It's a beautiful, bountiful October in Northern New Mexico! Many of us are enjoying the local harvests - including the many varieties of apples, plums, and pears. From Questa, to Velarde, Los Alamos, and Santa Fe, the Laboratory employees have been bringing in a bounty of food from their family farms to share with co-workers. It’s been wonderful. We encourage you to get out and experience the sites and sounds of autumn in our community. Check out the changing colors of the aspens and do a little pinon picking (a little sticky, but fun!). As always, let us know what you think about Connections - particularly as we strive to balance the community news with laboratory stories, and community partnerships. Make it a great October!

A text panel expresses the theme of the exhibit: “Fences run through the American landscape, defining home and community.” Words, photographs, and objects show how fences, walls, and borders have been powerful symbols and essential instruments of American culture since the arrival of Europeans. Complete with a pristine white picket fence and an undented mailbox, objects you don’t often find in New Mexico, the exhibit illustrates conflicts between ranchers and farmers, railroads and businessmen, settlers and Native Americans—events that loom large in New Mexico history.

The Museum on Main Street program asks each community to introduce local and regional elements, and “we’re going to add our own, local flavor,” Bond House Director Lou Baker said at the Belen opening. She announced that James Rodriquez Elementary School students will be given disposable cameras and asked to take their own pictures of walls and fences. The photographs will then be exhibited alongside the Smithsonian images in Between Fences and Beyond.

The Bond House opening will be Sunday, October 30, noon to 5 pm, with a presentation at 1 pm by noted New Mexico writer and sound historian Jack Loeffler. Between Fences will leave Espanola after December 2 for stops in Ruidoso, Hobbs, Raton, Las Vegas, and Columbus.

The New Mexico Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Public Service Company of New Mexico are giving financial support to Museum on Main Street in New Mexico.

The Lab is also bringing its unique technical and scientific skills to bear. While Katrina headed toward land, Los Alamos teams used powerful computer simulation systems to make impact point predictions for the Department of Energy and the Department of Homeland Security. In the wake of the hurricane, Lab teams continued to use computers to predict flooding and evaluate restoration scenarios.

In the days following Katrina, Los Alamos technology was in the air, as a small twin-engined airplane normally based in Kansas City could be found flying low over the Gulf coast. The aircraft carried ASPECT (for Airborne Spectral Photometric Collection Technology), a sensor array designed to detect dangerous air emissions—the kind of vapors that might escape from damaged chemical facilities, for instance. ASPECT was developed for the Department of Energy by the Lab’s Physical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy Group and has been used in emergencies ranging from plant explosions to the Space Shuttle Columbia crash. When it finished surveying areas devastated by Katrina, the plane flew to Texas to be ready for Hurricane Rita.

The Laboratory always plays a major role in northern New Mexico United Way campaigns, with Lab employees recognized as top contributors year after year. This year Community Relations Office staff has helped the Laboratory’s United Way campaign and its chair, Dave Beck, with everything from coordinating meetings to a website for online employee giving. An hour before the kick-off on the 26th, you could have found Community Relations Office staff at Fuller Lodge, pressed into service setting up tables and chairs.

Employee contributions benefit the many community support organizations throughout northern New Mexico. For information about how you can contribute, contact the United Way of Santa Fe (505- 982-2002) or the United Way of Northern New Mexico (505-662-0800).

The Los Alamos exhibits are taking place in conjunction with Lasting Impressions: The Private Presses of New Mexico at the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe. This exhibit tells the long history of the private press movement in New Mexico and includes an interactive audio exhibit, with readings by Governor and First Lady Richardson and many others.

At noon on October 12, Tom Leech, curator of the Palace of the Governors Press, will talk about paper marbling during a brown bag lunch at Fuller Lodge.

For more information, call Hedy Dunn at the Los Alamos Historical Museum at 505 662-6272 or Carol Meine at the Mesa Public Library at 505 662-8247.

Small northern New Mexico business owners and others attending the workshop heard Boeing program manager Larry Pinkle, who piloted up from Boeing's offices in Albuquerque, and Flintco manager Ken Easley agree on what large companies bring to the table in a team—advantages such as market information, business skills and experience, and financial resources. The speakers also agreed on what small companies bring—an understanding of local markets and resources, niche skills, and the ability to help balance project work loads.

The second half of the workshop explored resources available to Native-American owned businesses. Elmer Torres, the Laboratory's Tribal Relations Team Leader, described his office’s business services— including assistance with team building. Venessa Gleitch, representing the National Center for American Indian Enterprise development (NCAIED), outlined that organization’s services— including training, technical help, and identification of business opportunities.

At a working lunch following the event, small business owners and Pueblo representatives continued discussing the ins and outs of partnerships and joint proposals. The Northern New Mexico Supplier Alliance, NCAIED, and CRO’s Small Business Outreach Team sponsored the conference.

Padilla has been a buyer for seventeen years, eight at the Laboratory. He was nominated by Procurement Group Leader Warren Finch for his work identifying procurement opportunities in information technology for small business set- asides. "Patrick and his whole team are constantly reviewing their procurements to identify opportunities where small businesses can provide the Laboratory the product or service required," said Finch.