Club notes - Sept. 15

Curry County Association of Educational Retirees

Connie Perez, a retired educator, noted artist and children’s author, was featured in the association’s Sept. 3 meeting. She gave listeners some of her background as a kindergarten teacher, when she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2008 and her subsequent retirement in 2012.

To stave off depression, Perez began painting various New Mexico scenes and, later, writing and illustrating her first children’s books showing New Mexico landscapes. In her first book, her main character “learns the day-to-day activities of life over the course of a year on a working cattle ranch in northeastern New Mexico." She continues painting, having amassed 300 paintings and added two more books in her children’s series as well as opened her own gallery in Logan.

The next meeting will be Oct. 1 at K-Bob's Steakhouse. All retired Curry County educators and staff are welcome to come, with lunch at 11 a.m. and the program at 11:30 a.m.