Balloons Lift Off In Sunsites

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Rachel Hipps took these festive photos of the balloon lift off on the front lawn of the golf course on Wednesday, March 28. You can see more of her work at http://sulphurspringsvalleycards.blogspot.com/
What a wonderful day for everyone who participated in a day of mini-events to celebrate Sunsites’ 50th anniversary!
The photos in the previous post show the plaque dedications and the Vintage Cruisers.
The photos here show the library board, students from Pearce Elementary and local residents joyfully releasing their balloons, re-creating a similar event from 1980 that also took place on the golf course lawn.

Vintage Cruisers Cruise Our Streets Again

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Here we are…one year later. If you look back at our past blogs, the Vinatage Cruisers from Mesa came back to help us with special events to commemorate Sunsites’ 50th anniversary. On Wednesday, March 28, the Cruisers drove to Old Pearce to tour the Old Mercantile Store and to help dedicate the first of two plaques explaining why the Pearce Post Office is in Sunsites. President of the Old Pearce Preservation Association, Don Hammer, spoke to the group and explained the many activities that go on in “Old Pearce”.
At noon, we all headed to the golf course for a special balloon lift-off sponsored by the Friends of the Pearce-Sunsites Library.
The photos in this slide show were taken by my friend Carol Cartmell, and I love the photo of me with the “hands” announcement board. If you look closely, you can see the cover of the 50th anniversary Arizona SunSites book that will be available for sale through the library beginning next week.
After the balloon lift-off, and two more displays of the Vintage Cruisers’ cars (one at Great Western Bank and one at the golf course), the day ended with the dedication of the plaque at the “new” Pearce Post Office. The photos show Ralph Score from Valley Telecom practicing the “unveiling” of the plaque with Murray McClelland, the president of the Chamber of Commerce, and Bill Bothman on the right, the Postmaster. Bill hugs our special guest, former Postmaster Jessie Lee.

Arizona Centennial Photo Project

Here are photos The Sunsites Memory Project took on February 14 as a part of a “slice of life” documentation and submitted to the Arizona Centennial Project.
From top to bottom are photos of “gunslingers” checking out the jail in Old Pearce after they performed at the Pearce School, a tour of the Old Store in Pearce, bank employees and the Valentine goodies for their customers, delivery of Valentine flowers as part of a fund raiser for the senior class at Valley Union High School, Centennial cupcakes and Valentine cupcakes for the monthly senior lunch at the Sunsites Community Center, and the “Nook” class at the library.

Sunsites’ “Jewel”, the 1875 Homestead House

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These are pictures from Rancho Casa Vieja owned by Jane and David Donath and their family.Their personal story will be featured in the upcoming book that will commemorate Sunsites’ 50th anniversary.
Pictured are Jane and David Donath, the 1875 Homestead House, and their beloved longhorns.
Jane has decorated the little house she calls the pioneer house with items authentic to the time period and with photos from the family that owned the house originally.

Sunsites is trendy! Who knew?

Food trucks are the new trend. The Arizona Daily Star had two stories in January reporting on Tucson’s street food culture, comparing it favorably to the trends on the East Coast and on the West Coast.

Sunsites has a long history of food trucks that can roll into a location and sell tasty foods on the spot to Sunsites residents hungry for non-standard fare.

The mobile restaurants have diversified into offering ethnic cuisines served at affordable prices.

Now there’s a new truck in town introducing us to a traditional Middle Eastern food, the falafel.

Erik Deri, who lives in Willcox, parks his food truck next to the post office during the week. He sells more than falafels. His customers claim that his French fries are the best in town.

Erik, who moved to the United States from Israel in 1997, says he started his food truck business in order to achieve his dream of bringing something he loves here to Cochise County.

Falafels are made from garbanzo beans or chick peas, and they are high in protein. The final result is a medium-sized ball resembling a meat ball with a texture very similar to a hush puppy.

Another Magical Story from Sunsites

A Harry Potter connection to Sunsites. Wow!
I had the pleasure of meeting Janet and Rob Schwieger in our local coffee shop.
They are examples of the special people who gravitate to Sunsites.
Read more about them:

Website for their business, North Woven Broom Co.

RV West article about the Schwiegers.

Plus…a note about our coffee shop. It’s a welcoming gathering place for locals, winter visitors and travelers. Stop in. You never know who you’ll meet.

Archery Golf in Sunsites

The photo above is courtesy of Edith and Jerry Muir of Sunsites and shows Jerry Muir taking his turn while playing archery golf.

Jerry Muir and John Mathias tried out archery golf after a regular golf tournament in the spring of 1987.

In March 1988, two teams demonstrated the sport in the first organized archery golf tournament in Sunsites. Playing on the small executive course, John Mathias (golf) and Jim Cramer (archery) paired up to play against Troy Wilmoth (golf) and Jerry Muir (archery).

Although the teams were playing for fun, about 50 spectators followed the men around while they played.

If you have photos or stories to share about Sunsites, please email them to sunsitesmemoryproject@yahoo.com

It’s Sunsites’ Anniversary Year!

The Sunsites golf course attracts migratory ducks and birds. Ray Harrison goes out every evening to feed the resident ducks and the "winter visitor" ducks.

This is it. This is the year for Sunsites to celebrate fifty years.
I want to say thank you to everyone who has subscribed to this blog and for your support.
The Pearce and Sunsites book has exceeded expectations. Now the Sunsites Memory Project has begun work on the Volume II book that picks up where Harry O’Neil’s book The Land Before Horizon leaves off.
Every day I look around Sunsites, and I give thanks for the wonderful life I have here and the small moments that make a difference.
How special to drive, walk, or bicycle down our quiet streets and to have everyone speak and wave and call you by name!
Mary Adams, our bank manager, and her staff go out of their way to provide space for history exhibits and for book signings. Our Great Western Bank makes such a difference in our lives. It’s not just a bank, it’s a gathering place…and even doggie customers are welcomed with dog biscuits.
Our postmaster Bill Bothman and his staff give a personal service that you rarely find in a post office. Another gathering place, the post office is the place to head when you have a question. Check out the Sunsites Community Association’s popular bulletin board next to the post office building, and visit with everyone who comes by.
The community library draws people from all over the Sulphur Springs Valley. Our librarian Louise Sirois, along with volunteers and the Friends of the Library, has created one of the best little libraries in the area.
Activities that range from exercise classes to BINGO fill our beautiful community center from morning to night. The adjacent regional park hosts ball tournaments and has a beautiful playground.
Our excellent fire department and highly trained EMTs give us a sense of security, and the community just completed our brand new heliport.
We are so fortunate to have our wonderful small businesses. You’re instantly recognized when you walk in the door.
Our golf course, designed for the enjoyment of the entire village, has endured through good times and bad. With its trails and ponds and green spaces, it attracts winter visitors from around the globe, and migratory ducks and birds join our year-round feathered residents.
You can help us celebrate Sunsites’ fiftieth anniversary by posting comments here or by sending photos and memories to sunsitesmemoryproject@yahoo.com
I hope to hear from you, and thank you for your support.
Anna Nickell
Sunsites Memory Project

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,200 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 37 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Book Signing Debut

The Pearce and Sunsites authors greet their first customer.

We authors couldn’t have asked for nicer weather for the first book signing for “Pearce and Sunsites” at Sunsites’ St. Jude’s Catholic Church Festival on Saturday, Oct. 29.
Standing, from left, are authors Naaman Nickell, Anna Nickell and S.M. “Susan” Ballard with our first customer of the day.
Susan was also signing her books. View her website at http://www.smballard.com/
If you would like to purchase a signed copy of the Pearce and Sunsites book, and you live outside of the Sunsites area, contact me at am.nickell@yahoo.com.
We’ll be having more book signings in and around Sunsites.
Old Pearce Preservation Association will sell books from their booth at Old Pearce Heritage Days on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving.