New Year chance to try new activites

There’s a fellow here in town, a transplant from a large west-coast city, who admittedly doesn’t want to be here and spends lots of time finding fault with our area. One of his big impressions is that there’s no culture and never anything to do.

Since he doesn’t read the local paper or listen to local radio, he never sees evidence to the contrary.

How odd is that? Just before Christmas, I was out taking timed-exposure shots of the lights and I realized that, if I want to get them developed, enlarged and mounted in time for the county fair, I’d have to finish the roll.

Then there’s the basketball game situation. Since Christmas break began, I’ve been trying to find time to take my grandson and my “adopted” grandsons to an Eastern New Mexico University basketball game. Just haven’t had the time and probably won’t until the New Year.

So our county fair is not the World Expo and the Greyhounds and Zias aren’t the North Carolina Wolfpack (though they play just as hard and can generate as much excitement).

My point is this: Clovis/Portales always has something going on. For me, the calendar year seems to begin with the Fourth of July’s “Smoke on the Water” and ends with, well, it kind of cycles back to Smoke on the Water! I wonder if my complaining acquaintance made it to the light parade in December, or the Polish Philharmonic Concert just before Thanksgiving?

From Ernie Kos, Clovis Curry County Chamber of Commerce put it this way: ‘Without a doubt, there is something to do at least every weekend in the community. When you factor in the college activities at Eastern and Clovis Community College, no one should be lacking for activity for themselves and their family.”

Kos also reminds us that anyone unsure of the schedule can contact the Chamber at 763-3435 or visit its Web site at http://www.clovisnm.org. You might even want to volunteer your time to help plan, coordinate, execute or labor at an event.

Hey, there’s an idea: Volunteer. Have you ever tried to remain negative about something you spent hours working on to create successfully?

This column mentioned a couple of weeks ago that getting outside yourself is a great way to overcome negativity. That includes getting outside your self to make an art event, a music event, and a sports event, happen for the community. The reward is the look on peoples’ faces — especially children and the elderly — as they’re having a great time.

The way I see it, the New Year holds lots of opportunities for friendship, fun and personal growing. The only thing we lack is an ocean with a beach. Any ideas to solve that?

Clyde Davis is pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Portales and an instructor at Eastern New Mexico University. He can be contacted at:

[email protected]