County preps to celebrate heritage

Roosevelt County will celebrate the 22nd Annual Heritage Days on June 16-18 in the Portales City Park which will include live music, craft booths and plenty of activities.

“It’s going to be a fun day in the park,” said Ken Huffman, director of the Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce. “We’re going to have live music all three days and food and booths on Saturday. Plus we’ll be honoring a Roosevelt County resident Friday for the Pioneer of the Year award.”

The festivities will begin at 5 p.m. Friday with the Pioneer Reception dinner at the Memorial Building.

The Pioneer of the Year is nominated for being at least 75 years old, living in Roosevelt County for more than 50 years and contributing to their communities.

This year’s nominees are Lila Bryant of Portales, Weldon and Vernell Reed of Floyd and Hazel (Murphy) Holmes of Elida.

The Triple L Band will be playing during the reception, followed by a Christian Country Jamboree, which includes more bands, behind the Memorial Building in the City Park from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Saturday will be filled with events for everyone in the family such as a fun run, a car show, motorcycle competitions and a parade. Food and craft booths will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the city park and inside the Memorial Building.

Donald Massey, a member of the Eastern New Mexico Antique Automobile Club and the Sun Country Car Club who organized the event, said they usually have had about 50 to 60 vehicles each year.

“People just like to walk around and look at the old cars. They’re mostly classics from the 1950s and ‘60s,” Massey said.

There will be a Motorcycle Poker Run and motorcycle competition.

Troy McCollum and Polo Ortega of Portales organize the motorcycle events. McCollum said this is about the third year they’ve done it.

“It’s a chance to get out there and have some fun on our motorcycles, and it helps draw more people to the Heritage Days festivities.”

There a high-tech scavenger hunt called Geocache in which contestants use GPS devices to find hidden items. Participants need to have their GPS unit and are required to be member of http://www.geocaching.com.

A new event this year is the Gospel Grass, a Christian bluegrass concert, Saturday and Sunday. Gospel Grass is made up of five bands: Triple L, Daybreak Express, the Burbridge Family, the Dyson Family and The Harvesters.

The popular Rough Rider event will not be held this year. It was an obstacle course in which contestants competed and raced in, but due to last year’s bad turn out it was cut from this year’s schedule.

Friday

Pioneer Reception dinner — 5 p.m., Memorial Building.

Christian bluegrass concert — 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., city park

Saturday

MainStreet Fun Run — 8 a.m., entree fees for participants who register before June 13 are $15. Late registration will be $18. There will be a 5 and 10 kilometer run, as well as a 5 kilometer walk. For information, contact the Portales MainStreet office at 356-8449 or Woody’s Jewelry at 356-5641.

Car Show — 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., city park. Participants can register between 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. for $20.

Motorcycle Poker Run — 9:30 a.m., Memorial Building. Fee: $10.

Motorcycle competition — 1:30 p.m., city park

Geocache — 11 a.m., Participants need to have their GPS unit and are required to be member of http://www.geocaching.com. For the starting location and more information on the event go to the GeoCache Web site.

Heritage Days parade — 10 a.m., Eastern New Mexico University to the city park.

Christian bluegrass concert — 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., city park

Sunday

Christian bluegrass concert — 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., city park.

Church services — 11 a.m., Sunday, city park