Community involvement on both the professional and personal levels is important to Dave Walker, investment representative for the Artesia office of Edward Jones and 2002-2003 president of the Artesia Rotary Club.

An Artesia resident since 1995, Walker grew up in Alamogordo. He has one 15-year-old son, Pierce, of Albuquerque.

He enjoys hiking and downhill skiing, taking advantage of the wilderness areas New Mexico has to offer.

"This is a great area and a great little town," he said. "The people here are really great to work with."

Walker joined the Rotary Club shortly after coming to Artesia.

"I think we do a lot of good, not only in the community but around the world," he said. "There are Rotary clubs in just about every country in the world.

"Rotary clubs around the world are very successful. Many times we do joint projects with a Rotary club in a foreign country, with help either from volunteers or by contributing to the organization on the national level," he said.

If one of the smaller clubs doesn’t have the resources or the numbers to contribute physically, they contribute financially by creating what are known as Paul Harris Fellows.

A Paul Harris Fellowship is an honor bestowed on an individual by a local Rotary Club in recognition of accomplishment or service to the community. The person might or might not be a Rotarian.

In addition to the recognition of the individual, a check for one thousand dollars is sent to Rotary International in that person’s name for use in a variety of projects.

There are currently projects underway in different parts of the world.

"We’re involved in programs to eradicate polio and sponsor water and irrigation projects around the world.

"Right now we’re active in Mexico, and we’ll probably be doing quite a bit in Afghanistan," he said.

Walker also likes to bring his business, investments, to a local level.

"It’s not as complicated as a lot of people think," he said. "People think they have to have a lot of money to invest, and that just isn’t the case."

Walker’s philosophy is that he isn’t just there as a stockbroker or as an investment advisor, he’s there to educate the investor so that he or she actually understands the process and knows what and what not to expect.

He moves enthusiastically across his office to a four-color graph that illustrates stock market trends, spikes and dips over the past 75 years.

Using a down-to-earth, common sense approach, Walker explains in layman’s terms how and why the stock market behaves the way it does.

"The market reacts to events in a lot of the same ways people do," he said, pointing out dips on the graph that correspond to the gas shortage of the 1970’s and the Gulf War.

"But it always comes back, and people need to understand that and not be afraid of it," he said.

Walker’s face to face, easygoing attitude helps to demystify what can for some people be an intimidating subject.