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A MEMORIAL

CELEBRATING THE CENTENNIAL OF LOVINGTON, NEW MEXICO.

WHEREAS, Lovington, a city of nearly ten thousand

persons in southeastern New Mexico, was established in 1908;

and

WHEREAS, Lovington, whose first post office was housed

in the Jim B. Love grocery store and run by the proprietor of

the grocery store, offers warm summer days, cool nights and

mild sunny winters; and

WHEREAS, from the time of its establishment, Lovington

has been a center for ranching and farming families spread

across southeastern New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, Lovington was designated as the county seat

when Lea county was created from parts of Chaves and Eddy

counties in 1917; and

WHEREAS, oil was discovered in 1928 in Lovington, but

had little impact on the economy until 1950, when the Denton

pool nine miles northeast of town was discovered; and

WHEREAS, oil then quickly transformed Lovington, as some

ninety-two flowing wells were established soon after 1950 and

people working on the wells poured into the town; and

WHEREAS, the natural gas boom also contributed to the

growth of Lovington beginning in 1950; and

WHEREAS, the dairy industry has begun to take part in

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the growth of the city, whose population mushroomed from four

hundred eleven people in 1920 to one thousand nine hundred

sixteen in 1940 to the current nine thousand six hundred; and

WHEREAS, today, Lovington boasts a public library with

over forty-nine thousand items, a senior citizen center, an

activity center, five city parks, one swimming pool, eleven

baseball fields, numerous practice fields for little league,

one shooting range, a museum, a hospital, four doctors, two

chiropractors, three dentists, at-home nursing services, well-

trained emergency transportation personnel and scores of civic

organizations; and

WHEREAS, Lovington is home to national football league

player Brian Urlacher; and

WHEREAS, Lovington is the former home of professional

golfers Ronnie Black and Sean Murphy;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that it join with

Lovington residents to celebrate one hundred years as a

community; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the state take pride in the

ongoing growth, development and contributions of this

southeastern city; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be

transmitted to the governor, to each of the state's southern

New Mexico elected officials, to the mayor of Lovington and to

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each of the public schools in Lovington.