There's Nothing To Do In This Town
76I don't know where you live, but chances are there have been more than a few occasions where you or someone you knew complained about not having anything to do. Sometimes it's hyperbole that leads to such a remark, sometimes it's sheer boredom, but almost every time the origin of a thought like that comes from laziness.
Today I'm writing about my town, a small, eastern New Mexico enclave called Clovis, NM. For most people I know this is not the Oz they dreamed of living in when they were young. For some, it is the only place they have ever lived and known and the thought of living somewhere else has never entered their mind. And there are people in between, who see this town, as I do, as a means to an end.
For me, I was led to Clovis as part of my work as a government contractor. We moved here from Las Vegas about 3 and a half months ago and to be honest, my wife hates it here. As for me, I am doing everything I can to make the most of it so that those awful words, "There's nothing to do here," never escape my lips. But I am saddened at the same time because a lot of the people I work with are military, and they are here mostly by way of orders, not choice. Some of my friends are single, and their generational gene and mating pool is not tipping the scales in their favor, if you catch my drift. They are fun, young, single guys who don't really have a lot of options when it comes to the opposite sex. This severely hampers their spirits and unfortunately leads to proclamations about how much this town sucks. I feel for them, but I disagree.
What's there to do?
From the moment I knew I was coming to Clovis I looked into any and all available things we can do. I learned from the Clovis Chamber of Commerce website that this cattle town is home to the second largest zoo in New Mexico, was where Buddy Holly recorded smash hits, like Peggy Sue, and that the Clovis High School Wildcat football team has something of a Friday Night Lights aura surrounding it. Clovis is a small, mostly Christian community where people work as cattle and diary farmers or work on the railroad. It is a nice community, the majority of the town anyway, and it is more Texan then New Mexican (just 8 miles from the Texas border). Clovis is also just three hours from Santa Fe and the arts community there. Skiing in Taos and Angel Fire, where my folks live, is 4 or five hours, and a few hours south takes you to martian land in Roswell, or the amazing Whites Sands Missile Range. New Mexico is called the land of Enchantment for a reason, and Clovis is a small part of it.
My first day in town I wrote the local paper to find out of I could submit articles from time to time. I also marched into the high school football office and volunteered my services as kicking coach. For seven weeks I worked with the Junior kicker and stood on the sidelines as we lost a heartbreaker in the State Semi-Final playoff game. I was keeping myself busy because I would not let the small town mentality for lethargy fester with me. By the by, my pal Sean volunteers some of his time as a Big Brother for a seven year-old boy. An equally rewarding experience for both Big Brother and Little Brother I am sure.
Now that my wife is here full time as a nurse, we have both started taking classes at the Community College at night. Her Statistics class is necessary for her to complete a BSN in nursing. My EMT class was on a whim but can only be useful down the road if the need arises for me me to help save a life. I also thought I might be able to meet some single girls for my friends but I don't think there are any good matches in my class for my buddies.
We mostly have house parties in our made-up fraternity where the males dominate those in attendance, much to my pals' dismay. Beer Pong, RockBand, Movie Night, and Board Games take place most weekend nights and I have no complaints about that. And steak and karaoke night at the VFW where I am a member has proven fruitful and fun the past three months. But I still feel for my buddies, most of whom will call Clovis their home for the next three years; hopefully they'll meet some nice girls to pair up with for a vicious game of Flip Cup. Until then we will settle for Saturday afternoon at the shooting range or rides on our motorcycles. It's not that bad, but not that great for them.
What bothers me most
However I do have to say that because Clovis shares its town with members of the military, mostly Air Force, that there are some things that are popping up that stir negative feelings inside me. Each time I read the Clovis News Journal Online I check out any and all military related topics only to see the comment section below. And what do I see? Dozens of comments about the military that say they are whiners, cry babies, and if they don't like the town they should leave. On the flip side I see comments from military members complaining that Clovis doesn't do enough to attract a better crop of restaurants, entertainment, and that policy people of Clovis are always trying to find ways to fleece the military of their hard earned dollars. More on that in a second, but here's what I know:
From July 2003 through April 2007, minus 16 months in Iraq, I was stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska while an officer in the army. Like Clovis, Fairbanks was a nice community, not immune to crime, poverty, corruption, in the middle of nowhere in a gorgeous State. Fairbanks, like Clovis, was maturing around 2003 from a small military and mining town to a moderately sized one, when a brand new Infantry Brigade came in, bringing with it 3500 Soldiers, their families, and their dollars. At first, chain restaurants were sparse, but over time they came to Fairbanks, so did big stores like Old Navy, and the social epicenter of Fairbanks, a Super Wal-Mart. In a short two years the population of Fairbanks went from 35-40 thousand people to nearly 75 thousand as contractors, entrepreneurs, and military members came a calling. And Fairbanks, like Clovis, had plenty of things to do without spending money, as long as you were willing to have an adventure. Biking, hiking, hunting, fishing, sightseeing, all things you could do on the relative cheap. In the winter skiing was a bit extreme in central Alaska, but a trip south to Anchorage revealed tolerable weather and amazing slope experiences.
So how does this relate to Clovis? I see the trend here that I saw five years ago in Alaska. This community may not entirely run on the dollar of the military spending machine, but it certainly depends on it. With more military members coming here Clovis has to open up new doors for food, entertainment, child care, dog parks, whatever, in an effort to keep the military from spending their money in Lubbock, Amarillo, or Albuquerque. The city council has got to cater to the men and women, and their families, of those forced to spend one, two, three, four or more years here if they hope to see the base remain successful. They mustn't drive up housing prices in a down market, just because more members are coming in. They shouldn't say no to franchise establishments that will create more jobs for Clovis residents and help the local economy. On most big game nights the only choices for watching a sporting event are Chile's, Appelbee's, and Wing Street at Pizza Hut. A place like a Buffalo Wildwings would thrive here, generating 20-50 jobs, and sparking an interest in spending an evening watching football in Clovis, rather than seeing my friends organize trips to Lubbock to drink beer and meet women.
Now as a contractor, I see both sides very well. Those comments I read in the local paper bother me because I want to see both the military and the Clovis community do well. They should want to thrive together. I hope they thrive together.
What can you do?
Most of the people reading this don't live here in Clovis, so they may think this message doesn't apply to them. They'd be wrong. Our national economy is hurting for a myriad of reasons, and as a personal defense measure we are being more careful with our money. And we should be. But that care should have a healthy rationale behind it so that when you spend your dollars you are doing so in an effort to bolster your local economy, which, with ripple-effect like results, will boost your State's economy, too.
And for those of you who still think there is nothing to do in your town, or think your options are limited by the digits staring back at you in your bank account, try surfing the web with terms like, "free stuff in your town," or "having fun on a budget." You'll be amazed at what you can find. And when you find those gems, share them with your friends so they can experience the fun, as well.
- Clovis Chamber Home Page
Find any and all things to do in Clovis, NM by navigating this site.
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Comments
JY, awesome and well thought out comments. It is essentially your own Hub. Bravo. I am glad my article generated such a wonderful response form you because it is almost the exact response I was looking for. You mentioned the Olive Garden. That Super Wal-Mart I mentioned in the hub had a funny story to go with it. Fairbanks already had a Sam's Club, surprisingly, and when the Wal-Mart opened (to large protest) the local radio station had a contest which awarded ten "lucky" shoppers the chance to be the first to shop in the store, an hour ahead of everyone else. The contest was a success because it drew State-wide media attention and n the morning of the Grand Opening there were no less than 22 RVs camped out in the parking lot.
And thanks for saying I give a lot back to the community. I have always thought that with the right motivation I could be mayor of some place someday, but for now I am happy to suggest ideas and champion outings that make everyone happy. Seeing my friends miserable because their options are severely limited saddens me and is my motivation to my our time here the best for everyone. Thank you again for a great response.
Nice work, Gabe. I think you covered the topic pretty well. JY's commentary leaves me without too much to add.
I think your 3rd photo is telling: 3 dudes singing kareoke to a crowd of mostly 65+ year olds. It's interesting that we find the VFW fun and yet I cannot describe it to an outsider and get them to agree.
While our neighbors are great people, I've not been impressed by the 'feel' of this small town. I was hoping for an intimate setting where people provide great service and are friendlier than city folks. This has not been the case. To make matters worse, most mom and pop outfits in this town (especially restaurants) are pretty bad. Why else do we go to Chili's so often? Don't even get me started on the woeful downtown area.
I get the feeling that there isn't an entrepreneurial spirit in this town. There is no industry, no economic growth potential (outside of more military) and no wealth creating industries (cattle and the cheese factory).
By the way, I would kill for a B-Dubs. I'd live there. It'd be nice if we could get an Italian restaurant too.
Keep in mind that the base is still not at the level of people it had before the F-16's left. I heard we are at 2400 AD now with plenty of growth on the way. So hopefully more businesses are on the way.
I hope they post this in the paper so I can see what locals have to say, Sean. I think there is so much potential here, but the right people need to step up. Makes me wish I had the capital spend on a franchise that could entertain and generate jobs, too. Thanks for the comment.
there's alot to be enjoyed about small town life and if you got a family and some good buddies it can be the greatest life. I was partially raised in a small town in AZ with nothing to do and got into a lot of trouble while I was there and though its okay to visit, I certainly couldn't go back.
I do wish the town I grew up in did turn around economically but its been on the down long before this recession hit.
enjoyed the read.
Living so close to a big town (15 minutes from Atlanta), the opposite is true here. There's plenty to do in this town, just not enough time to do much of it. I wonder if there is a correlation there....people who live in the bigger cities have so many options that it seems free time is less, whereas those who live in a smaller town like Clovis are more aware of their free time because their options to spend it (and their money) are less.
Good hub Gabe. It was quite thought provoking and I guess it proves that perception becomes reality, like JY's example, but there's always opportunity. Prior to moving to Smyrna, I lived most of my life here in Georgia in a medium-sized town that was very well off, but lacking in singles in their 20s or 30s. So I started a coed softball team and ran that for a few years. Everyone is looking for something to do. Sometimes it just takes one person to stop looking and starting doing, then others follow suit. Just starting the softball team has given me a solid group of friends that I still catch up with when I'm back home.
what an interesting article!
I reckon you'll like living just about anywhere, because you have the right attitude.
Graham, Toad, London, thanks for the comments. Yes, the opposite is true, too. I have lived in some pretty big cities also and you can be so over-saturated that you can fall into that, "what do you wanna do?," I dunno, what do you wanna do?" mentality. When I lived in London and DC I would try and do one touristy thing each week so I could see everything. Recently, in Vegas, my wife and I said we were gonna see every big show, and over the course of 10 months we saw everything we wanted to see. Thanks again for the comments.
Yes, I am a Realtor. Just a little background...No -I don't think that the town saw the military was coming and got collectively together with all of the sellers in town and told them to raise prices 30% like some military have said. Just a little history on our Real Estate market. Our prices raised an average of 17% each year from 2003 to 2006. Was it crazy? Probably. But there was a big influx of people from industries coming to Clovis, both businesses, dairies, California people, people with the base...and we had a shortage of housing. This was when Applebees, Chilis, Super Walmart, and blockbuster came to town. We thought Clovis was big stuff. Our Wal-Mart used to be in the mall where Dillards is! Then the BRAC announcement came, people got scared, stopped buying houses for about a year and things were pretty rough. House prices didnt really drop too much but they definately didnt rise that year. Then Cannon went into the enclave status and things were still on hold. The restauraunts that were coming to town like Starbucks and Olive Garden made a change of plans because our estimated population was not what it needed to be. Anyway the f-16s left, houses sold slowly and we had over 425 houses on the market all at once. That was 200 more than usual. Now we are down to about 300 houses on the market and as more and more people come and the supply gets smaller -values will again rise but nothing daunting with the economy like it is, in my opinion. We are working very hard to get quality contractors to come to town to build affordable housing. It is hard since there is a lack of affordable sub contractors, and materials. We arent on a major highway and materials are a little more expensive. Anyway- that wasnt the point to my post. I wanted to say thank you for having a great attitude about our town. I am not a native either- was born and raised in the suburbs of DC, Norfolk, New Orleans, and Miami. I always loved the country and small towns and I married someone who was born here so this was where we settled after my husband got out of the Air Force. Again - I got off the subject. We too have gotten stuck in the sticky mires of local government when trying to get things done from time to time but things are changing. We have a new city engineer coming and the infrastructure really needs to be revamped but we are working on it. I want Olive Garden just as much as the next guy and if our population keeps increasing we will get it and more. Ill be on the web today to find out all about BuffalloWW and will do all I can to get it here for you guys. Contractors are coming to town to build big things and we are finding land for them so maybe I can talk in some ears to get things done. Anyway, thanks for a great post. This is an awesome opportunity for Clovis. Heres hoping we dont mess it up. Ill be praying for girlfriends for your friends so they wont be lonely. Maybe this could be a good recruitment tool for ENMU. :)
You are forgetting an untapped resource: Clovis prehistoric tools. I find that archeological digs are a great place to meet hot earthy chicks. Think Laura Dern from Jurassic Park. I think if more people stopped to appreciate the prehistoric opportunities of small towns like yours, the world would be a better place.
Fly, thanks for your informative and well-facted post. My friends will be happy if you can help facilitate some more of the things that would draw people here, rather than repel them.
Ross, I think Laura Dern is about as attractive as James Carville, but I understand your point. However, I have been to some of the World's oldest archaeological sites, places where violence begets violence, so I won't say I agree that playing Indiana Jones will help the local infrastructure anymore than a nice dog park.
After moving down here from Grand Forks ND, I have to say this isn't a terrible town. That town was a lot like Clovis in other then the fact there was a bigger college there. The only problem with that was the military guys got a bad wrap from the college popluation. I have no idea why. I grew up in Lake Tahoe, I think one of the most beautiful place in the world I have been, and don't mind it here. There are people out there that stand to make a good amount of money from all the opportunities this town has to offer. Like BWW. I wouldn't mind to see a dog park in this town, since I have a dog now and girls like dogs for the most part. I think things like this hub spark peoples interest to finding out how to fix the problems that people have about living in a community like Clovis. Also make the things that they like better.
I have thought about how to get out there and meet women that are better looking. I think the place to find these good girls is in church. It has been said that this town is a strong Christain town Katharine Fly said she will pray for us. I know some of you guys on here and I know that is next to impossible and you guys know why. These are the women that aren't going out to Kelley's or have multiple kids, nothing wrong with that but I know some will agree but you don't want to become a baby's daddy. So the next question is how do you get to meet those girls because you might work 12 hours a day? That is the difference, I think, that this town has then some of the other towns or cities we have lived in.
Red Barron, True enough. Church is a good place around here to meet good girls. And I will pray for you guys as long as you promise to treat the girls right. Or if you arent a church going type ...walk around Roden Smith's pretending to look for a birthday present for your grandmother, Volunteer somewhere, Hastings has a decent little coffee shop with some live music, Java loft has some music nights, take a class at CCC, hit up Hobby Lobby and Dillards. Think about the places girls like to go. There is even a ladies night at Patriot outdoors climbing wall friday nights. And if you do want to drift into church but want to be anonymous Faith Christian is huge and very easy to get lost in. My grandma might hug you though. She has a thing for lonely young men far from home - not in a wierd way. They also have The Brink which is church on Tuesday nights for 18-29 year olds. Jason is the preacher and he is my son's football coach. He drives a fast car and has a pretty wife who has lots and lots of sisters.
Also thought you might like to know http://franchiseinfo.buffalowildwings.com/index.ph that Clovis is on Buffalo Wild Wings availiable markets. So Clovis fits the bill - we just need a good franchisee to open it. Ill go hit up the owner of Sonic for you. Maybe even the guy who owns McDonalds.
Here is the Minimum Financial Requirements
As with any expanding franchise system, we have thousands of people interested in buying a franchise. To measure a candidate's qualifications, we have established both net worth and liquid asset requirements. These requirements are per unit to be opened. The required liquid assets are a minimum of $300,000 per store and a net worth per store of $900,000. The minimum Area Development requirement for new franchisee is two stores. Therefore the minimum unencumbered liquid assets required are $600,000 and net worth of $1,800,000. We also require that no more than 80% of the start-up costs be leveraged; 20% of any single store's start-up costs must be in liquid assets.
Im sure theres a bunch of people out there that meet those requirements. They might even have a cute daughter.
Thanks, Red Barron. Hopefully Snoopy doesn't get you. Also, since I think I know who you are, don't forget the local rodeo. You can wear your belt buckle and try and lure them in. Fly, don't worry, Barron is a class act.
Fly, thanks for the financials. I have thought of doing it myself by trying to get a VA small business loan. I'm not good with numbers though, just an idea guy who knows how to manage. Plus, you really need to married to the idea of being in Clovis for 4-6 years to see the positive growth of the franchise before trying to sell. I hope to be out of here as soon as I tap all the resources in this land of enchantment. Thanks for taking the time to run down the info for us. Please pass this hub on to more Clovis locals so we can see their take.
great hub. in short, you get out what you put in. having friends makes any community a home, but you have to get out of your comfort zone to really see what the community has to offer.
Great Hub! Even better attitude! ;-) That's the secret to making a place your home, getting involved, making friends, and trying to make a difference.
Last summer when gas prices were so high, we made a list of places that we could drive to in day and be back home that night. Not your theme park vacation, but we found some really interesting things close to home for very little money.
JY says:
11 months ago
Gabe,
One of my favorite parts about having met you is that you "bring it". The frathouse has discussed this internally and despite being a newlywed, you make it a point to get people together and get them out of the house. You're not afraid to try new things or to get your buddies to do the same. I would say that you're actually a pretty significant contributor to the local economy since you're part of the "engine" that drives a group of 12-24 young, single, professional, individuals to not play Xbox every weekend.
As you pointed out in your post, Clovis is a mostly insular community. The people that we came with from other bases love Clovis because it's small, mostly free from bad influences, and gives them the opportunity to raise their families in comfort and privacy. I understand that theory completely. My neighbors and the people that I have met here are exceptionally thoughtful and caring. I probably shouldn't be since it is so frequent, but I'm always amazed by their thoughtfulness.
The single men, however, are mostly neutral or negative in their views about Clovis. The main reason is a lack of companionship and entertainment.
The 27th SOW probably has more single men than ENMU has single women. Adding to the numbers game, there seems to be a perception that military guys are somehow unattractive partners (girls think we're poor, unchaste, or unreliable) and dating gets especially difficult. Most of my friends are probably destined to years of being single dispite the fact that they have a solid, guaranteed income and a degree from a major college or university. There's probably not a whole lot the community of Clovis can do to fix this so I'll move on to entertainment.
As has been the case in many Air Force towns that I have lived in, asking the locals for ideas of things to do generally leads them to suggest other places: Lubbock, Amarillo, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque being the biggest options here. I'm not sure how many people realize they're pushing those with the greatest disposable incomes away from their community. As you mentioned, a BWW would probably be a huge hit in this town. Why? Because you have 2,000 or more single guys who have $50 to spend on Saturdays and Sundays and want to watch football. Furthermore, most of them can't even watch it at their homes because DirecTV doesn't have local channels here! So some entrepreneur is leaving thousands of dollars on the vine every weekend from August through February (58% of the year).
I grew up in a small town in Central Pennsylvania famous for its' pristine farms. In the early 1990s, it heavily resembled Clovis. It was a huge deal when we got an Olive Garden. I'm not kidding. I don't think I went to that Olive Garden for about 5 years on any weekend night because you couldn't get a table. People said an Olive Garden would never survive in a farm town. Perception became reality but eventually a real estate developer and restauranteer made fortunes off of that property. Then we got bookstores. New roads paid for by the state to increase economic development. Software companies. Even a minor league baseball team and one of the best small stadiums in Pennsylvania. People stopped having to go to Philadelphia to buy a pair of shoes or to get their daughter a prom dress. Population and economic growth rates were well above the national average (17% in the 1990s!). A small, hardworking, Christian values town became a small-medium, hardworking, Christian values town that could afford to send their kids to private universities. My point here is that people get so caught up in what seems to be the truth that they miss it...and miss great opportunities.
I truly think that this is a community that can and probably will realize a lot of positive growth. The smartest way of doing so is by fully tapping the unmet economic needs of the personnel of the 27th SOW. Those dollars are going to be spent somewhere and the business leaders of Clovis could do better than packing the bars, restaurants, stores, and hotels of Lubbock every weekend.