November 30, 2011 • Vol. 09, No. 50
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Anthem • Black Canyon City • Carefree • Cave Creek • Desert Hills • New River • N. Phoenix • Tramonto
Cave Creek Luminaria Run set for 9th year MARC BUCKHOUT MANAGING EDITOR
Marc Buckhout/The Foothills Focus
Shoppers turned out early for Moonlight Madness at the Outlets at Anthem. For the third straight years shoppers had the opportunity to start their holiday shopping on Thanksgiving Night. To view more photos from Thursday’s festivities go to facebook.com/ thefoothills.focus.
Crowds come to Anthem, commence holiday shopping MARC BUCKHOUT MANAGING EDITOR
Twas the night before Black Friday when all through the Outlets at Anthem shoppers by the car full showed up to start their Christmas shopping. Despite rain drops falling on their heads, the chance to get a drop on their fellow shoppers proved too tempting for a female-dominated crowd that turned out from all across the Valley. Susan Avans, of Avondale, drove up to the Outlets with her friend Sierra Garcia, of Phoenix, looking to do some shopping for her husband and son. Garcia said she took a nap after her Thanksgiving meal to prepare for a late night of shopping.
Inside:
Avans said she was contemplating going without sleep as she was due for an early morning, having to be at work at 5 a.m. on Friday. When asked how she planned to accomplish such a feat she pointed to her double fisted caffeine combo of pop and coffee. “We’ve got the stores mapped out where they are,” Garcia said as they waited for the Nike store to open up. “We’re going to hit the Coach store and the toy store too after this.” Courtney Elkins, the manager of Aeropostale, is going through her third Christmas shopping season at the Outlets at Anthem. While many stores advertised
SHOPPING
continued on page 5
GOVERNMENT:
The Cave Creek Luminaria Run will celebrate its 9th anniversary event at 5:15 p.m., Saturday beginning at the Cave Creek Rodeo Grounds. The event, which has drawn as many as 1,200 runners in past years, is back under the leadership of Carefree native Meribeth Reeves who had handed the event over in recent years. “We draw from all over the world, Canada, Australia, Great Britain,” she said. “It’s a unique kind of run. There are very few evening runs. It’s a beautiful unique experience.” This year’s event will be the first time the event has used the
Submitted photo
The Cave Creek Luminaria Run will celebrate its 9th anniversary at 5:15 p.m., Saturday. The event leaves from the Cave Creek Rodeo Grounds.
current course, which features city views, rolling hills on an out and back course. “It’s a little easier in avoiding traffic,” Reeves said. “We also
think it’s a really quiet, nice run that the runners will enjoy.” Proceeds from the event
RUN
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Cactus Shadows, Boulder Creek faceoff in season opening matchup MARC BUCKHOUT MANAGING EDITOR
For a pair of veteran coaches today’s 4:30 p.m. wrestling meet at Boulder Creek High School will serve as a new beginning of sorts. For Boulder Creek coach Doug Crooks it is simply reclaiming a title he turned over to his assistant and former pupil Kory Gilliland for a couple years. “I’ve been coaching wrestling for 19 years,” he said. “I started the program up here, but when Kory who wrestled for me at Goldwater started working as one of my assistants I figured a couple of seasons ago that it would be the right thing to do to give him his shot running the team.”
After a two-year run the two have flip-flopped titles again with Gilliland now serving as an assistant under Crooks once again. At Cactus Shadows Jim Swetter, the third coach in three seasons at the Cave Creek school, looks to bring some stability to the program and instill hard-nosed attitudes in his wrestlers. While the former heavyweight at Kent State, where he recorded 100 collegiate wins as a member of the Golden Flashes wrestling program, is still new to Arizona he has seven years of high school coaching experience to his credit from his days in Ohio. “So far I’ve liked what I’ve seen,” Swetter said. “We’ve got a hard working group that
CRIME:
SPORTS:
is pushing to get better each day. We’ll have a lot better feel for what we need to work on after {today’s} match.” BOULDER CREEK Crooks said that with a largely young lineup he is counting on his team improving as the season goes along. ”We have a saying that the season isn’t a sprint, but a marathon,” Crooks said. The veteran coach, who likes to change things up on his team, by having them practice to classical music said he’s got some solid candidates to play the role of the team’s lead conductor this season. Among that bunch are senior
MEET
continued on page 3
OTHER :
Kunasek to speak to New River group
Bomb scare causes evacuation of Cave Creek Walmart
Late call by referee thwarts Boulder Creek’s comeback bid
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