The Silver City Grant County Chamber of Commerce welcomes SWAG (aka the South West Adolescent Group) as our newest. Many of you have probably seen their sign, SWAG Thrift Store, across the street from the U.S. Post Office on Hudson Street in Silver City. This non-profit group accepts donations of goods and clothing, sells the items in the thrift store, then uses the money to help support teen activities in Silver City and Grant County. SWAG is located at 505 North Hudson Street. Their phone number is (575) 313-3845. Jason Burke is the director of the organization.

The 2019 Clay Festival begins this next week. There are many activities associated with the Clay Festival. Rather than try to list all of the activities, you should go on the internet and visit their website: http://www.clayfestival.com/ You will find all kinds of information about this great event in Silver City.

I would like to invite you to the Grand Opening of Adobe Springs Café. The restaurant has moved to their new location at 614 North Bullard Street in Silver City. On Saturday – July 20, we will assist with a Grand Opening Celebration and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at 4:00 pm. They still have the same great food. They provide super service. Now there is a beautiful new dining area and even an outdoor patio area for you to enjoy. You can call Adobe Springs Café at (575) 538-3665. You will want to check out their “curbside to go” service available Monday through Saturday evenings from 5 to 8 pm. Adobe Springs Café is open Monday thru Saturday from 7 am to 8 pm, and Sundays from 7 am to 3 pm.

We welcome Don White as the new Branch Manager at First Financial Credit Union. Don is a life-time resident of Grant County. He and his family have lots of banking experience here, as well as in law enforcement. We look forward to working with Don in his new role at First Financial Credit Union. First Financial Credit Union is located next to Wendy’s at 2290 East Superior Street in Silver City. If you have questions about joining the credit union or want information about their services to credit union members, call Don at (575) 288-2727.

We want to say thank you to all the folks that participated in Independence Day festivities. We had a parade that was really long. Brandon Perrault and friends did a great job of providing live music in Gough Park… and Brandon knocked it out of the park when he sang the national anthem. The vendors were great. The crowd seemed to have a lot of fun. It was a great way to spend America’s birthday.

So now we move on to pressing business. We need to find ways to produce more jobs for people. We need to explore various avenues to encourage more people to move to Silver City and Grant County. We need to increase our population. We must secure better ways to provide our youth with the education they need to become tomorrow’s workforce. And there are times when maybe it is okay to look outside the box for answers. If we keep doing the same old thing and we keep getting the same old results… the hole we are digging for ourselves gets deeper and deeper. We must stop using the excuse that “well, we’ve always done it that way.” At this time, I don’t know the outcome of the Silver City Town Council Meeting in regards to the side-by-side recreational vehicles that are street legal. However, I do know that the Forest Service is working to re-designate trails in the Gila National Forest that will allow these vehicles to be driven in the forest. They have already made those changes to some of the trails in the Burro Mountains. It is possible this could help generate more tourism interest in Silver City and Grant County… and it would be helpful if the Town of Silver City would allow these vehicles on the city streets. More than likely you will find the results of the Town Council discussion of this issue elsewhere in the publication.

Summer is here and we hope you are enjoying the incredible weather of the Southwest. We hope you have a safe and fun summer.