by Karl Terry
Annual Banquet a sellout success
The Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce presented two Warm Heart of the Sunbelt awards for the first time in the award’s history Thursday at the Annual Banquet.
Outgoing 2017 Chamber President Jerry Cordova presented the President’s Award for business of the year to Xcel Energy and awarded Warm Heart awards to recently retired Roosevelt County Electric Coop Vice President and General Manager Jerry Partin and to Woody’s Jewelry owners Danny and Chris Woodward.
The Warm Heart Awards are given for a lifetime of service to the community and the Chamber and are not necessarily awarded every year. Partin was selected for his quiet leadership in business and in the community. He served for many years as a board member of the Chamber and was also a long-time board member of the Roosevelt County Community Development Corp. He is a Rotarian and has served as president of that organization and was among the Rotary members that started the community Christmas Lighting program.
The Woodwards operated Woody’s Jewelry for decades in downtown Portales before announcing their retirement this fall. They were noted for their special brand of customer service and friendly hometown values.
Danny served as president of Portales MainStreet and was instrumental in its founding and early years, including the project that redeveloped the Yam Theatre, The couple spent a number of years orchestrating downtown events and helped start the Heritage Days Fun Run.
Xcel Energy was selected for its sponsorship of numerous events, scholarships and grants in the community. They are a Champion Tier member and local manager David Essex has served on the Chamber board for a number of years and is active volunteering in the community.
In the past year Xcel has been active in a major infrastructure update to the power grid in Portales. Company officials have also been actively pursuing approval of a new wind farm in Portales that will provide 300 temporary construction jobs and over 30 permanent jobs in the county. If approved this spring, the project would be the largest wind farm in the state.
The Chamber also presented Wanda Pettus with the Workhorse of the Year award for her help on numerous committees as media scheduler and work as a volunteer and Ambassador.
The Ambassador of the Year award that is given for attendance at Ambassador supported events went to Patsy Jimenez of U.S. Bank. It is the second year in a row for Jimenez to win the honor.
Rounding out the awards were three Harley and Faye Borden awards for businesses who made major improvements to their building façade in the last year. Herbert Lumber won for work on its Second Street warehouse building, while Wells Fargo was noted for the major work done to its building at Second and Ave. Lezlie and Eddie Privett received their award for completely remodeling a vacant commercial building on South Ave. D into the home of their new business Damsels in Distressed along with Designs By J embroidery shop which they bought this summer and Privett Electric.
In a special presentation 27th SOW Vice Commander Col. Michael Conley presented a framed commemorative piece marking the wing’s 10th anniversary at Cannon to Chamber and Portales Military Affairs Committee members.
