Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas

Opinion

Tuesday, July 1, 2003

Sage Views

By Smokey Briggs

John Grant in a dress and Randy Key

in lipstick - now that is entertainment

If you miss this year's performance by the Windmill Square Players you will really miss out.

Where else can you see your local banker in a dress and size 12 pumps? And that is just the beginning.

Living in Pecos, like living anywhere, has its ups and downs.

Last night we loaded up our twin tricycle motors and experienced one of the "ups."

Those high-dollar opera houses in New York have nothing on our local crew of thespians. (You boys on stage look that word up in a dictionary before you come hunting me, okay?)

This year's cast is a good mix of veteran players from years past and new faces who forget their lines as ably as the veterans.

Well, not as ably as star villain John Grant, but close.

As has been the case since I moved to Pecos, Randy and Holly Key are cast in the roles of the play's romantic couple.

I have heard it rumored that this arrangement has been mandatory ever since a stage kiss went awry while Randy was playing opposite a different starlit and Mrs. Key's ensuing ad lib performance landed the young lady in the dentist chair.

That is of course rumor but I do not plan to get caught kissing Randy anytime soon, for a whole bunch of reasons.

Randy, as always, portrays a good-natured-not-so-handy-with-the-gals- -naïve-hero with such grace one wonders if he is actually acting.

Tommy Jackson exhibits the same natural ability fulfilling the role of a guy that desperately needs a bath, while John Grant acts the part of the evil lawyer with absolutely no scruples so well one might think he were a banker in real life.

I actually was part of this cast a few years back - appropriately playing a wise and good-looking preacher - a role that required very little acting on my part.

That year there was an awkward kid named Bill backstage helping with props.

Young Bill grew up and does a very nice job in the current production as an elderly banker.

As always, Reita Prewit plays a key role in the production - this year primarily in her bloomers. You just have to go if you want to know more about that.

As you may have figured out, I would not make much of a theatre critic.

I enjoyed the whole thing.

If there were room I would mention everybody in the cast. They all do a great job.

I am purposefully leaving out any comments about all the gals dressed in saloon girl outfits and other frilly costumes for my own safety.

Suffice it to say that this year directors John Grant and Roy Prewit have ripped a page out of the newspaperman's manual under the chapter about sensationalism.

Heather McNeal, K'Dee Gulihur, Darla Blackstock, Rhonda Wade and Candace Roach spice things up all night long.

There is something special about a live performance and this production is no different.

There is a connection achieved between audience and actor that transcends television or the silver screen - and in this case occasionally crosses the line of good taste and common decency.

It's good stuff.

As is getting to see Randy Key highly embarrassed.

I got to see that for the first time the year I was actually in the production. That year he wore a pair of Holly's pantyhose on stage. You couldn't see them though.

There was supposedly a real good reason. I just cannot remember what it was. Randy in pantyhose just sticks in the old brain.

This year you get to see him with lipstick.

I'm beginning to wonder about the boy.

It is a sight you need to see for yourself. Tonight is this year's final performance. The action takes place at Pecos Elementary and starts at 7:00 p.m. sharp. Tickets are only $5 and kids under 12 are free.

So "bon appetite." (That sounds like something girly and French that a real stage critic would say).

EDITOR'S NOTE: Smokey Briggs is the editor and publisher of the Pecos Enterprise whose column appears on Tuesdays. He can be e-mailed at: smokey@pecos.net

Our View

A little finger pointing can be a good thing

Last Friday the Pecos Enterprise published an article detailing Reeves County Sheriff Andy Gomez' thoughts regarding the current financial crisis at Reeves County Detention Center.

At the moment, there appears to be a real possibility Reeves County will default on the private bonds issued to finance the new, third wing of the prison.

A default on RCDC III would allow investors to repossess the entire complex since all are mortgaged against each other.

Sheriff Gomez called for community support and "no finger pointing," concerning this crisis.

While we appreciate Sheriff Gomez' sentiments and good intentions, we respectfully disagree in the current circumstances.

No finger pointing has become the buzzword politicians use when they have screwed up and do not want to have the spotlight shine on the results.

It is a nice sentiment, and often a quality of good leadership. But the best of leaders know that while accomplishing cannot take a back seat to affixing blame, eventually responsibility does need to be attributed to every screw up so that the same mistake is not repeated.

In our situation now is exactly the right time for finger pointing so long as the finger pointing affixes responsibility for this problem and helps answer the question of how Reeves County arrived at the edge of this financial cliff.

Maybe the current crisis can be explained by a string of bad luck. That happens to the best of us.

Or, maybe, poor judgment has played a role.

The possibilities are numerous.

Whatever the case, the citizens of Reeves County deserve to know the exact answers. It is their money, and their future that is on the line.

A little finger pointing right now might help us figure out a solution.

Your View

Former commissioner supports efforts

Dear Editor:
I follow in support of County Judge Galindo and Sheriff Gomez.

County Judge Galindo is asking for support from the public and any kind of help our community can provide by writing letters that will contribute significantly to finding a solution to the problem. Sheriff Gomez is also suggesting that we stop the finger pointing and pull together to come up with a solution.

Another local citizen (Smokey Briggs) is also trying to help by citing the same familiar problem Presidio County had back in 1995. I personally think that Presidio County probably just filed an affidavit with the county clerk to start re-organizational procedures, which in those days was a required document.

We need to remember that negotiating a contract is a give and take situation. The letter dated June 11, 2003 from an inspector Elaine Peebles is certainly a key point that needs to be negotiated to finding a solution to the Reeves County Detention Center.

I could specify the options the Commissioners' Court has, but it would not be appropriate because I am no longer a member of the court.

BERNARDO T. MARTINEZ
Retired Reeves Co. Commissioner #4

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Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 432-445-5475, FAX 432-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net

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