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Patagonia Regional Times
Bringing You the News
The PRT is excited to introduce three new community reporters to our readers. Carrie White and Dave Lumia, who recently moved to Sonoita, bring years of experience in the field of journalism to the PRT. Dave, who was a sports reporter, has volunteered to cover school sports for us. Carrie...
2023 Santa Cruz County Fair 4-H/FFA Grand Champions
Approximately 120 youths participated in the 2023 Santa Cruz County Fair. Members of the Rio Rico Rattlesnakes 4-H Club and the Sonoita Mustangs 4-H Club, as well as members of the Benson High School and Rio Rico High School FFA clubs, entered their projects in the fair. The Junior Livestock Auction sales totaled $245,580 with $6,753 going toward scholarships.
A Lifetime in the Mustang 4-H Club
There never was a better place to be a kid. Pattie Oliver knew it then, and she knows it now, having spent the better part of eight decades in the shadow of Mount Wrightson. Living on the KJ Ranch brought freedom and unfettered opportunity to explore the hills around Harshaw on her horse named Red.
Eaves of Disruption
Here’s the thing about setting up house in Sonoita in June. Sure, it’s hot, dry and dusty. Not exactly Chamber of Commerce weather. But there’s also a lingering excitement in the air. Almost like being a kid during those last few weeks before Christmas. The monsoon is...
Letters to the Editor – Oct. 2023
If, 50 years ago, someone would have told me we would one day have book banning in this country, I would have said that no way would Americans ever become that ignorant and weak. Not only was I wrong, but it appears that it is being attempted here in Patagonia.
It’s Us and Them, Again
Enshrined within the human mind is an Edenic archetype. (Of Paradise. The Promised Land. The Good Old Days. The Golden Age.) But real life’s more complex than that, a spastic seesaw of competing likes/dislikes and urgencies. It’s nice to hope and work for peace, but don’t let that convince you that the mess and stress of the real world is just some temporary fluke. Such struggle is the very stuff—the gist—of nature’s law. Our Eden’s red in fang and claw.
Glimpses Into Our Past: Robert and Anne Rodgers
The Coronado National Forest we know today was originally comprised of nine separate Forest Reserves established in the early 1900s. The Santa Rita Reserve was established in 1902, followed in 1906 by the Huachuca Reserve. Robert Rodgers, the first ranger of the Huachuca Forest Reserve, wrote: “The stock men and others in the Santa Rita Reserve were not impressed favorably with the idea of control, but were not unpleasant about it. The Huachuca Reserve was inhabited with an entirely different kind of men.” Robert received death threats when he took up his post in 1907. [Rodgers, Robert. How and Why I Went Into the Forest Service, undated].
Pie Auction Benefits Garden
Raising money for Patagonia Community Garden was as easy as pie at the annual community pie auction that took place on September 9. Although this year’s auction was only half as large as in years past, the event was still a wonderful way to catch some small-town spirit and sample magnificent pies.
Nominate Your Neighbor for the PRT Good Neighbor Award
The 2nd annual PRT Good Neighbor Award will recognize the efforts of residents who are making exceptional contributions to our communities. Do you have a good neighbor? Are there any unsung heroes in your community? Perhaps somebody has gone above and beyond the normal call of duty during these challenging times. Whether he or she has provided care and support for others, is always on hand when needed, performs acts of kindness, is an active volunteer in the community or has simply been a friendly face around your neighborhood, you can nominate them for the PRT Good Neighbor Award.
Patagonia Teacher Runner-up in County Contest
“I’m really grateful for the support of the community and the recognition of the hard work of the school community,” said Kate Peake, the middle school English language arts teacher at Patagonia Elementary School. Peake was awarded 2nd place in the annual Santa Cruz County Teacher of the Year competition, the second year in a row that the Patagonia School District was honored. Last year, PUHS history teacher Jeff Gudenkauf took home the top honors in the contest.
New Study Focuses on Groundwater
A recent analysis by The New York Times of 84,544 monitoring wells across the nation revealed a developing crisis of over-pumping of groundwater resources. Left unchecked, this drawdown will eventually threaten our standing as a world food superpower. To better understand what is going on with groundwater in southeastern Arizona,...
Patagonia Needs to (Fire)Wise Up
As a national first responder for over 30 years, I cannot help but draw comparisons between the recent wildfire disaster in Lahaina, Hawaii, and the current state of the Town of Patagonia. Maui is an island surrounded by water. The Town of Patagonia is located in the Sky Islands, surrounded...
Partners in Crime
My oldest nephew was born during the height of my father’s illness. My father, finally a grandfather (no thanks to me) couldn’t understand this new role due to Alzheimer’s disease, and faced with the reality that he could no longer be alone while my mother worked, I began making the trip to Tucson twice a week to care for him.
Patagonia’s Jewel Box Church
“The Jewel Box Church” is a fitting nickname for Patagonia’s little 100-year-old Methodist Church. Its contemporary stained glass windows provide clear, jewel-like colors shimmering throughout the sanctuary in the day and glowing out to walkers and highway drivers at night. You might call it an installation piece of radiant art, created primarily by a gifted Patagonia artist, the late Jean Burger.
Rocking Out
At first, it seemed like a no-brainer. A colleague knew of a locale where stone metates, or grinding holes, existed. He suggested it might be easy fodder for a column on prehistoric food preparation involving stones. He drew me a rudimentary map, with an X almost marking the spot in a wash off of a road between Patagonia and Nogales that I was vaguely familiar with. All I had to do was pack some water and grab my camera and I was off to look for signs of an ancient civilization.
Fickle Fall Flowers
Arizona, including our Sky Islands region, tends to be a place associated with wildflowers. Just the southeast quadrant of the state hosts approximately 2,000 species of flowering plants, a good number of which have evolved to blossom in late winter and spring. To say that this early floral pageant is mercurial is to understate the case. Precipitation, or lack thereof, renders this annual affair a decidedly fickle one.
The Autumn Advantage
The other day I felt the shift in the air. Did you? The light is different; the breezes and cooler nights are a signal to me that fall is here. We may not get the beautiful fall leaves like other parts of the country but we do have these little signals. To me this is the time to plant as much as I can!
Ask an Engineer – Oct. 2023
My attention has always been piqued by anything showing a connection to workings of the everyday world. As a result, I find that after 60 years of various engineering careers, I’m brimming with miscellaneous info, admittedly sometimes outdated or useless. Still…much of it can be fascinating to ponder.
Broncs, Boots and Beer
The Sonoita Labor Day Rodeo returned for its 108th edition beneath a cotton-candy sky, with over 4,500 spectators and more than 700 cowboys and cowgirls taking part in the annual Labor Day weekend event. While some early arrivers took advantage of the plentiful food and drink options – wood-fired pizza,...
Town Council Notes – Oct. 2023
In Call to Public, SAACA’s Matt Rolland gave a history of festival attendance and spoke of the incorporation of community input into this year’s plan for the Sky Island Artisans’ Market, planned for the weekend of Oct. 14-15. Linda Shore and Debbie Robinson gave an update on...
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