Here are award winners from the 2012 American Legion Auxiliary New Mexico Girls State

Agnes Crotzer Memorial Scholarship

• Sonia Gaytan

ENMU Founders Board Book Scholarship

o   Maria Hinojos

o   Allison Wycoff

o   Loni Charay Dunn

Samsung Scholarship

• Carla Villareal

Girls Nation

• Selene Campos (Sr.) 
• Damani Hoffman (Jr.) 
• Ceara Turpen (1)
• Amanda Milligan (2) 

Outstanding City

• Spruce City

Outstanding Citizen

• Cactus – Kiah Lowe
• Pine – Yuridia Loera
• Yucca – Carlyn Schweizer
• Spruce – Ceara Turpen
• Sage – Suzzane Lyles
• Pinon – Bryn Botko

Art Cover Contest

• Mariah Graham

Congratulations to these delegates and to all the young women who participated in the 2012 ALA NM Girls State session

Good morning all.  Government in action day.  Charlene Webb, Roosevelt County Mgr. will be swearing in the ladies to their newly elected positions.  Following a short joint session, the House and Senate will convene to begin the business of legislation for Girls State.  The District Courts will be hearing their cases.  Juries have been selected and witnesses called.  ALA NM Girls State is a very peaceful and gentle place, but sometimes "stuff" happens, and the Courts must address the issue.  The Supreme court is reviewing a case that has been brought before them, and one never knows if the verdict of the District Court may be appealed.  Later in the day the Girls Nation candidates will be presented and the Senior and Junior Senators from ALA NM Girl State will be selected, along with their alternates.  The Delegates will then get some "Primp" time in preparation for the Inaugural Banquet, followed by the moving Candlelight Ceremony.  The final City Dorm Meeting tonight will be busy with the city's Outstanding Citizen selection, Junior Counselor applications and laughs and tears, exchanging emails and thoughts of home.

I don't know if I will be able to get back to this before we leave tomorrow, but I hope this has given you a small vision of what the American Legion Auxiliary NM Girls State is all about.  Multiply this by 49 other states and you can imagine the impact this program makes on the young women of today.  In July, 100 Senators,  each representing their Department"s Girls State program will arrive at the National 4-H Camp in Chevy Chase, Maryland.  There the process begins anew, legislation, electing a President of Girls Nation, a visit to the "Hill" to spend time with their State's elected officials, possible a visit to the White House, and many more activities. 

Thank you for your continued support and we'll talk again next year.  pb

Cactus City 6-5

Today was such a blast!  Although Cactus City can never seem to be loud enough at Roll Call, it's driven us to try even harder!  Our Junior counselor, Julissa, talked to us about government experience, which was super cool!  We're proud to have such a knowledgeable JC in Cactus City.  We had our county conventions where delegates gave speeches to their fellow citizens.  Then came the party conventions.  Nats versus Feds, it's an all out war!!.  We were yelling cheers at each other through closed doors!  It was intense!  We then had quite and honorable speaker, Officer Edwards of the NM State Police.  He informed us of the various jobs to take at the state level of criminal justice.  More conventions and we voted in the county general election and the state primaries.  The results were worth the wait.  Cactus City had an excellent turnout in Washington County!  In the meantime we had a talent show.  I would never have guessed we had so much talent here at Girls State!  But then again, I suppose it's to be expected.  All of us ARE pretty great!!  Girls Nation was presented to us, and the results of the primaries were unveiled....congratulations to our Carla on making candidate for Lt. Gov.!!!  We knew you could do it!!  We discussed the whistle-stop procedure in our dorms, then dismissed to get enough sleep and preparation for our party rallies!!  We're all looking forward to that!
Signing out (for today).  Cactus City

Day 3

ALA NM Girls State has enjoyed another action packed day, and it's not over yet.  County Party Conventions started this morning, and began to define what each party stood for.  Later the 2 county parties convened and the platforms and keynote speakers were developed for the Nationalists and Federalists.  County Primary election results were announced.  We were privileged to have Officer Harold Edwards of the NM State Police visit and share a power point presentation will us.  Right after lunch, former NM Legislator Janice Arnold Jones spoke to the assembly.  She was a huge hit, and answered many questions.....she even asked a few herself.  The delegates then resumed and concluded their Party Conventions.  Before recreation time the delegates voted in their respective county (Washington or Lincoln) elections.  Rec time included a tour of the EMNU campus or just some down time or campaign strategizing.  After dinner we had the talent show.  Besides have exceptional talent, we have an exceptional audience.  I am always touched by the kindness of our citizens.  County election results will be announced soon.  Until then....pb

Cactus City 6-4

Today was so long, but full of fun!  We had to line up at 7:07 AM (!!!) and go to the For God and Country ceremony for the first time.  How patriotic and inspirational such a short tribute can be!  After breakfast, we listened to Amanda Good speak ab out OMK, her organization, for helping military youth cope with their stressful lifestyles.  Then we build "Hero Packs" to thank the children for being heroes in their own right!  Once lunch was over, we had a very respected guest, Mrs. Denish.  Then we got the results for city elections!  Congratulation toe Lisette, our mayor; Megan our Clerk; Brittany, our Treasurer; Sydnee our Judge; and the four councilwomen, Aubree, Mariana, Rubelia, and Kiah!  We then watched a touching video about poppies, followed the tradition of decorating the wreath, and then received poppies of our very own to wear!  Next was  the history of the flag and the reasons behind all it's folds.  Last was an open-mic debate where we discussed privacy and the fifth amendment, then IDs and whether or not we should present them  everywhere we go.  After that was recreation time!  Woo-Hoo!  Then retiring of the flag, and then dinner.  Then we had a city meeting, petitioned, and CAMPAIGNED!!  The walls are filled with colorful posters saying, "Vote for me!  Vote for me!".  We wound down with our city hall meeting, where we practiced our cheers for tomorrow.....Tomorrow!  I can't wait!  Cactus City will have so much fun!
Signing out (for today)  Cactus City

Still Day two

Well folks, it's still day two, but not by much.  City elections have been held and the cities are beginning to come together in a cohesive way.  Citizens have been petitioning for state and county offices and campaign material is in the dorms.  Back packs for children of active duty military have been packed and uplifting cards written to the children.  Citizens thoroughly enjoyed hearing former Lt. Gov Diane Denish speak and she fielded quite a few sharp questions.  The ladies learned the importance and significance of the Memorial Poppy.  They are tired motor scooters, and so are the staff.  So lights out for now and dream of a productive tomorrow.  pb

Day two

We're into day two and already things are busy, busy.  Campaigning for City offices is in full swing and there will be solutions to the problems that have occurred in the different cities.  Cactus City had a terrible rock slide that closed the main route through their city.  They will come up with solutions for this problem and fund the solution.  Ordinances will be enacted, and appointments made.  Back Packs for Children of military will be packed for Operation Military Kids this morning.  Most of these back packs will be for children stationed at Canon AFB in Clovis, NM.  After lunch, former Lt. Gov. Diane Denish will speak, and by tonight petitions will be filed for county and state offices.  In there somewhere is a little rec. time.  So if anyone was worried they might be bored.........DON'T.  No time to be bored. 

Pine City Senior Counselor

Pine City checked in 20 young ladies and we have all begun to bond.  This will be my 8th year as a Senior Counselor, better known as "Dorm Mom".  I am amazed at the way everything is going.  All is fine in Pine.
Gloria Rhoads, Senior Counselor

Pine City JC

The first day in a new environment can often be intimidating.  However, as the Counselor for Pine City, I was immediately impressed by our city's spirit.  In a camp attended by leaders, our city is showing promise to lead among leaders.  We all checked in, go well acquainted and are off to a great start to an incredibly memorial week.  Alex Cervantes, Junior Counselor

Delegates Checked In

As far as I know most of the delegates are checked in an up in their rooms getting acquainted and readying themselves for their first City Meeting.  They will learn some policies and procedures and what will be expected for this first day, at least. Registration seemed to so smoothly, as least as well as it can when you have bus loads of teen-agers arriving at the same time.  The Legion Family was represented by members from Clovis 25 manning a table with information about the Legion, Auxiliary, Sal, and Legion Riders, thanks #25.  Staff from the University made themselves available with information about our "home away from home" Eastern NM University.  Our opening session will begin at 4 PM, and will be pretty much non-stop for the next 4 days.  Check out our FB page at American Legion Auxiliary NM Girls State for additional updates and pictures.  pb

Almost Ready

We've had our Staff Meeting.  Government, Senior, and Junior Counselors have met in their separate groups to make sure they are all on the same page, and we feel confident we are ready for the influx of eager new delegates arriving tomorrow.  Our registration are will have the feel of a job fair.  The American Legion Auxiliary, Eastern NM University, and each City will have a table for the delegates for information.  The office has great staff to handle the mountain of paperwork involved with the program.  Shortly we will take off for dinner and I'm looking forward to the informal get together.  So tomorrow it starts......I am confident that Director Jones has structured a great program for this year.

Wrap it Tight

One day and counting.  Girls State is one of those programs that needs to be wrapped real tight before the delegates get here, because it going to start unraveling soon.  Director Jones seems to be on top of those frayed edges pretty well.  Staff have been readying projects, city boxes, decorating, whatever needs to be done to make our new delegates feel welcomed.  Our Staff Meeting is today at 1:00 PM and looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones.  Sounds like our week is full of great visitors including, but not limited to, former Congresswoman Heather Wilson, former Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, a representative from NM State Police, etc.  Hopefully I will be able to give you dates and times for these guests.  Need to start my day, so will post more later.  Hopefully there will be posts from City reporters tonight or tomorrow.

Well, I'm here.  Got the car unloaded and some stuff done in the room.  So far it's the Director her mom, one of our Tekkies my hubby and me, and The Truck just arrived so now everybody is unloading The Truck.  Staff meeting tomorrow here at 1:00 pm.  Hopefully all will be on time.  So I'm off to direct traffic and get the rest of my room put together.  More later.

I'm off to beautiful downtown Portales tomorrow morning.  Hubby has been there all week with the American Legion NM Boys State program.  Poor guy, he sounded really tired this afternoon, but he will stay there tomorrow until I get there and help me unload my car and get settled.  Saturday will see the rest of the ALA NM Girls State staff arriving and a staff meeting.  Then off to the floors to prepare for the arrival of delegates on Sunday.  Then we are off and running.  Will try and keep up so I can relay all the days news in a timely fashion.  Hope to be able to post pictures so check out the Face Book page (American Legion Auxiliary NM Girls State) often.  All for now......pb

Are You Ready?

Are you ready for Girls State?  The American Legion Auxiliary NM Girls State is ready for you.  In just a few short days an unforgettable week will begin for delegates and staff.  This week will be jam packed with fun, friends, and hard work.  Not only will you learn the political process that keeps our country special, but you will learn the reach of the American Legion Auxiliary in your community and state.  This week will show you how you can make a difference.  So the ALA NM Girls State staff is ready.  We look forward to meeting all of you at the beautiful campus of ENMU in Portales.  Friends and parents, keep tabs on activities on this site and follow us on Face Book at American Legion Auxiliary NM Girls State.