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(Slightly Edited for this web space) Carrizozo High School Song History Ruidoso News; October 11, 2008 Ruidoso, NM Sixty-five years of Ventura football Julie Carter jcarter@ruidosonews.com Article Launched: 10/09/2008 08:40:05 PM MDT Neva Rae Garrison Ventura graduated from Carrizozo High School in 1946. ( Joe Ventura was a 1948 graduate.) Neva Rae Garrison was a high school cheerleader when she wrote the Carrizozo School Song. It was 1945. Today, her grandsons stand proud on the Carrizozo football field and sing that same song to the crowd after each game. Two of her five sons, Pat and John Paul Ventura, stand with them as coach and assistant coach. It is a four-generation legacy of family that runs deep in many foundational Carrizozo families. In the Venturas, it runs with a football and the red and silver of the Carrizozo school colors. In 1931, Neva's parents, Jess and Afrey Garrison, homesteaded at Bingham, 35 miles west of Carrizozo. Neva was their second child and only 4 years old at the time. Ultimately, she would be one of seven children to follow her father around the county as he plied his trade as a carpenter. "He was one of the builders when they built the hospital at Fort Stanton" she said. "And he built many of the older homes you see around Carrizozo. "We lived in Capitan and Lincoln for short periods of time while my dad worked there and then finally settled in Carrizozo when I was in the fourth grade." "There were 46 of us in class when we started our freshman year," she recalled. "Then Pearl Harbor was hit and, by the time we were juniors, there were only two boys left in our class. When we graduated in 1946, there were only 10 of us left in the class." Neva's first date with Joe Ventura was to her senior prom. He was two years younger than she was and had, so far, missed the draft and the mass exodus of young men to World War II. He graduated in 1948, and ultimately ended up in the service and in Korea for two years. On Sept. 3, 1955, Neva and Joe, who was born and raised in Carrizozo, were married. Jody, their first son, was born in 1956, followed by Bobby in 1960, Pat in 1962, Chris in 1963 and John Paul in 1964. "I never got the girl I wanted so much," Neva said. "But now I have 11 granddaughters and nine grandsons." Her sons attest to the fact she does indeed love spoiling them all, but especially the girls. The game ball was presented to Neva Ventura at a September football game where her sons, John Paul, left and Pat were coaching and her grandsons were playing. In more than 65 years of following Carrizozo football, this was her first game ball. Joe and Neva settled into a small house on Aspen Street next to Vidaurri Grocery store, a mercantile. grocery, hardware and whatever store that had been in business since 1906. Joe worked in the store until 1972 and the store closed in 1975. Joe and Neva were married 50 years, until his death in 2005. Still living in the same home today, Neva looks back at a lifetime of working and raising her family. She began working as a telex operator while she was senior, then two weeks after graduation she went to work for a lawyer. She worked for a couple of different ones and then, while the boys were little, she stayed home, helping at the store for a small pittance. In 1983, she went to work for Lincoln County Abstract and Title where she is still today. At 81, she still enjoys working and the detail of her work has kept her sharp and capable. "I love the people," she said. "I love the people in the courthouse, people I work with and people I have seen grow up do well." Neva shared that she and County Assessor Paul Baca's mother were best friends as young girls and were maids of honor at each other's weddings. "I'm so proud of Paul and what he's done," she said. While Neva admits to loving music and playing the piano, she humbly did not mention just how much her talent has impacted so many. Neighbors and family tell the stories of her ability to "make a piano talk," and the countless Sunday's playing the church organ. Raising five boys and a daily stream of strays her sons brought home from school at lunchtime, Neva said she made thousands of tortillas and cooked a lot of beans. Joe was making $90 a week to go with her $10. "We were poor, but so was everybody else," she said with a twinkle in her eye. "Gas was only 15 cents a gallon and everybody was griping then, just like they do now." Football was the family game. Joe played in high school when Neva was a cheerleader and the five strapping boys they were raising were nearly a team themselves. When they began playing in school, Neva was their biggest fan. Today, Pat is a teacher and coach at Carrizozo High School and Bobby has 24 years of teaching and coaching under his belt. John Paul has assisted the Carrizozo coaches for years and this year, when he's on the field with Pat, Neva is at her proudest. She also has three grandsons playing in the games: Mark, Cody and Marshal, along with two younger ones, Josh and Caleb, working as water boys. At a recent September home game, the team presented Neva with the game ball. She is so very proud of it. For years, faithfully attending hundreds and hundreds of games as a No. 1 fan - from her high school days, through her sons' games and now her grandsons' - this is the first time she has ever received a game ball. At every game, the team honors her when they sing the school song she wrote 63 years ago. At the away games, Pat calls her and reports on the game. The last time, he turned to the team and hollered, "Hey guys, Granny says you are number one!" School Song:
From Julie Carter
Carrizozo School Song ~~~Neva Garrison Ventura, 1945 |
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