Everyone needs a bit of hope right now, especially, and that’s what I want this blog to provide for you. I’m also hoping that by sharing our stories of persistence despite everything, we can show our local governments that, just possibly, our concerns as residents are something to take seriously, but until then, we have each other.
As a quick refresher from last time, Rusty Helton did a bit of research to find out that Susan Flores had helped set up Keep Tularosa Beautiful to great success, but after she was fired, beautification efforts fell by the wayside.
Helton had taken to planting and watering the roses in the medians, but the way he had to achieve it could take him up to 5 hours, and that wasn’t even considering the maintenance needed to keep weeds and Bermuda grass at bay.
Finally, with a steady group of volunteers from the schools and other Tulie residents (thanks to efforts like Rose of the Week), a second donated water tank, and visible fruits of his labor, the village was starting to look nice again. Helton was even able to plant some natives in the medians. I’m sure most of you know exactly why that, in particular, is such a great thing, but I’ll get to that post later, probably nearer the spring.
As I’ve mentioned, I once did a travel story in Tularosa. As I’ve not mentioned, one of my very best friends in the world used to live in Tularosa until he left to NMSU. I can’t say for certain, but it did surprise me a bit just how many unfamiliar businesses are currently operating in the village, which hasn’t really been the case before that timeframe (2015 to now) as far as I know.
Quite possibly, Flores and Helton’s spearheaded efforts combined to help that happen. But what do I know.
However, as usually happens, the well of help started to run dry. “The Drama
teacher retired and the NJHS teacher left,” and it became a bit harder to attract local volunteers, largely because most village residents don’t quite have the stamina to do that kind of work anymore.
Another blow came to the new iteration of Keep Tularosa Beautiful when Helton was informed that the only way he could continue watering these plants was by obtaining a contractor’s license and a million-dollar policy. He was forced to take out all the plants, all the ocotillos, all the roses… All the hard work put in by Helton and countless volunteers was just gone.
Helton isn’t one to give up when he sets his mind to something, which is exactly why he was such a great candidate for a story. These small, neighboring communities could use more people like him. But at this point, Helton was very discouraged. He gave his tanks to a local farmer, he rehomed the plants he had to uproot as best he could. Was it about to cut all his losses and shut down Keep Tularosa Beautiful?
He thought so.
Until KTB was awarded a Que Linda grant this year.
The rest of this story is up to all of us to write, and I hope it’s a good one. We deserve that.
Next week, I’ll be jumping back to the gardens in Alamogordo one more time before moving onto other resources in Alamogordo and community profiles for the winter.
Be good to each other, and
Salud.
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