It began like by accident. A minor every day matter many of us encounters. It was about weeds, yes weeds, taking over our yard on all sides. My wife, Lillie, and I had been able to deal with it with Roundup. But this year neither of us found ourselves physically capable of coping with those weeds.

Carolene Endersby, a friend, happened to mention we should contact Reverend Ron Fairbairn who was working with some kids trying to earn some money over the summer. I e-mailed the good pastor If you have kids available and that want to earn some money during the summer, we’d like to make arrangements to have them pull our weeds.

He emailed back I have given them your name and address and phone, they will be contacting you soon. I had no idea who “them” were. Then Ron e-mailed I forgot to mention, there is no charge!!! You cannot pay them Sir.

No charge! I thought, Why would these kids be willing to work in the hot sun to rid my yard of weeds and not be paid? I couldn’t figure it out.

The answer came by e-mail from a man I’ve never heard of…Loyd Platson. He wrote:

I am responding to your request to have youth pull weeds at your house. We do have youth available to do this as well as other odd jobs that you may have. The youth work through the NyE Communities Coalition (NyECC) under a program geared towards helping them develop positive work related behaviors and attitudes. I coordinate the Youth Workforce Development Program for NyECC.

Fortunately I hadn’t deleted the e-mail from Mr. Platson from among the scores of e-mails I receive daily. I wondered, just what is this Youth Workforce Development Program for NyECC?

Then Tom Waters asked me if I had heard anything about my yard weeds yet. I filled him in. He offered to make a phone call, which I declined.

Then came a phone call from Ken Gonzales asking if he could come by and take a look at our yard to see what needed to be done. I didn’t know Ken either. He arrived, surveyed the yard, and informed me he had a crew of kids scheduled to undertake the project two days later.

I awoke early (around 6:00 a.m.) and frankly had forgotten about Ken’s visit. I stepped onto our patio. I saw a man clipping bushes. He was part of the work crew. I looked around and saw 14 people all over the front, back and side yards quietly and diligently removing our weeds. I was absolutely shocked and amazed. They had been at it since 5:00 a.m.! By 11:00 a.m. the weeds were gone.

The work crew consisted of: Ken Gonzales (supervisor), Terri Gonzales (supervisor), David Balien, Rocky McLennan, Alex Glynn, Brian Bostain, Reece Trstensky, Jeffrey Yang, Justin Yang, Jonathan Isaccks, Andrew Gonzales, Stephen Yang, Daniel Liebig and Sharina Sheppard. A stellar group exemplifying there is positive hope in our Pahrump community.

The whole thing is part of the Nye Community Coalition. Remember Hillary Clinton’s book, It Takes A Village? That the concept is alive and well in Pahrump.

Lillie’s and my humble thank you goes out to Carolene Endersby, Ron Fairbairn, Loyd Platson, Tom Waters, Ken Gonzales, all those kids in the Youth Workforce Development Program for NyECC.

You are welcome to read more about this and other matters on the Nye-Gateway to Nevada’s Rurals blog at http://nyegateway.com. You can also follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Featheriver.

Tom Waters, candidate for election to the Town Board of Pahrump, Nevada has started his new blog. You can check it out at http://tomwatersthoughts.blogspot.com/.

Tom’s campaign website is located at http://tomwaters4townboard.com/default.html.

You can find out more than you ever wanted to know about Tom on his campaign website. If you live in Pahrump and if you vote I’d suggest you look over both his campaign website and his new blog.

I understand Tom will be using his blog on a regular basis expressing his views on his campaign for election to Pahrump’s Town Board in November.

He will be getting one of my votes along with Carolene Endersby (also a candidate for Pahrump’s Town Board) and Laurayne Murray (candidate for Nye County Commissioner – District V).

I invite you to stop by Tom’s blog and leave him a comment. He’d love to hear from you.

The Pahrump Valley Times ran articles about the 15 candidates for the Town Board of Pahrump. One of those 15 is Don Rust, pictured on the left. The photo ran in the PVT along with the article, written by Gina B. Good of the PVT.

On June 8, the primary election, voters in Pahrump will pick six of those 15 candidates to run in the general election in November. Of those six only three seats are available.

Good wrote:

Don Rust previously served two years as a board member, filling the remainder of Ed Bishop’s term in 2006-2008, after Bishop stepped down for health reasons.

Known for straight talk, Rust came to the point about why he is running. While he declined to specifically identify the candidates he hopes to defeat, he said, ‘I am concerned about a good number of the candidates who have registered and whether the town can literally survive them, should they be elected.’

Rust said he has integrity, is honest, ethical and, at almost 70 years of age, has a great deal of life experience from which to draw. ‘I have been all over the world and lived overseas for several years,’ he said.

He also believes town officials should be accessible. ‘If people talk to me, I will listen to what they have to say. That doesn’t mean I will agree but people can call me, e-mail me or stop me anywhere around town.’

He said he was surprised that during the two years he served on the board, he received no phone calls.

‘I know in the past, people running for office have said, “I will do what the people want.” Well, first of all, there are five board members who vote on issues. Secondly, one person can’t know what all 38,000 people want. It’s impossible to know that. I use common sense and do what’s right for the town of Pahrump.

‘That won’t please everybody, but nothing ever does.’

Economic development is also key in Rust’s vision for the town. ‘The biggest thing in this town is economic development and trying to overcome some of the county’s obstacles. I am not blaming the current county commissioners because many things were done before they took office.’

Education is also a focus for Rust, whose wife, Francis, works for the Nye County School District. ‘Our educational system needs improvement,’ he said. ‘The county is responsible for the schools in Pahrump but I wish the town had some input.’

‘I am for incorporation, but the Incorporation Advisory Board, is simply in existence to gather information for the town about incorporation. The meetings we are currently holding outline what the independent study found are the pros and cons of incorporation for Pahrump.’

Rust is a volunteer. He is president of the League of Women Voters of Pahrump Valley, secretary of the Pahrump Arts Council, vice chairman of the town’s Incorporation Advisory Board and a member of the Tourism and Convention Council. He also works with the Nevada Center for Public Policy Dialogue.

The Rusts have been married for 29 years moved to Pahrump 15 years ago. They have five children and nine grandchildren.

His connection to the League of Women Voters of Pahrump Valley is an asset.

Being the vice chairman of the town’s Incorporation Advisory Board and a member of the Tourism and Convention Council are positive attributes and reflect his knowledge about the need for jobs in the area.

He is also active in the Nevada Center for Public Policy Dialogue, an organization devoted to development of sound public policy matters.

There are three people I would like to take those three seats on the Town Board. They are Carolene Endersby, Tom Waters and Don Rust. All three are top notch people who will bring high quality to the board.

I intend to vote for all three of them.

Dr. Tom Waters, Ed.D. is a candidate for the Town Board of Pahrump, NV. This video is of his remarks delivered to a full house at Nevada’s Treasure Resort in Pahrump on April 10, 2010.

You can view Dr. Waters’ campaign website here.

I attended the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner last night in Pahrump.

It was a full house. Senator Harry Reid, Congresswomen Shelley Berkley, Dina Titus, state Treasurer Kate Marshal, and state Controller Kim Wallin were there as well. Each spoke briefly. Kim Wallin, a diminutive young fireball, carried her trademark brief case to stand on when she was at the microphone. She has to use it to reach the microphone’s height.

Nye County and Pahrump local candidates spoke as well. Laurayne Murray, running for Nye County Commissioner-District 5, Carolene Endersby, Tom Waters, Don Rust, all running for Pahrump Town board, Kathleen Bienenstein, candidate for Nye County Assessor, Brian Kunzi, candidate for District Attorney  spoke as well. The names in blue color have campaign websites you can get to by clicking their names. Laurayne, Carolene Tom, and Brian also have Facebook pages where you can learn more about them. Just run a search on their names on Facebook to find their pages.

Gary Budahl, running for re-election as Nye County Treasurer was there but didn’t speak–don’t know why.

Got to see Mel Jackson too. He isn’t running but did run for Nye County Sheriff a few years back. Good to see him.

Even got to see Loyal Watkins, Loyle Scarlett and Ralph DeFeo, formerly on the Nye County Democratic Central Committee. Haven’t seen them in months.

The event took place at Nevada’s Treasure RV Resort in Pahrump. Nice place. Well suited for such events. An improvement I must say over use of the Pahrump Nugget.

Congratulations to the Nye County Democratic Central Committee for their effort in putting the dinner on. They did an excellent job. A tip of my hat (I really don’t wear a hat) to each of them.

And a word of appreciation to the Sheet Metal Worker’s Union. Randy Soltero of that union presented a $5,000 donation to the Nye County Democrats’ Central Committee. Very much appreciated and nice gesture from that union.
Thoroughly enjoyed working the room last night seeing old friends and acquaintances, too many to mention here without writing a small book.

I am placing the videos of those that spoke one each on separate blog posts. Takes a while.

The upcoming 2010 election in Nye County and particularly in Pahrump is getting well underway.

Candidates have been kicking off their campaigns—with their new websites:

Laurayne Murray, pictured left, is running for Nye County Commissioner for District 5.

She has gone online with her campaign website you can find by clicking  here. She maintains a Facebook page here.

Carolene Endersby, right, running for Pahrump Town Board has  also initiated her campaign website which you can see here. She also has a presence on Facebook here.

Tom Waters, left, also running for Pahrump Town Board, has his campaign website here and is on Facebook here.

I am fortunate to know all three of these candidates. They are friendly, personable, well educated, experienced in diverse ways, level headed, and outstandingly well qualified to fill the offices for which they seek election. I intend to vote for each of them.

I am confident that once you visit their websites you will concur in my judgment. So go to their sites and read all about them. See if you don’t agree with me.

Like anyone running for election the three of them need your help and support to get elected. So when you get to their sites drop them an e-mail and offer to assist them in getting elected. Also, when they are appearing at the various meet and greets, candidate’s forums, or other such events, go see them in person and talk with them. None of three bite. You’ll wind up being their admiring friend.

Then drop me a comment and tell me what you think of them.

Mark your calendars!

Laurayne Murray, candidate for Nye County Commissioner – District V; and Carolene Endersby, and Dr. Tom Waters, candidates for Pahrump Town Board are kicking off their campaigns next week.

Campaign Kick-Off

A good chance for you voters to get to personally meet all three all at once and get some personal one on one time with each of them.