We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and that many of you are continuing to enjoy the holiday break. The Christmas season certainly isn’t over yet, and if you are looking for some more holiday cheer, don’t forget to check out the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce’s virtual Christmas on the Pecos tour. You can watch it off of the Chamber’s Facebook page or by visiting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouQyA-LcvLw&feature=youtu.be. Congratulations to everyone involved and thank you for putting together such a great program. It was especially nice for Carlsbad to receive a personal welcome from musician Holly Tucker.
Don’t forget to also check out the Hometown Holidays in Carlsbad Facebook page for other updates about holiday events.
If you are looking for some cultural activities over the week, you may want to check out some of the suggestions recently given to us by John Andrews, a Carlsbad native and president of the Shakespeare Guild. Andrews is also the head of Carlsbad’s Cultural Development Council. COVID shutdowns have made scheduling Shakespeare cultural events difficult, he writes, but there has been a silver lining.
“One unanticipated benefit of the restrictions we’ve all become accustomed to has been the opportunity to provide online programs that are not subject to the limitations that come with in-person events,” Andrews writes. “Thanks to Zoom, YouTube, and publicity from services such as Broadway World, we can now spotlight fascinating guests from anywhere in the world.”
Andrews, who is a member of Carlsbad’s Hall of Fame, says a new program will be up on Dec. 28 and focus on a conversation he had with director Sir Richard Eyre. Visit www.shakesguild.org and click on the links to check out this interview and many others.
COVID Update: There were 31 new positive COVID-19 cases announced for Eddy County on Christmas Day and 92 announced on Dec. 24. There were no COVID-related Eddy County deaths announced for either day. Eddy County has now had a total of 4,279 positive COVID cases, though we are hopeful that we will see significant improvement as we move into 2021.
The New Mexico Department of Health has also announced the start of a website allowing residents to receive notice when they qualify for a COVID-19 vaccine. The website can be reached at cvvaccine.nmhealth.org. New Mexico is currently offering vaccine doses to health care workers and staff as well as residents of long-term care facilities. The website registration will allow interested individuals the opportunity to receive notification as large-scale quantities of vaccinations become available.
Sincerely,
Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway