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Patagonia Regional Times
PUHS Boys Dominate Valley Union; Girls Fall, 48-38
For a Patagonia High boys basketball team that had just been hammered 80-16 in its previous game and has struggled with the fundamental task of scoring points all season long, the start of Tuesday night’s game against Valley Union didn’t bode well. The Lobos scored all of four...
ADEQ to Host Two Public Hearings on South32 Permits Today
Location: Patagonia Elementary and High School Campus. 4-5:30pm in the Cafeteria Room: Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) will discuss and share information about Australian mining company South32’s request for an air quality control permit. No comments will be received during this meeting. 6-9pm: ADEQ will accept comments on...
CBD: ‘Southern Arizona Jaguar Video Confirms New Cat’
TUCSON, Ariz.— A wild jaguar shown in a recent trail camera video [below] from southern Arizona is a new jaguar not previously identified in the state. The images captured last month by a wildlife enthusiast and analyzed by the Center for Biological Diversity confirm the eighth jaguar documented in the U.S. Southwest in the past three decades.
Mountain Lion: a photograph by Eric Herman
This oft-misunderstood feline of many names frequently roams the Sky Islands surrounding us. Puma. Cougar. Mountain lion. Panther. Catamount. The adaptable puma lives in just about every habitat in the western hemisphere. Elegant, elusive, agile, independent; the panther may rove up to 150 square miles. The catamount keeps to herself,...
Community News Items – Jan. 2024
Celebration of Life to Be Held in Sonoita for Steve Getzwiller. A celebration of life for Steve Getzwiller of Sonoita will be held 1 to 3pm, Saturday Jan. 20 at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, 3142 S. Hwy. 83, Sonoita. Getzwiller, 74, who passed away August 23, 2023, is remembered...
What Is That?? (Jan. 2024)
‘The 1962 Mesquite’ is the Patagonia Union High School Yearbook, on display at the Patagonia Museum. Most editions include the junior high school students who joined the high school campus in 1951. In this yearbook are many students who currently live in Patagonia including Mollie Mendoza Wright (pictured above),...
Great Food, Coffee and Community Found at Gathering Grounds
This is the first in an occasional series highlighting local eateries and their favorite recipes. Breakfast, as a luxury, is one of food and time. Eggs over easy, not scrambled. Whole wheat, not rye. Hold the mushrooms on that omelet. I know I shouldn’t, but biscuits and gravy, please.
Jeepers Creepers
In summer, they’re breaking down our doors. Now, there’s not a creepy crawly to be found. What gives?. Well, some are dead, explained Dr. Lucy Shujuan, a University of Arizona Extension entomologist. Others are snuggled down for the winter, probably inside your house, garage or yard. “Many insects...
Just What Is the Sonoita Elgin Fire District?
In Arizona, fire districts are special taxing districts organized under the Arizona Revised Statutes. They operate independent of other governments and are funded mainly through property taxes in the district they serve. The Sonoita Elgin Fire District (SEFD) is governed by a Board of Directors consisting of five people, who...
The Southern Cross
It has been over 40 years since the singer Stephen Stills recorded “Southern Cross,” his magnificent tale of discovery and redemption. I’ve always been drawn to it, especially the line in which he states that it was only after he’d seen the small constellation—Crux—that he finally came to understand why he had sailed to the South Pacific.
Don’t Fence Me In
In post-WWII America, a song written in 1934 rose to the top of The Hit Parade. Cole Porter wrote the music and shared lyric credit with Robert Fletcher, a poet, and engineer with the Highway Department in Montana. The war that bound the country was still raging when many people heard the song for the first time on Kate Smith’s radio broadcast on October 8, 1944.
Glimpses Into Our Past: Irvin, Volney and Mark Douglas
A remarkable sight along the north side of Lower Elgin Rd. is the seven-acre Douglas orchard. The property was originally homesteaded by Henry Z. Belue, a farmer/carpenter, and his wife and son. About 1924 the property was purchased by 16-year-old Volney Douglas, son of pioneer Irvin Douglas, to raise cattle. Volney and his siblings were living on their father’s homestead on Yucca Ash Rd. The story of Irvin Douglas and his descendants, who have lived in the Sonoita/Elgin area for more than 116 years, follows. Special thanks to Lena Stephens and Mark Douglas who provided information and photos for this article.
Sky Island Conifers, Part 1
On average, January is our coldest month in the Sky Islands—a month when human snowbirds may actually rethink the logic of traveling here in an effort to escape the frozen throes of a more northern winter. Frigid temperatures and a general dearth of life mark this month. Bare trees,...
Ask an Engineer: Tin Can Ribbing
Reader’s question: “Why are some food containers ribbed and others are not?”. Thank you for this question. My first job as an engineer was for Continental Can Co. during the summer of my junior year in college. My project was to speed up beer can production from nine cans/second to ten cans/second. This was when we had “man cans” which were nearly impossible to crush with one hand to impress the ladies and required a ‘church key’ (i.e.: can opener) to access the beverage. These cans were made of tin coated steel sheets which were first lithographed with the proper label. Then the approximately 4’ x 4’ sheets were slit to can size, rolled and edge crimped. Then the seams were soldered as they passed over a molten bath of lead. Next, a prepared bottom was roll crimped to the cylinder and then spray lacquered inside to prevent the contents from contacting the container.
Quail Season Is Vintage Shotgun Season
Patagonia becomes a base for bird hunters who are here taking advantage of the excellent winter weather and the opportunity to hunt three species of quail within an hour’s drive of town. It’s also an opportunity to re-establish friendships with fellow hunters that you have met over the years....
Cooking for Cowhand Appetites Included Midday Dumplings
Classy. Elegant. Tough as nails. Those words describe Mary Grantham Boice as seen through the eyes of her great-granddaughter, Faith Boice McCabe. Mary, along with husband Frank, held title to the Empire Ranch from 1951 to 1969. She knew her way around the kitchen and the range. She loved entertaining—a lady who put on memorable July 4th gatherings. And she loved cowboying, present as she was at every roundup.
Good Neighbor Award Winner: Chuck Kelly
The PRT Good Neighbor Award recognizes people who voluntarily build a better community in Canelo, Elgin, Sonoita and Patagonia. We asked our readers to nominate someone they knew who was a ‘good neighbor.’. Gift certificates to local restaurants were awarded to both the winners of the contest and to...
Good Neighbor Award Winner: Dena Ploetz
The PRT Good Neighbor Award recognizes people who voluntarily build a better community in Canelo, Elgin, Sonoita and Patagonia. We asked our readers to nominate someone they knew who was a ‘good neighbor.’. Gift certificates to local restaurants were awarded to both the winners of the contest and to...
Local Author Jim Koweek Pens ‘Nontechnical’ Guide to Native Plants
Jim Koweek, local native vegetation expert, and Dale Armstrong, photographer, have written an entertaining and instructive user-friendly plant identification book, “Sonoran Desert Plant ID for Everyone: A nontechnical field guide.”. Four years in the making and 30,000 photographs later, the book is finally published. Koweek wrote the text, entertaining,...
2023 Christmas Bird Count
The 51st annual Patagonia Christmas Bird Count was held on Dec. 14, 2023. A total of 4,155 individual birds of 109 species were counted by 46 bird enthusiasts in an area enclosed in a 15-mile diameter circle centered in Patagonia. Most participants spread out and hiked, while others reported what they saw at bird feeders in their yards. The consensus was that many bird numbers were down, especially doves and sparrows. Waterbird habitat was limited, so few ducks or shorebirds were reported.
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Patagonia Regional Times is a free monthly publication serving the Mountain Empire communities of Canelo, Elgin, Patagonia and Sonoita in Santa Cruz County, Arizona.
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