Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Words cannot adequately express our feelings for what was the warmest reception received from the community during the Pioneer Days festivities.
So many people, whether at meetings, luncheons or on the streets came up to us to welcome us home or expressed their apologies for what happened over a generation ago. It is important to note that key people in Clovis were responsible for the planning and the many wonderful volunteers who made it all possible.
The three-day welcome became the most memorable event of our lives.
Your native son, Adrian Chavez, with all his concerns, opened the dialogue before your city commission. Then, Mayor David Lansford and commissioners did an unprecedented thing, unheard of in no other community across the West: They formally apologized for the exodus of the Japanese American people of Clovis some 72 years ago, ancient history for many of us living today.
We would like to express our most heartfelt gratitude to the community of Clovis for allowing us, once again since 1941, to share in your celebration of Pioneer Days festivities, leaving us with wonderful, joyful memories we will always cherish for the rest of our lives.
God bless you all.
Roy and Aiko Ebihara
Oberlin, Ohio
