Chenoweth Award returns in Trinidad, honors Leuszler and Romeros

The Chenoweth Award returned to Trinidad with a full house and a clear message about who the community still counts on. More than 175 people gathered at the Commons and Space to Create on April 11 to honor Marilyn Leuszler and Yolanda and Mike Romero as the 2026 recipients of the city’s top civic award.

The presentation marked the first Chenoweth Award ceremony since 2019, ending a multi-year pause in a tradition that has long served as one of Trinidad and Las Animas County’s public ways of recognizing steady, visible service. The award was established in 1979 by the Trinidad and Las Animas County Chamber of Commerce and is named for Judge J. Edgar Chenoweth, a Trinidad native who was the award’s first recipient and later served eleven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, along with stints as a Las Animas County judge and assistant district attorney.

This year’s honorees were selected from 12 nominees, a detail that underscored how competitive the recognition remained as the chamber brought it back. Leuszler and the Romeros were chosen not for a single headline moment, but for the kind of day-to-day work that shapes civic life in a town like Trinidad, where local institutions depend heavily on people who keep showing up.

Leuszler’s place in that civic memory has been built over decades. A prior local profile described her as a strong arts advocate and community activist for 50 years, teaching art workshops for youth and adults while maintaining her studio and business in Trinidad. That kind of work leaves a mark that reaches beyond the art room. It connects children, adults, and local creative spaces, and it helps keep Trinidad’s cultural life active in practical, visible ways.

The Romeros have been part of that same fabric for years. In 2018, Yolanda and Mike Romero were recognized by the Trinidad Community Foundation with the City of Champions Award as Trinidad business owners, community leaders, and volunteers. Their inclusion in the revived Chenoweth class put them back in the center of a familiar local story: the people whose names surface when neighbors talk about who supports events, helps organizations, and keeps community efforts moving.

For Trinidad, the award’s return was more than a ceremonial restart. Bringing the Chenoweth Award back after a five-year gap, and doing it with Leuszler and the Romeros at the center, turned the evening into a public reaffirmation of what the town chooses to honor: service that is visible, lasting, and woven into everyday life.