From The Senator's Desk. . .
December 24, 2009
Best Town in Texas -- The Spirit of Christmas Pass
What’s so special about the Spirit of Christmas Pass?
How about a Thanksgiving Parade where the gift of giving kicks off the Holiday Season? Or, what about luminarias all around the oldest Missions in Texas? Or albondiga soup at Mercado Mayapan? Or just time at home, with mothers, brothers, grandfathers, tias and kids, talking about the “Spirit of Christmas Pass."
Written by Senator Eliot Shapleigh, www.shapleigh.org
What’s so special about the Spirit of Christmas Pass?
How about a Thanksgiving Parade where the gift of giving kicks off the Holiday Season? Or, what about luminarias all around the oldest Missions in Texas? Or albondiga soup at Mercado Mayapan? Or just time at home, with mothers, brothers, grandfathers, tias and kids, talking about the “Spirit of Christmas Pass.”
Every year, the First Light Federal Credit Union Sun Bowl Parade kicks off the “Sprit of Christmas Pass’, where nearly one in three El Pasoans come to enjoy the parade, and give a gift of food to the West Texas Food Bank. That’s right. The tradition here is to bring a can of food, or juice, or even a Turkey to kick off the Holiday season right, with a gift of giving to those most in need. And Mayor Cook and his wife Tram Cook follow it up by serving the homeless a hot Thanksgiving Dinner in the Convention Center Downtown—6,000 hot Turkey dinners with dressing and the works!
How about the “Luminarias on the Socorro Mission”? Here, where Mexico’s Sierra Madres meet the Rockies, “luminarias” mark the advent of Christmas in the Pass. In Socorro, parishioners of La Purisma Concepción del Socorro, light candles in brown paper bags (called ‘luminarias”) to frame the front façade of the entire mission. Generations from abuelos to nietos gather around to sing Christmas hymns and share tamales, buñuelos and good cheer in a ceremony that pre—dates Texas by more than one hundred years.
Or, what about albondigas at Mayapan? Mayapan is the ‘mercado’ in central El Paso. There, hundreds of women displaced from garment jobs worked together to create micro enterprises in a central market that includes shops, restaurants, fresh vegetable stalls, a tortilleria, a butcher shop, and best of all, a bakery. Try some vegetable and meatball soup, called ‘algondiga soup’ and then buy your whole Christmas shopping list in one place!
Here in El Paso, Christmas is also time to run down and buy new boots—from Tony Lama, Lucchese, Justin Boots, Starr Western Wear, Cowtown Boots, or even Rocketbuster boots. Boots with rockets, or roses, or the Cowboys, or even your own design--around here, we all know that the best boots in Texas come El Paso. Here’s a good example:
Meanwhile over at the Texas National Guard, school children from the Ysleta District finish up on “Letters from Home” where students adopt a Guardsman on duty overseas to let them know we care. Here’s what one letter to a soldier in Afghanistan said: “Thank you for keeping us safe here at home, and I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year away from home.”
At the Sun Bowl, Oklahoma fans will come to cheer Landry Jones, a quarterback from Artesia, New Mexico, just 200 miles, as the crow flies—while Stanford fans will come see Heisman runner-up, Toby Gerhart, play his last college game. the Sun Bowl is America’s second oldest bowl game after the Rose Bowl. Most often, it's 75 degrees with a clear blue sky by game time in a beautiful sun bowl cradled in the last tip of the Rocky Mountains that looks right into Mexico:
And finally, there’s the Madeline Bowl—touch football in the old neighborhood park at noon on Christmas day—35 years of football and caldillo—and to the winner, the fabulous seven foot "Junior Ruiz Traveling Trophy" that takes a whole garage to store. That’s why Christmas in the Pass is so special.
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