NOVEMBER 2018 SERVING THE MOUNTAIN EMPIRE COMMUNITIES OF CANELO, ELGIN, PATAGONIA AND SONOITA VOL. 8, ISSUE 9 By Aisha Sander The 30th Patagonia Fall Festival faced some unforeseen A Rainy Fall Festival challenges due to unfavorable weather conditions as well as discontent expressed by some of the participants with changes in the structure of the event. This year the event was outsourced to a professional event management company, South- ern Arizona Arts & Cultural Alliance (SAACA). For the past 29 years the Fall festival has been man- aged and put on by locals, volunteers and most recently by Sky Island Tourist Association (SITA). A SAACA representative said they were very excited to work at the Fall Festival, and that it was a perfect fit, as they specialize in creating art experiences. Their goals were to keep the artists happy and to give them opportunities for business and marketing. They also hoped to provide overall support to the town and the business community. As an organization that has primarily worked in the urban areas of Arizona, SAACA was excited to branch out to a rural area and merge the best of both worlds for the Fall Festival. SAACA intends to reinvest the funds generated from the festival by giving a portion to the town and retaining a portion for their own arts programming around Arizona. There were some significant changes with the new management. The first change was to remove Photo by Aisha Sander Friday as a full day for vendors, limiting it to a com- Two young boys enjoy the chance to play in the mud puddles in the Patagonia Park at the Fall Festival munity kick-off celebration. Some vendors were disappointed to lose a day of business. Local potter For the past 25 years both the Arizona Borderland Emmett McLoughlin, Past Chairman of Southern Martha Kelly shared that Friday was when she sold Democrats (AZBD) and Southern Arizona Republicans Arizona Republicans, said, “When we got to Pata- most of her art and when “serious buyers” would have had booths there. According to Morris Farr, gonia it was raining heavily and there was concern come to the Festival. Andy Wood, business owner a board member of AZBD, the political booths are about not having weights for our tent, and evidently and the Mayor-elect, also felt that the festival should a public service, run by volunteers, and there has there was not going to be much traffic at the location remain three days and that local artists and vendors never been any argumentation or confrontation at anyway. So, the candidates decided to walk about.” should be given priority over those who come from the events. One of the main sponsors of the event, Patagonia out of the area. This year AZBD set up their booth on McKeown Area Resource Alliance (PARA), was disappointed The other major change was to not allow any Avenue, and were disappointed not to be full partici- with the management of the festival. They found political organization to have a booth at the festival. pants at the festival. that SAACA was See FESTIVAL Page 3 Lions on the Loose in New Director Patagonia Page 3 for Paton’s Page 6 PUHS Homecoming Page 16 PLEASE SuPPort Your PAPEr It is the time of the year that mailboxes fill with annual the website, email and our Facebook Page. appeals for non-profit organizations, and we hope that This month we have started an innovative way for our PRT this year you will think of supporting the PRT. In 2016 the readers to contribute to the PRT, and request that you con- MISSION STATEMENT PRT began its transition from being a completely volunteer sider giving your 2018 contribution as a monthly electronic organization, to a more sustainable business model that contribution and become a member of ourPress Core. The To publish a nonprofit includes four part time paid staff (with a total personnel Board chose the name Press CORE, because the people the community newspaper which budget under $25,000). The PRT Board has re-committed PRT serves are the foundation, the corazon, the center of serves the Mountain Empire com- to keeping the PRT a free paper, and to generating the community journalism, and thus the core. Monthly giving munities of Santa Cruz County, including Canelo, Elgin, increased revenue from our greatest resource: the readers provides the PRT with a predictable source of cash flow, Patagonia, and Sonoita, and and local advertisers. Over the last two years the PRT has contributing to our stability. In return,you as a PRT Press which is open to all views, high- experienced increases in advertising, donations, volunteers Core member invest in the work of the PRT, while receiving lighting local issues and empha- and readership, and the future looks bright. special benefits, like an invitation to the annual party and sizing the contributions of local This time of stabilization has included a community sur- quarterly coupons offering discounts from local business- talent. vey, the publication of our first annual report, a completed es. three-year strategic plan, broader regional news and event WHO WE ARE coverage, the initiation of subscriptions, and a new web- The PRT: Keeping our Headline as important site. The PRT is committed to enlarging its presence in the as our Bottomline We are a nonprofit organization, community with more frequent online updates through funded by paid advertising, do- nations and grants. PRT is a free monthly publication distributed to news stands and local merchants in The Mountain Empire. Managing Editor: Marion Vendituoli Assistant Editor: Aisha Chapra Sander Advertising Manager: Janie Trafton Bookkeeper: Cynie Murray Contributing Writers: Bob Brandt Alison Bunting David Daffern Lynn Davison Heather Dodge Cassina Farley Robert Gay Patra Kelly Martin Levowitz Pat McNamara Vince Pinto Distribution: Les Corum Board of Directors: Bob Brandt Francesca Claverie Lynn Davison Cassina Farley Jac Heiss Donna Lee Kathryn Schrag Phillip Sullivan Contact us at: [email protected] PO Box 1073, Patagonia, AZ 85624 740-206-9594 To Place an ad: [email protected] Online edition: patagoniaregionaltimes.org PAGE 2 PATAGONIA REGIONAL TIMES NOVEMBER 2018 Friday and Saturday. Doc’s Dyes, from FESTIVAL Bisbee, said that there were “posi- Lions Sighted in Patagonia Continued from Page 1 tive changes this year at the festival By Aisha Sander poor at communicating changes. For because of SAACA.” They appreciated example, the hours of the festival were how SAACA gave vendors breaks and changed from 10-4 to 9-5 without brought snacks and water periodical- much notice. ly. Doc’s Dyes witnessed SAACA staff PARA, Martha Kelly, the Patagonia and volunteers working hard to help Montessori School, and other booths mitigate the effects of the rain and said were not informed of the very specif- that the staff was accommodating to ic standards for weighting the tents. vendors who were most affected by Martha Kelly said that there was a lot the weather. of extra administration and that many LuLu’s Sorbet, from Scottsdale, vendors were not comfortable doing was delighted with the festival and everything online. She said there was observed that people were loyal to no survey in her packet to provide this event despite the rainy Saturday. feedback. They said SAACA was “really helpful Some vendors complained that and [we] had a great experience with they were not able to reach SAACA them”. by phone or email in response to SAACA brought 30 new vendors questions. Another complaint was from their network to the festival and that SAACA did not provide recycling provided 10 staff and 20 volunteers to bins for the trash at the festival. A help run the event. They took on the Photo by Kathy West local resident thought that the fees task to organize the event in April of Two young mountain lions rest in a tree at the Nature Conservancy were too high and excluded people in this year, a much shorter timeline than Preserve in Patagonia. town who could have participated and for most of their events. Marty Lawrence, the Preserve long means there is something attract- benefitted from the event. Mayor-elect As a non-profit organization that Manager at the Nature Conservancy ing them. I can almost guarantee they Wood felt strongly that if SAACA was uses its revenue to support arts pro- in Patagonia, first saw a pair of young are hanging around because folks are generating funds from parking fees, gramming, SAACA wants to continue to mountain lions on September 19 in the feeding deer, javelina, wild turkeys, then that money should be invested in work with the town of Patagonia and field in front of the visitor center. On outdoor cats, and other critters that local schools or local non-profits. to learn from their experiences. September 22, Kathy West, a volun- the lions are preying upon. This is one Other vendors, however, stated SAACA plans to survey the vendors teer at the Preserve, spotted the same of the main reasons I so vehemently that they were extremely pleased with about their experience at the festival juvenile lions in a cottonwood tree in discourage feeding of any wildlife, and SAACA and their organization, especial- and will share the results with the the Preserve. “After I stood there a why it is unlawful in several counties ly considering the difficult weather on Patagonia Town Council. while looking at them they lost inter- [but not in Santa Cruz]...Finding some est in me and started casually looking easy habituated garbage-fed javelina, around at other things. My being there corn-fed turkeys, or stray cats would didn’t bother them at all,” she said.