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4 | MAJESTIC LIVING | SUMMER 2014
6 | MAJESTIC LIVING | SUMMER 2014
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Cover photoMajestic living welcomes story ideas and comments from readers.e-mail story ideas and comments to [email protected].
Celebrating the lifestyle, Communityand Culture of the Four Corners
MAGAZINE
publisher Don Vaughan
managing editor Cindy Cowan Thiele
designer Suzanne Thurman
writers Debra Mayeux, Dorothy Nobis,
Margaret Cheasebro,
Vicky Ramakka, Bill Papich
photographers Tony Bennett,
Josh Bishop, Whitney Howle
sales staff
Shelly Acosta, Clint Alexander
Aimee Velasquez
For advertising information
Call 505.516.1230
stacie Voss by Whitney howle Vol. 6, No. 3 ©2014 by Majestic Media. Majestic Living is a quarterly publication. Material herein may not be reprintedwithout expressed written consent of thepublisher. If you receive a copy that is torn or damaged call 505.516.1230.Follow us on @MajesticMediaUSmajesticmediaUSA
contributorsDebrA MAyeux, of Farmington, is an award-winning journalist with recognitions from the Associated Press of New Mexico and Colorado andthe New Mexico Press Association and the Coloradobroadcast Association. she has covered storiesthroughout the southwest and in Mexico and Jordan, where she interviewed diplomats and theroyal family. After nearly 20 years in the business,she recently opened her own freelance writing andmedia business. Mayeux enjoys the outdoors, reading and spending time with her family. she isthe coordinator of Farmington Walk and roll, a safe routes to school organization. she is marriedto David Mayeux and they have three children: Nick, Alexander and Peter.
MArGAret CheAsebro has been a freelancewriter for over 30 years. her articles have appeared in many magazines across the country.she was a correspondent for the AlbuquerqueJournal and worked for several local newspa-pers. she has four published books of children’spuppet scripts. A former elementary schoolcounselor, she is a reiki Master and practicesseveral alternative healing techniques. she enjoys playing table tennis.
ViCKy rAMAKKA is retired from san Juan Collegewhere she directed programs and taught teachereducation courses. Vicky and her husband residenorth of Aztec, where she does free-lance technical writing. Vicky says she meets the mostfascinating people in the Four Corners area, andfinds them always willing to share their expertiseduring interviews. she enjoys photographing theflora and fauna that reside in her ‘backyard’ whichshe considers any place within a mile walk. she ison the board of Directors of the Aztec Museumand volunteers with the citizens’ steering committee to raise funds for a new animal shelter.
toNy beNNett grew up in Farmington. he received his bachelor’s degree in photography from brooks institute. he ownedand operated a commercial photography studio in Dallas for over 20years. he was also team photographer for the Dallas Cowboys for 10 years. Now back in Farmington, tony wants to bringhis many years of photo experience to photo-graphing families, weddings, events, portraits,and more, to his hometown………and sKi !he teaches at san Juan College.
Josh bishoP is a recent graduate of sanJuan College with an associate degree inDigital Media Arts and Design. he currentlyworks at Majestic Media as a video producer and photographer.
WhitNey hoWle was born and raised in Farm-ington and is proud to call san Juan Countyhome. the richness of the landscape and the diverse people, culture and traditions are a photographers dream. Whitney has his bA in Visual Communication from Collins College intempe, Ariz. he is a co-owner of howle Designand Photography—a family owned studio offering graphic design, photography, market research and consulting.
Dorothy Nobis has been a writer and editor formore than 25 years. she authored a travel guide,the insiders Guide to the Four Corners, published by Globe Pequot Press, has been a frequent contributor to New Mexico Magazine .
8 | MAJESTIC LIVING | SUMMER 2014
summerfeatures:
10 “I’ve never been one to take a job
just to have a job. I want to make a
difference in whatever I choose to
do,” says Stacie Voss, director of
the Farmington Regional Animal
Shelter.
By Vicky Ramakka
Things are looking up
for cats and dogs
16 More than 25 years ago, Dr. James
Henderson, then-President of San
Juan College, decided he wanted
to grow something.
By Dorothy Nobis
Community minded
network
20 Time travel is entirely possible in
Northern New Mexico. There
are various spots that allow the
imaginative individual to travel
through history and experience
life as it once was. El Rancho de
Las Golondrinas is one of these
places.
By Debra Mayeux
A Trip through time
26 Stella Castro easily recalls when she be-
came a licensed barber in New Mexico.
It was just before President Kennedy
was shot on Nov. 22, 1963.
By Bill Papich
County’s first
women barber
30 As the new Cooperative Extension
Service agent for San Juan County,
Bonnie Hopkins can recommend
how best to grow your food, based
on the latest agricultural scientific re-
search and technology.
By Bill Papich
From chef to
agricultural agent
SUMMER 2014 | MAJESTIC LIVING | 9
50 Farmington has long been touted as
New Mexico’s best kept art secret. As
home to several world-class artists, the
city has a history of celebrating art and
culture among the locals.
By Debra Mayeux
Family and
community
34 Music brought Joe and Cathy Pope together,
and it continues to play an important part in
their lives.
By Margaret Cheasebro
Love notes
40 Peepers has wobbly cat syndrom. Rescued in 2005 when
his eyes were just opening, the kitten survived, but some
connections in his brain never developed, leading to poor mus-
cle control.
By Margaret Cheasebro
Peepers started it all
46 It wasn’t an easy childhood for
Abiegail Yazzie. Raised in a hogan
with a traditional Navajo
upbringing, Yazzie was the fourth
of nine children and the oldest
girl. When she was 5 years old,
Yazzie was sent to Lake Valley
Navajo School, a boarding school,
with her three older brothers.
By Dorothy Nobis
Clear vision
56 When Keith Cochrane became
San Juan College’s director of
instrumental music 21 years ago,
he began hanging on his office
walls one poster for every
concert he directed.
By Margaret Cheasebro
Sailing away
“I’ve never been one to take a job just to
have a job. I want to make a difference in what-
ever I choose to do,” says Stacie Voss, director
of the Farmington Regional Animal Shelter. This
attitude is what brought Voss here six months
ago. “Farmington wasn’t where they wanted to
be with animal welfare. It would be a challenge.
It spoke to me. It was something I really wanted
to take on.”
Voss will measure success with this challenge
by inching the Farmington Regional Animal Shel-
ter’s live release rate higher and higher. She in-
tends that the majority of animals that come
into the animal shelter are adopted, returned to
owners or transferred to locations in surround-
ing states where there’s a waiting list of people
wanting to adopt. Voss believes a 70 percent to
75 percent live release is achievable.
To achieve this will require the community
coming together to improve animal welfare, Voss
believes. “That’s already evident with the new
animal shelter,” she emphasizes. “I want to give
credit to the community where credit is due.
Community members determined a new shelter
was needed and they came together, advocated
for it, and raised money to make it happen. I
wouldn’t have come here if it wasn’t for all the
good work they have done.”
Symbol of progress
The new animal shelter symbolizes Farming-
ton’s transition from an animal control approach
to what Voss calls an animal services focus. She
wants the public to see the shelter as the go-to
place to find a new pet or for help with animal
related problems.
Located off Browning Parkway, the new shel-
ter offers many amenities, including plenty of
parking. Visitors entering the shelter step into a
bright, modern lobby where uniformed staff
greets them. Volunteers can take dogs for a walk
along the San Juan River. A get-acquainted room
allows people a chance to interact with an
animal to decide if it’s a good fit to become
their family companion.
With up-to-date equipment, and almost dou-
ble the number of cages, Voss can put her ap-
proach into practice. “It’s all about the animals.
If it’s a healthy, adoptable animal, I want to give
it as much time as it needs to get adopted. We
don’t want to put a time limit on it.”
Things are looking upfor cats and dogs
Story by Vicky Ramakka | Photos by Whitney Howle
For Stacie Voss, it’s always been all about the animals
SUMMER 2014 | MAJESTIC LIVING | 11
But don’t put Voss into a warm and fuzzy char-
acter category. She’s an experienced administra-
tor. “First thing is getting policies and procedures
down in writing, so people know what to expect
and know what the rules are,” she says with no
hesitation. Also, since several staff members are
new, it’s essential to train them on safety and
standards of animal care. Voss states, “I’m really
big on making sure staff knows my expectations.”
She’s quick to add, “Our management team has
some great chemistry and we’re really on the
same page.”
Managing staff, budgets and bureaucracy
wasn’t how Voss had planned her career. With
more of a focus on the outdoors, she obtained a
Bachelor of Science degree from Iowa State Uni-
versity in animal ecology, specializing in wildlife,
then a Master of Science degree in ecology and
evolution from Northern Illinois University. While
working on a wildlife job in Nebraska, Voss vis-
ited an animal shelter and noticed a sign saying
they need volunteers on Sunday mornings. She
signed up.
“I just loved it,” she said enthusiastically, “so I
looked for an animal sheltering job, and ended
up at the Humane Society of Nebraska. I did any-
thing and everything there.” This foundation led
to Voss advancing to become Director of Veteri-
nary Services in charge of intake, the medical de-
partment and animal care.
The Nebraska Humane Society serves the city
of Omaha and takes in approximately 25,000
animals a year, most being dogs and cats, but
wildlife and other critters as well. One memo-
rable situation involved an alligator. The owner
raised it in his basement and as it got bigger and
bigger, he realized maintaining it might get him in
trouble and contacted animal control. A bit flum-
moxed by the prospect of taking in a 5-foot alli-
gator, Voss arranged for speedy delivery to a
sanctuary that specialized in such unusual animals.
Voss believes the Nebraska Humane Society is
a great example of what a shelter can be, and
how it can make a difference to the community
and be a catalyst for addressing animal welfare
problems. She relates that it is, “a good example
of best practices and how an organization can
work with the public and do good things.”
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What Can Be“This gave me a good vision of what Farming-
ton can achieve eventually, as far as live release
rate, how you can help animals, how you can
help people,” she says. Voss believes there must
be a partnership of the community and the shel-
ter working together. According to Voss, “being
up front and honest, saying what you can do and
can’t do,” is one aspect of building community
confidence. She goes on to say that, “an animal
shelter is a reflection of its community. If the
community cares, the shelter will care, and you’ll
eventually get to a good place.”
Voss falls back on her training to characterize
shelter management. “Ecology,” she says, “is un-
derstanding how one thing affects another, and
population management. My population happens
to be contained in one animal shelter.”
She hopes to implement the Asilomar Accord
system which promotes standardized statistical re-
porting for animal shelters (asilonaraccords.org).
This method places incoming animals in four cate-
gories:
“An animal shelter is a reflectionof its community. If the community
cares, the shelter will care, andyou’ll eventually get to a good
place.”— Stacie Voss
14 | MAJESTIC LIVING | SUMMER 2014
1. Healthy – animal is immediately adopt-
able, with no health or behavioral problems
2. Treatable and rehabitable – the animal
may have a temporary condition that can be ad-
dressed with care and medical attention, then be
placed for adoption
3. Treatable and manageable – animal has
a condition, such as allergies, that requires atten-
tion for the rest of its life, but can make a good
pet for a caring owner
4. Unhealthy and untreatable – animal has
severe behavioral or medical problems that pose
a health or safety risk to the public.
Voss sees this system as a way to assist staff
with decision-making and a way to have statistics
to guide where to put resources.
This process will take time. As a mid-west-
erner, Voss is still getting her feet on the ground.
She admits, “I’m still not a true New Mexican. I’m
not used to the red chili, green chile thing.” But
she is delighted to be in Farmington. “People
have been so nice, so welcoming. They make a
person feel like they are part of the community.”
On days off, Voss enjoys spending time with her
three dogs and exploring history and culture of
the Four Corners area. She especially likes hiking
along the San Juan River below Navajo Lake.
Ups and DownsVoss recognizes the area’s biggest problem
with animal welfare is indiscriminate breeding.
“We have animals surrendered at the shelter just
because they came into heat or the female keeps
having puppies. There’s a very easy, simple solu-
tion to that. Get your animal spayed. It’s better
for the animal and you can keep the animal.
Every week, we get animals surrendered because
there came into heat. And that’s a silly reason to
give up an animal.”
She wants people to understand that not get-
ting pets spayed or neutered has a broad impact.
“It’s not just your dog having pups, it’s puppies
coming into the shelter, or having more puppies.
It’s a domino effect – people don’t see the
whole picture. An overabundance of cats and
dogs impacts everyone, and having low cost
spay/neuter services is one way to address the
problem.”
It’s especially discouraging for staff to be
faced with an animal that hasn’t been taken care
of to the point where it cannot be helped.
“We’re doing so much good, and we’re helping a
lot of animals, but when we see an animal that –
if it had just been brought in two weeks earlier –
we could have helped, now there’s nothing we
can do for it. It hurts your heart,” Voss says, with
emotion in her voice.
So what does she do to handle such situa-
tions? “I’ll go off for some stress relief and I’m a
venter. If I can vent, I’ll be OK after that.”
She quickly rallies, though, and says there al-
ways more good than the bad. “Our adopters,
donors, and supporters – there’re many people
doing the right thing. It’s just the one bad egg
that doesn’t do the right thing – seems like it can
stink up the whole place!”
Adoptions are increasing at the shelter. With a
full-time veterinarian on staff and better facili-
ties, people seeking a new pet can come to the
SUMMER 2014 | MAJESTIC LIVING | 15
shelter and find a companion that is
ready for adoption, already neutered
and up-to-date on vaccinations.
“It’s making a commitment to an ani-
mal,” Voss states emphatically. “If I see a
cat that’s friendly or a dog that’s wagging
its tail and gets along with other dogs,
let’s make a commitment to that animal.
Let’s get it adopted or transferred or
whatever needs to happen.”
The new animal shelter expresses the
good part of the community’s humane
spirit. Former mayor and state representa-
tive, Tom Taylor, and his artist spouse,
Bev Taylor, designed and carved the wall-
size donor recognition panel. T. Greg
Merrion sponsored the spacious meeting
room where community groups are wel-
come to meet and school classes can
gather for a tour of the shelter. Soon to
be installed is an outdoor sculpture do-
nated by Drake family members in mem-
ory of Jimmy Drake.
Volunteers have their own office space,
made possible by M.J. Gallahan, a physi-
cian assistant and avid animal lover. A do-
nation box, cleverly designed as a giant
dog bone, is the contribution of Jody and
Bob Carman.
Well before groundbreaking for the
shelter, hundreds of people, schoolchild-
ren, organizations and businesses donated
and held fundraisers to contribute any-
where from small coins to significant con-
tributions. They each have a stake in its
success.
Community members continue the
commitment to animal welfare. It’s be-
come fashionable to adopt a pet from a
shelter. Reinventing their original mission
to raise money to help in construction of
the shelter, the Regional Animal Shelter
Foundation continues to help fund sup-
plies and programs for the shelter. Dozens
of volunteers walk dogs and drive trans-
port vans. Things are looking up for dogs
and cats, and the people who care about
them.
More than 25 years ago, Dr. James
Henderson, then-president of San Juan
College, decided he wanted to grow
something. But it wasn’t tomatoes or green
beans or roses or tulips Henderson wanted to
grow. It was leaders.
“I realized that we needed a number of
leaders to help with programs around the
county,” Henderson explained. As was – and
still is – typical of Henderson, he began
researching leadership programs around the
country. “I looked at a lot of different
programs, but it was leadership programs in
Albuquerque and La Plata (County, Colorado)
that appealed to me,” he said.
Henderson then looked at his own
leadership team at San Juan College and
invited Marj Black and Nancy Shepherd to work
with him to establish a program that would
help people interested in leadership roles, the
opportunity to learn more about the challenges
and opportunities facing their community, and
ways to make the community better.
In 1989, the National Association of
Community Leadership was contacted and a
presentation on Leadership Albuquerque was
presented to a steering committee. The first
class of Leadership San Juan began in
September 1989 and graduated in May of
1990. Since that time, more than 600 local
people have participated in and graduated
from the program.
La Plata County in Colorado had already
started a leadership program. “We met with
representatives of Leadership La Plata,” Nancy
Shepherd said. “They said it took them eight
years to get their program going. It took us
one.”
Black and Shepherd hit the ground running,
preparing for that first class. “Nancy and I put
the curriculum and speakers together and put
together that first class,” Marj Black said.
“Over the years, we’ve added class projects,
servant leadership and some outside activities.”
Connie Dinning was a member of that first
class, the Class of 1989-1990.
“To say it was fun, informative and lovely
would be a huge understatement,” Dinning
said. “I had been somewhat involved in the
community – enough to be selected for the
first class. While I thought I was fairly active,
LSJ was a great wake-up call. It helped raise my
awareness about so many issues in our
community. It also connected me with several
lifelong friends and it even opened up a
couple of job opportunities.”
Each year, the new class enjoys a retreat.
“It’s a big part of the program,” Black said.
“The class gets to know each other and learn
about their personalities. There is an overview
of San Juan County and a leadership
presentation and bonding takes place.”
“A lot of the members of each class are very
nervous about the retreat,” Shepherd said,
“but people come away from it with a really
great feeling.”
Dinning fondly remembers her retreat.
“Melissa (Lane) and I grabbed on to each other
at the first dinner,” she recalled. “As fate
would have it, we were seated at a table with
T. Greg Merrion and Steve Dunn. It was a fasci-
nating and fun evening. We did skits and team
building exercises and generally had a blast the
entire weekend.”
And there was an added benefit of that din-
ner and that retreat for Dinning. “That dinner
at the retreat turned out to be a huge event in
my life, even though I had no idea at the
16 | MAJESTIC LIVING | SUMMER 2014
Leadership San Juan has been growing leaders for 25 years
Story by Dorothy Nobis | Photo by Tony Bennett
Community minded
network
time,” she said. “For about the
last 20 years, I’ve been working
for that hilarious guy (T. Greg
Merrion) I met at the dinner
table.”
Leadership classes include
health and human services, edu-
cation, business, multi-cultures,
criminal justice, media and gov-
ernment. For Randy Large, it
was the criminal justice day that
he remembers most.
“A New Mexico Supreme
Court Justice spoke,” Large
said, “and one of the things he
said was that most of the peo-
ple in prison don’t belong
there. The following speaker
was the warden of the Arizona
State prison. He said, ‘I don’t
know who you have in your
prisons, but trust me, the peo-
ple in my prison belong there.’”
“Hearing two absolutely dif-
ferent perspectives from two
very intelligent leaders was an
amazing experience,” Large
added. “I took a bit from both
of them and was grateful for
the opportunity to hear their
views.”
Diane Benally was a member
of the LSJ Class of 1999 and is
a past president of the Leader-
ship San Juan Board of Direc-
tors.
“The biggest gain I received
from my year in Leadership San
Juan is the network of which
I’m now a part,” Benally said.
“As outgoing a person as I am, I
don’t think I would have gained
as many close contacts and
friends in such a short period
of time.”
The networking doesn’t end
when the class is over, Benally
added. “While many of them
(classmates) have moved away, I retain several
of them and have gained so many more from
the larger network of Leadership San Juan
Alumni. The socials and annual meetings allow
me to meet so many more interesting and im-
portant people,” she said. “I truly feel com-
fortable accessing this network at any given
time by outreach/introduction as an LSJ
Alumni. Any one of them is willing to help or
offer their expertise if asked.”
Yanabah Bluehouse is a graduate of the LSJ
Class of 2013 and agreed with Benally about
the benefit of making new friends through the
program. “What I cherish most about Leader-
ship San Juan is the friendships that were cre-
ated personally and professionally with my
fellow classmates, board members and alumni,”
Bluehouse said. “I would tell prospective stu-
dents that it’s OK to feel a bit anxious and
nervous at the beginning. Embrace being out-
side of your comfort zone and you will learn
more.”
“I am a better person because of what I
learned throughout the class and I’m grateful
for the pleasure to experience Leadership San
Juan,” she added.
Nate Duckett was looking for an opportu-
nity to expand his knowledge and understand-
ing of what makes San Juan County “tick.”
“Leadership San Juan provided that and so
much more,” Duckett said. “The curriculum is
eye opening and challenging and forced me to
rethink many of my previous beliefs about our
community. Having accessibility to the decision
makers that shape the quality of life in San Juan
County was motivating, and opened up so
18 | MAJESTIC LIVING | SUMMER 2014
Leadership San Juan Class of 1990
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SUMMER 2014 | MAJESTIC LIVING | 19
many opportunities for me to get involved.”
“The single most important thing I took away
is the friendships and the network of community
oriented people that I now have access to,”
Duckett said. “Life is all about relationships and
sharing experiences that make memories. Lead-
ership San Juan does that, and I think anyone
who wants to get involved locally or wants to be
part of a group that is dedicated to making a
positive difference for our community, needs to
consider this program. It’s worth the price of
admission and is an experience that you will
never forget.”
The cost to participate in Leadership San
Juan is $750. Many businesses, recognizing the
value of the program, help with the cost, and
limited scholarships are also available.
A celebration of Leadership San Juan’s 25
years of service will be held from 5:30 to 7:30
p.m. Sept. 25 at Lions Wilderness Park and Am-
phitheatre. Ben Lyons is the chairman for the
celebration committee and said the goal of the
celebration committee is to make the event fun,
lively and rewarding.
“The committee decided that at the heart of
Leadership San Juan is a vibrant group of indi-
viduals where enthusiasm, energy, and the spirit
to make this community better, thrives,” Lyons
said. To bring this fantastic group of leaders to-
gether, with 25 years of elite graduates, is no
short order. We want to go back to the roots
and the foundation of why Leadership San Juan
was founded, and remind ourselves what the
true essence of servant leadership is, was, and
will continue to be. San Juan County is our
home and we need to celebrate the wonderful
aspects of our area.”
“One huge aspect of Leadership San Juan is
to really delve into the challenges we face, as
well as embrace the incredible opportunities
this area has to offer,” Lyons, a graduate of the
LSJ Class of 2002, said. “To bring leaders from
all different walks of life together in one com-
mon thread – ‘to make this community better
using the tools we have’ – has been richly re-
warding for me.”
Natalie Spruell is a member of the current
Leadership San Juan Class and said the experi-
ence has been “priceless.”
“Not only do you get to meet amazing lead-
ers in the community, you learn a lot about
yourself – and the energy you get to go out and
make a difference is the best,” Spruell said.
“You gain self-awareness and the simple knowl-
edge of just how easy it is to get involved in our
wonderful community. You have the opportunity
to observe public meetings and really get an un-
derstanding of things you may never have taken
the time to experience. There are a lot of won-
derful leaders in San Juan County who truly do
care about the future of the Four Corners.”
If Leadership San Juan has been successful for
25 years, Marj Black and Nancy Shepherd con-
tinue their commitment to make the program
better. And if those who participate in LSJ do
benefit, Black and Shepherd believe they are
the true benefactors.
“We’ve benefitted as much as anybody,”
Black said. “We get to meet everyone in every
class and work with them for nine months.”
“Leadership San Juan is like our baby,” Shep-
herd added. “We are servant leaders and this is
an example of servant leadership for us. It’s a
great feeling to see people graduate, and we
learn something from them every year.”
For more information about Leadership San
Juan, contact Nancy Shepherd at
505.566.3264.
Leadership San Juan Class of 2014
Time travel is entirely possible in
Northern New Mexico. There are various
spots that allow the imaginative individ-
ual to travel through history and experi-
ence life as it once was. El Rancho de
Las Golondrinas is one of these places.
The Ranch of the Swallows dates back
to the early 1700s, when it was a stop-
ping place along the Camino Real, the
Royal Road from Mexico City to Santa
Fe. The Ranch, now a living history mu-
seum, gives visitors a taste of Spanish
colonial life in the early days of New
Mexico.
Located on 200 acres in a rural valley
just south of Santa Fe, the museum and
cultural center opened in 1972. A dirt-
covered walking trail leads visitors past
several sites significant to Hispanic cul-
ture, including a blacksmith shop, a
school house, a fully operational flour
mill run by water from the tiny river
flowing through the property, as well as
homesteads and Catholic Church and
cemetary high atop a hill overlooking the
property.
Along the way, there are weaving,
leathermaking, candlemaking, clothes
washing, bread baking and fiber dyeing
stations run by volunteers, who are re-
quired to dress the part and provide his-
torical descriptions of their costumes and
activities.
Dr. David Geary is a volunteer histo-
rian and member of the ranch’s board of
directors. “Volunteers design and pay for
their own costumes,” he said. “I have
eight outfits that date back to the times
of the Spanish.”
On any given day, Geary can be
found at the ranch wearing one of his
costumes – complete with historic
weaponry. “I have to be able to explain
each of my outfits,” he said.
Geary is just one of many volunteers
who add to the historical feel of the
ranch, which is hidden along a narrow
roadway far from Highway 550 and the
noise of the city. Driving to the ranch
along a winding road, the rural landscape
is emphasized, as homes are built on
large parcels of land.
Upon entering the ranch, cars are
parked in a large dirt field, and visitors
are led to a welcome center. Here there
is a museum store with running water and
plumbing, but this is the only modern
convenience found throughout the prop-
erty. A map guides visitors down a dusty
trailhead across a bridge and into the
lush valley, where the 21st Century is
lost, and colonial New Mexico takes over.
A woman in a full, flowered skirt
stands with a bar of soap, an old basin
tub and a washboard. She is scrubbing
linens and old fashioned long underwear.
“Would you like to try washing my
clothes,” she asks fourth-grade students
from Farmington’s Ladera Elementary
School as they walk past.
A group of girls giggle at the prospect
of using a bar of soap and tub to clean
the clothes. They stop and give it a try.
The boys have something else on their
minds. They are in seach of a blacksmith
shop, where fire and tools shape metal
into silverwear, knifes and horseshoes.
The blaze is stoked by a wooden lever
that fans the flames, heating the metal to
1,800 degrees. Only then can the metal
be shaped into the spoon, the blacksmith
Visit the 1700s at El Rancho de Las Golondrinas near Santa Fe
Story and photos by Debra Mayeux
is making. The craft of blacksmithing came to
New Mexico in the early 1500s and continues
to be used in the state to this day.
The walk continues to an open field, where
Theresa Falzone can be found in full Spanish
dress sitting atop her Lippizaner Stallion,
Zeema. The horse stands as still as a statue as
children rush up to pet his snow white fur, that
gave him his name. “’Zeema’ means snow in
Russian,” Falzone said, adding she regularly vis-
its the ranch with Zeema to show off the main
form of tranportation used by the Spaniards in
the colonial times.
Across the bridge from Zeema, there are
burros and a sheriff keeping the children and
visitors in line. Jerry Langston is a tour guide
and docent at Rancho de Las Golondrinas, and
he is quick to pull out old-fashioned handcuffs,
fashioned by the town’s blacksmith and ready
to be worn by unwitting guests posing for a
photo with The Law.
Langston tells of how it would take years for
travelers along the Camino Real to reach their
destination without the use of motorcoaches
or trains, relying only on wagons and horses.
He recommends a visit to the schoolhouse and
the dyeing station, where Spanish Market fiber
artist Annette Guitierrez-Turk explains the vari-
ous ways to dye wool naturally, including the
use of onions, roots and flowers.
“They would have taken white wool and
dyed it. Sometimes we use flowers, flowers with
stems and roots,” Guitierrez-Turk said. “I
weave the fabric, spin the yarn, dye the yarn
and put motifs on them.”
Behind the schoolhouse are the rickety wood-
lined steps leading up the hillside to the tiny
adobe church. Inside, visitors may sit on tiny
wooden benches and take in the Spanish santos
adorning the white-washed walls. Outside and
behind a wooden fence is the old cemetary filled
with wooden crosses marking the graves of the
families that once lives at the Ranch of the Swal-
lows. Those families include the Vega y Coca,
Sandovals and Bacas, many of whose descendants
still live in the valley of La Cienega.
22 | MAJESTIC LIVING | SUMMER 2014
24 | MAJESTIC LIVING | SUMMER 2014
The ranch has been mentioned in diaries and
reports of yesteryear, according to the Website,
golondrinas.org. “It became the last encampment
before reaching Santa Fe, the end of the long
journey on horseback or by carretas from far away
Mexico City,” the site stated.
Even New Mexico Governor Juan Bautista de
Anza spent the night at the ranch in 1778, while
searching for a direct route to Arizpe, Sonora,
Mexico, with 150 men on a military expedition.
The ranch was purchased in the early 1930s by
the Curtin-Paloheimo family, which had the vision
to restore the buildings and move other authentic
historic structures from across New Mexico to the
site.
“Now, an 18th century placita house complete
with defensive tower, a 19th century home and all
of its outbuildings, a molasses mill, a threshing
ground, several primitive water mills, a blacksmith
shop, a wheelwright shop, a winery and vineyard
depict many of the essential elements of early New
Mexico. The Sierra Village portrays life as it was
lived in the mountainous regions of New Mexico. A
morada, or Penitente meeting house, descansos, a
Campo Santo and an Oratorio testify to the deep
religious faith that sustained the early settlers,” the
website stated.
The ranch is now owned by a non-profit organi-
zation, El Rancho de las Golondrinas, which
opened it to visitors in 1972 to create a place that
not only shares the rich history of New Mexico,
but also fosters a pride for the language, culture
and arts of Spanish Colonial, Mexican and Territo-
rial New Mexico. El Rancho de las Golondrinas, a
member of the Association for Living Historical
Farms and Agricultural Museums, welcomes school
groups to visit the site and also provides work-
shops and seminars throughout the year to enrich
the visitor’s experience.
The museum is open for self-guided tours from
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday dur-
ing the summer months of June through Septem-
ber. The cost is $6 for adults and $4 for senior
citizens and teenagers from 13 to 18. Children 12
and under are admitted free.
Docent guided tours are available by reserva-
tion during the months of April, May and October.
For more information call, 505.473.4169.
Your Dream San Juan College’s partnership with the Texas Engineering Extension Service and Texas A&M University-Com-
their degree requirements through San Juan College and Texas A&M University-Commerce. Students without TEEX
additional 18 hours of core classes.
Your Future
gown and received his diploma during graduation ceremonies at San Juan College.
time and effort into getting their degree.
Our Focus
assist them in completing their educational goals.
Tfor students to further their educational goals and enhance their careers.
Zach Vann
San Juan College student Zach Vann graduated with an Associate of Applied Science degree, which he earned through an online partnership program with SJC and Texas A&M University-Commerce. Pictured right to left: Dean Patscheck, Associate Professor, SJC School of Energy; Randy Pacheco, SJC School of En-ergy Dean; Zach Vann; and Georgia Cortez, Assistant Professor, School of Energy.
sanjuancollege.edu 505-326-3311
for students to further their educational goals and enhance their careers. Zach Vann
SAN JUAN COLLEGE
Stella Castro easily recalls when she became a
licensed barber in New Mexico. It was just
before President Kennedy was shot on Nov.
22, 1963.
“I was at McLellans Five-and-Dime in Farmington
when they announced it over the radio,” said Castro,
who received her first New Mexico barber license in
September 1963.
Castro owns Castro’s Barber Shop in Flora Vista.
In New Mexico, a barber license must be
renewed each year.
Her license in 1963 was one of the first in
New Mexico issued to a woman.
Castro was told by the issuing office in Santa Fe that
she was the first woman in San Juan County to receive
a barber license.
A barber license is not the same license as the
cosmetologist license, received by beauticians.
Barbers are trained and licensed to cut hair, beards
and mustaches, and to shave faces.
“I was trained on men’s hair,” Castro said.
Women are too fussy. I like my men much more.
We get along really good.”
A phone call to the State Barbers and
county’sfirst woman
barberStella Castro marks 50 years of barbering
Story by Bill Papich | Photos by Josh Bishop
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28 | MAJESTIC LIVING | SUMMER 2014
Cosmetologists Board, Regulation and Licensing
Department, could not confirm who the first
woman was to receive a New Mexico barber li-
cense. Castro may have been the first, but an offi-
cial at the Regulation and Licensing Department
said there are no barber licensing records that date
back to 1963.
Barbering runs in Castro’s family. Her father
Ricardo Ochoa was a barber. Her husband
Manuel Castro was a barber. Misty, one of her
three daughters, became a barber.
Castro met her husband, now deceased, in
Lubbock, Texas, soon after receiving her New
Mexico barber license and beginning work as a
barber in Farmington, then moving to Lubbock to
train and qualify for a Texas barber license. She
applied for a barber training job at a barber
shop in Lubbock.
Manuel was the owner. He hired her so she
could accumulate training hours to qualify for a
Texas license. They married soon after and lived
in Lubbock for 18 years, then moved to Farming-
ton to be barbers.
Castro’s family origins are in Chihuahua, Mex-
ico, where her father was a barber before immi-
grating to the United States. She has a photo of
him cutting a man’s hair in a barber shop in Chi-
huahua, in 1917. He later became a barber in
Santa Fe, then moved to Farmington in 1955,
when the oil and natural gas drilling boom in San
Juan County was going full blast.
“He made more money in Farmington in one
day than he did in Santa Fe in one week,” Castro
said.
After her husband’s death in 1998, she and
her daughter worked together as barbers in
Farmington, including 13 years together at their
own barber shop, Castro’s Barber Shop in Flora
Vista.
Castro said she has been giving haircuts to
three of her customers for 30 years.
“In my prime, I could do maybe 40 haircuts a
day. Now, 20 is plenty. It can be a couple of
minutes for a buzz and maybe an hour for the
longest.”
Asked when she plans to retire, Castro said she
will wait until the time is right. “I’m going to keep
cutting as long as people get in my chair.”
Photo by Josh Bishop
As the new Cooperative Extension
Service agent for San Juan County, Bonnie
Hopkins can recommend how best to grow
your food, based on the latest agricultural
scientific research and technology.
She worked as a professional chef for 10
years, so she can also give you advice on
eating with the season and growing food for
flavor.
“I have the experience of being on both
sides,” Hopkins said.
“When you are cooking, you are manipu-
lating ingredients. I felt myself drawn from
the cooking to the food producers.”
Hopkins is a Kirtland High School gradu-
ate and the first woman to
become the agriculture agent for the
San Juan County Cooperative Extension
Service. She received her undergraduate de-
gree in sustainable agriculture from Fort
Lewis College and her master’s degree in
agricultural integrated resource
management from Colorado State University
at Fort Collins, Colo.
This was after her 10-year culinary career.
Hopkins is a New Eng-
land Culinary
Institute grad-
uate. Her
intern-
ship was at the Farallon Restaurant in San
Francisco and she was the executive sous
chef at Strings Restaurant in Denver. She
cooked for award-winning chef Daniel
Bouland at the Bouland Brasserie restaurant
in Las Vegas and she was executive sous chef
at the Palace Restaurant in Durango during
the three years she attended
Fort Lewis College.
One of her goals as Extension
Service agent is to
connect local
restaurants
and
from chef
Story by Bill Papich
to agricultural agent
Bonnie Hopkins knows how to grow it and cook it too
32 | MAJESTIC LIVING | SUMMER 2014
school kitchens with local growers. Not only are
fresh, locally grown vegetables and fruit better
tasting, they also contain more nutrients than
commercial grade produce that may have been
harvested quite some time before being pur-
chased. Hopkins said she wants to help local
growers “overcome the barriers of market entry”
for supplying locally grown produce to local
restaurants and schools.
“The first thing you have to do is find people
(local growers) who are willing to do it. At the
Palace Restaurant we would go through hun-
dreds of pounds of local products because the
community supported the local producers, the
local market. I believe it is important to connect
nutrition with local agriculture.”
Hopkins said public schools in Durango serve
at least one locally grown product on every
school lunch plate, so Durango could serve as a
model for San Juan County to follow. “I think we
have the potential to do it here,” she said.
The Cooperative Extension Service was estab-
lished by an act of Congress on May 8, 1914, so
Hopkins arrives at her Aztec office as the agency
prepares to celebrate its 100-year anniversary.
Her first day of work was Oct. 22. The Cooper-
ative Extension Service was established so that
agricultural scientific research and new knowl-
edge of agricultural practices developed at uni-
versities could be shared with the public and not
locked up in university vaults.
In addition to her work with agricultural sci-
ence and research specialists at New Mexico
State University, Hopkins collaborates with the
Cooperative Extension Service at Colorado State
University and Arizona State University, which in-
cludes the Navajo tribal Extension Service.
“It is about education of the consumer,” Hop-
kins said. “I have a direct line to the specialists.
If I don’t have the answer to your question I will
find the specialist who does.”
Hopkins conducts agricultural training and
field demonstrations for the public and she of-
fers instruction on agricultural marketing, health
and business studies. She teaches a master gar-
dener’s class and schedules gardening workshops
and seminars. Weed control is a big issue in San
Juan County and Hopkins can provide the most
recent information available on chemical and bi-
ological weed control. Up-to-date information
on cattle production trends, pasture manage-
ment and cattle marketing is provided through
her office.
She also works with children. In April, as part
of her Master Seed Program, Hopkins will be
going into fourth-grade classrooms to teach stu-
dents how to plant a seed.
She has experience teaching in public schools.
Her job before becoming the agriculture agent
for the Cooperative Extension Service was teach-
ing family and consumer science at Kirtland Mid-
dle School and agricultural science at Kirtland
High School.
“I grew up in Kirtland with 4-H and FFA (Fu-
ture Farmers of America), so agriculture was al-
ways a part of my life,” Hopkins said. “In my
family we grew our own food.”
Hopkins said good communication between
the Cooperative Extension Service and the pub-
lic is a priority. She has an advisory committee
made up of agricultural producers, consumers,
university specialists, a BLM rangeland manage-
ment specialist and the laboratory manager for
Navajo Agricultural Products Industry.
“They help me identify the needs of San Juan
County and I base my work around those
needs,” Hopkins said. “My job has to be what
the community wants.”
Perhaps one the most important needs of
gardeners and farmers are assurances they are
planting their crops in soil with enough nutrients
for a bountiful harvest. The Cooperative Exten-
sion Service office in Aztec will provide a con-
tainer to fill with soil that can be mailed to
Colorado State University for laboratory analysis.
The laboratory will mail back a list of nutrients in
the soil. Hopkins said she will assist gardeners
and farmers in interpreting the information and
she can provide advice on how to improve their
soil. The cost for the soil testing is $30.
Hopkins cited the example of a gardener she
assisted who had been putting the same amount
of fertilizer in his soil for 30 years. She said the
man reported his garden was not as productive
as it used to be, but he had never tested his soil.
“The most important thing you can do for
your garden is improve your soil,” Hopkins said.
“You have to feed your soil essential nutrients.
You can’t just keep taking from your garden and
not giving back.”
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Story by Margaret Cheasebro
Music brought Joe and Cathy Pope together, and it
continues to play an important part in their lives. Joe is a fam-
ily practitioner who founded Piñon Family Practice, and Cathy
gives private violin lessons. Both are actively involved in commu-
nity service.
“Music is my first love,” said Joe. “Well, Cathy is my first love,
but a lot of what Cathy and I love is music. Music has been a huge
bond in our lives.”
They’re amateur musicians who love to play chamber music.
Cathy is the first violinist and Joe plays viola in the Tres Rios String
Quartet. Sharon Brink, second violinist, and Hans Freuden, cellist,
round out the group, which has been together nearly 13 years.
They perform at weddings, funerals, receptions and for church
events.
“The quartet is our most important and endearing en-
semble,” Joe said. “Whether we play for concerts or not
doesn’t seem to matter. We love our rehearsals
on Sundays, and every Sunday when it’s done, we
go, ‘Wow! That’s great.’”
Diverse musical involvement
They’ve spent many seasons
playing in the San Juan Sym-
phony and for San Juan
College Sym-
phony con-
certs.
love notes
Cathy sings in the Caliente Community Chorus and
participates in the Bach Festival in Durango almost every March.
They both played in Showcase Concerts, a series of small group
performances directed by local musician Mick Hesse. They also
performed often with the Dead
Composers Society Concert Series.
“Joe Pope is the reason that the San Juan College
orchestra program exists,” said Dr. Keith Cochrane, SJC’s director
of instrumental music. “Fifteen years ago he suggested that we start
a community orchestra that serves the needs of both students and
community. With his support, we were able to do that. We’ve
subsequently performed over forty concerts. He has lent his full
support to the work of the orchestra, serving many concerts
as viola section leader.”
Keith praised Cathy’s teaching skills. “When the college
has an especially talented violin student, it’s Cathy Pope
we turn to.”
Attend music campsOnce or twice a year Joe and Cathy at-
tend music camps in Colorado and Texas.
“Our friends at music camp are
mostly amateur musicians like us
who love to play chamber
music,” Cathy said. “You
go for four or five
days and
play
Music fills the lives of Joe and Cathy Pope
Photos by Tony Bennett
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chamber music,” Cathy said. “You go for four or
five days and play chamber music 14 hours a
day. It’s fun.”
Mick Hesse has worked with Joe and Cathy
for almost 20 years. “Much of our relationship
has been built and based on music, beginning
with Showcase Concerts,” he said. “When I dis-
covered that they played violin and viola, I was
thrilled to think we could collaborate with a
dream project of mine, a classical chamber or-
chestra. Since that time we have performed to-
gether many times. Their genuine love of music
makes them the most enjoyable musical couple
one could ask for. Their enthusiasm and com-
plete dedication to fine chamber music makes
them the ‘go to’ duo in town.”
Their love of music developed early. Joe and
Cathy both spent a few years in Texas schools,
where they benefited from the Music in the
Schools program. It provided free instruments
and lessons for kids.
Cathy chose violin early
Cathy spent her elementary school years in
Fort Worth, Texas, where her father retired as an
airplane mechanic in the Air Force at Carswell
Air Base. One day the music teacher came to
her class and played a violin to recruit students
for the school’s orchestra.
“I’d never been exposed to classical music,
but I told my parents I wanted to play the vio-
lin,” Cathy said. “It was free. My parents didn’t
have the money to do it. They said okay, so I
started.”
Her parents eventually settled in New Mexico,
and Cathy played violin through high school and
college. The summer of 1976 between her junior
and senior years at Albuquerque’s Cibola High
School, she was accepted as a member of Amer-
ica’s Youth in Concert, a national high school
orchestra made up every summer of students
from across the country. She practiced with the
group in New Jersey, then toured with them for
30 days, playing concerts in Carnegie Hall and
across Europe.
Joe moved often
Joe’s father worked for Western Electric
Company as a supervisor who built microwave
SUMMER 2014| MAJESTIC LIVING | 37
towers. When he finished building, equipping
and getting one running, he turned it over to
the phone company and moved on to the
next town. Joe doesn’t remember many of
those towns, though one was Farmington. He
does remember living in El Paso until he was
in the middle of sixth grade when the family
moved to Roswell, N.M.
“The availability of Music in the Schools
from grade four in El Paso was a huge
boost,” he said. Another plus was living in a
neighborhood with musicians. The principal
second violinist in the El Paso Symphony lived
on his street, and down the road lived the
concert master.
“The second violin principal took me to
concerts even when I was only nine or so,”
he recalled. “She would put me in the bal-
cony and take me home after the concert. It
was a thrill for me to hear symphonic music.”
He played violin through high school,
eventually switched to viola, and spent part
of the summer of 1975 touring Europe with
America’s Youth in Concert.
Joined the Navy
After he graduated from Goddard High
School in Roswell, he joined the Navy. He
served most of his time at Memphis Naval Hos-
pital in Tennessee.
“My first job out of corps school was to be
corpsman on the medical intensive care unit,”
he said. “I was 18 years old and pretty freaked
out at first.”
It intensified his interest in medicine, which
had begun in high school.
“It didn’t seem realistic for me to think
about medical school at the time because my
family didn’t have money for college, and I
didn’t perform fantastically in high school,” he
said. “It wasn’t until later in my Navy years I de-
cided that I had what it took or the determina-
tion to go to school and become a doctor.”
His last job in the Navy was in Memphis Naval
Hospital’s dispensary, where, under the super-
vision of physicians and physician’s assistants,
he saw patients, diagnosed and treated them,
wrote prescriptions, and did minor surgery and
emergency procedures.
Both attended UNM
When he left the Navy in 1979, he began his
freshman year at the University of New Mexico
in Albuquerque. Cathy was a junior there,
working on a bachelor’s degree in history.
She’d started majoring in music until she dis-
covered she didn’t have what it took to be a
professional musician.
“Now I just play for love,” she said with a
smile.
While in Albuquerque, she played with the
UNM Orchestra, the Albuquerque Philharmonia
and the Albuquerque Civic Light Opera.
The day they met
Joe vividly remembers the day he met Cathy.
“It was in January 1980,” he said. “I was the
new kid. I had just joined the orchestra. On
my first day in the orchestra, I was wandering
around during a break. I saw a violin case that
had stickers on it from Rome, Florence, Venice,
Pisa, London, Paris. I thought, ‘I went on a trip
like that. I wonder who that is?’ I asked
around. An orchestra member introduced me
to Cathy Scheck. I asked her, ‘Did you go on
this trip called America’s Youth in Concert?
She said, ‘Yeah.’“
They began dating and married in August
1981.
As a freshman, Joe worked full time as a
UNM Hospital emergency room technician while
taking a full class load. “I almost flunked out
my first year,” he said.
He took a year off from school. When he
married Cathy, he cut back on his work hours
because she had a job that let him return to
school, where he did well. Those good grades
kept him eligible for the GI bill.
Attends medical school
He graduated from UNM in 1987 with a
major in biology, focusing on vertebrate zool-
ogy, and a minor in chemistry. He hoped to at-
tend the UNM School of Medicine.
“After not doing well the first year of col-
lege, that seemed less realistic than ever,” he
said. “I had some explaining to do when I went
to the medical school interview. I was able to
call on my 12 years of clinical experience and
say, ‘I think I know what I want. I think I’ll be
good for the school and for the profession.’“
By then Cathy was attending law school at
UNM. She graduated in 1988 with an eye on
practicing natural resources law.
“I wanted to do water law, environmental
law,” she said, “but because of our place in life
at that point it never worked out.” She prac-
ticed law six years in Santa Fe and in Grand
Junction, Colorado, mostly in the insurance de-
fense field.
Move to Grand Junction
When Joe graduated from medical school in
1991, the couple moved to Grand Junction,
where he did his internship and family practice
residency at St. Mary’s Hospital.
He chose family practice in part because he
loved all aspects of the medical field but didn’t
want to specialize in any of them.
“With family practice you get to do a little bit
of each,” he said. “But I think the bigger thing
was after all those years in the ER and moonlight-
ing in ICUs and seeing all that carnage and all
those unnecessary illnesses and deaths, I con-
cluded that the better use of my life would be to
help keep people out of the ER. I wanted to do
a lot of preventive medicine.”
Settle in Farmington
Once he finished his residency, the couple
moved to Farmington because they liked the
community and the music opportunities. By
then, Cathy was pregnant with their son,
Stephen, who was born in late 1994.
Joe began his medical practice at Farmington
Family Practice. In 1998 he founded Piñon Fam-
ily Practice, which has grown from one doctor
and a few staff members to 45 employees, in-
cluding five doctors and five mid-level staff –
physician’s assistants and nurse practitioners.
Cathy began playing violin with the San Juan
Symphony in the spring of 1995 and played
with them for 17 seasons. Joe played viola with
them for 12 seasons, and the couple gradually
increased their involvement in the music com-
munity.
Cathy joins Caliente
Stephen took piano lessons for eight years,
then switched to voice when he was in the
Piedra Vista High School Chorus. He also sang
with the Caliente Community Chorus.
“When Stephen was a senior, I thought I
would really love to sing with him in the same
chorus,” Cathy said. “I hadn’t because Caliente
and the San Juan Symphony rehearsals were
both on Tuesday nights. I finally decided if you
want to sing with your child, this is your last
chance. So I took a leave from the symphony,
joined Caliente in the fall of 2011 and had a
blast. I enjoy exploring a new musical avenue,
and I’m taking voice lessons. I miss the sym-
phony, but I absolutely love singing.”
Stephen is now a sophomore at UNM, major-
ing in geology.
Though music is important to the Popes,
they have other interests as well. They like to
bird watch and have seen nearly 400 species
across America, including more than 50 species
38 | MAJESTIC LIVING | SUMMER 2014
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Peepers has wobbly cat syndrome. Res-
cued in 2005 when his eyes were just
opening, the kitten survived, but some con-
nections in his brain never developed, lead-
ing to poor muscle control.
Amy Harden began fostering feral cats
because of Peepers. The work has become
her passion, filling much of the time that re-
mains after her fulltime job in the biology
lab at San Juan College. She is one of sev-
eral volunteers who foster cats in the
OHCAAT (One Homeless Cat at a Time)
program.
Amy met Peepers through a woman who
lived in a neighborhood where someone
was feeding feral cats, leading to the cre-
ation of a cat colony. The woman brought
Peepers to Amy, who was fostering kittens
long before OHCAAT formed.
We’ve got a barn“She didn’t know how to deal with it,”
Amy said. “I had just moved out of town. I
said, ‘We’ve got a barn. I can have one
more cat.’” Peepers since has grown into an
adorable wobbly adult cat.
The woman soon brought Amy another
kitten from the same colony. Amy fostered
it too. Today, between her barn and her
house, she fosters more than 20 cats and
kittens.
Cat coloniesCat colonies almost always start because
someone sees a homeless cat, wants to
help, and starts to feed it.
“If you feed one female cat, within a
year you can have 16 or 20 kittens,” Amy
said. “I’ve gotten in on the early stages of a
colony. The people say, ‘I just fed that one
female.’ She had a litter. Then her litter had
a litter, those kittens had litters, and she
was having a litter every time her kittens
had litters.”
If people want to feed feral cats but
can’t afford to have them fixed, she recom-
mends they call the San Juan Animal League
at 505.325.3366 for assistance.
The league hosts a Dogsters Spay and
Neuter program in which a mobile unit from
Durango holds three-day clinics twice a
month. On one day they spay and neuter
owned cats, on another day owned dogs,
and on the third day feral cats.
Trap, Neuter, Return
A few years after Amy started fostering
cats on her own, she became involved with
a group called Trap, Neuter, Return. Begun
in 2008 under the umbrella of the Humane
Society of the Four Corners, its purpose is
to trap wild adult cats and their kittens,
vaccinate and neuter them, and return them
to the place where they were trapped.
TNR members recognized that many kit-
tens they returned might not survive. They
would have a better chance if someone fos-
tered them and tried to find homes for
them.
“It’s a hard life for kitties out there,”
Amy said. “They’ll die, or they’ll grow up
and breed or get sick. In these colonies,
they all come to the same bowl, and they
keep spreading their germs. So mama’s sick,
and she’s carrying kittens, and they’re born
sick.”
OHCAAT begins in 2011
To give feral kittens a better survival
chance, OHCAAT was born in 2011. It’s
made up of some of the same people in
the TNR group. For awhile OHCAAT
OHCAAT gives homeless kittens a better chance to surviveStory by Margaret Cheasebro | Photos by Tony Bennett
42 | MAJESTIC LIVING | SUMMER 2014
members did their best on their own to take in
homeless kittens, tame them and try to find homes
for them. But fostering kittens isn’t cheap. In addi-
tion to buying food and litter, there are vet bills
when kittens get sick.
OHCAAT volunteers knew more people would
see the kittens if they could bring them to Petco, a
pet supply store at 3530 E. Main St., but to meet
Petco requirements, they needed a 501(c)(3) desig-
nation. So they became affiliated with the San Juan
Animal League. The 501(c)(3) affiliation also lets
OHCAAT pursue grants that Petco and other organi-
zations offer.
More cats, more vet bills
The affiliation with San Juan Animal League
brought OHCAAT more attention. As a result, their
fostered kitten population increased by at least one
third. That meant more food, litter and veterinary
expenses. Recognizing the challenge, the league
began providing them with financial help in 2012.
Even so, as of January, OHCAAT’s veterinary bills
had reached $3,600. They have yard sales and ac-
cept donations to help pay those bills. They often
spend their own money on food and litter.
“They’re so boots on the ground,” said Kristin
Langenfeld, who coordinates the San Juan Animal
League’s Spay-Neuter Program. “What they do is so
important. OHCAAT is the only 501(c)(3), affiliated
foster cat program in the county. That’s huge.”
Petco likes OHCAAT
In 2013, Petco General Manager Lisa Stiffler
agreed to let OHCAAT volunteers bring the cats to
Petco every Saturday.
Volunteers made an impression on Lisa. “They
and the adoption events became so popular, and I
noticed how well each cat was taken care of,” she
said.
So Lisa and the volunteers mutually agreed that
OHCAAT should be the official adoption group for
the Farmington Petco store.
Cats at Petco daily
Foster families bring their cats to Petco every
morning where customers can see them. If they like
one, they can ask Petco staff members for an adop-
tion application. It costs $60 to adopt a cat, and
each animal is already spayed or neutered and
“What they do is so important. OHCAAT is the only 501(c)(3) affiliatedfoster cat program in the country. That’s huge.”
— Kristin LangenfeldSan Juan Animal League
SUMMER 2014 | MAJESTIC LIVING | 43
vaccinated. The adoption fee helps to cover those
costs.
Every Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. OHCAAT volun-
teers bring in all the cats that are up for adoption,
and they stay to talk with people about each ani-
mal.
Having the cats at Petco has increased the adop-
tion rate. In 2013, OHCAAT took in 119 foster cats
and found adoptive homes for 75 of them.
“We keep fostering and showing the cats until
they’re adopted,” said Kathy Vickers, an OHCAAT
volunteer who works closely with Amy.
Extra care
It takes awhile before some cats are ready to
come to the store. First, they have to be tamed,
spayed or neutered and vaccinated, and some cats
need extra care.
“OHCAAT offers services that aren’t available
anywhere else,” Kristen Langenfeld said. “When they
have the room, they take orphan litters, individual
kittens, and special needs cats that require more
time. They work with the animal shelter and the vet-
erinary community. Everybody knows they’re out
there and can call them when they have those kinds
of needs.”
Kathy fosters more than a dozen kittens. “We’re
passionate about this,” she said.
Adoption enriches lives
One of many people who benefit from OHCAAT
is Mark Gadway of Cedar Hill. He adopted a two-
year-old female named Patches. He’d had two sister
cats for five years. When one disappeared last May,
the remaining cat seemed lonesome. Mark saw
Patches at Petco.
“I pulled her out of the cage and played with her
a little,” he said. “I filled out the adoption paper-
work and got her in November.”
He followed Amy’s instructions for introducing
the cats to each other. Now they get along well.
Secret weapon for taming cats
Taming kittens can be tricky. Amy gets help from
her husband, Scott Harden, a tree trimmer, who
owns Riverside Arborist.
“He’s my secret weapon when I tame cats,” she
said. “I foster them in a room where he sometimes
sits. They can sneak up on him and get used to
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people without the person staring and saying, ‘Are
you okay, are you sick, do you need medicine?’ as
I, the primary caregiver, often do because so many
initially have something we need to treat.”
The fostered kittens live indoors, so they don’t
have street smarts and wouldn’t survive long outside.
People who adopt them must agree to keep them
indoors.
If people are not OHCAAT members but foster
cats on their own, OHCAAT will help find homes for
those kittens if their guidelines are followed. Those
rules require that kittens must be healthy, spayed or
neutered, and vaccinated.
Cat colony develops fast
Ester Nañez of Farmington is one of those non-
members. While she was out of town, someone
dumped two female cats by the river near her prop-
erty. A friend was feeding a cat, and the homeless
females found their way to the cat dish. They soon
had litters of kittens, and their kittens began having
litters.
“Forty cats later, I had a cat colony,” Ester said.
Working together, TNR and the San Juan Animal
League neutered 34 cats in that colony with two
more cats to go. Because Esther followed OHCAAT
guidelines, OHCAAT let her show the kittens at
Petco. So far, five of them have found homes.
Amy and Kathy
Amy and Kathy form the core of the OHCAAT
group. They met in 2003 after Kathy began work-
ing as a veterinary clinic secretary. Kathy and her
husband, Bill, are animal lovers.
* OHCAAT 54
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It wasn’t an easy childhood for Abiegail Yazzie.
Raised in a hogan with a traditional Navajo upbringing, Yazzie
was the fourth of nine children and the oldest girl. When she was
5 years old, Yazzie was sent to Lake Valley Navajo School, a
boarding school, with her three older brothers.
It wasn’t until she was in the second grade, however, that a
teacher discovered Yazzie needed glasses. Those glasses opened
up a whole new world for the little girl.
“I didn’t realize there were leaves on trees or that people
had eyes,” Yazzie said with a shake of her head.
Her clearer vision not only helped with her school work and
her appreciation of the world around her, it helped her with her
assigned duties at the boarding school. Each student at the
school had responsibilities and Yazzie’s was cleaning – a job that
would ultimately help her in a career.
Structured life
It was a structured lifestyle at the boarding school, Yazzie
said. “We’d get up and go to our boxes, which were all in a row
and had numbers on them, no names. We were known by a num-
ber and my number was four. We’d shower, get dressed, brush
our teeth, braid our hair and make our bed. Then we’d line up
according to our size and we’d march – right foot first, just like
the military – to breakfast.”
It was very structured for a 5-year-old, Yazzie said, but a
structure she continues to use.
The joys of learning and the structured life were good for the
young Yazzie, but the death of her oldest brother was difficult
for her to accept. “I grieved for him,” she said. “For months, I
waited for him at the road every day, because I knew he would
come to me.”
Her brother never came and, to this day, Yazzie questions the
cause of his death. “They said it was an accident,” she said, “but
I never believed it.”
Degree in social work
Yazzie graduated from high school and attended San Juan
College, Fort Lewis College and New Mexico Highlands Univer-
sity, and got her bachelor’s degree. She received her master’s
degree from Smith College in North Hampton, Mass. Her degrees
were in social work – something her father said she was destined
for.
“My father was a journeyman carpenter, which is how I picked
up math, which is one of my strengths. And my dad always said I
had a spiritual gift for helping people and I had to use it.”
“My dad said because I cared for my six younger siblings, I
knew how to nurture and how to comfort people,” she added.
Yazzie went to work for Indian Health Services, where she
worked mostly with children who had been abused or neglected,
children who were in foster homes and children with disabilities.
“Because of the death of my brother, I knew how to work
with children who were grieving,” she said. “I enjoyed working
with the children and I was able to communicate with them, es-
pecially the kids with special needs. I got to their level, and
Story by Dorothy Nobis | Photo by Tony Bennett
Abiegail Yazzie’s path takes her back to the beginning
SUMMER 2014 | MAJESTIC LIVING | 47
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that’s what my dad saw in me and the gifts he said I
had.”
For 29 years, Yazzie nurtured, counseled and
worked with those children until, finally, the emo-
tional strain of the job became too much, and be-
cause of what she saw as an insensitivity of the
culture of the Navajo people.
“My plan was to retire in February of 2015,”
Yazzie said with a laugh. “I wanted to have a busi-
ness before I retired.”
New business venture
Yazzie and her husband, Ray, started Ray, the
Welder, LLC, in 1999. The business was successful
but, in 2008, the economy took a downturn that
affected the business. Yazzie started looking for an-
other business to put her time and energy into.
In April 2010, Yazzie was invited to the Arizona
Public Service Navajo Business Day workshop and
she thought about an industrial cleaning business. “I
worked with the Small Business Development Cen-
ter and they helped me with a business plan, mar-
keting and finances. I joined the c200 Emerging
Leaders Program and the NxLevel Entrepreneurs
Series. I learned leadership skills, QuickBooks, taxes
– everything I needed to know.”
But it’s not just about cleaning the floors and
offices where she specializes, Yazzie added. “I’m
very proactive regarding safety. We wear hard hats,
steel toed shoes, ear plugs, long sleeves and safety
glasses,” and she added that safety on sites is a
priority for her and her employees.
Yazzie and Hodi’shooh Specialty Cleaning Serv-
ices was honored as the Small Business of the Year
by the Small Business Development Center and was
recognized on the floor of the New Mexico Senate
in February. That recognition, Yazzie hopes, will add
to her goal of broadening her client base. “I’m
looking for million dollar contracts,” she said with
confidence. “With the help I received at the Small
Business Development Center, I’m going to try to
get work with the Department of Defense.”
Carmen Martinez, director of the Farmington
Small Business Development Center, said she en-
joyed working with Yazzie.
“Abiegail is a pleasure to work with,” Martinez
said. “She first reached out to the SBDC in 2001.
Since then, she has taken full advantage of our
services. She took the 12-week NxLevel course to
develop her business and she took the Emerging
Leaders class to work on her growth plan.”
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SUMMER 2014 | MAJESTIC LIVING | 49
“She has worked with our Procurement and
Technical Assistance Program office to help with
government contracting,” Martinez added. “Abie-
gail’s commitment to her business and her customers
are what has made her so successful.”
Yazzie wanted a name for her business that was
unique and defined what she does. “Hodi’shooh
means the spirit of cleaning,” Yazzie said of the busi-
ness’s name. “And I’m enthusiastic about cleaning
and we have the spirit of cleaning.”
Oddly, her new business venture has taken her
back to where she started. “I have a $1.4 million
contract with the power plant and a school. I’m
back at the school I went to, but now I clean and
get paid for it.”
“And now I go in the back door instead of the
front door,” she added with a laugh.
17 and growing
Yazzie employs 17 people, most of whom are
Navajo and who have been with her since the begin-
ning. “One of my employees is a woman who was in
the National Guard but who couldn’t find a job. I
hired her and she’s a full time employee and still
does her National Guard training.”
“The greatest satisfaction I have is giving back to
unfortunate Navajos who didn’t complete high
school or go to college,” Yazzie said. “I give them a
good salary and I tell them ‘Enjoy what you’re
doing. Be proud.’”
Hodi’shooh isn’t just Yazzie’s business, however,
she’s quick to explain. “It’s my baby. I like the own-
ership. I can make it as beautiful and productive and
successful as I want it. And I want it to be a multi-
million dollar business.”
While she enjoys her work, Yazzie spends what lit-
tle spare time she has getting back in touch with her
soul. “I go back to my sheep, my goats, my cattle
and my horses,” she said. “We have a ranch with
spring water and it’s so beautiful and quiet out
there.”
In spite of how far she’s come since she was the
little girl who needed glasses and cleaned her
school, Yazzie admits there’s one thing about her
life that hasn’t changed.
As busy as she is with a life that is full and good,
Yazzie admits that she’s still the little sister who waits
at the road for her big brother to come home. “I
still grieve for him,” she said. “He was my big
brother.”
Farmington has long been touted as New Mex-
ico’s best kept art secret. As home to several
world-class artists, the city has a history of cele-
brating art and culture among the locals. While it
has yet to be on the map as an art destination
for tourists who visit the state, the Taylor family
has helped to develop and change the attitude
of promoting art in the city proper with Artifacts
Gallery.
Tom Taylor’s family has always been civic
minded. The Taylors served as elected officials
and helped the local economy through busi-
nesses such as the old Farmington Lumber in his-
toric Downtown Farmington. The lumber business
was a staple for decades, and when it closed,
Tom’s wife, Bev, had a new idea for economic
development in Farmington. She asked Tom for
the chance to turn the lumberyard into an artists’
community in the heart of downtown.
The Taylors had visited the Torpedo Factory in
Alexandria, Va. Originally a torpedo factory, it
was converted into the largest collection of
artists’ studios in the country. Bev had a vision of
a lumberyard that could be converted into studio
space on a much smaller scale, and she asked
Tom to allow her the opportunity should Farm-
ington Lumber ever close.
Bev’s time came in November 1995, when she
had the opportunity to convert the lumberyard
into studio space for 10 artists. It took her two
weeks to fill the studios with working artists, and
Bev was giving them more than a place to work.
She was validating them.
This UNM graduate with a degree in art history
was making art in her basement, when her chil-
dren lived at home. “I was ecstatic when I got a
studio,” she said, while stroking Patches, the stu-
dio cat that lives at Artifacts.
Bev recalled having someone ask her if her art
got better when she moved her work into a stu-
dio, but she said her mind got better. “Having a
studio validates me as an artist. It’s the dividing
line between ‘I paint a little’ to ‘I am an artist
and I have a studio,’” she said. “By having a stu-
dio, you give value to what you do. I was validat-
ing 10 artists by giving them a studio.”
In the beginning, there were only artists’ stu-
dios. The artists rented the space and could
Artifacts gives art and artists a home downtown Story by Debra Mayeux | Photos by Josh Bishop
50 | MAJESTIC LIVING | SUMMER 2014
Family Communityand
come and go as they pleased. “People
would look in the window and try to fig-
ure out what we were doing,” Bev said.
Four years later, she decided to make
the secret public. She opened Artifacts
Gallery with her daughter Tara Churchill
as her business partner.
“I wanted Tara to develop a skill, and
I wanted to revitalize downtown,” Bev
said. Artifacts did both.
Tara began keeping the books for
both the gallery space and the studios.
She also honed her photography and
artistic skills, while having the opportu-
nity to raise her three young boys in a
gallery setting with her mother at her
side. Bev was able to focus on art and
on teaching.
“Pretty much in every aspect of the
business we are true 50 percent part-
ners. It takes both of us to keep us at
the top of our game,” Bev said. “We
also have developed a great cama-
raderie – almost a family – with these
artists.”
There are 14 artists renting studio
space at Artifacts today, and the gallery
represents 40 artists from throughout
the Four Corners region. There also is a
Chile Store, which helps tie in the
Southwest flavor of the region to the
gallery. The true focus, however, remains
a way to promote art and artists in Farm-
ington.
Dwight Lawing’s art career has blos-
somed through his networking at Arti-
facts. Lawing rented studio space at the
gallery 13 years ago. His wife Anna
wanted him and his art supplies out of
the bedroom, where she quilts, so she
went in and secured him the space.
“It was great. I could come down
here anytime,” Lawing said. “I am so
grateful to Tom and Bev for giving us
this opportunity.”
Lawing was an artist in California, but
when he moved to Farmington he had to
build up his reputation. “I was learning
SUMMER 2014 | MAJESTIC LIVING | 51
52 | MAJESTIC LIVING | SUMMER 2014
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and practicing. I started out experimenting – get-
ting into a couple of shows,” he said, adding that
he recently took first place in the Gateway to
Imagination national juried art show at the Farm-
ington Museum.
Lawing’s time spent at Artifacts helped him
achieve that goal. “An artist works in a studio all
by himself and struggles and works to get better
all of the time,” he said. “When I work on a
painting, I think I get it done, and I take it to Bev
or Robin (Compton) or Michael (Bulloch) – to
have that other artist’s opinion is priceless.”
Michael Bulloch’s studio is beside Lawing’s and
they often share ideas and critique one anothers’
works. “I like the sense of communing with other
artists. You can bounce ideas off of each other
and get peer critiques,” Bulloch said. “It helps
you grow as an artist and I like that.”
Bulloch began renting space at Artifacts nine
years ago. “It seems just like yesterday,” he said.
In that time, Bulloch has received accolades at
several art shows throughout the community, and
his work has become highly collectable. He also
began publishing the Handmade Artist’s Guide, an
annual publication that lists studios, galleries and
artists in the Four Corners region. His primary job,
however, is painting at Artifacts, where people
can wander in and find artists at work nearly any
time of day.
“This environment gives people an understand-
ing of the art world. For non-artists, they can
come in and see actual artists working – the ac-
tual process of creation from beginning to end,
when the piece goes on the wall for sale,” Bul-
loch said.
Opening up the art world to outsiders was
one of Bev’s purposes in opening Artifacts. She
wanted to give the public an opportunity to see
real artists at work and develop an understanding
of the process. She also wanted to give artists an
opportunity to hone their skills, while getting rec-
ognized as artists in the community.
Sandy Nelson and Marilyn Taylor are two
artists who benefitted from this. They have
shared a studio space for 4 1/2 years. Marilyn
decided to rent the space after she and Nelson
began taking art classes from Rod Hubble at
San Juan College.
“I came in and looked around. I didn’t think
I belonged in a studio,” Marilyn said. She saw
Bev working on a large piece and felt com-
pelled to ask whether a space was available. “It
was divine intervention – the right time and
place.”
Marilyn asked Nelson to share the space and
the deal was sealed. “We’ve learned a lot from
each other and from those around us,” Nelson
said.
Marilyn has enjoyed building relationships
and feeling the stress roll away, when she picks
up her paintbrush.
Nelson added that the studio being open to
the public has been positive. “I think it is a re-
ally good thing. It demystifies the process,” she
said. “There are conversation starters all over
the place.”
Bev had helped the process along by having
quarterly shows at the gallery. “That was how
the art walks in downtown started,” she said.
“We kept plugging away and then the city
stepped in and started putting art in other
businesses downtown. It has become a staple
activity and we are so thankful to the people
who come downtown to support the art walks.
The shows sponsored by Artifacts are open
to the studio artists as well as any other artist
in the Four Corners region. The shows are
open and any artist can enter two pieces of
work, as long as they follow the theme. The
June-July show will be Tools of the Trade. The
August show’s theme is Play.
Bev said she has enjoyed the shows, because
they bring people into the studios and galley.
“I wanted people to come in and feel totally
comfortable watching art being done,” she
said.
And Bev constantly creates. She has done
civic art projects, along with Tom, including the
giant wall sculpture that recognizes those who
contributed to the Farmington Regional Animal
Shelter. She painted murals on the walls of the
Ladera Elementary School Library, and she is a
San Juan Mentor, teaching art skills to a youth
in need.
Bev has long enjoyed teaching art and fo-
cuses on what her students enjoy by teaching
at the gallery. “I really like the one-on-one
teaching,” she said.
The entire endeavor of opening the studios
and the gallery has been about family and com-
munity for the Taylors. “It’s worked well for al-
most 20 years, which is hard for me to
believe,” Bev said. It’s worked because the
community supports Artifacts, and the Taylors
support the community.
SUMMER 2014 | MAJESTIC LIVING | 53
After Amy began volunteering with TNR, Kathy
offered to foster some kittens from a colony.
Kathy enjoyed it so much that she continued fos-
tering.
One feral kitten stands out in Kathy’s mem-
ory. Stewie came to her in 2013 after people
called for assistance when a cat was killed on a
road in Wild Horse Valley, leaving three kittens.
“He was three weeks old when I got him on
Sept. 15,” Kathy recalled. “He was orange, and
his ears stuck straight out. His eyes were huge,
and he had this teeny tiny nose and mouth. He
looked like an alien.”
In spite of upper respiratory and eye infection
problems, he flourished.
“He’s still got a little face, but his ears went
up, and he’s grown into his face,” Kathy said.
“He is so adorable. I hope he’ll get adopted.”
Kittens vulnerable
He’s well past the age when kittens sometimes
die. That often happens at about eight weeks
when they reach weaning age. The immunity they
got from their mother is wearing off, and their
own is just starting to develop.
“That’s the reason for the series of vaccina-
tions for kittens,” Amy said. “Their immunity
doesn’t kick in when mom’s immunity stops. It’s a
gradual process.”
That’s why OHCAAT often takes mother cats
in with the kittens. Once kittens are weaned and
taught good social behavior by their moms, the
mothers are fixed, vaccinated and returned to
where they were trapped.
Sick cats get vet care
When kittens do get sick, they get all the vet-
erinary care they need if they have a treatable
condition. Only seldom when the vet says the
outcome is poor does OHCAAT opt for euthana-
sia. Some kittens die no matter how hard volun-
teers try to save them.
“We had a horrible year in 2013,” Amy said,
her brow wrinkling in pain. “We lost 11 kittens.”
Amy uses a computer program to keep track
of all the cats, when they enter the foster system,
their medical and vaccination information and
when they are adopted.
“She is really organized,” Kathy said. “She re-
members all their names.”
Good adoptive homes
Because OHCAAT volunteers put so much
time, expense, and love into the cats they foster,
they want them to have good adoptive homes.
People who want to adopt one must fill out an
application. Volunteers review each application,
meet the applicants and talk with them.
“They usually tell you pretty quick what kind
of pet owners they will be,” Amy said, but even
after they talk with applicants, they must trust
their gut instincts.
Last Christmas Eve, a family who lived on the
reservation visited the cat cages at PETCO.
“That one looks like Hank,” one of them said.
Amy’s ears perked up. She’d fostered Hank
and felt good about the family who adopted
him, but questions lingered in her mind. “They
lived out in the middle of nowhere,” she said.
“They told me their last cat had been killed by
OHCAAT continued from 44
54 | MAJESTIC LIVING | SUMMER 2014
When OHCAAT (One Homeless Cat at a
Time) volunteer Amy Harden got a call about a
kitten in need, she had to say no. There was no
room in foster care.
The caller wouldn’t give up. “This little cat
family showed up, and I don’t think they’re out-
side cats. It’s October, and it’s cold.”
“But we have no room in foster care,” Amy
repeated.
“We can’t keep them,” the caller insisted.
We’ve got so many.” She paused. “I think one
of them is blind.”
Amy relented. “I’ll be there after work.”
When she picked up the kitten, who came to
be known as Honeybear, the cat’s eyes were
badly infected. Amy took her to the vet, who
referred her to a specialist in Albuquerque.
“We found that she had three or four differ-
ent birth defects, including one where she had
no eyelids,” Amy explained. “She had fur rub-
bing on her eyeballs constantly, so there was
chronic ulceration of the eye itself. That was
why her eyes were infected all the time.”
The specialist held little hope that Honey-
bear would ever see but counseled waiting for
two months just in case. By then, it was obvious
Honeybear had no vision, so the specialist re-
moved her eyes.
“They were these tiny deformed eyeballs that
looked like raisins,” Amy said. “She probably
never did see. But that cat is incredible. She
can catch gnats.”
Looking back, Amy believes circumstances
prepared her for Honeybear.
“There’s a book called Homer’s Odyssey
about a blind cat and a woman right around the
time of 9-11,” she said. “Somebody gave me
that book a month-and-a-half before I took
Honeybear, and I read it. These cats that have
never seen are just incredible.”
Honeybear found an adoptive home, though
it took a long time for the couple to decide to
adopt her.
“They visited her every week at Petco for al-
most a year before they finally took her home,”
Amy said.
Honeybear, who will be 2 years old this sum-
mer, is flourishing with her new family.
Honeybear finds a home
something. They were a nice quiet family. The little girl that picked
him out went past a cage full of adorable kittens and picked this big
old beefy tomcat.”
The family pulled out pictures of Hank sprawled on his back,
asleep on their couch.
“He’s doing fine,” Amy said, her eyes sparkling. “You can’t believe
the feeling. That just tickled me.”
“You’re doing a good thing”
People often tell OHCAAT volunteers, “You are doing such a good
thing.”
That’s nice to hear. It offsets the people who ask if OHCAAT can
take their 3-year-old cat because they have to move and can’t take it
with them.
Amy bristled. “That’s your family,” she said. “They’re yours for-
ever.”
It’s not easy to foster kittens, grow to love them, then give them
up for adoption.
“There are days it’s extremely overwhelming, and you start to won-
der if you’re making a difference,” Amy said. “Then families who took
the kittens come back with pictures of their pets. They love their new
family members, and it makes all the effort worthwhile.”
To learn about kittens available for adoption, visit the cat cages at
Petco, email Amy at [email protected], or go to
www.petfinder.com/shelters/NM123.html or
www.facebook/com/ohcaat.SUMMER 2014 | MAJESTIC LIVING | 55
OHCAAT continued from 44
Pope continued from 38
at their Farmington home. Joe grows vegetables
in his garden and in a backyard green house.
They love to travel and are avid UNM basket-
ball fans.
Community involvement
Joe is in his second six-year term on the San
Juan College Board and is currently chairman.
He was involved with Leadership San Juan,
teaching people to network and learn more
about leadership. He served as chief of staff at
San Juan Regional Medical Center in 1998 and
was on the board of Childhaven from 1998-
2012. He serves on the Farmington Convention
and Visitors’ Bureau Board.
Cathy became involved with Farmington
Clean and Beautiful, the local affiliate of Keep
America Beautiful, in 1996. She has served for
over 10 years on the board of San Juan Col-
lege’s Fine Arts Committee, whose biggest
project is running the annual Young Artists’
Recital. She is a co-executor of the estate of
Connie Gotsch, which, through the Connie
Gotsch Arts Foundation, provides grants and
scholarships for the arts and artists in San Juan
County.
She helped raise money to create the Pure
Bliss Cancer Library for cancer patients and
their families. She also was a founder of the
Piedra Vista High School Academic Booster
Club that supports students in the top 25 per-
cent of their class.
Music is their first love
But of all of their activities, music remains
their favorite.
“We have a passion for the arts,” said Cathy.
“We want to keep the arts going for another
generation.”
sailing awayKeith Cochrane has inspired many students to live a life filled with music
Story by Margaret Cheasebro
When Keith Cochrane became San Juan College’s director of
instrumental music 21 years ago, he began hanging on his office
walls one poster for every concert he directed.
“I’ve always said that when my posters cover every square inch
available, I need to quit,” he said.
Only one tiny patch behind his door doesn’t hold a poster, so
it’s a fitting time for Keith to move into other musical arenas. Be-
fore he steps down this summer, he will complete his work as
music
director for Sandstone Productions, his third year in that position.
He also will direct summer band and orchestra performances.
Marvelously talented
“Keith is marvelously talented,” said Linda Edwards, associate
professor of music at San Juan College. “I have seen his expertise
salt and peppered in many situations and many events at the col-
lege all the way from his early years assisting me with Masterworks
to playing in the orchestra. His creativity with his classes has
helped develop the music department.”
In addition to a host of musical endeavors, once Keith moves on
he will do more sailing. As a member of the San Juan Sailing Club,
he has taken several musicians out on his boat at Navajo Lake.
“Sailing really connects with musicians because it’s a visceral ex-
perience,” he said. “With music, our whole body is affected. As a
conductor, I find it’s a lot like dancing. The visceral experience of
sailing and the wind picking you up and moving you down the lake
or ocean is very much the same. I’ve never had a musician out on
the boat who didn’t connect with the experience.”
Photo by Tony Bennett
“Whether they go on to become
professional musicians, teachers,
performers, composers or recording
studio engineers is not important.
It is important to give them the ability
to become life-long musicians.”
— Keith Cochrane
58 | MAJESTIC LIVING | SUMMER 2014
Sails many parts of world
He has sailed with friends and family in sev-
eral parts of the world. An invitation to race
on a two-man crew for the National Champi-
onships of the Royal Victorian Yacht Club took
him to the Solent Sea off the Isle of Wight. He
has sailed around the Midriff Islands and the
Sea of Cortez, the Stockholm Archipelago in
Sweden, and in the Baltic, among other places.
After he leaves the college, Keith will sail
into performing with professional musicians and
arranging music for some of them. Among
those musicians are Dan Lambert, Eve Fleish-
man, Hoyle Osborne and Jane Voss, with all of
whom he has performed in SJC concerts.
Plans move to Albuquerque
He and his wife, Kristen, a case manager for
Presbyterian HMO, plan to move to Albu-
querque and buy a house there. Their daugh-
ter, Brooklyn, a pre-med student at New
Mexico State University in Las Cruces, will at-
tend the University of New Mexico Medical
School in Albuquerque. She is also a singer,
actor and dancer.
Their son, Bryce, who grew up playing
music, lives in Kearney, Neb. He is the father of
Kadyn, 10, who plays violin and fiddle, much
to Grandpa Keith’s delight.
When the Cochranes move to Albuquerque,
Keith will have several musical opportunities.
He has received an open invitation to play with
the Albuquerque Jazz Orchestra. He’s also
been asked by a former student to form a
community band there. He’s thinking about be-
coming recertified in elementary music so he
can teach in the Albuquerque Public Schools.
Elementary music vital
“Elementary level teaching is the most im-
portant thing a music teacher can do, because
that’s where the basic skills of music are assimi-
lated,” he said. “If kids don’t get it by the time
they leave elementary school, it’s much harder
to learn it as an adult.”
Recalling why he chose music as a career,
Keith said, “I was not a stellar student, but I
played in the high school band and orchestra
and jazz band and sang in the church choir. It
was the only thing I was good at, so I decided
that is what I would do.”
Some students with whom he interacts feel
that way about music too. He talks with many
of them when he hosts festivals and has clinics
for high school bands, jazz bands and orches-
tras at San Juan College.
Music is life-long
“Whether they go on to become profes-
sional musicians, teachers, performers, com-
posers or recording studio engineers is not
important,” he said. “It is important to give
them the ability to become life-long musicians.
In sports, by the time you’re 30 or 40 you
can’t continue that career, but music is differ-
ent. I have many friends who are in their 70s
and still playing with our bands and orchestras.
They’ve made music a life-long avocation.”
In 1999, at the suggestion of medical doc-
tor and musician Joe Pope, the college’s or-
chestral program expanded to include a
community orchestra.
SUMMER 2014 | MAJESTIC LIVING | 59
“I really didn’t think we had enough musicians
in the community, but I was soon proved wrong,”
Keith said. “At our next orchestra concert we will
do Antonin Dvorzak’s New World Symphony,
Franz Liszt’s Die Tote Nachtigall tone poem with
guest pianist Victor Neidzwieki and a world pre-
miere by an Arizona composer David Sprinkle of
a piece called Particles. The community orchestra
has continued to enlarge and mature, and it bites
off some really difficult repertoire and makes it
sound really well.”
Brought music back to us
Chris Moon, who plays clarinet, French horn,
and trumpet in both the SJC band and the or-
chestra, is grateful that community musicians can
participate.
“I’m 63, and I had not played in an orchestra
for 30 years,” he said. “To be able to play again
was awesome. Like so many of us, Dr. Cochrane
brought music back into our lives.”
Aztec Public Schools Food Services Director
Bob Schryver plays tuba at SJC. “I’ve played in
park and community college bands all over the
country,” he said. “Dr. Cochrane is without a
doubt the best conductor I’ve ever played under.
He has top notch musicality and is also an educa-
tor. He conducts to educate you.”
Mom supported his music
Keith didn’t come from a musical family, but
his mother played the piano and supported his
musical efforts in high school.
“She paid for lessons, but she required that I
practice half an hour a day on any instrument
that I was taking lessons on,” Keith recalled. “I
concentrated on piano and trumpet. I couldn’t
do anything until I’d done that practicing. I
couldn’t go to Boy Scouts, church choir, baseball
practice, or play with my friends. Try as I might
to weasel out of it, she always made me practice.
My mom gave me the tools to do what I do
now.”
New York native
Born in New York City on Oct. 27, 1957, he
moved with his family to nearby Valley Stream,
N.Y., and graduated from high school there. He
quit playing instruments soon after high school
and managed the American Handicraft Store in
Boston, Mass. Missing music, he discovered
nearby Boston Community College and took a
jazz class there. That’s where he learned about
the Berklee School of Music in Boston.
He saved up his money, attended Berklee for
three years and two summers, and graduated in
1982 at age 22 with a bachelor’s degree in
music education. He supported himself by driving
a taxi, waiting tables at a kosher vegetarian
restaurant, doing jingles for the radio on trumpet
in a recording studio, and playing with a salsa
band.
First job in elementary music
He got his first job teaching elementary music
and junior high choir in Cedaredge, Colo., from
1982-1985.
He stepped into the high school arena when
he worked as Grand Junction High School’s choir
director in Grand Junction, Colo., from 1985-
1988. From there, he became assistant band di-
rector at Mesa State College.
Along the way, he earned his master’s degree
in performance on trumpet from Western State
College in Gunnison, Colo., and he directed the
Valley Symphony Orchestra, which drew musicians
from Delta, Montrose, and Grand Junction,
Colo. That’s how he met Kristen.
Needed oboe player
“We were doing Messiah one Christmas, and
we didn’t have an oboe player,” he said. “So I
called my friend, Greg Carly in Grand Junction,
who conducts the Centennial Band. He said,
‘Why don’t you try my girl friend?’ So I did. To
hold on to a good oboe player, evidently you
have to marry her. She’s been playing in the
San Juan College orchestra and our band since
I got here, and has been a wonderful asset.
Working 14-hour days, you need someone who
Before Dr. Keith Cochrane leaves this sum-
mer as San Juan College’s director of instru-
mental music, he has several musical events
ahead of him.
For the third year in a row, he will be Sand-
stone Productions’ music director. This year,
Sandstone will produce the play , with 21
shows on Thursday, Friday and Saturday
evenings from June 19 through Aug. 2 at the
Anasazi Amphitheater in Lions Wilderness Park.
Keith’s daughter, Brooklyn, will be in the cast.
He will direct summer band performances
at Brookside Park Amphitheater at 7 p.m. the
Sundays of June 29 and Aug. 3.
When the summer orchestra performs at
SJC’s Little Theatre at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July
29, he will be the conductor. Guest artist Eve
Fleishman will sing music composed by her and
arranged by Keith for the San Juan Orchestra.
The performance will include a rhythm section
and performances by the rock combo.
The rock combo also will get a workout
during the summer music festival on Saturday,
June 12, in the SJC graduation plaza behind
the library.
He invites musicians to call him at
505.330.5174 if they would like to play in the
summer band, which rehearses every Wednes-
day night, or in the summer orchestra, which
rehearses every Tuesday night.
A summer filled with music
60 | MAJESTIC LIVING | SUMMER 2014
understands what you’re doing. To have a sup-portive wife has been a blessing.”
To increase his knowledge of orchestral con-ducting, he earned a doctorate of arts from theUniversity of Northern Colorado in Greeley, grad-uating in 1993. That degree opened the doorsfor him at SJC, where he became director of in-strumental music in August 1993.
Philmont Scout RanchMoving to New Mexico was an easy choice. He
fell in love with the state as a teenager when heattended the Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron.“I thought I had died and gone to heaven,” hesaid. “Fresh air, 13,000-foot mountains, back-packing for 11 days, ponderosa pines, ridinghorses.”
In spite of the state’s beauty, he had secondthoughts about the SJC job after he and Kris at-tended the first night of band rehearsal.
“I think there were 11 people in the band,” hesaid. “I drove home, knowing that I had gotteninto the wrong thing. But we managed to build upthe band.”
Today, it has more than 50 members.
College supports music“San Juan College is wonderful in how they
support community organizations like band, thejazz band and the orchestra,” he said. “You don’tfind that at many community colleges. Music de-partments are typically housed in ancient WorldWar II left-over hangars or Quonset huts, Theydon’t have a beautiful facility like this.”
San Juan College President Dr. Toni HopperPendergrass called Keith “a remarkable influenceon so many of our students and on the commu-nity. He has been instrumental in organizing morethan 200 concerts and numerous outreach clinicsin area schools. Along with being an extremely tal-ented musician, he has inspired students to ex-pand their love of music and the arts. We will allmiss Keith’s passion for music, his dedication tostudents, and his unfailing support of San JuanCollege and the community.”
Many musical groupsIn addition to the community orchestra, the
band and the jazz band, Keith said, “Each yearwe’ve also had a couple of jazz combos, rock
combos, and a youth orchestra called Sinfonietta.Usually we do one musical every other year. I’veconducted all of them. The last two wereSweeney Todd and Urine Town. We also did LittleShop of Horrors and Sound of Music.”
The college also hosts a number of music festi-vals, including the regional large group festival,the all-state youth choirs, the elementary and mid-dle school choir competitions, and ensemble con-tests.
“We just completed our 15th annual jazz fest,with guest artist trumpeter Gavin Bond fromPortland, Ore.,” Keith added.
The jazz festival has been a major recruiter forthe college.
Still excited about his workEven though his college tenure is coming to an
end, Keith remains excited about his work.“I continue to put all of the effort into this
program that I did on the first day I walked in,”he said. “I still look forward to my job. Everymorning when I wake up I can’t wait to get towork and see our wonderful talented studentsmake progress in music.”
62 | MAJESTIC LIVING | SUMMER 2014
MLaround
town Koogler Middle School students listen as owner and president of Merrion Oil and Gas, T. GregMerrion shares information about the development of oil and gas in the basin and importance offossil fuels in energy creation during Energy Week in April. Nearly 1,500 middle school studentsfrom Shiprock to Dulce learned about energy in the San Juan Basin during the annual EnergyWeek presentations at the Farmington Museum.
Chelsea Nicole Tillman, daughter of Mike and Nancy Tillman ofFarmington, was crowned Miss Las Cruces recently.She will be competing for the Miss New Mexico Crown in Ruidosoon June 28.She is a junior at New Mexico State University and is a 2011graduate of Piedra Vista High School.
Tri-City Mayors, from left Tommy Roberts, Sally Burbridge and Scott Eckstein, speak to the crowdat the third annual Mayor’s Ball at the Farmington Civic Center in March. The ball is a fundraiserfor nonprofits in the county. Proceeds from the fundraiser will support Big Brothers and BigSisters of San Juan County. At the event Roberts announced that Sexual Assault Services ofNorthwest New Mexico has been chosen as the recipient for the 2015 and 2016 fundraiser.
SUMMER 2014 | MAJESTIC LIVING | 63
Aztec freelance writer Margaret Cheasebro
earned five first place awards in the New Mex-
ico Press Women’s state communications con-
test for articles that appeared in Majestic Living
Magazine and Four Cor-
ners Sports in 2013. The
awards were presented
during the NMPW’s state
convention in Las Cruces
on Saturday, April 26.
Cheasebro won in
these categories: news story for an article
about Farmington Postmaster Steve Begay; arts
and entertainment specialty articles for stories
on the bluegrass band Chokecherry Jam and
the artist group Loose Ladies; education spe-
cialty articles for pieces on Red Mesa, Arizona,
High School teacher Kathi Stanford being
named Navajo Nation Teacher of the Year and
on The First Tee, a national organization that
teaches golf and life skills; environmental spe-
cialty articles for pieces about Heather Eber-
hard and the national award she won for
recycling when she was a fifth grader and
about Dr. Bob Lehmer and his efforts to make
river environments enjoyable recreational
areas; sports specialty articles for stories about
Tom Wishon of Durango, an internationally
known golf club head designer, and about Jeff
Rogers, who lost his right arm in a roadside
bomb blast in Iraq but learned to play golf left
handed and to find success in his personal and
business life.
She also earned third place for a personal-
ity profile about chiropractor Dr. Doug Pen-
dergrass.
Entries are judged by out-of-state journal-
ists, and each winning entry receives a point
value based on its first, second or third place
status. Using that point system, Cheasebro
earned the second place general excellence
award, which included a $75 check.
First place awards are automatically entered
into the National Federation of Press Women
Communications Contest.
Margaret Cheasebro earns 5 first place awards from NMPWA
Fresh off a silver medal win in Sochi, Russia, Paralympian and Farmingtonnative Alana Nichols came home in April for and visit a and to supportMadison Seeiner at a fundraisers for Peach’s Neet Feet. Nichols, 31, livesin Wheat Ridge, Colo., and is a dual sport athlete for Team U.S.A. in theParalympics. She competes in both wheelchair basketball and alpine skiing.She competed in the Sochi Winter Games and brought home a silver medalin downhill skiing.
Debby Titus, Farmington candidate for Mrs. New Mexico 2014, joined with hosts Jimmy Bond, DebbieJenson and Jeff and Maureen Roth to raise money for the Women Veterans of New Mexico in May. At thefundraiser, they filled a trailer full of food and clothing and raised $1,200 for the organization. TheWVNM is a voice for women who have served and those currently serving in the United States ArmedForces. The group is an advocate for Women Veteran’s rights, issues, and benefits. Debby will representFarmington when she competes in the 38th Annual Mrs. New Mexico Pageant on June 28 in Albuquerque.Pictured above at the fundraiser are from left Debby Titus, Anita Rowe and Beverly Charley.
MLCoolest Things
If you’re anything like the gang here at Majestic,
each summer you promise yourself “I will not waste
one single moment of it this year.”
And, as always, things get in the way! But, we all
still manage to eke out some perfect nights and
relaxing weekends, and some extra down time with
friends and family.
We’ve strung together some items that will make
those times a little more fun and a lot easier.
It’s Summertime
WHY?
BECAUSE ICE MELTS!
Whiskey Rocks
www.geekalerts.com
Whiskey stones are freezable naturally
mined soapstones that will keep your
drink cold but won’t water it down. The
whiskey stones will keep your drink cold
up to an hour, allowing you to savor the
delicious whiskey or other liquor of your
choice.
Each set comes with a cushy muslin
drawstring pouch and nine (9) of these
Whiskey stones.
$19.99
1PLUG IN
AND TUNE OUT
USB Wall plug
www.homedepot.com
Look around you. Chances are pretty
good there are at least half a dozen
things within arm’s reach of you that are
plugged into a power outlet. Your laptop,
your tablet computer, your phone – even
that awesome pair of wireless head-
phones needs to be charged.
Charge all your portable devices directly
from the wall without using up your avail-
able outlets – no adapter required.
5-star energy efficient design auto
senses the correct wattage and only
outputs full power if needed.
$27.95
2HAVE FUN STORMING
THE CASTLE
Excalibur Motorized Bumper Boat
w/Cannon
www.overstock.com
King Arthur would have loved having this
in his arsenal. The Excalibur Bumper
Boat comes complete with jumbo-sized
squirt gun.
The quiet, single motor with one-button
accelerator makes it easy.
This bumper boat gives you steering
wheel control.
Also includes a squirt gun right on the
steering wheel that lets you soak anyone
in your way.
$84.99
3TACO
TRANSPORTATION
Taco Truck Taco Holder
www.amazon.com
If you’re in the mood to make a home-
made Mexican meal, then the Taco Truck
Taco Holder will provide a playful way to
keep your scrumptious tacos from top-
pling over and making a mess. It comes
with two trucks in each package· Colors
include salsa red and guacamole green.
$15
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YARD OF
THE LIVING DEAD
Zombie Gnombie
www.designtuscano.com
Watch out! The Zombies have now
invaded the realm of the gnomes! This
macabre gnome has only survived the
zombie invasion by joining the Living
Dead. Sculpted in gruesome zombie
detail and cast in quality designer resin
exclusively for Design Toscano, our post-
apocalyptic Zombie Gnombie is hand-
painted to create a full vision from bloody
beard to graveyard hues. Don’t miss this
unique garden collectible!
11½”Wx8”Dx10½”H. 3 lbs.
$49.99
5HOOK, LINE
AND WIENER
The Campfire Roasting Rod
www.hammacher.com
This is the patented counterbalanced
campfire set that enables campers to
roast hot dogs and toast marshmallows
from a safe distance as if fishing. With
heat-resistant wooden handles, each of
the four 36”-long steel poles have a 21”-
long stainless steel “line” that terminates
in a pair of roasting spits. Gently jigging
the pole upwards—just like setting the
hook while fishing—flips the roasting
spits over for even cooking. Set of four.
Storage bag included.
$119.95
6WARM DAYS,
COOL DIP
Prodyne ICED Dip-on-Ice
Stainless-Steel Serving Bowl
Walmart.com; bedbathandbeyond.com
and amazon.com
The Prodyne Dip-on-Ice Serving Bowl is
an efficient tool for hosts and hostesses
who like to entertain. This stainless steel
serving bowl can be used for almost any-
thing, and it keeps foods chilled over a bed
of ice without leaving the food watered-
down or diluted. The serving bowl is also
top rack dishwasher safe. The bowl has a
durable stainless steel and acrylic con-
struction that will make sure that this will
be around for many parties to come.
$19.99
7PITCH BLACK
BBQ Grill Light and Fan
www.sharperimage.com
Cook perfectly grilled steaks, ribs and
burgers – even at night – with this BBQ
Grill Light and Fan. There’s never been a
great way to view your grill surface after
the sun goes down, until now. With this
clamp-on light and fan system, four ultra-
bright LED lights illuminate your grill sur-
face, while dual fans pull smoke up and
away. Lights rotate up to 300 degrees for
the perfect outdoor task lighting while
you baste, flip and grill to perfection.
Universal clamp attaches to virtually any
hood (except Kettle style hoods).
$89
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ADVERTISERS DIRECTORyAllstate Agents.............................................32
Viviana Aguirre
900 Sullivan Ave.
Farmington
505-327-4888
B J Brown
3030 E Main St., Ste X9
Farmington, NM
505-324-0480
Kelly J. Berhost
1415 W. Aztec Blvd, Ste. 9
Aztec, NM
505-334-6177
Harold Chacon
8205 Spain Rd. NE, Suite 209 C
Albuquerque, NM
505-296-2752
Dennis McDaniel
505-328-0486
Matt Lamoreux
4100 E. Main St.
Farmington, NM
505-599-9047
Johnnie Pete
412 W. Arrington
Farmington
505-327-7858
Silvia Ramos
2400 E. 30th St.
505-327-9667
Animas Credit Union.....................................48
2101 E. 20th St.
3850 E. Main St.
Farmington, N.M.
505-326-7701
405 W. Broadway
Inside Farmer’s Market
Bloomfield, N.M.
www.animascu.com
Ashley Furniture HomeStore ........................39
5200 E. Main Street
Farmington, N.M.
505-516-1030
www.ashleyfurniture.com
Basin Home Health.......................................36
200 N. Orchard Ave.
Farmington, NM
505-325-8231
www.basinhomehealth.com
Beehive Homes ............................................44
400 N. Locke
508 N. Airport
Farmington, N.M.
505-427-3794
Budget Blinds.................................................2
825 N. Sullivan
Farmington, N.M.
505-324-2008
Cascade Bottled Water
& Coffee Service ..................................48 & 53
214 S. Fairview
Farmington, N.M.
505-325-1859
Cellular One..................................................33
1-800-730-2350
www.cellularoneonline.com
C.A.R.E. Cleaning & Restoration....................12
505-327-3742
www.swcare.com
City of Farmington .......................................45
Great Lakes Airlines
Farmington, N.M.
1-800-554-5111
www.flygreatlakes.com
DeNae’s Boutique ........................................19
San Juan Plaza
Farmington, N.M.
505-326-6025
Desert Hills Dental Care..................................5
2525 E. 30th St.
Farmington, N.M.
505-327-4863
866-327-4863
www.deserthillsdental.com
Employee Connections, Inc...........................38
2901 E. 20th Street
Farmington, NM
505-324-8877
Farmington Boys and Girls Club....................18
1825 E. 19th St.
Farmington, NM
505-327-6396
Farmington Convention &
Visitors Bureau...............................................7
www.fmtn.org/sandstone
Four Corners Community Bank. ....................24
Seven Convenient Locations
Farmington • Aztec • Cortez
NM 505-327-3222
CO 970-564-8421
www.TheBankForMe.com
Four Corners Orthodontics...........................28
3751 N. Butler Ave.
Farmington, N.M.
505-564-9000
1-800-4Braces
www.herman4braces.com
Le Petit Salon...............................................49
406 Broadway
5150 College Blvd.
Farmington, N.M.
505-325-1214
Natalie’s for Her, Him, Home ........................67
4301 Largo, Suite H
Farmington, N.M.
www.nataliesonline.com
Nature’s Oasis..............................................23
300 S. Camino del Rio
Durango, CO
970-247-1988
www.NaturesOasisMarket.com
Next Level Home Audio & Video ...................29
1510 E. 20th St., Suite A
Farmington, N.M.
505-327-NEXT
www.327NEXT.com
Parker’s Inc. Office Products ........................42
714-C W. Main St.
Farmington, N.M.
505-325-8852
www.parkersinc.com
Partners Assisted Living...............................13
313 N. Locke Ave.
Farmington, N.M.
505-325-9600
www.partnerassistedliving.com
Quality Appliance .........................................36
522 E. Broadway
Farmington, N.M.
505-327-6271
R.A. Biel Plumbing & Heating .......................52
Farmington, N.M.
505-327-7755
www.rabielplumbing.com
Reliance Medical Group ................................60
3451 N. Butler Avenue
Farmington, N.M.
505-566-1915
1409 West Aztec Blvd.
Aztec, N.M.
505-334-1772
www.reliancemedicalgroup.com
ReMax of Farmington.....................................3
108 N. Orchard
Farmington, N.M.
505-327-4777
www.remax.com
San Juan College .........................................25
505-326-3311
www.sanjuancollege.edu
San Juan Nurseries.......................................58
800 E. 20th St.
Farmington, N.M.
505-326-0358
www.sanjuannurseries.com
Sanchez and Sanchez Real Estate ..................4
4301 Largo St. Suite F
Farmington, NM 87402
505-327-9039
Sleep-N-Aire ................................................14
3650 Iles Avenue
Farmington, N.M.
505-327-2811
www.sleepnairemattress.com
Southwest Concrete Supply ..........................49
2420 E. Main
Farmington, N.M.
505-325-2333
www.swconcretesupply.com
Southwest Obstetrics and Gynecology..........22
622 W. Maple St., Suite 1
Farmington, N.M.
505-325-4898
Strater Hotel ................................................23
970-375-7160
www.durangomelodrama.com
www.strater.com
Sunray Gaming.............................................24
On Hwy 64.
Farmington, N.M.
505-566-1200
Treadworks ..................................................37
4227 E. Main St.
Farmington, NM
505-327-0286
4215 Hwy. 64
Kirtland, NM
505-598-1055
www.treadworks.com
Webb Toyota ................................................68
3911 E. Main
Farmington, N.M.
505-325-1911
Ziems Ford...................................................28
5700 E. Main
Farmington, N.M.
505-325-8826
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66 | MAJESTIC LIVING | SUMMER 2014