Dear Friends,

Greetings! We’re well into the holiday season despite the fact this session of the 110th Congress may drag right up to the point when Santa’s sleigh is packed and ready to roll.

However, the wrangling in the halls of Congress shouldn’t distract us from the overall importance of this season. In this newsletter, I’ve included useful information on defraying winter heating costs and lending a hand to those in need. I wanted to try to keep this issue fitting with the season as we celebrate the holidays and take a look back at the past year.

As 2007 draws to a close, I want to say it has been great working with so many New Mexicans this year. I am optimistic about what we can accomplish in 2008, and I look forward to the New Year.

I wish you all the best wishes for a blessed, safe and joyous holiday season.

Sincerely,

Although the official start of winter is just around the corner, much of New Mexico is already feeling the chill of cold days and nights. At this time of year, many enjoy donning their favorite cozy sweaters and drinking hot chocolate. However, unfortunately, for many the colder temperatures mean a steep rise in their heating bills.

According to the Alliance to Save Energy, more than 50 percent of New Mexicans’ energy bills is spent heating their homes. If you’re looking for some practical ways to cut your heating costs this winter, consider the Alliance’s following energy-saving tips:

• Plug leaks. Gaps between windows and doors may be small, but they can collectively add up to big energy losses. Sealing those leaks and installing proper insulation, especially in the attic and crawl spaces, can reduce home heating costs by $155 to $420 per year.
  

• Turn down the thermostat. Lowering it by just one degree can reduce heating energy costs by 4 percent, or between $30 and $85.
  
  
• Heat people and pets, not empty space. At any given time, about 80 percent of space is usually unused. Save a significant amount of energy by closing vents in unoccupied rooms and use safe, small space heaters to warm occupied areas.
  
  
• For more ways to save money while keeping the temperature up this winter, visit the Department of Energy website

For qualified low-income families and individuals, New Mexico, supported with some federal funds, offers assistance to defray energy costs through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). For more information on how you can qualify for help this winter, visit the New Mexico Human Services Department website.

Coming from a big family, and having a big family of my own, makes me mindful of how much it takes just to put food on the table.

As I did last month, I am again encouraging you to consider those families, seniors and others who rely on local food banks. One in six New Mexicans is at risk of going hungry every day.

Local food banks in New Mexico do great work, but they need support. You can help ensure fellow New Mexicans do not go hungry this holiday season by donating food, time or even financial resources to your community’s food bank.

To find a food bank in your area, please visit the New Mexico Association of Food Banks.

Ornaments painted by three Carlsbad artists are among the 347 ornaments adorning this year’s White House Christmas tree. Jodi Prell, Stephanie Brittain and Jane Harrington created art befitting the “Holiday in the National Parks” theme for the 18-foot White House tree in the Blue Room.

Prell’s ornament pictures the Carlsbad Caverns National Park, while Harrington’s depicts Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Brittain was asked to decorate a ball for the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan. I’m proud of these three New Mexico artists, who were recently recognized at a White House reception with First Lady Laura Bush.

For more information on holiday decorations at the White House, visit the White House holiday website.

This month I want to offer a salute to Steve Early of Albuquerque, a Character Counts champion who passed away unexpectedly just before Thanksgiving.

I knew Steve for his work with Character Counts. For the last 10 years, Steve piloted the Northrop Grumman balloon rides for Character Counts kids during the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. The once-in-a-lifetime experience gave a couple hundred youngsters the chance to see Steve’s example of Caring, Responsibility, Trustworthiness, Citizenship, Fairness, and Respect.

The crisp mornings in late fall and early winter provided Steve with the perfect setting for balloon flights with his friends and family aboard Crickets Dream. The retired Navy veteran and lawman also loved vacationing with his wife of 39 years, Jenny.

The Character Counts family will greatly miss him, and we all send our thoughts

and prayers to his family as they deal with a difficult loss during this Christmas season.

Steve will be missed, but as you can see from this balloon fiesta picture, he brought a lot of happiness to a lot of young people. And that is one terrific legacy.

The Huerfano Chapter on the Navajo Nation recently celebrated the dedication of a brand new E-commerce Business Center. The business center, which brings the largest broadband capability of the entire Navajo Nation to the Huerfano Chapter, was made possible through the USDA's Rural Business Enterprise Grant Program.

The center’s internet capabilities now allow local artists to sell items such as weavings, jewelry, and pottery on a much broader scale. The great collaboration between the Huerfano Chapter, Sacred Wind Communications and USDA will allow this community to enjoy the economic benefits

of an e-commerce industry. I’m also pleased that more people around the world will now be able to acquire the beautiful work of Native American artists.

Sledding the Dunes at White Sands National Monument

Even though parts of New Mexico may not get hit with a lot of snow over the holidays, it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy sledding in what looks like a sparkling winter wonderland. At the White Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico, you can sled all year round!

White Sands National Monument, at an incredible 275 square miles, is the world’s largest gypsum dune field. The striking and ever-changing white dunes are truly an amazing sight—and a source of fun.

The Monument has four trails, an eight-mile scenic drive, picnic tables and, of course, waxed “snow saucers” available in the gift shop for your own sandy version of sledding fun.

White Sands National Monument is about an hour northeast of Las Cruces, and 15 miles west of Alamogordo, along U.S. Highway 70/82. For information, visit the National Park Service.

Your guide to New Mexico events into 2008

Bloomfield Santa in the Park
Salmon Park, Bloomfield
Dec. 18, 4 – 8 p.m.
www.gofarmington.com

Holiday Horno & Storytelling
Leasburg Dam State Park,
Radium Springs
Dec. 21, 3 – 7 p.m.
www.newmexico.org

Christmas Bird Walk
Pancho Villa State Park, Columbus
Dec. 21, 8 – 10 a.m.
www.nmtourism.org

Live Navajo Nativity
Four Corners Home for Children,
Farmington
Dec. 22, 6 – 8 p.m.
www.gofarmington.com

Gallup Community Caroling Concert
El Morro Theater, Gallup
Dec. 22, 6 p.m.
www.gallupnm.org

Milner Plaza Labyrinth Walk
Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe
Dec. 23, 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
www.internationalfolkart.org

2007 Albuquerque Old Town Luminaria Tour
Old Town Albuquerque
Dec. 24, Various Times
www.itsatrip.org

Taos Christmas Eve Torchlight Parade Taos Ski Valley
Dec. 24, 6 p.m.
www.skitaos.org

Christmas Eve at San Juan Mission
Lincoln State Monument, Lincoln
Dec. 24
www.nmmonuments.org

Old Mesilla Christmas Carols & Luminarias on the Plaza
Old Mesilla Plaza, Mesilla
Dec. 24
www.las-cruces-events.org

End of Year Bash
Roswell Adult & Senior Center, Roswell
Dec. 31
www.roswellnm.org

New Year’s Eve Family Party
Gallup Performing Arts Center, Gallup
Dec. 31, 7 p.m.
www.gallupnm.org

Artscrawl in Old Town Old Town
Albuquerque
Jan. 4, 5 – 8 p.m.
www.artscrawlabq.org