PATAGONIA REGIONAL TIMES SPECIAL EDITION SPECIAL EDITION 2020 IN COLLABORATION WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM VOL. 10 ISSUE 7 BP Agents Often the First Responders in Sonoita By Sasha Hartzell In the high desert of southeast- munity liaison. “We closed that.” Just ern Arizona, there is a vast range ten years ago, however, Bartine said of grassland known by local Border traffic numbers were still crazy. Patrol agents simply as ‘The Valley.’ “You had to pick what you were An aerial view of the region re- going to do that day, what groups to veals a shape like cupped hands, the respond to.” Now, local agents are Huachuca and Patagonia Mountain finding they have more flexibility in ranges curving around a long, shad- their ten-hour shifts. owed hollow: this is the San Rafael While the Border Patrol agents Valley, where the border is marked still prioritize their primary mission only with vehicle barriers - approxi- - “to detect and prevent the ille- mately 24 miles of steel rails welded gal entry of aliens into the United into Xs, demarcating the southern States,” according to the Department Photo by Rocky Baier edge of ‘the valley.’ of Homeland Security - they’ve found Emma Young (left) and Liam Young (right) pose like statues in a museum as It is a designated state natural themselves using this flexibility to Chesed Chap talks to the audience during the show, “A Catcher in the Rye: area, home to the San Rafael Ranch partake in a different kind of mission: A Gluten Free Tale” on March 6, 2020. and the headwaters of the interna- local emergency response. tional Santa Cruz River. It is constant- In the rural communities in which Making Your Own Stage - ly surveilled by the Border Patrol they patrol, Sonoita Station agents agents posted in the mountains have become the first responders, above. arriving early on scenes ranging from As a Teenage Playwright Monitoring this segment of border car accidents to lost hikers, from By Rocky Baier Rye: A Gluten Free Tale.” The audience quieted as the lights dimmed and the is the responsibility of the nearby wildfires to domestic abuse. In a Patagonia’s Tin Shed Theater is an jazz song ‘Take Five’ began playing Sonoita Station, created in 1989 to community in which the average wait intimate space with no stage, black over the speakers. Nick Botz, a mem- address what was seen as a glaring time for law enforcement can be foam squares covering the floor, and ber of the tech crew, flipped the main hole in border enforcement, accord- hours, it is a service generally much three rows of chairs that can accom- spotlight on and the space trans- ing to the U.S. Customs and Border appreciated. modate an audience of 100. Red formed, ready for the show to begin. Protection website. “We love Border Patrol,” said curtains hang over the walls, creating a Chesed Chap, the director, writer The station’s jurisdiction includes Joseph DeWolf, chief of the mock backstage. and lead actress of the show, stepped its namesake, Sonoita, as well as Sonoita-Elgin Fire Department. For The theater was alive with activity the towns of Patagonia and Elgin. It small departments like his, which rely on Friday, March 6 as the audience See Playwright page 5 encompasses the valley, the sur- heavily on volunteers, DeWolf said took their seats for “A Catcher in the / rounding mountains, and everything lack of personnel is the biggest chal- in between. In total, it covers an area lenge - and one which the BP agents of around 1,000 square miles - about help alleviate. the size of Rhode Island. The station’s DeWolf’s team has been collabo- Patagonia, a Pit Stop for initial eight agents had their hands rating with Border Patrol for as long full. as he has been there, 25 years. In Migrating Butterflies In the 31 years since, the Sonoita the past ten years, however, he said By Alexandra Pere to be monarch butterflies - flew away. Station’s workforce has grown signifi- the relationship has become much Nabhan’s lifelong fascination with cantly - an estimated 231 agents now stronger. When Gary Nabhan was growing up pollinators had just begun. patrol the region, seven days a week Formerly limited by a lack of in the Indiana Dunes, he remembered Pollinator animal species such as and 24 hours a day. Concurrently, agents, Border Patrol now can being sleepy in the middle of his class bees, bats and monarch butterflies are illegal traffic through the area has respond to calls for help 99% of the one day. Looking out the window, he essential to biodiversity. Patagonia is decreased from what it once was. time, according to Bartine. “They studied the leaves of a tree nearby. an important corridor for monarchs “The area used to be an open used to call the station and ask for Nabhan, who would later find out migrating from Mexico as they fertilize door for smuggling,” said Justin he is color-blind, thought they had odd colors and when this crossed his Bartine, the Sonoita Station’s com- See / Page Border Patrol 13 mind, the leaves - which turned out See Butterflies/page 7 About this speciAl edition By Ruxandra Guidi Within days of our meeting, started with this collaboration in early Tom and I would begin to plot our January we did not foresee how the PRT Last August, just two weeks after three-way collaboration involving Covid-19 pandemic would affect our moving to Tucson to start my job as an the Patagonia Regional Times, the students’ reporting on the ground - let MISSION STATEMENT assistant professor at the University University of Arizona School of alone how it would affect all our lives. of Arizona’s School of Journalism, I Journalism and residents of Eastern Many of our stories could not be fully To publish a nonprofit headed to a coffee shop near campus. Santa Cruz County. The PRT board reported on the ground before mid- community newspaper which One of my new colleagues sat at a not only approved our idea, but went March, when we all found ourselves serves the Mountain Empire little table inside, eager to introduce to local residents and foundations to suddenly unable to leave our homes communities of Santa Cruz Coun- me to Tom Beal, a former reporter raise money for the project, which or get close to people as we’d typically ty, including Canelo, Elgin, at the Arizona Daily Star who’d been would involve the students’ two- need to in order to interview them Patagonia, and Sonoita, and there for more than four decades. day visit to Patagonia, meals, van and spend time with them. which is open to all views, high- “Tom has a great idea for a rides, and printing costs for a special We hope that by the time this issue lighting local issues and empha- collaboration,” Renée told me as summer issue. reaches you, life in Patagonia and sizing the contributions of local we shook hands. Folks in Sonoita and Patagonia Sonoita will have returned to normal. talent. I’d come to the School of also shared their concerns and ideas Thank you for reading; for trusting Journalism with 20 years of for coverage; a number of them - us with your stories, and supporting WHO WE ARE experience, but gathered all over business owners, activists, researchers a collaboration that we hope to the place: I’ve been a public radio - even came to speak to our group and continue for years to come. We want We are a nonprofit organization, producer and reporter, a freelance guided our students throughout the to thank all of the participants who funded by paid advertising, do- foreign correspondent in South semester as they wrote their pieces. shared their experience with our nations and grants. PRT is a free America, a contributing editor for a We are very proud of what you’re students, as well as the generous monthly publication distributed to magazine and a freelance magazine about to read: these stories are donors who made this special edition news stands and local merchants writer. But through it all, I’ve stuck the product of our students’ hard possible. in The Mountain Empire. to my vision that some of the best work, but also of a simple wish to We would welcome your feedback journalism is produced collaboratively try to revitalize not just community on this issue. Please contact me at - not just among professional Managing Editor: journalism but also journalism [email protected]. journalists, but also including different education. Marion Vendituoli institutions and media outlets. Needless to say, when we got Assistant Editor: Aisha Chapra Sander IN THIS ISSUE Bookkeeper: 1 BORDER PATROL 10 WINERIES Border Patrol agents serve as local emergency first A look at the wine business in Elgin and Sonoita. Cynie Murray responders. By Seth Markowski Administrative Assistant By Sasha Hartzell Ad Manager: 11 OPINION & COMMENT Jared Krikorian 1 PLAYWRIGHT Chesed Chap writes, directs and stars in her own plays. Two students share their personal pandemic stories. By Rocky Baier By Aiya Cancio Special Edition By Vianney Cardenas Layout and Design: 1 BUTTERFLIES Rocky Baier Patagonia is a stopping point for migrating monarch 12 Alexandra Pere butterflies. LOCAL HISTORY Smuggling on the border - A longstanding problem. By Alexandra Pere Board of Directors: By Conor Villines New uses for old buildings in Patagonia. Bob Brandt 3 REMEMBERING HARSHAW By Ray Diaz Tom Beal Growing up in a Southern Arizona mining town. Francesca Claverie By Clara Migoya Lynn Davison 13 BORDER TECHNOLOY Cassina Farley 4 OPERA HOUSE Technology supports Border Patrol mission.