Majestic Living Fall 2014

5 | MAJESTIC LIVING | FALL 2014


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Cover photoMajestic living welcomes story ideas and comments from readers.e-mail story ideas and comments to [email protected].

Celebrating the lifestyle, Communityand Culture of the Four Corners

MAGAZINE

publisher Don Vaughan

editor Cindy Cowan Thiele

designer Suzanne Thurman

writers Debra Mayeux, Dorothy Nobis,

Margaret Cheasebro

photographers Tony Bennett,

Josh Bishop, Whitney Howle

sales staff

Shelly Acosta, Clint Alexander

Aimee Velasquez

For advertising information

Call 505.516.1230

by Josh bishop

Vol. 6, No. 4 ©2014 by Majestic Media. Majestic Living is a quarterly publication. Material herein may not be reprintedwithout expressed written consent of thepublisher. If you receive a copy that is torn or damaged call 505.516.1230.

Follow us on @MajesticMediaUSmajesticmediaUSA

contributorsDebrA MAyeux, of Farmington, is an award-winning journalist with recognitions from the Associated Press of New Mexico and Colorado andthe New Mexico Press Association and the Coloradobroadcast Association. she has covered storiesthroughout the southwest and in Mexico and Jordan, where she interviewed diplomats and theroyal family. After nearly 20 years in the business,she recently opened her own freelance writing andmedia business. Mayeux enjoys the outdoors, reading and spending time with her family. she isthe coordinator of Farmington Walk and roll, a safe routes to school organization. she is marriedto David Mayeux and they have three children: Nick, Alexander and Peter.

MArGAret CheAsebro has been a freelancewriter for over 30 years. her articles have appeared in many magazines across the country.she was a correspondent for the AlbuquerqueJournal and worked for several local newspa-pers. she has four published books of children’spuppet scripts. A former elementary schoolcounselor, she is a reiki Master and practicesseveral alternative healing techniques. she enjoys playing table tennis.

toNy beNNett grew up in Farmington. he received his bachelor’s degree in photography from brooks institute. he ownedand operated a commercial photography studio in Dallas for more than 20years. he was also team photographer for the Dallas Cowboys for 10 years. Now back in Farmington, tony wants to bringhis many years of photo experience to photo-graphing families, weddings, events, portraits,and more, to his hometown………and sKi !he teaches at san Juan College.

Josh bishoP is a graduate of san Juan College with an associate degree in DigitalMedia Arts and Design. he currently worksat Majestic Media as a video producer and photographer.

WhitNey hoWle was born and raised in Farm-ington and is proud to call san Juan Countyhome. the richness of the landscape and the diverse people, culture and traditions are a photographers dream. Whitney has his bA in Visual Communication from Collins College intempe, Ariz. he is a co-owner of howle Designand Photography—a family owned studio offering graphic design, photography, market research and consulting.

Dorothy Nobis has been a writer and editor formore than 25 years. she authored a travel guide,the insiders Guide to the Four Corners, published by Globe Pequot Press, and has been a frequent contributor to New Mexico Magazine .

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fallfeatures:

Growing up in a home where love knew no bounds, where God

and family always came first, and where hard work was a means to

success — that was growing up Carpenter.

By Debra Mayeux

Carpenters credit parents for their success10

When Lou Vayne (Arrington) McKay has

her 100th birthday on Oct. 3, people

who grew up knowing the pioneer family,

and who have scattered across the coun-

try, will return to San Juan County to help

her celebrate.

By Margaret Cheasebro

A darling place34

A serious, yet confident, Justin Hunt assessed the scene in

T.J.’s Downtown Diner. He was about to shoot a scene for his new

movie Far Too Far.

By Debra Mayeux

Real life stories on film16

“I have an affinity for the postal service

because my dad spent almost the en-

tirety of his career working as a postal

service employee,” said Farmington

Mayor Tommy Roberts.

By Margaret Cheasebro

Hard Work and

Dedication22

The phone rang at the Hubbell

Trading Post. All eyes turned to

the old fashioned telephone on a

nearby wall, but this chime was

coming from behind the desk in

the jewelry and pottery.

By Debra Mayeux

A step back in time28

FALL 2014 | MAJESTIC LIVING | 9

Farmington has its own version of the Ener-

gizer Bunny. She is small, cute and packed full

of non-stop energy.

By Debra Mayeux

Empowering Youth40

There will be dancing for a world record, pink

gloves everywhere and a Cowboy Soiree.

By Dorothy Nobis

San Juan County comes together

to raise funds to fight cancer46

Traci HalesVass’ journey to San Juan College,

where she is the assistant professor of English, was

not an easy one.

By Dorothy Nobis

A life filled with learning52

From the time she was a pre-teen, Carol Hatfield

knew she wanted to be a teacher.

By Margaret Cheasbro

Best job you could ever have56

When Ann Gattis made biology her major and

chemistry her minor in college, her father hoped

his daughter would become a doctor.

By Dorothy Nobis

30 years of science & leadership56

When Laura Huish went to a birthday party

for a friend of her sister-in-law, she had no idea

how that party would change her life.

By Dorothy Nobis

Staying strong50

Get Your

On

Growing up in a home where love

knew no bounds, where God and

family always came first , and where

hard work was a means to success –

that was growing up Carpenter.

Mom was “Moose,” and Dad was a

businessman and public servant. Their

three boys were self-proclaimed

“Alpha males,” always competing with

a loving purpose to goad the others

into working harder and being better.

“I have the perfect parents,” said

Kim Carpenter of Danny and Maureen

Carpenter. His twin brother Kirk, who

was the family baby by only minutes,

had just finished explaining that

merely thanking his parents would

never be enough.

Working hard to thank them

“For my parents we’ve been very

successful, and I feel like we owe that

to them. … You can never thank your

parents enough; you work hard to

thank them,” Kirk said.

Kirk did just that. He studied hard,

graduated from college and worked

his way up the ladder in the Aztec

School District. He serves as the dis-

trict’s superintendent.

Kim also has been successful, earn-

ing a doctorate degree and being

named the chief executive officer for

San Juan County.

The twin’s older brother, Kelly also

has found success as the assistant spe-

cial-agent-in-charge of Internal Rev-

enue Service Criminal Investigations in

Dallas, Texas.

Story Debra Mayeux Photos Josh Bishop

PerFeCta

r

e

n

t

s

Kim, Kirk and Kelly Carpenter credit

Danny and Maureen for their success

From left, Danny, Maureen, and threir boys Kelly age 8, Kim and Kirk, age 10.

From left Kirk, Danny, Kelly and Kim at the Connie Mack World Series in August.


“He’s honestly more successful

than us,” Kim said.

Kelly, however, agreed that his

younger brothers have been “very

successful.” He too credits Mau-

reen and Danny for their achieve-

ments.

“Our mom and dad were both

great role models. That’s where

we learned our work ethic,” Kelly

said. “Mom was just as hard-work-

ing as Dad.”

Maureen was a stay-at-home

mom who spent her spare time

volunteering. Danny was a busi-

nessman and served in various po-

sitions as an elected official for

30 years.

He was a San Juan County

Commissioner when his sons were

younger, and now Kim advises that

same Commission and oversees all

of the county’s business.

Alpha males

“You live in a household of Al-

phas – it’s competitive,” Kim said.

“Our parents had a discipline

structure. Dad always said, ‘Work

before play.’ We always knew

when the weekend cam. There

would be a note with chores. We

needed to do our yard work. We

had a pool, and we had to make

sure the pool was cleaned. We

didn’t go until it was done.”

These were just some of the

lessons taught to the Carpenter

boys through action. They knew

they had to work hard and they

learned their work ethic by exam-

ple. “Dad was gone before the

sun came up and came home after

it went down.”

Their mom, whom they lovingly

call “Moose,” took care of them.

“Mom took care of us absolutely

100 percent. She was there, but

you get what you deserve. How

you are raised – it all fits. We all

think we have the perfect parents

– and we do,” Kirk said. “They

were always there. They didn’t give

us stuff, we earned it.”

The Carpenter boys worked

through high school. They didn’t

get an allowance and had to raise

money to buy their own cars. The

twins had a 1974 Chevrolet Nova.

They paid it off together, and Kim

bought a Chevrolet Vega. Kelly

had a Chevy Camaro. One fond

teenage memory was the three of

them taking a road trip to Earl’s

Shop in Albuquerque, where they

got $99 paint jobs for each car.

They studied hard and played

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hard. “If we needed something, our parents were

there,” Kim said. “Most of our wants centered on

sports.”

All about baseball

They were a baseball family playing as children

all the way through college. Today Kim and Kirk

both serve on the Connie Mack World Series

Committee in Farmington. Kim has coached the

Farmington Fuel and trained his son, Danny to be

a primo pitcher.

He had a glove, a ball and bat before he was

3 years old, and Kim said Uncle Kirk and Don

Lorett would visit the house to teach little Danny

bad baseball habits. This was a family tradition

handed down from Carpenter fathers to their

sons.

“When us three boys were playing on three

different ball teams the commitment from our

parents getting us where we needed to be was

amazing,” Kim said.

Kim played football and baseball until his

freshmen year in high school. Then, he branched

out and played tennis and was on the swimming

and diving team. Kirk played football and base-

ball. Kelly went on to play four years of college

baseball, and all three Carpenter sons went to

New Mexico Highlands University.

Importance of a college education

“College was something that was extremely im-

portant. Our parents instilled that in us – get an

education,” Kim said. His father, however, wanted

Kim to go into the military. He got a nomination

to the Air Force Academy, but transferred to West

Point, because he wore glasses.

Kim decided it wasn’t for him, but he joined

the ROTC and went to Highlands to play base-

ball. After getting hit in the face with a baseball,

causing a tear to his retina, Kim left the baseball

program and ended up receiving a golf scholar-

ship. He completed his bachelor’s degree in three

years.

“I missed baseball, but I had a blast at golf,”

said Kim, whose scoring average was 73.4.

After completing his degree, Kim went to work

for Highlands as the college’s first full-time re-

cruiter. “They had a 25 percent enrollment in-

crease that year,” Kim said, adding he wanted to

work in collegiate sports, so he applied to be the12 | MAJESTIC LIVING | FALL 2014


college’s intramural director. He wanted a cer-

tain wage, but was turned down, until the presi-

dent found out and made it happen. “I ran

intramural sports and recruited.”

Kim moved up the ranks and went on to

work as the director of the Highlands Student

Life Center and also became the assistant ath-

letic director. And he inherited the baseball

team, leading it to a conference win in 1991.

Kim was named NCAA and NAI Coach of the

Year that same year.

Long distance calls to Krickett

It was through coaching that he met his wife

Krickett. “I called to order coaching jackets and

she was the sales rep,” he said. “I spent a lot of

money on long distance. We spent hundreds of

hours talking before we met.”

Shortly after they were married, Kim and

Krickett were in a horrific car accident outside

of Gallup. She suffered a traumatic brain injury

and forgot her life and marriage to Kim. The

couple divorced, but Kim made a “marriage

vow” and was determined to win back her love.

He did, and the couple remarried. The story of

their love and devotion was the subject of the

New York Times bestselling book The Vow,

which led to the making of the Hollywood

movie The Vow, starring Channing Tatum and

Rachel McAdams.

Kim and Krickett have been asked to speak

all over the world sharing their story. In the

midst of stardom and speaking engagements,

Kim managed to land the job of assistant San

Juan County manager. At that time his dad,

Danny, sat him down and gave him some ad-

vice.

“He said, ‘There are a lot of people who

won’t like you. You will make people mad, but

stick to what you believe,’” Kim said.

He did just that and has managed to stay

grounded through his faith in God, even after

being promoted to CEO of the county. “I’m re-

sponsible for 130,004 people in this county. I

keep myself in check, because I know I’m re-

sponsible. I am accountable to God, my Com-

mission, and the people of San Juan County,”

Kim said. “Even through the toughest of times,

we’ve got the greatest employees.”

Kirk piped up and responded to that com-

ment, saying, “You’ve got the second greatest.

I’ve got the greatest in the Aztec Schools.”

A passion for work

Both men are passionate about their work

and their employees, and Kirk certainly has not

lived in Kim’s shadow, despite the celebrity sta-

tus of his brother.

“People ask me if I’ve read the book, and I

Krickett and Kim Carpenter at the Hollywood premier of The Vow with their children LeeAnn and Danny.


say, ‘No. I lived it,’” Kirk said. He and Teresa,

his wife of 25 years, had to go to the junkyard

and go through the car to retrieve Kim’s wallet

among other items.

He admires his brother’s gift for public

speaking and said he would rather have a tooth

pulled than to speak in front of thousands of

people.

Kirk loves coaching and teaching

Kirk, however, does speak to thousands of

people on the radio doing baseball play-by-

play on Vertical Radio. He has been a sports

broadcaster for 25 years.

“I’m lucky to be where I’m at, and I don’t

take it for granted,” said Kirk, who started his

college career at San Juan College and later

transferred to Highlands. After his graduation,

he began his teaching career in the Aztec

School District, where he also spent 14 years

coaching sports. He continued studying while

teaching and earned a master’s degree from

New Mexico State University.

After completing his studies, Kirk was offered

the vice principal position at Aztec High School,

and he accepted it. He continued coaching and

“built a respectable sports program,” he said. “I

never – during the time of getting my educa-

tion, I never thought I would be superintend-

ent. I loved the classroom and coaching.”

His talents however were noticed, and Kirk

went from vice principal to principal, to assis-

tant superintendent and then was promoted to

superintendent. Throughout his career he has

had his wife Theresa at his side.

“The district had been so good to me, when

they asked me to become principal I felt I

owed it to them,” he said. He stayed at the high

school for 2 ½ more years and applied for the

assistant superintendent’s position. It was some-

thing, he admitted, was “never on my radar.”

When a superintendent was needed, Kirk was

approached and asked to take over the reins. “I

was honored to be in that position. It’s a great

district. Obviously we have great people,” he

said, adding he often turned to his coaching ex-

perience in his positions of leadership.

“I look at it as coaching adults. I do the best

I can and equip my people to deal with differ-

ent strategies.”

Volunteering

The Carpenter brothers, in addition to their

careers, also volunteer on various boards and

commissions. They both serve on the board of

San Juan Safe Communities and the Connie

Mack World Series Board. Kirk is the president-

elect of the New Mexico Superintendents Asso-

ciation and is a member of the Consolidated

Educational Services Board. In his spare time,

he enjoys watching movies with Teresa and play-

ing golf.

Kim also plays golf and enjoys flying radio-

controlled airplanes. “We’ve got radio-con-

trolled cars we drive around as a family,” he

said. “Family time is important to us.”

It has been family that kept the Carpenter

men grounded.

Their father always told them to remember

where they came from and what they have been

given. They fondly recall his lessons about life

and they honor him by living them.

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A serious, yet confident, Justin Hunt assessed

the scene in T.J.’s Downtown Diner. He was

about to shoot a scene for his new movie Far

Too Far.

The restaurant in historic Downtown Farm-

ington was empty except for a few local actors,

two videographers and Hunt.

“Make sure your cell phones are off,” he

said. “It’s 1993, there are no iPhones, and try

as hard as you can – don’t look at the cam-

era.”

The location manager called the scene and

shouted, “Action!”

Brandi Wethington ran into the restaurant

grabbed a waitress and asked for “Trip.” The

two women exchanged words. Hunt said,

“Cut,” and the scene was shot again. This went

on for nearly two hours as footage was gath-

ered for Hunt’s latest movie project – Far Too

Far.

“I worked on this script for seven years,”

said Hunt of the first full-length narrative fea-

ture film on which he has been busy. Far Too

Far is a meth-related drama that was born out


Story by Debra Mayeux | Photos by Josh Bishop

Justin Hunt wants his work to have a cultural impact on society


of Hunt’s work on his first documen-

tary American Meth, produced in

2007.

“This is the purging of what was left

of American Meth,” Hunt said.

Since the release of American Meth,

narrated by Val Kilmer, Hunt has filmed

two more documentaries and Far Too

Far. He also began raising funds for a

fourth documentary that explores the

negative effects of the pornography in-

dustry on marriages, relationships and

families.

Hunt, 37, was born in Grand Junc-

tion, Colo., and was raised on the

horse racing circuit. His father Glen

Hunt was a professional jockey and his

mother, Linda, trained race horses.

When the family finally settled in

Bloomfield, Justin found a hometown.

Hunt attended Bloomfield High

School where he began a career in

journalism. He interned at KOBF-TV

and wrote for the school newspaper.

During his senior year, 1994, Hunt was

awarded the United States Journalism

Association’s award for the best high

school newspaper story in the nation.

By the age of 18, he was working as

the weekend news anchor at Farming-

ton’s television station and was named

one of the youngest news anchors in

the history of the NBC television net-

work.

After graduating from BHS, Hunt

moved to Las Cruces where he studied

at New Mexico State University, but he

later returned to Farmington and went

back to work at KOBF-TV as a re-

porter and news anchor. This job led

him to KOB’s Roswell station, where

Hunt was named one of the youngest

news directors in the country.

Hunt remained with KOB-TV until

2004, and during his tenure with the

company he won more than 40 Associ-

ated Press and New Mexico Broad-

caster’s Association awards and three

times was named News Reporter of the Year.

It was in 2004 that Hunt entered the inde-

pendent film business, opening Time and Tide

Production Company. He was hired to produce

commercial videos and then began working in

the documentary field. By 2007, he had made

the world-renowned documentary American

Meth, a film recognized with national and inter-

national awards.

It was his work on American Meth that led

Hunt to write Far Too Far, a film he described

as being “dark,” but also a story that needs to

be told.

“What will set this film apart is the level of

authenticity,” Hunt said. “There are nuances

we’ve learned from users that we put in the

film. We shoot these scenes and it’s all make

believe, but it is very intense.”

Most of Hunt’s films have been “intense.” His

second documentary, Absent, focused on the

effect absentee fathers have on their children.

It received international acclaim, because Hunt

managed to secure onscreen interviews with

boxer Johnny Tapia and with Metallica front

man James Hetfield, who became a personal

friend of Hunt’s. The men made appearances

together on the talk show circuit and Hetfield

had only good things to say about Hunt and his

dedication to children and family.

“Justin is a really great father. What he’s

doing for his family is very warrior like,” Het-

field said of Hunt.

Hetfield was abandoned by his father, and it

left a scar on his heart. He questioned whether

he would be a good parent. He was afraid he

didn’t have what it took to be a father, but, he

said, he put himself in the shoes of his three

children and asked himself what he would want

to hear from his dad.

Hetfield also had been through rehab where

he attempted to make peace with his child-

hood, but Absent helped him move further for-

ward. “When there is trauma in youth, it is

good to revisit it – the hatred, the anger –

and clear that out,” he said. “The impact of

the movie has opened my eyes to how grateful

I am not continuing the cycle of writing a note

and saying goodbye. I want to be the best


male warrior figure I can be. This movie has

done a lot more for me than I thought it

would. Justin, the crew, the books opened my

eyes to the male role in the family – the fa-

ther.”

After Absent, Hunt began his own personal

journey and explored his childhood, which

was riddled with difficulty. His mother and fa-

ther were divorced. His siblings all went their

separate ways, and the family had not been

together in decades, until their mother Linda

was diagnosed with cancer and was dying.

Hunt chronicled the family’s ups and downs

and included the tragic loss of his mother in

the documentary The Speed of Orange. “The

story of her health became a big part of the

movie,” Hunt said. “She never did get to see

it.”

What Linda Hunt also didn’t get to see was

her family reunited after 30 years, because of

her youngest child’s movie. The Speed of Or-

ange was something completely different. “It’s

not just a kid from the race track that took

his video camera and made it into a home

movie,” Hunt said. “I would have told this

story whether it was my family or not.”

The film has the three main elements of a

good story – a rise, a fall and redemption.

“It’s more of a human story wrapped in the

pretty paper of horse racing. I’m really

pleased with this film. It turned out so much

better than I anticipated,” Hunt said.

The Speed of Orange brought Hunt home

for filming and premieres, but most of his

time is spent in Colorado Springs, Colo.,

where he lives with his wife, Danielle, and his

children, Lantz and Abbey. In between film-

ing, Hunt also has been asked to take films

such as Absent on the road to locations

across the world. He did film tours in Aus-

tralia and Europe and has toured much of the

U.S. He often is asked to speak not only

about his films, but about what he learned

from making them.

The work for a filmmaker, however, is

never done, so Hunt returned home again this

summer to film Far Too Far. Hunt began the

process with a local casting call. One-hun-

dred local actors auditioned and he cast 35.

Brandi Wethington, who never acted be-

fore, was cast as the lead, Linda. She said

“The impact of the movie (Absent)has opened my eyes to how grateful I am not continuing the cycle of writing a note

and saying goodbye.”

— James Hetfieldlead singer of Metallica

James Hetfield and Justin at Absent premier.



Hunt helped her get into character, and she

began to develop a new appreciation for acting.

“This is something that I’m doing on my own,”

she said.

Rick Martinez, another new actor, was cast as

Trip. He auditioned because he wanted to try

something new.

“Getting the part was beyond my dreams. It’s

a strange feeling – filming. This is my life, I’m

going to be in a movie,” Martinez said. “It’s

been a great experience. … It stays pretty light

on the set. Any stress that comes in doesn’t

come from the director, it comes from our-

selves.”

Hunt also has enjoyed having a cast and crew

with which to work. “It’s a joy for me. I’ve been

working on these heavy topics for a decade and

doing it by myself – it’s been a downer,” he

said. “This is a tipping point in my life career-

wise.”

Hunt hopes to have the movie completed and

ready for release by fall. He would like to enter

it in some of the big domestic and international

film festivals and put San Juan County on the

map for an award-winning independent narrative

film directed by a homegrown talent.

In the meantime, Bloomfield wanted to make

sure Hunt doesn’t forget where he came from.

Mayor Scott Eckstein awarded Hunt with a key to

the city of Bloomfield during the July 14 Council

meeting. He also proclaimed Sept. 16 – Hunt’s

birthday – as Justin Hunt Day in Bloomfield.

“I’m not going to lie, getting the 'Justin Hunt

Day' proclamation was amazingly special, but

getting the key to the city blew me away,” Hunt

said.

Hunt is focused on promoting Far Too Far,

while working to produce his next documentary

Dot XXX, which will look at the devastating ef-

fects the porn industry has had on marriages and

families. He has been raising money to make the

movie that will be made without focusing on the

provocative images found in pornography.

This career path for Hunt has never been

about having a “film job.” It is about telling real-

life stories on film and making a cultural impact

on society – creating a message on film to make

lives better.

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22 | MAJESTIC LIVING | FALL 2014 Photo by Tony Bennett

“I have an affinity for the postal service be-

cause my dad spent almost the entirety of his

career working as a postal service employee,”

said Farmington Mayor Tommy Roberts. “I

worked four summers in the post office begin-

ning my senior year in high school.”

Today, as mayor, Tommy oversees the entire

city, and the post office has a warm place in

his heart. Though property around the post of-

fice has had some landscape issues, those con-

cerns are being addressed by the postal

service, he said.

Tommy, who was born in Farmington on May

31, 1951, was about 5 years old when he re-

members his dad, Lester Roberts, working for

the post office. At that time, it was located

where KB Dillon’s now is, on the corner of

Orchard Avenue and Broadway.

Lester was Farmington postmaster

Lester, who is 94 and still lives in Farming-

ton, began working at the Farmington Post Of-

fice as a temporary sub clerk on Feb. 10,

1940, at 65 cents an hour. He worked up

through the ranks, becoming postmaster on

Aug. 17, 1974. He held that job for 12 years,

longer than any other postmaster in Farming-

ton, and retired on April 30, 1986.

“It provided him and his family a nice liv-

ing,” Tommy recalled. “We were not wealthy

people, but as a child growing up I never

thought we couldn’t do what we wanted to do

and have what we wanted to have.”

But the job had its challenges. Lester recalls

an incident when Jimmy Tinnin was postmaster

from 1965-1974.

“One of the prominent citizens around here

complained about the postal service losing his

mail,” Lester said. “He made a big to-do about

it, and wrote congressmen. It went on awhile.

We couldn’t find his mail because we didn’t

have it. Later on, information came that he ad-

mitted finding it under the seat of his car.”

Focuses on sons

Lester didn’t come home and talk about his

day at the post office. Instead, after a 6 a.m.

to 3 p.m. shift, he put on his “dad hat” to

focus on his four sons, who were, in age order,

Gary, Franklin, Tommy and Steve. But first he

drove to the apple orchard that he had

bought in the 1950s, three miles west of Aztec

on the Old Aztec Highway.

“I spent time irrigating, spraying, disking and

one thing or another,” Lester said. “It was very

relaxing. After I finished there, I coached Little

League baseball and Little League basketball.”

Tommy played on some of the teams his

dad coached, and he went to the University of

New Mexico on a full basketball scholarship.

But every summer for four years Tommy came

home to work at the post office, where Post-

master Tinnin hired him to be a substitute mail

carrier. His other brothers worked at the post

office some summers as well.

Good work ethic

Steve remembers working with Tommy at the

post office when they were teenagers.

“He always had a good work ethic,” Steve

said. “He and I would learn more than we re-

ally needed for the job in order to get more

work.”

For example, if they were hired to do a

specific job, they would also learn the city

scheme, which involved what happened when

letters came into the post office and how they

were sorted by number and letter, then sepa-

rated by a clerk to go to a specific letter car-

rier.

“We would learn everything,” Steve said.

“The more you know, the more work you get.”

Though Steve made a career of the postal

service, Tommy didn’t.

Tommy becomes attorney

“It was pretty clear that was not Tommy’s

path,” Steve said. “He knew where he was

going to go.” Tommy went on to become an

attorney and returned after graduation to

work in a law office here. The postal service

helped both brothers exercise self-discipline.

Tommy remembers the dedication it took to

get up early and go to the post office.

“I’d go in at 4 in the morning and help un-

load the mail truck coming from Albuquerque,”

he said. “Then during the course of the day I

would sort mail by hand and box it in a sorting

system.”


Story by Margaret Cheasebro

Lester Roberts devoted more than 40 years to Farmington Post Office

Hard work

and dedication

Once he finished sorting the mail for the car-

rier for whom he was substituting, he’d walk from

house to house delivering the mail door to door.

“Over a period of four summers, I think I carried

the mail in every route in Farmington,” he said. “I

can remember people coming out with a cup of

lemonade and offering me something to drink or

just wanting to stop and talk for a second.”

Hops on one leg to deliver mail

One summer after hurting his ankle in a base-

ball game, he hopped on one leg, going from

house to house to deliver the mail. He has fond

memories of those days, and he enjoyed the

$3.25 an hour salary he earned the summer he

graduated from Farmington High School.

“It was about as high an hourly wage as you

could find,” he said. “By the time I finished up

four summers later, I was working for over $4 an

hour.”

Though Tommy, Gary and Franklin didn’t pur-

sue postal careers, Steve retired after working 25

years for the Albuquerque Post Office.

Pat Maurer, who grew up next door to

Tommy, also made a career of working for the

post office. He was a letter carrier in Farmington

for 37 years, retiring in 2007, and was a postal

clerk when Tommy spent summers working at the

post office.

“Tommy put 100 percent into everything he

ever did,” Pat recalled. “He had such high in-

tegrity that everyone respected him a lot.”

The Roberts brothers contributed to the

growth of the postal service just as their dad,

Lester, did.

First post office in a house

When Lester began his postal service career,

he joined a long list of people who worked at

the Farmington Post Office, beginning April 17,

1879, when the local post office was established.

Allison Fourier Miller became the first postmaster.

He had built a house for his family in 1877, which

included a general store at Main Street and

Court Avenue. He added space in it for the post

office. A series of postmasters followed, and they

usually moved the post office to their own store.

The post office is believed to have been

moved to the old Hyde Bank building in the 100

block of East Main Street in 1901 when William

Estes was postmaster. Former Farmington Post-

master James W. White tells about that and many

other details of the Farmington Post Office in his

book, The History of San Juan County Post Of-

fices.

Luther Thomas was appointed postmaster on

April 14, 1902, and he moved his harness shop

and stock into the Hyde Bank building so he

could work out of the post office.

Dentist is postmaster

When dentist James Duff became postmaster

in 1903, he moved the post office to the San

Juan Store on the north side of the 100 block of

East Main Street, where he practiced dentistry.

As the population increased, in 1906 Farming-

ton advanced from a fourth class to a third class

office. Harriet Butler became the first female

postmaster on March 2, 1915. That year the post

office grew enough to become a second class of-

fice, but it didn’t receive that designation until

1921.

As the city grew, Main Street stretched two

blocks long and the population climbed to

1,700 people. A larger post office building was

needed. So in August 1927, the post office

moved to the old San Juan County National Bank

building at 106 W. Main St. The post office

gained second class status in 1934 and showed a

gain of almost 10 percent in receipts over the

previous year.

City mail delivery begins

As a 21-year-old, Lester began his postal ca-

reer in 1940 under Postmaster James Odle. He

saw Farmington begin city mail delivery on April

16, 1948.

“Before that, everybody had to come to the

post office to get their mail if they didn’t live on

a contract route,” he explained.

On May 19, 1951, the post office moved

from the old San Juan Bank building to 101 W.

Broadway. Tommy was born at the end of that

month, and as a youngster that’s where he re-

membered the post office being located.

On July 1, 1951, as the population continued

to increase, the Farmington Post Office achieved

first class designation. “The sale of stamps had a24 | MAJESTIC LIVING | FALL 2014

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lot to do with how you got reclassified,” Lester

said.

Population skyrockets in oil boomGrowth increased in the 1950s due to an oil

boom, and the population climbed from 3,737 in

1950 to 23,786 in 1960. The post office needed

bigger facilities, so on June 9, 1960, it moved into

a 12,410-square-foot building at 300 N. Auburn St.

During those years, the job of the Farmington

postmaster expanded to include supervision of post

offices in McKinley, San Juan, and Apache counties

under a new designation as Management Sectional

Center, Post Manager 3.

Lester held the sectional center manager position

beginning in August 1974.

That designation ended in 1987 when the Farm-

ington postmaster was placed under the administra-

tion of the Albuquerque MSC.

Post office moves to 20th StreetAs the population continued to climb, the post

office outgrew the Auburn facilities and had to farm

out different aspects of the operation to other lo-

cations in town. It wasn’t until June 24, 1988, when

the new 40,000-square-foot post office opened at

2301 E. 20th St., that all the operations came back

under one roof. The post office is still located there

today. Lester retired in 1986 before that move was

made.

“I’m so glad I retired,” he said. “The people who

work for the postal service have lots of pressure put

on them to do things in a shorter time. They try to

operate within their budget, and their budget is not

enough.”

From house to cluster box deliveryTommy and his dad sometimes exchange memo-

ries of their postal years and of the changes they

saw.

“Now you have cluster boxes in a single location

in a neighborhood, or you have individual mail

boxes at the curb so delivery is more efficient and

less time consuming,” Tommy said. “But when I

worked at the post office it was pretty rare to have

a mailbox out on the curb.”

As he and Lester looked through White’s book

about the history of San Juan County post offices,

Tommy noted, “I had a personal connection to the

post office in Farmington, and I always enjoyed that

part of my life.”

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A stepbAck

in time

The phone rang at the Hubbell Trading Post.

All eyes turned to the old fashioned telephone

on a nearby wall, but this chime was coming

from behind the desk in the jewelry and pot-

tery. Marilyn Yazzie answered the call and was

asked the price of pink velveteen. The caller

needed 10 yards.

“It is $17.95 a yard,” Yazzie said, adding

that the store had enough to accommodate the

need. Soon the customer would walk in and be

transported back in time to a place that still

sells pink velveteen, Blue Bird Flour, burlap

sacks, yarns, candies, food and soda pop out

of an old refrigerated display case.

The Hubbell Trading Post hasn’t changed

much since John Lorenzo Hubbell purchased it

in 1878 on a tract of land in Ganado, Ariz.

Story and photos by Debra Mayeux

Hubbell Trading Post, Canyon de Chelly filled with beauty and history


This was 10 years after the Long Walk, and

Navajos were returning to their homeland to

build a future for themselves and their chil-

dren. Traders such as Hubbell provided sup-

plies to the Navajos once they returned home.

These traders promoted Indian arts and crafts

and had an influence on rug weaving and silver-

smithing by demanding excellent craftsmanship

in the items he received for trade.

The National Park Service, which now oper-

ates the trading post, stated that Hubbell built

a trading empire that included stage and

freight lines and 24 trading posts. His home-

stead, however, was in Ganado, where it has

been preserved as a national historic site since

the National Park Service purchased the prop-

erty in 1967.

“When the Park Service took over an agree-

ment was made that they would always have

this part (the trading) of the business run the

way Hubbell did,” Yazzie said. This made the

Hubbell Trading Post one of the only posts still

operating in the West.

Yazzie has been working at the trading post

for many years. After her husband died, she

moved home to the reservation to raise her

son. “I wanted to raise my son here so he

could be around his grandparents, so he could

learn about the culture,” she said.

Part of Yazzie’s job is to work with the

Indian artisans and oversee the world-class


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collection of Navajo jewelry, rugs, pottery and crafts

that not only add to the ambiance of the trading

post, but also are offered for sale to tourists, who

come from all over the world to the site.

Yazzie has enjoyed getting to the crafters,

weavers and silversmiths. “They become like fam-

ily to us,” she said, adding that in recent years

many have passed away leaving a void in her

heart. Some of the deceased, however, have

never left.

“There are ghosts here,” Yazzie said. “One day

I was sitting in the rug room, and I felt the log go

down slightly. I looked and I saw Mr. Hubbell and

little Navajo girl dressed in traditional clothing.”

Another employee came to work in the morn-

ing to find the radio playing. When she went to

turn it off, she noticed that it was not plugged

into the electrical outlet and batteries were not

used to operate it.

On another occasion, Yazzie walked into her

office to find a group of people in one of the

back rooms. “There were two Mexican guys and a

red-headed guy,” she said, adding they looked

like old-time freight drivers. She later looked

through a book titled Indian Trader, by Martha

Blue, only to find a photograph of the same men

sitting in the same room. “I said, ‘Oh my God,

there they are.’”

Yazzie follows the traditional Navajo ways. “I

am not supposed to see those things,” she said.

She went through a ceremony with a Medicine

Man afterwards, but admitted the experiences

were not scary.

“They just don’t want to leave,” Yazzie said.

“They are here and they love this place so much,

they come back.”

Even the living don’t want to leave the Hubbell

Trading Post. The employees love working at the

site, which includes a ranch with Churro sheep

and goats; a garden of fresh produce and an op-

portunity to continue serving the Navajo people

in Ganado and nearby communities.

Courtney Attson has only worked at the trad-

ing post for one month but already feels like a

member of the Hubbell family.

“I love working here,” she said. “You meet

people from all different countries, and you

meet the elders from the community.”


Attson works in the general store that stocks

foods and goods historically used by settlers in

the West. “When I first started working here, I

wanted to buy everything.”

There are old-fashioned candies, sodas, jams

and syrups. The store is stocked with tin cups,

plates and cooking pots; burlap sacks, yarn,

fabric, medicines and herbs. There are bags of

Blue Bird Flour, which any Navajo would swear

by as the main ingredient for the perfect batch

of Fry Bread, a staple food of the Navajo peo-

ple.

Many of the items in the general store also

attract tourists, who are seeking a taste of

Americana. Upon entering the store the tourist

is transported back in time. There are no com-

puters, cell phones or hints of modern times

anywhere in the facility. The floors are made of

old logs, which also line the ceiling providing

support beams.

“People always comment about how they like

the squeaky floors,” Attson said.

An exit to the right takes visitors into the

jewelry room, where hundreds of Indian bas-

kets, representing Pueblo, Apache, Pima and

Navajo artisans, hang from the ceiling. Jewelry

of all shapes and sizes can be viewed in a

wooden and glass case, while Kachinas, Navajo

Dolls and pottery adorn wooden shelves.

A rug room could be found to the left,

where there are all types of Navajo rugs made

by weavers who still use traditional methods to

spin, dye and weave their wool.

“Nearly everything the Hubbell family owned

is preserved for your enjoyment. The buildings

are furnished with their belongings and the arti-

facts are available for researchers. The collec-

tion contains over 350,000 individual items,

including the family archive of 264,000 busi-

ness records,” the National Park Service stated

about the site.

The grounds also provided a glimpse into the

past with an old barn filled with antique farming

equipment, an old homestead and even a town

bell in the community center.

Next to the trading post the old caged

wagon could be found. Yazzie said there are all

types of legends surrounding the wagon. Many

people believed it to be a prisoner transport,

but that was not the case. “It was an ambulance

from the Civil War,” she explained. “When Mr.

Hubbell purchased it, he used it for freight.”

Mr. Hubbell traveled throughout the Navajo

Nation trading; he would have even traveled to

nearby Chinle, Ariz., where travelers can experi-

ence another national treasure – Canyon de

Chelly.

The canyon, on the outskirts of Chinle, has

been home to Navajo families for centuries. It

was the site of Ancestral Puebloan ruins that in-

clude Mesa Verde-type cliff dwellings and a win-

dow rock as part of the rock formations. The

canyon has been called a “labyrinth” by the Na-

tional Park Service, because it is made up of

several canyons with red rock walls standing

1,000 feet above the canyon floor.

There are two rims to the canyon – the

South Rim that includes seven overlooks and

access to a day-hike area; and the North Rim

which has three overlooks.

The day-hike area begins at the White House

Overlook. There visitors are allowed to hike

2.5 miles roundtrip into the canyon to visit the

Whitehouse Ruin. Other hiking throughout the

canyon must be led by a guide.

At each overlook guests also have an oppor-

tunity to meet with Indian artisans, who sell

their jewelry and rock art paintings at the site.

One such artisan is Anthony Mahkewa, who

when he is not selling at Santa Fe’s Indian Mar-

ket visits the canyon and paints onsite. He said

the canyon and the sky above it gives him the

inspiration for his works, which are captured on

pieces of rock and sold to tourists.

Canyon de Chelly can be visited by day and

there is no entry fee. The Navajo Parks and

Recreation Department manages the Cotton-

wood Campground in the park and lodging can

be found in Chinle and at the Sacred Canyon

Lodge in the park.

The visitor’s centers at both The Hubbell

Trading Post and Canyon de Chelly are open

from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

Your Dream Stanley, a former Mesa Airlines pilot and air ambulance pilot, was working for the Farmington Public

Laura Miller is the clinic manager at Piñon Family Practice, and said Stanley is proving to be an exceptional

Your Future

assignments, always learning by asking further questions to ensure he obtained a good understanding for the current

Our Focus

fully online and students can attend from any location, as long as they have access to internet and a computer to

work in a variety of settings such as physician offices, clinics, nursing care facilities, acute care, long term care,

hrough hard work and determination, students are paving their

faculty and staff provide the support students need to further their

sanjuancollege.edu 505-326-3311SAN JUAN COLLEGE

Pictured above: Standing: Laura Miller, Piñon Family Practice clinic manager, and Tina Bruce, San Juan College HIT instructor. Seated: SJC Health Information Technology graduate Allen Stanley.

Your YYou

r D Dre re am am

Y

F

Your Y You

r Fututurere F Futu Futu

Our

Focus F Focus Focus

When Lou Vayne (Arrington) McKay has her

100th birthday on Oct. 3, people who grew

up knowing the pioneer family, and who have

scattered across the country, will return to

San Juan County to help her celebrate.

Born in 1914 to John B. and Winifred Ar-

rington, Lou Vayne spent most of her life in

Farmington, from the war years, through oil

and gas booms, to the present.

Plans are in the works for nieces and

nephews and other relatives to come from

California, Washington state, and Albu-

querque to help Lou Vayne celebrate her

100 years of life. There will be an open

house from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4,

at the First United Methodist Church, 808 N.

Monterey Ave. in Farmington, to make it more

convenient for people traveling from out of

town.

Born on Locke Street

Lou Vayne was born in a house on Locke

Street, though she can’t remember its exact

location. She lived in her own home until she

was 97, and today she is a resident of Bee-

hive Home on Locke, a couple of blocks

from where she was born.

Kathy Stewart of Farmington was her care-

giver for almost 10 years when she still lived

at home. “She has a good sense of humor,”

Kathy said. “She takes the time to listen, and

she remembers. I just love her. We’ve kind of

adopted each other. She calls herself my old

pal.”

The fourth child in the family, she was

christened Ruth Lou Vayne, though she always

went by Lou Vayne.

“My dad named me after a university in

Belgium,” she said. “I don’t know why.”

When her brothers and sisters were little,

they called her Bane because they couldn’t

pronounce her name. Now, said her daughter,


Lou Vayne recalls life in Farmington over the last 100 years

Story by Margaret Cheasebro

Photos by Josh Bishop

Home on Arrington Street in Farmington.The family on the porch in 1897.

The Arrington house is now a law office.


Patty Baysinger, everyone in the family calls her

Bane.

She described her mom as a loving, caring

person. “She was always there for me,” Patty

said. “She sewed and made my clothes. One

Christmas when my parents didn’t have much

money, she sewed me doll clothes.”

Owned farm on Apache Street

Her parents owned a small farm on Apache

Street. Over the years they sold or traded

pieces of the land. Today, only a small part of

it remains in the family. Patty and her daughter,

Debbie, live there today on eleven acres west

of Navajo Preparatory School.

Lou Vayne remembers her family telling

about a time when she was 8 months old, and

they traveled by wagon from Farmington to

Kinebato, 12 miles north of Pueblo Bonito.

Her father once owned a trading post there,

and the extended family gathered at Kinebato

to celebrate Christmas.

When they brought popcorn balls with them

on the way back to Farmington, the wagon

lurched as they crossed the river. Popcorn balls

flew everywhere.

“All us kids laughed,” Lou Vayne said.

As a young child, she remembers walking

and biking along irrigation ditches that ran by

houses in the old part of Farmington. Those

ditches provided water for gardens and lawns.

She also played school with her siblings.

Moved to Gallup

When she was 5 years old, the family moved

to Gallup, where her father was an assistant

manager for a JC Penney store. She graduated

from high school there.

As a high school junior, she met her future

husband, Burton McKay, when she and several

other youth spent Halloween in a graveyard.

“We were rattling around trying to scare

each other to death,” she said. “Burt was with

the rest of the kids. I got alongside of him to

talk. Then he began to eye me up, and I began

to eye him up.” It was pretty close to love at

first sight.

Burt had come from Texas to work on the

railroad. He was five years older than Lou

Vayne. When she graduated from high school in

1932, she moved back to Farmington, and Bur-

ton followed her.

“We weren’t married yet,” she said. “He

came on the bus. We didn’t know he was com-

ing.”

Married and fixed up farm

They were married on Sept. 6, 1932, and

worked hard to fix up the family farm on

Apache Street. It had been neglected while the

family lived in Gallup.

Among the challenges they faced were bed-

bugs. They dealt with it by putting gasoline all

around the mattress and setting the bedposts

in pans of gasoline. They finally got rid of the

bugs.

“We farmed for a long time and darn nearly

starved to death,” said Lou Vayne. “We got it

all fixed up. It was a wonderful time to live. We

were poor, but we were happier than we’d

ever been in our lives.”

They had a big apple orchard and sold ap-

ples for 50 cents a gallon. They charged 10

cents a gallon for peaches if the buyer picked

them. Their cow and chickens helped to keep

food on their table.

Baby doctor above post office

When Lou Vayne was pregnant with her old-

est child, Patty, she remembers visiting Dr.

Reece, the baby doctor, at the corner of Main

Street and Orchard Avenue.

“The post office was downstairs, and his of-

fice was upstairs,” she said. Patty was born on

March 12, 1936, at a clinic on 20th Street.

In 1942, Burton had to find work to feed

his family, so he took a job at Hubbards, a

grocery store on Main Street in Farmington.

Like many people during those times, the

McKays charged their groceries at the store,

then paid their bill at the end of the month. It

was the only way they could put food on the

table. At Hubbards, Burton learned to be a

butcher.

Move to California

The following year, the family moved to Cal-

ifornia, where Lou Vayne’s dad was already

working in a shipyard. Their son was 8 months

old at the time. Burton found work at a truck-

ing business that made flaps for the backs of

trucks. They lived with Lou Vayne’s parents in

California.

In 1944 the McKays returned to Farmington.

While Lou Vayne was mailing letters at the

Farmington Post Office, she met a friend who

suggested that she and Burt buy the Palace

Market, a grocery store on Main Street. It was

in the corner building next to Wallace Furni-

ture.

“I said, ‘We don’t have any money,’” Lou

Vayne recollected. “He said, ‘How much you

got?’ I said, ‘We probably don’t have more

than $500 in the bank.’ He said, ‘That’s

enough.’”

Take train to Durango

After the McKays discussed the matter, they

took the Durango and Rio Grande narrow

gauge train from Farmington to Durango, where

they borrowed money. With that financing,

they became partners with Zang Wood in

Palace Market.


“Burt did everything,” Lou

Vayne said.

“He butchered if he had to, he

kept books, he did a little bit of

everything.”

A few years later, they sold

their interest in the business and

bought Fulton Market, which soon

became Payless. Marion Goff was

their business partner.

“We charged groceries for peo-

ple, and we didn’t know them,”

Lou Vayne said. “People were so

hard up. They were all wonderful

people. Every month they paid

their bill.”

Works at Kysar’s

Though Lou Vayne was a house-

wife when her kids were young, as

they got older she worked part

time at a five and dime store.

When Patty was 12, Lou Vayne

took a temporary job during the

Christmas season at Kysar’s De-

partment Store.

Mr. Kysar couldn’t work be-

cause he was having surgery, so

Lou Vayne helped Mrs. Kysar in

the store.

In the 1950s, oil and gas cre-

ated a boom in San Juan County,

and big stores such as Safeway

moved into Farmington. That made

it hard for smaller grocery stores

to survive, including Payless.

During the boom, many houses

were constructed, and farm land

began to disappear. Eventually,

Burt and Lou Vayne sold off most

of the family farm land.

Opened Arrington-McKay

Hardware

For awhile, Burt and John Ar-

rington went into business to-

gether by opening

Arrington-McKay Hardware on

Main Street. The store sold a little

bit of everything, including fishing

supplies.

“They didn’t have it very long,”

Lou Vayne said. Then Burt went

into business at a bowling alley lo-

cated where DeWees Tool and

Supply is now at 705 W. Main St.

It was the first bowling alley in

Farmington. Later he worked at

English Lanes, a bowling alley

where Urgent Care now sits. His

last job was at Ponca Wholesale

on Arrington Street.

After her kids were grown, Lou

Vayne took a job at Citizens Bank

as a PBX operator, answering the

phone on a switchboard. She

worked there for 12 years and was

employed there when Burt died of

heart trouble in 1971. He was only

61.

Farmington a ‘darling place’

Through her early years, Lou

Vayne remembers Farmington as a

“darling place.

Everybody knew everybody

else.”

She belonged to the Rebekahs

and organizations related to it.

She also belonged to the Daugh-

ters of the American Revolution.

She loved to play bridge, bowl,

square dance, and fish. She played

bridge and bowled until she was in

her mid-80s.

“My bowling average went

down to 119 when I lost my eye-

sight,” she said. “I got macular de-

generation in 1971.”

She doesn’t have any special

birthday plans except to stay alive

for the big event.

She has fond memories of rais-

ing a family in Farmington.

“We didn’t get rich,” she said,

“but we had enough money to pay

our bills. We had an interesting

life.”FALL 2014 | MAJESTIC LIVING | 38

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Farmington has its own version of the Ener-

gizer Bunny. She is small, cute and packed full

of non-stop energy.

Flo Trujillo has given her time and herself

since moving to Farmington in 1980. When she

arrived in the community, Trujillo brought with

her a Santa Rosa-attitude of hard work and

dedication to family, faith and community.

In Santa Rosa everyone is related through

either blood or the bonds of deep friendships.

Trujillo was the oldest of five siblings and she

set the example. She worked hard and was no

stranger to performing odd jobs cleaning

neighbors’ yards or simply offering a helping

hand.

“The smells of my youth were apples and

peaches and stuff you had to pull – chiles,”

she said lifting her shoulders and closing her

eyes as she smelled the air of the Farmington

Public Library in search of the memory.

Trujillo has worked for 25 years at the Farm-

ington Public Library, where she is the coordi-

nator of youth services. It is a job to which she

has dedicated a lifetime of service, and her

EmpowEring

Inspired by her high school librarian, Flo Trujillo pays it forward

Story by Debra Mayeux

YOUTHYOUTH


Photo by Tony Bennett

focus has been about educating and empower-

ing children.

Trujillo was no stranger to the field of edu-

cation when she accepted the position at the

Farmington Public Library. Her first foray in

teaching was in her eighth-grade school year.

“People talk about service learning,” Trujillo

said. “When I was in eighth grade, if one of the

(Catholic) nuns was sick, we would pair up, go

in the classroom and teach the class, following

the nun’s notes.”

As soon as Trujillo rooted herself in Farming-

ton, she focused on two things – joining the

Catholic Church and volunteering at her chil-

dren’s school – Ladera Elementary School. She

wanted to make a difference, and her philoso-

phy was that to meet good people and make

new friends, she would have to volunteer. Tru-

jillo began putting herself out there to work

for others.

Her first stop was St. Mary’s Catholic

Church. “I went over to the church and made

sure we were part of the congregation,” said

Trujillo, who began volunteering and became

involved with the youth group. She also taught

Catholic education classes to the children. For

many years, she served as the president of the

Legion of Mary, a Catholic lay organization,

founded in Ireland in 1921. Its members, all

volunteers, give service to the Catholic Church

throughout the world.

Trujillo also volunteered as a homeroom

mother at Ladera and helped schedule class

parties and provide assistance to the teachers

in whatever ways they needed. She also started

a McGruff Neighborhood Watch, and went

door-to-door collecting background check ap-

plications, which she hand delivered to the San

Juan County Sheriff’s Office.

“I’ve always had a lot of self-confidence,”

Trujillo said. “I’ve never been shy.”

How could she be shy? Growing up in Santa

Rosa, there were no strangers. “I come from a

hometown, where you walk around and say,

‘Hi,’ and wave,” Trujillo said. She brought this

same friendly attitude to Farmington, where she

was met with a similar congeniality.

Trujillo made fast friends in the community,

and her volunteering led to several opportuni-

ties. The first came at Apache Elementary

School. Trujillo was playing softball and heard

at the ballpark that Apache needed a librarian.

She walked into the school and was hired to

work out the school year there.

Trujillo inventoried the books and helped

the principal come up with a design for a new

library.

“I was inspired by a librarian in high school,”

Trujillo said, adding that librarian taught her

various library skills such as typing shelving

cards and categorizing books.

Trujillo in turn inspired children at Apache.

One young man who visited her in the Apache

library later came to work for her in the youth

services department at the Farmington Public Li-

brary. She didn’t remember him until he shared

with her about how much she meant to him. The

library had been a safe haven for him at the

school, and she allowed him to come in and help

shelve books. This young man continued working

with Trujillo until he graduated from college with

an engineering degree.

For Trujillo, stories such as this one demon-

strate how life comes full circle. She applied for

the job at the Farmington Public Library in 1989,

right after being named the Most Valuable Player

of the Carol May Softball Team in the city league.

Trujillo was the pitcher, and the team won the

city championship. Ironically it was Carol May

who interviewed Trujillo for the job and awarded

it to her.

Since that time, Trujillo has made a habit of

hiring teenagers who used to benefit from chil-

dren’s story time at the library.

“It’s so important to empower our youth and

give them an opportunity to run programs,” she

said.

Trujillo truly believes in working as a team and

said she could not get the job done without the

library staff’s assistance and support. “We congre-

gate. We get ideas and come together with best

practices. We all contribute to make it success-

ful.”

This is much like her upbringing, where every-

one worked together to better the community. “I

had a lot of good role models along the way. My

parents were the most important. We were poor

and we didn’t know it,” Trujillo said.

Another role model was author Rudolfo Anaya,

who caringly calls Trujillo: “Mi hermanita,” or “my

little sister.” Trujillo has read all of Anaya’s

books, which built upon her passion for historical

fiction. “The nuns instilled in us a love of histori-

cal fiction,” she said.

One of her all-time favorite books is The

Jumping Mouse by John Steptoe. In this book, a

little mouse gives up everything he has, including

his eyes, to help others. This outlines Trujillo’s at-

titude toward service to all including the children,

who visit the library. She wants to use her role at

the library to instill a love for good books in the


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children of the area. She does this through liter-

acy and storytelling programs. She also oversees

the library’s summer reading program.

The summer reading program has a long history

in Farmington. It goes back more than 20 years

and used to run out of the now-closed branch li-

brary in a small flat-roofed building off of Hutton

Street in Farmington.

The little library was packed full of books and

even was home to Ed the Cat, a stray that some-

one dropped off at the library. When the branch

library closed, after the construction of a new li-

brary on 20th Street, Trujillo retired Ed, and the

story made national headlines.

Trujillo, however, still made books available for

youth outside of the 20th Street facility. She

helped develop the Bayless Power Library at the

Farmington Boys and Girls Club. This grew out of

her volunteering at the club. The children asked

for a library, so she volunteered for one year to

set it up. The power library even received the

Annie E. Casey Award for family literacy. It was

one of only four awards in the nation.

Trujillo also supervises a branch library in

Shiprock.

Her purpose is to promote literacy along with

her co-workers and Library Director Karen

McPheeters, who said Trujillo works hard along

with the rest of the staff to allow for successes at

the library.

“Our staff is amazing. We all work together as

a great team,” Trujillo agreed.

She, however, has received statewide and na-

tional appointments to organizations that have

brought further recognition to the library. She

was the first librarian to be named an After-

School Ambassador through the After-School Al-

liance in 2009. She was one of 18 local leaders

from 15 states selected for the honor. She was to

run the after-school program, organize public

events, communicate with policy makers and con-

tinue to build support for after-school programs,

according to Jodi Grant, Afterschool Alliance ex-

ecutive director.

Trujillo received the nomination after express-

ing her concerns about providing quality after-

school programming to children. “It’s not just

about playing, it’s about enrichment,” she said.

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“Kids who cannot afford after-school pro-

grams can go to the library and hang out

there. We work with them when schools are

closed, when daycares are closed,” she said.

“In her work as an Afterschool Ambassador,

Flo brought energy and talent to the task of

spreading the word about the need to make

afterschool programs available to all families

that need them. … We are proud to have Flo

on our team,” Grant said of Trujillo’s nomina-

tion to serve with the program.

Through her work with the After-School Al-

liance, Trujillo was able to submit artwork from

San Juan County youth into the Torani Syrup

bottle design competitions. “We’ve won it

three years out of the past five years,” she

said.

This year, however, Trujillo submitted art-

work to the Lights On Afterschool poster con-

test, which was won by Ashley Parker, of

Farmington. “I’m over the moon about this,”

Trujillo said.

Another one of Trujillo’s passions is art. She

serves as president of the Northwest New Mex-

ico Arts Council. Founded in 1988, the North-

west New Mexico Arts Council’s mission has

been to establish a presence and strengthen

art in the community, by coordinating re-

sources and expanding opportunities for a

number of art organizations in the community.

Trujillo also supports youth artists and has

had an opportunity to showcase their skills in

the library’s Blended Zine, an art and literary

magazine published by youth in the region. It

was started by Jackson Koewler, Morgan

McPheeters and Jake Mayfield several years

ago and has received continued support from

the Farmington Public Library.

Trujillo has continued to draw from all of

her experiences, connections and friendships

made throughout the years in volunteering to

help promote the region’s youth by providing

programming, artistic and cultural outlets and

opportunities for enrichment.

“Volunteering is so important. That’s how I

made friends no matter where I was,” Trujillo

said. “Now I can draw from those organizations

for which I volunteered and find people, who

want to help out. How can someone say, ‘No,’

to our youth? Everyone wants to make a dif-

ference and help our youth.”

And that has been the force powering the

battery in Farmington’s Energizer Bunny – Flo

Trujillo.



There will be dancing for a world record,

pink gloves everywhere and a Cowboy

Soiree. And while it will all be fun and fun

for all, the benefactor of all the fun sched-

uled by the San Juan Medical Foun-

dation, San Juan County and Majestic

Media will be women with cancer.

The fourth annual Get Pinked San

Juan County campaign will be held in

October, which is Breast Cancer

Awareness Month. The local Get

Pinked campaign was the brainstorm

of former foundation director, Jane

Kolesnik, similar to an event held in Tulsa,

Okla., said Brenda Shepherd, Assistant Man-

ager for the San Juan Medical Foundation.

“They had a pink fire truck and a pink

police car that went to community events,”

Shepherd said of the Tulsa event. “After

Kolesnik talked to San Juan County (offi-

cials), they agreed to be the presenying

sponsor of our Get Pinked cam-

paign.”

When Don Vaughan, owner of Ma-

jestic Media, heard of the foun-

dation’s plan to raise money

with the Get Pinked campaign,

he contacted Kolesnik.

“Don wanted to celebrate the commu-

nity’s support of Majestic Media and he

wanted to do something really spectacular

for breast cancer, so he decided to do a

Get Pinked Gala,” Shepherd said.

Vaughan had personal knowledge of the

challenges breast cancer patients endure. “I

realized when we went through it, that there

wasn’t a lot of local support programs avail-

able,” he said. “There were no organizations

or support systems in place. They were all

regional or national programs.”

As he did his research, Vaughan also dis-

covered that when people participate in

most national campaigns, the money raised

by the community doesn’t stay in the com-

munity.

“There is nothing to sustain or support

local programs,” Vaughan said of national

fundraising campaigns. “I wanted to be part

Get Your

OnSan Juan County comes together to raise funds to fight cancer

Story by Dorothy Nobis

of a fundraiser that kept all of the money

in our community to support our commu-

nity.”

The first year, the Get Pinked committee

got area schools and businesses involved

and the pink “splats” that were sold to

promote the event were found everywhere.

That successful first campaign raised

$160,000, all of which went to the Cathy

Lincoln Memorial Cancer Fund. Cathy Lin-

coln was a nurse at San Juan Regional Med-

ical Center when she was diagnosed with

breast cancer at the age of 39. Lincoln

continued working with patients during her

treatment and discovered many women with

breast cancer did not have the funds for

medical treatment.

After Lincoln passed, her family, friends

and co-workers honored Lincoln by estab-

lishing a fund in her memory to help other

women fighting the battle with cancer. In

October 2001, the Cathy Lincoln Memo-

rial Cancer Fund was established, ensuring

women who are underinsured or not in-

sured at all, can receive the treatment they

need.

Jamie Lujan, Cathy Lincoln’s daughter, is

the chairman of the Get Pinked committee.

“Jamie is at every event, every meeting and



is committed to helping women with breast

cancer,” Shepherd said. “She’s a huge driving

force for us to help those women.”

This year, the Get Pinked campaign will

have a kickoff rally, said Latisha Joseph, the

executive assistant for the foundation. The rally

will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. October 4 at

McGee Park.

Local 4-H Clubs will provide food for sale

and people from throughout the county are

encouraged to attend, to participate in a

Gangnam style dance which the committee

hopes will put Get Pinked San Juan County in

the Guinness Book of World Records. At least

1,000 people are needed to dance in order

to compete for the record. Vendor booths will

also be available, Joseph said.

The support from the community for the

event has been overwhelming, Joseph added.

“A diversity of business activities have come

out of it (the event),” she said. “People and

businesses want to be involved and really want

to help women battling breast cancer.”

A Pink Gloved Dance has been produced

and submitted to the national organization,

and Shepherd and Joseph hope San Juan

County will win the contest, which awards the

winner with money for the charity of its choice

– in this case, the Cathy Lincoln Memorial

Cancer Fund. The video will be available to

view online and the committee encourages lo-

cals to vote for San Juan County. The highest

vote getter receives the money.

“The first year we did the video, San Juan

County came in eighth in the nation,” Shep-

herd said proudly.

In addition to the rally and the video con-

test, the Breast Cancer Awareness Luncheon

and Style Show and the Cowboy Soiree will

cap off the month of events. The soiree will

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be October 25 and will feature a live auction

and a band for dancing.

“In the past, Quality Appliance has donated

a pink refrigerator filled with pink champagne,”

Shepherd said. “We have art from local artists

and our jewelry stores always donate beautiful

jewelry.”

Tickets to the soiree are $250 a couple and

are limited to 300 people. Proceeds from the

gala also go to the Cathy Lincoln Memorial

Cancer Fund.

A 2015 calendar featuring breast cancer sur-

vivors will also be for sale during the month of

October. Shepherd said the calendar is a proj-

ect of Bree Gonzales, Faith Photography. Gon-

zales took photos of breast cancer survivors in

the Bisti Wilderness area, which made for beau-

tiful photos.

Arrowhead Propane will use its pink propane

truck throughout the month of October again

this year. “When my partner, Kent Misemer, and

I started our business people were really good

to us and we did well,” said Jake Cluff of Ar-

rowhead. “Our trucks are out all the time and

we wanted to give back to the community for its

support. We talked to the Medical Foundation

about the Cathy Lincoln Memorial Cancer Fund.

We know that cancer affects everyone and every

family.”

Cluff and Misemer had a truck that needed

painting, so they decided to paint the truck

pink and give a donation to the Cathy Lincoln

fund. “We thought we might get 200 more cus-

tomers because of the truck and the dona-

tions,” Cluff said, “but we got over 600.

People call us and ask for the pink truck to de-

liver.”


“People and businesses want to be involved and really

want to help women battlingbreast cancer”

— Latisha Josephexecutive assistant

San Juan Medical Foundation

When Laura Huish went to a birthday party fora friend of her sister-in-law, she had no idea howthat party would change her life.

The birthday girl was celebrating her 54thbirthday, but was also going through treatmentfor breast cancer. “I looked at her and she wasso strong,” Huish said. “Cancer wasn’t bringingher down.”

Huish asked her sister-in-law, Carla Wade, howher friend discovered she had breast cancer.“Carla said her friend thought her breast lookdifferent,” Huish said. While Huish had alwaysbeen in good health, she went into the bathroomto look at her own breasts. “My right breastlooked different from my left,” she said.

When Huish had a breast reduction when shewas 25, her doctor told her she’d never have toworry about breast cancer. Unfortunately, herdoctor was wrong.

Huish, like most women, was busy with a joband a family. It was almost a month from whenshe first noticed the change in her breast beforeHuish made an appointment for a mammogram.“The mammogram showed something on mybreast and the doctor said I needed a biopsy.”“I argued with the radiologist that there could-

n’tbe anything there -- I have a life, two kids, ajob.” Five minutes after walking out of radiology,Huish’s regular doctor called to say he hadscheduled an appointment to meet with a sur-geon the next morning.

Still resisting the idea she might have cancerand not wanting to worry anyone, Huish told herhusband, Bobby, “no” when he asked to go withher to meet with the surgeon. After meeting withthe surgeon on October 24, a biopsy was sched-uled for the next day.

On October 25, Huish went forward withher regular family routine, just as if she weregoing to work, so her two young sons wouldn’tbe concerned.

When the biopsy was completed, Huishlearned the medical team had removed a tumorthe size of a golf ball from her breast. She hadan appointment the following afternoon and, re-alizing it would be a long night for her and herhusband, Huish let the boys spend the night withtheir grandparents, explaining the week nighttreat was because she wasn’t feeling well. “WhenBobby and I went to the doctor, she walked inand said I had breast cancer and it’s aggressive,”Huish said. “I can still hear Bobby’s head hit the

wall when he heard the news.” Because Huish’sbreast cancer was aggressive, a decision had tobe made right away about what to do. “I askedthe doctor if I would survive, and she said thatwith surgery and treatment, I had a good chanceof survival.” “When the doctor left the room, Ithought ‘I have to be like Carla’s friend. I haveto be strong and I have to live,’” Huish said.

Huish had a double mastectomy and recon-structive surgery two weeks later. The CT scanprior to the surgery proved to be another chal-lenge. “The scan showed two spots and theythought I might have bone cancer,” she said. Abone scan was scheduled and on her way to thehospital, Huish said “I put on my Christian musicand I screamed and I cried, begging God foreverything to be OK.”

Fortunately, the tests showed no additionalcancer. “The tech who walked me out after thescan asked what I was there for. When I ex-plained I had been diagnosed with breast cancerand I was there to find out if it had alreadyspread to my bones. She pointed her finger tothe sky and said, ‘You have to trust in Him. If youtrust in Him, everything will be OK.’ I have never


Staying

STRONG

Story Dorothy Nobis Photos Josh Bishop

Great support system helps Laura Huish win breast cancer battle

* Huish 55

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Traci HalesVass’ journey to San Juan College,

where she is the assistant professor of English, was

not an easy one.

At 17 years of age, HalesVass’ mother died,

leaving the teen with a huge void in her heart and

in her life. Dealing with her mother’s death wasn’t

easy, HalesVass said.

“I dropped out of high school and ran away

with a rock and roll musician,” she said with a rue-

ful shake of her head. “It seemed like the right

thing to do at the time.”

The rock and roll musician’s career didn’t

materialize and he eventually left HalesVass – and

the two young children he fathered. “There I was, a

single mother, and I was a house painter, did retail

and a little office work. I did what I could to

support my children.”

HalesVass’ daughter, Mandi, was 4 and her son,

Paul, was 8 when their father left. There was little

communication between HalesVass and her ex-hus-

band in the years that followed. However, “The

courts helped us stay in touch,” she said with a smile.

She was 35 years old when she met and fell in

love with another man. “I was working part time at

an automotive place, and my car broke down,”

she remembered. “A friend took me to her

brother-in-law’s home and I had on a cute pair of

cowboy boots. Patrick asked if I had any spurs,”

and a relationship was begun.

The couple married, blending Patrick’s son with

HalesVass’ son and daughter, and life was good.

“Patrick kept telling me to go back to school,”

HalesVass said. “At the age of 37, I did. I started at

a community college and I fell in love with

academics and the whole learning experience.”

With her GED certification and her associate

degree earned, HalesVass said she thought she

might enter the medical field. “I really wanted to

write and I had written all my life, but I didn’t look

at writing as a ‘real’ job,” she said.

Instead, HalesVass majored in English and earned

her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. In 1998, the

HalesVass family moved to Farmington and she went

to work for San Juan College, where she remained

until 2002.

It was then that HalesVass decided what she re-

ally wanted to do was to teach writing, so she and

the family moved to Boulder, Colo., where she en-

rolled in Naropa University’s Jack Kerouac School of

Story by Dorothy Nobis | Photos by Whitney Howle

A life

filled with

leArningEach semester Traci HalesVass meets

a classroom full of new friends

One Book, One Community’s choice for this year is The Distance

Between Us. Author Reyna Grande will discuss her book at 7 p.m. on

Wednesday Oct. 29 at the Henderson Fine Arts Center at San Juan

College and will be available to sign books immediately after.

Grande is an award-winning novelist and memoirist. She has re-

ceived an American Book Award, the El Premio Aztlán Literary Award,

and the Latino Book Award. In 2012, she was a finalist for the presti-

gious National Book Critics Circle Awards. Her works have been pub-

lished internationally in countries such as Norway and South Korea.

Her novels, Across a Hundred Mountains, (Atria, 2006) and

Dancing with Butterflies (Washington Square Press, 2009) were

published to critical acclaim and have been read widely in schools

across the country. Her latest book, The Distance Between Us, was

published in August 2012, by Atria Books, an imprint of Simon &

Schuster. In this memoir, Grande writes about her life before and

after illegally emigrating from Mexico to the United States. A National

Book Circle Critics Award finalist, The Distance Between Us is an

inspirational growing-up story about the pursuit of a better life.

The Los Angeles Times hailed it as ‘the Angela’s Ashes of the modern

Mexican immigrant experience.”

Born in Mexico, Grande was 2 years old when her father left for

the U.S. to find work. Her mother followed her father north two

years later, leaving Grande and her siblings behind in Mexico.

In 1985, when Grande was going on 10, she entered the U.S. as an

undocumented immigrant. She later went on to become the first

person in her family to graduate from college.

After attending Pasadena (Calif.) City College for two years,

Grande obtained a B.A. in creative writing and film and video from

the University of California, Santa Cruz. She later received her M.F.A.

in creative writing from Antioch University. Now, in addition to being

a published author, she is also an active promoter of Latino literature

and is a sought-after speaker at high schools, colleges, and

universities across the nation.

Currently Grande teaches creative writing at UCLA Extension and

is at work on her next novel.

One Book, One Communityauthor visits in October

Disembodied Politics. It was there that HalesVassearned her master’s of fine arts degree.

Once again looking for work, HalesVassfound a job opening at San Juan College and, in2007, the family returned to Farmington. “Imissed this college and realized what a goodschool it was and how much I liked New Mex-ico,” she explained. “There’s a lot of cama-raderie here and a lot of support for each otherand a lot of opportunities here. It was at a com-munity college where I caught the academicfever and the relationship between student andteacher.”

In 2008, HalesVass started the One BookOne Community program, aided with a Distin-guished Scholar Grant. In 2012, Dr. Toni Hop-per Pendergrass was named president of SanJuan College and HalesVass arranged for a meet-ing to discuss her project.

“Dr. Pendergrass institutionalized the pro-gram, making it part of the curriculum, and sincethen I’ve seen some amazing things happen topeople,” HalesVass said. “No matter what bookwe choose, the book takes on a life of its own.”

For Pendergrass, supporting the One Book

One Community program was a no-brainer.“San Juan College is proud of the One Book

One Community initiative,” Pendergrass said.“Sharing One Book One Community fosters re-lationships among students and college employ-ees, improves retention rates and enhancesoverall student success.”

The One Book One Community committeeselects one book each year for students, facultyand the community to purchase and enjoy. Theselection process invites everyone to make sug-gestions for books, although the committeemakes the final choice. The book should bethought provoking, appeal to a diverse popula-tion, and encourage discussion and independentthinking.

While many of her students are young,HalesVass also teaches Encore classes at San JuanCollege. Encore offers classes designed for stu-dents 50 years and older but is open to stu-dents 18 and older. “Encore has writingworkshops where people write and critique eachother’s work,” she said. “I love that class. It is somuch fun. I can’t believe I’m getting paid to dothis – a group of us seniors get together as a


core group. It’s great Saturday morning fun.”While enjoying teaching and helping students

explore new horizons and discover new interests,HalesVass remains a student herself.

“Five years ago, I took piano lessons,” she

said, adding it was something she’d wanted todo for a long time. In addition, HalesVass is tak-ing a math class this fall. “I want to make sureI’ve got all parts of my brain working,” she saidwith a laugh. Whether it’s reading or writing,

HalesVass loves the work. “Everybody has astory,” she said. “I love teaching because I learnso much from these people. Every semester, I gointo class and meet a whole new group offriends. We can never, ever stop learning.”


Huish continued from 50

forgotten her words. I believe God puts peoplein your life at just the right time for different rea-sons, and that day she was my angel sent straightfrom Heaven.”

With the mastectomy and reconstruction be-hind her, Huish knew her battle with cancer wasnot yet won. There would be chemotherapy, theloss of her hair and the after effects of the treat-ment. Huish was determined to keep life as nor-mal as possible for the sake of her sons, Bradleyand Joshua.

“We had a family picture taken before I lostmy hair,” Huish said. “The day after my secondtreatment, my hair started to fall out. I cried andcalled my hairdresser. He shaved my head for methat night. My sisters came for the head shavingand afterwards announced that I looked like mydad, my cousin, and my uncle – all in one. I re-ally didn’t want to look like a man!”

Two wigs helped with the hair loss and Huishcontinued to work throughout her treatment.

“It was important for me to be at work,” shesaid of her job as a secretary at Bluffview Ele-mentary School. “If I was at work the boys sawme there and knew I was OK.”

Her hair grew back, her treatments were suc-cessful and Huish decided to go back to school.“I had a legal assistant’s degree, but I wantedmore. I started with Western Governors Universityin January of 2009 and worked full time whiletaking classes online. My last chemo treatmentwas the same day as my first WGU test.” Shegraduated and now a teaches at Northeast Ele-mentary School.

For Bobby Huish, watching his wife go throughthe treatment for breast cancer was difficult.“When the doctor told us Laura had breast can-cer, I was dumbfounded,” Bobby said.

“I didn’t know what to say and that’s the firsttime I’ve been left without words in my life.”

When Bobby and Laura drove to his parents’house to pick up the boys, it was an emotionalride, with few words. “The hardest thing is tellingan eight-year-old and a five-year-old theirmother has cancer,” Bobby said, his eyes tearing

at the memory. “Josh (the then five-year-old) said‘Mom, are you going to lose your hair?’ Laurasaid yes. Bradley (the older son) said ‘Mom, areyou going to die?” And Laura said no.”

Bobby knew the treatment was hard for hiswife, but she never shared that with her family.“She’s tough,” he said of Laura. “She workedMonday and Tuesday, had the chemo onWednesday, and went back to work Thursday andFriday. Then she’d sleep all day Saturday andSunday.”

The hardest part of the treatment for Bobbywas not being able to do anything to ease thepain of treatment. “I hated not being as tough asshe was,” he said. “If I had the ambition, thedrive and the desire as Laura does, I’d be doinggood. She raised two kids and a husband,worked full time and went to college full time.And she said the biggest reason she decided togo to college was to keep her mind off dying.”

Bobby said he never thought his wife woulddie. “Not Laura,” he said. “She had such a desireto live for those kids.”

Bobby reminds everyone that breast cancerdoesn’t affect just women. “My neighbor askedabout Laura and when I told him she had breastcancer, he said his brother died from breast can-cer. Breast cancer doesn’t discriminate.”

On October 26, 2014, Huish will have sevenyears of being cancer free. “You never forget theday you’re diagnosed with cancer. It’s called ‘Sur-vivor’s Day,’ because the day you’re diagnosed isthe day you start surviving. I had to survive be-cause I needed to be here to watch my kidsgrow up.”

The fear of the cancer returning is alwaysthere Huish said.

But, as is typical of Huish, she takes strengthfrom her family and has always kept her sense ofhumor. “I remember I had no eyelashes and noeyebrows,” she said with a laugh remembering.“But I put mascara on the one eyelash I hadleft!”

Going through cancer is never easy, but Huishhas some advice – to patients and their family

and friends. “My advice to patients is to staystrong,” she said. “My advice to friends is to stayin touch and offer support in helping with what-ever the patient might need. Chemotherapy isvery draining and the energy it takes to cook ameal just isn’t there. I had a wonderful supportsystem of friends and family who brought myfamily dinner three times a week for four months.Just remember to give the patient some girlfriendtime, too. It can be a lonely time for patientswhen everyone gets back to their own daily rou-tines.”

Staying positive, knowing the treatment willeventually end, and taking good care of yourselfis advice Huish offers. And a support system alsohelps.

“Not wanting to scare my family and friends, Itried to remain calm on the outside, but on theinside, I was freaking out that I had cancer,”Huish said. “The only person I’d ever known whohad cancer was Cathy Lincoln, and she hadpassed away from it. My mother and Cathy weresorority sisters and they were good friends. Ibabysat Jamie and Justin (Lincoln’s children) whenthey were little.”

It is because of Cathy Lincoln, the countlesswomen who have had breast cancer and for thecountless others who will fight that battle in thefuture – and because she has fought that battleand won -- that Huish supports those who arestruggling to get through the treatment and thecure.

“When Laura was diagnosed with breast can-cer, friends would ask what they could do,” saidBobby Huish. “I always said ‘get a mammogram.’Mammograms don’t detect everything, butthey’re the best place to start.”

“It is for Cathy, it is for me, and it is for everywoman who is diagnosed with breast cancer thatI support and participate in the Get Pinked cam-paign,” Laura Huish said. “Keeping that money inour community, to help our own, is an importantpart of the battle. We can survive and we willsurvive, but we need help – financially, emotion-ally and physically.”

Sisters in life & learning

Carol Hatfield

Ann Gattis

From the time she was a pre-teen, Carol

Hatfield knew she wanted to be a teacher.

She lived a block away from McCoy Ele-

mentary School in Aztec and, when she was 11

or 12 noticed a teacher conducting a summer

school program at the school.

“I was looking for something to do, so I

talked her into letting me be her helper,”

Carol recalls. “From that point on I knew I

wanted to be in a classroom teaching chil-

dren.”

An Aztec resident since she was 5 months

old, Carol graduated from Aztec High School

and San Juan College before completing her

degree in elementary education and early

childhood in 1980 from New Mexico State

University in Las Cruces. She immediately ap-

plied for work in the Aztec schools.

“I always knew that’s where I wanted to

be,” she said. “Aztec always had a great repu-

tation, and continues to, as one of the best

districts.”

That summer she was hired as a kinder-

garten teacher at McCoy, and she’s taught

kindergarten there for the last 34 years. Sev-

eral years ago, she also welcomed pre-first

graders into her classroom. She retired this

May.

“Carol is great,” said Bryan Sanders, her

principal for the last five years. “She loved the

kids. She was dedicated to them. You could

tell that it never got old for her. She was as

good at the end as she was throughout the

years. She was a great teacher. She’ll be

missed.”

Though Carol was always interested in hav-

ing kids learn, she was more interested in

making them feel valued, safe and important

at school.

“Every child in my class was important to

me,” she said. “It’s so wonderful to be able to

love them, because when they feel that sense

of love and security, they can learn anything.

That was my job, to make sure that they loved

school.”

As the middle child of parents who owned

a successful restaurant in Aztec, Carol always

felt loved, so it came naturally to love her stu-

dents as well.

Her parents, Louis and Helen Fayad (pro-

nounced Faye’ ed), moved to Aztec from

Alamosa, Colorado, in October 1957 five

months after Carol was born. They opened

Hills Café in Aztec, where Wendy’s now sits.

The construction of the new highway going

by the café made it difficult for customers to

reach the restaurant, so they closed the business

30 years of science & leadershipAnn Gattis’ dedication to education has changed many lives

When Ann Gattis made biology her major and chemistry her minor in

college, her father hoped his daughter would become a doctor.

While Gattis loved science as a child, her days were spent in a make-

believe classroom, teaching make-believe students. So when she picked

up some education classes in college and did her student teaching, she

knew she had found the perfect career path.

“Once I did my student teaching, I knew that teaching was what I

was meant to do,” Gattis said. In 1978, Gattis was a teacher at Bloom-

field High School, but when she became pregnant, she took time off to

raise a family.

“In 1986, a friend called from Tibbetts (Middle School) and said

there was a job open – and it was just 10 days before school started,”

Gattis remembered. With her children now in school, Gattis jumped at

the chance to return to school herself.

It was that year, too, that Gattis started the science fair at Tibbetts,

and it was also that year that she understood the importance – and the

complexities – of hosting such a fair.

“That first year, the regional fair was held in Grants,” Gattis said. “I

took seven students and we didn’t win a thing. I was devastated and

knew I had to fix it.”

She went to training and realized what a difficult process it was.

“Kids need a lot of assistance and time,” Gattis said of preparing for a

science fair. “They need help and I spent a lot of time with them after

school. I had my own kids with me after school and the junior high

school kids took turns babysitting while I helped the others,” she

added with a laugh.

From October until the fair was held in January, Gattis worked with

her students and helped them prepare. Her commitment and dedication

to the students and the science fair increased student participation in

the fair. “We went from seven students participating to almost 200, in

seven years,” she said proudly.

After spending several years as the assistant principal at Tibbetts,

Gattis took a teaching position at Farmington High School. “It was fun

for me because I had the kids who had been (involved) with the science

fair at Tibbetts,” she said. “We did some fine tuning and made sophisti-

cated projects that got the students exhibit spots at the International

‘Best job you could ever have’After 35 years Carol Hatfield urges people to become teachers

Story Dorothy Nobis | Photos Josh Bishop

Story Margaret Cheasbro | Photos Josh Bishop


and looked for different work. Her father foundvarious jobs in Farmington before buyingarestaurant on Aztec Boulevard in the 1960s. Hecalled it the Flamingo. It was only a block fromtheir home on Maddox Street. They continuedto operate the restaurant until they retired in1985.

“Dad did the buying, cooking and foodpreparation,” Carol said. “Mom cooked as well,and helped him in the kitchen. We had somewaitresses, my sister, Ann (Gattis), and I beingtwo of the most faithful ones.”

Louis and Helen spoke fluent Arabic. ThoughHelen was born in Colorado and Louis inCanada, their parents originally came fromLebanon. Carol, Ann and their brother onlypicked up a few words of Arabic.

“When we were young, we knew somethingwas going on when the Arabic came out,” Carolsaid with a grin.

The Fayads were known for their kindness.Homeless people or travelers down on theirluck found help at the Flamingo.

“There were times when my dad fed peoplewho had no money,” Carol recalls. “He didn’tknow we were watching, but many times we

watched him feed people and feed their ani-mals. If he had to cook it and package it andsend it on with them, he made sure they andtheir dog had a meal. He was a great man.”

Helen stayed at home with her children whenthey were young, but when they got oldenough, they sometimes accompanied her to therestaurant.

“Our house was just a block away, so youcould look over and see the restaurant,” Carolsaid. “Within a couple of minutes you could beback at the house. When we got a little older,we had the freedom to come and go. Thingswere a lot safer then.”

Though Carol was good at waitressing, shenever lost her desire to become a teacher. Sheloved her years at McCoy Elementary School.

For many years, students knew her as CarolFayad. It wasn’t until 1995 when she was 38that she married Warren Hatfield.

“It was always kind of a joke, a Hatfieldworking at McCoy,” said Carol.

She’s seen many education initiatives comeand go, the most recent one called CommonCore in which kindergarteners receive a reportcard every nine weeks.

“On that report card were three solid pagesof skills the children had to master,” Carol said.“It was such fine print that you’d better get yourglasses on because there were 111 standardsthese kids need to learn in one school year,which is 180 days.”

Though kindergarten was once a place wherechildren learned how to socialize and followbasic rules, now they are expected to read,write a simple story and do simple math by theend of the school year, she said. “A lot of chil-dren just aren’t ready for the prescribed cur-riculum that we have set for them when theycome to school. We’re really pushing, pushing,pushing them.”

In spite of the pressure, teachers at McCoyalways made sure that kids had good learningexperiences, she said. “In our school there werea bunch of happy kids learning, feeling success-ful and safe. We never forgot what was right andgood for them.”

Leia (Schnarch) Meryt of Loveland, Colorado,who taught with Carol at McCoy for eight years,remarked, “Carol is absolutely dedicated to herprofession, to the children and their families.She cared what their lives were about and how

Science Fair. We took 24 students to the International

Science Fair in 10 years.”

Gattis’s work with the students did not go unno-

ticed. In 1999, she was named the Outstanding Biol-

ogy Teacher in New Mexico. That same year, she was

one of five science fair sponsors recognized by the

International Science Fair at its 50-year celebration.

“Collecting that award in front of 10,000 people

was wonderful,” she said.

In 2000, Gattis was honored once again as one

of five teachers from the United States invited to take

students to Singapore for a science symposium.

Anthony Smagacz was hired by the Farmington Mu-

nicipal School District in 2001 as the principal of

Tibbetts Middle School. “I often heard Ann’s name

circulating around the district in connection to the

FMS District Science Curriculum Standards and Sci-

ence Fair, Smagacz said. “At that time, Ann was the

chair of the science department at Farmington High

and coordinator of the district and county science

fair, as well as a judge of the National Science Fair.”

“As I got to know Ann, like most people who

know her, I realized that she was an incredibly bright

and talented science instructor,” Smagacz added.

“Her passion for teaching year after year did not

wane. In her years at Tibbetts, Ann quickly developed

a love for school leadership as well as the trust and

respect of her colleagues. Ann moved to Piedra Vista

High School, where she established herself and her

school as one of the top seven schools in the state of

New Mexico, as reported by U.S. News & World Re-

port.”

Gattis served as principal at Piedra Vista for eight

years. “I wanted the challenge to lead a school and I

love high school age kids. I love their energy and

their enthusiasm, and Piedra Vista was fairly new and I

knew it would be a great opportunity to make a dif-

ference in a new school.”

And make a difference, Gattis did. “We won a lot

of awards,” she said. “In 2011, we were recognized

nationally as an outstanding high school for student

achievement. In 2012, we were one of the top public

high schools in New Mexico.”

Gail Silva has known Gattis for 17 years. “When I

started teaching science at Hermosa Middle School 17

years ago, Ann was still teaching at Farmington High

and was the District Science Fair Coordinator,” Silva

recalled. “I remember going to her science fair work-

shop for the first time and thinking, ‘Wow, that lady is

a science teaching goddess. If I want to be good at

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it affected their learning. She really listened to eachchild. She had unique and varied ways of teaching toaccommodate each child’s needs no matter whattheir learning style or ability.”

Riley Roland, who was once her principal atMcCoy, remembers Carol was willing to try newthings, and kept up with changes in teaching methodsand the curriculum.

“She always was well liked by the parents and thestudents,” he said. “She was a very good employee.I’m sad she’s retiring because she did such a greatjob. She had so much expertise and compassion. Shemade students enjoy learning.”

Carol never had children of her own, but she’sbeen a doting aunt to her sister’s two children andher brother’s three. “I feel like my life has alwaysbeen filled with children,” she said.

Now that both she and Warren are retired, theyplan to travel and spend time enjoying their acreagealong the Animas River near Aztec.

She’s never far from the children she taught overthe years. She sees them in stores and restaurants.When one of her students graduated from highschool, she found Carol on the Internet and emailedher a note of thanks. She was only in Carol’s kinder-garten class from Feb. 14 to the end of the year, butshe remembered those months with fondness.

“She came to meet me the day before her parentswere going to start her in school,” Carol recalled. “Ibrought her in, we got her Valentine’s cards. Therewas something about when we met that very first dayof school that remained one of her favorite memo-ries. You never know how much it means to them,just the little things.”

Another student who was graduating with honorsinvited her to a banquet for honor graduates.

“They could invite one teacher who made an im-pression on them or who they wanted to share theexperience with,” she recalled. “He picked me. Itmeant everything to me.”

She’s invited to former students’ weddings, andthey send her birth announcements.

“All Carol ever wanted to do was teach,” saidMickey Covel, who was her college roommate andtaught kindergarten in Farmington until she retired.“She didn’t like leaving her kids with anybody else.For several years she got perfect attendance awardsbecause she would never leave her kids. They alwayscame first.” In spite of increasing challenges in edu-cation, Carol encourages people who want to be-come teachers.

“I tell them to follow their heart, because teachingwill be the best job they’ll ever have,” she said. “Thereward in it is unbelievable.


my job, I should find out what she does bestand follow it.’”

While admitting she was somewhat intimi-dated by Gattis, Silva said, “Ann truly was thebest of the best in the classroom and at men-toring students and teachers through the sciencefair process. She has a wall of awards and stu-dents that went on to successful science fairs toprove it.”

Silva’s relationship with Gattis continuedwhen she was transferred from Hermosa MiddleSchool to Piedra Vista High School seven yearsago. “Ann was the principal. Before that, Ihadn’t worked one-on-one with her,” Silva said.“She had the reputation to be a very supportiveprincipal who had high expectations of her staff.From the very first day, this proved to be true.”

“In her years of being an administrator, shenever lost sight of what it is like to be a class-room teacher,” Silva said of Gattis. “I always feltsupported and encouraged by her to try newideas and to go above and beyond for my stu-dents. That was the example that she had set forus when she was a teacher and continued tofoster it as an administrator.”

Dave Golden, the new principal at Piedra

Vista High School, knew Gattis when she was ateacher in the Bloomfield School District. “Littledid she know her dedication to educating stu-dents would have such an impact on the sciencecommunity,” Golden said. “She has truly im-pacted students, parents, teachers and commu-nity members, not only as a leader in scienceeducation, but as a school administrator aswell.”

“During her eight years as principal (ofPiedra Vista), I felt very fortunate to receiveguidance and mentorship from an educationalleader who followed her calling as a scientist,teacher and leader. She had a profound impacton students, teachers, parents and administratorsthroughout her career,” Golden added.

Gattis retired from the Farmington MunicipalSchool District and as principal of Piedra VistaHigh School this year. “It was a wonderful run,”Gattis said of her career as a teacher and ad-ministrator. “My goal was to excel in every areaand I had a wonderful staff that followed wher-ever I led.”

After 30 years in the classroom and schooladministrative offices, Gattis is enjoying her re-tirement. “Many of those days (in education) I’d

consider myself late to work if I wasn’t there by7 a.m.,” she said with a shake of her head. “I’dgo to the end of the school day, and then havemeetings and I’d go to all the activities on cam-pus until 9 or 10 at night, four days a week. Itwas a tough schedule.”

While her administrative team at Piedra Vistawanted her to stay and the decision to retirewas not an easy one, Gattis said she felt it wastime.

“I was tired and it was taking its toll on mephysically,” Gattis said of the job. “And changeis good. It’s time for new ideas and a way ofdoing things. It was time for someone else totake over.”

Still young in age, spirit and enthusiasm, Gat-tis is looking at other ways to be involved in ed-ucation, the career she chose and the one sheloves. “I emailed the science teacher and askedif I could help with the science fair,” she admit-ted. “I will miss the students and interacting withthem on a regular basis.”

While she has enjoyed being an educator andan administrator, Gattis said school teachers areunder more stress today that when she enteredthe field 30 years ago. Teachers today must not

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2014october


only teach, but are asked to become more involvedwith the families of the students.

“There have been major changes in education in30 years,” Gattis said, “and they’re not all good.We try to control too many things outside of theclassroom that are beyond our control. We can onlydo what we can do in the nine months we have thestudents.”

“Teachers spend a huge amount of time afterschool and on weekends, and they’re being con-sumed by the work and have a lot of extra work ontheir plate,” she added. The ever-increasing de-mands on teachers to ensure each student succeedslikely will cause a shortage of good teachers, Gattisbelieves.

“I see the standardization of curriculum becom-ing the norm,” Gattis said. “It’s not going away.More expectations will be placed on teachers andthey’ll be asked to do home visits and becomemore involved in the families.”

Gattis hopes the future of education includes of-fering students who don’t want to go to college theopportunity to take classes that will prepare themfor the workforce. “Now, we treat kids like they’reall going to college and that’s not going to happen.We have to keep kids interested in school, and tomotivate those kids. We need to give them the skillsthey need to get the jobs they want.”

Gattis’ personal goals, at least for now, includespending more time with her own family, to enjoygardening, reading and traveling.

“In the years I worked with Ann at Piedra Vista,the mentor/mentee relationship we had beforegrew into a very valued friendship,” Gail Silva said.“She is a kind a gracious lady who loves a goodlaugh. We will miss working with her each day, butwe know she is always there.”

MLaround

town Navajo Preparatory School Athletic Director Mike Tillman works on plans for the school’s 4-Person ScrambleGolf Tournament. The tournament will be Saturday, Sept. 27, and proceeds will go to the school’s academicand athletic programs. For more information call Tillman at 505.215.3102 or Piñon Hills Golf Course at505.326.6066.

Ken Griffey Jr. returned to Farming-ton for the 50th anniversary ConnieMack World Serices. Opening cere-monies included Griffey, BarryLarkin, Tony Muser and Larry Har-low being inducted into the Hall ofFame. Griffey gave a message tothe players encouraging them tovalue their time at the tournamentand to use it as a stepping stone toget them to the next phase of theirplaying careers.

Advantage Dodge, Chrysler Jeep hosted a Community Sale and Charity Eventin August. As a result of the sale, Steve Melloy, Advantage dealer principal,presented a $5,000 check to the Farmington Boys and Girls Club on Aug. 13.Pictured from left are Shannon Lewis, Benedikte Whitman, Steve Melloy, LindaLawson, Jesus Esparza, and Johnnie Harris.

Animas Valley Insurance, MajesticMedia, Wendy’s, Qdoba, High CountryAuto Group, Sandia Hearing Aids,Farmington Civic Center, ImageNetConsulting, KOFB Channel 12 in Farm-ington, KWYK 94.9 – Quick Radio, andthe Special Olympics hosted the Au-gust Chamber of Commerce BusinessAfter Hours on Aug. 21 at LionsWilderness Park Amphitheater. Thetheme was Wild Wild West. At right,Emily Oakes finds the perfect WildWest buddy to hang out with at theevent.


MLCoolest Things

It’s that time of year when we wonder

not only how the year could have gone

by so fast, but also what the heck are

we going to get friends and family this

holiday season. Here are some

pre-holiday shopping ideas to mull

over before the big shopping wave hits.

Pre-shopping ideas

EVERYTHING OLD

IS NEW AGAIN

The Indian returns

www.indianmotorcycle.com

Even though it ceased production in

1949, the Indian Scout continues to be

one of the most coveted bikes among

motorcycle enthusiasts. Simply put, it’s a

true classic, which is why it’s no surprise

that Polaris’ recent revival of the Indian

Motorcycles brand will include the 2015

Indian Scout, reintroducing the model to

an entirely new generation of riders.

Billed as a “contemporary yet classic

interpretation” of the famous cruiser bike,

it is, easily, the coolest addition to the

brand’s new five-model lineup.

Starting MSRP of $10,999

1ULTIMATE

REPURPOSING

Drum furniture

www.drumworksfurniture.com

It is tough imagining industrial steel

barrel drums being re-purposed into

snazzy-looking home furniture. Yet, that’s

exactly what DrumWorks Furniture

manages to accomplish with their exist-

ing collection.

Each piece is sourced from an independ-

ent supplier that recycles steel drums for

various industrial uses.

DrumWorks Furniture’s chairs retail

at an average of $560.

2HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT

Satchel and tactical wall shelves

www.hiddenstorage.com and

www.tacticalwalls.com

At first glance, they just look like regular

mounted shelves with some extra

reinforcement at the bottom. But they

aren’t. Instead, the bottom unit actually

folds out to reveal a concealed compart-

ment that can hold items, including many

without anyone knowing.

Each shelf comes with customizable foam

pad for organizing your accessories, so

you can arrange them to suit your specific

collection. They come in three finishes.

Tactical Wall Shelves range from

$295 to $395 for the RLS.

3DRIVE AND BREW

Hey Joe Coffee Mug

www.heyjoecoffee.com/shop

Most travel mugs do a great job of keep-

ing your coffee at ideal temperatures. But

that drink is still going to have to be

brewed before you leave home.

The Hey Joe Coffee Mug cuts off that re-

quirement, letting you brew coffee right in

the same mug you drink from while you

drive through traffic on the way to the of-

fice.

A rechargeable battery at the bottom of

the mug provides the necessary power

for the heating element.

$49.

4


1

2

3

4

OUTSIDE, INSIDE AND ALL

AROUND TH LINES

Adventurous coloring book

www.amazon.com

Between the Lines, subtitled an Expert

Level Coloring Book, is impossible to

color properly with crayons. At least, that

is, if you’re intent on staying inside the

lines. Filled with intricately detailed lined

drawings, you’re going to need steady

hands and some fine-sharpened colored

pencils to properly do the trick.

$13.50

5CHILLAXIN’

Wine Chill Drop

www.Williams-/sonoma.com

Need to chill wine in a hurry? These wine

chilling wands cool a single glass of wine

to its ideal serving temperature up to 20

times faster than your refrigerator can

chill a full bottle. Simply place the pre-

chilled stainless-steel drop in your glass

– in just minutes, your wine is ready to

enjoy.

$39.95 for two chillers

6NO MORE

LOST LUGGAGE

CalypsoTag

www.calypsocrystal.com

Unless you carry wild colored luggage,

odds are it’s not so easy for you to spot

your bags on a conveyor after a long

layover and five-hour connecting flight.

Make things easier with the CalypsoTag.

This smart gadget is made of premium Ital-

ian leather and attaches to your luggage to

make it easier to spot, all while connecting

to your phone via Bluetooth 4 to let you

know where it’s located. It’s not quite GPS

for your bags, but it’s close — and a lot

more effective than just showing up at the

baggage claim with nothing but a paper

stub and a prayer.

$119

7LEFTOVER SECURITY

Cover Blubber

www.thinkgeek.com

After finishing dinner, we all play “Which

Container Does This Bit of Leftovers Fit

Into?” Which is not a lot of fun for those of

us who are spatially-challenged.

The appropriately-named Cover Blubber

can fix this, and a whole other mess of

food-storage ills. This reusable food-saver

wrap is intended to protect food in the

fridge or freezer.

They come in a reusable set of four, rang-

ing from 3” to 12” diameter. They’re perfect

for fruit, keeping nasty oxidation out. They

are not microwave or dishwasher-safe.

$19.99

8


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ADVERTISERS DIRECTORyAladdin Carpet and Restoration....................19

505-486-1645

Allstate Agents.............................................24Viviana Aguirre

900 Sullivan Ave.

Farmington

505-327-4888

B J Brown

3030 E Main St., Ste X9

Farmington, NM

505-324-0480

Kelly J. Berhost

1415 W. Aztec Blvd, Ste. 9

Aztec, NM

505-334-6177

Harold Chacon

8205 Spain Rd. NE, Suite 209 C

Albuquerque, NM

505-296-2752

Dennis McDaniel

505-328-0486

Matt Lamoreux

4100 E. Main St.

Farmington, NM

505-599-9047

Johnnie Pete

412 W. Arrington

Farmington

505-327-7858

Silvia Ramos

2400 E. 30th St.

505-327-9667

Animas Credit Union.....................................262101 E. 20th St.

3850 E. Main St.

Farmington, N.M.

505-326-7701

405 W. Broadway

Inside Farmer’s Market

Bloomfield, N.M.

www.animascu.com

Armstrong Coury Insurance..........................60

424 E. Main

Farmington, NM

505-327-5077

www.armstrongcouryinsurance.com

Ashley Furniture HomeStore ..........................75200 E. Main Street

Farmington, N.M.

505-516-1030

www.ashleyfurniture.com

Beehive Homes ............................................12400 N. Locke

508 N. Airport

Farmington, N.M.

505-427-3794

Budget Blinds.................................................2825 N. Sullivan

Farmington, N.M.

505-324-2008

Cellular One..................................................151-800-730-2350

www.cellularoneonline.com

City of Farmington .......................................27Great Lakes Airlines

Farmington, N.M.

1-800-554-5111

www.flygreatlakes.com

DeNae’s Boutique ........................................44San Juan Plaza

Farmington, N.M.

505-326-6025

Desert Hills Dental Care..................................52525 E. 30th St.

Farmington, N.M.

505-327-4863

866-327-4863

www.deserthillsdental.com

Employee Connections, Inc...........................20

2901 E. 20th Street

Farmington, NM

505-324-8877

The Floor Trader ..........................................61

5013 E. Main Street

Farmington, NM

505-325-8800

www.floortraderfarmington.com

Four Corners Community Bank. ....................49Seven Convenient Locations

Farmington • Aztec • Cortez

NM 505-327-3222

CO 970-564-8421

www.TheBankForMe.com

Highlands University ....................................54505-566-3552

nmhu.edu/farmington

Le Petit Salon...............................................62

406 Broadway

5150 College Blvd.

Farmington, N.M.

505-325-1214

Lujan Quality Carpet Cleaning.......................60

215-2188

Morgan Stanley/Adam Hewett ......................364801 N Butler

Farmington, NM 87401

505-326-9323

www.morganstanleyfa.com/hewettloleitpalmer

Next Level Home Audio & Video ...................67

1510 E. 20th St., Suite A

Farmington, N.M.

505-327-NEXT

www.327NEXT.com

Orthodontics, Inc..........................................424760 N. Butler Ave., Suite A


(505) 325-8858

Parker’s Inc. Office Products ........................13714-C W. Main St.

Farmington, N.M.

505-325-8852

www.parkersinc.com

Partners Assisted Living...............................49313 N. Locke Ave.

Farmington, N.M.

505-325-9600

www.partnerassistedliving.com

Pinon Hills Community Church ......................21www.PinonHillsCharities.org

Quality Appliance .........................................26522 E. Broadway

Farmington, N.M.

505-327-6271

R.A. Biel Plumbing & Heating .......................37Farmington, N.M.

505-327-7755

www.rabielplumbing.com

Reliance Medical Group ................................303451 N. Butler Avenue

Farmington, N.M.

505-566-1915

1409 West Aztec Blvd.

Aztec, N.M.

505-334-1772

www.reliancemedicalgroup.com

ReMax of Farmington.....................................3108 N. Orchard

Farmington, N.M.

505-327-4777

www.remax.com

San Juan College .........................................33505-326-3311

www.sanjuancollege.edu

San Juan Nurseries.......................................25800 E. 20th St.

Farmington, N.M.

505-326-0358

www.sanjuannurseries.com

San Juan Quilters Guild.................................20

www.sjqg.org

San Juan United Way ....................................31903 W. Apache Street

Farmington, NM

505-326-1195

Sanchez and Sanchez Real Estate ..................44301 Largo St. Suite F


505-327-9039

Sleep-N-Aire ................................................433650 Iles Avenue

Farmington, N.M.

505-327-2811

www.sleepnairemattress.com

Southwest Concrete Supply ..........................31

2420 E. Main

Farmington, N.M.

505-325-2333

www.swconcretesupply.com

Southwest Obstetrics and Gynecology..........14634 West Pinon

Farmington, NM

505-325-4898

Sun Glass.....................................................48602 West Main Street

Farmington, NM

505-327-9677

Sunray Gaming.............................................62On Hwy 64.

Farmington, N.M.

505-566-1200

Treadworks ..................................................184227 E. Main St.

Farmington, NM

505-327-0286

4215 Hwy. 64

Kirtland, NM

505-598-1055

www.treadworks.com

Webb Toyota ................................................683911 E. Main

Farmington, N.M.

505-325-1911

Ziems Ford...................................................435700 E. Main

Farmington, N.M.

505-325-8826

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Majestic Living Fall 2014