St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Hayden is letting the Copper Basin community know about the material help it can provide in cases of need. To apply, please call the church at 520-356-6046 and leave a clear detailed message with your needs and where you can be reached. St. Joseph’s also provides food boxes on an appointment basis. Again the number listed above can be used.

  And there’s more from St. Joseph’s. The congregation is sponsoring a benefit golf tournament on Saturday, Sept. 15, in memory of Andres Guzman and Mary Martinez. It’s a 4-man scramble with one “A” player per group with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. There are various golfing contests too, not to mention a horseshoe tournament as well as bingo and a cake walk. It’s at the Hayden Municipal Golf Course. To register a group, or for more information, call Bob Lorona at (520) 331-9236.

A Kearny firefighter cools down some kids at the Labor Day picnic. Apparently, Calvary Kearny’s pastor Ron Hazelwood was just one of the kids too.

  The churches in the Copper Basin do all sorts of good things for our residents, and their reach extends around the world. This past Labor Day, Fellowship Baptist Church and Calvary Kearny (both in Kearny) joined forces to sponsor a community observance of Labor Day at Hubbard Park. The people of the Copper Basin were invited to come celebrate, and many did. There was plenty of food, special games and prizes for the young people, a pie baking contest, a salsa making contest and a chili cook-off. The Kearny Fire Department brought a fire truck and obligingly cooled down the many youngsters on that hot day. It’s good to see such cooperation.

Jason Snobeck performs at the Labor Day picnic in Kearny.

  The Hand Me Up Shop has provided all kinds of community support over the years. Most recently the Health Volunteers voted to provide $600 of sanitary supplies to the Ray Schools. The supplies included disinfectants, Kleenex and paper goods, and other useful items. Teachers at the high school can secure supplies through the school nurse, and elementary teachers can contact Virginia Maes at the primary school office.

  Even more community involvement: The Kearny Elks Lodge #2478 is working in cooperation with the American Red Cross to sponsor a blood drive on Monday, Sept. 24, at Constitution Hall in Kearny. It lasts from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Please make donor appointments by calling 1-800-733-2767.

  The churches and all these wonderful organizations are “again out” in our communities. Times are tough for younger people, especially those with families, but good communities are cooperative communities, with young and old working and worshiping together. This is especially true in small towns. I hope that none of us will take our churches and organizations for granted, but come together to sustain and renew their work.

  Finally, the First Friday food distribution is early Friday morning, Sept. 7 at the Kelly Haddad building in Kearny.  The Coffee Chat at Norm’s IGA is from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. that same day (and again on Sept. 20), with conversation and also free coffee and doughnuts for all retirees.

  Next week I’ll have a word about the new Ladies’ Day Out at the Kearny Library. There’s a lot going on along the Gila.

Joanne and Chuck Warren at the Labor Day picnic.

Showing off some beautiful face paint.

The organizers of the event and Pastor Ron Hazelwood.

The judges of the pie, salsa and chili contests.