majestic living winter 2015

4 | MAJESTIC LIVING | WINTER 2015


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Cover photoMajestic Living welcomes story ideas and comments from readers.email 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 Dorothy Nobis, Margaret Cheasebro,

Ben Brashear, Debra Mayeux

photographers

Josh Bishop, Whitney Howle, Ben Brashear

sales

Clint Alexander

administration

Lacey Waite

For advertising

information

Call 505.516.1230

by JoSh biShoPVol. 8, No. 1 ©2015 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

contributorsMarGareT 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 newspapers. She has four published books ofchildren’s puppet scripts. a former elementaryschool counselor, she is a reiki Master and practices several alternative healing techniques.She enjoys playing table tennis.

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 Farmington and is proud to call San Juan Countyhome. The richness of the landscape and the diverse people, culture and traditions are a photographer’s 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 .

beN braShear has called the Southern SanJuans home for most of his life. he holds ab.a. in Creative Writing from Fort Lewis College and has worked for Cutthroat: a Jour-nal of The arts, as assistant poetry editor. heis currently working as a freelance writer andphotographer based out of Durango, Colorado.

Debra 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.

winterfeatures:


Those who know George Duncan call him names.

But none of those names are of the negative kind.

By Dorothy Nobis

George Duncan gets things done10

When Bernadones’ Family Pizzeria opened on

West Main in 2008, it quickly became a favorite

restaurant for those who love Italian food. Alas, the

restaurant closed on Aug. 31. But there’s hope

for lovers of delicious Italian cuisine.

By Margaret Cheasebro

A Family Affair16

Beverly Charley is the new

veterans’ services officer for

the Farmington office of

the New Mexico

Department of Veterans’

Services.


Passionate Advocate

36

Co-owner and Executive

chef Chris Crowl of Eolus

Bar and Dining, located at

919 Main Ave., in

Durango, Colorado, sits

at the bar next to Chef

Daniel Morrisroe.

By Ben Brashear

Eolus Bar and Dining

32

16 2728 29

Colorado

ChristmasDurango’s

Winter Wonders

Aztec Christmas

activities

Bloomfield

Christmas events

30 Farmington

Christmas events

Feat of Clay is a co-op of artists that accepts members who

work in any kind of medium. For the last eight years it’s been at

107 S. Main Ave. in a high-ceilinged building flooded with light.

It had its start 15 years ago in a tiny sliver of a building on Main

Avenue, and it’s been an active presence in the city’s life every

since.


A home for talent, imagination42

The Dick and Jane

books that were

popular in the

1930s-1970s

showed siblings

having fun and

helped teach children to read. Later in the 1970s — 1979 to be

exact — Dick and Jane bought Bob and Bill’s Trading Post, just

north of the New Mexico state line in Colorado.

By Dorothy Nobis

Dick and Jane’s Place48

Imagine standing on the roof of an earth-

quake-damaged department store building in

Van Nuys, California, covered in roof tar,

when the president of Robinson’s May

Company walks up to you and offers you a

six-figure check to help your local high

school.

By Debra Mayeux

Disaster relief54After 26 years, Linda McNeal is

closing DeNae’s Boutique in San

Juan Plaza. Her 92-year-old father, Bill

Smart, needs a little extra help from

his family, and Linda wants time to

give him that attention.


All about family60

Nichelle Salazar embarked

on a journey of culture,

spirituality and new life

when, in 2012, she decided

to become a midwife.

By Debra Mayeux

Midwife care works

in all settings

66

When Shawn Archuleta and Jenny Dennis

decided to have careers in law enforcement,

they were ready and willing to help others. By Dorothy Nobis

Labor of Love72

WINTER 2015 | MAJESTIC LIVING | 9

GeorGeDuncan

Gets

thinGs

Done


Those who know George Duncan call him

names. But none of those names are of the

negative kind.

DeLaws Lindsay, a member of the Bloomfield

City Council, said his one word to describe

Duncan was “Honorable. It’s a very huge part of

his character.”

Bloomfield’s Special Projects Director Teresa

Brevik described Duncan as a “Visionary. He

starts with the end in mind. He has a great

mindset for what he sees in life.”

Duncan’s office manager, Ayme Vigil,

describes her boss as being generous. “He’s

generous and not only with his time – and you

know over almost 40 years, he has given a lot

of it – but with his money to help those less

fortunate or just to help out a firefighter that

might be having a hard time.”

“Oh, and he can be generous with his

opinion as well,” Vigil added with a laugh.

Bloomfield Mayor Scott Eckstein said Duncan

is passionate. “I’ve known Chief Duncan for

close to 30 years. I first had the opportunity to

get to know and work with him in the

mid-1980s while I was a Bloomfield police

officer and he was the fire chief. I found

George to be a person of solid character who

was passionate about serving the citizens of

Bloomfield to the highest level,” Eckstein said.

“He still carries that same passion with him

today. To be friends with a man of his caliber,

who has dedicated his entire life to the

betterment of his community, is truly an honor.”

Natural born leaderCurtis Lynch, a member of the Bloomfield

City Council and a volunteer firefighter, calls

Duncan a “natural born leader, and he truly

cares about the community and its people.”

“The community has grown substantially, and

having a leader that has been there and knows

what its needs are is important. George is the

kind of leader that was needed to push to get

things done, even sometimes when some people

didn’t like it,” Lynch added.

Bloomfield Police Chief Randy Foster

offered another word to describe Duncan –

community. “George is focused on making sure

Bloomfield is taken care of, the children have

bicycles, and that his family knows they are

cared for,” Foster said of his friend and

colleague.

Duncan is uncomfortable with any of those

responses, no matter how kind and respectful

they are. Duncan isn’t one to take accolades,

praise or attention without some reluctance. As

the fire chief for Bloomfield, Duncan is quick

to note that any leader is only as good as those

he leads.

Duncan came to the city of Bloomfield as a

volunteer for the Parks and Recreation

Department in the mid-1970s. It wasn’t long

before the young Duncan discovered a passion

for the fire department and he became a

volunteer firefighter.

Local mortuaries were operating the ambu-

lance service that, Duncan said, was “less than

perfect.” The fire department acquired its own

ambulance through a grant from the Depart-

ment of Transportation, and served the south-

eastern part of San Juan County. While the

ambulance service was needed, running it was a

challenge. It was difficult to have volunteers at

the ready when an ambulance was needed, and

getting paid for the service was difficult.

San Juan Regional Medical Center was

running two ambulances in Farmington and, at

the request of the Bloomfield Fire Department,

agreed to take over its ambulance on the

condition that the community of Bloomfield

would be guaranteed service.

“At the same time, we got funding from San

Juan County for a rescue unit and, with the

donation of a quarter acre of land, a substation

Story by Dorothy Nobis | Photos by Whitney Howle

He’s dedicated 40 years to the betterment of Bloomfield

was built, which housed the ambulance” Duncan

said.

The substation (where Big R is located now)

was built and a mobile home on the property

was used by paramedics as living quarters when

on duty.

Bloomfield Fire ChiefDuncan served as a volunteer firefighter for

several years before being named Bloomfield’s

Fire Chief in the early 1980s. Being the first

paid fire chief was a challenge, Duncan

admitted.

“We faced a lack of funding – there was no

money to speak of,” he said. “But I saw a need

for the fire chief and I saw it as a challenge.”

A paid fire chief came about because of

necessity, Duncan explained. “There was too

much to do for the volunteers. We needed to

be prepared and (preparation) is very complex.

Equipment has to be fueled and maintained.”

“A lot of what we do revolves around small

engines,” Duncan added. “If you go out to cut

your lawn and the mower does not start it is an

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inconvenience, but if we go out on a car

accident and the equipment doesn’t work

properly, somebody could die. Also, someone

had to do all the administrative tasks that needed

to be done, such as grants and helping the de-

partment follow nationally recognized standards

and attempt to lower the ISO rate and save

homeowners money on their insurance premi-

ums.” The ISO (Insurance Services Office) grades

departments on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being

the best. Bloomfield is currently a Class 3.

While the equipment continues to be

maintained and administrative work complete,

Duncan now has an assistant, John Mohler, who

helps Duncan with those tasks and more. “He

helps with policies and procedures and with

grants. We’ve received in excess of $2.1 million

in federal grants, and somebody has to write

them and apply for them.”

Coin a phraseMohler said Duncan has sayings that have

inspired and motivated him.

“I’m not sure if he coined any of them, but I

first heard them coming from him,” Mohler said.

“He said ‘They can’t tell you “no” if you don’t

ask.’ This can apply to grants, budgets or

appropriations. If you don’t ask, you are guaran-

teed not to get what you need.”

“There is no difference between volunteer and

career firefighters. We only have professional

firefighters here,’ is another one of George’s say-

ings,” Mohler said. “Anyone who takes the time

to get the required training is a professional.”

Another saying Mohler appreciates is

“Sometimes it is better to beg for forgiveness

than to ask for permission.” Mohler added, “In

emergencies, you have to make split-second

decisions and you may not have the time to

check with everyone who wants to be checked

with. So always do what is right and you rarely

need to be forgiven.”

Mohler said he and Duncan have a good

working relationship. “Like every department,

budget is always a challenge,” Mohler said. “We

are constantly asked to do more with less.

Recruiting and keeping volunteers is another

challenge. These days, nobody seems to have the

time to volunteer. Finding new ways to get

people interested in volunteering is difficult, to

say the least.”

“Nobody becomes a firefighter to get rich,”

Mohler added. “Firefighters, including Chief

Duncan, want to help make a better community.

That sense of community is part of what makes

Bloomfield different from anywhere else. You

have to live here to understand that.”

“Our fire department is the best organization

I have ever been involved with,” Curtis Lynch

said. “The term ‘public safety’ is a catchall for a

whole gamut of different jobs, but safety is the

most important, along with protecting property.

As a councilor, I believe the fire and police are

two of the most important things our community

needs.”

Maintaining a good Insurance Services Office

rating has always been important to Duncan and

is equally important to Mohler. According to the

ISO’s website, ISO provides a broad range of

information and consulting services to insurance

companies, ranging from statistical and actuarial

information to policy language, to risk assessment

for specific locations. ISO is perhaps best known

as the company that provides ISO ratings for

local fire departments, used by insurance

companies to determine premiums for

homeowner policies in that area.

A special breedThe Bloomfield Fire Department has 35

volunteers – the same number it had when Dun-

can took over as fire chief.

“Volunteers are a special breed,” Duncan said

with admiration. “They give and give with little

recognition. They aren’t always available (to

respond to calls), but they have huge hearts and

have to prioritize their families and their jobs.”

And that lack of availability is why a Federal

Emergency Management Agency SAFER (Staffing

for Adequate Firefighter and Emergency

Response) grant was sought and acquired to fund

career paid firefighters for a two-year period.

Currently the department has responded to in

excess of 1,600 emergencies this year and will

most likely top 1,800 alarms by year’s end.

“I love firefighting,” Duncan added. “It’s the

greatest job in the world. It gets in your blood;

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and I love the camaraderie of the firefighters, the

people of the community, the other departments

in the city and other fire agencies. It’s nice to

serve people and help people. You don’t know

what (call) you’re going to next, and knowing

people need you and you get to make a

difference.”

The stress of always being on call and always

knowing you could be called from a family event

is never easy for the family, Duncan admitted.

“You’re never off duty. It’s real stressful and it’s

all-consuming. There’s always something to do,

and sometimes your family takes a back seat.”

“Bloomfield firefighters have always been like

family,” John Mohler said. “Our people will

always help each other out if we are able. I be-

lieve this has a lot to do with great leadership.”

Family isn’t just the one you have at home,

either. The firefighters are a tightly knit group

and spend much of their time together.

FM radio stationAlways looking for new ways to serve the

residents of Bloomfield, the fire department was

recently approved for a 10-year, low power FM

radio station. While the goal is to provide public

safety information, Duncan wants the station –

KFDPLP, 93.5 – to offer more.

“We’re providing quality music – a mix of all

genres – and we recently added a community

calendar where people can submit their events

and we’ll announce them,” he said. “We also do

interviews with people who have insights into our

community.”

The station provides public service

announcements every 15 minutes, which are

followed by another 15 minutes of music. “We’re

getting a lot of positive feedback,” Duncan said

of the station’s format. While the range of the

station is limited because of the low power, it

can be heard between five and six miles east

toward Blanco, north toward Aztec, west to

Crawford Mesa and south to about 10 to 15

miles out. It’s on the air 24 hours a day, seven

days a week, with firefighters often offering the

public service announcements, Jessica Pollaty of

the Bloomfield Senior Center offering informa-

tion about the center’s greenhouse building, or

city staff providing updates on special projects.

Another voice that’s heard is that of Ayme Vigil,

office manager, who has worked for Duncan for

25 years and who offers the community calendar.

“George can multi-task very well,” Vigil said.

“He wears many hats. But the expectations he has

set for the fire department are very high. He

wants only the best for the city, the fire

department and for the firefighters, and I truly

believe he will not rest – or let us rest! – until he

achieves what he has set out to accomplish.”

As the fire department’s unofficial “mother,”

Vigil said, “I baby my ‘kids’ to the point of

spoiling them. But I figure they give up their time

and energy to train and protect the citizens of

Bloomfield and their property all hours of the

day and night. The least I can do is help out

when I can. I have seen some of these firefighters

go from 16-year-old kids with very little

responsibility to awesome adults with a great job

and kids of their own.”

A volunteer at heartVigil said Duncan understands and appreciates

the volunteer firefighters as much – or more –

than anyone. “Volunteers are hard to recruit and

retain,” she said. “It is a challenge to get and

keep volunteers but George does a good job.

He’s always coming up with new ideas to draw

volunteers to the fire service.”

“Even though his is a paid position, whenever

those tones sound (indicating a fire/emergency)

he is out the door, answering calls, running

trucks, fighting fires, extricating someone from a

vehicle accident, delivering babies or whatever14 | MAJESTIC LIVING | WINTER 2015

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the emergency may be.”

“He has a volunteer’s heart,” Vigil added.

With the department’s paid firefighters, Vigil said

the pressure has become less for the volunteers.

“Now, we’re assured of having firefighters respond

quickly,” she said. “We can always use more,

though.”

In spite of spending more than 36 years as

Bloomfield’s Fire Chief, Duncan has no immediate

plans to retire. Part of that is because of his

commitment to the department and the city. The

other part is a commitment to carry on the legacy

of his parents, Johnny and Minnie Duncan.

Johnny Duncan was an entrepreneur in

Bloomfield in the early 1960s. In addition to having

a laundromat, Johnny bought a drive-in restaurant,

which he named Johnny’s Drive-In. The restaurant,

located across the street from Bloomfield High

School, was a popular hang-out for high school

students. Johnny Duncan also served as the city’s

mayor.

Duncan’s mother, Minnie, was a much loved and

respected third and fourth grade teacher in the

Bloomfield School District. The Duncans were

leaders in the community and George Duncan has

continued that dedication to serve.

Will retire: “Definitely when itfreezes over”

Duncan’s staff doesn’t think their chief will retire

any time soon. When asked when he thought

Duncan will retire, Mohler didn’t hesitate with his

answer. “Definitely when it freezes over,” he said

with a laugh. “A few years ago, we had a

mid-January fire that turned one of our streets into

an ice skating rink. That was when we found out the

chief may walk on water, but he falls on his butt,

just like the rest of us, when everything is covered in

ice. So it will probably be a cold day in Bloomfield

when he decides he’s had enough.”

“George cares about everyone,” Curtis Lynch

said. “He loves his fellow man. I believe he still has

something to give (to the department and the

community). And I believe a person should stay as

long as they feel they can and they want to.”

To which John Mohler added, “Some people

never retire. They just find new and interesting ways

to get the job done their way.”

When Bernadones’ Family Pizzeria

opened on West Main in 2008, it quickly

became a favorite restaurant for those who

love Italian food. Alas, the restaurant closed

on Aug. 31. But there’s hope for lovers of

delicious Italian cuisine.

The Bernadone family is working hard to

open its new restaurant, Trittoria di

Bernadones, next to the Blue Diamond Auto

Spa and in front of Lowes on East Main.

“Trittoria” is Italian for a family run and

operated restaurant. It will continue to serve

the delicious fare developed at the pizzeria,

but the menu will include more elaborate

entrees.

Owner Mario Bernadone hopes

the restaurant will open some-

time in November, but

he doesn’t talk

about dates anymore because he’s has to

change them so many times.

The project has taken longer partly

because the restaurant is unique. “We are

not restauranteurs,” Mario said. “I’m an

engineer, and my wife, Laura, is a nurse.

When we designed and built this restaurant,

we did it from a homeowner’s standpoint,

not from a restauranteur’s standpoint.”

Mario and Laura have eight children and

are very family oriented.

Truly authentic foodJeannette deKay of Farmington looks

forward to the new restaurant. “The food is

tremendous,” she said. “It was a treat to eat

at their old restaurant. It is truly authentic.

They are very detail oriented in the quality

of their food. A restaurant like this is a

wonderful addition to the community.”

The roomy parking lot has several islands

in which trees have been planted.

Stamped and stained concrete laid by

Mario and Laura and their two oldest sons

decorates part of the exterior leading to the

entrance door with an arch. Wrought iron

work helps adorn the outside. It was

designed by Mario, and his family helped to

install it. Flowers, grape vines and an herb

garden enhance the landscaping. The herbs

will be used in restaurant dishes.

“We had limited funding for this project,”

said Mario. “We asked for $3 million; we

received about half of that. It meant that

we had to truncate our project.”

It was reduced in size from a 7,200-

square-foot building to a 4,800-square-

foot structure. Mario plans to someday add

2,400 square feet to the building and

include a fire pit, fountain, stage

for live music, and out-

door seating area.

Story by Margaret Cheasebro | Photos by Whitney Howle

Bernadone family put their heart and soul

into new Italian restaurant


Waiting area has rustic lookEven the waiting area has an Italian feel to

it. Mario calls it the cave, and his sons coated

the ceiling and walls with a special lime plaster

to give it a rustic look. Above the arch leading

into the restaurant is a replica of part of the

Sistine Chapel’s ceiling painted by

Michelangelo. It depicts the hand of God

meeting the hand of man.

“The arch goes from the great to the small,

from heaven to earth,” said Mario. “It’s kind of

our theme here.”

Throughout the restaurant is evidence of

Mario’s engineering skills and his desire for

perfection. Every table is made of a granite

slab with a specially designed metal support to

easily accommodate a mop and to keep peo-

ple from bumping their knees on a table leg.

“Each piece of granite is unique in color and

design,” Mario said. “It would cost me less to

buy remnants, but we wanted to reflect the

natural design of God and the universe, all his

pieces so perfect.”

Booths designed by MarioThere are four-person, six-person,

eight-person and even ten-person booths, each

with high backed wooden benches designed by

Mario. He and his sons poured concrete

underneath each booth seat to keep spilled

drinks at bay. “I’m kind of a clean freak,”

Mario explained. “I want everything to be clean

for our customers.”

Even the bathrooms are unique. A colorful

glass sink shaped like a bowl sits under a faucet

cupped by a smaller bowl. Water from the

faucet spills over the little bowl and tumbles

into the sink like a waterfall.

Mario is especially proud of the kitchen,

where two wood-fired ovens sit. Pizzas will

bake quickly in those ovens. “These are real

bricks,” Mario said about the ovens. “When

this gets done, you’ll be looking at not just a

cooking apparatus but a work of art.”

Around the corner sits a wood fired grill

imported from Italy, complete with a rotisserie.

It contains drawers for ashes and wood. “There

will be skewers that go across and you can see

the meat rotating. You can cook chickens,

porchetta, salmon,” said Mario. He ticked off

several items on his fingers.

No microwaves“We don’t have a microwave in this place,”

he added. His theory is that microwaves

introduce radiation to food that can harm

people. “We go back to the old way. We cook

with wood. It’s much better tasting. It’s labor

intensive, but we do the work for you.”

They even have a water softener and reverse

osmosis machine so customers drink purified

water and ice.

There are plenty of granite counter tops on

which restaurant staff make pasta, ice cream,

dough, gelato and a variety of sauces from

scratch.

“Italians love to do things for others,” Mario

said. “They have large hearts. It’s not enough

to say, ‘I’m going to heat up in the microwave

a piece of pizza for you.’ No. It has to be the

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best that they can do. That’s what we try to do

here. We import our flour from Italy. We use

the best cheeses, the best sauce. We make

everything from scratch as much as we can. If

you have something from here, it’s going to

taste unique because we don’t spare any

expense or amount of labor to do it right.”

Italian ice machineThe drink area sports a lemon Italian ice

machine.

“Back east where I come from, granita is a

very popular drink,” Mario said. “When I came

to New Mexico, I said, ‘It’s hot here. They need

that granita.’ So we started serving it at the

other restaurant, and it was very popular.”

There’s also an Espresso machine.

The menu is taking shape and should be


completed within a year. In the meantime,

Trittoria di Bernadones serves a large variety

of appetizers, salads, pizzas, calzones,

sandwiches, kids’ meals, entrees, desserts, and

beverages, including beer and wine.

“Bernadones restaurant is my family’s

favorite, hands down,” said Paul Briones of

Farmington. “We can’t wait for their larger

menu. The Bernadones are a beautiful, faith-

filled family. They make you feel at home.”

Grew up in large familyThat sense of home came naturally to both

Laura and Mario, who grew up in large

families, Laura in California and Mario in

Southbridge, Massachusetts, where he

graduated from high school in 1983. He lived

close to his extended Italian family, and no

matter what house he went to, the women

would insist that he eat something they’d

made. That’s how they showed their love, and

Mario soon equated food with love.

When his family moved to Rhode Island, he

attended the University of Rhode Island and

graduated in 1991 with a bachelor of science

degree and a master’s in structural engineering,

with an emphasis on seismic design.

The California Department of Transporta-

tion hired him right out of college. He was

among 900 engineers hired to work on a

bridge retrofit program after the 1989 Loma

Prieta Earthquake. He settled in California,

where he met Laura in 1993. They married in

1995 and their first child arrived in 1998.

Seek simple lifeSeeking a simple life, they bought a

five-acre ranch near Grass Valley, California. It

contained a pond and irrigation as well as a

river, wooded and meadow areas. “We started

raising goats, chickens, rabbits, dogs and cats,”

said Mario. “We planted a vineyard and had an

orchard and a garden. We grew all our own

crops and survived off the food we

produced.” They made cheese and canned a

variety of foods. From the ranch, Mario drove

45 minutes each way to his engineering job in

Sacramento four days a week.

Every other weekend the couple invited

friends to come and sample their home

cooked meals. “We cooked for 100 people,”

he recalled. “We made homemade pasta and

pizza from scratch. We always were serving sea

food or doing something a little bit differently

than everybody else was. Our friends loved to

come out to eat with us and have a glass of

wine.”

Discover FarmingtonBy the time they had four kids, close friends

they’d met in California moved to Farmington

and invited them to come for a visit.

“When we saw Farmington, we said, ‘Wow,

this is unique,’” recalled Mario. “It’s quiet.

There’s not as many people. It’s very clean,

the air is tremendous, and the mountains are

so beautiful nearby.”

Mario and Linda decided to leave California

and settle in Farmington. They came without

any jobs in 2004. In June 2005, Mario found

work as an engineer with a company that paid

him far less than he’d received in California.

His work confined him to a cubicle. It was a

struggle to support Laura and their four

children. They had to give up their plan to

build their dream home.

“I’m kind of a people person, and Laura

and I like to entertain,” he said. “So we started

thinking at night what could we do as a

family.” They thought back to their California

days when they cooked for 100 friends every

other weekend and decided they could make a

living if they opened a pizzeria in Farmington.

Designed a restaurantSo they bought a third of an acre that was

once a gas station at 933 W. Main St. Mario

designed a restaurant that seated 60 people.

Because there weren’t a lot of parking spaces,

they decided to make it a drive-through

restaurant where people could grab a pizza

and a glass of lemon granita.

“But our customers decided it was not a

drive-through,” Mario related. “It was a

sit-down restaurant, and they liked the

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FOUR CORNERS’

FOOD, MUSIC, FAMILY, FRIENDS & FUN

IN THE FOLLOWING PAGES, WE’VE GIVEN YOU A GUIDE

TO ALL THE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OUR AREA HAS TO OFFER THIS HOLIDAY SEASON.


A short drive away from the Farmington area

is a place where Christmas magic abounds.

From music to mesas to picturesque mountain

towns, if you are looking for jolly holiday

events, you may not have to look any further

than your own backyard this season.

Montezuma County is full of the spirit of the

season!

Tucked away into the Four Corners region,

the towns of Cortez, Dolores, and Mancos

offer something for everyone throughout the

months of November and December.

Dolores Shops LocalReminiscent of the mountain towns that

helped build the state of Colorado, the

charming town of Dolores will remind you of

the true meaning of the word “local.” Their

“Shop Local” promotion kicks the season off

Nov. 28 and runs through Dec. 19. The

Community Center hosts the Christmas Bazaar

from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 6,

where you’ll find all kinds of gifts and goodies

for your holiday giving. If fine arts are more

your style, wander over to the Dolores River

Brewery. They hold a Fine Arts and Crafts Show

on the same days and during the same times.

On Saturday, Dec. 11, at 5:30 p.m. at the

Galloping Goose Museum on Railroad Avenue,

Santa will light the lights for their Yule Log Bon-

fire, and pass out cocoa, cookies and candy for

the children. The lights will be up on the south

side of the mountains surrounding the town and

they are a festive and spectacular sight when

viewed from Dolores. More information on the

events in the Dolores area can be found on the

Chamber of Commerce website at www.do-

loreschamber.com or by calling 970.882.4018.

Manco has Christmas for CowboysIf you have never been to Mancos, be pre-

pared to find a small town full of all the charm

of yesteryear. If Christmas for cowboys is what

you are seeking, then Mancos is the right place

to find it. The Mancos Olde Fashioned Christ-

mas celebration begins on Friday, Dec. 4,

starting with the 6th Annual Christmas on the

Trail and 5th Annual “Night of the Cowboy”

western gear show and sale at the Goodnight

Gallery from 5 to 7 p.m. The Rockin’ W

Chuck Wagon sets up in front of the gallery

offering homemade chili, sopapillas and cof-

fee. Inside you’ll find the work of Nathaniel’s

– a western hatmaker – Ann Schwarting –

western contemporary jewelry, and Steve

Williams of Cowboy Forge. A custom spur

maker, leather worker, and saddle maker join

the artists on display. This event is entertain-

ing, free, and open to the public. It’s the

Goodnight Gallery’s way of thanking everyone

for their support throughout the year.

At 6 p.m. join the locals for the “Rudolph

Run” – a two-mile fun run around downtown.

It’s open to all ages. Costumes are encouraged

SMALL TOWN

Colorado ChristmasThe Southwestern holiday style of Dolores, Manco and Cortez

Story by Gail Vanik | Courtesy photos

for this fun-filled event, and it’s a great

way to work off the chili and sopapillas!

Add in a Christmas Cookie Contest at

the Columbine Bar at 6:30 p.m. and an

old-fashioned tree lighting, complete

with a visit from Santa, at Pioneer Park

at 7 p.m. Following the tree lighting,

finish with a holiday movie at the Com-

munity Center, complete with treats, and

you’ve got the perfect recipe for a

fun-filled holiday evening.

If Christmas music is what the holidays

mean to you, enjoy the Mancos Valley

Chorus at 3:30 p.m. Dec. 7 and 13, and

again at 7 p.m. on Dec. 12 at the

Mancos Valley United Methodist Church.

This group has been singing together for

a number of years and has become a hol-

iday fixture in the community. They also

will lift their voices in the spirit of the

season in Cortez at the Cortez United

Methodist Church at 7 p.m. on Dec. 9.

Additional information on the holiday

events in Mancos can be found on the

Chamber’s website at

www.mancoscolorado.com or by calling

970.533.7725.

Cortez decorates main street and lights up Mesa Verde

Not to be outdone, Cortez holds a host of

events in the weeks leading up to the holidays.

The Parade of Lights is the epitome of small

town holiday charm. Imagine Main Street in any

small town during the holiday season. The store

windows are gaily decorated. Decorations hang

from the street lights. There’s a chill in the air.

Then imagine the street completely dark except

for the floats coming down the middle of the

street, and you’ll have a good idea of what the

Parade of Lights is like. Sponsored by the Board

of Realtors, each year a new theme is chosen

and many of the businesses, civic groups,

churches and youth groups in town participate.

Prizes are given, so it’s a fun-filled and festive

competition as each tries to outdo the other in

their interpretation of that year’s theme. Each

year is a delightful surprise as the floats are

funny, religious, bright and bold, and sometimes

outrageous. Some carry bands who lend their

music to this festive celebration of the

season. Some aren’t even floats, as horses,

fire trucks, motorcycles and other modes of

transportation – even reindeer – have been

known to journey down Main Street during

the Parade. This year’s Parade of Lights will

be held on Saturday, Dec. 5, down Main

Street in Cortez and the theme this year is

“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” The

Parade kicks off at 6 p.m. – but a word to

the wise – get there long before that. People

come early just to save the best spaces.

If all of this doesn’t put you in the mood

for the holiday season, there are two other

events which have become holiday traditions

in the area and aren’t to be missed. The first

is the Luminaria Holiday Open House at

Mesa Verde National Park. Held this year on

Thursday, Dec. 10, the staff at the park

hosts this yearly event from 4 to 9 p.m. All

are invited to visit during the celebration

which features special tours, musical

entertainment and refreshments. However,

the big draw is the luminaria display which

lights up the pathways in the Park and Spruce

Tree House. “Serene” is perhaps the best word

to describe glowing luminarias in the winter air.

The Chapin Mesa Archaeological Museum

remains open until 9 p.m. and there is musical

entertainment in the auditorium there through-

out the evening. The Museum bookstore is

open and admittance is free. Dress warmly and

bring a flashlight if you plan to walk the paths.

No Park admission fee is charged after 4 p.m.

and more information can be obtained by

calling the park at 970.529.4465.



If you don’t care to drive the road up to

the Park, there is an additional opportunity to

enjoy the Southwestern luminaria tradition in

the area. “Luminaria Night” at Four Seasons

Greenhouse and Nursery, located halfway

between Cortez and Dolores, is the most magi-

cal night of the year. Beginning at 5 p.m. on

Thursday Dec. 3, enjoy over 1,000 luminarias,

live musical entertainment by local community

groups ranging from children’s choirs to the

Four Corners Community Band, Santa, and

refreshments. This annual evening is a popular

attraction among many in the region and is free

as a thank-you to all.

Cortez, Dolores, and Mancos offer a

number of wonderful hotels, bed and break-

fasts, and motels in case the drive home after a

day’s festivities seems a little daunting, or if the

weather doesn’t cooperate. There is also a

wide range of wonderful restaurants offering

everything from steak to sushi.

Whether it’s a Cowboy Christmas or the

grace and quiet beauty of luminarias, there’s

something for everyone in the Southwestern

style in the Four Corners this holiday season.

Enjoy the beauty found right in your own

backyard and the local, friendly fun that comes

from these small towns and the holiday

mountain traditions surrounding them.

A blanket of fresh powder cloaks the ruggedmountains in Southwestern Colorado for Durango’s magical winter season! In addition toskiing and winter sports, our charming Colorado mountain town boasts a vibrant artsscene, relaxing natural hot springs, five craftbreweries, scrumptious locally inspired cuisines,unique winter festivals, and more – all set in aquintessential Old West mountain town. Withover a Dozen Vacations in One Destination,start planning your Colorado winter vacation atwww.durango.org.

Through Jan. 2The Polar Express

Based on the award-winning book by ChrisVan Allsburg and adapted to the big screen in2003, the story of a child's Christmas Eve journey comes alive onboard THE POLAR EXPRESS™! All ages can enjoy the experience,warmth and fun of the Christmas season on aspecial trip to the North Pole!

Ticket prices and schedules at 1.888.872.4607or visit www.durangotrain.com/events/polar-express

December. 4 and 5 Holiday Arts and Crafts Festival

Saturday - 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. La Plata County FairgroundSunday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Gifts and decorations for the holidays at La Plata Fairgrounds.

Contact [email protected] or 970.247.2117

December 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19,Christmas Tree Train

Durango Train Depot 10 a.m. – 3 pm

Create a new family memory!Ride the regular Cascade Canyon Train but

come prepared to cut your own ChristmasTree to be hauled back to Durango on thesteam train! Maybe this will be a romanticcouples-day to choose your first Christmastree together.

www.durangotrain.com

December 4 Noel Night

10 a.m. to 9 p.m.Downtown Durango

Noel Night is a seasonal tradition in cele-bration of Durango's local, independent busi-nesses and our community. Special eventsand sales all day in Durango's downtown.

December 11, 12 & 13State Street Ballet of Santa Barbara’s

Nutcracker with the San Juan SymphonyDecember 11 • 7 p.m.December 12 and 13 • 2 p.m.Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College

As has become tradition at the Community Concert Hall, the magical holiday ballet, “Nutcracker,” performed by thehighly-acclaimed State Street Ballet of SantaBarbara, will usher in the holidays with twomatinee and two evening performances.Artistic Director Rodney Gustafson holds trueto the original classical ballet in thisTchaikovsky masterpiece, creating a traditional “Nutcracker” set in Victorian timesand suited for all ages. For the first time atthe Community Concert Hall, the ballet willfeature a live orchestra, as the San Juan Symphony is set to perform.

December 17Bar D Wranglers Christmas Jubilee

Durango’s much-beloved cowboy crooners come off the Bar D and return tothe Community Concert Hall stage for theirtraditional cowboy Christmas show. Foundedby Cy Scarborough in 1969, the Bar D Wran-glers offer their own unique style of Westernmusic, cowboy poetry and humor. TheChristmas Jubilee is a warm-hearted and fun-filled show that inspires the entire family toremember the true meaning of the holidays.

December 31Durango Mountain Resort

Torchlight parade and fireworks!Durango loves a party, and we have a great

one on New Year's Eve at the mountain. Enjoythe torchlight parade down the mountain, followed by fireworks and a party to ring in thenew year!

January 1, 2016New Year’s Day Brunch Train

For a trip reminiscent of turn-of-the-centurytravel, start the New Year onboard the D&SNGsteam-powered train. Standard class and Premium class seating is available.

Our Premium-class passengers can enjoy adelicious hot brunch buffet, live music andscrumptious desserts while traveling throughthe pristine winter wonderland along the Animas River to Cascade Canyon wye.

Ticket prices and schedules at1.888.872.4607 or www.durangotrain.com


DURANGO’S

Winter Wonders

Aztec High School Play December 3 to 5

Aztec High School starts off the festivities withthe play, “Good News,” December 3 through 5 inthe AHS multi-purpose room. Tickets are $5. The play will be performed allthree nights at 7 p.m. with an additional matinee at 2 p.m. Saturday, December 5.

Business lighting contest December 4 to 31

A business lighting contest December 4through 31 will help to light up businesses any-where in Aztec. Every business that

registers, puts up lights, and has no more thanthree nights when the lights are off will receive a$75 electric utility credit from the city of Aztec.Prizes include first place of a $3,000 electric utilitycredit, second place of a $2,000 electric utilitycredit, third place of a $1,000 electric utilitycredit, and two honorable mentions of a $250electric utility credit each. Businesses must havea commercial utility account to enter.

Aztec Ruins Evening of LightsDecember 10

On Thursday, Dec. 10, the Aztec Ruins National Monument will host an Evening of

Lights from 6 to 8 p.m. “This is the one night ayear that we light Aztec West from the insideusing LED lanterns,” said Park Ranger DanielleYork. “It will be lit from the inside of the rooms, sofolks can walk into the central plaza and see anevening of lights.”

Volunteers will help people to park. Visitorswill follow luminaria lights to the visitors’ center Friends of Aztec Ruins will serve hotchocolate and cookies, and there may be somekids’ activities.

People may view newly installed exhibits inthe museum, which was completely redesigned in April.

Christmas Carnival/Holiday CelebrationDecember 11

The Aztec Boys and Girls Club will host aChristmas carnival from 3 to 6 p.m. at 311 S. AshStreet. It is open to all youth, even if they are nota club member.

The Aztec Library Holiday Celebration isscheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. at 319 S. Ash Ave.Santa will be there, giving away books to children. Hot chocolate and cookies will beserved, and kids are invited to participate in craftactivities.

Aztec Sparkles Christmas FestivalDecember 12

The day begins with an arts and crafts fair atthe Aztec Senior Center, 101 S. Park Avenue, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be a fullservice concession stand serving such things aslemonade, cinnamon rolls and hamburgers.

From 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Jump N Fun will hosta children’s carnival with carnival rides. It will beoutside the Aztec Senior Center, 101 S. Park Avenue, on the grass next to Chaco Street.

At 10 a.m. people may participate in the 5KSanta Dash. All runners must wear a Santa hatand shirt, and each runner will get a bag ofgoodies. The dash will begin at the Rose Gardenin front of Aztec City Hall on Chaco Street. It willcontinue down Main Avenue to Llano Street,


December is packed withChristmas activities in Aztec


then down to Hartman Park where it willcontinue across the pedestrian bridgeto Riverside Park. Runners will jogaround the pond there and then proceed up the staircase to the MoneyMakin’ Bridge across the Animas Riveron Chaco Street. From there, they willjog down Chaco Street to the Rose Garden where the race began.

From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. people mayshop with downtown businesses andguest artisans during a special Christmas shopping day. Businesseshave been asked to offer specials and tohost Santa. Owners of vacant buildingsare being asked to host an artisan orcrafter in that building for the day.

From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. there will belive music at Rubio’s Patio at the cornerof Main Avenue and Chuska Street. Sofar, three bands have been lined up,among them And Beyond and ThomasHinds.

From noon to 4 p.m. there will be haywagon rides. People will climb on thewagons in the downtown plaza besideRubio’s on Main Avenue. As the wagonsmove down Main Avenue, Santa andcarolers will greet them.

From 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. there will beface painting at the Aztec Senior Centerin connection with the children’s carnival.

At 5 p.m. the Christmas Light Paradewill start at Zia Street and Main Avenue.It will travel down Main Avenue and endon Stafford Street at the north end ofAztec Boulevard. All floats in the parademust be lighted.

At 6 p.m. there will be a free kids’movie at the Aztec Senior Center.

At 7:30 p.m., Leon and the Chain willbe in concert at Crash Music on NorthMain Avenue.

Free Christmas MealDecember 25

From 11 a.m. to1 p.m. Christmas Day,a free Christmas meal will be served atthe Aztec Senior Center at 101 S. ParkAvenue. The cost of turkeys and all thetrimmings will be paid for through donations. Anything not covered by donations will be provided by the city ofAztec.

December 5Salmon Ruins

Annual Holiday Arts & Crafts Fair9 a.m. to 5 p.m.McGee Park

Salmon Ruins brings artisans from through-out the Four Corners to Farmington to displayand sell their wares at McGee Park. Traditionaland contemporary hand-made jewelry, pottery,lapidary, Christmas ornaments and decoration,silver, western style belt buckle or bolo ties, andnumerous other specialty handcrafts will be forsale. All proceeds are used for educational programming at Salmon Ruins Museum. Information: 505.632.2013

December 7Bloomfield Christmas Parade

The 8th Annual Christmas Parade will be heldat 6:30 p.m. The 8th Annual Christmas Paradewill be held at 6:30 p.m.

December 7Bloomfield Celebration of Lights

Bloomfield’s Celebration of Lights Christmasdisplay will be offered December 7-January 4,2016 at Salmon Park, 501 N. 5th Street. The official lighting of the displays will be held afterthe Christmas Parade on December 7. For moreinformation or to purchase a display, call 505-632-5600.

December 10Santa in the Park

anta in the Park will be held from 4-7 p.m. December 10 at the Bloomfield Cultural Centeron First Street in Bloomfield. Free photos of children with Santa and his elves will be offered.Elves will also hand out free coloring books and

candy. Luminarias will line the streets and parksin Bloomfield and a hot air balloon will be tethered outside the Cultural Center. For moreinformation, call 505-632-0880,

December 10Deck the House

The Bloomfield Deck the House holiday display judging will be held from 7-9 p.m. December 10. Applications for those wishing tobe included in the judging are available at theBloomfield Chamber of Commerce office, 224 Broadway. For more information, call 505-632-0880.

December 12Bloomfield Craft Fair

9 a.m. to 3 p.m.Bloomfield High School520 N. First St. BloomfieldGreat opportunity to get that last minute

shopping done and find that one of a kindChristmas gift! All proceeds from space sales willgo to the Bloomfield Boys and Girls Club andthe Bloomfield High School Cheerleaders. Information: 505.486.6244

Bloomfield Christmas events

DECEMBER 2 - 5FESTIVAL OF TREES

Explore a winter wonderland amid an indoorforest of artfully decorated Christmas trees atthe annual Festival of Trees. Enjoy special eventsincluding Teddy Bear Tea, Storytelling, FamilyNight, and more, at the Farmington Civic Cen-ter. This event is organized by PresbyterianMedical Services.Information: 505.599.1148

DECEMBER 3 FARMINGTON CHRISTMAS PARADE

The annual lighted Christmas parade runs from5:45 p.m. to 10 p.m. Parade route runs throughHistoric Downtown Farmington along MainStreet. For parade applications and theme, callthe Farmington Chamber of Commerce. Information: 505.325.0279

DECEMBER 3CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY DELIGHT

Get into the spirit of the season with SycamorePark Community Center, 1051 Sycamore St.,from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Cookies and hot choco-late are available to celebrate Christmas. Comeprepared with your Christmas list; Santa will be

sharing the evening with us. This is a free event.Information: 505.566.2480 orwww.fmtn.org/spcc

DECEMBER 4RIVERGLO

Berg Park is illuminated by hundreds of lumi-naries along the edge of the Animas River. Bundle up your family or invite that specialsomeone for an unforgettable evening. Stopalong the trail to enjoy carolers, musical per-formances, bonfires, a live nativity and, ofcourse, Santa! This annual Farmington eventtakes place along the trails of Berg Park – 6 p.m.to 8 p.m.

DECEMBER 5SAN JUAN COLLEGE LUMINARIES

Take part in a beautiful New Mexico traditionand walk or drive through one of the largest lu-minaria displays in northwest New Mexico.Enjoy the luminarias, holiday music, carolers,hot chocolate, a star gaze and live nativity. Dis-play illuminates the campus of San Juan Col-lege with thousands of candlelit sacks. San JuanCollege is located at 4601 College Blvd., Farmington. Red Apple Transit provides busservice through the display; call for details.Information: 505.566.3403

DECEMBER 5 SALMON RUINS

HOLIDAY ARTS & CRAFTS FAIR From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Salmon Ruins brings to-gether artisans from throughout the Four Cor-ners to display and sell their wares at McGeePark, off Hwy. 64, between Farmington andBloomfield, N.M.Information: 505.632.2013

DECEMBER 6 MIRACLE ON MAIN STREET

Celebrate the magic of Christmas at the newMiracle on Main Street holiday event from 2p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Farmington Civic Center,200 W. Arrington St. There will be a lot to do in-side and outside to get you into the holidayspirit. Activities include a holiday tree lighting,ice-skating rink, caroling, visit with Santa – andso much more.Information: 505.599.1148


Farmington Christmas events

DECEMBER 7 TO JANUARY 9ICE SKATING

Get ready for winter fun! Farmington has aunique treat for families this winter – an out-door ice-skating rink! The rink will be open tothe public weekdays from noon to 6 p.m. andweekends from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Farming-ton Civic Center, 200 W. Arrington St. Admissionwill be $5 for one-hour skate and skate rental. Information: 505.599.1148

DECEMBER 12JINGLE BELL JAMBOREE

Join the Farmington Recreation Center, Farm-ington Aquatic Center, and Sycamore ParkCommunity Center as we celebrate the holi-days with Jingle Bell Jamboree from 10 a.m. tonoon at the Recreation Center, 1101 Fair-grounds Road. Visit Santa and tell him what youwant for Christmas, create a festive holidaycraft, play games, and enjoy a doughnut with ahot cup of cocoa! There is a suggested dona-tion of $2 which will be contributed to charity,or bring two canned food items to help thosein need.Information: 505.599.1184, 505.599.1167,505.566.2480, or www.fmtn.org/prcaevents

DECEMBER 18AN EVENING OF GIVING WITH SHELDON

PICKERING AND FRIENDSThe benefit concert from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at theHenderson Fine Arts Center at San Juan Collegefeatures Sheldon Pickering and Friends for theIGW Pediatric Cancer Foundation that helpsraise awareness and monetary support for fami-lies with children fighting cancer.Information: 505.258.8148.

DECEMBER 19REINDEER ROMP

Join us for a little holiday cheer and participatein the 5K Reindeer Romp or the two-mile NorthPole Stroll! Held at Orchard Plaza in HistoricDowntown Farmington from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.,this is a family friendly event with children’swinter carnival games, live holiday music, hotchocolate, hot apple cider, holiday cookies, anda chance to see Santa! Information: 505.599.1184

DECEMBER 21 WINTER SOLSTICE

The Farmington Public Library has hosted theannual Winter Solstice Celebration for the Four

Corners area since 2003, making use of the li-brary’s architectural features, which include sol-stice markers, carefully calibrated and carvedinto the sandstone floor. Information: 505.599.1270 or www.infoway.org

DECEMBER 23 LIVE NAVAJO NATIVITY

Since 1985 Navajo Ministries has presented this

annual live nativity. A local favorite, it is a can’tmiss Christmas tradition. The nativity scene uses traditional Navajo gar-ments and live animals and is presented en-tirely by children at the Four Corners Home forChildren, 2103 W. Main St. in Farmington, from6 p.m. to 8 p.m.Information: 505.325.0255, 888.325.0255 orwww.navajoministries.org



Co-Owner and Executive Chef Chris Crowl ofEolus Bar and Dining, located at 919 Main Ave.in Durango, Colorado, sits at the bar next toChef Daniel Morrisroe. Light from the Main Av-enue window barely illuminates them in the stillquiet of the afternoon. Front of the house staffon occasion tread past the two men who are finetuning the menu for the Garden Project’s annualfundraiser – a fundraiser supporting communitygardens and a chance for Eolus to support localfarmers. Dining room manager and Co-OwnerJames Allred quickly paces in from the kitchen,and tucking in his pistachio green oxford asksCrowl, “Should we check out the rooftop?”

Crowl sits up. Pushing loose strands of his saltand pepper hair underneath his mesh trucker hatreveals large ear piercings and ¾-length Maoristyle tattoo sleeves on both arms, “Yeah, let’s seewhat’s going on up there,” he says.

Standing at over six feet tall, Crowl leadsAllred to the back of the house and up a narrow

flight of stairs. Crowl pushes open the door; thebright sun and the recently trimmed garden stopsthe two in their tracks. Metal troughs andwooden planter boxes sit to the left and right ofthe walkway full of fresh garden herbs, rows oftarragon and pineapple mint. Deck chairs sitturned upside down, wine glasses are racked,and a tray holding several bottles of olive oilrests on the empty bar.

“It looks totally different up here,” Crowllaughs.

“It’s not the same in the daytime,” Allred kicksback.

The two men pace the length of the diningarea. Crowl plans where decorative lights willhang and continues to marvel at the way every-thing looks as Allred sizes up where he will installthe storm door to help keep guests warm.

“Honestly, I wish some of my education wasvocational,” Allred says as he looks at where thedoor for the covered dining area will go. “You

know, plumbing and carpentry to keep thisrestaurant up and running tip-top.”

Crowl and Allred’s devotion to their restau-rant extends far beyond the fact that Eolus is stillin its 2-year infancy. It even goes beyond theirperforming the thankless maintenance tasks them-selves, and extends to transforming the restaurantculture from within, the paradigm that the bossesdon’t get their hands dirty. “It all comes fromsetting the culture and reforming the standard.The best part is that the employees know thatthey have their bosses working side by side withthem,” Allred says.

The two descend the stairs back into therestaurant as the conversation digresses from thedignity of hard work to what’s really important –talk of the mountains and skiing. Crowl’s eyeslight up as he goes into the intricacies of his newsplitboard setup and the custom Dynafit bind-ing/boot combination he has retrofitted to allowhim to snowboard in the backcountry. It’s clear

EolusBar and dining

Story and photos by Ben Brashear

The odyssey of Chris Crowl and James Allred


that both men maintain a “work hard play hard”mentality, and one of the many reasons Eolus is a“dinner only” establishment – that and their fami-lies.

In 1992 Crowl was just finishing a 21-monthprogram at the Culinary Institute of America(C.I.A.) in Hyde Park, New York – celebrity chefAnthony Bourdain is an alumnus. He was loggingan exhausting number of hours at the Four Sea-sons as a Sous Chef and trying to learn every sta-tion, even pastries, when he heeded the call ofthe west. “I had a calling out to the mountains,”Crowl says.

Sun Valley resort hired him on under the pre-tense of “fine dining,” Crowl mocks, and stuckhim on the breakfast crew. Unbeknown to Crowl,it would be a phone call from a C.I.A. friendworking at Krabloonik, a fine dining establish-ment accessed by dog sled and serving caribou,elk, and bison located in Snowmass, Colorado,that would ultimately set his career on track. “Mybuddy called me up boasting that Aspen had justgot nine feet of powder, and that’s all it took. Iasked him to get me on with the crew andmoved there anyway that summer,” Crowl says.

Crowl worked the line on up to eventually at-tain his position as executive chef over the nextsix years at Krabloonik. But, it would seem thatwith such an accelerated career Crowl felt thatthere was still a lot to be learned, that he wasmissing something. “I realized that I needed totake a step back in my career and really focus onmy learning, on my training,” Crowl recalls. “Iwanted to make sushi.”

He left Krabloonik and had to convinceworld-renowned sushi chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa,or “Nobu,” at Matsuhisa’s to let him simply workas a line cook working sauté or the tempura, de-spite his experience as an executive chef. Al-though the chefs were traditional Japanese andvery guarded with their techniques, it wasCrowl’s hard work and devotion to the craft thateventually got them to lower their guard.

“I proved I was a passionate worker and al-ways carried a notepad. The sushi chefs wouldcall me over and show me different things; theysaid it took five years to learn how to cook rice.Maybe to be a master but I’m a western chef, Irespect the tradition, but I just wanted to learnhow to do it. It was a huge turning point in mycareer,” Crowl says.

Allred glances at Crowl as though he knows

Crowl’s story verbatim as he runs his handthrough his gelled hair and smiles. “I don’t haveany formal training in Hospitality,” he says. “It’sjust been a lifetime of experience for me. Istarted out as a worker bee at McDonalds andthen started moving around. I realized in mytwenties, working as a server in the Tetons, thatthere was actual money, a career, to be made inthis industry.”

Allred bounced back and forth between theTetons and Resort Island in Florida, serving ta-bles, and eventually as a manager, and earning alevel 1 sommelier certification, but it was the

lure of the mountains that landed him in Tellurideto work for Chad Scothorn at the Cosmopolitan.

And it is here, looking back, one might beconvinced of a divine hand laying out the intri-cate paths of Crowl and Allred that the fateswere truly behind their odyssey and the genesisof Eolus Bar and Dining. Crowl, in 2007,worked for Scothorn for no wage, or “staged,”in order to learn the kitchen and prove himselfat the Cosmopolitan.

“I brought five days of clothes and my knivesready to work,” Crowl said, “and that first nightwe did 237 covers. It was like double clutchin’


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and finding that high gear you know.” Crowl was hired on as Executive Chef and

helped to build the kitchen at what would be-come Cosmo Bar and Dining in Durango.Allred’s past association with the Cosmopolitanallowed him in 2010 to join Cosmo as the din-ing room manager. In 2013, a yearlong dis-agreement over the direction of the restaurantbetween Allred, Crowl and Scothorn led to theeventual firing of Crowl and Allred. In re-sponse, the kitchen and front of the house staffwalked out in support of the two.

It’s now 6:30 p.m. and it’s a full house atEolus. Tungsten lamps hang low over the tablescasting a warm hue over the room. Large ab-stract paintings of topographical detail depict

the Silverton area and Mount Eolus. An eighttop of Twin Buttes farmers that supply Eoluswith fresh produce sit adjacent to the small cor-ner booth that Crowl and Allred now occupy.“A little off topic,” Crowl says waving his handtoward the table of farmers “but, that’s what Ilove about this community, the partnership wehave developed with local farmers, farmerscoming in here enjoying themselves, dinner, andeven a hug from me sometimes,” he says.

Crowl, demurely laughs off his digression ashe remembers being fired by Scothorn. “Someinteresting things happened then, you know,things went south between us and Scothorn, butwe worked hard to get back from that,” hesays.

Shortly after being fired, the two men spentthe next six months working with local investorsto buy out Scothorn. The two wanted to rebuildthe restaurant into an image that reflected theirunique personality and the community of Du-rango. “We were using parts of our brain thatwe hadn’t used since high school,” Allred jokesas he remembers all of the lawyers and longhours drafting a viable business plan.

“We were sitting there, late into the night,searching for a bunch of names as we were “warrooming” around James’ kitchen table trying toestablish our new identity,” Crowl reminisces.“We threw around names like Aspect and Spire,looked at maps of the area and even consid-ered a variety of train names.”


The words have barely left his lips as Allred sits upand interjects, “Yeah, but it was April that landed uson Eolus,” he says.

“You’re right, yeah, it was my wife, April, that sug-gested Eolus,” Crowl says.

The two liked the sound of Eolus and loved themany connotations associated with the Greek god ofwind, Aeolus, and with the 14,000-foot MountEolus located in the Needle Mountain range north ofDurango. And it was with that gentle westerly windof Aeolus that Allred and Crowl pushed the restau-rant to what it has now become.

“We left Bar and Dining in the name as a nod tothe past,” Crowl says, “and we kept some of the familiar classics I had been cooking. But, you know,we also have the nightly features where we can reallypush the boundaries. You want to create things thathave a sense of familiarity but also a sense of something new.”

Pushing the boundaries while educating and em-powering their customers is their main goal. Tonightit’s Mahi-Mahi from Panama paired with a red currycoconut milk on Jasmine rice, and Napa cabbage,carrots, and a lime cilantro shipped in from a localfarm in Mancos.

“You create that unique sense of trust with thecustomer and then push them into new territory,”Crowl laughs.

The house lights suddenly dim. Dinner is in fullswing signaling to Chris it’s time to get back into hiskitchen. It is clear that Allred and Crowl are investedin their restaurant and even joke that they have thedream to perhaps open another venue. For now,though, it’s about enjoying the hard work they’ve invested in the restaurant and their employees andspending time with their families. “You know for meit is all about not taking anything for granted. Imean, this is amazing,” Allred gestures with bothhands outstretched to encompass the restaurant. “I come in here and can’t believe that this is ourrestaurant and you never want to become compla-cent. You can’t be like this is our “walk-off homerun” and take it easy,” he smiles.

Beverly Charley is the new veterans’ services officer for

the Farmington office of the New Mexico Department of

Veterans’ Services.

“I love working for veterans because that’s who I am

and that’s what I’ve done in my life,” she said.

She is a passionate advocate for veterans, but when she

graduated from Farmington High School in 1990 she had

no idea that would become her life’s work.

She got in trouble hanging with the wrong crowd and

drinking in high school. Once she graduated, she didn’t

know what she should do. Whatever she chose, whether

continuing her schooling or joining the military, she knew

she wanted to get out of Farmington.

Something bigger out there“I was young and naïve,” Beverly said. “I wanted to get

away from Farmington. It was small. I didn’t want to be

here. There was something bigger out there. I just knew I

had to go out and do it.”

Several of her friends had joined to the military, so

Beverly paid a visit to the Army recruiting officer. Her

mother, Mary Charley, had no idea what she’d done until,

shortly before Beverly joined, the recruiting officer

knocked on her door to tell her about her daughter’s

plans.

“I think that was a good choice for her,” Mary said. “At

the time, there were some kids roaming around here, and

I didn’t want her to get involved with any of them. I

thought if I can’t train her, maybe the Army can.”

Get away from Mom’s rulesThe second youngest of eight children, Beverly was anx-

ious to get away from her mother’s rules. The military wasn’t

exactly what she’d imagined. As soon as she stepped off the

bus for basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, the

yelling began.

“Doing these rules, getting yelled at, I left home for

this?” she remembered thinking to herself. “I was not happy

with my mom’s rules. Now I am here under strangers’ rules.”

Trying to tough it out on her own, she didn’t call home.

When her recruiter contacted her and convinced her to call

her mom, she broke down on the phone when she heard

Mary’s voice. Her mother encouraged her to stick it out, and

she did. Mary sent her daughter care packages throughout

Beverly’s military career and included extra items for people

who didn’t get packages from home.

Now Mom is her best friend“Now that I’m grown up, I think if I could only rewind a

few things in my life,” Beverly said. “My mom and I are best

friends today.”

During the 14 years Beverly was in the military, her

mother worried about her safety. “Ever since she went in, I

was on my knees praying that everything would work out for



Veteran Beverly Charlie honored to help those who serve our country


her,” Mary said. “But I didn’t know I was

praying for all the things she’s doing now.

She really surprised me. I thank God the

Army turned her life around.”

Works in a warehouseIn the Army, Beverly trained to handle

supplies and work in a warehouse. Her first

duty station was in Giebelstadt, Germany.

From there, she went to Mogadishu, Somalia,

where she worked in a warehouse and

learned to drive five-ton trucks and other

vehicles. She was deployed to Haiti twice.

When it came time for her to reenlist, she

was given a choice about where to go. She

chose Hawaii and called her mother all ex-

cited. But a few days later she called again,

upset. She’d been told plans had changed

and she was going to Korea.

“Can you do anything about that?” she

asked her mom.

Mary had no idea what to do. She was a

night attendant at Childhaven. She recently

retired from that position after more than

30 years. Mary’s brother suggested she look

in the newspaper to find legislators’ phone

numbers. She followed his advice and called

former Senator Pete Domenici. She told the

woman who answered the phone what had

happened, and the lady promised to let

Domenici know about the situation. A day

or two later Mary received a call from a lady

in Gallup who told her she was Bill Richard-

son’s secretary. At the time, he was the gov-

ernor of New Mexico. The lady said she

would talk to Richardson and call Mary back

the next day.

Goes to HawaiiMary never got that call. Instead, Beverly

called her all excited. She was going to

Hawaii after all! “She told me, ‘I knew you

had something to do with it,’” Mary recalled.

After serving in Hawaii, Beverly was reas-

signed to Fort Bliss, Texas, where she was a

passenger in a truck that jackknifed. She was

thrown from the vehicle and suffered a head

injury. She still doesn’t remember the

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accident, but she recovered. While at Fort Bliss,

she began dating the man who fathered her

daughter, Kiara. The relationship didn’t last. She

was seven months pregnant when the Army granted

her request to return to Germany, so she reen-

listed. Her daughter was born in Amberg, Ger-

many, on July 15, 2001.

The Twin Towers fell two months later on Sep-

tember 11, and after that everyone was on high

alert. “It was 100 percent guard duty around the

clock,” Beverly said. “I got to see my daughter

only when I came home to rest.”

Leaves daughter with MomThe best solution, Beverly decided, was to let

her mother keep Kiara in New Mexico. When the

military gave her permission to make a quick

round trip flight to Albuquerque, Beverly left

her baby with her family. It was the hardest thing

she’s ever done.

Shortly after Beverly returned to Germany,

she was deployed to Iraq. “We were in huge

sandstorms where you can’t see two feet in front

of you,” she said. “It was hot. We had to be sure

the soldiers drank water every 30 minutes.”

At the end of 2002, Beverly finally came

home to New Mexico for a visit and to reestab-

lish ties with Kiara, whom she took back to Ger-

many with her. One of her nieces came along as

a live-in babysitter.

Change of plansIn 2005, Beverly spent time in Fort Riley,

Kansas, training to become an E-6. She faced an-

other deployment to Iraq, and she knew she

couldn’t take Kiara with her. She tried to put her

mother on her family care plan so Kiara could

stay with Mary, but the process took longer than

she thought. She asked for more time to make

arrangements for her daughter, but the military

denied her request.

“One lady said the chaplain could find a fam-

ily for me in Kansas,” Beverly said. Her usually

gentle eyes hardened at the memory. “That drew

the line. I said, ‘You think I’m going to leave my

daughter with some family I don’t even know?’”

Instead, she resigned from the military. It was

May 2005, an d she hadn’t made plans about

what she’d do when she got back to Farmington.

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She thought she’d sleep in, take a long vaca-

tion and enjoy herself.

Unprepared for post-military life“I didn’t think of a job,” she said. “I didn’t

think of dental, medical, apartment costs, gro-

ceries. In the military, all that was taken care

of. When I was getting out, I had to go through

these briefing sessions so I would know what I

was doing. I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, come

on, because I want to go.”

She had to worry about medical and dental

care for her daughter. Rent for apartments was

more than she could afford. For awhile, she

lived with her sister in Bloomfield. When she

got a job at the Motor Vehicle Department in

Farmington, she moved to Farmington to share

quarters with her mother in a mobile home.

The MVD job opened up doors she didn’t ex-

pect, because there she met a veteran who told

her about veterans’ benefits available to her if

she would apply for them. Through his sugges-

tions, she learned about the New Mexico Work-

force Connections, which encourages area busi-

nesses to hire veterans. She got a job there and

worked at Workforce Connections for nine years

.

Habitat for Humanity helps herDuring that time, a veteran’s representative

for Presbyterian Medical Services told her

about Habitat for Humanity and urged her to

apply for a Habitat house. So she did.

“It took Habitat almost two years to build

my home,” Beverly said. “I was helping them

every Saturday. It was one of the values I

learned. If someone is doing something for

you, you’ve got to be there. It helped me

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appreciate my house a whole lot more.”

She and Kiara moved into their new house in

2012. Now instead of keeping their clothes in

two Tupperware containers at Mary’s house,

sleeping in the living room and folding up their

mattress every morning, they live in their own

three-bedroom home.

“With the grace of God and my family and

friends, I’ve made it,” Beverly said.

Helps homeless veteransThough Beverly has never been homeless,

she understands what it feels like not to have a

place of your own. That’s one reason why she

became involved with the San Juan County

Homeless Stand Down. It gives homeless veter-

ans a day to have some of their needs met,

from medical care and haircuts to clothing and

groceries. They also learn about services and

opportunities available to them.

David Drake, coordinator of San Juan Col-

lege’s Veteran Center, has worked with Beverly

over the last three years as part of the annual

Stand Down event.

“Beverly is especially energetic and passion-

ate about helping our veterans,” Drake said.

“Not only is she dedicated, she also is proac-

tive in coordinating with local agencies to pro-

vide the support and resources our veterans

need.”

Pool of contacts expandsBeverly is also involved with a female group

of American Veterans, or AmVets, who network

to meet the needs of fellow veterans. She’s a

member of Women Veterans of New Mexico,

and she joined the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Through the VFW she’s come in contact with

veterans who either own companies or know

people who do, and it’s increased her pool of

contacts to help veterans find jobs.

In April, she expanded her experience of

helping veterans by becoming the veterans’

service officer for the Farmington office of the

New Mexico Department of Veterans’ Services.

It’s her goal to help veterans find the resources

they need to make a smooth reentry into civil-

ian life. She knows how hard that transition can

be. When she left the military after 14 years,

she hadn’t made plans for easing back into

civilian life.

“When I got out it was like hitting a brick

wall,” she said.

County takes care of its ownThrough the huge pool of contacts she’s

gathered over the years, she’s often able to

help veterans get the transitioning help they

need.

“San Juan County takes care of its own,” she

said. “I’ve gone out there in outreach on be-

half of veterans looking for work, and people

have supported everything I’ve done from New

Mexico Work Force to my job today.”

“San Juan County takes care of its own.”

— Beverly Charley


Feat of Clay co-op helps artists get their foot in the art world’s door

A home for

tAlent, imAginAtion

Feat of Clay is a co-op of artists that accepts members who

work in any kind of medium. For the last eight years it’s been at

107 S. Main Ave. in a high ceilinged building flooded with light.

It had its start 15 years ago in a tiny sliver of a building on Main

Avenue, and it’s been an active presence in the city’s life ever

since.

“Feat of Clay has been one of the businesses in Aztec that

has stayed for quite a long time,” said member Jessica Polatty.

“The visitors’ center promotes us constantly. A lot of people

shop here because our prices are so much better than in Du-

rango. We keep the commission very low.”

Great outlet for artistsArtists pay a 15 percent commission to Feat of Clay and

keep the rest. “It’s a great outlet for artists,” Jessica said. She is

a potter and photographer when she’s not running the Bloom-

field Senior Center. She also teaches pottery there and at San

Juan College in the Encore program for senior citizens.

Feat of Clay is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays

through Saturdays. There are also receptions for featured artists


on the fourth Friday evening of every month.

“The reception is supposed to go from 5 to 7

p.m.,” said co-op member Fiona Clark, “but

people don’t leave until eight. They come and

stay around and really enjoy it.”

It’s all about communityMembers bring food, and volunteer musicians

provide music. “It’s not about making money. It’s

about the community coming together,” Fiona

said. “Whoever applies, we jury their work. We’re

open to any form of artists.”

Perhaps their most frequent musician volun-

teer is Charles Stacey. “He comes in and puts

down his tip jar and his CDs,” Jessica said.

“He sold five CDs at the last show.”

Fiona added, “If other musicians approach us,

they are more than welcome.”

Special shows through the yearThere are also special shows throughout the

year. They include Hearts of Art, a recycling

show, a show to promote art in various communi-

ties, and a garden show.

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re a jeweler, a

sculptor, metal worker or writer as long as you

stick to the theme,” said Fiona. “I love those

shows. I like the independent artists.”

Fiona puts the evening shows together and

spends time decorating the store. She also works

several three-and-a-half-hour shifts during the

week. Those shifts lower her portion of the

monthly fee, which covers the cost of rent, utili-

ties, insurance and staples such as toilet paper.

Tourists stop at the gallery on their way be-

tween Albuquerque and Durango, or they drop

by after eating at one of the restaurants across

the street. When they’re not serving customers or

rearranging shelves after an item sells, members

take care of janitorial duties and work on their

own art.

Keep prices low“We always get the comment, ‘You are so in-

expensive here,’” Fiona said. “That’s because we

want local people to buy local.”

Their plan to keep prices low has served the

co-op well. Bonnie Adams, who came up with

the idea for the co-op in 2000, said, “Feat of

Clay has floated on top of any economic situa-

tion that the country has been in. There’s always

this transition of artists and styles, so it’s almost

immune from the nation’s economic situation be-

cause it’s flexible and has been able to survive

and do well. It’s almost like it breathes.”

It was that need to breathe well, to join with

other artists and to flourish that led Bonnie, not

long after she moved to Aztec from back East in

2000, to suggest the idea of a co-op.

Co-op starts in tiny space“I had always enjoyed clay,” said Bonnie, who

in 2000 worked as a nurse at San Juan Regional

Medical Center. “I was basically teaching myself

from a book. Then I got involved with the col-

lege’s wonderful clay program. One day I drove

past this little tiny space in a building at the

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corner of Main and Chuska in Aztec. I knew all

these interesting people doing clay, and I

thought wouldn’t it be cool to have a place

where we could make art affordable for the

community and give a venue for newer artists to

have an affordable place for their work.”

When she suggested it to fellow potters at a

meeting in an Aztec home on Pioneer Avenue,

they loved it. Together they came up with the

name Feat of Clay. They rented the 20-foot by

5-foot space that included lots of shelves and a

curtained bathroom – which members had to

back into because the space was so confined.

The building had no heat, so in the winter mem-

bers sometimes ran across the street to a book-

store, got a cup of coffee and watched through

the bookstore window until customers arrived at

the gallery.

Co-op grows“If you had two people come in to shop, you

walked out of the store to give them room,” said

member Toni Trosky, a potter who has branched

into jewelry. “We had a tiny table with a chair

and a cash box, which we still use.”

In spite of the small quarters, they began to

grow. In 2002, they moved to a larger store at

108 S. Main Ave., then owned by Ruby Pettijohn

of Farmington, who at the time lived two miles

north of Aztec. The building had once housed a

cabinet shop. With the bigger space, they de-

cided to expand their membership to artists in

many media.

“That was a really good turning point for Feat

of Clay when we opened up to a lot more forms

of art,” Jessica said. “Anything. The sky was the

limit.”

Bonnie stayed with Feat of Clay until 2002

when she became a manager at the hospital and

her life grew too complicated. “I may have

birthed the baby, but Jessica raised the child,”

Bonnie said of the way Feat of Clay has ma-

tured.

Spots perfect galleryWhile they were at 108 S. Main Ave., Jessica

kept her eye on a vacant building across the

street at 107 S. Main Ave. “I thought it would

make a perfect gallery,” she said. “Tall stamped

metal ceilings, huge windows, lots of light.”

When she and Fiona approached the Rebec-

cas, who owned the building, the owners were

gracious. “They said, ‘What kind of floors do you

want? We’re redoing the whole building,’” Jessica

recalled. “We said, ‘White paint, Pergo floors.’

So they did the whole thing for us, knowing we

were going to move in. We’ve been here for

eight years. I don’t ever want to leave.”

Fiona joined the group in 2001 and has been

with Feat of Clay ever since. Originally from

Australia, she and her husband have no family

here, so fellow artists at Feat of Clay have be-

come her second family. She loves putting to-

gether the artists’ receptions.

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Eight-week show beginning November 20

Right now Feat of Clay is featuring eight

artists during an eight-week show from Novem-

ber 20 until after the New Year. They are

showing work that ranges from pottery and

jewelry to mixed media and books.

“They have an opportunity to show their

work somewhere instead of it being in their

cupboard or in their studio,” said Fiona.

“We’ve set up space so they can have a gallery

experience.”

It’s especially gratifying when someone buys

a piece made by a co-op member who hap-

pens to be working a shift at the gallery.

Members share their methods“I had a lady come in when I was here, and

she bought a cup,” Toni said. “It happened to

be my cup, so I could talk to her about it. She

wanted to know the process I used. She was

from out east. She said she usually buys a mug

in every town she visits. She said our gallery

was very attractive.”

On another day, a lady who lives in Nevada

and is originally from Germany stopped by

when Toni worked a shift. “Whenever she

makes a trip to Albuquerque, she always tries

to stop at Feat of Clay,” Toni said.

Co-op members work with other galleries

and businesses in Aztec to promote shopping in

the municipality.

“For a small town like Aztec, you have to

have more than just Feat of Clay as a reason to

come here if you’re coming from Farmington or

somewhere else,” said Jessica. “We’re just one

leg. That’s why we welcome anybody who

comes in and does anything retail-wise or art-

wise. We hope we will market doing cross-pro-

motional things.”

Co-op has committeesJessica is on the co-op’s marketing commit-

tee. There are also jury, maintenance, educa-

tion, and design committees. The co-op is

46 | MAJESTIC LIVING | winter 2015

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overseen by a five-member board of which Fiona

is president. The board is a simpler way to make

month-to-month decisions than trying to get 12-

15 members together at a time, Jessica ex-

plained.

“We encourage all the members to be part of

the different committees that we have,” she said.

“It helps get them more involved.”

New co-op member Brittane Thompson of

Aztec was impressed with how quickly and at-

tractively the gallery displayed her art work. She

came into the gallery one day asking about be-

coming a member of the co-op, and a few days

later her work hung on a gallery wall.

“I make angels,” she said, “Some are adhered

to a cross that’s decoratively in harmony with

the color of the angels’ costumes. I use the

Celtic cross, which predates Christianity by 300

years, because it symbolizes the unity of heaven

and earth. When I make them, I feel like I’m

contributing something to peace.”

Artists get their foot in the doorCo-op members see the gallery as a way to

help artists like Brittane get their foot in the

door of the art world.

“I call it my labor of love,” Jessica said, “be-

cause it’s the place where we started, and we all

have this really great opportunity to display local

art work.”


The Dick and Jane books that were popular in

the 1930s-1970s showed siblings having fun and

helped teach children how to read.

Later in the 1970s – 1979, to

be exact – Dick and Jane

bought Bob and Bill’s Trading

Post, just north of the New Mex-

ico state line in Colorado, and

new chapters of the now-married

Dick and Jane began.

The 1930s Dick and Jane were

siblings – the 1979 Dick and Jane

met each other at a party in 1970

and their own story began.

Dick was the older man at the

party, Jane remembered, and the

connection between them was im-

mediate. “He had a motorcycle, he

was seven years older, and he was

very exciting,” Jane Banes said,

adding that they married in 1971.

In 1979, the dashing Dick

and the petite and blonde Jane

were looking for an opportu-

nity when the Bob and Bill Trading

Post went up for sale. “We decided that’s what

we wanted to do – and to make it or break it,”

Banes said.

The store was a convenience store when the

Banes purchased it, but became more than that

as the months and years went by. We added gro-

ceries and 3.2 beer and expanded into sou-

venirs,” Banes said. “We sold

lottery

tickets and Carhart work clothes –

and we worked real hard.”

Customers became friends, Banes said. “We

had loyal customers and we tried to treat them

fairly,” she added. “We wanted their business,

not just their money.”

Holidays were celebrated, with Hal-

loween being a favorite one. “We’d let the

kids pick out whatever they wanted from

our very long counter of choices,” Banes

said with smile. “We didn’t have children

of our own, so we thought of the kids as

ours.” Many of those kids – who now

have kids of their own – still stay in

touch, Banes said.

The Banes worked from 6 a.m. to 9

p.m. seven days a week. “In 15 years,

we only had two weeks that we didn’t

work,” Banes said. “We had young peo-

ple who helped us, but we were always

there early and late.”

In 1994, the Banes sold the store, and

they moved to Dutchman’s Hill, north of

Aztec. “Dick had a tractor with a backhoe

and he worked on small jobs and with sev-

eral contractors,” Banes said. “Dick loved his

tractor and being on it, moving dirt and dig-

ging holes.”

Dick and Jane tried fly fishing trips once

they sold the store. “But the places we fished in

our lives before the store had changed,” Banes

said. “Dick suggested golf, as he had played in

college. When we took up the sport, I was

hooked.”


A passion for golf and her kind volunteer spirit keeps Jane Banes’ calendar full


Tom Yost, the executive director of First Tee,

met Dick and Jane when he was the head golf

professional at Riverview Golf Course in Kirtland

in 2001.

“They were members at the golf course and

played at least three or four times per week. Jane

was heavily involved with the Ladies Golf Associa-

tion at Riverview,” Yost said. “My staff and I loved

to see Jane as she was always bringing cookies,

food or trinkets for my staff. And she was always

so cheery, whether she was going to compliment

you or if she had a concern.”

“She and Dick were a perfect couple, as she

complemented his gruff, sarcastic comments beau-

tifully,” Yost added.

Banes enjoyed substitute teaching for Aztec

schools for 12 years, but when her mother be-

came ill, she put her energies and love in caring

for her. And, over the years, Dick’s health began

to suffer.

In July of this year, Dick passed away, after 44

½ years of marriage to his Jane.

Dick’s family was also Jane’s family, and they

were there to support her. In addition, Jane has

friends who help keep her busy.

“It’s been tough,” Banes said of the months

since Dick died. “I couldn’t have made it without

my support group of friends and family. They

keep me active and they call and text,” Banes

said. “I’m a strong person, but I still have mo-

ments, especially in the evenings. Dick was sick for

some time and I’m glad he encouraged me to get

out and do things.”

And Jane does things. She’s on the board of

directors of First Tee of San Juan County, serves

on the Farmington Parks and Recreation Commis-

sion, is a volunteer with the San Juan Medical

Foundation and is an ambassador for the founda-

tion’s Get Pinked festivities each October. Most

days, however, find Banes on the golf course. She

belongs to the Four Corners Ladies Golf Team

and enjoys playing golf with her friends any time

she can.

Deb Cutler got to know Banes while serving

on the Farmington Parks and Recreation Commis-

sion.

“Jane is kind and outgoing,” Cutler said. “She

follows through with her commitments and can be

relied on to get a job done.”


“She has a very caring side to her, helping

those in most need,” Cutler added. “She is mov-

ing through the grief of the loss of her husband

with grace. I believe this is due to her faith. And

last, but not least, she always wears a smile. Al-

ways!”

Being on the Parks and Recreation Commis-

sion has given Banes the opportunity to help di-

rect Piñon Hills Golf Course – where she spends

much of her time. She also spends time volun-

teering as a member of the First Tee Board.

“Jane is a go-getter,” said Tom Yost,” and is a

true asset, as she is to any and all organizations

she’s involved with. She’s not afraid to fundraise

and ask for donations. She comes to meetings

prepared and speaks her mind on topics that she

is versed on and is passionate about.”

“I play golf three times a week,” Banes said

with a laugh. “Golf is my passion. It’s me against

the golf course. I always play with friends and we

always try to conquer the golf course.”

While Riverview and Piñon Hills are her regu-

lar courses to play, the ladies golf team plays Du-

rango, Pagosa, Cortez, Dalton Ranch, the San

Juan Country Club, in addition to Riverview and

Piñon Hills. Next year, the group plans to include

a course in Monticello, Utah, in the mix.

This summer, Banes made her first road trip by

herself. “I went to see Dick’s sister in Lakewood,

Colorado, and I stopped in Pueblo (Colorado)

to see a friend, and I visited friends in Colorado

Springs,” she said. “It was the first time I’d been

in control of a trip and if I wanted to stop (along

the way), I did. I really enjoyed it.”

“I was gone seven days,” she added. “The

biggest challenge I had was making sure I got on

the right road – and to keep my foot off the gas

pedal!”

Banes hopes to continue to travel. “I have

friends in Texas and Tennessee and I plan to see

them soon, if the weather cooperates. I want to

get out and be a little more adventurous.”

While Dick helped prepare her for life

without him, Banes admits it still isn’t easy. “We

talked about finances and we talked about a lot

of things,” she said. “But there were things we

didn’t think about. I still haven’t learned how to

turn on the television that’s in the living room.

Dick had lots of remote controls and they’re all

different. So I just watch the television in the

bedroom.”

Banes still lives in the home in Farmington they

purchased several years ago and has no plans to

move. At Dick’s funeral, Banes said she was

touched by the outpouring of love for her hus-

band and for her. “That’s the beauty of living in

a small town,” she said, adding that people care

about each other and reach out to help in times

of need.

Tyra van Belle said having a friend like Jane is

“almost too good to be true when it comes to

describing a friend.”

“I, like everyone else, had known who Dick

and Jane were simply because of the notoriety of

Dick and Jane’s Place,” van Belle said. “We be-

came casual friends through golf; however be-

came very good friends about 10 years ago.

During that time, my late husband and I were

going through some difficult times. Dick and Jane

spent a lot of time with us in Arizona, hanging

out, playing golf – and they even bought a park

model near ours. Needless to say, we spent a lot

of time together.”

“When someone is as thoughtful and giving of

themselves as Jane is, it’s hard to feel as though

you can measure up when they’re in a time of

need, as Jane has been for a number of years,”

van Belle added. “Dick was a pretty sick guy a

lot longer than everyone really knew or that Jane

would let on. She is always the first to offer, but

the last to ask for help – even to appear as if

she needs help.”

“Jane is a very strong woman and she will be

fine,” van Belle said of her friend. “She will al-

ways love and cherish Dick and move on through

life as he would have her do. It is not her

makeup to sit around and feel sorry for herself.

She has her moments and always will, but has too

much to give to withdraw from everyone and will

(always give) her vibrancy and love to others.”

Barbara Karnes met Banes in high school. “She

joined my friends and me for the daily half-hour

walk to the school,” Karnes shared. “Her quick

laugh and wicked sense of humor meant that she

fit in everywhere she went. Jane has always been

a ‘people person,’ finding everyone she meets in-

teresting and fun to talk to.”

When Banes was caring for her mother, Karnes

said Banes filled her down time tracking down

classmates for a Del Norte (Colorado) High

School reunion. “Not only did she develop some

first rate detective skills, but she also managed to

convince several of those she found to attend

the reunion – many for the first time,” Karnes

said.

“Jane is a very good listener and she has a way

of drawing people out,” Karnes added. “She

truly cares and is thrilled when she hears of class-

mates finding each other again or forming new

friendships after all these years.”

Surrounded by friends and family, Banes said

life has been easier than she had expected. And

she has advice for others who lose a spouse.

“Stay strong and stay active,” she said. “Don’t

turn down any invitations. People invite you out

of kindness and it’s good to get out and see

people.”

Tom Yost said Banes is more than a dedicated

volunteer. “I consider Jane a very good friend –

but even more than that, Jane is like another

mother to all that she comes into contact with,”

Yost said. “She and Dick weren’t able to have

children, but the entire community that she im-

pacts on a daily basis are her children. And we

love her to death.”

Life is different for one of the stars of this

Dick and Jane book. Jane is now the first one to

offer support and help for others going through

what she has since Dick passed away. And while

life isn’t the same without her life partner, she

cherishes the memories that have made her chap-

ters of Dick and Jane happy and full of love.52 | MAJESTIC LIVING | WINTER 2015

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“Golf is my passion. It’s me against the golf course.”

— Jane Banes


Imagine standing on the roof of an earth-

quake-damaged department store building in

Van Nuys, California, covered in roof tar, when

the president of Robinson’s May Company

walks up to you and offers you a six-figure

check to help your local high school. If you

can imagine this, you have an idea of what it

was like to be Dan Rooney, of Aztec, in 1994.

Rooney traveled from Arizona to Califor-

nia on January 17, 1994, after receiving an

early morning phone call about a cata-

strophic earthquake in Northridge, California.

Robinson’s May Company wanted his com-

pany, Cat-5 Restoration and Construction to

repair their buildings. He gathered his five-

member construction team and 35 high

school students to go and help.

“When we arrived at LAX, the airport was

just closing. It took us 11 hours to go 11

miles,” Rooney said.

His destination was a 400,000-square-

foot store in Santa Monica, California. The

basement had 13-foot ceilings with 16 feet

of water in it.

“It’s amazing the dynamics of earthquakes

and what they do to buildings,” Rooney said.

May Company had 22 Southern California

stores damaged by the earthquake, and

Rooney was one of three contractors hired

to repair them. He was assigned six stores,

and all but his six ended up condemned.

The Van Nuys store become a sort of

clearing house for damaged merchandise,

which, along with supplies, was distributed

reliefDan Rooney helps people rebuild after tragedy strikes

Story by Debra Mayeux | Photos by Josh Bishop


among the people and families dis-

placed by the tragedy. “They turned

over inventory 11 times from the Fri-

day until the Monday,” after the

quake, Rooney said.

The students he took with him were

honest, hard-working kids, and they

were rewarded with the check.

This, however, was not Rooney’s

only brush with the catastrophic after-

math of Mother Nature’s wrath. “I’ve

been to I don’t know how many cata-

strophic events,” Rooney said. He has

done jobs in Guam, Argentina, Mexico,

Canada and “in all four geographic

corners of the U.S., and in the foreign

country of Manhattan,” he said.

Rooney’s wife, Judy, said that she

supports him in his work. “The main

thing is it’s always exciting for him and

it’s something he truly loves,” she said.

“He’s also out there making a differ-

ence in people’s lives.”

Judy said her husband’s work brings

him great joy, so much so that he

would drop planned vacations to help

assist those in need.

Rooney was on his way to Alaska for

a men’s outdoor wilderness adventure

when Hurricane Katrina hit New Or-

leans. “You can’t plan this stuff,”

Rooney said. He left his friends and

gathered 265 students and construc-

tion workers to go and help.

Rooney’s was one of the first teams

in New Orleans. “Louisiana was a

mess,” he said.

He pulled off something of a mira-

cle. “We set up our own camps. We

had 65 generators, and I can’t tell you

how we pulled it off – we never ran

out of fuel,” Rooney said.

The entire time, he and the students

worked to help the people rebuild.

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And when it was no longer safe or feasible

to be in Louisiana, they moved into Texas.

When disaster strikes, “there’s the same

pattern,” Rooney explained.

“The first three days people are working

together. By day four, the looting and rioting

starts.”

The bad actors are “imports,” or people

who don’t live in the communities. They come

in to take advantage of the situation. Rooney

has experienced it, and said “good always

prevails.”

Once in Texas, the team worked at the

Beaumont, Texas, mall. The teenagers worked

hard and got the job done, while still being

honest. Rooney recalled the authorities com-

ing in to check all of the contractor camps.

Several had stolen items from the wrecked

building, but in his group of 100 high school

students nothing was stolen. It was one of his

proudest moments.


So how does someone become an expert in repairing buildings damaged

by catastrophes?

For Rooney it was being in the right place at the right time and placing his

trust and faith in God.

His restoration and repair business began in 1982, in Mesa, Arizona, when

his insurance broker neighbor asked him to repair fences damaged by a mon-

soon. Then he was asked to fix a carport.

“I was building homes and remodeling homes,” Rooney said. However, he

decided to look into doing repairs for insurance companies. “My business

went from 80 percent building and remodels to 80 percent insurance repair

work.”

He made a practice of providing the customer with something better than

what they had to begin with, and his reputation grew. Rooney was known as a

fixer – somebody, who would come in and get the job done right the first

time.

“When we walk on the site, we can see the finished product and it’s a bet-

ter product than when the incident happened,” he said.

“I’ve been to I don’t know how many catastrophic events in all four geographic corners of the U.S., and in the foreign country of Manhattan.”

— Dan Rooney

419 E Broadway, Farmington NM. 505.436.2054www.CelebrationsPartyStoreAndMore.com

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HolidaysHappy

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Rooney proved this to the Mesa Church of

Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1990,

when the building was firebombed. The stake

president called him out to fix the building,

and Rooney had it completed in 103 days on

budget. This led to more work for the LDS

Church, with Rooney getting jobs all over the

country repairing church facilities.

“We have never not performed,” he said.

“We have never not delivered a building that

wasn’t on time or on budget.”

Cat-5 has obtained 32 North American In-

dustry Classification System certifications in

the construction industry, and Rooney is a

federal government certified contractor.

He moved the company to Aztec in January

of this year, because he always liked this area.

Rooney used to travel through Aztec and Farm-

ington with his family. His father moved horses

through the region. “I wanted a change of

pace. It was time to cool down and slow

down,” he said.

“It was difficult to leave children and family

behind,” Judy said of the move. “We were

ready for a new experience, and Dan’s always

wanted to live and work in a small town. We

are enjoying the small town experience.”

Judy added that she enjoys working in the

business. “It’s always awesome when you’re

working with your husband, and you’re trying

to build something together,” she said. “I can

say, ‘I love my boss.’”

Now Cat-5 is offering world-class restora-

tion and repair services to homeowners and

businesses in the Four Corners region, and

Rooney brings a wealth of knowledge, ma-

chines and contracting skills with him.

Cat-5 is located at 1710 W. Aztec Blvd. in

Aztec. For more information, call

505.334.4944.

Cat-5 has obtained 32 North American Industry

Classification System certifications in the construction industry,

and Rooney is a federal governmentcertified contractor.


After 26 years, Linda McNeal is closing

DeNae’s Boutique in San Juan Plaza. Her 92-

year-old father, Bill Smart, needs a little extra

help from his family, and Linda wants time to

give him that attention.

“He’s very lonesome right now even though

he does a lot of church activities,” Linda said.

“I want to have enough time for him so that he

knows he’s loved, because he’s always made us

feel very loved.”

Linda has a sister, Monica Calder, an English

teacher at Farmington High School, and a

brother, Bill Smart Jr., who is a contractor for

ConocoPhillips. They all plan to spend extra

time with their dad.

DeNae’s kept her busyLinda struggled to find time for her dad when

she owned DeNae’s. By the time she left the

store most nights, he was on his way to bed.

“I’m not just the owner. I’m a working

owner,” she said. “That means a lot of times

I’m down here six or seven days a week. When

you own your own business, you’re the book-

keeper, you’re the marketing person, the ad-

vertising and sales person, the janitor. You’re

whatever it takes to keep the business open.”

When her mother, Polly Smart, developed

Alzheimer’s her father took care of her for sev-

eral years until she died nine years ago. “He

took care of her all that time,” she said. “Now

I will be there for him. He was such a good fa-

ther and husband that he deserves to have

some quality time with his kids.”

Items sell quicklyAt first, Linda planned to close the store by

the end of November, but everything started sell-

ing so quickly at 50 percent off that she decided

to close by the first weekend in November.

Not only does she plan to spend more time

with her dad, but she also wants to go places

and do things with her husband, Pete McNeal,

who owns PLC Consulting, an oil and gas re-

lated business.

“My husband and I are getting to the age

where we want to start doing some things to-

gether,” she said. “We better do it while we’re

still able to do it. If he decides that he’s got

time off, we can go do something. We have not

ever been able to do that, so it’s time.”

Longtime FarmingtonianThough Linda was born in Haskell, Texas, in

1954, she moved to Farmington when she was

6 or 7 years old and has lived here ever since.

“Linda has been a wonderful part of this

community for a huge part of her life,” said

Gayle Dean, executive director of the San Juan

College Foundation. “DeNae’s has been an

All about familyAfter 26 years Linda McNeal closes DeNae’s Boutique

to spend more time with her familyPhotos by Margaret Cheasebro | Photos by Josh Bishop

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important part of our lives for 26 years. Al-

though I am very sorry to see DeNae’s close, I

know that Linda will continue to make this a bet-

ter community in countless other ways.”

Didn’t plan a fashion careerWhen Linda opened her store, she hadn’t

planned to get into the fashion trade. She

worked at a bank for 17 ½ years, first as a teller,

then as an assistant vice president, but she always

loved fashion. One year in the 1980s The New

Mexico Business Journal voted her one of the 10

best dressed women in New Mexico.

She grew to love fashion because she adored

her mother, who once owned a Durango store

called Pants and Things. “I always wanted to be

like her and have my own store someday,” Linda

said.

Polly encouraged her to take a chance and

open a boutique, so in 1989, Linda opened

DeNae’s in San Juan Plaza. She named it DeNae’s

because that’s her daughter’s middle name and

because it sounds like the Navajo word, Diné,

which means people.

“You’ve got to have people to be successful,”

she said.

Mom works for herAbout four years after Linda opened the

store, Polly came to work for her a couple of

days a week, mostly on weekends so Linda could

spend time with her family. The arrangement con-

tinued for 10 years until Polly got too sick to

work. Her advice continues to guide Linda.

“She told me, ‘Do not ever be pushy. Your

customer has to feel good in what they have on.

If they don’t feel good, they’re not going to

wear it, and they’re not going to come back. If

they have something they really enjoy wearing,

they’re going to come back,’” Linda recalled.

She has taken that to heart. “My goal is my

customer,” she said, “because if my customer

keeps coming back, I know that I must be doing

something right.”

Misses her loyal customersShe will miss all of her customers and espe-

cially values the loyalty her American Indian

patrons have shown her. “They have come in

and cried that I’m closing,” she said. “They

know what I’m doing it for, and they’re happy

for that reason because they’re very family ori-

ented.”

“I hate to see her go,” said Evelyn Benny,

who is on the San Juan College board. She

often shopped at DeNae’s with her sister,

Pauline Platero. “She’s a very nice lady. She

treated us like sisters. She was very inviting. I

bought a lot of clothes from there. The clothes

quality was super. When we had a meeting,

graduation or party to go to, we would go to

her store, and she would dress us up. We are

Christians, so we used to pray for each other.

We had a spiritual connection with her.”

Over the years, Linda has worked with many

fashion companies. One of them, Piccadilly, a

Canada company, surprised her. The owner of

Piccadilly called her to say how much he ap-

preciated her business over the years and how

much the company would miss her.

“This was the president of a big company in

Canada!” she exclaimed. “It made me feel so

good.”

What goes around comes back around

She readily spots clothing carried by the

companies she’s bought from over the years.

Those years have given her a good sense of

fashion trends.

“It’s like a clock. What goes around comes

back around,” she said. “Back in the 1980s

there were a lot of bell bottoms, real tight fit-

ting, then the flair legs. They’re on their way

back.”

But they’re coming back with a slight differ-

ence. They used to be low cut, but the come-

back style isn’t cut low. It’s tight at the top

and the legs flair out. She had some on order,

but she cancelled the order when she decided

to close the store. “My dad comes before

that,” she said.

Bell bottoms are coming back, not only in

Farmington but all over the country. “I used to

say Farmington was a year or two behind what

the trends were,” she said. “We’re only about

six months behind now.”

Trend tilts toward casualThe trend is tilting toward more casual

wear. “It’s not dressy anymore,” she said.

“Even to a nice function people wear pants.

They dress it up with a scarf or necklace or

other jewelry. Especially in Farmington it’s

more casual, but I have noticed even in bigger

cities when I go to market and I go out to

different places, they’re not dressing up like

they used to. Casual is a lot more acceptable

now.”

She has always carried a lot of jeans in her

store, because, she said, “Farmington is a

definite jeans town.”

Though Paris used to be the fashion center

of the world, now fashion is mostly coming

out of Canada, she said, and it’s leaning

toward what Farmington likes.



Election year trendA trend that hasn’t changed much over the

years is how people buy clothes during an

election year. “My mom always said make sure

that you go lightly on inventory on election year

because you have so many people who are un-

sure until they know who’s going to be the next

president,” Linda said. “They’re a little more

cautious with their money. What sells is not

brighter colors. It’s black, navy blue and red.

Every election year I’ve followed my mother’s

advice, and I’m glad I did.”

Her mother also told her to carry a lot of ac-

cessories, which she has done with success.

“Someone can walk in with something and you

can dress it up,” said Linda. “You can put a scarf,

a belt, jewelry or a hat with it.”

Though she still has belts with bling left,

they’re going fast. “Farmington is bling,” she said.

“I’ve had really good luck with belts with bling.

The bling doesn’t fall off. I try to buy from good

companies.”

Family a part of DeNae’sOver the years, DeNae’s has been a family

business. Her daughter, Carra DeNae Randall,

decorates the store windows when she’s not

teaching first grade at Ladera Elementary School,

and Linda’s husband changes lights and does re-

modeling as needed. Her dad helped out when

he was younger.

Carra was in middle school when her mother

opened the store, and she spent time at the

boutique. When Carra had children, Linda

babysat her two grandkids, now 10 and 12, in

the store before they were old enough to attend

school.

“They played on the old cash register, or they

counted money,” Linda said. “Then can count

money like some of these older kids can’t be-

cause they have been around their grandmother

all these years. To this day, when they are sick

and they have to stay home, a lot of times they’ll

come down here with me and sit in the back

dressing room or lay down and sleep.”

Doing the right thingLinda will miss that store’s family connection,

but she knows she’s doing the right thing by

closing DeNae’s. When she ran the boutique, she

often didn’t have time for lunch. Now she’ll have

time to eat lunch with friends. “I’ve already had

friends say, ‘Bring your dad!’ I say, ‘That’s what

I’ll do. He’ll love it.’”

Joyce Brown of Kirtland has shopped at

DeNae’s ever since it was in a smaller building

across the breezeway. “I sure will miss that store,

but she knows what’s best for herself,” said

Joyce. “She had good fashions there, exquisite

clothing. I used to come in just to visit with her.

She’s a very friendly lady.”

It wasn’t easy for Linda to walk away from 26

years in the fashion business, but she feels at

peace with her decision. “If we’ll listen to our

heart and follow it,” she said, “it will lead us the

right way.”


Nichelle Salazar embarked on a journey of

culture, spirituality and new life when, in 2012,

she decided to become a midwife.

Salazar, in 2008, had completed her bache-

lor’s degree at Washington, D.C.’s Georgetown

University. College wasn’t easy for the Navajo

Preparatory School graduate, who had re-

ceived several scholarships to attend the presti-

gious Catholic college.

“My first semester I struggled academically. I

had to decide if this was something I wanted to

do,” said Salazar, who was a nursing major.

Looking for opportunities for “students of

color,” Salazar joined a mentoring program,

learned to manage her time and studied and

worked hard. She earned her degree and

headed home to Dulce, where she was raised,

a member of the Jicarilla Apache tribe.

Salazar was a practicing nurse at the age of

26, when she decided it was time to study

medicine. She entered the University of New

Mexico and two years later, “midwifery found

me,” she said.

There were several factors leading her to the

career choice, but most importantly midwifery

gave Salazar a life goal to search for, find and

implement the lost birthing traditions of the Ji-

carilla.

“My ultimate goal is to bring birth back to

my community,” she said.

Nichelle Salazar dedicated to bringing new birthing options to all culturesStory by Debra Mayeux | Photos by Josh Bishop

MIDWIFE CARE WORKSIN ALL SETTINGS

Salazar, now 29, is the first Jicarilla Apache

midwife. She works for San Juan Health Part-

ners at San Juan Regional Medical Center, and

she also is a member of the Midwives of Color,

an organization dedicated to keeping women

of color safe throughout their pregnancy and

the birth of their children by providing them

with options for care. There are 14 certified

American Indian midwives in the United States.

“We birth workers know that racial and class

disparities are killing our babies and harming

our mothers; we know the solution lies in qual-

ity midwifery care and we firmly believe in a

midwife for every woman who wants one,” said

Jennie Joseph, a member of Midwives of Color,

and outspoken midwife from Florida. “Until

women and their loved ones feel that they have

enough knowledge and agency to be part of

the decisions around their care, and until they

have access to education and support that they

are lacking, they will continue to be at risk.”

Salazar wants to wage this battle for her own

people, while providing midwife services to all

women who desire it.

She joined San Juan Health Partners in April,

and the practice was thrilled to have her. Hiring

Salazar was the perfect fit, according to Anne

Miller, another midwife at San Juan Health Part-

ners.

Miller oversaw Salazar’s residency at San

Juan Regional Medical Center, where the stu-

dent had 35 births in eight weeks.


“I had no idea what modern midwifery was. I always viewed

it as homebirth for fortunate families.”

— Nichelle Salazar


“She is a natural midwife,” Miller said.

“Nichelle had become very experienced as a

nurse. … She had a depth of understanding of

women and childbirth.”

Prior to attending the University of New

Mexico, Salazar was not familiar with midwifery.

“I had no idea what modern midwifery was. I

always viewed it as home birth for fortunate

families,” Salazar said. Her education showed

her that was a myth. “It wasn’t home birth. It

was more hospital birth, birthing centers birth.”

While 95 percent of midwives work in hos-

pital settings, it is all about the care women re-

ceive and their own personal choices for

childbirth. With a midwife, women receive

“labor support until delivery,” Salazar said.

Doctors, however, are on standby in case of an

emergency.

Midwives are the birth partners giving

women options, according to Salazar. They

offer women birth positions, including standing,

being on their hands and knees, squatting or

being in the Jacuzzi tub. “She can do whatever

she wants,” Salazar said. Women can even have

epidural pain medications with a midwife.

“Birth isn’t just about a baby, but making a

mom,” Salazar said. Midwives teach baby care

and breastfeeding, which is Salazar’s favorite. “I

breastfed my two daughters, and it gave me so

much time to bond with them. It affects the

health of families.

“If we have more moms breastfeeding, it will

help the healthcare system and create healthier

families.”

Midwifery also covers all aspects of female

care from annual exams and birth control to

pregnancy safety, family planning and women’s

health concerns.

Women’s health has been a focus of

Salazar’s and she set her sights on giving her

people options for care, because it will help

her culture survive.

Salazar quoted American Indian midwife,

Katsi Cook, who said. “Your culture survives as

long as your birth practices.”

Salazar’s journey has included speaking to Ji-

carilla elders about traditional birth practices.

“I’m still on a hunt,” she said. What she knows

is women were with other women when babies

were born, and men were outside. “They were

not allowed in the room. They were to be on

the lookout and protect.”

Salazar was raised Catholic, but her family

also embraced the Jicarilla culture and tradi-

tions. “I do my prayer with corn pollen,” she

said. “We participated in a lot of events in

Dulce.”

Her favorite event is the Go-jii-ya, or foot

races to determine the season, “whether it’s

going to be a good hunting season or growing

season.”

She also came across a few birth songs, but

other than that the knowledge is limited.

While the knowledge may not be readily

available to Salazar, the midwives at San Juan

Health Partners believe she brings a wealth of

experience to their practice. “From our per-

spective she is giving us a whole different angle

on how to serve women in this community bet-

ter and deeper. … She has added a cultural

sensitivity to the practice,” Miller said. “She is

super smart and is bringing that missing aspect

of Native American culture to our practice.”

And Salazar said her interest is focused on

the Jicarilla, because there are other Indige-

nous midwives, including two Navajo, in the

area, who are working to preserve their birth

culture.

Nicolle Gonzales is one of these women who

made a film through UNM about American Indian

midwives. “One of my biggest challenges as an

emerging nurse-midwife is to maintain a sacred

space for these cultural beliefs in a hospital set-

ting. On my journey to becoming a midwife I was

amazed at the lack of Native American women in

my profession,” Gonzales said.

If Salazar has anything to do with it, that

trend will change. She has been outspoken

about educational opportunities for indigenous

women, and she is keen on recruiting them to

work in the midwifery profession.

Salazar has even trained her young daughter

to enter the profession. Addyson, 7, studied

with Salazar while she went to UNM, and the

youngster has made her first “catch,” according

to her mom.

“Addyson got to deliver her baby sister

Yessenia. She got to catch her,” Salazar said,

proudly sharing the photograph of the birth.

“Addyson wants to be a midwife.”

Salazar’s husband Justin also has been sup-

portive of her midwifery career. “He loves it,”

she said. Together the Salazar family embarked

on this journey that will bring new life to their

culture by bringing healthy babies into the

world.

�� !��

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When Shawn Archuleta and Jenny Dennis

decided to have careers in law enforcement,

they were ready and willing to help others.

Neither of them, however, had any idea of

how much they would help others and how

gratifying it would be.

Archuleta and Dennis started working to-

gether in 1999. Archuleta was Dennis’ train-

ing officer as a Community Service Officer.

While Archuleta enjoyed her work as a CSO,

Dennis looked at the training as a stepping

stone to becoming a certified police officer.

“She had to do what I was doing,”

Archuleta said of Dennis’ training. And what

Archuleta was doing would change the lives

of both of them.

“A young Sgt. Kyle Westall (who would ul-

timately become Farmington’s Police Chief)

was in charge of the Torch Run for the Farm-

ington Police Department,” said Debra Lisen-

bee, area director for Special Olympics. “He

introduced us (Special Olympics) to Jenny

and Shawn as his “go to” people for these

activities.”

Torch RunThe Law Enforcement Torch Run is the

largest grass-roots fundraiser and public

awareness for Special Olympics, according to

the Special Olympics website, which also

of


Shawn and Jenny a big part of the Special Olympics family

loveLabor


states that the Law Enforcement Torch Run®

has more than 97,000 volunteers from 46

countries and has raised more than $461 mil-

lion for the Special Olympics movement.

While Archuleta and Dennis began volun-

teering for the Torch Run, the two weren’t

satisfied with doing just one event to help

Special Olympics. They also help with Tip a

Cop at Chili’s Restaurant, where police offi-

cers, firefight-

ers, members

of the Na-

tional Guard

and animal

control offi-

cers become

restaurant

servers and all

of the tips

they receive

go to Special

Olympics.

They also help

with the Polar

Plunge, the

Guns and

Hoses Tourna-

ment, the New

Mexico Spe-

cial Olympics

events, and

are frequent

partners with Special Olympians at golf and

softball games and at bowling events.

Big hearts and smiles are addictive

While some of what the two do is done as

part of their Community Service Officer po-

sitions, much more of it is done on their per-

sonal time and for personal reasons.

“I love it,” Dennis said of Special

Olympics. “These kids want to be loved and

in return (for that love) you get so much

back. In a job where everybody hates cops,

we’re heroes to these guys.”

“There’s innocence about them,” Dennis

added. “They’re mesmerized with things in

life. They don’t get upset with things – they

look at things a lot differently than we do.”

“They’re hearts are purer,” Archuleta

chimed in. “They believe everybody is good

and if they love someone, they’ll be loved in

return. They want to be accepted.”

Often, Dennis said, people don’t know

how to respond to those with intellectual dis-

abilities. “They’re uncomfortable, and it takes

a while for

them to under-

stand these

people just

want to be

kids. These

(special) kids

don’t realize

how different

they are from

other people

and they don’t

have ‘cooties.’”

For Lisen-

bee, Shenny (as

Archuleta and

Dennis are af-

fectionately

called by the

Special

Olympics fold),

the active and

consistent inter-

action with Special Olympics is a blessing.

“I think (that commitment) comes from

who and what they are,” Lisenbee said.

“Their hearts – the core of them – is just

genuine love and compassion for people.

They got connected with a population which

is one of the most disparaged populations in

the world. They’re committed to being cham-

pions for them, and that they are.”

The commitment of Archuleta and Dennis

has brought new recognition for the Special

Olympics athletes.

Courageous athletes“For Shawn and Jenny, this is not a sym-

patric charity thing, but rather they see the


light and courage of our athletes and they’re determined to give them

opportunities to participate and be part of our society,” Lisenbee said.

“This is a respect they give our athletes that others see and do likewise.”

It is the kids and the young people Special Olympics makes a priority

that keeps Archuleta and Dennis involved. “Special Olympics gives these

athletes who don’t have other opportunities in our community to get out

and do things,” Dennis said. “Special Olympics is free or low cost and we

do what we can to raise money for them and to help. It’s a financial

hardship on the families who don’t always have the money, for their kids

to be out in the world and not just watching television.”

Special Olympics means familySpecial Olympics is much more than just an organization that helps

others, Archuleta said, “These kids are very accepting of us. My family is

their family and they’re always grateful to see us. They expect us to be

around and they make us feel like we belong (in their world).”

While Archuleta has retired from the Farmington Police Department,

she continues her work with Special Olympics.

She is the assistant state director for the Law Enforcement Torch Run

for Special Olympics and will be the state director for the event in 2016.

Dennis hopes to teach other police officers how to deal effectively with

the intellectually disabled in their line of work.

“We’ve never had this type of training,” Dennis said, “and law


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enforcement hasn’t had to deal with

it a lot.” Dennis plans to teach

classes to law enforcement officers

in San Juan County through their

on-going training. Eventually, Dennis

hopes to provide the training to all

first responders throughout the

state. The training will help people

understand the special needs of the

intellectually disabled and how to

interact with them.

Archuleta encourages others to

support Special Olympics. “Come

out and participate with these kids,”

she said. “It is life changing.”

Give credit to Chief Kyle WestallArchuleta and Dennis give credit to

former Police Chief Kyle Westall for his sup-

port and encouragement of their involvement

in Special Olympics – both on and off the

job. It was Westall who introduced Archuleta

to the Law Enforcement Torch Run for

Special Olympics in 1990. Current Farming-

ton Police Chief Steve Hebbe also supports

the efforts of the two.

"Shawn and Jenny have spearheaded a long

term relationship between the Farmington

Police Department and the Special

Olympics,” Hebbe said. “Their dedication

has resulted in many of our employees

being touched by the wonderful athletes

and has made the lives of many better.

That is one of the greatest things anyone

can achieve -- to touch people’s lives

and make them better. I'm very proud

of their efforts.”

Lisenbee echoed those sentiments.

“I wasn’t privy to all the dynamics

that brought Shenny into the Special

Olympics fold, but they are now family,”

she said. “In no small part because of

their efforts at awareness, respect and

opportunity, our athletes believe that the

heroes of our county – law enforcement, fire

and first responders – belong to them. That

they are present for every need and every

accomplishment. That they are championed

by champions.”

“It doesn’t get any better than that,” she

added.


atmosphere. So we became known for longer

lunches and a packed parking lot.”

Customers liked the restaurant so much that

it grew out of its building. The Bernadones

decided to close it and build the new

restaurant.

Restaurant feels like home“I’ve known Mario and his family for years,”

said Dorothy Linicus of Farmington. “They’re

closer than my family. I love the feeling they

give to their restaurant. I’m an invalid, and I

feel perfectly comfortable going there. It feels

like an extension of my own home.”

The walls of the new restaurant help to

make it unique. They contain marmorino, an

Italian product that includes Italian lime plaster

and marble dust. Using marmorino is labor

intensive but results in walls with unique

burnished designs that emerge from properly

applying several layers of plaster.

Mario tried to teach subcontractors how to

apply the plaster, but they couldn’t do it, so

he taught his two oldest sons, teenagers

Anthony and Marcelino.

“They got really good at it,” Mario said.

“They were more attentive to detail. They

were willing to put the effort into it. They

never complain. It’s a testimony to their

character. I’m really proud that they’ve

become men on this job.”

Homeschooling roomThe Bernadones have built a homeschool

room in the restaurant for their children.

There’s even a couch on which their youngest

son, 1-year-old Vincenzo, can take a nap.

Laura gives the children directions. When she

works in the restaurant, the older kids do

their own school work and help the younger

children. If problems arise, Laura intervenes.

If she needs help, Mario steps in as the

principal.

“We take breaks and go home,” Laura said.

“We take care of our animals. We go back and

forth.”

School doesn’t consume their entire lives.

Already Anthony and Marcelino know how to

cook and how to handle the kitchen, and

oldest daughter Chiara is learning as well.

Laura is executive chef, but she doesn’t handle

the responsibility alone. “Our sons have good

heads on their shoulders,” she said. “They

know how to do everything. They know if

something doesn’t look right. They know how

to read the menus. If I have to take care of

the little guys for awhile, they’re my eyes and

ears.”

Mario calls their lifestyle unique. “We’re

proud of all eight of our kids,” he said. “They

don’t have peer pressure with homeschooling,

so they don’t have to try to impress anybody.

They just speak the truth. They’re becoming

friends to us more than children now.”

Treat employees like familyThe Bernadones treat their employees like

family. When customers come into the

restaurant crying, Laura comforts them.

The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 8

p.m. Tuesday to Saturday. That schedule allows

the entire family to attend church together at

8:30 a.m. daily at St. Mary’s Parish. By 9:30

a.m. they’re at the restaurant prepping for the

day.

“We have a lot of quiet family time despite

the chaos of the restaurant,” Mario said.

“When we have free time, we’re all

together, and we stay at home.”

Love their workNo matter how time consuming the

restaurant is, the Bernadones love their work.

Mario summed it up for his family. “It’s a

ministry for us really, reaching out to

Farmington and sharing what we’ve been given,

not because we’re great people, but we’ve

been blessed a lot.”

Bernadones continued from 20

“We go back to the old way. We cook with wood. It’s much

better tasting. It’s labor intensive,but we do the work for you.”

— Mario Bernadone


MLCoolest Things

Stay away from the clichéIf you’ve listened closely to what your loved ones have been

talking about all year then you have a pretty good idea what

to get them for Christmas. The best gifts are identified

through interactions, simple conversations and patience.

Identifying the best gift for a family member, colleague,

friend or neighbor takes time and forethought before

shopping begins. During a lifetime we probably receive

hundreds of gifts, but we don’t remember very many of

them. Here are some ideas of gifts that might just be one of

those that will be remembered for years to come. No matter

what you choose, enjoy the time you spend with those you

love this year; that is more important than 1,000 gifts.

Merry Christmas from all of us here at Majestic Media.Gifts for All Ages

LIVIN’ THE

HIGH LIfE

Lego Elves Tree Top Hideaway

www.shop.lego.com

Lego building gets a little bit more magical

with the new Lego Elves line. You’ll see a

bit of a new sparkle as you walk down the

construction aisle, as Lego brings this new

storyline to life. When Emily Jones takes

an unexpected journey through a mysteri-

ous portal in her grandma’s garden, she

travels through the magical world of the

Elves to try to get home again. Emily en-

lists the help of her four Elvish friends to

find the four keys to open the portal, which

will let her go back home. Ages 9+.

$49.99

1THE fORCE

IS WITH yOU!

Star Wars Bladebuilder

Jedi Master Lightsaber

Retail stores including Target, Walmart,

Kmart and online at Amazon and eBay

Build your own lightsaber! This set comes

with components to create more than 100

combinations. The set features lights and

sounds, two independently lit lightdaggers,

an expansion hilt, two elbow connectors,

and more!

$119.99

2GUESS WHAT THIS

LITTLE BIRD TOLD ME?

Little Live Pets CleverKeet

Amazon, Walmart, ToysRus

When you meet CleverKeet, you give it a

name and he/she remembers it! It’s just

like adopting a real bird! He can record

and repeat your messages like the other

Little Live PetTM birds, but this bird can do

so much more! He’s already learned how

to talk and can answer all your questions!

Play with him and talk to him and he will

mash up his sentences to make funny new

comments. CleverKeet comes with one

CleverKeet bird, one playground, one cart,

one instruction booklet and an adoption

certificate.

$48 to 59.99

3THE KIDS ARE

SUCH CHARACTERS

Disney Descendants

Signature Outfit Doll Assortment

www.toysrus.com

Meet the teenage descendants of Disney’s

heroes and villains wearing their en-

chanted signature looks from the movie.

These dolls each come with rooted hair, a

stylish outfit, an iconic locket, and a sticker.

$19.99

4

1

2

3

4

SoMETHINg oTHER

THAN SELFIES

Smartphone Projector

www.uncommongoods.com

They may not be all too familiar with a

drive-in movie theater, but teens can repli-

cate the same fun in their own bedroom,

watching video clips from their phone.

$30

5WILL BE JAMMIN’

Jam Classic Bluetooth

Wireless Speaker

www.amazon.com or www.jamaudio.com

Your music-obsessed teen will love rocking

out to his favorite tunes with these portable

Jam speakers from HMDX. Built for ad-

venturers, the JAM XT is designed to han-

dle anything. Drop it, splash it, or get it

dirty — this speaker couldn’t care less! It

projects booming volume in just about any

condition. With a rubberized exterior and

flip-out carabiner, it’s ready to go wherever

your next journey takes you. In six fun col-

ors, these speakers can play music wire-

lessly from a smartphone, tablet, or laptop.

$30

6MIX, MATCH,

SHARE WITH FRIENDS

Story of the Earth

set of seven bracelets


With this collection of handcrafted

bracelets, the whole Earth and its history is

right at hand to help you express yourself.

Each band has a unique combination of

colors, charms, beads and decorative knot

work, allowing you to find a symbolic

meaning in each one. The bracelets can

be mixed and matched, or worn individu-

ally or together to suit your look, your

mood and your place in the world.

Bracelets are made from durable waxed

cords, and have either button-and-loop or

adjustable knot closures. Handmade.

$35

7FACE THE MUSIC

iPhone Charger

Sticker Faces Set


Put a human face on your technology. All

those stark white Apple accessories are

easy to lose, easy to confuse. These sly

vinyl labels set your stuff apart: they’re

custom-designed to fit the accessories of

your favorite devices, including iPhone,

iPod, and iPad. You’ll get four characters,

each with precision die-cut labels for an

adapter, a USB cord (both ends, of

course), and earphones. The sturdy, UV-

coated vinyl labels are easy to remove and

reapply. Made in the USA.

$12.95

8


5

6

7

8


BraGWorthy GiFts

For yoUr GUy

mancrates: For the manly man

in your life

www.mancrates.com

Say no to ugly neckties, aftershave and

executive trinkets. Get something for the

manly man in your life. Mancrates.com has

every kind of crate your man might want.

Chose from personalized for seating,

drinking, grilling, sports, personalized and

outdoors. Some examples include per-

sonalized pint set, baconology kit, pit mas-

ter, bass whisperer and more. The gifts

are shipped in a fiendishly sealed wooden

crate with a laser-etched crowbar included.

$19 to $150

9Unleash

the Beast

tattoo Wash

www.billyjealousy.com

Is your dragon a little droopy? Your pinup

babe looking a little played out? Maybe

your skull looks more sorry than scowling?

Fear not, ye handsome devil. Billy Jeal-

ousy’s Tattoo Wash contains four fear-

some cleaners to rid skin of dirt, excess oil

and dead skin cells. Cucumber extract

helps tattoos retain their color while hy-

drolyzed oat protein helps skin retain mois-

ture to enhance tattoo vibrancy. Glycolic

AHA and papaya extract exfoliate and pol-

ish. Good to use following a new tattoo to

assist in the healing process.

$30

10Warm

and FUzzy

Camp blanket with leather holder

www.williams-sonoma.com

The Pendleton camp blanket is an Ameri-

can classic, inspired by the striped blan-

kets that cowboys carried on their saddles

and unrolled to make camp after a long

day. This wool/cotton blanket keeps you

warm and cozy in all seasons, from winter

ski trips to summer campouts and horse

pack trips. It comes with a leather holder

for easy transport. Woven of 86 percent

wool and 14 percent cotton. It includes

leather holder with handle and shoulder

strap. Made in USA by Pendleton, founded

in Oregon in 1909.

$134.95

11We’re almost

home CheWie!

air hogs star Wars remote Control

Ultimate millennium Falcon Quad

www.amazon.com

With the imminent release of the new Star

Wars film this Christmas, you better be-

lieve there’s a whole crop of fun new toys

on the shelves this season. One of the

most exciting is a Millennium Falcon drone

that lights up and makes sounds. Sure, it

may be designed for 10-year-old boys, but

we’ll venture a guess that almost every

guy would love one of these this year.

Its 2.4Ghz communication lets you control

the Millennium Falcon from up to 200 feet

away!

$119.69

12

9

10

11

12


NETFLIX BINGE WATCHING

NECESSITY

Snow Day printed fleece robe

www.net-a-porter.com

DKNY’s Snow Day robe is crafted from

soft and cozy fleece with a snowflake pat-

tern. Cut for a loose and enveloping fit, this

style has a shawl collar and a detachable

sash to pull it in at the waist. Wear yours

on weekends when it’s too cold to venture

out.

$80

13CELEBRATE

YOuR JOuRNEY

Alex and Ani Spiritual Armor

Endless Knot wire bangle

www.amazon.com

Alex and Ani jewelry is a great gift for

women of all ages. These bangles are rel-

atively inexpensive, but their wide range of

styles makes each piece feel unique to the

person who receives it. This style, the End-

less Knot from the Spiritual Armor collec-

tion, symbolizes destiny and life’s unique

journey. The bracelet is made in America

from recycled Russian gold.

$58

14MOM IS

OuR HERO

Wonder Woman Character Apron

www.ebay.com

Looking for a stocking stuffer that lets Mom

know she is your hero? Well here it is.

Everyone’s mom is wonder woman to her

family, every day. Her superhero powers

allow everyone else’s life to run smoothly.

Now she can look the part. This is the per-

fect gift for a woman who loves comic

books, baking, or both. When she wears

this apron, she’ll look just like Wonder

Woman.

$15.50

15THE MAGIC

OF MARRAKESH

MOROCCAN TEA GLASSES

SET OF SIX

www.vivaterra.com

The shimmering hues of these painted

glasses brighten any gathering from Cas-

bah to cottage. Use them to serve steam-

ing tea or chilled wine. Our favorite

alternative: create a jewel-like ambience

on the dining table or mantle with tealight

inserts. Assorted colors: turquoise, amber,

brown, pink, purple, grey. Hand wash.

Made in Spain.

$26

16

13

14

15 16


ADVERTISERS DIRECTORyAnimas Credit Union..................................40

2101 E. 20th St., 3850 E. Main St.Farmington, N.M.505-326-7701405 W. BroadwayInside Farmer’s MarketBloomfield, N.M.www.animascu.com

Bar D Wranglers........................................31

Beehive Homes.........................................62

400 N. Locke, 508 N. AirportFarmington, N.M.505-427-3794

Budget Blinds.............................................2

825 N. Sullivan, Farmington, N.M.505-324-2008

Celebrations Party Store ...........................58

419 E. BroadwayFarmington, NM505-436-2054www.celebrationspartystoreandmore.com

Cellular One..............................................77

1-800-657-6395c1businesssolutions.com

City of Farmington............................26 & 28

505-599-1144

The Dental Studio on 30th ........................71

2401 E. 30th St., Bldg. 1Farmington, NM505-592-0477www.thedentalstudio.com

Deser t Hills Dental Care ..............................5

2525 E. 30th St.Farmington, N.M.505-327-4863www.deserthillsdental.com

Deser t View Family Counseling ..................34

6100 E. Main St.Farmington, NM505-326-7878www.desertview.org

The Dusty Attic .........................................21

111 W. MainFarmington, NM505-327-7696

Edward Jones/Kristy Visconti .....................14

4801 N. Butler, Suite 7101Farmington, NM 505-326-7200www.edwardjones.com

EZ Shade..................................................12

8081 E. Main St.Farmington, NM505-326-7700www.ezshade.net

Farmington Funeral Home...........................7

2111 W. Apache St.,Farmington, NMwww.farmingtonfuneral.com

Farmers Insurance/Nate Duckett ...............57

2713 E. 20th St., Suite FFarmington, NM505-258-4721

The First Tee ............................................50

thefirstteesanjuancounty.org

Four Corners Community Bank...................38

Six Convenient LocationsFarmington • Aztec • CortezNM 505-327-3222CO 970-564-8421www.TheBankForMe.com

Highlands University.................................39

505-566-3552nmhu.edu/farmington

J A Jewelers ..............................................15

4005 E. Main St.Farmington, NM505-599-9400www.jajewels.com

Jack O. Smalley, DDS..................................83

2650 E. Pinon Frontage Rd., #300Farmington, NM505-327-3331www.smile42day.com

Jae-Geo’s Bridal and Tuxedo......................21

302 W. Main St.Farmington, NM505-326-5240www.jaegeosformalwear.com

Kathy’s Discount Party Store.....................21

3836-B East Main St.,Farmington, NM505-324-1080

Kitchen and Bath Artworks ........................69

7525 E. Main St.Farmington, NM505-860-8166

Kristen Harrington ....................................21

413 N. AuburnFarmington, NM505-564-4789

M Moose ..................................................22

5920 E. Main St., Suite AFarmington, NM505-325-7800

Magic Roofing ..........................................46

1206 E. MurrayFarmington, NM505-324-1094www.magicroofing.com

Mikasa .....................................................41

400 W. Main St.Farmington, NM505-327-2255www.mikasafarmington.com

Millennium Insurance ................................50

2700 Farmington Ave., Building AFarmington, NM505-325-1849www.millnm.com

Next Level Home Audio & Video ................47

1510 E. 20th St., Suite AFarmington, N.M.505-327-NEXTwww.327NEXT.com

No Worries Sports Bar & Grill.....................53

At the AirportFarmington, NM505-436-2657

On the Spot Cleaning ................................38

505-327-0592www.onthespotcleaningnm.com

Orthopedic Associates PA .........................182300 E. 30th St., D-10Farmington, NM

505-327-1400www.oa-pa.com

Partners Assisted Living ...........................56

313 N. Locke Ave.Farmington, N.M.505-325-9600www.partnerassistedliving.com

Pinon Hills Community Church ...................84505-325-4541www.pinonhillschurch.com

Presbyterian Medical Services ...................63

Festival of Trees505-599-1148

Quality Appliance......................................58522 E. BroadwayFarmington, N.M.505-327-6271

R Sports...................................................683010 E. 20th St., Suite BFarmington, NM

R.A. Biel Plumbing & Heating ....................75Farmington, N.M.505-327-7755www.rabielplumbing.com

Raindrops, Inc. .........................................194001 E. Main St.Farmington, NM505-327-7425

Reliance Medical Group.....................35 & 643451 N. Butler AvenueFarmington, N.M.505-566-19151409 West Aztec Blvd.Aztec, N.M.505-334-1772www.reliancemedicalgroup.com

ReMax of Farmington..................................3108 N. OrchardFarmington, N.M.505-327-4777www.remax.com

Riteway Flooring America ..........................136550 E. Main St.Farmington, NM505-599-9494www.ritewayflooringfarmington.com

Sage Meadow Realty .................................52920 NE Aztec Blvd.Aztec, NM505-334-4148www.sagemeadowproperties.com

San Juan College ......................................65

505-326-3311www.sanjuancollege.edu

San Juan United Way .................................35

505-326-1195www.sjunitedway.org

Sanchez and Sanchez Real Estate................4

4301 Largo St. Suite FFarmington, NM 87402505-327-9039

Sewing Studio ..........................................21

407 W. BroadwayFarmington, NM505-325-2688www.sewingstudio.net

Smiles 4 Kids............................................73

Farmington, N.M.505-592-0226

Southwest Concrete Supply .......................70

2420 E. MainFarmington, N.M.505-325-2333www.swconcretesupply.com

Southwest Obstetrics and Gynecology........51

634 West PinonFarmington, NM505-325-4898www.Southwest-OBGYN.net

State Farm Insurance/Ginny Gill .................44

3060 E. 20th St., Suite DFarmington, NM505-327-3771

Sun Glass .................................................20

602 West Main StreetFarmington, N.M.505-327-9677www.sunglassfarmington.com

Sunray Gaming .........................................62

On Hwy 64.Farmington, N.M.505-566-1200

Tafoya Realty............................................46

5600 Mickey Dr. B&CFarmington, NM505-599-0000www.tafoyarealty.com

Treadworks .............................................74

4227 E. Main St.Farmington, N.M.505-327-02864215 Hwy. 64Kirtland, N.M.505-598-1055www.treadworks.com

Ultraform..................................................59

209 S Fairview Ave.Farmington, NM505-325-2025

Uniform Kingdom......................................30

910 San Juan Blvd.Farmington, NM505-564-4990myuniformshop.com

Ziems Ford ...............................................45

5700 E. MainFarmington, N.M.505-325-8826

majestic living winter 2015

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