Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
If you don’t already own running shoes, this would be a good time to invest in a pair because you will need them this weekend to keep up with the overflowing calendar of activities slated for the High Plains.
Here is a sampling of what’s in store.
• The 67th Annual Floyd Lions Country Jamboree kicks off this evening in the Floyd School gymnasium, with a new feature: the welcome addition of a space for those who want to get up and dance to the country music this event provides each year.
Tickets are available at the door — $7 general admission and $5 for those with military ID — and the concession stand opens at 6 p.m. today, Friday and Saturday ahead of the 7 p.m. show time. The Jamboree concludes on Sunday with a 2 p.m. “old time gospel sing along,” in the same location.
• If you’d rather rock and roll than go boot-scootin’, head to the historic Yam Theater in downtown Portales tonight for a 6:30 p.m. concert by Mitch Gray and the Music Militia. According to his website, Clovis resident Gray offers “a powerful roots rock sound giving fans a great original experience” in exchange for the $5 tickets that can be purchased when the doors open at 6:15 p.m.
• This week marks the 10th anniversary of the Clovis-Portales tornado. In honor of that, and to make sure we are prepared to face future challenges that might come our way, the Local Emergency Planning Committee is hosting a tornado safety workshop at 6 p.m. today at Clovis-Carver Public Library. Call 575-763-9687 if you’d like to know more.
• Since no Thursday is complete without at least four great options to choose among, the Popovich Comedy Pet Theater is making a return appearance to our area tonight as part of Clovis Community College’s Cultural Arts Series. I happened to be in the audience several years ago for this show, and it is pure fun from start to finish — a combination of jugglers, trained cats (no, really), dogs, birds, goats … even a pony.
Popovich and company will be on the stage at the Marshall Middle School Auditorium at 7 p.m. today. General admission tickets are $20; seniors, military, and students can get in for $15, and a “family friendly pass” lets you snag five tickets for only $45. The box office number is 575-769-4031.
• You may want to plan a return trip to Clovis-Carver on Friday for a program and reception about the exhibit that opened there Monday on the experience of Japanese-Americans who lived in our area during World War II. The program begins at 1:30 p.m. Friday, but the exhibit will be up through April 3. More information is available by calling 575-769-7840 or contacting Victor Yamada at:
• History buffs may also be interested in a one-man show scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at Eastern New Mexico University’s Theater Center. By day, Patrick McCreary is an instructor of theater at Eastern, but when you meet him, you immediately notice a striking resemblance to Abraham Lincoln.
McCreary has performed theatrical tributes to our 16th president for the past 25 years, and will be portraying both Lincoln and his assassin, John Wilkes Booth, in an hour-long multi-media production called “Lincoln and Booth: In Search of Better Angels.” The event is a fundraiser for ENMU’s new Summer Theater Academy that will bring junior high and high school students onto campus in June.
McCreary said the material in Friday’s performance is “topical, political, hard hitting, and pensive” and probably best suited for an audience junior high aged and older. While there is no set ticket price for the benefit, a minimal contribution of $10 is encouraged.
• If the wind blows as predicted on Friday, you can blame the 25th annual New Mexico Ag Expo, which is scheduled to run 9 a.m.-5 p.m. that day, and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday at the Roosevelt County Fairgrounds. Much of the Expo is housed in the massive Idsinga Pavilion, making it a great place to be on a windy day. Admission and parking are both free, and you can even wrangle up some chow at the food wagons in attendance.
Complete event schedules can be found on posters all over town, or online at:
schedule/
Lace up those shoes and get going. It’s a fine weekend to be in eastern New Mexico.
Betty Williamson is flipping coins to figure out where to go. You may reach her at:
