PORTALES, NM—You can’t help but take notice when the movie folks come to town. They were shooting scenes for the movie “Comancheria” last Tuesday in downtown Portales. This made the newspapers as far away as New York City.
Actually, the “Comancheria” crew shot scenes in Clovis earlier and were going north to Tucumcari later in the week. This is all entirely appropriate, especially considering that Clovis, Portales and Tucumcari were all in the area criss-crossed by Comanche bands and known today as Comancheria.
But perhaps the more important headlines coming out of Portales had nothing to do with the movies, they had to do with introducing high schoolers to the world of government and politics.
The Boys State and Girls State programs are headquartered here on the Eastern New Mexico University campus. Boys State was last week. Girls State is this week. My biking buddy Mike Moye, who accompanied me on my 9-day bicycle trip across New Mexico, is a volunteer at Boys State. That commitment was one reason our Route 66 bike ride had to end in a timely way: Mike had to get down to Portales.
I asked him for particulars about the program and he filed this report from the halls of ENMU.
Memorial Day weekend the American Legion began hosting the 68th annual New Mexico Boys State program on the ENMU campus. When soldiers returned from World War II they came back with awareness that democracy was a treasured form of government. As Veterans they were concerned that many American civilians did not understand or participate in the democratic political process.
From this awareness and concern the American Legion established the Boys State program. Adopted by 49 states, this one-week hands on program introduces young men to the democratic process. Convening on Sunday, before Memorial Day, and concluding 5 days later, 35 volunteers give up a week of their time to counsel 100 plus high school juniors from all across New Mexico.
The process begins with the citizens of Boys State building and managing cities, counties and ultimately state government. The Eastern New Mexico University campus is filled with high school juniors and in some cases their parents who have travelled many hours to attend this prestigious leadership event. The parents are usually elated to find their young man will be part of a program respected and recognized by colleges and military academies bound scholars.
The boys are divided up into various governmental entities. Their different colored t-shirts reflect the four different but fictional cities. The Boys State Facebook page gives a lot more information.
Sure, movie shoots are great. But just look at the numbers. In the last 40 years Boys State and Girls State have educated roughly 10,000 young New Mexicans on the workings of government!
Congratulations to both the volunteers and the Staters! And a big thanks from all of us.
