CAREFREE TRUTH
Letters from Readers & Events: 12/10/14
Please feel free to send us any pictures you'd like included. If your photos are for sale, let us know and we will put them under that category. We have a special section for that purpose. If anyone would like to buy a print of any of Herbert's photos, all profits will be donated to one of the local non-profit organizations. Here's the link to this week's Pictures of the Week.
http://carefreeazbusinesses.com/pictures-of-the-week-12814.html
The 2015 Carefree Gardens calendars are now available at Carefree Town Hall, 8 Sundial Circle, Carefree. They they cost $17 including tax for 1, or if you buy more than 1, they are $13 including tax. They are gorgeous!
Desert Foothills Chronicle link:
http://www.desertfoothillschronicle.org/
City Sun Times link:
Lyn,
I was privileged to be one of the speakers on December 4th to celebrate the completion of five years of dramatic growth of the Holland Community Center which houses Paradise Valley Community College, the Foothills Community Foundation/Desert Foothills Theater and the YMCA, and the groundbreaking for a substantial expansion of the PVCC facilities there. This Community Center is located at 60th Street and Carefree Highway.
In preparing for the remarks which I made, we developed some factual information on the number of local Foothills residents which visited and enjoyed the Community Center facilities during the past year. I thought that you and your readers might find this information of interest. Here goes:
Local Foothills residents visited this facility approximately 667,000 times during the past year:
- YMCA: 1,000 to 2,000 users/day, translating to approximately 550,000 visits by Foothills residents annually
- PVCC Students: 700 students are currently enrolled in classes, translating to a total of approximately 72,000 visits by these students annually
- Holland Community Center: Usage for card groups, community service meetings, etc., etc., generated approximately 30,000 visits by residents annually
- Foothills Community Theater: Attendance at theater performances during the past year was approximately 10,500, plus attendance at classes, summer camps, etc., for a total of approximately 15,000visits/year by residents
That’s outstanding, particularly considering that five years ago none of this visitation and enjoyment by Foothills residents existed. Here are two ways to look at this 667,000 figure for the number of Foothills residents which visited the Holland Center last year:
- The combined population of Carefree and Cave Creek is approximately 8,800. Every man, woman and child in these two beautiful towns would have had to visit this facility approximately 76 times during the past year, or an average of one and one-half times per week, to generate that level of visitation, or
- Within an eight mile radius of the Holland Center there are approximately 25,000 people living. Assuming that every resident within this eight mile radius visited the Holland Center, to achieve 667,000 visits every one of them would have had to visit the Center approximately 27 times last year - roughly once every two weeks.
Congratulations to all of those - the instructors, the volunteers, the employees, certainly the donors, and the numerous others - who made this outstanding contribution to the quality of life in the Foothills a reality.
Les Peterson
Carefree Vice Mayor
Hi Lyn!
Thank you for the mention in the truth. Just to clarify my last name is spelled Kaegi. No worries; it is a tough one to pronounce as well!
Thank you for all you and Herbie do for the town and I'm honored to be working with you.
Gina Kaegi
(Lyn's note: My apology to Gina. I had her name spelled Kaegli.)
Hi Lyn,
Thanks again for the great press this week. We will be hosting 16-18 vets this weekend at the Spirit in the Desert Retreat Center for the Healing of Memories for Veterans Workshop. They come from the Vietnam, First Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan eras. There are men and women vets from the Valley and Tucson. Please keep them in your prayers.
Thank you
Mike Wold
Program Manager
Healing of Memories for Veterans
651-687-9767
(Lyn's note: We were at the Gardens last night taking pictures and these wonderful dancers were there with their little girl. They agreed to let us take and use their pictures. I sent them to Jo Gemmill, our Christmas Festival organizer, and a few others. See some responses below.)
Wonderful...really gets you in the mood!
Jo Gemmill
Lyn:
This is the type of story that I hope the new Town marketing employee can use. Pic 1274 is just great, nothing like seeing things through the eyes of children.
As always, to you and to Dr. Herbie…keep up the good work.
Arthur Gimson
(Lyn's note: This is picture #1274)
That little girl is a charmer.
Joe DeVito
Love the bobcat sculpture in the Wild Holly Gallery ad!
Jakki Brooks
On Tuesday, December 9th a large group of volunteers drove up to Crown King and then to the Fairview Mine about 20 minutes north of Crown King to pick up some “gold” bearing ore in quartz.
There were volunteers from the Arizona Prospectors Association, Cave Creek Museum and Superstition Mountain Museum in attendance. From the Cave Creek Museum were, Paul Dief, Bob Flach, Reg Monachino, and Al Zeman.
The ore will be crushed at the Museum and with any luck, gold will be retrieved.
The ten stamp mill at the Museum is the largest operating mill in the state.
Best,
Reg Monachino
Cave Creek Councilman
Lyn;
Could you please send this reminder out to our walkers. I had occasion to leave the house early a couple mornings this week. It was scary how close I was to walkers before I could see them.
If you are an early morning walker, please wear reflective material on your outer clothing or carry a flashlight with you so motorists can see you. It is dark out till 7:00 in the morning and it is almost impossible to see walkers. Please help everyone to avoid an accident.
Faith Pipp
(Lyn's note: Faith had originally asked that I send this out to our neighborhood, which I immediately did. It seemed like good advice generally, to make both those walking and those driving aware of the potential problem.)
Great suggestion, I'd hate to have anyone hit!
Tracy O'Shaunessey
Good morning Lyn. A number of inexpensive flashing lights that can be worn are available at most sporting goods stores and on Amazon. We use them when we walk our dogs in dark.
Ellen Van Riper
Support Our Local Business – LOWE’S
FREE!!! Christmas Tree Recycling
December 24, 2014 until January 1, 2015
During Regular Store Hours 6:00am till 9:00pm
A tree recycling corral will be present in the Lowe's parking lot in Carefree next to the Garden Center. This is a perfect opportunity for everyone in Carefree to recognize our local business which continues to make significant contributions to our community and to our economy.
Please ensure all decorations are removed from the trees prior to dropping them off at the Lowe’s recycling site.
Lowe’s is located on the northwest corner of Carefree Highway and Cave Creek Road.
(Excerpted from COINS)
