By L. Parsons The Winslow Historic Preservation Commission has installed its latest contribution to the beautification of the city. A new sign welcoming visitors to Winslow is now prominently displayed on the east end of town at Third Street and Transcon Lane. The sign, made of quarter-inch mild steel took an entire team to bring to fruition. Commission Chairwoman Tess Kenna said, “The preservation commission came up with the colors and design of the piece and then left it to Mr. Tafoya to complete.” Tafoya, the sponsor for the local Future Farmers of America chapter and agriculture science teacher at the high school took on the challenge alongside his students. The FFA offers students the opportunity to learn to use tools and processes such as welding, CNC (computer numerical control) machines, design and drafting. Tafoya said, “We started this last year and student Dylan Sellens, who was a senior at the time, was the point man on the project and did most of the welding, assisted by Justin Hanno. The sign, which is about eight feet tall and eight feet wide was too big to fit on to our CNC plasma table, so we decided it was best to cut it in to four pieces and then welded together. We had to draw a grid on the floor of the shop because of its size.” The size of the sign wasn’t the only challenge faced by the students. “Nothing the group came up with to get the letters onto the sign looked good. I found a couple of pieces of welded wire hog paneling (panels used to build livestock corrals) and we found that it was strong enough to weld the letters to without taking away from the sign.” The other students in the class contributed by cleaning, grinding, measuring and acting as helpers to the welders. All of the students were proud to be a part of the project. Kenna said, “We have several projects in the works including the sign on the west entrance designed by local artist Jim Buckley. We are also working on several other signs around town.” Winslow Mayor Roberta Cano added, “It’s so exciting to see the Historic Preservation Commission work with Mr. Tafoya and his students to create a beautiful art piece to welcome our visitors. Our historic roadway is being featured in such a creative way and I look forward to and fully support the projects that this commission has in the works for our city. Kudos to the HPC and the citizens that help Winslow move forward.”
