South Lana Way named last fall by the Kearny Town Council in honor of Lana Dalton, Council Member (deceased). Pinal County is standardizing all street names, so ‘north and south and east and west’ will be part of future street signs … and Lana’s is the first! It takes a while to get signs manufactured, so the honor is long delayed.
What a choice we have this week! Wednesday, Feb. 14, is not only Valentine’s Day but also Ash Wednesday and Arizona Statehood Day. Ash Wednesday is by far the oldest observance, with Valentine’s Day coming second, but as an Arizona native this is the day I claim as my own and fly the Arizona state flag.
Last week, at a special Kearny Town Council meeting, it was decided to pursue a grant from Resolution Copper’s Community Fund to purchase the Arizona DES building between the General Kearny Inn and Norman’s IGA, The State of Arizona is making the building available at a very low price and the Mayor and Council are considering buying it to serve as a larger quarters for the Police Department. It’s not a done deal, for sure. The grant process for monies from Resolution is competitive. On top of that, the land is owned by an entity represented by Osselear, the holding company which owns much of the property along Alden Road.
Accordingly, Town Manager Anna Flores was directed to explore the terms of a lease with Osselear. Once the terms are known and if the grant from Resolution Copper comes through, the Town Council will know the feasibility of the project and can make some decisions about it.
The Copper Basin Women’s EXPO is just around the corner, on Saturday, Feb. 24 beginning at 11 a.m. The admission is only $3.00. There will be drawing, samples, speaker and demonstrators of all kinds of merchandise. It will be held at the Hayden/Winkelman School’s district building. This may be the best EXPO yet.
There’s lots of chatter on the computer social pages about Pioneer Days, which will be held Thursday through Sunday, March 15-18. Many people are reminiscing about how Pioneer Days “used to be.” Well, the Chamber of Commerce is working to make these Pioneer Days more like the old ones, but with a twist of the new as well. And have you or your organization taken steps to enter a float or other entry for the grand parade on Saturday, March 17? Support the candidates for Junior and Senior Pioneer Days Queen by buying raffle tickets, too. Tee shirts will be on sale soon. We all can do our part.
The NOMADS are back in town! Starting this weekend, nine volunteers from United Methodist Churches around the U.S. will be living in trailers parked behind The Church of the Good Shepherd, and will be doing volunteer work at the church and in the Copper Basin. They receive no remuneration, and often match the contributions which Good Shepherd has raised to carry on their work. You will be them around. The jest is that NOMADS means “nice old Methodists avoiding deep snow.” It is true that most of them come from northern states.
Next week I will mention the upcoming golf tournament sponsored by Infant Jesus of Prague Catholic Church in April. This will be a big event. I’m on the look for more events to promote. Let me know!