Cloudcroft Village Trustee Gail McCoy Shares Her Journey
Trustee, fitness instructor, B&B owner, and great-grandma Gail McCoy sits down with Cloudcroft Reader Senior Editor Hannah Dean to share her life story and future goals.
Cloudcroft Village Trustee Gail McCoy sits across from me in the basement of the local public library, still glowing with energy after leading a movement and mobility class at Cloudcroft Fitness.
A buff great-grandma in a workout tank top, McCoy dons southwestern silver and turquoise jewelry and her signature red lip. She beams as she tells her life story and hopes for Cloudcroft's future.
Health and community are at the core of her life—a passion that drives her as a fitness instructor, bed and breakfast owner, and public servant.
This interview comprises a sit-down, phone calls, and texts and has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Early Life, Building Resilience
Born in Washington D.C., McCoy moved a lot—typical for a military family. “I left as a small child. I went to Panama. My mother is Panamanian, and my dad was overseas. I didn’t speak any English—only Spanish,” she recalls.
Moving often due to her father’s career in the Air Force, a young McCoy adapted. “I was just that type of child that I made friends very quickly, but then I had to leave them. It was always an adventure,” she says.
But life wasn’t always easy. “I was bullied as a young child. So, I had to be able to stand up for myself. That was tough,” McCoy admits, referring to being bullied as a Spanish speaker while her family lived in the American South.
"I got married, and in my first marriage, I had three kiddos... but I was a single mama for a while. So that was a tough life.”
“And then I met Scott and we got married. We've been married for 44 years. And he had four kiddos. So, we raised seven kids. That was fun on the weekends. We were all together; we made trips together... that’s our family. And then grandkids, we have 10 now. Wow! 10 grandkids and one great-grand,” McCoy grins.
After a fortuitous visit to the mountain, the McCoys moved to Cloudcroft, where they now own and operate The Crofting Inn Bed and Breakfast.
“We had two grandsons with us. It was raining outside—as it does on July 4th. And my husband said, ‘Let’s go look at this place.’ I wasn’t in the mood. But we went. I walked through and there was my exercise room. And I said, ‘We’ll take it.’”
Learn more about the Crofting Inn and explore inside the bed and breakfast through an exclusive video tour with the Cloudcroft Reader Lodging Guide, Part One.
Finding Strength and Community
McCoy’s passion for fitness began at a young age. Encouraged by her father to pursue her athletic dreams, she became involved in everything from marathons and triathlons to bodybuilding.
“My dad told me, ‘You can do anything you want,’ and that stuck with me,” she recalls.
Eventually, this passion blossomed into a career in fitness and nutrition, including running her own business, Gail’s Total Fitness, and working as a personal trainer and health coach in El Paso.
McCoy doesn’t see fitness as a standalone concept. It’s the full package. “I believe in your spiritual side and your mental side, so you get that round, that circle, not just half of it, not just a square or a triangle, but the whole circle of wellness and fitness.”
She explains that her holistic approach to wellness integrates exercise, nutrition, sleep, and mental health.
Currently, she’s a fixture at Cloudcroft Fitness, running classes emphasizing movement and community. “It doesn’t matter when you start—you can start at any age,” she says. “You just need to start.”
Community is key to health for McCoy. She and her high school classmates from El Paso still keep in touch:
“There are about 12 of us or so, and we talk once a month or once a week, chatting, us high school girls. And so we are always talking about helping each other along in life at this time in our lives.”
“We have a reunion in June. We're excited. Some of them have lost husbands. And so, it's a tough time for some of us, too. We're that support group. We help each other along, which is great."
Recently, McCoy suffered a “95%” artery blockage and heart issues, resulting in 8 E.R. visits and a stint surgery (this explains her absence at the recent March village council meeting.) Of the experience, McCoy implores even “healthy people to get checked out.”
She’s on a mission to inform others about avoiding similar experiences.
“If I had been on medicine for high cholesterol, it could have prevented this. Tests didn’t show anything, but my primary doctor told me to get a second opinion. That’s why I’m here today,” she says, relief in her voice.
Stepping into Public Service
McCoy’s transition into politics came in 2020 when she decided to run for village trustee.
“I didn’t want to sit here and complain. I felt like God was telling me to do something. So I ran for trustee, and I enjoyed every minute of it,” she says.
McCoy’s tenure as trustee expires this November. The past four years have been challenging, to say the least.
When asked how the current village council works together, she says, “We each encouraged each other. We were blamed for things we didn’t do, but we stood together.”
A pivotal moment in McCoy’s tenure came when she and Trustees Foster and King openly asked Trustee Jim Maynard to step down from his position following the controversial Skywater replat revocation by then-mayor Craig Turner.
Reflecting on whether her views on Trustee Maynard have changed, McCoy says, “I think so. I think what I’ve seen again is the unity. I think there was a lot of disunity in those years that I first started, the first three years. There was a lot of disunity, and we couldn’t agree. The communication wasn’t there.”
“It takes something like this when you have gone through a time in your life that’s hit you hard emotionally, mentally, and physically. But I think staying united is what’s helped us. And yeah, I’ve changed my opinion,” McCoy says.
She explains how the village's recent administrative turnovers and financial discoveries have strengthened the trustees as a team, following new Mayor Tim King’s lead. "I'm like, Go man, we are totally behind you. And I think that’s the difference. We’re not in his leadership role. We’re in a different role. I’m not there to do the mayor’s job. He’s gonna do it. But I’m there to support him and to help it along."
One of her long-term goals as trustee is establishing a recreation center for Cloudcroft’s families and youth—a space to gather, stay active, and feel supported. “We desocialized during COVID. A recreation center would give people a place to reconnect and be human again,” she envisions.
FireWise in Motion
McCoy zeroes in on fire safety through the FireWise program. She doesn’t mince words about it: it’s overdue. “There’s always been talk about fire safety, but it’s never really moved forward. Now, with the grant funding and support from the community, we’re making real progress.”
She wants to keep people moving, whether it’s a fitness class or a community safety project.
Recognizing the importance of community engagement, McCoy has been working to secure funding and encourage participation. “We’re doing town hall meetings. We want engagement from the public,” she explains. By fostering open communication, partnering with Cloudcroft Volunteer Fire Department Chief Erich Wuersching for FireWise, and working towards providing resources like dumpsters for debris removal, she hopes to build a culture of prevention and readiness.
Her vision includes addressing immediate fire safety needs and developing long-term strategies to keep the village resilient and prepared.
A Vision for Future Leadership
As McCoy looks to the future, she’s optimistic about encouraging young people to become involved in local government. Her vision includes mentorship and leadership programs to prepare future generations for public service.
“Local government is the strongest. We’re the ones who build that foundation of trust and transparency,” she explains.
McCoy recalls “already being in voting meetings before you go to training” when she first began as trustee. She hopes to educate future civic leaders on how our government works, “starting with the Constitution. You’ve got to know what our rights are.”
McCoy’s ground-up approach is visible through her regular attendance at a range of community meetings, such as the Otero Working Group of state and local agencies and volunteers working on fire mitigation, village and school town halls and board meetings, NMSU fire expert presentations, and more.
Gail McCoy’s commitment to Cloudcroft is deeply rooted in her personal experiences and dedication to community service. Whether leading a workout class or working on village initiatives, McCoy fosters unity and promotes wellness in the mountain community.
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