(Lyn's note: 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 are the links to this week's Pictures of the Week. Enjoy!

(Lyn's note: 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 are the links to this week's Pictures of the Week. Enjoy!

http://www.carefreeazbusinesses.com/pictures-8232415-sunset.html

Photo by Herbert Hitchon

 

http://www.carefreeazbusinesses.com/pictures-of-the-week-83115.html

Raven

Spirit

Photos by Herbert Hitchon

 

 

 

 

 

The 2016 Carefree Desert Garden calendars will be available this fall at Carefree Town Hall, 8 Sundial Circle, Carefree. If you like to take pictures, visit the Gardens.  Our entry period for the Gardens photo contest is January.  Your picture could be in the 2017 calendar!

 

 

 

Desert Foothills Chronicle link:

http://www.desertfoothillschronicle.org/

City Sun Times link:

http://news.citysuntimes.com/

 

 

Excerpted from COINS:

Special note: This past week the Town accepted the financing package offered from National Bank of Arizona (NBAZ) to finance the facility the Town is in the process of purchasing at 33 Easy Street. This facility will be used for the future Town Council Chambers. The terms of this financing were as follows: there will be a $2,500 loan origination fee, NBAZ will finance 100% of the purchase price, the initial interest rate will be 3.92%, and this initial rate will remain fixed for a five year period, the re-payment of principal will be based upon a 20 year amortization schedule and the loan or any portion of it can be re-paid at any time without penalty. The Town plans to pay off this mortgage in full in 2018 with the proceeds from an outstanding loan which will be re-payed to the Town from the Carefree Water Company.   

 

Excerpted from COINS: 

Special note:  Councilman Michael Farrar, in serving the Town of Carefree as a member of the Regional Council of the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) has been recommended and appointed to MAG's Economic Development Committee (EDC) for the East Valley seat.  This is a tremendous privilege, and provides high recognition for the Town of Carefree and its efforts in promoting economic development opportunities, and job creation for our region as well as facilitating future binational trade and commerce with our largest trading partners, Mexico and Canada." 

 

 

It was GREAT to see Alberto's new menu!!  I remember the old one having a pizza with everything on it, and the description was "every thinks". I loved that, lol!

Jakki Brooks

(Lyn's note: He is willing to make a lot of dishes that aren't on the menu if you ask.  He makes chicken piccatta for me, and Fettuccini Alfredo just like they make it at Alfredo's in Rome.  Turns out, he used to work there when he was still in Rome!  You can see Alberto's menu at his website, http://albertocarefreeaz.com/) 

 

BOTH of those are favorites of Lee and Noah!!!!!  :)

Jakki

 

 

Isn't the sundial something timeless that can and should be part of every promotion effort undertaken? How many towns can say the have their own Sundial which happens to be the third largest in the world?

Did you know that when first constructed the Carefree Sundial was designed and built with solar panels which delivered solar power to the Tom Darlington's office across the street in some way? What a timely story to tell visitors who will then want to see the old Sundial and have their pictures taken. Given the interest in solar power in general, maybe a Gateway on Cave Creek road makes sense after all. Who knows, but APS might even be convinced to work with the Town to pay for the cost of building the Gateway and a demonstration project on the benefits of Solar Power using the Sundial's history of being way ahead of its time.

Thanks again for the reporting. The view from up here in the cheap seats is great and they are free.

 

Phil Corso

 

BTW, I verified with Jerry Jones via his wife Leslie that the Sundial solar panels did exist and work. Gerry shared an office in the building connected to the Sundial solar panels. Talk about being visionary and ahead of its time. "The Carefree Solar Sundial".

Thanks, Lyn

Phil

(Lyn's note: The historic building referenced by Phil is now the Carefree Town Hall.)

 

 

 

Hi,

Interesting Town Council meeting. To me and others I've talked with all agree. 2 Primary & landscape the rest . We are a small town with a small business center. Absolutely no reason to overkill access . Baker Study is correct.

Joe J DeVito

 

 

 

Just looked up the CFT with the arches.  I had seen them but forgot exactly what they look like.  You are right. They will be lovely - all TWO of them! 

Binka Schwan

 

Good article.

Sara 

 

 

You & Herbie have pulled this Town back to reality and have made the voice of the People heard loud & clear.

Don't ever stop being you.

Thank You

Joe J. DeVito

btw  - There are a few dozen people who do contact me or I see during the normal course of moving thru the community & the 501 C3's that I belong to.  I'm a Give-Back guy.

(Lyn's note: Joe sent this second email after last night's Council meeting, where the Council approved the plan using 2, rather than 4, primary gateways.  There will be a Carefree Truth issue coming out with full details next week.  Joe was one of many speakers at the meeting, all of whom urged the Council to adopt the plan showing 2 gateways.)

 

What is the idea driving the interest in these Carefree Town Gateways??  Does the council believe that if you build them, the people will come?  How absurd when the gateways are merely gaudy entrances to the same old low-energy, trite and mundane town center that has always existed.  Oh, there are a couple of good restaurants, but not much else, unless one wants his/her pocketbook picked by over-priced souvenir shops.  The problem for Carefree is, quite simply, location, location, location.  This fact is combined with a Johnny-come-lately effort by the Carefree Town Council to emulate what already exists in Cave Creek.  Cave Creek beat Carefree to the great majority of visitor attractions, including a movie venue (the Desert Foothills Library), lectures, education, Western-themed festivals, motorcycle events, varied eating-out experiences, unique watering holes and night spots, etc., etc.  I would suggest that the only possibly saving attraction for Carefree would be the construction of a site that would house the Desert Foothills Theater.  But that venue would have to be managed by people outside the Carefree town administrators.  I mean, look how little has been accomplished to take advantage of the upgraded Carefree Desert Gardens Pavilion, or even the effective marketing of the Carefree Desert Gardens.

These gateways would be like the initial attempt to "upgrade" the town center signage where gaudy signs with splashy and garish colors were erected in the islands of the two main thoroughfares.  They accomplished nothing, save for a lot of negative criticism.

Fix the current drab, commonplace nature of the town center where, at best, a scattered offering of meager and uninteresting activities occur on a quite infrequent basis before hundreds of thousands of dollars are wasted on "Reno - The Biggest Little City in the World" town entrance arches.

What a hypocrite!  Instead of Maitland, use whatever name you deem appropriate, but I want it published.  A longer version is going to the Sonoran News.

You won't publish because it upsets your and the council's narrative of spend, spend, spend.  You are obscene and all bullshit, and you just proved it — a lackey, a useful idiot for the town council who can use your videography of council meetings as an excuse for the extravagant use of executive sessions, out of the way of listeners who might be exposed to what is really going-on in Carefree.  And you don't even see that.  You are too addicted to becoming relevant and noticed and needed and loved.  What a pathetic existence.

Yes, Pierce (down below you) has convinced me to join forces with him in an antagonistic posture toward this degenerate and shameless (and not very intelligent, like Miller and Price) town council.  What you see is not anger, but intense dissatisfaction with this town council and your undying, never a word of criticism, support for all their nefarious actions and all because you want to be relevant.  Where is your relevancy when the town goes bankrupt or is absorbed, or annexed, by Cave Creek or Scottsdale?

If you refuse to acknowledge a letter to Carefree Truth because you don't believe Maitland is a genuine name, then why keep Maitland on your email list and why keep sending him Carefree Truth dispatches???  That, my dear lady, is hypocrisy personified.

(Lyn's note: "Maitland M. Tibbytwine IV", requested the publication of these statements.  We disagree with him about Carefree's Council, administration, and downtown shops. In fact, Herbert and I patronize many of the wonderful shops, restaurants, and services in Carefree. 

I know Fred/"Maitland" is dismayed about Federal politics.  I think most of us are.  But it seems he is projecting that bitterness onto all elected representatives.  Our apologies to Council members Miller and Price, and the rest of the Council.  Again, the opinions expressed in this Letter are those of the author.

When "Maitland" asked that Carefree Truth be sent to the Maitland email address, it was added to the list.  Our policy has always been to give readers a chance to express controversial opinions, but we do not engage in ongoing rants and responses, so this is "Maitland's" last hurrah in Carefree Truth.  If you would like to follow "Maitland" in the future, you will find Fred's editorials in the Sonoran News, per above.)