“It’s the first ever meeting of its kind, as far as I can discover,” proudly said Patty Lundstrom, the executive director of the Greater Gallup Economic Development Corporation. “We are here (at the Hilton Garden Hotel) to recognize and celebrate the top 10 businesses in McKinley County that have had the largest impact in the region, from creating jobs to investing in other ways for the economic progress we need.”

The noon meeting on Dec. 15 sparked a lively round of conversation during and after the meal, as these business people shared their concerns and accomplishments with others of the same mind. At the top of the concerns was a need to vastly improve the skill sets...

Jennifer Lazarz (pronounced easily in two languages: the article le in French; and tsars in Russian) is probably better known in the Gallup area for her ability to hit the right notes, since she served with the Land of Enchantment Opera last summer.

Besides using her musical talents to a high degree, she was also named the Director of El Morro Theatre about eight weeks ago. Theater is just part of her passion, though an important one. She also has a great deal of experience with film, and a love of all art that cannot be diminished.

“I am a pragmatist, not an idealist,” Jennifer said in opening the interview. “I want to institute procedures to make everything more community...

SPLASH & GOLDEN

(8976) Splash and (8978) Golden are male Husky/Collie mix puppies looking to bust out of these cages and into your life and heart.

 

Can be adopted separately!

 

DOLL FACE

(8843) Doll Face is a female Siamese mix with a seriously great demeanor.

 

We still have our $25 cat special going on until the end of the month!

Levon Loncassion, born in Gallup, but raised in Zuni began tapping his creative side when his school’s third grade program introduced the “Enrichment Program,” which provided students the necessary tools to provoke the inner artist in them.

During this time of his young life, Locassion, 36, talked about how as an youngster he would find artifacts such as pottery shards, pieces of arrowheads, or how he would come across huge panels of interesting cliff art within the mesas. He said that in the back of his mind, he was already inspired and creatively influenced by the time he took part in the school’s “Enrichment Program,” but that was just the beginning.

After he...