2024 True Heroes: Raymond Sandoval
WHEN THE 50-FOOT Zozobra marionette collapsed in a fiery demise for the 100th time, Raymond Sandoval fell to his knees, overcome with emotion. He’d helped build the giant puppet with the Kiwanis Club…
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Tag: True Heroes
2024 True Heroes: Loren Anthony
EARLY LAST WINTER, the fresh snowfall was melting, mixing with the red earth and caliche to become a thick, treacherous mud. The air was bitter cold in the way it gets around Gallup, where…
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2024 True Heroes: Logan Fleharty
ON JUNE 17, the swift ferocity of the Salt and South Fork fires swept into Ruidoso, catching the people of the tight-knit mountain village off guard. “I’ve never seen so much heat and smoke so…
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True Heroes 2023: Dr. Shawn Secatero
DR. SHAWN SECATERO IS ONLY 54, but his students already consider him a treasured elder. A member of Cañoncito Band of Navajos (Diné) and associate professor of education at the University of New…
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True Heroes 2023: Elizabeth Potter
COLIN LEWIS IS JUST ONE of the Lincoln County parents who has recently struggled to make ends meet. The single father cares for his four kids on his disability income. Thankfully, Ruidoso Food 4 Kids…
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True Heroes 2023: Carolyn Olson
WHEN CAROLYN OLSON fell this summer and fractured her ankle in two places, she didn’t slow down at all. At age 82, she got a knee scooter so as not to miss a minute of coaching her Special Olympics…
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True Heroes 2023: Nancy De Santis
A VETERAN AND A HORSE STAND inside a round pen in a quiet ranch near Santa Fe. At first, they are unsure of how to approach each other. Then something amazing happens. “This is not a cowboy program,”…
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True Heroes 2023: Mattee Jim
WITH MORE THAN 25 YEARS of experience working in social justice for the Indigenous LGBTQ+ community, Mattee Jim (Diné) has spearheaded change by speaking up for the people she represents with…
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True Heroes 2023: Leba Freed
LEBA FREED HAS BEEN WORKING to preserve the Albuquerque Rail Yards for nearly four decades. Built in 1914 to service steam locomotives as part of the railroad expansion that occurred in the early 20th…
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True Heroes 2023: Holly and Noelle Chavez
DEBORAH DINGWALL’S 39-YEAR-OLD SON was living at home when he began struggling with mental illness. Despite her efforts to help, she had to ask him to leave when he became aggressive. Suddenly…
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