It’s Good To Say Thanks

By JOHN BRENNAN Mountain View Telegraph

Everybody knows it feels good to get a pat on the back for a job well done.

But every summer about this time I’m reminded how good it can feel to give a few pats on the back.

That’s what the Telegraph did Saturday when we unveiled our third annual edition of “Community Assets,” a special section that is included with this week’s paper.

Community Assets is our way of focusing some richly deserved attention on a few of the many people among us who work so hard to better their communities and the lives of others.

It’s always eye-opening to realize how many such stalwart volunteers live in the East Mountains and Estancia Valley, and how much they do. While it’s impossible to recognize all of the people who are worthy, we are working on it, bit by bit, with Community Assets.

We held a special recognition ceremony last weekend for the people featured in this year’s edition. Unlike last year, when it rained, this year’s informal gathering with food, music and awards was held on a beautiful day at Wildlife West Nature Park.

And as usual, this year’s lineup of featured subjects is an admirable group, to say the least.

They include:

Deborah Basile of Edgewood, who recently won the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Robert Ross Personal Achievement Award for New Mexico.

Patty Ayre of Moriarty, who balances the books for a host of local civic groups.

Ken Till of the East Mountains, who has provided a wealth of knowledge and energy in helping area residents prepare for the possibility of wildfire.

Bob Morrell, who has been president of his Sedillo Hill neighborhood association for 15 years and is also active in Kiwanis Club programs for youth.

Sonja Britton of Moriarty, who overcame long odds to see her vision of a DWI memorial become a reality.

Linda Barbour, president of the East Mountain Coalition of Neighborhood and Landowner Associations, who keeps an eye on the bigger picture that affects people in neighborhoods throughout the area.

We also honored two groups of volunteers this year: fire volunteers throughout the area, who are always on call to help you and me when we need it; and the volunteers of Rio Grande Valley CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), who look out for the interests of the unfortunate children whose family’s problems wind up in the legal system.

We think these people deserve your recognition, admiration and thanks, and we hope you enjoy reading their stories.

We also hope reading about these special volunteers will spark thoughts of the people in your own communities and lives whose volunteer work makes a difference. We’ll do another edition of Community Assets next year, and it’s never too early to nominate someone for recognition.

And by the way, if anyone has some spare office space they’d like to donate to the CASA organization, let me know and I’ll pass the word along. Right now CASA’s office is in the executive director’s basement.

That’s the kind of thanks hard-working volunteers sometimes get. But as you’ll see by reading their stories, it sure doesn’t stop them.

John Brennan can be reached by

phone at 823-7106 or by e-mail at

jbrennan@mvtelegraph.com.

(c) 2007 Albuquerque Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.