Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Why name our streets after things or events few people either have heard of or remember today, when we can name them after local heroes from our past?
We salute Cannon Air Force Base officials who this week changed the name of the base's Trident Avenue, which runs past the 27th Special Operations Wing headquarters, to Albright Avenue.
The change honors Airman 1st Class Richard Albright of Clovis.
Albright and his crew members were shot down over Korea on July 4, 1952, Cannon officials tell us. While some of his crew survived and were prisoners of war about a year, Albright was killed in the attack.
Albright, who was born south of Clovis and grew up around here, was 20 when he died.
At Monday's street-naming ceremony on base, Col. Buck Elton, Cannon's commanding officer, summed up the decision: "We remember the sacrifices of the fallen heroes, including the nearly 24,000 servicemen who died in Korea.
"... Airman 1st Class Richard L. Albright, United States Air Force, was a husband and a father, a friend and a farmer, a gunner and an airman. We will not forget him."
Eastern New Mexico entrepreneurs in search of inspiration don't have to look far.
Portales' Sunland Inc. has been recognized as one of New Mexico's best examples of private businesses.
Sunland ranked No. 21 in the New Mexico Private 100 list announced last week to honor what one sponsor described as "the real heart of the economy."
The Albuquerque Journal reported sponsors mailed out applications to hundreds of businesses around the state. Revenue determined ranking.
Sunland, Inc. was formed in 1988 by "a group of dedicated peanut farmers in Eastern New Mexico," according to Sunland's website.
"Its mission has not changed since inception: to grow and market the naturally sweet and dense Valencia peanut unique to the area."
Sunland employs about 120 full-time workers, according to Doug Redmond, director of the Roosevelt County Community Development Corp.
Only area dairies combined have more workers among privately owned county businesses, Redmond said.
Congratulations to our Sunland neighbors and the farmers who provide the tasty goobers. Together they keep our residents working.
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the Clovis Media Inc. editorial board, which includes Publisher Ray Sullivan and Editor David Stevens.
