Many Kinds, Many Ways

How San Antonians Celebrate the Season

Season's greetings.

The holiday season is upon San Antonio again. Caroling, decorating, shopping ... it's enough to put anyone in the spirit. S.A. Scene caught up with a few San Antonians to find out the many kinds and many ways they celebrate the holidays. See their featured responses in the new issue, and the rest of their stories below.

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Daniel Leija

5th Grade Math and Science Teacher, Gregorio Esparza Accelerated Elementary School

2011 Texas Teacher of the Year

What is your favorite charity to support during the holidays?

See this answer in the December issue of S.A. Scene!

What is your earliest memory of Christmas?

It’s funny—the things you take for granted as a kid, you long to return to as an adult. My mom had to be the world’s best cook. She should also be credited as the innovator for the term “multi-tasking.” I can still remember the heavy aroma of fresh tamales cooking in the kitchen while Mom was simultaneously baking sugar cookies with a taste straight from heaven. Our neighbor had a very large pasture. He would invite all the kids in the area to his farm, hook up our sleds behind his tractor, and then proceed to take us for the ride of our lives around the snowy pasture. Afterward we would warm ourselves by a giant bonfire while his wife would treat us to gallons of hot chocolate made with fresh milk from their dairy cows. But I think my favorite part of the season was bundling up in heavy jackets, knit caps and gloves to join the other kids from our church and spend the evening walking through the neighborhoods Christmas caroling. If I could only borrow the ruby slippers and return home to experience these moments one last time.

What is the best gift you have ever given?

Last year just before Christmas, a family from our school lost their home to a fire. They lost everything, including Christmas gifts, in the process. I received a call from our school computer information system specialist who was heading up an effort of love. Barbara was an absolute magician. In the span of one evening she found enough people to donate enough household items to completely furnish the apartment they were relocated to. Barbara called me to ask if I could help move items in. I arrived at the predetermined meeting place with a trailer hooked to my truck, met up with three other trucks and began the labor of love. It’s amazing to watch how people will reach out to help others in need even if they do not know them. Then again, that is what makes San Antonio such a special city. Watching the faces of those family members turn to relief as beds, couches, kitchen items and, most importantly, Christmas gifts for the kids came in was indeed a priceless moment. One family had donated a boxful of children’s books for the kids to read. After I sat the box in the kids’ room, the oldest child began meticulously arranging the books on a bookshelf while instructing his younger siblings on the proper procedures to return the books to the shelf. I felt so blessed and fortunate to have been a part of giving what I feel was the greatest gift of all…the gift of love and sharing.

What is the best gift you have ever received?

See this answer in the December issue of S.A. Scene!

Do you do anything special during the holidays, such as volunteer at a church or donate to a special group?

I firmly believe we are placed on this Earth in service to others. The Christmas holiday is my special time to serve others. I am usually involved with worthwhile causes in the San Antonio area. I love delivering gifts for the Elf Louise Project, serving as both a driver and as Santa Clause at different times. I also receive much satisfaction from volunteering to sponsor needy families from our school community during Christmas. It is such an amazing feeling to grab a shopping cart and trek down the aisles of the grocery store filling the cart with food, knowing at least one family will not have to go without a good meal over the holiday.

Do you enjoy holiday shopping? Why or why not?

Believe it or not, I have a most interesting personal tradition I love to indulge in. I really like to hit one of the local malls early on Black Friday, not to shop, but because I like to people watch. My tradition calls for getting a cinnamon roll and a cup of coffee from the food court then sitting and watching people, armed with Black Friday sales circulars; scurrying from store to store like children on an Easter egg hunt. I do begin my shopping a few days later after the initial rush dies down. I enjoy getting out and just browsing then stopping by a local restaurant for a quick meal afterwards. The atmosphere in the malls and stores is totally different over the holiday season. People seem so much more cheerful.

What are some of your favorite holiday songs?

To be honest, I would have to answer “all of them.” My family knows better than to ride in my truck from noon on Thanksgiving Day until the day after Christmas. During that time my radio is tuned to a 24-hour-a-day radio station and all who enter my truck know better than to try to change the station. People who have survived trying to do so compare the experience to facing a mother grizzly bear protecting her cub. With that, if I were ever given a dose of truth serum, the interrogator would quickly learn I love the oldies: Bing Crosby crooning out “White Christmas,” singing along with Beryl Ives’ lively rendition of “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas,” and of course, my all time favorite, Gene Autry belting out the timeless classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” There is something magical about the way they bring back some great childhood memories.

What is your favorite food to eat during the holidays?

Tamales. Because my mom made them for Christmas every year, eating them seems to be a way to reconnect with my childhood. I am fortunate because the neighbor has a family tradition of making dozens of them each Christmas, and a dozen pork and chicken tamales seem to make it to my door step each year. There was also a student at my school who sold tamales to raise money for her dance team every year. She knew she had a sure sale for at least three dozen when she would see me walking down the hallway. And for five years, I was assured I had my stash of tamales in the teachers’ lounge refrigerator the last few weeks of school before the winter break. She has since moved on to middle school, and I am desperately trying to find another dance team member who needs a reliable tamale customer.

How do you balance work duties with family time over the holidays?

Anyone that knows me knows I have two speeds: 100 mph and zero. I have been especially blessed in the fact that I have an extremely supportive family who understands the demands of my job. Fourteen- to 16-hour days are the norm; so is working through the weekends on school-related projects. But once the Christmas holiday rolls around, the brakes are applied and I switch gears to spend time with those who mean the most to me…my family. Christmas is MY time to slow down, unwind and charge my mental and emotional batteries. When I return to work, I feel refreshed and ready to give 100% of my attention to my students.

How do you celebrate the season with your pets?

We probably have the world’s most spoiled pets. Each year, we have our traditions and the pets have theirs. Traditions like the cats’ low crawling in on the Christmas lights as we are stringing them, pouncing, and then taking off with them like a marlin on the line. Traditions like our Chocolate Lab excitedly wagging her tail by the Christmas tree with her tail teeing off on the ornaments and sending them flying across the room. The night before Christmas we hang all the pets’ stockings, chucked full of treats, catnip and grooming tools. Christmas mornings are spent feeding the dogs and cats treats from their stockings. This year promises to be even more enjoyable as we are now the proud parents of a Golden Retriever puppy named Einstein, who will be experiencing his first Christmas. Now I can’t swear to it, but on my way to the bedroom last night, I could have sworn I heard our Chocolate Lab teaching the puppy to say, “Fore!”

Leslie Mouton

Anchor, KSAT-12 News

What is your favorite charity to support during the holidays?

See this answer in the December issue of S.A. Scene!

What is your earliest memory of the holidays?

See this answer in the December issue of S.A. Scene!

What is the best gift you’ve ever given?

My father passed away on July 4th three years ago. The Christmas after he died, I took a picture I had of my father when he was a young law student, and one of my mother when she graduated from high school, blew them up to 5x7’s, and had them matted and framed side by side. I gave one to both my brother and sister (and kept one for myself). It was super special for all of us.

What is the best gift you’ve ever received?

See this answer in the December issue of S.A. Scene!

Do you have a tradition that you follow during the holidays? Is there anything unusual about your celebration?

See this answer in the December issue of S.A. Scene!

Do you do anything special during the holidays, such as volunteer at a church or donate to a specific group?

We always adopt a family through our church. It’s a lot like Angel tree, but through our church.

Do you enjoy holiday shopping? Why or why not?

I love buying for others, but I hate fighting crowds. I have learned to love online shopping.

What are some of your favorite holiday songs?

Silent Night, Bruce Springsteen’s “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”

What is your favorite food to eat during the holidays?

Homemade mac and cheese, turkey and homemade dressing.

How do you balance work duties and family time during the holidays? Do you usually work on Christmas or New Year’s Eve?

I try not to, but in this business you just never know. I am usually blessed to get the days off, but if I have to work, we make the most out of the time I do have off.

How do you celebrate the season with your pet?

C.C. (stands for Cotton Candy) is our little Maltese angel. She is part of the family. She gets a stocking stuffed with goodies and a little outfit that we likely love more than she does.

Eric Cooper

President & CEO, San Antonio Food Bank

What is your favorite charity to support during the holidays?

See this answer in the December issue of S.A. Scene!

What is your earliest memory of the holidays?

The feeling of joy and peace and love in knowing that I had parents who loved me and made me feel secure. It's those feelings that I treasure most as I look back at some of the gifts, which included new socks and new underwear. It was about the basics.

Do you have a tradition that you follow during the holidays? Is there anything unusual about your celebration?

See this answer in the December issue of S.A. Scene!

What is your favorite food to eat during the holidays?

See this answer in the December issue of S.A. Scene!

How do you celebrate the season with your pet?

Our family adopted a beautiful boxer named Bruno. He loves to be right in the middle of opening Christmas gifts and whines until he gets his Christmas treat. Occasionally, the kids try to dress him up like a reindeer.

Lauren Marie Holt

Miss Fiesta San Antonio 2011

What is your favorite charity to support during the holidays?

See this answer in the December issue of S.A. Scene!

What is your earliest memory of the holidays?

My earliest memory of the Holiday season is going to my Grandma’s house and hearing my amazingly loud family laugh at all of the silly presents we exchange. Of course, the overwhelming smell of homemade Mexican food is definitely one of the best memories.

What is the best gift you’ve ever given?

I am generally terrible at picking out gifts for people. Typically I don’t buy gifts unless I know it is something they really like. However, I do like to do arts of crafts. I like making ornaments for friends, and I also enjoy making friendship bracelets as well. I have recently discovered that I love to crochet, so there will be many handmade gifts in stockings this year!

What is the best gift you’ve ever received?

I love every gift I have ever received! However, the most memorable gift was given to me Christmas of 1999. I was nine years old and I had a passion for all things “teacher.” You could say I set my career goals young in life. Well, I had already gotten a dry erase board for my room and began teaching all of my friends in the neighborhood on it. Yet, I wanted something more, even though I didn’t know it yet. On Christmas morning, there was this huge awkwardly wrapped gift under the tree, with my name on it. As I opened it, fuel was instantly added to my fire to become a teacher—it was an overhead projector. I am proud to say I still use it today, as my career goal is still geared toward becoming an elementary school teacher.

Do you have a tradition that you follow during the holidays? Is there anything unusual about your celebration?

Every Christmas Eve my mom and I bake a cake together for baby Jesus’ birthday. It always has to be home made chocolate with white fluffy frosting. In the center we put in fresh blueberry-raspberry jam from my grandpa’s garden in Maine. I do not think we have every skipped a year of this tradition, nor have we veered from the recipe!

Do you do anything special during the holidays, such as volunteer at a church or donate to a specific group?

See this answer in the December issue of S.A. Scene!

Do you enjoy holiday shopping? Why or why not?

I love to shop, but I can’t do crowds. I am a pushover when it comes to holiday shopping. I have a hard time snatching things off of shelves, and typically when someone bumps me, I tend to apologize. I try my best to take care of buying gifts before the season starts.

What are some of your favorite holiday songs?

See this answer in the December issue of S.A. Scene!

What is your favorite food to eat during the holidays?

TAMALES! I love tamales, every different kind. I only get to eat them during the holidays, or maybe I am just very tradition oriented and think I can only have them during the holidays. Either way, I love a warm tamale on a cool winter night!

How do you balance work duties and family time during the holidays? Do you usually work on Christmas or New Year’s Eve?

I am fortunate enough to have the holiday season off. I think that it is truly important to spend the holidays with family and friends because those memories are the ones that I will remember most of all. Nothing beats waking up way to early on Christmas morning and jumping on everyone’s bed until they are awake; yes, even at 21 I still do it.

How do you celebrate the season with your pet?

I have a cat named Oreo. He might be the greatest cat ever! Oreo is definitely part of the family—he even has his own stocking filled with cat treats and cat toys. I might spoil him, but just a tiny bit!

Evangelina Flores

President, San Antonio Fiesta Commission

What is your favorite charity to support during the holidays?

See this answer in the December issue of S.A. Scene!

What is your earliest memory of the holidays?

The Nativity scene my grandfather put together every Christmas season (my first memory of what “snow-covered” might look like).

My grandfather had a great imagination, and as Christmas approached he would begin to build the Nativity scene. I remember little cardboard houses covered with snow. He used brown grocery bags to make the surface and used paints to create backgrounds and textures. He used branches and twigs and mirrors and clay figures and many other miniatures he and my grandmother had collected through the years. He had built the manger and cowshed himself. It was wonderful for me. I would gaze into this little village, imaging the plight of Mary and Joseph and the appearance of the angel and the North Star shining brightly above the baby Jesus. Of course the three kings, the shepherds and the barn animals got moved around on a regular basis. I never could stand to see them just in one place, except for the cow, which I knew was keeping the Baby Jesus warm.

Every Christmas Eve began at Grandma’s. We spent the day at their house while we watched and “helped” make tamales until mom and dad arrived from work. She made “champurado” and it was always so tasty. On the ride home, I would pretend to be asleep just so that my dad would carry me inside. He had strong arms. I wondered how Santa might make his way into our house, either way, I knew he would leave something very special for us, and I would love it! In a room with two other sisters, giggling, whispering and speculation always followed lights-out. My older sister was more practical and dismissed our silly thoughts. She would remind us to get to sleep since Santa wouldn’t stop unless we were sleeping. Each Christmas, laid out under the Christmas tree, we would find a new outfit and dolls and toys. I wondered how Santa knew exactly what belonged to whom. One year I recall getting up in the middle of the night to check under the Christmas tree. To my surprise, I saw a shadow of something that looked like a tricycle. I scurried back to bed wishing hard for morning to come. At first light, I shook my sisters to get up and see because none of us could announce Santa had been there until we were all up. With tired eyes, Mom and Dad made their way to the Christmas tree, cup of coffee in hand. I rushed to see, and there it was, just as I had imagined. It really was a tricycle. There were always dolls and dishes, games and such, but this seemed truly special for me. Because at that time we were still just three girls, Santa’s gifts usually had a multi-use. How smart Santa was— he’d left a tricycle for my younger sister but big enough for me to use. My first set of wheels! On a small concrete patio slab, I learned the techniques of driving. For hours I would practice driving in reverse and learning to parallel park along the edge of the patio floor. I don’t remember if my younger sister ever got to ride much, but I drove miles and miles in the daydreams of my mind. It was a great Christmas!

What is the best gift you’ve ever received?

All of them have been great. Even in the most difficult of times, having my children, my family and my friends and knowing that Jesus was with me would always put a smile on my face. 2006 was a very special year.

Do you have a tradition that you follow during the holidays? Is there anything unusual about your celebration?

Do you do anything special during the holidays, such as volunteer at a church or donate to a specific group?

Yes, I like to gather cloths for Sam’s Ministry.

Do you enjoy holiday shopping? Why or why not?

I love holiday shopping because everything is so dressed up in holiday cheer. It makes people feel and act happy. I love shopping with David and choosing family gifts. He likes to get a head start. I like to window shop and enjoy stopping for coffee and sweets. I typically will use the Internet but mostly “girl power shop” a day or two before Christmas.

What are some of your favorite holiday songs?

Drummer Boy, Silent Night, Feliz Navidad.

What is your favorite food to eat during the holidays?

Without a doubt tamales, also potato salad and ham. I particularly like my tamales reheated toasted on a griddle. Yummy with morning coffee!

How do you balance work duties and family time during the holidays? Do you usually work on Christmas or New Year’s Eve?

I close my restaurant Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and give our employees the time off to spend with their families without any stress. Christmas Eve is dedicated to our parents and siblings and Christmas Day we go to church, spending part of the day between families and friends but mostly with the children and grandchildren. It makes for a day full of love, blessings and much thanksgiving. At the end of the day, David and I sit down, relax and we smile!

Rosemary Kowalski

Chairman Emeritus, RK Group

What is your favorite charity to support during the holidays?

See this answer in the December issue of S.A. Scene!

What is your earliest memory of the holidays?

See this answer in the December issue of S.A. Scene!

What is the best gift you’ve ever given?

Money trees for my two children, Mary Virginia and Greg. Year 1952 $1 and $2 bills.

What is the best gift you’ve ever received?

My health to celebrate my 87th Christmas.

Do you have a tradition that you follow during the holidays? Is there anything unusual about your celebration?

See this answer in the December issue of S.A. Scene!

Do you do anything special during the holidays, such as volunteer at a church or donate to a specific group?

Not only is Christmas a time of giving but we try to donate and help many worthy causes year round.

Do you enjoy holiday shopping? Why or why not?

See this answer in the December issue of S.A. Scene!

What are some of your favorite holiday songs?

Bing Crosby is my all time favorite; I enjoy all of his carols!

What is your favorite food to eat during the holidays?

Bread dressing for the turkey with giblet gravy, fresh cranberries and ambrosia

How do you balance work duties and family time during the holidays? Do you usually work on Christmas or New Year’s Eve?

See this answer in the December issue of S.A. Scene!