Chamber sign replaced

Last week, the old and oft-repaired promotions sign at the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce office was replaced with an LED sign that gives the chamber more flexibility to plug events and businesses.

The new sign cost about $13,000, paid for with the help of a chamber fundraiser at last year's Quay County Fair, said chamber executive director Carmen Runyan. The county also gave $2,000 for the effort.

Runyan said installation of the sign had been planned in late February, but the coronavirus pandemic delayed it.

"The reason we updated the sign is it will give us the opportunity advertise multiple events, multiple businesses, without being limited to one thing at a time. Plus it helps relight that part of town," she said, referring to Tucumcari's Route 66 neon-sign heritage.

The chamber previously used a sign with movable vinyl letters.

"It was very old," Runyan said of the now-replaced sign. "It had been damaged and repaired multiple times over the years."

She said chamber members would receive the highest priority for their messages on the LED sign, plus any community events.

"Anything beyond that, we're still working on," she said.

She said she can program the sign for various messages or images, including animation, from inside the chamber office.

Runyan said replacing the sign had been on her radar for a while.

"We'd been working on this for a long time, so it's good to have it on there," she said. "It will be a good improvement for the chamber and the town."