Obituaries B-2 Police notes B-2
Sports,B-5
LOCAL NEWS Thursday Narciso Quintana
TODAY Irene Padilla
Saturday Will Channing
Sunday Elmer Leslie
Tuesday Kenneth Mayers
10 who made a difference
Wednesday Cesar Bernal
B
Cowboys rally to overcome Raiders’ early lead, win 31-24.
Thursday Mel Gallegos
Dec. 6 Mara Taub
Dec. 7 Notay Begay III
Dec. 8 Norma McCallan
SECOND IN A 10-PART SERIES
Blankets made from the heart
Matt Rossi of Santa Fe takes a jump at the top of Ski Santa Fe’s Fall Line on Thursday. To see more photos, visit http://tinyurl.com/kd36fha. LUIS SÁNCHEZ SATURNO/THE NEW MEXICAN
SKI SANTA FE
Sunny weather draws crowds on opening day By Robert Nott The New Mexican
While many people no doubt stayed indoors to prepare Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, both Ski Santa Fe and the Taos Ski Valley reported that a lot of other people hit the slopes. Both resorts officially opened Thanksgiving Day. Candy DeJoia, a spokeswoman for Ski Santa Fe, said by phone Thursday afternoon that “it was a great opening day” at the basin, with a 27-inch base of snow and nearly every trail open. She said the resort expected to have opening-day numbers by Friday morning. Only the resort’s Chipmunk Corner — for beginners and children — remained closed, she said. Asked about temperatures on the slopes, DeJoia said, “I saw people taking off their coats. We’re about 10 degrees colder than downtown Santa Fe; it was warmer than freezing up here.” Downtown, temperatures were in the mid-40s for much of the day. Erik Thompson, assistant marketing director for the Taos Ski Valley, said preliminary estimates put the number of opening-day visits somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 skiers. “I know that is a broad range, but it was probably the best opening day I can remember in the [six] years I’ve worked here. Everything went flawlessly. We had great crowds,” he said. He said the snow base was about 34 inches, and the temperature Thursday was about 27 degrees. Most of the resort was open, he said, though there were no lifts running on the back side of the resort.
Quilter Irene Padilla helps warm bodies, spirits of those in need By Kay Lockridge
For The New Mexican
I
rene Padilla comes from a family of quilt makers, and she began creating her own when she was 5. Later, she started sharing her quilted blankets with family and friends, and then she realized that while everyone needs blankets, not everyone has one. It’s been said that good friends are like quilts in that they age with you, yet never lose their warmth. Padilla, one of The New Mexican’s 2013 10 Who Made a Difference, has taken that to heart and has created hundreds, probably thousands, of her quilted blankets over the past 20 years for people she considers friends but will never know. “It’s from here,” said Padilla, 82, pointing to her heart. “I really, really enjoy doing this, and I will continue as long as my health permits.” Padilla was nominated for 10 Who Made a Difference by friend and fellow quilter Lucille Leyba, who said Padilla “comes through every year, her concern and love warm not only the bodies but the spirits of the countless [numbers] who would otherwise be cold. Her dedication does not make the headlines, but Irene’s time and effort make a big difference to the men, women and children who receive her warm gifts.” Padilla has been donating blankets to St. Elizabeth Shelter for 20 years. Leyba noted that “most take the quilts when they leave; they mean so much to them and need them.” Padilla also supplies the Ronald McDonald House in Albuquerque with quilts. Her relationship with Ronald McDonald began 17 years ago, when her granddaughter had a liver transplant in Tucson, Ariz., and her family used the local Ronald McDonald lodgings. Her blankets, with varying patterns determined by the types of materials she is using and by her imagination as she sews, come in double, twin and baby size; the latter is especially needed at the Ronald McDonald facility. Often, the size of a blanket depends on how much material she has bought or collected for the project. If she has several yards of cloth, a blanket will take her about half a day to complete; a blanket will take longer to make if she has small amounts of cloth and must keep stitching them together. It’s through a quest for cloth that Padilla met Leyba. Padilla had been buying all her materials for good prices at local shops, but she recently began contacting friends and organizations for
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2013 THE NEW MEXICAN
Please see SKI, Page B-4
Leaseholder, landowners face off over Glorieta center evictions By Tom Sharpe The New Mexican
Irene G. Padilla has made hundreds, if not thousands, of quilts for people in need. JANE PHILLIPS/THE NEW MEXICAN
donated cloth. One of her sources for donations is The New Mexican’s weekly Otra Vez: Trash to Treasures page. Padilla spends much of her time quilting in her “special” room, which was added on to her house 15 years ago by her sons — Tommy, Jimmy, Ricky and Danny. The room — warm and inviting — contains all the materials for her blankets, an antique sewing machine, many potted plants in varying stages of blooming on a table in the middle of the room (Padilla also has a green thumb), and religious and Spanish Colonial objects and art made for her by friends and family members. There’s also a small laun-
dry room to make her effort easier. Padilla and her husband, Tommy, have been married 62 years. He worked with the New Mexico Game and Fish Department for 36 years before retiring. The couple have five children, including their four sons who are scattered in Chicago, Los Alamos, Arizona and Washington. Their daughter, Carla, lives with the Padillas and is working on an advanced degree in nursing at The University of New Mexico. Carla Padilla also sews, as does Irene Padilla’s granddaughter, Amalia. They join Irene Padilla’s mother, Eduvign Lujan
Please see HEART, Page B-4
An Arkansas business consultant is citing religious principles in his challenge of an effort by investors to oust cabin owners from a conference center southeast of Santa Fe. Several Texas investors, through a corporation called Glorieta 2.0, recently acquired most of the property for $1 from LifeWay Christian Resources, a Southern Baptist Conference group that has run the LifeWay Glorieta Conference Center since the 1950s. The Texas group plans to hold Christian summer camps on the property. One of its first objectives after purchasing the center was to phase out leases with 60 churches and individuals who have built lodges and cabins on a section of the property over the last 60 years. Leaseholders, some renting year to year, were offered three options: donate their properties now to Glorieta 2.0; sell for $30 a square foot, for up to $100,000; or lease for another 12 years at $1,800 a year, and then turn over the property. Kirk Tompkins, who has had a cabin at the Glorieta center for about 50 years and works as a business consultant in Little Rock, Ark., sued in
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