Schedule for Upcoming Meetings, Service Projects, and Special Events,
Date
What’s Happening,
Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025
Jake Benavidez (Grant County Sheriff's Dept.) - The DARE Progam
Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025
Joe Drake of American Legion Post #18 on the latest from the American Legion
Tuesday, November 18, 2025:
President Ray Goellner presided.
Ray led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Tom Bates gave the invocation.
Ray led the recitation of the Four-Way Test.
Guests: John Flack, Gary and Jeannine Jenks, Andy Payne, Ted Pressler, and Holly Noonan, our speaker
Program:
Ray Introduced Holly Noonan representing the Crooked Forest Institute, a new twist on affordable housing. Her project is looking at and building adobe housing to address the shortage of affordable housing. Adobe housing is very good in thermal exchange, storing heat during day and releasing it at night and, in addition, the walls regulate humidity. In 2022 she met Joseph Kennedy, an architect and educator who is known for designing small earthen homes. Together they founded the Institute to create systems level change; what are elements in our economy that are holding back affordable housing from people. Private equity companies are coming in and snapping up mobile home parks, making a profit on these parks, and forcing the mobile home owners out. Now more and more states are passing laws granting the first right of refusal to buy the land to the mobile home owners (which are actually not mobile homes since they can’t be moved). Therefore, they are looking at affordable and healthy housing options.
The adobe houses they are building will last 300 years compared to a manufactured house with a life of about 30 years. Their main house model is only 400 square feet (about the size of an RV).
They are hoping to build on a community land trust where it is not necessary for the occupants to buy the land and everyone will share the water and septic system. In a community land trust
the land is secured in perpetuity for the people on the land.
In 2024 they purchased 52 acres of land in the Mimbres valley which is the basis of what will become their education campus. They are planning to create a career and technical education
school and pair it with a nonprofit housing developer. At this site they would like to create an adobe brick and compressed earth block manufacturing operation. They would also like to build some 400 sq. ft. homes for short-term rentals so the public can experience the house designs first-hand. In addition, they would like to build 10 Thrival Cabins for workforce housing with a shared bathroom building. Their ultimate goal is to build their 3 designs on a community land trust that will be established near Silver City.
Announcements:
Ray said that Art Thorn, Maggie Callaway, and he had gone to the storage shed and inventoried the contents. Maggie said that this inventory had been emailed to everyone. After getting input from the club, Maggie said it would be determined what should be
tossed and what should be kept so that a smaller storage unit could be rented.
The next item for discussion was the budget. Ray passed out a copy of the budget which Maggie had taken back to July 1 when his term began. Originally it had been thought it would be in the red, but it is not. We did get the check from the County Fair for our Fairgate work in the amount of $568.80, which the club is keeping to cover operational expenses this year. Our revenue for the fiscal year was around $15,000. That includes a carry-over from the previous year. Expenses total around $9,000 so we do have a projected surplus of a little over $6,000 in the operating budget. Jim Callender stated he wanted it to go on the record that he is against keeping the Fairgate money. Ray said the club needs to decide each year what it wants to do with the Fairgate money.
Maggie said she had two great service projects coming up. On December 2, as approved by the Board, we are collecting and delivering new or gently used blankets to be delivered to
Silver City Street Outreach. Our second service project will be caroling at the assisted living facilities, Sunset Vista and Millie’s, on Saturday, December 13.The Valentine’s Day fundraiser is set for Saturday, February 14 at Bear Mountain Lodge. The next fundraising committee meeting will be to discuss the silent auction, and they did create some sponsorship levels.
Mark Richard moved that we adjourn, Jim seconded. Ray adjourned the meeting at 1:01 pm.
Adobe housing is very good in thermal exchange, storing heat during day and releasing it at night and, in addition, the walls regulate humidity. In 2022 she met Joseph Kennedy, an architect and educator who is known for designing small earthen homes. Together they founded the Institute to create systems level change; what are elements in our economy that are holding back affordable housing from people. Private equity companies are coming in and snapping up mobile home parks, making a profit on these parks, and forcing the mobile home owners out. Now more and more states are passing laws granting the first right of refusal to buy the land to the mobile home owners (which are actually not mobile homes since they can’t be moved). Therefore, they are looking at affordable and healthy housing options.