Link To The Past: Playing the part of a lord, Martin Link draws his sword and knights a prime cut of beef during the traditional Celtic feast of the Twelfth Night at his home in Gallup on Friday. The knighting of the best cut of meat is the origin of the common term for quality meat, sirloin. Link and others of Celtic descent gather a couple of times a year to mark events important to their ancestors, such as the solstice. [Photo by John A. Bowersmith/Independent]

Homegrown Gallup PD Recruits Will Protect & Serve: ABOVE: Gallup Police Officers Shane Bennett, left, and John Whitsitt search an abandoned house on Princeton Avenue for signs it is being used illegally. The officers are new recruits and will be leaving for the New Mexico police academy in Santa Fe for six months of training. The recruits had to complete a six- to eight-week application process that includes psycological and physical testing in addition to a written exam and other tests. BELOW: GPD officer John Whitsitt calls in information about people suspected of drinking in an alley behind Plese grocery store on Maloney Friday morning while Officer David Evans questions the suspects. Whitsitt is a new officer and leaves for six months of training at the New Mexico police academy in Santa Fe on Sunday. Whitsitt and the two other new officers who were going to the academy with him were all recurited locally. GPD Chief Slyvester Stanley said he wants the department to concentrate on recuiting officers locally hoping it will increase officer retention. [Photos by John A. Bowersmith/Independent]

Trashed Trees: Dozens of discarded Christmas trees lie piled up Friday next to the batting cages at Veteran's Memorial Park in Gallup. The city has two drop-off points for old Christmas trees, one at Ford Canyon Park and the other at the Larry Brian Mitchell Recreation Center. [Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent]

A Bridge Too Old: Gallup street department employee Gary Acque pries chain link fencing from the boards that were once the foot bridge at Logan Avenue and South Second Street in Gallup. The bridge, which was once used for children to cross the gully, had become unsafe and a portion of it had washed away, forcing the city to remove the bridge entirely. [Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent]