South Valley split.(Evening)

Byline: Jennifer W. Sanchez jsanchez@abqtrib.com / 823-3610

A couple want to sell their 20-acre spread to Wal-Mart to live out retirement and fulfill 'simple' dreams. But some residents oppose the retailer invading their neighborhood.

After decades of farming chile and watermelons in the South Valley, the Wenk family wanted to sell its land and retire. That was 1985.

Eighteen years later, the 20-acre field is still for sale. But now the buyer courting the family land is Wal-Mart, and neighbors aren't crazy about the deal.

Grace Wenk, a 60-something-year-old grandmother, is upset that some residents are protesting to keep the discount store out of the neighborhood.

"In America, we should have the right to sell our land when we want to and (to) who we want to," she said.

In the last few months, the Wenks' plan to sell to Wal-Mart has split a community already struggling with growing pains.

Working families and retired couples cheer the possibility of the …