We attended the Memorial Day Ceremony at Fort Bayard National Cemetery this week. The Marine Corps League did an excellent job running the ceremony this year. I just wish they had said something in public about the shape of the Fort Bayard National Cemetery. During the five years that we have lived here and we have been attending ceremonies at the National Cemetery, the cemetery itself looked nicer than we have ever seen it. The grounds were orderly, the pavilion where the ceremony took place was so nice with all the work that had been done to the walls and the concrete, and there was no orange construction fencing or yellow plastic chain. So much work has been done to make this… not just a place of honor, but a dignified and beautiful place of honor. Sure, there is more work to be done. However, when the grass comes in, the Fort Bayard National Cemetery will be a much nicer facility for the final resting place of our nation's heroes. To those who are in charge of the maintenance and administration of the Fort Bayard National Cemetery… THANK YOU.

We are glad to announce the opening of a new ladies clothing shop in Silver City… Unique Boutique. Unique Boutique will be opening this Friday – June 1. There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10:00 a.m. to start off what we hope will be a great Grand Opening weekend for Unique Boutique. The shop owned by Audrie and Avel Rios has apparel and accessories for young ladies. Their store is located at 3130 Suite A Highway 180 East in Silver City. The shop is directly south of the W&N Enterprises office building. If you would like to contact Unique Boutique, the phone number is (575) 654-8329.

If you are needing clothing for a young lady or that perfect accessory to match an outfit, you should visit Unique Boutique.

Last week we attended a meeting with a company named Advanced Air. It seems they will be replying to a Request for Proposal for air service to Silver City from Phoenix and Albuquerque. They will be competing for the current service provided by Boutique Air. We thought they did a great job answering all the questions that were asked of them. The planes they fly are twin-prop King Air 350's. These planes will seat up to nine people. The one question that was answered that intrigued me the most was when asked about possibly looking at flights not only to Albuquerque and Phoenix, but maybe future flights to El Paso. They agreed that it is a route that they need to look at in the future. Anyway, it was a pretty nice presentation. They have a small fleet of really nice planes. We wish them good luck.

This week we will attend a meeting with Boutique Air to hear from them about what their plans are for servicing the Silver City area in the future. You got to love it… competition can definitely breed excitement. This should be an interesting meeting.

You can now enter the July 4 Parade and/or reserve a vendor space in Gough Park for the Independence Day Celebration. Call our office at (575) 538-3785 and we will explain how easy it is to register.

On June 7, we will have two speakers at the Chamber of Commerce Lunch Meeting. Faye McCalmont will speak about Fiesta Latina and Lee Gruber will discuss the Clay Festival briefly, but then lead a discussion on entrepreneurship in our communities. The cost is $15.00. Call (575) 538-3785 to learn how to register and pay in advance.

Go to the Chamber of Commerce website, www.silvercity.org, to find our calendar of events. Then go to July 13, 14 or 15. You will find the Silver City Wine Festival. We currently have 11 wineries from around the state of New Mexico that have agreed to attend. So, you will be able to taste many wines from many places… and be able to purchase bottles of your favorites. Call (575) 538-3785 for tickets and vendor applications.

Our mission is to serve our members by promoting business, commerce, and tourism in Grant County.