Heritage Days a hot event

PORTALES — The final consensus of the 33rd Annual Heritage Days is that it was way too hot.

Temperatures hit 100 degrees and were hurtling towards the predicted 107. But the Roosevelt County Chamber says that despite the heat, the event was a success.

"It's not holding anyone back," said Chamber President-elect Noelle Bartl. "(Heritage Days) feels as good as it ever has even with the heat."

Chamber employee Victoria Garrett said a lot more people showed than she expected and she would call it a "success."

"We weren't sure what would happen with the weather but people turned out and they're having fun," said Garrett.

Heritage Days had 70 vendors ranging from food to crafts to businesses to the chamber itself and the Heritage Days Car Show had 68 cars, seven more than 2016.

"I think that's pretty good with the heat," said Jo Beth Massey, an organizer of the car show.

Portales local Don Beans said he has attended Heritage Days every year that he has been able to and found this one "very nice."

"We just want to interact with the community and support what the community does," said Ramona Handy, another community member who attended with Beans.

Another Portales native, John Pugh, attended Heritage Days to run the Roosevelt County Republican Party booth for the 15th consecutive year. He said he prefers the experience from behind the booth.

"I love the environment," said Pugh, who has attended Heritage Days 23 of the 25 years he has been in Portales. "The best part is the people."

Sean Crandall, 13, agrees that being around the people is the best part of the annual event. He said that there were more people than he had ever seen at Heritage Days in the four years he had attended.

"It's a really social event and everyone is just running around having a good time," said Crandall.

Crandall said that he loved the music as well but that the food was definitely the second best part. He attended with AJ's Wings, one of over 10 food vendors.

"You have got to love fair food," said Crandall. "The whole thing is just a good time all around."