Pena named Cibola’s citizen of the year

Abe Pena was named Citizen of the Year by the Grants Chamber of Commerce. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / Cable Hoover

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — Abe Pena was honored by the Grants-Cibola County Chamber of Commerce and attendees at the chamber’s annual banquet Saturday night as the citizen of the year.

Those who know him best, long-time residents of Grants and Milan, said no one deserves the honor better.

Jackie Fisher, who said he has known Pena all his life, said he is very knowledgeable about the area and the people who live here.

“He has the same old values that I grew up with — opening a door, for anyone — working hard and respecting the value of others,” Fisher said. “His narratives about the different people of Cibola County, going back in time, writing about history, exemplifies not only the value here but the culture of New Mexico.”

Paul Milan said Pena is a true storyteller and a creative writer and recorder of history.

Milan said a local historical society is being started and with Pena as a role model. Milan hopes to have people in the community begin writing their own histories.

“He is certainly a qualified candidate for the honor.”

After being born and raised in San Mateo, Pena went off to college, received a degree from New Mexico State University and went to study sheep in Australia.

He said he was raised with sheep and when the sheep farming died out, decided to help the government and then served in the Peace Corps and in the U.S. Foreign Service.

But, these are not the reasons why he was selected as citizen of the year, although service to one’s county is one of the most honored accomplishments one can achieve.

He continues to write an historical column about local people, events and communities in a local newspaper and has done so for more than 30 years.

Highlighting some of the families who have lived here and bringing a sense of historical tradition to those families and the community seems to be what he is all about.

Pena served in the Peace Corps in Central America between 1972-1976.

“In 1977, the White House called and asked me to direct the foreign aid in Paraguay, which I did until 1984,” he said.

Since returning to Grants he has written the historical column and has started doing radio spots on the local radio station, twice a day, every weekday.

“We taped 352 interviews for that,” he said.

He also has a TV show on the local cable access channel, “Seniors in Action — Going Places and Doing things,” where he interviews local senior citizens.

“It’s rewarding, doing the history column,” he said.
Pena has also written two books, “Memories of Cibola,” published by University of New Mexico Press and “Villages and Villagers,” published by Rio Grande Books.

For two years he was on the national board of directors for AARP and served at the president of the AARP Foundation from 1998 to 2002.

He has been married to his wife Viola for 53 years and they have four adult children, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Viola is a former music teacher and still gives piano lessons to students in Grants nearly every day.

Mary Savacheck was also honored as the volunteer of the year. She is a retired teacher from the Grants-Cibola County School District and currently an instructor at New Mexico State University-Grants.

She is a member of the Winter Quadrathlon board and supervises student teachers for the school district through the college.

Chamber Executive Director Star Gonzales said the silent auction at the banquet raised more than $3,000, but the final figures are not tallied yet. The money is used for the Denis Molares Scholarship.

Past citizen of the year honorees include the late Rep. George Hanosh, and the Winter Quadrathlon Committee as the Organization of the Year in 2008; and retired state Sen. Joe Fidel as citizen of the year in 2007.

On the net: www.grants.org.

To contact reporter Jim Tiffin call (505) 285-4560 or e-mail: jtiffin.independent@yahoo.com.