Residents painting the town white

The peeling and dry-tinged buildings in the middle of Elida will get a face-lift this weekend that would make a Hollywood botox spinster jealous.

The hot New Mexico sun, a procession of 19 buildings painted white and a sign reading “Elida, the bright spot of New Mexico” will welcome travelers passing through on Highway 70 into the town once the makeover is done.

Delbert Bradley, who is spearheading the event, invites anyone who wants to participate to meet at the town hall between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday. He said he envisions a much more eye-appealing downtown Elida in the future.

“I got looking around the square here and along (highway) 70, which is the main street here, and saw old buildings and paint peeling and all, looking ratty and I thought boy this would look nice if we painted this place white,” Bradley said.

“It sure would look nice for people coming through.”

Bradley, who asked and received $1,000 for paint and brushes from town officials, recently bought a building in the area that he painted white.

“We’re really appreciative of what Mr. Bradley is doing,” Elida resident Nancy Ward said. “We don’t want it to be yellow or green or red or you know what I’m saying; we just want it to be pretty and clean.”

Ward said many of the businesses aren’t pleasing to the eye, and this mass painting will provide a facelift of sorts to the town.

T-shirts will be available for those who help. Engraved on the shirts are the phrase “Elida the bright spot of New Mexico.” The “O” in the word “spot” is in the shape of the Zia symbol, a symbol that residents of the Land of Enchantment carry with them on their license plates every time they hit the roads.