SANTA FE – The annual Gallup-McKinley Day at the Roundhouse is described by locals as a time when area folks get to introduce a piece of Gallup culture to the state legislature.
Those that attended the daylong affair on Jan. 28, started by Rep. Patricia Lundstrom, D-Gallup, not long after she was first elected to the N.M. House of Representatives in 2001, did just that. The agenda consisted of House and Senate people recognitions by Lundstrom, Rep. Wonda Johnson, D-Church Rock, Rep. Eliseo Alcon, D-Milan, and Sen. George Munoz, D-Gallup.
“It’s always a good time of the year as far as letting people know a lot about the city and McKinley County,” Munoz, elected in 2009, and a Gallup native, said. “Everybody who serves in the state legislature appreciates it and we all get a lot of comments about it when it’s over.”
The affair included informational exhibits about the city and county. Mary Jean Christiansen, owner and operator of Elite Cleaners and part of the event’s planning committee, said things went very well throughout the entire day. Christensen presented Gov. Susana Martinez with a robe and others from around McKinley County gave short presentations about their particular area of expertise. A small contingent of planning committee members distributed corn necklaces to offices of members of the Senate and House of Representatives at the Roundhouse.
Bill Lee updated Martinez on things happening around the county, Gallup-McKinley Schools Superintendent Frank Chiapetti updated Martinez on school happenings, noting that 20 schools increased their scores on the New Mexico Public Education Report Card – among them David Skeets Elementary School. Skeets improved from “D” to a “B.”
Gallup-McKinley County Day concluded with a reception at The Eldorado in downtown Santa Fe.
