About 60 local officials attend Quay Day

About 60 officials from all corners of Quay County attended the annual Quay Day event Wednesday in Santa Fe as the New Mexico Legislature convened for its 60-day session.

Quay County manager Daniel Zamora said Thursday that not only did the usual officials from Tucumcari and the county attend Quay Day to meet with state lawmakers and their staff, but also officials from San Jon, Logan and House.

“It was a great turnout, one of the best I’ve seen in five years of going,” he said. “It was the whole county community.”

Cynthia Lee, clerk for the Village of San Jon, said village officials attended Quay Day “for the first time in many years. We got very good information, and I thought it was great.”

Lee said San Jon officials asked for capital outlay funds for improvements to the town’s water system and community center.

Attendance to the event, hosted by the Eastern Plains Council of Governments and Greater Tucumcari Economic Development Corporation, at Hotel Santa Fe could have been higher if not for a snowstorm the previous day that made travel hazardous.

Lt. Gov. Howie Morales was scheduled to attend Quay Day but failed to show. State Sen. Pat Woods and state Rep. Jack Chatfield — Republicans who represent Quay County — attended, however. State Rep. Andrea Reeb, who represents Curry, Roosevelt and Chaves counties, also went to Quay Day.

During the event Wednesday, Carole Keith was honored with a lifetime volunteer award.

Keith serves as Tucumcari MainStreet’s secretary/treasurer and volunteers up to 18 hours a week at the Tucumcari Railroad Museum. She has served with the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce, Greater Tucumcari Economic Development Corporation, McMullen Community Foundation and the CRAFT Club of Tucumcari.

Chase Brandt Waters, owner of Del’s Restaurant in Tucumcari, was given the Citizen of the Year award for his support of Tucumcari MainStreet and his sponsorship of events and programs.

Quay Day also honored Franklin McCasland, who served on the Quay County commission for 16 years before stepping down this year.

“It was a great opportunity to recognize people from Quay County who did great things,” Zamora said.

Zamora, who also attended a New Mexico Counties legislative conference on Thursday, said Woods mentioned the proposed building of a new Dr. Daniel C. Trigg Memorial Hospital in Tucumcari during a speech. The county has requested up to $30 million in state appropriations for the project.

“It was good to know it was on his mind,” Zamora said.

Zamora said he also was encouraged by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s State of the State address that week, where she mentioned allocating $200 million to establish a Rural Health Care Delivery Fund as one of her priorities.

Zamora said that proposed spending not only could potentially cover the cost of a new hospital, but also a proposed regional mental-health treatment facility in Clovis.

“That would be huge for rural New Mexico,” he said.

The legislature’s session ends at noon March 18.