmas in July, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Many have celebrated several traditional spiritual events of the season, including Hanukkah, La Posada, Los Pastores, and all but one of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Festival events (the processions, masses, pilgrimage, dancing and feasts: closing day ceremonies will be Jan. 1). There’s the fun stuff: holiday school pageants, concerts, plays, movies, art exhibits, do-it-yourself arts and crafts workshops, Santa visits, outdoor markets, tree-lightings, Winterfest, holiday decorating, luminaria fiestas ... We rarely have snow to dash through in one-horse open sleighs, but there seem to be horse-drawn carriages around a lot this time of year. And we have chiles: lots and lots of red and green chiles. They’ll still be around, but pretty soon, the blessed Christmas quiet will descend. There’s one more big event: Christmas Eve on the Mesilla Plaza, but even though it’s now attracting thousands, there is something that’s always peaceful and soul-restoring about the gathering. I’ve discussed the phenomenon several times over the years with Lalo Natividad, who with his late partner Richard Weeks, founded El Grupo Cultural de Mesilla, which helped bring traditional Borderland celebrations back in the Mesilla Valley. He told me he savors the reverent, peaceful moments that come when the multitudes gathered for Christmas Eve join to sing his favorite carol: “Silent Night.” There will be lots of moments to treasure over the next week. Visits to churches for special services. Maybe a wreath or a little bouquet to honor a dearly departed soul who is gone from the Christmas table this week, but very vividly remembered. Memories are a vital part of this season: making new ones, reliving the best of Christmases past. If you pay attention, you’ll find them dancing in eyes of all ages: memories being formed, embraced and treasured. Even our excited kids and grandkids will have their subdued moments. When they go off to feign sleep and listen for reindeer hoofs on the roof. When the presents are unwrapped and everyone is taking inventory, or considering a nap. The caroling and party din will give way to mellower “oohs and ahs,” during drives to see the lights and admire neighbor’s decorations. There will be quiet walks on favorite trails and around familiar hoods. Trial runs for new toys, and skates and bikes and scooters. There will be quiet talks, in person and via phone and Skype. And moments of comfortable, companionable silence, when, if you’re fortunate, just being with loved ones seems holiday enough. There will be time enough to think about cleanups and undecking the halls, and departures and returns and post-holiday bargains and bills and storage. But not for the next few days. This is a time for family and love, for contemplation of the meaning of this blessed season. A time when peace on earth seems not just a dream, but an achievable goal. Merry Christmas. S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com; (575) 541-5450. To share comments, go to www.lcsun-news.com and click on Blogzone and Las Cruces Style. Follow her on Twitter @DerricksonMoore.

Is the world ending? Or is it a new beginning?

By S. Derrickson Moore dmoore@lcsun-news.com LAS CRUCES — By next week at this time, we should know if the world has ended. I Googled “end of the world 2012” and got 2,370,000,000 hits. I thought about perusing the more intriguing sites: from “37 food items you should be hoarding now” to out-of-this-world rumors about Pic de Bugarach mountain in southwestern France. Reactions to the alleged Mayan-predicted doomsday on Dec. 21 led French police to ban access to a mountain “thought to open up on that day uncovering an alien spaceship that will carry humans to safety,” according to www.december212012.com, which bills itself as “the official website for 122112 information.” But I’m going with the counter-programming movement. We’re voting for new beginnings. If you agree, join us on Team Rainbow at Nuevo Mundo Fiesta: A Celebration of Life, which will feature, weather permitting, a manmade 600- to 800-foot natural rainbow at 1 p.m. Dec. 22 in the sky over Young Park. Fred Stern and I conjured up the fiesta while strolling through a Downtown Las Cruces Ramble. Fred has made rainbows as large as 2,000 feet all over the world, including the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, a Palestinian-Israeli Peace Conference in Israel and Gaza, Colorado River Tribes protesting the placement of a nuclear dump site on sacred land and over the United Nations Building in New York City as a visual metaphor for world peace. Here in Las Cruces, he has created rainbows for Court Youth Center and Mesilla Valley Hospice. Fred makes the calculations and directs when and where his helpers, the Las Cruces Fire Department, “will pump water into the air to create an artificial rainfall, which will refract the sun’s light to create the natural rainbow in the sky, in the northwest corner of Young Park.” In addition to the rainbow, there will be activities for kids and entertainment provided by Bob and Melody Burns and other performing artists. In the spirit of a better future, the rainbow is being dedicated to kids. Donna Richmond, La Piñon’s executive director, sees the rainbow as “a tribute to children in crisis and all community service providers who serve them. We’ll have a table with information to hand out and invite other community providers to do the same to raise awareness.” If you’d like to help provide entertainment or activities for the event, there’s still time to contact Stern at 575-621-3065, or e-mail rainbowfred@gmail.com. A few insider’s tips to get the most out of your rainbow experience: bring an umbrella and/or a raincoat if you’d like to walk through the rainbow. It’s also a great photo op if you have a yen to share still or video shots of your loved ones at the end of a rainbow-on-demand. Stern will be holding “rainbow rehearsal” at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at Young Park, if you can’t make it Saturday, or are convinced the world will end before the Nuevo Mundo Fiesta. Whatever your views, it’s a wonderful time to say a heartfelt prayer or two, in the spirit of the Biblical pledge of a rainbow covenant in Genesis 9:13, after Noah and the floods, or, in this blessed season, of the profound path and covenant with humanity forged by the birth of a baby, more than 2,000 years ago. S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at 575-541-5450. Follow her on Twitter @DerricksonMoore.

Do you have your wings?

By S. Derrickson Moore dmoore@lcsun-news.com It’s my belief that you can never have too many wings on hand. This year, I felt like getting back to basics on the holiday decorations. Red and green. Blue and white. And lots and lots of angel wings. I’ve always been partial to angels. My artist mom felt that way, too. Thanks to her heavenly connections, I always got illustrated notes — not just money — during my baby teeth redemption activities, and I privately regarded my benefactor as a tooth angel, rather than a plebeian tooth fairy. I suspect Mom and I also shared feelings about our beautiful Christmas tree-topper angel. It was the first thing out every Christmas, and we stored her away each year with real regret. When I grew up, I decided there was absolutely nothing prohibiting me from incorporating angelic presences in my household décor all year round. I don’t go overboard, you understand. None of the kitschy excesses. Just two pairs of beautifully crafted, feathered wings (large and small) in my living room, and a couple of halos. And a couple of garden angels who winter over in my master bath. But during the Christmas season, I see no reason to limit myself. I have beautiful little handmade angels that my friend Cecilia Lewis brought back from a trip to Africa. I have folk art angels from the Caribbean, Mexico, South America and the Middle East. I have angels who perch on nativity scene bultos and nichos made by talented New Mexico santeras. And this year, I have lots and lots of angel wings after inadvertently pushing the wrong button on the copier. (Or could it have been an angelic mini- milagro?) During staff meetings, I concentrated on cutting out my fleet … so much so, in fact, that colleague and wag Lucas Peerman quipped that I was “winging it.” But I know he understands that I take angels very seriously, along with holiday decor. Some grinchy friends and relatives have even accused me of HDOCD (Hall-Decking Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). At the office, the little Christmas tree/Hanukkah bush is awaiting contributions from my colleagues and my giant Dilbert head is already wearing his Santa hat (accented with red and green chiles). My red chile lights are awaiting creative duty in my cubicle, if I can figure out how I managed to safely intertwine ’em with the vines last year. It’s a challenge, since I never seem to decorate the same way twice, and something always inspires a new theme: This year, it was a pretty little antique bell I found at Sweet Old Bob’s Antiques. We all know that every time a holiday bell rings, an angel gets wings, so it seemed like synchonicity when the paper wings started proliferating. I plan to include angel wings in Christmas cards and keep a steady supply on hand to offer as needed. I’ve given a few to kids and colleagues, who have made inventive use of them. I may hand them out to strangers, in the spirit of random acts of kindness. And send them to congressional leaders, with a reminder that we’d like to see more tidings of great joy and goodwill toward men. And women. And children. If you’d like to join the winging of the holidays movement, just google “angel wings clip art” and pick out and print your favorites. Ring bells. Distribute wings ... as awards or inspiration or a reminder of divine realms and higher powers. And know that when it comes to the true spirit of this blessed season ... well, you’ll be on the side of the angels. S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com; (575) 541-5450. To share comments, go to www.lcsun-news.com and click on Blogzone and Las Cruces Style. Follow her on Twitter @DerricksonMoore.  

N.M. cures holiday blues By S. Derrickson Moore dmoore@lcsun-news.com LAS CRUCES — I’ve known some Grinches and Scrooges in my life. And I know many more sad souls with profound aversions to the holidays, who have been traumatized by tough experiences in Christmases past. Some bear wounds from childhood, from tragedies and disappointments so at odds with the joyous image of the season that their injuries remain painful into adulthood, scarred over but never quite healed. I’m doing my best to persuade them all to spend at least one holiday in New Mexico. I maintain that a festive week in the Land of Enchantment can be more therapeutic than a host of Dickensian ghosts or Dr. Seuss epiphanies. Forget the New Age world tours. Everything you need is right here in a three-step program. Eat. Pray. Love New Mexico. Usually, I coax them here with the trappings: the piñon scented nights, the rosy red ristras, the luminarias, the fiestas, the cozy adobes glowing against a sky so brightly blue that the world seems filled with summer-strength light and warmth even if we get some rare snow flurries. Proper nourishment is crucial to holiday rehab strategies. And what could be more natural in a place where the official state question is “Red or Green” and a popular official answer is “Christmas”? It’s vitally important, for Grinches or wounded souls alike, to get that green chile level up. There are so many green chile delicious delivery systems: tamales, enchiladas, posole, salsa, stew, relleños, green chile cheesecake and wontons … even green chile beer and wine. Once you’re fortified with vitamins, capsaicin and our celebrated chile-induced endorphin rush, you’re ready to get out in the world and enjoy all the sounds, sights and fiesta delights of the season. And there will be lots of unique options, particularly of you’re working with a culturally deprived soul who’s never experienced a New Mexico Christmas. If your victim has a sense of humor, a speedy and full recovery is almost guaranteed. It helps that you can lure ’em into many moving Christmas moments disguised in a festive camouflage that may not look like a traditional holiday celebration. One confirmed holiday depressive was almost instantly cured with a visit to my then-tiny grandson’s Hillrise Elementary School pageant, where a 12 Days of Christmas presentation involved roadrunners and assorted other unusual and amusing choices. We deck our halls, trees and our cactus and sometimes, even our tumbleweeds, with imaginative New Mexico ornaments: angels made of yucca pods, red chile Santas, kachinas, gourds, feathers, Mexican paper flowers ... My shock and awe holiday cure tour for years has started at La Posta, once famed for its creative Christmas display of tanks of piranhas flanked by poinsettias. But even without the man-eating fish, I defy anybody to leave uncheered by their colorful borderland Christmas trees, which always remind me of the swirling skirts of beautiful folklorico dancers. There’s lots to love in Mesilla: Billy the Kid Gift Shop’s annual rooftop manager scene, just above the head of a big portrait of the legendary William Bonney, himself. The heartwarming Mesilla Plaza Christmas Eve of carols and luminarias. And there are lots and lots of luminarias: Today at NMSU, next Friday at Winterfest in Downtown Las Cruces and an open house at White Sands National Monument, Saturday at Fort Selden State Monument and Elephant Butte’s Weekend of Lights Luminaria Beach Walk and Floating Parade of Lights. However chronic your holiday blues, or limited your resources, there’s something about a New Mexico Christmas that’s heartwarming, enlightening, loving and inclusive that can sneak in and imbue your soul with the true spirit of the season. Happy holidays. S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com; 575-541-5450. To share comments, go to www.lcsun-news.com and click on Blogzone and Las Cruces Style. Follow her on Twitter @DerricksonMoore.

Ready for the Mundo Nuevo Rainbow Fiesta?

By S. Derrickson Moore dmoore@lcsun-news.com LAS CRUCES — This could be the fiesta to end all fiestas, literally. Though some of us think it’s really a beginning. Planning is under way for a new fiesta: Mundo Nuevo, Una Celebracion de la Vida, (New World Fiesta, A Celebration of Life) for — you guessed it — Dec. 21 and 22, to celebrate fresh starts and new beginnings. Fred Stern and I decided it was a fiesta whose time had come when we were strolling around Las Cruces during a recent Downtown Ramble. He’d just returned from a trip through Europe and South America and we were reviewing the global talk about Hopi prophecies and the Mayan calendar and assorted apocalyptic theories. We decided some counter-programming could be in order and I asked Fred if he’d be willing to make a rainbow that day. Fred, who’s been based in Silver City and Las Cruces for most of the past two decades, is a rambling guy with an eclectic background in arts and science who can, as he puts it, “make natural rainbows in the sky. I work with local fire departments to pump water into the air to create an artificial rainfall, which refracts the sun’s light to form rainbows as large as 2,000 feet across.” Fred’s made rainbows for American Cancer Society Relay for Life events, the Make a Wish Foundation, Camp Quality for Children with Cancer, Camp Sundown, the Alzheimer’s Association, the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Portland Blues Festival supporting the Food Bank, the Potsdam Eutopia Festival, Sweden’s Stockholm Water Festival, The Hague Appeal for Peace, a Palestinian-Israeli Peace Conference in Israel and Gaza, and the Colorado River Tribes protesting the placement of a nuclear dump site on sacred land, and a rainbow over the United Nations Building in New York City “as a visual metaphor for world peace.” In Las Cruces, he’s created rainbows for Court Youth Center, Hospice and Alzheimer’s Awareness Day. We got to talking and decided it would be nice to recruit other artists and kindred souls who see Dec. 21 as a new beginning. Fred will go to the Las Cruces City Council at 1 p.m. Monday on behalf of the nonprofit Rainbow Around the World Foundation to ask for “the use Young Park and the help of the fire department to once again create a Las Cruces rainbow. The event will be dedicated to the Children’s Crisis center and Jardín de los Niños, who will benefit from any proceeds stirred up by the day,” he said. He’s looking for entertainers, artists and anyone else who’d like to help with the event. If you’d like to be involved, contact rainbowfred@g-mail.com. As Las Cruces Style regulars may recall, I’ve always taken rainbows personally, and tend to round up coworkers and anyone else in the territory to take a break and appreciate whatever bow appears. Las Cruces remains the only place I’ve even seen triple rainbows. I even saw a snowbow here one frosty day. I love the Biblical pledge of a rainbow covenant in Genesis 9:13, after Noah and the floods. In these troubled times, I think it would be a nice gesture to make a rainbow and pledge our own covenant with higher powers — and our best selves. If, as I suspect, the world goes on, what better beginning than a covenant to build a new and better world, to care for the next generation, clean up and get ready for a new start? S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at (575) 541-5450. Follow her on Twitter @DerricksonMoore.

Counting your blessings

By S. Derrickson Moore dmoore@lcsun-news.com LAS CRUCES — The time of year when we celebrate giving thanks for what we have is, paradoxically, the season when many are obsessing about what they do not have (or can’t afford to give). In a decade when black Friday has edged forward to blacken Thursday, when many feel compelled to leave the Thanksgiving table to camp out (and cop out of family gatherings) in search of bargains, I think it’s time for a gratitude time-out. If spirituality is an important part of our lives, it seems like we are shortchanging the meaning of the season, the meaning of life, and indeed, our very souls. Growing up in mid-century America, the time famous for keeping up with the Joneses, the more thoughtful curmudgeons of my childhood were righteously indignant when people started putting up Christmas decorations the first week in December. Then it moved to Halloween. Now Christmas in July sales and celebrations are common and holiday acquisition campaigns seem to last almost as long as presidential campaigns. And this year, I find that my head and heart are filled not with visions of sugarplums, but with counter-programming concepts. I’ve been thinking about the “attitude of gratitude” concept that I’ve heard so much about from friends and relatives who have successfully navigated 12- step programs. (And a personal aside: I can’t think of any material thing that has ever generated as much gratitude and joy as the news that a loved one has made it through another year of clean and sober recovery). I think about the Biblical advice to consider the lilies of the field and I’m grateful that such wisdom is available to us all in a land and age when arrogance and greed seem to have a stranglehold on society. I think of Biblical nuances that have become clearer to me with age: that it’s the love of money (stress “the love of,” not the money) that is the root of all evil. I know the truth of wise sayings like: “Happiness is not getting what you want, but wanting what you have.” The admonitions come from many times and cultures: ancient Zen Buddhist maxims, artistic philosophies that focus on the beauty of minimalism. Less is more. Gratitude has also become a popular precept of new age and pop psychology, and some scholarly studies have shown that it can be an important part of happiness and basic metal health. People who keep a gratitude journal, recording each day things for which they are grateful, reportedly seem to be happier and more successful than those who don’t. (And, I’d venture to guess, several times more joyful that those who hoard grudges, slights, wrongs, dashed dreams, bitterness and unforgiven sins). I think I’ll try it myself, in a blank 2012 datebook I found with the Christmas stuff. Every day, from Thanksgiving through Dec. 31, I plan to list five things for which I am grateful. I’ll let you know how it works out, and if you try it, I’d love to hear from you, too. Some see gratitude as a route to enlightenment and even bliss, and crucial to a quest for communion with higher powers and our higher, best selves. In fact, some sage souls have said that if our prayers were limited to nothing more than “Thank you,” that would suffice. I’m doing my best to remember that, this holiday season, and to give gratitude the top priority this year, all year around. Happy holidays to you all. And thanks … y mil gracias. S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com; 575-541-5450. To share comments, go to www.lcsun-news.com and click on Blogzone and Las Cruces Style. Follow her on Twitter @DerricksonMoore.

Stress Free Tips for the Holidays

By S. Derrickson Moore dmoore@lcsun-news.com LAS CRUCES — Stressed out yet? You’ve made it throught most of the fall costume occasions, nearly all of the state centennial commemorations and a big chunk of FTFS — Full-Tilt Fiesta Season. But for many of us, the best (or worst, depending on your attitude) is still to come: Thanksgiving. Black Friday. And a whole month of holiday, family, shopping and fiesta occasions. School and community pageants. Benefits and bazaars. Reunions. Decorating. Entertaining. Updating the card list. There’s gifting and all that entails: shopping for or making presents. Wrapping. Packing. Sending. Getting together for gift exchanges. Recently, I was talking with friends and family about things that get easier with time. Fiestas never seem to fall within that category. I know. I’m a pro. I’ve written about, organized, invented and coordinated festivals for most of my life, which seems to stretch back to the Jurassic Age, this time of year. And whether I was planning a week-long bash for thousands in the capital of arrogance and greed (which shall remain unnamed) or a sit-down dinner in my hometown querencia for a small group of motley amigos, many of the same survival principles apply. Here are some of my favorite tips for making the season merrier and brighter: • Plan ahead: No matter how much you like to think of yourself as a carefree, spontaneous sort, this is not the time to go rogue. Do as much as you can as far ahead of time as possible. Double recipes and freeze half. Stock up at holiday bake sales and bazaars. Freeze goodies and be prepared to thaw for surprise guests and gifting occasions. • Eliminate: Maybe you don’t have to give gifts to everybody on your list. Talk it over with your friends who have everything. Maybe they would be just as relieved as you are to cut it out. Especially if you offer a: • Substitute: Instead of a gift exchange, suggest an informal lunch, brunch or breakfast. Instead of a home party, get together at your favorite restaurant. Let someone else do the work and cleanup, which brings us to: • Delegate: If you’re hosting a big holiday meal or a party at the office and people offer to help, say “Yes!” Accept food offerings, decorating and clean-up help. • R & R: Plan some alone time, for yourself and with close friends and your immediate family. Don’t skip workouts. Fit some exercise into your holiday routine. Walk, rather than drive, through decorated neighborhoods. Get to the mall 30 minutes or an hour before stores open and stroll briskly. • Have a backup plan: That idyllic outdoor/mountain top Christmas event that you agreed to host because it almost never rains or snows here may surprise you with the weather bomb surprise of the year. Be prepared to move inside. • K.I.S.S.: No mistletoe involved here (though it can’t hurt). We’re talking Keep it Simple Stupid philosophies. This time of year, people are more apt to remember warm-hearted feelings than intricate frills and painstaking details you agonized over. • Hugs and humor: can ease all kinds of stressful situations. Kids or grandkids acting up? Entice them with a hug into a time out and some quieter activity. In-laws and outlaws insist on sharing their irritating political views and instigating family feuds? Download some funny, politically neutral jokes and when people start laughing, switch the subject. • Blooper fiestas: With the right attitude, even minor holiday “disasters” can be fun. Turkey burned to a crisp? Order a pizza. Faux or real tree looking mangy? Twist and prune to exaggerate its non-traditional personality even more and refer to it as a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. In the family history, the bloopers are likely to be remembered more fondly than attempts at perfection. • Sing: Even if you think you can’t. Even if you don’t feel like it. Start a carol at home or the office. You might be surprised at the talent that will be revealed. • Spirit: Remember what the season is all about. As Tenny Hale said, “When you feel most like giving out, give outward.” It always works. Always. Happy holidays. S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com; (575) 541-5450. To share comments, go to www.lcsun-news.com and click on Blogzone and Las Cruces Style. Follow her on Twitter @DerricksonMoore.

The down-low on moustaches

NOTE: For a roundup on moustache fun for everyone, check on the Sunday Nov. 4 Las Cruces Sun-News SunLife cover By S. Derrickson Moore dmoore@lcsun-news.com LAS CRUCES — What do mustaches mean to you? While putting together today’s feature, I was reflecting on my own experience with the mustachioed. I remember that my mom thought Errol Flynn’s pencil-thin mustache was dashing and my sister had a crush on Clark Gable as Rhett Butler, but other than before-my-time movie idols, I don’t recall anybody in my real life having any sort of hirsute upper lips when I was growing up. That all changed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when everybody seemed to have hair: long, beautiful hair, any place they could grow it. It was a fashion statement. A protest against the clean-shaven status quo. A lifestyle choice. Even a hit musical. Suddenly, all our boyfriends, and later our hubbies, had moustaches, along with beards, and what I remember most about that era is whiskerburn ... lots of it, in the best of times. And in the worst of times ... well, as noted, hair was a symbol of so much for the flower power, Baby Boomer, protest generation. My long-time lawfully-wedded roommate would stop trimming and start growing hair when he felt rebellious, domesticated, or otherwise in need of change and adventure. When yearnings for a new job or a promotion or generally upwardly mobile life change came up, out would come the razor. As a psych minor and journalist, naturally I was interested in what it all meant, and that was far from clear. Some feel mustachioed men are more manly and assertive, so confident that they don’t mind —and may even want — the extra attention that comes from a large, elaborately groomed display of facial hair. Others feel a man with a moustache has something to hide, or wants to hide, himself. Maybe Sigmund Freud would have said that sometimes, a moustache is just a moustache. But then, Sigmund had a very ample face full of hair himself, so I’m not sure we could count on him to be objective. After pondering a lot of guys and their moustaches (along with the occasional rebel and anomaly like Frida Kahlo, a woman who seemed downright proud of her ‘stache), I’m inclined to think it just depends. Moustaches mean different things to different people at different times in their lives. It seems like there was a long dearth of moustaches there for a while. That was just one reason that our former city editor Charles Brunt was memorable, but his impressive waxed ‘stache and his VILLAIN personalized license plate certainly made their mark. So much so, that we all decided to don fake handlebar moustaches for his farewell party, and somewhere, we have the multi-mustachioed pictures to prove it. Not long ago, I was surprised when my soulmate met me at the airport sporting an impressive ‘stache. It was his first in nearly three decades, since his intern days, before we met. He’d spent some time at sea on a research ship and it seemed like something to do, he said. “And besides, I wanted to see if I could still grow some hair somewhere on my head,” he quipped. He could, and so can a lot of his contemporaries, many of them former flower children who are retired now. They don’t have to shave to fit any corporate standards, so why should they? And if they can recapture a bit of their youthful spirit of adventure with a soupçon of macho flair and derring-do in the process, why not? Is it a fair trade, maybe even a no-brainer? Razor burn, propriety and conformity for freedom, a new look and a new outlook on life. I watched the new holiday perfume ads featuring Brad Pitt, now sporting a beard and moustache, and thought about Errol and Clark, dashing and swashbuckling through their very long primetimes. It all comes down to the guy behind the ‘stache, of course. But all in all, whisker burn is a small price to pay; it’s worth it to have the right mustachioed man in your life. S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com; (575) 541-5450. To share comments, go to www.lcsun-news.com and click on Blogzone and Las Cruces Style. Follow her on Twitter @DerricksonMoore.

Day of the Dead 101

By S. Derrickson Moore dmoore@lcsun-news.com LAS CRUCES — Día de los Muertos has been called “a day when heaven and earth meet” and “a celebration of lives well-lived.” In Las Cruces, it has become a beloved tradition, a time when Borderland cultures blend, showcasing and sometimes creatively combining Spanish, Mexican, American Indian and Anglo customs and beliefs. Día De Los Muertos “is not a morbid holiday but a festive remembrance of Los Angelitos (children) and all souls (Los Difuntos),” according to a statement from the Calavera Coalition of Mesilla. “This celebration originated with the indigenous people of the American continent, the Aztec, Mayan, Toltec and the Inca. Now, many of the festivities have been transformed from their original pre-Hispanic origins. It is still celebrated throughout North America among Native American tribes. The Spanish arrived and they altered the celebration to coincide with the Catholic celebrations of All Saints Day (Nov. 1) and All Souls Day (Nov. 2).” Continuing an annual Las Cruces Style tradition, here is a guide to some important terms and concepts relating to Day of the Dead celebrations, collected during 19 years of commemorations here. • alfeñique: Molded sugar figures used in altars for the dead. • ancianos: Grandparents or elderly friends or relatives who have died; ancestors honored during the first (north) part of processions for Day of the Dead. • angelitos: Literally “little angels,” refers to departed children and babies, traditionally honored during the first day of celebrations, Nov. 1, and the third (south) part of processions honoring the dead. • anima sola: A lonely soul or spirit who died far from home or who is without amigos or relatives to take responsibility for its care. • calascas: Handmade skeleton figurines which display an active and joyful afterlife, such as musicians or skeleton brides and grooms in wedding finery. • calaveras: Skeletons, used in many ways for celebrations: bread and candies in the shape of skeletons are traditional, along with everything from small and large figures and decorations, skeleton head rattles, candles, masks, jewelry and T-shirts. It’s also the term for skull masks, often painted with bright colors and flowers and used in displays and worn in Day of the Dead processions. • literary calaveras: Poetic tributes written for departed loved ones or things mourned and/or as mock epitaphs. • Catrin and Catrina: Formally dressed couple, or bride and groom skeletons, popularized by renowned Mexican graphic artist and political cartoonist José Guadalupe Posada (1851-1913). In modern celebrations, Catrina is particularly popular and appears in many stylish outfits. • copal: A fragrant resin from a Mexican tree used as incense, burned alone or mixed with sage in processions in honor of the dead. • Días de los Muertos: Days of the Dead, usually celebrated on Oct. 31 through Nov. 2 (the official date for Day of the Dead) in conjunction with All Souls Days or Todos Santos, the Catholic Feast of All Saints. Various Borderland communities, including Las Cruces, have their own celebration schedules in October and November. Look for altars and art exhibits around the Mesilla Valley, and our largest area celebration Oct. 29 and 30 on the Mesilla Plaza, also the site of a procession beginning at dusk Nov. 2. • Difunto: Deceased soul, corpse, cadaver. • La Flaca: Nickname for the female death figure, also known as La Muerte. • Frida Kahlo: Mexican artist who collected objects related to the Day of the Dead. Her photo often appears in Día de los Muertos shrines or retablos. • Los Guerreros: Literally, “the warriors,” are dead fathers, husbands, brothers and sons honored in the final (east) stop in Dia De Los Muertos processions. • marigolds: In Mexico, marigolds or “cempasuchil” are officially known as the “flower of the dead.” The flowers are added to processional wreaths at each stop, with one blossom representing each departed soul being honored. Sometimes marigold pedals are strewn from the cemetery to a house. Their pungent fragrance is said to help the spirits find their way back home. Sometimes mums and paper flowers are also used. • mariposas: Butterflies, and sometimes hummingbirds, appear with skeletons to symbolize the flight of the soul from the body to heaven. • masks: Carried or worn during processions and other activities, masks can range from white face paint to simple molded plaster or papier-maché creations or elaborate painted or carved versions that become family heirlooms. • Las Mujeres: The women who have died are honored during the second (west) stop of Day of the Dead processions. After names of dead mothers, daughters, sisters and friends are called and honored, it is traditional for the crowd to sing a song for the Virgin of Guadalupe. • Náhuatl poetry: Traditional odes dedicated to the subject of death, dating back to the pre-Columbian era. • ofrenda: Traditional altar where offerings such as flowers, clothing, food, photographs and objects loved by the departed are placed. The ofrenda may be constructed in the home — usually in the dining room — at a cemetery, or may be carried in a procession. The ofrenda base is often an arch made of bent reeds. It is ornamented with special decorations, sometimes with heirlooms collected by families, much like Christmas ornaments. Decorations may include skeleton figures, toys and musical instruments in addition to offerings for a specific loved one. • pan de muertos: Literally, “bread of the dead.” It is traditionally baked in the shape of a skull — or calavera — and dusted with pink sugar. Here, local bakeries sometimes include red and green chile decorations. • papel picado: Decorations made of colored paper cut in intricate patterns. • Posada: José Guadalupe Posada, (1852-1913), the self-taught “printmaker to the people” and caricaturist was known for his whimsical calaveras, or skeletons, depicted wearing dapper clothes, playing instruments and otherwise nonchalantly conducting their everyday activities, sometimes riding on horse skeletons. • veladores: Professional mourners who help in the grief process in several ways, including candlelight vigils, prayers and with dramatic weeping and wailing. • Xolotlitzcuintle: Monster dog, sometimes depicted as a canine skeleton, sometimes as a Mexican hairless breed. Since pre-Columbian times, this Día de los Muertos doggy has, according to legend, been the departed’s friend, helping with the tests of the perilous crossing of the River Chiconauapan to Mictlan, the land of the dead. S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com; (575) 541-5450. To share comments, go to www.lcsun-news.com and click on Blogzone and Las Cruces Style. Follow her on Twitter @DerricksonMoore.

Help save our crumbling fiesta infrastructure

By S. Derrickson Moore dmoore@lcsun-news.com LAS CRUCES — Only time will tell what will happen when the calendar hits Dec. 21 this year. Prognosticators’ opinions are sharply divided about what the most frequently cited sources (Hopi and Mayan prophets and their descendants) really have to say about the much-discussed date. Most authoritative sources I’ve encountered seem to agree that it will be more of transformation, an ending of an era, rather than the end of the world. But in the meantime, here at home on the range, in our own timeframe, we have some crises to confront. Whatever happens in December, we already know that 2012 has seen some crucial crumbling in the Las Cruces fiesta infrastructure. It started when Roberto Estrada announced that his equipment was no longer up to the task of creating the world’s largest enchilada. For the first time in its history, the Whole Enchilada Fiesta came and went without production of its behemoth namesake dish. And now comes the news that Magellan, the Doña Ana Arts Council’s official Renaissance ArtsFaire lake dragon, will not be floating in its customary Young Park pond position this year. Bob Diven’s locally legendary creation has suffered a broken neck, which has left him in danger of becoming “nearly headless,” I learned during this month’s Ramble. I had a deja vu moment when I heard the news. I remembered when my comadre (grandson Alex the Great’s other grandmother) moved to Las Cruces and contemplated our territory through a feng shui master’s eyes. She informed me that our town was very nicely situated with hills and mountains in all the right places. Crouching tigers and bountiful bears may have been involved, if I remember right. And I’ll never forget her pronouncement that the Organ Mountains represented the most impressive example of a dragon she’s ever seen: a sleeping dragon, about to wake up. Ah, the symbolism. My first thought is that if we should let sleeping dogs lie, wouldn’t it be even more prudent to leave sleeping dragons to rest in peace? What if Diven’s dragon symbolizes a behemoth that rose, was injured and now may be very cranky and loaded for bear, to mix my animal metaphors. But we Las Crucens are a brave, resourceful and caring lot, and many are working to restore our cherished fiesta traditions. And in the meantime, the show must go on. Roberto made lots of spicy small dishes for enchilada eating contests instead of the big one this year, and efforts are under way to raise $40,000 for new equipment in time for next year’s Whole Enchilada Fiesta. And I hear that Magellan will make an appearance at DAAC’s RenFaire Saturday and Sunday. But the wounded dragon will be “in the dragon hospital, waiting to be restored to his fiery former glory,” DAAC’s Summer Irvin revealed. He’ll be soliciting comfort kisses for $5, and looking adorably pathetic enough to help generate donations to fix him up and get him back in the pond in 2013. By this time next year, we may have pulled together and be back in the giant enchilada biz and ready to launch a frisky, new — or artfully mended — lake dragon. Or maybe the form of this world will have passed away and it won’t matter. Time will tell. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty — and the key to maintenance of fiesta infrastructure. And our planet. S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com; (575) 541-5450. To share comments, go to www.lcsun-news.com and click on Blogzone and Las Cruces Style. Follow her on Twitter @DerricksonMoore.

NM arts groups celebrate 50 years By S. Derrickson Moore dmoore@lcsun-news.com LAS CRUCES — There are some noteworthy golden anniversaries to celebrate this year, along with our state’s 100th birthday. Right here at home, the Las Cruces Art Association, one of the oldest ongoing cultural groups in the Borderlands, is marking its 50th year. So is the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. Its best-known attractions (the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Museum of International Folk Art, New Mexico Museum of Art and the New Mexico History Museum) are in Santa Fe, along with the Office of State Archaeological Studies. But the foundation also is responsible for state monuments across New Mexico, including nearby Fort Selden, and two Southern New Mexico families have bequeathed some remarkable gifts that will add immeasurable to the cultural resources and attractions here in the Mesilla Valley. Dr. Kent Jacobs, a past MNMF board president and current foundation trustee and regent, and his wife, artist Sallie Ritter Jacobs, have bequeathed their Las Cruces home, which will become an art museum. And J. Paul Taylor, an MNMF honorary trustee and regent, has also made arrangements to leave to the public the historic Mesilla Plaza adobe home he shared with his late wife Mary and their family. The Jacobs and Taylor families are also bequeathing some impressive art and artifact collections. “Since its establishment in 1962 by Santa Fe attorney Thomas Catron III, the foundation has generated more than $84 million in contributions to support exhibits, collections and educational programs across the museum system — not just in Santa Fe,” according to a recent editorial in the Santa Fe New Mexican. You can learn more about the MNMF and its activities at www.museumfoundation.org. The Las Cruces Arts Association will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a banquet at 1 p.m. Oct. 21 in the Encanto Heritage Hotel and at a November exhibit at Branigan Cultural Center. I was asked to be the keynote speaker for their October gathering and have had fun perusing some newspaper clippings and histories. Founded in 1962 by artists living in Dona Ana County, the group was then known as the Las Cruces Arts and Crafts Association. It was great to see photos of the group’s second director, the late, great artist Patsy Tombaugh (Pluto discoverer Clyde’s wife) and other well-known artists I’ve gotten to know in my almost two decades here. The group quickly established a tradition of service and education, finding venues and organizing exhibitions for artists of all ages and skill levels. “From the beginning, members sought a way to communicate with other artists and be of service in the arts,” said long-time member and three-time LCAA director Rayma Claessen, who traces the group from its first home at Barker Street and Avenida de Mesilla to its newly opened headquarters at Mountain Gallery & Studios, 138 W. Mountain Ave. Learn more about the group (which welcomes new members) and its activities at www.lascrucesarts.org. Happy 50th to everyone affiliated with some great organizations. You’ve enriched our daily lives in the Land of Enchantment. S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com; (575) 541-5450. To share comments, go to www.lcsun-news.com and click on Blogzone and Las Cruces Style. Follow her on Twitter @DerricksonMoore.

DIY Costume ideas

DIY for the most unique costume By S. Derrickson Moore dmoore@lcsun-news.com LAS CRUCES — Got costumes? You’re gonna need them. We are now entering the dress-up portion of Full-Tilt Fiesta Season, so be ready for at least a month of occasions for costumes, including the third-annual Zombie Walk, Oct. 27 on Main Street downtown, Halloween, Día de los Muertos events Nov. 2 through 4 on the Mesilla Plaza, the Doña Ana Arts Council’s Renaissance ArtsFaire Nov. 3 and 4, and assorted fiestas, balls, haunted houses and other events around the territory. And don’t forget private parties, trick-or-treating and assorted last-minute gatherings that will call for some kind of effort. If you’re stymied, don’t despair. I’ve been through at least three generations of childhood costume needs (mine, my son’s and my grandson’s) and two decades of enthusiastic adult costume occasions here in southern New Mexico. You can produce some memorable get-ups with a limited budget and a recycling philosophy. Here are some basic guidelines to help you create your own one-of-a-kind costume. • Play dead. Living dead, that is, and help the planet live at the same time by recycling. It’s easy to zombify any old costume, or personal or thrift shop cast-offs. Just tear, rip and add a little gauze and zombie blood (available commercially, or make your own with a mixture of gray and red makeup or acrylic paint for your clothes). • Go vintage: The 20th century produced some of the new millennium’s most popular costumes. The ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s are particularly popular now. Search closets (your own, your parents’ and grandparents’) and area thrift and secondhand shops. • Recreate your favorite character, and keep spinning. The Wizards of Oz’s Dorothy, for example: Start with a pair of glittery ruby red high heels (purchase or make your own by mixing white glue and red glitter and painting a pair of old shoes), put your hair in ponytails, add a blue-and-white checked something or other (apron, shirt, shirt) for the basic Ms. D. Then add makeup and accessories. Werewolf Dorothy. Frankenstein Dorothy. Add fishnet stockings and a gingham mini-dress to become Sexy Dorothy. A layer of ragged gauze and some red-gray paint and you’re Mummy or Zombie Dorothy. • Buy the hat: It may be all you need to make the costume work. Get one of the popular character toppers at shops and you can wear it after Halloween, too, or spin it indefinitely. (See above: Become Rasta or Angry Bird zombie, mummy, etc.) • Get the mask: Just like the hat, it may be all you need to inspire infinite possibilities. Get a mask of your fave (or least-fave) politician, wear your old tux, a striped prison suit, or … come up with your own political commentary. • Add wings: Invest in a good pair and you can create an angel or fairy version of any old costume or pair with your favorite nightgown or white outfit for a more glam or ethereal look. Angelitos are always welcome at Día de los Muertos events and processions, and at RenFaire. In fact, angels are always welcome everywhere. • Pirates: All it takes is a patch, a scarf, a cardboard or rubber sword and a willingness to say “ARRGGG” a lot. • Good sports: Wear a jersey, team T-shirt or appropriate practice sweats and equipment. Print out a photo of your favorite sports idol, attach elastic to wear as a mask or glue on cardboard and mount on a stick to carry, and be prepared to sign autographs for fans or cope with disgruntled foes. • Ghosts: There’s nothing wrong with the classics. Find an old white sheet in the linen closet or a second-hand store, cut out a pair of eyeholes and you’re good to go. For chic haunts, consider a haute couture spook: start with a patterned designer twin sheet and accessorize with jewelry, belts, a cute little hat, great shoes and maybe some artfully draped cheesecloth. S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at (575) 541-5450

Farm Life Lessons Learned the Hard Way

Farm life lessons learned the hard way LAS CRUCES — I was a state fair virgin until I moved to New Mexico. None of my friends or relatives had farms. I didn’t belong to 4-H or date a single member of Future Farmers of America when I was growing up. We had a little building in our suburban yard that had once been a chicken coop, but we used it for a playhouse. We three kids grew up with dogs, bunnies and mallard ducks, but they were considered family members. Our differently-specied brothers and sisters spent as much time in the house as we did, and you could expect to find a dog curled up on the couch or in your bed, hogging the pillows, and a half-dozen newly hatched Mallard ducklings snuggling on a heating pad on dad’s otherwise sacrosanct recliner. It seemed like an idyllic suburban childhood, but it was not untouched by agricultural realities, my childhood neighbor Linda recently reminded me. In the 1990s, after decades out of touch, in one of those New Mexico synchonicity milagros, Linda and I discovered we were living within a block of each other in the Las Alturas neighborhood. We’d grown up as K-12 next door neighbors in suburban Muskegon, Mich. There was still a patch of forest down the street in our ’hood, and both our backyards bordered a last little stretch of fenced land — I guess you could call it a pasture — where our friend Joni and her family decided to get what we all thought was a pet calf. The neighborhood kids and our ducky, doggy and rabbit siblings all seemed to enjoy getting to know the friendly little calf — known as Nicky, if I remember right. And Nicky liked us, too, coming up to the fence to greet us, and agreeably, if not enthusiastically, joining in our cowgirl and cowboy backyard adventures. Nicky got bigger and bigger, and finally went missing one day. No one prepared us for the horror that came next. I guess I can’t blame my tender-hearted parents, who stopped just short of demanding character references and a signed vegetarian oath before allowing the “adoption” of a single one of their Mallard duckling “grandchildren.” We’d just finished a round of “Clue” one day at Joni’s house. I was feeling pretty good about solving the Col. Mustard candlestick homicide when everyone else searching the mansion had zeroed in on Miss Scarlet and the pistol. Joni graciously invited us to stay for a bowl of yummy beef stew. You guessed it. After we’d chowed down, we learned that Nicky was not, and never had been, a brother, as far as Joni’s parents were concerned, nor even a pet. Nicky was lunch. Our lunch. That very lunch, in fact. And we were horrified. It was Twilight Zone’s “To Serve Man” episode and “Soylent Green” full-force shock and horror. Nicky was LUNCH! Never mind that we were the generation that consumed McDonald’s first billion burgers and enjoyed charcoal grilled steaks at least weekly. We didn’t make the connection. We didn’t know those burgers personally. I’ve become a state fair fan since moving here, and I’ve gotten to know a lot of adults and kids who work hard to raise everything from chiles and pecans to exotic chickens, sheep, goats, pigs and cows. I’ve covered 4-H competitions and watched kids carefully groom and prepare their critters for show, judging and sale. They’re nurturing, conscientious kids who are far more grounded in reality that I was. But I’ve heard some tales, and seen tears threaten when they talk about critters lost and, I think, loved. Agriculture takes a special kind of courage, whether you’re saying good-bye to a prize pig who’s become a pal, or fighting drought, economic pressures and encroaching subdivisions to bring in a crop and keep a farm in the family for another generation. Enjoy the carnival and funnel cakes at the fair this week, but save some time to tour the barns and exhibits and ponder what it takes to feed a nation. S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com; (575) 541-5450. To share comments, go to www.lcsun-news.com and click on Blogzone and Las Cruces Style. Follow her on Twitter @DerricksonMoore.

Las Cruces Style — S. Derrickson Moore We have the world’s best fiestas LAS CRUCES — Most of my best fiesta memories seem to begin in Las Cruces. Having reached an age when childhood memories sometimes seem more vivid and accessible than where I put my keys 10 minutes ago, it’s surprising that I can’t recall a single memorable fiesta image or anecdote from my Michigan youth, and have only dim memories of interviewing lots and lots of Oregon rose queens at Portland’s annual Rose Festival. But switch to New Mexico and my mind’s eye conjures vivid images, starting with my first visit in the 1980s, landing at the Albuquerque airport during their balloon fiesta. What a welcome! In Santa Fe, I have fond memories of covering and attending Spanish Market, Indian Market, and best of all, the Zozobra burning fiesta, back in the golden olden days when we gathered to burn our troubles and celebrate all the tourists leaving for the season (now, many tourists come to see the big Z burn, and most locals stay home to avoid the crowds). I’ve partied with ETs at the Roswell UFO Festival and thoroughly enjoyed Balloon Regattas at Elephant Butte, Great American Duck Races in Deming and fiestas inspired by Geronimo and Ralph Edwards in Truth or Consequences. Let’s be honest, the best festivals on the planet are in New Mexico, and the best fiestas in New Mexico are in our territory. The Whole Enchilada Fiesta was my very first Las Cruces festival, when I moved here in 1994. I was burned out from my days as a festival marketer in Palm Beach County, where the parties cost zillions, but weren’t that much fun, and I probably would have skipped it (and maybe missed out on all our great fiestas) if I hadn’t been recruited by the Sun-News to volunteer at a soft drink booth. The fiesta was then in the pre-renewal Downtown Mall area and the still-shabby streets were transformed with the delicious smell of roasting chiles, and color, music, parades and fiesta-spirited people. Very nice people, I discovered. Many stopped to chat and offer tips on fun things to see and do. I came in a very good fiesta year. The Las Cruces International Mariachi Conference started a few months after I arrived, and so did the Doña Ana Arts Council’s annual ArtWalk, which has since evolved into a monthly downtown arts Ramble, and spawned assorted other regional arts walks and fine arts festival events. I was recently reminded that I was in on the ground floor of Día de los Muertos celebration revivals, the birth of ArtsForms February For the Love of Art Month (a whole fiesta month!) and here for the very first Border Book Festival. My extended family, some of whom came to live here, share my fondness for our fiestas. When I was introducing them to the wonders of the Land of Enchantment, I was particularly grateful for the contributions of Lalo Natividad and the late Richard Weeks, who founded El Grupo Cultural, credited with the revival of several traditional Borderland celebrations on the Mesilla Plaza and some new twists on several regional events, from the Mesilla Diez y Seis de Septiembre Fiesta and Cinco de Mayo to Christmas Eve on the Mesilla Plaza. During his very first visit here, then-baby grandson Alex the Great grabbed a pair of maracas and shook them during Cinco de Mayo (and I have — and cherish — the photos that prove it). He was about 3 when many of his Pacific Northwest family members decided to move here. I have fond memories of his first Mesilla Diez y Seis parade, when we went to watch his then teen-age aunt Tanya march with her high school band. Continuing what I have since learned is a tradition, many in parade cars and floats flung candy to kids along the route. Alex was too little to scamper far, and we were touched when older kids collected the sweet treats and gave them to my grandson and other toddlers not big enough to compete for booty. “People are very sweet here,” said my visiting friends and relatives. “I told you so,” I said. “And we also have the best fiestas on the planet. Maybe even the whole solar system.” And I have the fiesta memories to prove it. S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com; (575) 541-5450. To share comments, go to www.lcsun-news.com and click on Blogzone and Las Cruces Style. Follow her on Twitter @DerricksonMoore.

We have the world’s best fiestas

By S. Derrickson Moore
dmoore@lcsun-news.com
LAS CRUCES — Most of my best fiesta memories seem to begin in Las Cruces.
Having reached an age when childhood memories sometimes seem more vivid and accessible than where I put my keys 10 minutes ago, it’s surprising that I can’t recall a single memorable fiesta image or anecdote from my Michigan youth, and have only dim memories of interviewing lots and lots of Oregon rose queens at Portland’s annual Rose Festival.
But switch to New Mexico and my mind’s eye conjures vivid images, starting with my first visit in the 1980s, landing at the Albuquerque airport during their balloon fiesta. What a welcome!
In Santa Fe, I have fond memories of covering and attending Spanish Market, Indian Market, and best of all, the Zozobra burning fiesta, back in the golden olden days when we gathered to burn our troubles and celebrate all the tourists leaving for the season (now, many tourists come to see the big Z burn, and most locals stay home to avoid the crowds).
I’ve partied with ETs at the Roswell UFO Festival and thoroughly enjoyed Balloon Regattas at Elephant Butte, Great American Duck Races in Deming and fiestas inspired by Geronimo and Ralph Edwards in Truth or Consequences.
Let’s be honest, the best festivals on the planet are in New Mexico, and the best fiestas in New Mexico are in our territory.
The Whole Enchilada Fiesta was my very first Las Cruces festival, when I moved here in 1994. I was burned out from my days as a festival marketer in Palm Beach County, where the parties cost zillions, but weren’t that much fun, and I probably would have skipped it (and maybe missed out on all our great fiestas) if I hadn’t been recruited by the Sun-News to volunteer at a soft drink booth.
The fiesta was then in the pre-renewal Downtown Mall area and the still-shabby streets were transformed with the delicious smell of roasting chiles, and color, music, parades and fiesta-spirited people. Very nice people, I discovered. Many stopped to chat and offer tips on fun things to see and do.
I came in a very good fiesta year. The Las Cruces International Mariachi Conference started a few months after I arrived, and so did the Doña Ana Arts Council’s annual ArtWalk, which has since evolved into a monthly downtown arts Ramble, and spawned assorted other regional arts walks and fine arts festival events.
I was recently reminded that I was in on the ground floor of Día de los Muertos celebration revivals, the birth of ArtsForms February For the Love of Art Month (a whole fiesta month!) and here for the very first Border Book Festival.
My extended family, some of whom came to live here, share my fondness for our fiestas.
When I was introducing them to the wonders of the Land of Enchantment, I was particularly grateful for the contributions of Lalo Natividad and the late Richard Weeks, who founded El Grupo Cultural, credited with the revival of several traditional Borderland celebrations on the Mesilla Plaza and some new twists on several regional events, from the Mesilla Diez y Seis de Septiembre Fiesta and Cinco de Mayo to Christmas Eve on the Mesilla Plaza.
During his very first visit here, then-baby grandson Alex the Great grabbed a pair of maracas and shook them during Cinco de Mayo (and I have — and cherish — the photos that prove it).
He was about 3 when many of his Pacific Northwest family members decided to move here. I have fond memories of his first Mesilla Diez y Seis parade, when we went to watch his then teen-age aunt Tanya march with her high school band.
Continuing what I have since learned is a tradition, many in parade cars and floats flung candy to kids along the route. Alex was too little to scamper far, and we were touched when older kids collected the sweet treats and gave them to my grandson and other toddlers not big enough to compete for booty.
“People are very sweet here,” said my visiting friends and relatives.
“I told you so,” I said. “And we also have the best fiestas on the planet. Maybe even the whole solar system.”
And I have the fiesta memories to prove it.

S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com; (575) 541-5450. To share comments, go to www.lcsun-news.com and click on Blogzone and Las Cruces Style. Follow her on Twitter @DerricksonMoore.

Chile lore and pepper pilgrims

By S. Derrickson Moore
dmoore@lcsun-news.com
LAS CRUCES — While interviewing visitors to the Hatch Chile Festival, I fielded more questions than answers.
I found myself explaining the state question and answer. (Q. “Red or green?” A. “Christmas,” if you want both red and green chiles.) I answered questions about ways to make chile sauces, how to roast, freeze and ship chiles, or where to get someone else to do it for you. I fielded queries about ristras and why I no longer make them myself (it’s an art, and I’d rather support the pros). How to protect your hands from fiery oils. How heat is determined. What to add to stews and other dishes to tame too-hot chiles. What best-selling wine expert and author Alexis Bespaloff recommended as the perfect complements to chile dishes (beer or Champagne).
I realized that sooner or later, if we’re paying attention, here in the Chile Capital of the Cosmos, we all become pepper pros ourselves, sages of spicy myths and lore.
Though I make it to Hatch now and then, usually to and from other destinations up I-25, it had been a few years since I’d been to the chile fest, and I’d never managed to make it to their parade before.
The Hatch exit was pretty congested — actual gridlock by New Mexico standards — and as most of us pulled over for the parade before attempting to make it to Hatch International Airport for the big event, I expected people to be stressed and grumpy.
But, no. Everybody I talked to, even the big city visitors, seemed full of good cheer. I recalled what Chile Pepper Institute founder and NMSU professor Paul Bosland has stressed over a couple of decades of interviews: everything about chiles seems to put people in a good mood, he’s told me.
And it’s not just the endorphin rush and sense of well-being that comes from consuming the capsaicin- and vitamin-laded peppers. People also like seeing chiles, talking about them, growing them, sharing them.
I’ve discovered they are the most appreciated gifts I give, in all of their forms: ristras, fresh, frozen, dried, in various exotic concoctions. Dr. B’s Bhut-kickin Brownies (named for Bosland and the Bhut Jolokia pepper) got raves last holiday season. I stocked up on mixes from the Chile Pepper Institute (call 575-646-3028, or find it online) baked ’em up and took them to parties and sent the mix to chile-deprived far-flung amigos.
People love chile-related items, too: chile-ornamented shirts, pants, scarves, mugs, baseball caps, books ...
And, I discovered, we all love a chile parade. My fave paraders were the bouncing lowriders decorated with chiles, but I also enjoyed talking to people headed for the big fiesta.
I had fun touring Hatch Chile Express (that’s the much-photographed landmark known this time of year for its roof covered with bright red chiles, drying in the sun) and the other shops.
There were vats of chiles, labeled by name and heat, where I met Alan Thornburg, from Hazel, Texas, who said he was here to teach his son about different kinds of chile. It seemed almost like a coming-of-age ritual, crucial to farming and appreciating life in the Southwest.
For some, the Hatch Chile Festival seemed almost to be a kind of pilgrimage, or a crucial item on bucket lists.
Christine and Richard Fassler, who identified themselves as “gringos from upstate New York,” said they’d looked forward to their visit since they relocated to Farmington, and heard friends and relatives sing the praises of Hatch chile.
The festival was a romantic impulse for Jim and Lora Pierce of Tulsa, Okla., who decided the fiesta was the perfect place to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary … and their favorite food.
It was a nostalgic homecoming, and maybe even a philosophical quest for Chris Lujan, visiting with his father.
“It’s tradition: the smells, the excitement. I’ve been looking forward to this time of year,” said Lujan, who grew up in Las Cruces.
He’s now an architect based in Las Vegas, Nev., who’s seen a lot of the world.
“Wherever I travel, people — especially the Chinese — want to know about our chiles,” said Lujan, who may have a line on a solution to world peace, or at least a way to get diverse groups to the same negotiating table: serve popular chile dishes.
“Chile is a global unifier,” Lujan opined.

S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com; (575) 541-5450. To share comments, go to www.lcsun-news.com and click on Blogzone and Las Cruces Style. Follow her on Twitter @DerricksonMoore.

The art of minimalist gardening

By S. Derrickson Moore
dmoore@lcsun-news.com
LAS CRUCES — How artistic is your garden?
I’ve been pondering my own environs after learning about the upcoming Art in the Garden Tour in Picacho Hills (it’s Sept. 16 … get the details in today’s Artist of the Week feature on page 4E).
If my garden’s artistic merit were judged solely on its thriving blooms and greenery, I’d be in big trouble this year.
Most everything I planted seemed inclined to croak within weeks or even days. Almost all the sculptural stalwarts … big agaves … succumbed to the big freezes of the last two years. I’m left with one rather forlorn looking big guy and a bunch of unruly agave puppies who keep popping up in surprising places.
But my garden has great bones, thanks to a visit from my son, who’s turned out to be a feng shui-savvy garden maestro like his grandmother.
Armed only with a desert full of interesting rocks, pruning shears and a desire for a workout, he managed to transform my boring, somewhat mangy, landscape into a zen wonderland of curving paths and intriguing textures. Two trios of trees, junipers out front, pines out back, were wrangled to display elegant silhouettes.
During this long, hot, dry summer, when assorted painful calamities and long-awaited family visits left me uninclined to invest any resources in gardening, I’ve been pleased to discover how lovely a minimalist landscape (and philosophy) can be.
Without flower-filled planters, mounds of colorful lantana and verbena, and fragrant lavender bushes to tend, I’m free to kick back and admire the survivors.
John, Paul and George started life as scrawny, foot-high Charlie Brown Christmas trees grown by local kids. Planted with the assistance of my favorite then-toddler Alex the Great, the pines now tower high over the head of my now six-foot grandson. They are a refuge for occasional flocks of birds and a kind of lounge for teensy hummers preparing for feeder strafing missions.
Most dry summers, when the molting starts and the pine needles begin to fall, I’m out there with brooms and rakes and giant green garbage bags.
This summer, I decided I’d been clever, artistic and foresighted a decade ago, to choose small rocks and large slabs in warm, adobe-colored hues.
The fallen needles blend nicely into the scene, adding texture to the big rock slab paths and even improving the barren dusty gray bedding areas where nothing much seems inclined to grow this year. The agave pups look greener and healthier, somehow, frolicking in random patterns on the springy pine needle ground cover.
There are subtle beauties to be savored in an uncultivated garden with good bones.
Finally, when a few little monsoons break through, there is a burst of enthusiastic bounty: a bumper crop of weeds. This year, I try to strike an artful balance, letting them grow long enough to make sure they aren’t volunteers of coveted crops, long enough to get a grip and pull the unwanted up by the roots, but not long enough to go to seed.
In the process, I appreciate some weeds that could be considered wild flowers, with pretty little blooms in sun-gold or neon purple.
Biology is the ultimate art form, my soul mate Dr. Roger and I concluded long ago.
And the art of gardening is filled with the surprises of biology, the alacrity and animation of life, even the contemplation of points where physics and metaphysics meet and overlap. If movement is life and vibration, does a garden rock have life, on the atomic level, and in real-time, as it is moved by rain, windstorms, the leap of a small lizard?
There’s a lot to ponder, when you aren’t wasting time perfecting, manicuring, trying to wrestle mother nature into submission in high desert county.
A garden is art, however you find it.

S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com; (575) 541-5450. To share comments, go to www.lcsun-news.com and click on Blogzone and Las Cruces Style. Follow her on Twitter @DerricksonMoore.

Portales Season in the Southwest

LAS CRUCES — It’s been a long time coming in this torrid, sometimes tortuous year. Another bitter, destructive freeze and an all-too brief spring quickly blazed into a scorching summer of triple-digit temperatures, widespread drought and record wildfires.
But it’s coming. Relief is almost here.
You can feel it already on a starry night, an early morning walk, and, if you’re alert, sometimes even in a maverick marine breeze that leapfrogs over the Rockies and arrives with a hint of Pacific ocean freshness.
In Florida, we used to call it “magic day,” that long-awaited time when you could walk a block without getting muggied (mugged by heat and humidity).
In Las Cruces, it’s that wonderful day when you realize you’d rather linger another hour outdoors instead of rushing into the shelter of A/C or the laboring swamp cooler.
It’s prime time for portales, that nice Borderland term that could refer to whatever your portal to the outside world might be. It could be anything from a doorway fronting a patch of grass, a rock slab or concrete big enough to perch a chair on, to sprawling verandas that stretch around your home with sheltered loggias, elaborate arches or rustic vigas and latillas.
In between are patios (some covered, some not), gazebos, tables with umbrellas, free-standing summer houses, outdoor balconies or screened porches known in some parts of the world as “Florida rooms.”
Outdoor rooms have really caught on during the two decades I’ve lived here. Upscale incarnations can be almost indistinguishable from their indoor counterparts, with upholstered furniture, lamps, giant flat screen TVs, sound systems and complete kitchens with all the usual appliances, from fridges to pizza ovens and even dishwashers.
The infinity pool concept has expanded to encompass infinity walls of glass that open completely to blur the line between indoor and outdoor living.
Whether your lifestyle is modest or ornate, in the Land of Enchantment, fall is the time to get out there and live.
There’s a reason why our fiestas start this time of year, when we find ourselves looking at rich warm adobe against lapis blue skies and remembering why we love living here.
However I’m tempted to hike and fiesta, I’ll make a date with myself (and friends and family) for some prime portales time, too.
If things are looking a little shabby, I’ll spring for a new chair, bring a comfortable rocker outside, run a broom or a hose over the premises and maybe look for a few pots of annuals to pop in a pretty planter.
Humming at my door reminds me to refill the hummingbird feeders. It’s been a tough year for birdies, too, and many will be migrating soon and looking for food, water and shelter along the way.
But don’t waste too much time on gardening, cleanups or repairs — you can get to that later when the leaves have fallen and blown in with tumbleweed components and assorted Halloween candy wrappers and desert detrius.
If you’re longing for some alone time, (or avoiding free-ranging politicians and their advocates, out in record packs this election year), head for the back porch or close the front gate, if you’ve got one.
Have a private picnic. Do some power lounging. Curl up with a good book, contemplate nature and the sky or ponder an al fresco nap.
If you’re feeling sociable, sit out on the front porch and greet your passing neighbors and their kids and dogs (keep a stash of cookie bones handy). You might want to exchange a few words with some favorite old friends, or meet intriguing new neighbors and get to know them. Invite them over to “sit a spell,” as my great-aunt used to say, or share a cool drink or cup of tea.
No need to make a production of it. Relax and enjoy. Portales prime time is its own reward.

S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com; (575) 541-5450. To share comments, go to www.lcsun-news.com and click on Blogzone and Las Cruces Style. Follow her on Twitter @DerricksonMoore.

Cultural Legacy Awards

This Saturday at 2...all are welcome.
402 West Court Ave., Las Cruces, NM 88005


August 13, 2012
Contact: Irene Oliver-Lewis, iolewis@zianet.com, 575-647-2585

For Immediate Release
By Irene Oliver-Lewis
Las Cruces, NM-------Five individuals will be honored for their long-term cultural and arts contributions to the community, announced Robert “Pistol” Mangino, Board President of the Mesilla Valley Youth Foundation (dba) Court Youth Center (CYC).
Honored in an afternoon filled with music, reminiscences, film, and good food, the five community members will share their cultural innovations with the community, Saturday, August 25, 2012 from 2:00-4:30 p.m. at the Court Youth Center, 402 West Court Avenue. The awards ceremony to include music and reminiscences starts at 2:00 p.m. followed by a documentary by filmmaker Shakera Crawley and then a reception catered by Olive Garden. Musicians include CYC’s Mariachi Espuelas de Plata, and jazz from Diane Schutz, Roman Chip and Alan Kuncel and vocals by Shanna Aragon.
Those to be honored include, J. Paul Taylor, Ruben A. Smith, Lalo Natividad, Richard Weeks (posthumously), and S. Derrickson Moore. “Each of the individuals have created a cultural relevance in our community but they also have provided major support in a variety of ways to the growth of the Court Youth Center and our successful after school arts program for youth.” added Mangino.
“All of these people have been a constant both in the creation and the continuation of the Center as well as a personal support for our vision of excellence in arts creation for youth,” noted Irene Oliver-Lewis CYC’s Artistic Executive Producer and coordinator of the event. She also said the awardees will each receive an individually designed art piece created by Joie Morillo.
“We are honoring each of the people for some very specific connection to our programs and because each of them has created a “cultural legacy” in our city.” Oliver-Lewis explained.
“We must start with Ruben A. Smith who is instrumental in conceiving the idea of a youth arts center in Las Cruces to be housed in the historic Court Jr. High School where he went to school. Ruben lead the charge of creating a board of directors and with his expertise in the political environment he was able to secure local, state, and national funding for the renovation of the building. He is known for his political contributions locally and in the state but his belief of positive youth development and the importance of arts learning that are being honored at the Legacy Awards. We wouldn’t have a center if Ruben hadn’t seen the significance of saving the building in 1988 for arts programs for youth.” said Oliver-Lewis
Smith was born in Las Cruces, attended public schools and graduated from New Mexico State University in 1965 with a degree in accounting. After college, he enlisted in the United States Army and was recruited to perform with the prestigious North American Air Defense Command Band. The ensemble consisted of the highest caliber musicians from both the U.S. and Canada. He was principal bassoonist with the El Paso Symphony and is currently with the Las Cruces Symphony and several jazz and big-bands in Las Cruces and El Paso.
He served five terms in the New Mexico House of Representatives, District 35, where he sponsored legislation to create the NM Children, Youth, and Family Department and 1% for Art appropriation for capital outlay funding of state-funded buildings. He was elected Mayor of Las Cruces in 1991 as the first Mayor to be elected directly by the citizens in a city-wide election. He was re-elected to two additional four-year terms. During his tenure he founded the Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance.
His cultural legacy award recognitions include: the founder of the Court Youth Center; leader in the restoration of the historic Court Jr. High School; leader in an initiative to convert the old Branigan Library to the current Branigan Cultural Center when he was president of the Doña Ana Arts Council; and co-sponsor of legislation that lead to the successful 1% for Art state monies that support art projects throughout the state requiring that 1% of capital outlay money for state-funded building projects be used for public art projects.
“Derrickson’s words have helped shape a cultural sensibility and arts presence in Southern New Mexico that is unparalleled in our local journalism environment. She has written about all the arts, hundreds of artists with her artist of the week column; made us aware of events and cultural institutions; and is now effecting the arts scene through social media with her blog and twitter.” observed Oliver-Lewis.
S. Derrickson Moore covers arts and entertainment news and features, health, home and travel articles and the Las Cruces Style column for the Las Cruces Sun News. She has received more than 200 national and regional reporting awards, Reader’s Choice Awards, a National Newspaper Publishers Association award for Best Local Newspaper Columnist, and ADDYs for print and broadcast ads. She was president of her own public-interest/public relations firm and vice-president for two of Florida’s largest advertising agencies. She grew up in Michigan and was a newspaper editor and library network coordinator in Portland, Oregon. She has lived in Connecticut, New York, Germany, Jamaica, Florida and Santa Fe where she worked for the Albuquerque Journal and the New Mexican. She has written for numerous publications. She is a published poet and the author of an award-winning biography “Tenny Hale: American Prophet”, co-produced a documentary based on the book, and has authored two works of fiction, “Santa Fey” and “Age of Awe and Wonder” that combines themes of prophecy and archaeology.
Her cultural legacy award recognitions include: inspiration to start the yearly Dia de los muertos celebration in Mesilla; fostering the careers of hundreds of artists; public awareness of community events like For the Love of Art Month; the Mariachi International Conference; and numerous other yearly arts and culture events.
Lalo Natividad and Richard Weeks helped start an organization called El Grupo Cultural in Mesilla. The concept of the group was to create an awareness and interest in reviving several community events that used to take place in Mesilla. Because of their love of Hispanic cultural traditions the Cinco de Mayo and the Diez y Seis de Septiembre fiestas were reinstated on the Mesilla Plaza and are now a major cultural tradition in Southern New Mexico. Another yearly event they fostered was the singing of Christmas Carols on the Plaza to accompany the lighting of the luminarias by Los Leones de Mesilla. “Dick had a portable accordion that he used to play on the plaza. He played at Christmas and that helped get the Christmas Eve caroling on the plaza started,” explained Natividad, of his partner Weeks who died five years ago.
Both of the men loved to travel and be inspired by the gardens and architecture of the countries they visited. They were especially influenced by the architectural style of Gaudi, a Spanish architect who believed in using natural materials in unique combinations. They moved to Mesilla in 1960 and created what is now known as the Natividad-Weeks compound and gardens that have been featured in several books, New Mexico Magazine, and locally in Ventanas del Valle. Weeks worked in human resources for a copper mine in Silver City, and Natividad worked for the El Paso fire department for thirty years.
Their cultural legacy award recognitions are: founders of El Groupo Cultural: the fiestas and Christmas celebrations in Mesilla, and their unique home and gardens.
“J. Paul Taylor will turn 92 a day before the Legacy Awards and he represents the best of our cultural heritage in the community. He is a walking legacy,” said Oliver-Lewis. Taylor is known as an educator, a historian, and a political statesman. His most notable cultural contribution is the donation of the 1850’s family home by his wife, Mary Helen Daniels Taylor and his seven children. The donation is known as the Taylor-Barela-Reynolds-Mesilla State Monument and is complete with countless of artifacts, painting, textiles, antique furniture, and historical text and documents from the areas. The home also highlights many of the photographs taken by Mrs. Taylor.
Taylor attended Chamberino Elementary, Anthony Union High, (currently Gadsden High School), and graduated from New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts with a BA in History and English in 1942. He was in the US Navy. He married Mary Helen Daniels in 1945. His public school career began in 1951 teaching in Mesilla Park Elementary. He was a principal at Doña Ana and Alameda Elementary Schools and became Associate Superintendent for Instruction and Program Development where he initiated the Bilingual, Head Start and Title I programs. He was a New Mexico State Representative, District 33, for 18 years.
His cultural legacy award recognition is for the creation of the Mesilla State Monument at his home.
Oliver-Lewis encourages the public to RSVP to iolewis@zianet.com or 575.647-2585 to ensure a space or if you have any questions about the event. The event is free courtesy of the Mesilla Valley Youth Foundation Board of Directors, Olive Garden, Sierra Vista Growers, and Curtis Rosemond at WalMart.
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Do these things at least once

LAS CRUCES — I’ve been writing about fiestas and interesting places to see and things to do in New Mexico for several decades now, but I’m still not even close to fulfilling my bucket list of potential New Mexico adventures.
It seems there are endless enchanting possibilities in the Land of Enchantment. I still haven’t perfected my ultimate list of “musts” for Southern New Mexico.
But I do have a preliminary assortment of things I feel you must do — at least once — though many have become regular favorites that I never tire of visiting with local or visiting amigos.
This is by no means a complete list, and I haven’t included frequent regional pleasures, like favorite local outdoor markets, galleries, museums, theaters and restaurants.
One of my big “musts” is happening today, the last day of Deming’s Great American Duck Race. At least once, choose a quacker from their stable and join the race. It’s not whether you win or lose that counts (though last year’s top two winners split a purse of almost $3,000), but the chance to say that you did you best and earned your “I raced a duck” ribbon.
There are several festivals and experiences coming up that I may not get to attend every year, but I would still maintain that at least one visit is mandatory.
Here’s my own partial list. Have fun developing your own choices.
• The Hatch Chile Festival, Sept. 1 & 2. If you’re new here, you’ll find your own fave sources for bulk chile purchase and roasting, but at least once, go to the fiesta and buy some chiles and exotic chile products at the mother ship.
• White Sands Hot Air Balloon Invitational, Sept. 15 & 16. What can compare to the sight of colorful balloons ascending over sparkling White Sands? Or check out the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, Oct. 6 to 14, the Elephant Butte Balloon Regatta, Sept. 8 & 9 and our own Mesilla Valley Balloon Rally (in 2013: Jan. 12 & 13). And at least once: Go up, up and away in a beautiful balloon yourself. Volunteer to crew or help out at a festival and you might be offered a free ride.
• The Whole Enchilada Fiesta, Sept. 28 to 30. I‘ve actually watched the preparation of the World’s Largest Flat Enchilada. For the first time this year, you won’t be able to do that, but we can all hope that Roberto Estrada will be back next year, by popular demand, with new equipment.
• Zombie Walk, Oct. 27. This is the newest entry on my list, but my visitors were so impressed by last year’s zombies, that I’m bullish on the impressive parade of the walking dead, lurching around Main Street Downtown. This year, the Doña Ana Arts Council will launch a new event at the same time: the Haunted Theatre, in what is billed as the state’s oldest adobe theater: the Rio Grande. At least once: Concoct your own outfit and join the walking dead yourself. You could win undying fame and a prize.
• Dia de los Muertos, Nov. 2, 3 & 4 in Mesilla, and several fall events in the Borderland. There are all kinds of “musts” attached to this, from exhibits and Jose Tena’s altar at the Branigan Cultural Center to the fiesta, the procession, art shows, and altars in Mesilla and other special events all over the region. At least once: Dress up, bring noisemakers and join the procession (always at dusk Nov. 2) and build an altar on the Mesilla Plaza for a departed loved one.
• Renaissance ArtsFaire, Nov. 3 & 4 at Young Park. It’s the region’s largest cultural event, with all kinds of ye olde entertainment, regal processions, arts and crafts, food treats and fun. At least once: Dress up in full Renaissance regalia and plan to make a day of it. And get the Boy Scouts to take you on a canoe ride to visit Magellan, the official RenFaire lake dragon.
• Las Cruces International Mariachi Conference, Nov. 16 to 18. Every year there are workshops, a Student Showcase, a Spectacular Concert, a Mariachi Mass and a Parque Festival. At least once: Experience the excitement and bright colors and sounds of folklorico dancers rushing into Pan Am as some of the world’s best mariachi musicians perform.
• Our Lady of Guadalupe Festival every Dec. 10, 11 and 12. Make the pilgrimage up Tortugas Mountain at least once. It’s a moving, spiritual experience that can forge profound bonds with your Creator, your fellow pilgrims, and your community. I don’t make the trek every year, but I do almost always return for the dancing and to light candles for loved ones in one of the most beautiful churches in the Southwest.
• Mesilla Plaza Christmas Eve Carols & Luminarias, Dec. 24. There are lots of luminaria events now, but this is the first and best. At least once: Stay to sing carols and have a hot beverage at Josefina’s Gate.

S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com; (575) 541-5450. To share comments, go to www.lcsun-news.com and click on Blogzone and Las Cruces Style. Follow her on Twitter @DerricksonMoore.

¡It's Full-Tilt Fiesta Season!

By S. Derrickson Moore
dmoore@lcsun-news.com
LAS CRUCES — Get ready. It’s FTFS (Full-Tilt Fiesta Season).
Our fiesta dead zone is shrinking and FTFS seems to start earlier every year.
The ducks used to stand alone, as they waddled in for Deming’s Great American Duck Race (Thursday through Aug. 26 this year) to lead us into FTFS, that festival-filled time of year that stretches from late August to January.
But in recent years, we’ve added two big events about the same time: the White Sands International Film Fest (which starts next Wednesday and runs through Aug. 26) and the MainStreet ¡SalsaFest! which fills downtown with spicy fun on Aug. 26.
If you’re a newcomer and need some clues, you can tell that FTFS is on its way by a surefire olfactory harbinger: the smell of roasting chiles.
Just when we need lots of energy, the chile harvest comes rolling in to help us rev up our endorphin systems, cheer us on and strengthen our will to live, dance and party hearty. Coincidence? I think not.
It’s all part of the natural order of things for those of us blessed to live in at FTFS ground zero, the city of festive moods and fiesta attitudes: Las Cruces.
And we can party on and nurture our inner fiesta animals knowing that festivals are packed with healthy benefits for our economy, our relationships, and many regional causes and community organizations.
The festivities have gotten more polished in the almost two decades I’ve lived here, and we’ve attracted more professionals to help run some events, but many of our largest fiestas are still organized by volunteers, and I can’t think of a single major event that could manage without those who selflessly donate their time and expertise.
Appropriately, our official 2012 New Mexico Statehood Centennial celebrations officially kicked off several months early, not in the ancient City Different (Santa Fe) nor the Duke City (Albuquerque) but where a major 100-year state fiesta should rightfully begin, right here at Fiesta Central. It all started about a year ago in August 2011, with the Centennial SalsaFest.
And once again, were launching FTFS with one of what we’re calling Superweekends, times when fiestas cluster, like racing ducks, and it takes a lot of careful planning to hit them all … or at least the highlights from your favorites.
We’ve got two in a row, right out of the chute, with ducks, film and salsa next week. And with no breather, we’ll go right into the three-day Labor Day weekend, featuring must-go fiesta choices that include the 41th Hatch Chile Festival, New Mexico Harvest Wine Festival, Franciscan Festival of Fine Arts and a super-festive Downtown Ramble.
The Superweekends vary from year to year. This year, for instance, Renaissance ArtsFaire will be same weekend as the main Día de Los Muertos celebrations in Mesilla (some years, they fall on the different weekends). There’s no rest for the costumed (or Doña Ana Arts Council staff and volunteers), because there will be a superweekend that includes DAAC’s increasingly popular Zombie Walk and the opening of their first Rio Grande Haunted Theatre event Oct. 27, plus Día de los Muertos events all over town, Halloween on a Wednesday and RenFaire and Dead Day procession the next weekend. Just figure on being in costume for nine or 10 days for Superweek Plus.
There may be another FTFS Superweekend the first of December, which often includes La Casa Bazaar and assorted city tree-lighting, trail of lights and general winterfest fun. In fact, December is usually a FTFS Supermonth around here, challenging the stamina of the most enthusiastic fiesta fans.
So this is your last weekend to rest up, and get in training. Stock up on peppers and make sure to maintain a therapeutic chile level, practice your salsa moves, and get in touch with your amigos near and far to plan your fiesta schedule. I’ve made some calls, checked some websites and put together the annual Las Cruces Style FTFS Highlights list to get you started.
No matter what tomorrow (or the Mayan calendar) may bring, this could be your best FTFS ever.
Ready. Set. ¡Fiesta!

S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at (575) 541-5450; Follow her on Twitter @DerricksonMoore.


Las Cruces Style Full-Tilt Fiesta Season Highlights

Aug. 22-26: White Sands International Film Fest
Aug. 23-26: Great American Duck Race
Aug. 26: SalsaFest!
Sept. 1 & 2: 41st Hatch Chile Festival
Sept. 1 to 3: New Mexico Wine Harvest Wine Festival
Sept. 1 & 2: Franciscan Festival of Fine Arts
Sept. 8: Fort Selden Frontier Days
Sept. 15 to 16: White Sands Hot Air Balloon Invitational
Sept. 15 & 16: Mesilla’s Diez y Seis de Septiembre
Sept. 28 to 30: The Whole Enchilada Fiesta
Sept. 29 to Oct. 28: Mesilla Valley Maze
Oct. 3 to 7: Southern New Mexico State Fair & Rodeo
Oct. 5 to 8: Silver City Red Dot Studio Tour & Gallery Walk (Formerly Silver City Weekend at the Galleries)
Oct. 6 & 7: Mesilla Jazz Happening
Oct. 6 & 7: New Mexico Pumpkin Festival
Oct. 13 & 14: La Viña Harvest Wine Fest
Oct. 24 to 27: NMSU Homecoming
Oct. 27 DAAC Zombie Walk & Haunted Theatre Opening
Oct. 31: Halloween
Nov. 2, 3 & 4: Dia de Los Muertos in Mesilla, plus parade float, processions, art shows September through November.
Nov. 3 & 4: Renaissance ArtsFaire
Nov. 11: Mesilla Veteran’s Day Ceremony, Mariachi y Mas Parque Fiesta
Nov. 12: City of Las Cruces Veterans Day Parade
Nov. 16 to 18: Las Cruces International Mariachi Conference, workshops, Student Showcase Spectacular Concert, Mariachi Mass
Nov. 17: El Tratado de la Mesilla Reenactment
Nov. 18: Toys for Kids Motorcycle Parade
Nov. 30, Dec. 1 & 2: La Casa Holiday Bazaar
Early December (TBA): ninth annual Trail of Lights Fiesta, City Christmas Tree Lighting
Dec. 14: Mesilla Xmas Tree Lighting
Dec. 15: Fort Selden Luminaria Tour
Dec. 10 to 12: Our Lady of Guadalupe Fiesta at Tortugas & St. Gen, Tortugas “A” Mountain Pilgrimage
Dec. 20 to 23: Las Cruces Chamber Ballet Nutcracker
Dec. 24: Mesilla Plaza Christmas Eve Carols & Luminarias