George Holmes has high hopes and expectations.

As chairman of the United Way campaign, Holmes hopes to raise $146,000 by Nov. 7.

And, he believes his expectations of Artesians to come through for their own are well placed.

If energy and enthusiasm count, he will certainly succeed.

Holmes visibly exudes
energy and is extremely enthusiastic about his capable executive board, division chairpersons and the United Way program itself.

He says, "I agreed to be the chairman of United Way for two reasons. One is that 99 percent of the money raised stays in Artesia and Eddy County.

"It’s a very important reason. A lot of fundraising and charities don’t work that way, and to me, this is the best bang for your buck.

"The second reason is that I have been fortunate in my life. It’s been a long time since I had to worry about where I was going to spend the night or where I was going to get
another meal or how I was going to make my gas payment, or buy a bottle of medicine.

"So, I have been very, very fortunate. It makes it easy to get involved in something like this — where it helps people who, for whatever reason, are not in the best of situations.

"When you look at the organizations United Way helps, the majority of them help people who are in situations that are not good.

"The Artesia Emergency Relief is the local Red Cross now. That is an agency for people whose house burns down or who are involved in some kind of tragedy and need a place to stay or need clothing or a meal.

"Salvation Army. The $5,000 we give them all goes out the door in small increments, to people who need help, just people on the street.

"CASA and Eddy County Safe House are designed for kids who get drawn into the legal system, through no fault of their own.

"Grammy’s House. As much as we don’t like to admit that domestic violence occurs, it happens a lot more than you think it might.

"And this year, we added the Habitat for Humanity, which helps people who are willing to put in some effort to have a place of their own.

"So, when you stand back and look at it, it is not that tough to get involved."

"One of my things is to give back," he says.

Artesians are fortunate that George Holmes and wife, Susan found their way here 16 years ago when Susan accepted a position as trust officer with The First National Bank. She is now senior vice president of the bank and the head of the trust department.

George is the Artesia High School tennis coach and teaches tennis for the summer recreation program.

He recalls how he started coaching, "Mike Phipps was the principal and he asked me if I would help him until he found somebody, and now I’m starting on my 12th year. This year, we have five or six holdovers on each team, and it should be fun."

Holmes is also serving his first term as a city councilor. Asked why he ran for a city council seat, Holmes says, "Part of that is I felt an opportunity to hopefully help the city grow and to help the city council work more effectively.

"We (the council) try to put the personal things aside and work for the betterment of the city. We still don’t agree on 100 percent of the things, but you do a majority thing and go on and make the best of the situation. If it needs to be revisited, you go back and revisit it.

"And, often times, I am the odd man out, but that’s why you have eight people. It’s not a personal thing — it shouldn’t be. That’s why democracy and the majority rules."

Through city council committees, Holmes also sits on the boards of the library, the museum and the commission on aging.

In addition, he serves as a board member for the Artesia Arts Council, "It’s a 501C3 where any money raised comes back into the community, Holmes explains. "We sponsored the Missoula Children’s Theatre, the free summer movie series, the Chautauqua programs, an occasional concert and, of course, we’re working on the Ocotillo building."

Holmes’ personal artistic emphasis at the moment is underwater photography, which is a perfect complement to the yearly scuba diving trip the Holmes take. Together, they also enjoy snow skiing, water skiing, boating and camping. He hunts and fishes, with a pheasant hunting trip to Kansas planned for late November.

Holmes relates how this year’s United Way theme, ‘Taking Care of Our Own" occurred to him, "That comes from living and watching the things that have happened over the years.

"You know, Artesia — a long time ago — passed the mill issue for the schools and you go around the state and look at the schools. There are very few that have the quality facilities that Artesia has.

"You look at projects like MainStreet. People got into their pockets and put up money. They said, ‘We’ve got a nice place — we’re going to make a nicer place.’ And, that benefited everybody. When there is something to be done, the people in Artesia get behind it and do it!"