Giving back to the base

CANNON AIR FORCE BASE — Community leaders of Clovis and Curry County came together Friday to host a picnic in the park for the airmen, families and civilian personnel of Cannon AFB.

"Clovis is not Clovis without the 27th (Special Operations Wing)," said Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce President David Robinson. "Clovis and Cannon have always been close, and Clovis likes it that way."

Robinson spoke to a crowd of Air Force families sprawled across Cannon's Unity Park, standing before a wall of raffle prizes awarded during the afternoon shindig.

"I'm thrilled," said John Gaylord, brandishing a vacuum cleaner he received from the heap of $4,000 in prizes. "I don't ever win these things."

This marks the 30th year of Cannon Appreciation Day, said the Chamber's Executive Director Ernie Kos. The event hasn't changed much in that time, she said, noting there's, "no reason to mess with a good thing."

"It just gives us an opportunity to let (Cannon community members) know how much we appreciate them," she said. "For them, it's an opportunity to come out and have an end-of-summer picnic."

The Friday festivities were also hosted by the Chamber's military-affairs specific "Committee of Fifty," as well as the Clovis Industrial Development Corporation and the Cannon Community Center.

"It's been beautiful here so far," said Josh Chambliss, who recently came to Cannon from San Antonio. "Today is just a good time with the family."

The food lines, conveying standard summer cookout fare with the local flair of roasted green chiles, moved with the casual but expeditious tempo to be expected of a military picnic.

Families and friends sat together on benches, in bleachers and beneath trees. Children struggled over a tug-of-war rope while a small group of uniformed and plain clothes dancers did an Irish jig to "Copperhead Road."

Clovis City Commissioner Tom Martin grilled burgers while Mayor David Lansford handled the hot dog buns.

The event ran from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a rotating crowd based on the airmen's Friday schedules.

"Most of us will come here, have lunch with the family and head out," said Adam Moody.

Jesse Perez won an inflatable queen mattress and said he was excited to bring it camping.

"It's good to get out of the office," he said.

A corn hole court set up in the grass kept commandos busy while other attendees waited on horseshoes and a watermelon eating contest.

"This is pretty cool," said recent Air Force Academy graduate Christal Amar. "There wasn't anything like this at my last location."

Lansford told the crowd Friday that he and other community leaders wanted to commend service members for their "work ethic and love for all things that matter — family, country and community."

27 SOW Commander Stewart Hammons, who was previously stationed at Cannon from 2008-12, said the event "represents the incredible tight-knit bond that we have with the community."

"This shows how much we mean to them — and frankly, they mean as much if not more to us."

Hammons, who returned to the warm embrace of eastern New Mexico in June, said he would describe his time back so far in one word: Amazing.