New Patagonia Times

12th Annual Mariachi Festival: March 20, 2010

2010-02-08T14:41:00.000-07:00

We're more than happy that Patagonia Lake State Park has remained open as a regional attraction that supports our local economy, drawing over 200,000 visitors to southeastern Arizona and The Mountain Empire.
Likewise, we are thrilled to receive the news that the Mariachi Festival, disappointingly not staged for the last two years, is back on the events calendar!
It's probably the most popular and well-attended single event at the park.
Five bands will be filling the air with the rhythms and sounds of Mexico's music, together with one folklorico dance group.
Sunnyside High School is on the program also.
More information at the website, or you can call 520-287-6569,
Keep in mind that camping spaces are on a first-come and first-serve basis, so plan accordingly.

Mining Issue bring back the ghost of starting up again

2010-01-28T15:53:00.000-07:00

Arizona Range News | Willcox, Arizona > Archives > News > Feds support Grijalva Coronado mining withdrawal bill

The Adventure of Going Places in Arizona's Mountain Empire: THE ARIZONA TRAIL

2009-10-04T16:03:00.008-07:00

While you're here for the 21st Annual Fall Festival 2009 ( Go here for an online schedule of activities, performers and general information www.patagoniafallfestival.com ), you might happen to notice the the town of Patagonia is the only town - A Gateway - directly on The Arizona Trail that extends all the way from the Mexico border to Utah - more than 800 miles.
There's a southern segment with a trailhead on Harshaw Road and a northern segment with a trailhead on the way to Temporal Canyon accessible by going up First Avenue just before the high school. Trail users should note that there are no directional or information signage in the town of Patagonia about access to these passage entries to The Arizona Trail.

Please stop in the The Mountain Empire Visitor Information Center at 317 McKeown Avenue for directions and maps that can printed on demand.
Arizona State Trails System Guide No.4 is available there.

For information and conditions details on the 14.5 mile southern segment, go to this link Canelo Hills East Passage #2

For information and conditions details on the 22.3 mile northern segment, go to this link Passage #4 Temporal Canyon Gulch

You might also like to know that the Mountain Empire Trail Association has been working on Phase 1 of a Rails-to-Trails conversion of the old Santa Fe Pacific Railroad tracks along the original 12-mile route to Sonoita adjacent to State Route 82. The Patagonia Train Track Trail begins with an information sign at what used to be the old train depot converted for use to the town municipal offices and runs east for 1.5 miles.

The Patagonia Train Track Trail is part of a bigger Greenways Project that includes a redesign of the town park at the center of town and the adjoining blocks in the 1.2 square mile geographic area for recreation. For more information on regenerating pathfinding and recreation in a rural community, please to to this link: . Walkable Communities

At the east end of the Patagonia Town Park within easy walking distance is one of the ongoing official legacy grant projects for the Arizona Centennial 1912 -2012 : The Restoration of the 1906 Semaphore that you can see on the south side of the old railroad depot. It memorializes when Patagonia was "the end of the line" after the train tracks to Nogales washed out before 1930.

Another legacy project in town is The Cady Hall Courtyard Garden with a History Project on Duquesne Avenue, one of two buildings in Patagonia on the National Register of Historic Places.
More information here Cady Hall Courtyard Garden with A History Project

Take your time to enjoy the festival and the music, and please take your time to walk around the Town Park and along the other avenues at the heart of town. It's a very walkable community!

Mountain Empire Times: PREMIERE EDITION ONLINE NOW

2009-10-04T14:47:00.001-07:00

Mountain Empire Times: PREMIERE EDITION ONLINE NOW

Arizona's Mountain Empire in southeastern Arizona
"Where Cowboy Spirit Comes Alive"

"9th Annual Ranch Roundup & Open House showcasing Ridin & Ropin', Arena Events, Storytellers, Food, Tours, Music and Auction.

http://www.empireranchfoundation.org

Small Wonders of Patagonia: Heritage Property Make Over As A B&B

2009-10-02T08:54:00.001-07:00

THE DUQUESNE HOUSE BED & BREAKFAST
This historic adobe inn offers quiet charm in an old residence for miners along one of the town's avenues just south of the town park. Amenities have been updated to satisfy the needs of today's visitors with all accommodations having a private bath and private entrance. Delightful gardens, patios, screened porches, mountain views and hummingbirds of course. Breakfasts always get rave reviews from guests who enjoy the handiwork of decorative artist Linda Chase in the kitchen and dining area.
357 Duquesne Avenue/P.O. Box 162 Patagonia, AZ 85624
520-394-2732 Nancy McCoy (shown in the accompanying video)
Website: The Duquesne House
3 Suites and 1 Studio Apartment
Beds: 10 91 Queen and 2 Daybeds in each Suite. Queen Bed in the Studio
Rate: 1-2 Guests $125/night, $35 each additional adult, $25 children 12 and under
(rate includes breakfast and tax)
Payment: Cash or Check

Here's a good example of a heritage property within easy walking distance of the Patagonia Town Park and commercial shopping area that's been transformed from a lodging for miners to overnight accommodations for visitors. It's one of a growing list of locally-owned businesses that are regenerating the local economy on scenic-based and recreational tourism.
Watch a You Tube video by going to this link.

SKY STUFF: The October Star Gazer"

2009-09-29T11:42:00.003-07:00

(To use this Star Chart, face the direction indicated on the edge of the map

and hold it slightly elevated if front of your face)

This month’s night sky is dominated by the giant planet Jupiter. Jupiter is easy to pick out in the early evening. It is the very bright star-like object about halfway up the sky to the south. If you have a pair of binoculars and a steady hand, you can easily see a few of its moons, as tiny points of light to either side of it.
Jupiter is the largest planet in our Solar System and in fact is larger than all the other planets combined. Its diameter is about ten times Earth’s (think of a raisin and a soft-ball).
Depending on the time and day that you look, the Moon too may be visible in the night sky. Early in October, the Moon rises in the east a little before sunset. This month’s full moon occurs on the 3rd and is known as the Hunter’s Moon. The Moon’s orbital motion around the Earth makes it rise later each night and, by mid-October, the Moon will no longer be visible in the evening sky but will be visible in the dawn sky. By October 20, the Moon will be back in the evening sky, low in the west at sunset.
Before dawn on October 21, you may see a few “shooting stars” or meteors, part of the annual Orionid Meteor shower. On an average night, you can see a shooting star about every 20 minutes. On the 21st, you may see one roughly every 5 minutes. The Orionid meteor shower occurs when the Earth crosses the orbit of Halley’s Comet. At that time, dust particles left by the comet along its path may fall into our atmosphere and burn up. (Halley’s Comet itself is in the far outer parts of the Solar System at this time).
October’s night sky holds many famous constellations. Looking north, you can see the group of stars known as the Big Dipper. These seven stars are part of the Constellation Ursa Major, the Big Bear. The two stars that form the lip of the dipper point to the North Star, Polaris, a relatively dim star. Polaris is special to us here on Earth because if you stood at the Earth’s north pole, Polaris would be directly overhead. From other spots on Earth, the direction to Polaris marks almost exactly true north.
Here in southern Arizona, other stars are overhead, but which they are depends on the time of night and the season of the year. In October, a trio of bright stars is overhead in the early evenings. These three stars, separated by about a spread hand at arm’s length, are Deneb, Vega, and Altair. All three look bluish and Vega looks brightest. It lies in the constellation Lyra, the Harp. Deneb is in reality a brighter star than Vega, but it is much farther away and so it looks slightly dimmer to us. It marks the tail of the Swan in the constellation Cygnus. Cygnus is also known as the Northern Cross, with Deneb marking the top of the cross. Altair is in the constellation Aquila, the Eagle. It is the dimmest of these three stars and can be identified by the two slightly even dimmer stars on either side of it. You can find a detailed map showing these three stars (known as the Summer Triangle) on the web at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Triangle.
Toward the northeast in the early evening you may notice a “W” shaped constellation. Its five stars form the chair in the constellation Cassiopeia (said Cass-ee-oh–pee–uh, with the accent on the pee).
Toward the south, you may be able to make out the constellation Sagittarius. It looks a little like a teapot, with handle, lid, and spout. The teapot even looks like it is steaming, but the pale glow around it is the Milky Way, not steam. With a pair of binocular you can see that the Milky Way is really millions of stars whose individual light is too dim for our eyes to make out, but which when added together, we can see as a pale glow.
The star chart may help you find some of these constellations. To use it, face the direction indicated on the edge of the map, and hold it slightly elevated in front of you. The map covers the whole dome of the sky, so the Big Dipper, for example, covers an area on the sky about the size of your spread hand at arm’s length. You can find many similar maps on the web.

Tom Arny, a resident of Patagonia, taught astronomy at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA for many years. He did his graduate studies at U of Arizona and is very glad to be back again to this amazing part of our planet.
He will be writing a monthly column on a regular schedule

History of The Community Coalition of Eastern Santa Cruz County

2009-09-29T11:04:00.002-07:00

The Community Coalition
Submitted by Jeffrey Cooper

The Community Coalition of Eastern Santa Cruz County began in 1998 as the Youth and Family Services Coalition (YAFSC), which invited local non-profit organizations, schools, law enforcement and others to begin to meet regularly to better connect the needs of local families and young people with the resources available. These included a range of social service organizations that had resources or programs that could benefit people locally, but had not been promoted here. The YAFSC became the forum to network the exchange of local information and a means of promoting these programs locally.
The YAFSC initiated monthly meetings to bring these groups and people together on a regular basis. It also facilitated the acquisition of grant funding to support a range of programs and activities in our community, particularly for the youth. It organized and conducted many programs for youth including many outings to UA sports events, bowling, skating and more. The YAFSC was a participant in the Teen Institute, which is part of the Youth Empowered for Success program, in which many Patagonia high schools were able to participate.
A fundamental strategy has been to form partnerships and collaborations from within the Coalition. In 2005, the YAFSC became the Community Coalition of Eastern Santa Cruz County, an independent non-profit organization, funded by grant programs. The name was meant to reflect more broadly the role of the Coalition in bringing together non-profit organizations, service providers, school and other education officials, local government and law enforcement.
The Community Coalition engaged the community with a strategic planning process that would focus the resources and energies of the Coalition in the most effective ways. A primary objective of this effort was a refocus on youth issues. While the grants that initially support the Coalition have been completed, additional ones have been submitted. Currently, the Coalition is entirely volunteer.
The Community Coalition opened the “Den” on the Patagonia Schools campus in January 2008 to strengthen the community bonds with the schools and students. The Den is intended to facilitate better connections between the community and the schools and to provide various youth programs and activities to support and enhance the efforts of the school districts.
The Coalition is the portal for the provision of services and support for our community from numerous social service agencies and organizations. The Den provides a focal point for information on services and support available to the community. The Community Coalition facilitates inter-generational community-wide programs to strengthen community bonds and to support the health and vitality of our citizens.
The current Coordinator of the Community Coalition is Jeffrey Cooper.
The Coalition meets the 2nd Friday every month at 9:00am at the Patagonia United Methodist Church.
Email Jeffrey at yafsc@yahoo.com for more information or to get on the Coalition email list.

The Adventure of Going Places in Arizona's Mountain Empire

2009-09-24T11:08:00.008-07:00

Go, Go, Go Where you want to go Do What you want to do . . .

Some people used to say: “It's not the destination, it's the journey.“

Well, we believe it's both more than ever before:

the destinations and the journey.

Getting here takes you into and throughout Southeastern Arizona – South on I-19 or I-10 to Route 83 from Phoenix and Tucson or westerly on Route 82 from Bisbee, Tombstone, and Sierra Vista, northward from Nogales and Mexico and into Santa Cruz County eventually onto the 52.5-mile Scenic Patagonia-Sonoita Highway State Route 82, one of Arizona's outstanding scenic drives that connects The Mountain Empire towns of Elgin, Sonoita and Patagonia.

The journey starts wherever you are – you find the reasons to come here.

You can Step Back, Relax and Stay A While or you can Step Ahead into small towns and communities that have chosen to keep their own pace with time – regenerating the future here and now . . .

Places where you can both relax and energize as so many visitors do on hiking paths and trails in national forests Coronado National Forest, state parks Arizona State Parks, manged lands Bureau of Land Management, cycling and biking on roads and trails, spotting rare birds in their natural habitats along tThe Patagonia Sonoita Creek Preserve at Paton's Hummingbird House, inside Patagonia Lake State Park, or in the canyons and hills of The Patagonia Mountains and The Santa Ritas.

Go & See: The Nature Conservancy Patagonia Sonoita Creek Preserve down Blue Heaven off of 4^th Avenue, Patagonia Lake State Park and Sonoita Creek State Natural Area seven miles west of town, and The Coronado National Forest(hit the link above)

Places you can relax on a day trip spending some time in the Patagonia Town Park or meandering in the center of town at the outstanding galleries and shops offering the works of local artists and gifts from around the world

Go & See: The Old Santa Fe Pacific Rail Road Depot at the east end of the park, Richardson Heritage Park with a children's playground on McKeown & 4^th Avenues, The Butterfly Garden and The Memorial Garden - to small "pocket parks" on the south side of the park, The Patagonia Marshall's Office built by the WPA back in the 1930's, 3 Sears & Roebuck Mail-order Bungalow Houses on the north side of Naugle Avenue just east of Third.
Close by you'll find Grayce's Gift & Candle Shop and Galeria de Los Muertos/Day of The Dead Museum, and on Duquesne Avenue two blocks south of the park on Duquesne Avenue east of Third see The Valenzuela House built by an early Mexican-American family patriarch, Cady Hall/Patagonia Public Library, an example of an historic restoration and one of only two locations here on the National Register of Historic Places, on the opposite side of the avenue you'll see Lopez Pool Hall that was a popular gathering spot way-back-when, and The Duquesne House, now a Bed & Breakfast but once housing miners during Patagonia's days as a mining town.

Places where you can relax in the evenings and over the weekends, or longer, at any number of bed-and-breakfasts and overnight accommodations in town or a short walking distance, or more secluded and private get-aways in historic properties and ranchlands in the Mountain Empire towns of Patagonia, and Sonoita-Elgin. An online listing of "Beds of Patagonia" can be found by going to this link Beds of Patagonia.
You can also pick up a take-away brochure in the Patagonia-Mountain Empire Visitor Information Center at 317 McKeown Avenue in Patagonia

Go & Stay: The Stage Stop Inn is Patagonia's only hotel with 43 rooms. Additional lodging can be found at Casita Frontera, The Sheffield Manor, The Enchanted Garden, The Black Dove B&B, Hacienda Corona de Guevavi in Nogales, Xanadu Ranch, Sonoita Inn, Hacienda de Sonoita and the Walker Guest Ranch all in Sonoita, and The Spirit Tree Inn B&B down Harshaw Road here.
Those accommodations that belong to the local area business association can be found with this link for lodging: Lodging in The Mountain Empire

Go & Eat: The Velvet Elvis and Mercedes on Naugle Avenue, The Home Plate inside The Stage Stop Inn www.TheStageStopInn.com, and Gathering Grounds all on McKeown Avenue within easy walking distance and close parking.

Local Shopping: Camel Parts and Metamorphosis Gallery Metamorphosis Gallery in Patagonia, AZ on Naugle Avenue.

In the Stradling Building at 315-317 McKeown Avenue you'll find Global Arts Gallery, Mariposa Books, The Patagonia-Mountain Empire Visitor Information Center, and Creative Spirit Artists.

Mesquite Grove Gallery and Shooting Star Pottery are a pleasant walk down the block south of the town park before 4^th Avenue.

If you have the time while you're in town, head east on McKeown Avenue as it turns into Harshaw Road just after the post office.You'll drive by the entrance to The Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in about half a mile [a holistic and spiritual retreat area]. Paved roads continue for a while past the trail head to The Arizona Trail that runs from the Mexico Border to Utah, then turn into well-maintained local and fire roads with signage that will point you to ranches and points of interest. Please respect all signs for private property and no trespassing in your travels

Harshaw Road Gateway leads to five abandoned "ghost towns' that bear silent witness to the bust-and-boom cycles left over from the long-lost mining economy in the region. Ranching traditions still continue in the area on private lands sharing boundaries with the Coronado National Forest. The San Rafael Valley is a magnificent landscape - one of the last remaining intact grasslands in North America and the Headwaters of The Santa Cruz Valley - a prime location for many Hollywood versions of The American West. One local enterprise, San Rafael Valley Natural Grass-Fed Beef on some 7,000+ acres of the original San Rafael de Zanja Land Grant, is regenerating the legacy landscape and carrying on the traditions of cattle-ranching.