Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Shad Mayfield is one of the best calf ropers in the world.
Katherine Ortega was the 38th treasurer of the United States.
Norman Petty was largely responsible for some of the best rock and roll music ever produced.
But if you’re looking for the most famous celebrity ever to call Clovis-Portales home, that’s probably Ronny Cox.
A graduate of Portales High School and Eastern New Mexico University (1963), his movie/TV show credits range from “Deliverance” and “Beverly Hills Cop” to an independent children’s film “Frog and Wombat” to the TV dramedy “Desperate Housewives.” His musical skills earned him a place in the New Mexico Music Hall of Fame in 2019.
Cox celebrates his 85th birthday today. He answered a few questions via Facebook Messenger last week.
Q: If you had to pick just one, who is the favorite character you’ve played?
Cox: Playing the bad guys are always the most fun. Walter the Tooth Fairy (from the TV crime drama series “Dexter”) was fun ... he had no redeeming qualities.
Q: Best song you’ve written?
Cox: That’s like picking a favorite child … I can’t do it.
Q: First thing that comes to mind when you think about:
• Eddie Murphy – Funny man and dear friend.
• George Apple – My first TV series. I loved that show.
• Mary Cox, wife of 46 years who died in 2006 – The most intelligent human being I’ve ever known and the ONE love of my life. I think of her and miss her every day.
•.3 Turning 85 – They say age is a number. I’m pretty sure it’s a word!
And happy birthday, St. James
The downtown Clovis church building once described as having reached a “milestone in regional ecclesiastical architecture” has been around since 1950. The St. James Episcopal Church congregation is celebrating its 115th year of ministry in the city on Tuesday. Records show it was organized as a mission on June 5, 1908.
Church member MaryRose Patterson said an open house is scheduled from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday, and she will make cookies.
A service of thanksgiving follows the open house at 6.
The first St. James house of worship was built in Clovis in 1918 at Fifth and Mitchell streets, according to the late historian Don McAlavy.
That original property was sold some years later and church leaders reorganized in 1942, McAlavy reported. The Spanish-style structure we see today caught a lot of attention when it was coming together.
“When the massive adobe walls were first rising, it was often referred to as ‘that mud hut downtown on Main Street,’” the Clovis News-Journal reported.
Residents soon learned the sun-dried bricks that went into the adobe walls had long been used in hot, dry, sunny climates that included “Palestine and Egypt since the days of the Pharaohs,” the newspaper reported.
Those who don’t like cookies may want to visit just for a tour of the historical downtown icon.
David Stevens is publisher of Clovis Media Inc. Email him at:
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