(Photos Courtesy of Judy O'Loughlin and Billy Joe Collyge
Grant County Line Gets New 4-H Sign
Grant County Line Gets New 4-H Sign
From left are Grant County 4-H Council Vice-President Raelynn Moon and to the right of sign are Council President Ethan Fisher and Past President Tyler Monzingo.
Grant County Line Gets New 4-H Sign
An old photo taken circa 1949 or 1950 of the former 4-H sign that welcomed visitors to Grant County. The man on the right is Alva Collyge, and his son, Billy Joe Collyge, with the straw hat and belt buckle, stands beside his father.
Grant County Line Gets New 4-H Sign
At first, the sign was just wood sealed with linseed oil. Later, in an undated newspaper photo, members of the 4-H Community Development Committee paint the sign green and white. The painters are, from left, Brooke Steele, Bethany Steele, Sharon Smith and Melissa Brown.
By Judy O'Loughlin
If you're driving up Highway 180 from Deming to Silver City, you cannot help but notice the new "Grant County 4-H Clubs Welcome You" sign just inside the Grant County line. This project has been much needed for the past three or four years, but it got its much needed "facelift" this year. The 4-H council made it a priority last spring and over the summer, Sam Lowry, Ag/4-H agent; and Silver High FFA instructor and past Grant County 4-Her, Shane Wetzel, designed the 4 x 4 Steel Sign. The plasma cam in the Silver High School Ag shop cut it out. Its journey next, led it to the Cliff High School FFA shop where FFA instructor and past Grant County 4-Her Beau Jackson's classes painted and assembled the pieces.
The White Signal 4-H club, under the leadership of Mrs. Lori Moon, and her husband's (past 4-Her Ritchie Moon) welding skills designed the frame to hang it from. Members from the Lone Mountain Club, Ethan Fisher, newly elected 4-H Council President, and from the White Signal Club, Raelynn Moon, Tyler Monzingo, and Owen Wetzel helped place the new sign for its next 65 years. It stands proud in the same spot the other sign so proudly stood. Several of this year's council members helped set it in place. The old sign's four slats of the same greeting sit in the Judy's office to proudly display at upcoming fairs and other exhibits.
The story is this: The original sign at the county line was first erected in late 1949 or early 1950. Retired Ag agent John Hinrich recalled the family and club responsible for its creation and permanent home for over 65 years. The club was from the Mimbres Valley. The newspaper headline of the clipping, which Billy Joe Collyge shared from his father's scrapbooks, reads, "San Lorenzo 4-H Club Boys Erect New 'Welcome' Sign On State Highway 260. Apparently US Hwy 180 is even newer! Mr. Alva B. Collyge was the principal for the elementary school and 4-H members did the work on the sign at the school. Each letter was hand chiseled into the lumber which was donated from the Fowler sawmill, owned by Ott Fowler, father of Dr. Fowler, out on the Mimbres river. The wood was true sawmill 2 x 12's and initially just the wood color treated with linseed oil. Many years later it donned its proud Green and White.
As a 4-H agent who has hauled many loads of youths to and from State 4-H conferences, contests and other 4-H leadership events; this time-tested sentinel of the Grant County 4-H program has stood fast to wish many a "good luck and farewell" as well as a "welcome home" to countless numbers of Grant County 4-H families. The kids from the McCauley family, who live below the airport in particular, would always say "Back in God's county," whenever we'd reach the county line. They would tell me that their Grandfather Jim McCauley always said that. The blood in Grant County's veins really does run GREEN and WHITE.