And now a round of applause for the workers among us

“Prior to capitalism, the way people amassed great wealth was by looting, plundering and enslaving their fellow man. Capitalism made it possible to become wealthy by serving your fellow man.”

— Walter Williams, newspaper columnist

The Clovis Chamber of Commerce held its annual banquet on Friday night, recognizing the business community for its role in making eastern New Mexico a great place to live.

So this is a good day to honor a few local workerbees.

A tip of the cowboy hat to ...

• John Gorley, a Melrose mechanic who works about 16 hours a day, six days a week, before going home to cut firewood and take care of a million more chores.

Said his wife Twila Gorley: “I’m pretty sure that when he gets to heaven the first thing he’ll do is ask if they have anything that needs fixin’.”

• Fawn Renee Hon. Her boss at Prairie Roads JunQtique says she loves “educating people about the wonders of Chalk Paint and making sure every customer has a wonderful experience.”

• Wendy Toombs, who teaches horeseback riding at Abrazos Adventures west of Portales. Yes, she’s still working with that broken arm.

• Leroy Thomas, who’s still running his Portales print shop at 84.

• Jack Merrick, 78, a longtime farmer/rancher — and Realtor since 2003 — who talks about the value of keeping up with changing times.

• That lady who held out both hands at the McDonald’s drive-thru last week, accepting $3.66 in quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies with her usual smile, and declining to count it. “I trust you,” she said, waving me on to the window with my coffee.

• Leslie Nagy at the newspaper, Betty Tiedemann at the Taco Box and Jay Parmenter at the Honda house, who’ve all had their same jobs forever, or at least as long as I’ve known them.

• And all the other hard workers around here who make our lives better — from the time we start eating baby food that Lisa Simone sacks up at Wal-Mart to the day Scott Reeves or Todd Ellis puts us in the ground.

Thanks for making this a great place to live, just by showing up without fanfare and doing your jobs.

— David Stevens

Publisher