Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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Most of us old enough to remember the first time humans set foot on the moon -- July 20, 1969 -- have a memory of that day. We know where we were, what we were doing. Tamara Ryan Polich’s recollection has a special twist. “We watched the moon landing in this house,” Polich told me Saturday, “on a television set that our dad built.” Tamara and three of her siblings — Mike Ryan, Marla Ryan Chrisman, and John Ryan — were gathered in the Portales home they grew up in...
A life-sized interactive reproduction of Moses' tabernacle of the wilderness is in Portales for a return engagement after being experienced by more than 3,000 locals when it was here in 2015. Central Christian Church at 1528 S. Main St. in Portales is hosting the multi-day event that continues through Sunday, according to Senior Pastor Don Thomas. He said the idea of bringing "The Tabernacle Experience" back to eastern New Mexico was an easier sell this time than it was eight...
In a short-lived fit of spring-cleaning last week, I was dusting a kitchen counter and wiped a layer of accumulated topsoil off of a couple of small wooden boxes that sit in a back corner. These boxes remain on my counter solely for sentimental reasons. They are filled with recipes — many handwritten — from my maternal grandmother, a woman who died in the early 1950s, long before my existence was ever even a consideration, much less a twinkle in anyone’s eye. I never use...
At the age of 93, and after 3 1/2 years of residency in Wheatfields Estates senior living in Clovis, you might expect someone like Lois Barnes to be living a quiet life of retirement. Perhaps you haven’t met her yet. I learned last summer in our first visit that Barnes is a woman on a mission and she’s looking for recruits. “What made Fort Sumner famous?” she asked me the first time I met her, before quickly providing the answer: “Billy the Kid. Is there any proof...
Roosevelt County's homegrown country music singer/songwriter Will Banister has his eyes set on a big goal: one day appearing on the stage of the Grand Ol' Opry in Nashville, Tenn. But this Friday he happily returns to a closer and more familiar stage, the one at Floyd High School which was "the first place I ever performed with a band," Banister said. And he promises, "It's gonna be fun." After a multi-year hiatus, an evening dubbed "Will Banister and Friends" has been...
It's hard to think of many folks who have had a longer active association with Eastern New Mexico University than Buck Wilson of Portales. From the time he arrived on campus as a sophomore transfer student from the University of New Mexico in 1957 (and except for a few years away for military service and completing a dental degree), Wilson's life has been intertwined with Eastern's. "His nearly 70 years of 'bleeding green' has permanently enshrined Buck Wilson in our Hall of...
Forty years ago this May, I remember standing in a long line on the floor of Greyhound Arena to receive my diploma from Eastern New Mexico University. My dentist — and dear family friend — Buck Wilson was chairman of ENMU’s Board of Regents at the time. With the other regents, he was on stage taking turns passing out diplomas and handshakes. As I inched toward the moment marking the completion of my undergraduate degree, I was a little disappointed to see that a...
On the old television sitcom, “Cheers,” every time the character Norm Peterson walked into the bar “where everybody knows your name,” all the folks in the room turned and shouted, “Norm!” For me, the one place in Portales where that could happen is the tire shop, where I’m definitely one of the regulars. Moments before I sat down to write this, I aired up my third flat in the past few weeks, and my second for the past six days. That is not a personal record. I...
A flurry of illness has forced changes for two fine arts productions scheduled this weekend at Eastern New Mexico University, but a third event bringing culture to the High Plains is all-systems-go and opened Tuesday at Enchantment Vineyards. "Opera 101: A Night of Opera Scenes," has been postponed by the ENMU Department of Music. Those who have already purchased tickets will be able to use them when the new dates are announced. Across campus at the University Theatre Center,... Full story
Ours was not a camping family when I was growing up. When high school friends talked about planning weekends to go to “the lake,” I wasn’t even sure where they were going. My dad — who had grown up regularly sleeping outdoors on the ground or in shacks that offered only minimal protection from the elements — always told us he had worked hard his whole life so we wouldn’t have to follow in his footsteps. We stayed in some pretty sketchy motels in our travels, mind...
At 74, Clovis real estate agent Cherrie Hayden was still listing homes and had no intention of ever retiring - in fact, "she wouldn't have," according to her son, Scott. Hayden died Jan. 25 after some ongoing health challenges took an unexpected turn for the worse, her family said. Her friends and family agree on this: She was a true people person, with a blazing work ethic, a "wicked sense of humor" and a heart that reached out to others in ways that will be forever...
My friend Janet, who knows I love both words and birds, texted me an interesting “word of the day” last week: “seatherny.” Pronounced “seth-er-nee,” it is purportedly “the serenity one feels when listening to the chirping of birds.” Whether or not this is a real word (it appears in plenty of online memes, but I’ve failed to find it in a more legitimate source like, say, a dictionary), there is no question that one does feel serene when listening to birds. Or...
I began with the best of intentions. There was a carton of sour cream that had somehow glued itself to a shelf in my refrigerator. (If it appears I am trying to completely dodge any responsibility for what follows, you are a quick study.) I tugged and pulled and pried and couldn’t budge the darned thing. Never suspecting disaster was moments ahead, I cleared the shelf of all of the remaining detritus. I even tossed out a few things, which isn’t easy for the daughter of...
When February offers up no fewer than four fetching food fundraisers, what’s a food fundraiser fanatic to do but fork over the facts? The festivities kick off this Saturday when the Clovis Noonday Kiwanis Club will be flipping flapjacks for its 71st annual Pancake Day that runs from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Clovis High School cafeteria. The menu includes pancakes, sage sausage, milk, juice, and coffee. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for children ages 4-10. Tots 3 and under...
As I’m writing this, the wind is howling outside my window and forecasters are predicting we could get some measurable precipitation this week in the form of snow or ice or that delicious sounding “wintry mix.” It’s the kind of week that makes me grateful for the science of meteorology. Our pioneer grandparents and great-grandparents didn’t have the advantage we have of knowing when weather events were on the horizon or sometimes more importantly, knowing when...
Sometimes, quite by accident, you stumble across a most extraordinary life story. That happened to me this week. The folks at Portales High School were looking to complete a list of former superintendents and were missing part of the name of one of the first people to hold down that job. They knew a “Mr. Skinner” had been the third superintendent of the school, occupying the post from 1904-1906. They had first names — or at least initials — for all of the others who...
We are members of a species that not too many years ago spent a lot more time outside in the presence of one another, whether it was sipping tea on a front porch or taking evening strolls around the neighborhood. Today, it’s pretty rare for us to walk more than a few blocks, and even more unusual to have the opportunity to do so “in community,” but both Clovis and Portales will be marking the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday with commemorative marches....
Whether he was competing in an Ironman triathlon, flying a fighter jet, or teaching advanced placement physics to Clovis high school students, Carl Armstrong was all in. "He never did anything he didn't do well," according to Mona Lee Norman-Armstrong, who was married to him for 44 years. His sudden and unexpected death on Dec. 4 at the age of 68 left a hole in many lives, including area triathletes and legions of students he taught in physics and chemistry classes at Clovis...
The last days of December are a good time to reflect on life lessons. Here’s one of mine from a while back. A friend had been to our house for some event — probably a branding — and the interaction led to a need for me to swing by her house a few days later to pick up some papers. What exactly the papers were isn’t important to the story (plus, I can’t remember). What is germane to this anecdote is that my friend told me she wouldn’t be home when I came by, but...
The sun dips below the horizon at 4:46 p.m. this winter solstice evening, and rises again — 14 hours and nine minutes later — at 6:55 a.m. Thursday For two local pastors, this “longest night” seems a fitting time to acknowledge that the holiday season is sometimes long and dark as well, and feelings of sadness, grief, and loss also deserve acknowledgement. Vito Monteblanco, senior pastor of the Portales Church of the Nazarene, and Damon Stalvey, pastor of First United...
In the summer of 1970, between my third- and fourth-grade years, I got my first pair of eyeglasses. They were the “cat-eye” style which, according to my old yearbooks, was quite the rage at the time. My far-sighted father and near-sighted mother somehow had the perfect genetics to create offspring who would all require glasses from an early age. My gratitude for the invention of eyeglasses began the moment I propped the first pair on my nose for the trip home from the eye...
Fiercely independent. Stubborn. Adventurous. Warm and loving. Ornery and cantankerous. That's how the family of Karen Jean Stanley Ranger described their mother and grandmother, who died in Clovis on Nov. 5, a few days after her 78th birthday. Locals may remember her as the wife and partner of the late Frank Stanley, her first husband who preceded her in death in 1988. It was the Air Force that brought Karen and Frank Stanley to Clovis, according to their daughter, District Ju...
As we plunge into the hustle and bustle of holiday events and the annual procuring of gifts, I’m happy to remind you of one issue you don’t need to fret about: The challenge of successfully completing a long-distance call on Christmas Day. Drop back a few decades (OK, maybe several decades) and it was a different story. In December of 1965, in fact, Mountain States Telephone Company took the precaution of asking the Portales News-Tribune to share the concern with its reade...
It’s time to polish off that last sliver of pumpkin pie and get ready for a quick pivot into the Christmas season in eastern New Mexico. Local holiday festivities kick off at 6 p.m. Thursday with Portales’ Little Miss Merry Christmas pageant in the Jake Lopez Building at 705 E. Lime St. This is a new location for the Chamber of Commerce event that serves as an annual fundraiser for the white Christmas lights that brighten Portales businesses each winter. A tradition that...
As we approach the 401st anniversary of the celebration of Thanksgiving, I consulted a panel of local experts for some insight into the holiday: 10 second graders at Dora Consolidated Schools. I visited this enthusiastic crew in their classroom last week, where they had plenty of wisdom to offer on why we celebrate this day and how to prepare some of their favorite foods, even as it turned out - unbelievably to me - they all swore they had never seen or even heard of Macy's...