By Mayor Sam Hosler, Town of Kearny
I don’t think I ever met a snowbird I didn’t like. We have many winter residents in Kearny and our environs. They shop at our stores, worship God in our churches, do all sorts of volunteer work in our community, support the Ray Bearcats and, best of all, they like Kearny and its people.
When they return to their long-time homes, they carry news about Kearny, its beauty and its fine weather, and about the simple amenities which they (and we) enjoy here. I suspect some of them like Kearny for what it doesn’t have – heavy traffic congestion, high taxes, and the empty lure of “going shopping.”
Our snowbirds, by their very presence, serve as a reminder of the Kearny we love.
The month of March is a high point for the snowbirds. Most of them stay through Easter (although a few head back to be with their families at that time), so most of them are here to enjoy Pioneer Days and other events.
The Pioneer Days begin March 23. The big parade is Saturday, March 26, at 10 a.m. The children of Kearny will be glad to know that there will be an Easter egg hunt at Hubbard Park at 8:30 a.m., just before the parade begins.
Some very substantial plans are being laid. The Task Force to develop a proposal our a four-town unified police force is circulating an intergovernmental agreement among the four towns this month, in order to provide funding for an interim police chief to serve our towns during the time that the Task Force continues its work. The agreement (IGA) will be presented to the Kearny Town Council for its deliberation on Monday, March 21, at the Town Hall at 7:30 p.m.
The Winkelman Natural Resource Conservation District (WNRCD) is applying for a $300,000 grant through Pinal County to remove the tamarisk plants on a substantial portion of the Gila River. This is in coordination with the Town of Kearny. The plants would be removed and destroyed on private and public lands from Kearny to the confluence of the San Pedro River. Let’s hope the grant comes through and that the work begins soon.
Kearny’s Volunteers in Patrol (the VIPS) who assist our police department invite people who are interested in joining this work to meet at Constitution Hall this Sunday, March 20, at 2 p.m. for a training session.
It seems as if I write about the same subjects each week, but all of these are important things that are in the process of development. Stay tuned for more!