Page 24 - NM Summer 2023

Harold with wife, Kim, and granddaughters Everly & Sadie. © Courtesy Harold Payne
Papa Payne Has A New Gig by Pete Herrera
Dr. Seuss, Mother Goose and second grade math.
Harold “Papa” Payne’s life has undergone a major makeover. The former general manager of Sunland Park and overall iconic figure in New Mexico’s horse racing community leads a much different life these days.
The pace is slower, the perks come in bunches. Senior citizenship does have an upside.
When asked what he’s doing these days, he laughs.
“Not much. I baby sit, play golf, and run the girls around.” The girls are Harold and wife Kim’s granddaughters--eight-year-old Everly and six-year-old Sadie.
Harold and Kim (aka Grammy) now call Las Vegas, Nevada, their home. Everly and Sadie are the primary reason Harold and Kim decided late last year to sell their home in El Paso and move to Las Vegas. It was
a decision that had been in the works for several years.
Harold’s son Brian with his wife Cheryl and daughters Everly and Sadie. © Courtesy Harold Payne
22 New Mexico Horse Breeder
“When we lived in El Paso, we’d come
out at least every other month,” said Harold. “That’s fifteen hundred miles roundtrip. We’d bring our dog Rita with us.”
“We’d been asking them, and they’ve been talking about moving out here for about five years,” says Harold’s son Brian. “We didn’t want them to miss out on the time when the girls are super young.”
Everly will be starting third grade in the fall and Sadie will be in first grade.
“They are pretty much opposites,” said Brian. “Everly looks like my wife (Cheryl) and Sadie looks like me. Sadie has a much more open personality and Everly is very reserved until you get to know her better.”
“It’s wonderful to be that close to them,” says Kim of the short commute between their home and that of the girls’ parents. “We get them a couple of times a week, maybe three and we never have to leave. That’s the most important thing.”
The move to Las Vegas has not only made it possible for Kim and Harold to spend extensive time with the girls, it’s also been a perfect childcare scenario for Brian and Cheryl.
They both have high-end jobs that require them to do extensive traveling. Brian is a senior sales executive with the Gaylord Rockies hotel group. Although he gets to work from home a good deal of the time, he makes frequent trips between Las Vegas and Denver.
“One of us is typically on the road every week,” said Brian.