Apricity West 3

November 18, 2022 - Friday

We met a new couple at the Elks who just signed up tonight. He is retired Air Force and they have lived in Wickenburg for 7 years.

 

November 19, 2022 - Saturday

Today was the annual North Ranch Craft Fair with 31 tables of vendors. Richart Creations was one of those tables and the fee is only $1, making it a more profitable table than any other markets. 

It was a good day for our table and we did most of our Christmas shopping right there in solidarity with other crafters. I love to watch the expressions of people looking through Rich’s art! Most are big smiles, but some are sad faces. The card that says, “The worst part of owning a pet, is saying Goodbye” is a good example. 

 

Rich finally had an opportunity to talk with the people here from Vermont.

He waved them down and found out they are from Fair Haven, VT which is 5 miles from his house in Whitehall, NY! They had several mutual acquaintances and they used to go to his family’s Silver Diner. Small world if you talk to people long enough!  

 

November 20, 2022 - Sunday

Took a ride to Yarnell this morning to see if the brewery is opened yet. It is not; we hear that they are waiting for the necessary licenses. 

 

It always tugs at my heart to drive by the Granite Mountain Hot Shot monument where 19 firefighters got trapped and killed by a dry storm lightning strike in 2013.

Brendon McDonough (age 19) survived as he was told to be a lookout which separated him from his crew. Talk about survivor’s guilt…

Brendan is the lone survivor of the Yarnell Hill fire tragedy of 2013. Today he is a public speaker and works with numerous nonprofits for veterans, police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical services. He lives in Prescott, Arizona.

McDonough is an uplifting speaker, whose courage to find support at his weakest has inspired others to find their own tribes of support. Building a sense of brotherhood within communities gives McDonough great joy – because it helps this fighter honor the legacy of his 19 lost, but not forgotten, brothers.

November 21, 2022 - Monday

Line dancing and cardio drumming today. I love dancing, but feel the workout for drumming is less stress on my joints as it is mostly upper body workout. I will dance until I drop, but get a fast heart rate much quicker with drumming. There are more people joining us now, so Joanne and Kay are improvising equipment. I enjoyed using a plastic garbage can this time - it is loud and the correct height for me. The music was louder today with a new amp system that Denny provided. Dee and Sharon - you would love it. 

 

November 22, 2022 - Tuesday 

 Tuesdays are my "do nothing" days. Rich goes into the Wickenburg Art Club with Tom so I take care of phone calls, chores, laundry or whatever I feel like doing. Afternoon laundry was in the mix today while doing a jigsaw puzzle in the Clubhouse. 

 

This being the first year that people are free about getting together, it is fun to watch the planning going on for a community Thanksgiving dinner in the Activity Center. No one can cook in the kitchen because there isn’t a certified restaurant manager here - there are several Food Safety Certified folks, but according to the powers that be, there has to be a manager. Soooooo to get around that, some of the lot owners down below have volunteered to cook turkeys and ham in their homes, and everyone brings a pot luck dish. They have about 50 people signed up thanks to the “work campers” Melissa and Jim Talley who knocked on every RV door to be sure they have something to do on Thanksgiving. They are a young (late 50’s), very enthusiastic couple who is picking up a lot of slack for the aging (and dying) community here. We are looking forward to dinner at John and Eileen’s in Surprise again this year - we are in charge of ROLLS!

November 25, 2022 - Wednesday 

Found out that there are some people sick with Covid in the park and Yarnell - next town over. Guess I spoke too soon. 

 

November 24, 2022 - Thursday

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 🦃🍽🍁💕

Had a great time and eats at John and Eileen’s in Surprise today...

We got the delicious Cajun shrimp recipe from Matthew, John and Eileen’s son. 

John is making a point to Rich and Rod 😄

Serious food preparation by Matthew, Susan, Steven, and Eileen. She claims the only thing she did was mash the potatoes! 

Steve is drizzling homemade caramel on the Banana Bread Pudding. 

Susan overseeing the carving.


Plentiful table of deliciousness to make us thankful. 

Ready for the next holiday 🎄🎅🤶

 

 

 

 

 

Apricity West 3

November 11, 2022 - Friday

Look who came to Congress in their new KIA Sportage Hybrid! 

November 12, 2022 - Saturday

Today’s post is packed with pictures of Vulture City Ghost Town Historic Site Museum:

Please take only photographs and leave nothing but footprints. For the first time since 1863, Vulture City and Vulture Gold Mine are separately owned. In 2014 the mine was put back into operation, this time via surface mining. In 2017 about 30 acres was partitioned from Vulture Mine to create Vulture City, where surviving structures have been preserved and restored. Visitors can now enjoy a rare glimpse of the operating Vulture Gold Mine across the fence as they tour the restored remains of Vulture City-the town that supported Arizona's largest and most productive gold mine.

Henry Wickenburg, a Prussian immigrant, discovered gold here in 1863. There are many tall tales of how Henry discovered the rich gold deposits in the quartz outcropping and why he named it Vulture, however no credible records exist. One legend has it that he discovered gold while retrieving a vulture he had shot. By the early 1900s Vulture City had grown to five thousand residents. Records suggest about 360,000 ounces of gold and about 260,000 ounces of silver were produced (more than 200 million dollars worth). The exact amount is unknown due to theft or “highgrading” for which some 18 men were hanged.

Prior to construction of a 15-mile water pipeline to bring water from the Hassayampa River in 1880, all gold ore was hauled to the Hassayampa and Wickenburg for processing. This arduous process quite often left the precious cargo vulnerable to theft along the route and most likely the real source of the Lost Dutchman's Gold!

Gas Station: From early 1900s, provided parts, kerosene, fuel, oil and more for both vehicles & lighting. Note the remains of the early gravity fed gas pump & 1924 National Cash Register.

Vulture's Roost: Private residence of Earnest Dickie the last Mine Manager. Typical of 1880s period construction. Today it serves as a small museum displaying a collection of over 100+ years of artifacts from this era. 

This is a retired 3rd generation Ferrier who teaches classes and makes modern metal art.

Bad picture, but look closely at the progression of forging a cowboy hat. 

 

Wells Fargo Post Office

Henry Wickenburg House and Hanging Tree

An artist displayed pumpkin carvings at Vulture City, so you will see the results throughout the following pictures.

 

Doctor’s Office & Boarding House

And Brothel…

School House

Charles Genung, an old friend of Henry Wickenburg, and several townsfolk paid for the construction of a one-room wooden schoolhouse in 1881. Less than a year from opening a diphtheria epidemic took the lives of nearly twenty of the sixty pupils. Sometime before 1934 the mine got a new schoolhouse and two new outhouses funded by President FDR's Works Progress Administration, one of the many New Deal programs of the 1930s. Shortly thereafter the first schoolhouse was left dormant.

Today the schoolhouses, children's swing, teeter-totter, and slide are located in their original place on BLM land about 500 yards north- east of where you are standing. The buildings are in very poor condition, however, the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) and Vulture City Tours are working to develop a preservation/restoration plan.

Bunk House

Cook House & Mess Hall

Other…

A wedding is scheduled for this evening.

After relaxing/visiting in the warmth of the sun, we went to Charley’s Steak House for a delicious dinner. The owner came over to our table to check in - he has been there for 50 years and just lost his wife last year. 

 

November 13, 2022 - Sunday  

Breakfast at Nichols West before Terri and Jim hit the road for Tucson. It was wonderful to see them again. Things were hopping at Nichols and we met Noah and Nick's other brother, Evan, working busily bussing tables - three brothers working there. 

 

November 14, 2022 - Monday

Line dancing, cardio drumming and laundry today. See a clip in the body of the email.

 

November 15, 2022 - Tuesday

Went for a short walk with Lu mid-morning. John and Eileen drove up from Surprise for lunch. It was good to visit and we talked about the Thanksgiving dinner plans at their house. 

 

November 16, 2022 - Wednesday 

Line dancing tired me out today. We learned several new dances which taxes my body (hip in particular) and brain. Check out the clip of Runaway in the body of the email. 

 

This group of crafters are making paper mache snowmen. 

November 17, 2022 - Thursday

Ukulele with Joanne and Jam session. Yes - I joined the circle thanks to Joanne’s hubby, Denny, to my right. He brought a mic and plugged into his amp. I took the instrument I am most comfortable with - voice. It was NOT a successful singing debut! Left the ukulele behind. Two weeks until I get another chance…🤪

 

Apricity West 3

November 4, 2022 - Friday

Went to the Elks tonight for the Firecracker Chicken special served on rice with carrots and a salad. Dusty Kinman sat next to me selling his hot pickled cukes! Turns out he is the same age as my son, is divorced with 3 kiddos, and has remarried to Rachel. She doesn’t want children, but wants grandchildren which she is sure to get from his children. He shares pictures of her beautiful self and gives us a cantaloupe from his Happy Grow Lucky enterprise.

This kid has the personality to sell anything, but buys us a drink instead. He paused from eating his burger and fries to draw a picture of a suguaro to take with us.

His grandmother taught him how to paint with a pallet knife and oils as his parents passed away before her. He has continued the art by teaching disabled folks  (Down Syndrome and other special needs) how to create amazing art. He shares dozens of pictures of groups he has taught and their fantastic art. 

November 5, 2022 - Saturday

Once a year, the Ham Radio Club meets in the parking lot across from the clubhouse with vendors and demonstrations. It is a well attended event. 

Rich has a table in the Wickenberg Holiday Arts and Crafts Show today. There were about 100 vendors inside and outside. The Art Club was set up on the stage and cost $40/table, while it was $150/table on the main floor.

There were many concepts of arts and crafts throughout the show. I especially liked the two booths on wheels...

 

This is a 1965 camper which the vendor, Karen, refurbished herself. This concept came about after having an outdoor booth on a very windy day and almost losing the canopy overhead. She knew she had to make a change. I love the retro look of it and her aprons. 

Shawna Hicks, her friend and fellow vendor, followed her footsteps by buying a single horse trailer that never had a horse in it. The price tag was $3500, but she could not handle that so told them, “I hope you get the price you are asking, but if you don’t sell it for that, the best I can offer is $2500.” And gave them her number. Two weeks later she received the call, “We had two offers for $2500, but you were the first to make it, so it is yours if you still want it.” She did and this is the unit she created with the existing ramp to make it easy access. Her product is leather - purses (she will never duplicate one), booties, book covers, wallets, etc. 

And the food truck DR&MT (Dad’s Ribs and Mom’s Tacos) - delicious quesadillas too! They have fresh pineapple juice and Hawaiian donuts (Malasadas). This is the entrepreneur daughter and her husband, the cook...

Back inside the community center, Jim and Pam Lang were sitting back to back with us and we had many conversations throughout the day. Jim’s art is Western subjects done in oil. He did a double major in college - art and business. The first part of his life he was a teacher for 4 years and then decided to put his business degree to work. He ended up being a CEO in a very large organization to do with agriculture. Now retired, he has taken up art again and this was his first “show to sell.” So he has painted many big pieces as seen below and just keeps them stored in their home in Sun City Grand, Surprise. He uses the rule of thumb for art pricing of $4/square inch so these pieces were $900 to $1600. He plans to show/sell them in the Goldrush Days in February which is a better venue for his beautiful work. 

If you watch Yellowstone, you have seen their son-in-law, Gary “Montana” Robert, as a stuntman. He has been doing this work since 1977. Hollywood hires stuntmen for a prearranged fee. If it takes more than one shoot due to an error of the crew, the same fee would be charged again to do a reshoot. For a particularly dangerous stunt (e.g., a fall from a 40-foot building), the stuntman can name the price (e.g., $20,000) and if the cameraman misses the shot, the price would be $40,000, etc.

This is him with Sage, his service Timberwolf, who he raised and trained from a pup up until his natural death. 

Fire stuntmen used to wear a fireproof suit, but now have a gel on their flesh that protects them for 1 1/2 minutes. Yikes!

It was a long day so we went to Nichols West for dinner. Meet Heather, who came in alone for baked onion soup and a glass of Chardonay.

We sit at the bar and moved over to make room for her. What a fascinating life she has had. She had worked in fashion retail and after a while, I asked her if she lives in Congress - she replied that she lives wherever her wheels park for the night! She is homeless, often sleeping in her car and the nights here are in the mid-30’s now. How did this happen? She got a raise in her Social Security to $800/month and her apartment rent went from $500 to $1000 overnight… She had stayed in a fleabag motel for $50 a few nights which was filthy, so she was moving on. Tonight she would drive to Salome, 50 miles away, and pay $80 to have a clean, warm room and sound sleep. One day at a time…

 

November 6, 2022 - Sunday

I inquired about the Magnum Family Benefit poster at the Elks. Krystal, a young 35-year old mother of 2, died suddenly of an aneurism on 9/11/2022. Her husband, Norm, is a tattoo artist in town, but will have to close the business January 1st to care for his young children. So sad… we bought 50/50 tickets on the spot.

Went to the Ice Cream Social after jigsaw puzzling for an hour or so. It is nice to see so many come together to socialize. John and Geri Moore announced that the new Beautification Committee is starting up at 8am tomorrow morning - tools and goodies are provided. The committee is picking up where Chuck and Kathy VanWinkle left off. They will still participate but can no longer organize it. It is impressive to see so many come together to work to keep the grounds beautiful. 

 

Meanwhile, back in Lee, MA, my grandsons both won their respective games in the Berkshire County Youth Football league championship! Jacob (12) has been in a cast for broken wrist for 6 weeks and it came off on 10/31. He opted to suit up and play briefly - THANKFULLY, he had no problems.

With proud mama💕

November 7, 2022 - Monday

Line dancing in the morning and cardio drumming in the afternoon. It really gets your heartbeat up. This is a stock photo to give you an idea of how it works - music is a big part of it.

November 8, 2022 - Tuesday

Good morning sunshine!

Went for a walk around the park with Lu and then visited in her “yard.” In the afternoon Rich and I went over to Roberta and Keith’s home to catch up. My first meeting with Sophie...now 10 years old, rescued at 5 years old. 

November 9, 2022 - Wednesday

A rainy, cool morning, but did the usual - line dancing, grocery run, laundry and puzzling… Invited Nancy over for ice cream after supper. It is the first time we have had ice cream in the house, but couldn’t resist the price - $1.97 for 1.5 quarts. It was very good!

November 10, 2022 - Thursday

My first haircut in almost 2 months! Voni lives in North Ranch and worked as Activity Director for 21 years. She has been cutting hair for 37 years and just had a milestone birthday - the same one Rich had this summer 😳!  She is also a skilled micro-beader, quilter, mixed media artist. My new do…

This is a piece her teacher did with a hunk of styrofoam.


This is her intricate work.

Another beautiful sunset.

Stay tuned as sister Terri and hubby Jim Parsons are coming from Tucson for the weekend! We are making plans for a welcomed visit from them.