Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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All that’s left of the historic W.E. Lindsey Elementary School in north Portales now is a huge pile of rubble. Demolition trucks demolished this epicenter of my childhood last week. There are no longer walls, but rocks. And if rocks could talk, they would shout out vibrant stories of festive Mexican fiestas at this once-segregated school where, in the 1970s, more than 90 percent of students were Hispanic, and at one time, there wasn’t a single Hispanic teacher in the classrooms. All of that changed with the 1974 court cas...
I was recently packing belongings and came across boxes of old cassette tapes. Old school stuff. This dusty, ancient collection, dating back to the 1980s, takes up a good amount of storage space. I looked over the vintage recordings and found it hard to fathom that an iPod, no bigger than my palm, can hold thousands of these recordings. I told my daughter, Laura, how excited I was in grade school one Saturday morning, running all the way home, when my friend Joann loaned me her record player. I chugged that small...
Ever hear the Barbara Mandrell song, “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool?” Well, I was Tejano … when Tejano WAS cool … and still am; even now that Tejano music is not the coolest thing in Spanish music anymore. My Uncle Manny and I are die-hard Tejano music fans. Dad is too, although he may not admit it. For those of you who love old school Tex-Mex music, we’re in for a treat at this year’s Curry County Fair. I was ecstatic to learn that Grupo Vida and the legendary Little Joe are headlining Hispanic... Full story
Time to do the Dance of Joy, and not a moment too soon. My daughter, Laura, has less than 24 hours left of being an official “teenager.” Tomorrow Laura turns 20. Was it that bad? Well, put it this way, if I can survive seven years of “teenhood,” I can survive any man/woman-made disaster. When a child is between 9 and 12, they’re called “tweens” — between childhood and adolescence. What shall we call Laura’s unique stage? Like many of my community college students her age, they throw tantrums (a natural regression to c...
Merry Christmas! I didn’t just fall off the turnip or zucchini truck; little too soon for green chile. Just wishin’ you a Merry Christmas in July. For those of you who pledged to start your Christmas shopping early, this is your wake-up call. Christmas is my absolutely most favorite time of the year. The Nativity of Our Lord. But do I want to deck the halls in July? Of course Christmas can be and should be every day. We can adore Our Lord all year around. In fact, some cities, such as Albuquerque and Abilene, Texas, have 24-... Full story
It’s that wonderful time of year again, time for the Rodriguez annual Fourth of July Buffalo Springs Lake Survivor adventure. It’s a family tradition that goes all the way back to 2007 or 2008. Hard to remember. It’s been so many beers, I mean years ago. This ancient family tradition began when we started recalling, with fondness, how mom and dad took us camping as children to the Sangre de Cristo mountains, Villanueva and Fort Sumner. We then realized our children had not been camping and so began a new family tradi...
One summer, as a child, the only tough decision I made each evening was, “Do I take my purple tricycle around the driveway for a few laps during commercials or wait here so I don’t miss any of ‘Bewitched?’” Usually, I’d take my purple tricycle for a spin, and then rush back to see how Samantha got Darren or “Durwood” out of her mother’s latest spell. During those lazy childhood summers, we were couch potatoes. Unlike many kids today, we made up for it with plenty of swimming and running, with evening games of freeze tag, kick...
Ten minutes late used to be considered fashionably late. Now it seems like that is being on time to some people. If 10 minutes late is on time, does that mean being punctual is actually being early? And if being 10 minutes tardy is being punctual, then when are you tardy? As an English instructor, I decide when someone is tardy in my class, as in not being there when I call roll. In my family, however, it’s a different story. If I ’m there and no one else is, then I’m early. But if everyone else is there and I’m not, I’m lat...
My uncle Ignacio passed away recently. Like many Hispanics with the same name, Ignacio was nicknamed “Nacho.” After moving to San Angelo, Texas, though, he suddenly became “Nash.” That was the name embroidered on his shirt. I laughed, but Uncle Nacho was serious. His co-workers called him Nash, and so we jokingly called him Nash too, although he will always be “Nacho” first to us. To my 3-year-old nephew, Santos, who can’t properly pronounce his name, he will always be “Tacho.” In thinking about Uncle Nacho recently, I reali... Full story
My nieces, Marili and Anisha, will be among the Portales High School graduates on Friday night. As they modeled their graduation gowns recently, I hummed “Pomp and Circumstance.” You know, “Tahn, tahn, tahn, tahn, tahn ...” and started on how “Today is the first day of the rest of your lives ...” Yada yada. Typical graduation speeches include something about following your dreams, shooting for the stars, and going out and changing the world. Here is my advice: • Shoot for the stars, but until you perfect your aim, s...
Life finally stopped happening; now I can live. Actually, it is through this “life” stuff — the kind of stuff that completely turns your world upside down — that we really learn to live. That’s where our true strength comes from, in stepping out of our own lives and criss-crossing it with others. I heard several people this past spring comment, “If life would just stop happening, then I could get things done.” I was guilty of this. Sometimes, “life” gets in the way of life. If we could just stop the world from tu...
I asked my daughter Laura the other day, “Doesn’t your balloon ever land?,” and she gave me a questionable look. She wasn’t familiar with this saying from my childhood. Mom would always say, “Doesn’t your balloon ever land?” because I was always yakking. In fact, my nickname at school was “Motor Mouth.” I was called Motor Mouth because my cousin Mark and I, along with a neighbor, Ricky, were always telling jokes and giggling in class, doing everything but learning readin’, ’riting and ’rithmatic. And so they started calling... Full story
Happy Cinco de Mayo. It’s time again to thank the Tex-Mex general who led a Mexican Army in a victorious battle against the French in Puebla, Mexico, on May 5, 1862. I’m talking American history. Cinco de Mayo is perhaps more American than St. Patrick’s Day. Let’s talk about national identity now. What does it mean to be an American? Remember, The Americas are plural and North America alone includes Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. We’re not an American “melting pot.” According to Guillermo Gomez-Pena, we’re more like “menudo ch... Full story
Those of us in Generation X have it much easier than our parents did. In turn, our children have it even easier. Last week, I wrote that our “having it rough” stories are laughable to our parents and grandparents who walked “miles in the snow.” Perhaps they are not so laughable to our children, though. Let’s take a look at how rough we Generation Xers had it: • Times were so rough, we had to open a dictionary or encyclopedia to look up word spellings and facts. No dictionary.com or spell check. • Times were so rough...
In some ways, I have it worse than my parents did. Not growing up, of course. Growing up, I had it better than my parents. Mom and Dad often reminded me of this. But I think that as a parent today, I have it worse than my parents did because it’s arguably harder to be a parent now. While our children have it even easier than those of us who were raised in the 1970s and 1980s, this has also resulted in tougher lessons that they have to learn because they have “had it easy.” Growing up, I was told how my dad worked long hours...
Nothing is certain in life but death and taxes. Let’s not forget tax increases as well. Let’s also add rising gas prices to the list, especially with the upcoming summer driving season. Death and taxes. Such heartwarming subjects. Did I mention Thursday is tax deadline day? That means no excuses — extensions perhaps — but no excuses. For you procrastinators, extension requests also have to be signed in blood. Death and taxes. Such heartwarming topics. If death is inevitable, why pay taxes? Tell that to Uncle Sam... Full story
Twister season is here. While I’ve never been in immediate danger of a tornado, I’ve had frightening experiences, especially when I think of unheeded warnings. I remember visiting grandparents in Lubbock during a 1970s storm when I was a child. My parents, uncles and aunts went dancing. Unknown to them, there were tornado warnings. Grandpa Chico and Grandma Chaya took us girls down to the basement and I remember waiting, worrying and sweating, wondering how long we would be down there. My parents, oblivious to the warning, da...
In the U.S., we’re a proud democratic nation. I didn’t say a nation of Democrats, but a country where democracy reigns. But it was “majority rules” thinking that led Pontius Pilate to condemn an innocent Jesus to death on a cross. Although Jesus did not deserve death, majority ruled. In 1859, John Stuart Mill wrote in “On Liberty” of the importance of freedom of thought and expression, including opinions that must never be suppressed, even when held by a minority. As Mill noted, “Human history is replete with examples wher...
I’m thinking green today. It’s not payday, but St. Patty’s Day, that time of year when we pay homage to a fifth century saint by drinking green beer and slurping lime Jell-O shots. St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was known to use the shamrock to explain The Holy Trinity, with each leaf representing the father, son and Holy Spirit. So, naturally, today, the shamrock has come to be associated with … a gas company. People go green on St. Patty’s day, dying their hair or dressing like leprechauns. In Chicago...
The ink in my blood hasn’t dried, and so I’m back. Before you proceed to the comics, obits or sports page, hold on. I’ve got a few carefully chosen words. Maybe limited space is a good thing. I have just enough space here to continue to share my slice-of-life stories — after a two-year hiatus — and now only 200 words to get me into trouble. That means less slips of the pen, right? Or maybe less space to get myself out of a hole. Now, that line above is a fragment. An incomplete sentence. I know. I’m an English tea... Full story
Courtesy photo Members of Geni Flores’ “Teaching Multicultural History of the Southwest” class at ENMU visited the Blackdom site and historic marker last spring. A small black community between Roswell and Artesia was an epicenter of social life during its heyday in the early 1900s. Before succumbing to ghost town status in 1929, Blackdom was known far and wide for its famous mouth-watering pies, its Fourth of July and Juneteenth celebrations. At one point, it was even hailed for being the only community in...
FNM Correspondent A small black community between Roswell and Artesia was an epicenter of social life during its heyday in the early 1900s. Before succumbing to ghost town status in 1929, Blackdom was known far and wide for its famous mouth-watering pies, its Fourth of July and Juneteenth celebrations. At one point, it was even hailed for being the only community in the state with a college-educated teacher. All that remains of Blackdom today is a cement foundation. It is off limits to the public because it is landlocked,...
PNT Correspondent photo: Helena Rodriguez Members of Revancha Norte...
Halfway between Clovis and Portales is the huge Garcia estate known as the Midway, consisting of a popular Spanish music dance hall adjacent to a sprawling Mexican style ranch. The ranch has grown in size over the years as the musical success of the family band, Los Huracanes del Norte — who were recently nominated a second time for a Latin Grammy Award — has increased at phenomenal rates. Behind these iron gated doors now, a new generation of Garcia musicians is beginning to grow its wings, crawling out of the... Full story
Graduating on Friday night meant the end of one chapter in life for David Lucero and 138 other newly tasseled Portales High School graduates. But it also marked the beginning of a new chapter. “The thing I will miss most about high school is being able to see all of my friends, everyone who I have known since elementary school,” Lucero said shortly after walking across the stage to receive his high school diploma at Greyhound Arena. On the brighter side, though, Lucero added, “What I look forward to now is making new friends... Full story
