Gilbert Sun News 112422 Thanksgiving

BY JOSH ORTEGA AND ALEX GALLAGHER Staff Writer

Slammed as much as their custom ers have been this year by inflation and supply line disruptions, Scotts dale and East Valley small business own ers hope the Christmas shopping season will bring them a little cheer.

Buoying those hopes are reports like one earlier this month by Catherine Cul len, senior director of industry and con sumer insights for the National Retail Federation and NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz, who predict healthy hol iday sales as consumer spending contin

BY JOSH ORTEGA Staff Writer

Area nonprofits are hoping that people will open their hearts –and their wallets – amid a grow ing number of needy families who are feeling inflation’s wrath.

It starts, they hope, next week as Ari zona joins the international observance of Giving Tuesday Nov. 29, a movement that started in 2012 to “give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.”

The day is important to people like Lorraine Tallman, CEO of Amanda Hope Rainbow Angel, a nonprofit she started in 2018 to help children with cancer and blood disorders in memory of her 12-year-old daughter, who died in 2012.

“I travel a lot speaking about familycentered care, and I’m always blown away at how generous Arizonans are,” said Tallman, whose nonprofit keeps alive Amanda’s dream of designing ap parel as well as help for families saddled with high medical bills.

“We try to go to grocery stores that will give us a discount when we buy the gift card, so we get more for the dollar,” Tallman said, adding that her group, like many oth ers, are “just asking our people that support us to give a little more this year.”

“I see a lot of needs flooding in,” Tall man said. “So, that’s why we’re really pushing Giving Tuesday.”

The need has grown as inflation and soaring housing costs take their toll.

“With rising costs of toys and books, we’re asking the community to step up

ues to reinforce economic activity.

“Almost regardless of what’s going on in the economy, consumers want to cel ebrate holidays,” Cullen said. “They want to give gifts to their loved ones, and they want to make this time of year feel spe cial.”

But while Kleinhenz predicted holi day retail sales would grow by 6-8% this year, the federation noted that its research also shows “consumers are feeling the impact of inflation in differ ent ways.

“Higher-income consumers are plan

and help us with gifts and cash dona tions,” said Maureen Noe, president & CEO of Arizona Helping Hands, which helps thousands of foster children.

“We provide children 0-12 with new toys and books and teens and young adults 13-21 will receive gift cards so they can enjoy some holiday shopping,” she said. There are many ways for the community to get involved and help make the holidays a little brighter for

Author hopes new book will help make happier lives

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Robert Serocki Jr. spent a little less than a year fighting on the front lines in the first Iraq war.

The Mesa man spent more than 25 years fighting its impact on his body and his soul.

Serocki, 52, has chronicled his struggle with post traumatic distress syndrome in three books, and each week he broadcasts an internet radio show at robertserockijr. com in the hope of helping other men and women recover from PTSD.

Now he has published a new book titled “The Blacksmith.”

Inspired by an old Civil War photo that looked uncannily like him, the book offers a guide for overcoming life’s obstacles that he formulated in successfully battling PTSD.

At one point, that battle seemed hopeless.

He didn’t realize he was a PTSD victim immediately after he left the Marine Corps in 1992 as a corporal following four years’ service. He did one tour in Saudi Arabia and another in Kuwait as a demolition engineer.

Mesa author Robert Serocki has chronicled his battle to overcome post-traumatic stress disorder in three books and has now published “The Blacksmith,” a more general guide to living a healthier and happier life. (File photo)

At one point he was homeless after losing everything he had except his truck, and felt like an outcast. He had come close to suicide twice.

Armed with his faith, Serocki turned to the spiritual for answers and said he analyzed his dreams and extrapolated the messages he believed his unconscious mind was giving him to put a traumatic past behind him.

Using meditation, dream analysis, prayer, a healthy diet and a set of goals, he turned his

life toward a more positive direction.

“The Blacksmith” looks at the roadmap he used to get there.

Subtitled “Life does not get better by chance; it gets better by change,” the book is a compilation of the spiritual, philosophi cal and practical applications he used to go from homelessness to homeowner, pauper to investor.

He takes pride in the help he gave a son and a friend of the boy to turn their high school grades around and get into college.

“While all of this was going on, people would contact me from time to time via my YouTube channel and my website,” he said.

“They would contact me for inspiration, guidance, support so that we could have open and candid conversations about our experiences as veterans, family members of veterans, and or friends of veterans, and people who have experienced trauma and life struggles.

“I spend a substantial portion of my time studying, writing about my struggles and victories, and helping others with theirs in whatever way I can.”

He puts as much importance on his spiri tual activities, especially praying, as he does on the healthy lifestyle he adopted through exercise, wholesome foods and even raising chickens and a garden in his yard.

“There also is mental health and spiritual health,” he said. “All work together and you cannot have one without the others. I spend portions of my day meditating…When I go to bed at night I pray, and it is always the first thing I do when I awake in the morning.”

He started “The Blacksmith” after he fin ished “The Sword and the Anvil,” his “defini tive guide for natural, healthy healing from post-traumatic stress and trauma.”

Through painstaking research, he discov ered the identity of the Civil War blacksmith whose photo he resembled.

Named John Hart and a member of a New York regiment, the blacksmith, Serocki said "he fought in numerous battles,” was wound ed at Gettysburg and eventually died in a vet erans home in 1907 after a pain-filled life.

Serocki believes the guideposts he sets out in the book might have saved Hart from that painful life.

“PTSD is, in my opinion, getting a lot more

foster children.”

Today, a holiday meal for some 250 East Valley families was made possible by a Thanksgiving Sponsorship Program run by the Save the Family Foundation of Arizona.

Greg Boone, the foundation’s chief de velopment officer, said, “We’ve seen an increased demand for our services.

“We need to do a better job of advo cating for and building affordable hous ing,” Boone said. “Affordable housing is ultimately one of the catalysts to help ing families exit from homelessness into housing and financial stability.”

But Giving Tuesday is not the only day on which people can help the less fortu nate. Below is a list of some of the orga nizations that offer other ways to help.

Natural Restorations

What: Fifth Annual Green Friday Lower Salt River Cleanup

When: Nov. 25, 8 a.m.-noon Where: Sheep’s Crossing Recreation Site (33.556242, -111.577611)

Info: Nicole Corey 480-628-3903; Con tact@Naturalrestorations.org

Arizona’s Children’s Association

What: Gifts Of Hope Holiday Campaign will help match you with a child or family and provide you with a list of their needs and wishes. Sign up at arizonaschildren. org/other-ways-to-give/#gifts-of-hope. Info: Kurtis Espino 602-350.6662 Kes pino@Arizonaschildren.org

Angel Tree Volunteers

What: Anyone interested will visit one of the two locations for angel trees and select the tag of an “angels” child and go shopping for them. Donors will bring their gifts to the angel trees to be distributed to the child on Christmas

Where: Chandler Fashion Center, 3111 W. Chandler Blvd., Chandler; San Tan Village, 2218 E. Williams Field Road, Gilbert. Info: Regeina Williams 480-963-2041; Regeina.Williams@usw.Salvationarmy.org

ICAN Stuffed With Love Gift Wrappers

What: Wrap presents for children of low-income families.

When: 3-6 p.m. Dec. 7. Where: 650 East Morelos St., Chandler. Info: Gina La Benz, 480-262-8401; gina labenz@gmail.com; Samantha Wertman, 480-874-7597, samantha@icanaz.org.

Stuffed With Love Gift Donations

What: Bring new or nearly new items such as clean stuffed animals, complete games/puzzles, jewelry, craft items, un opened lotions, books, purses, gift items for men, small miscellaneous gift items, or gift wrapping supplies, for children of low-income families to “shop” for gifts for their families.

When: Until Dec. 3. Where: Chandler/Gilbert Family YMCA, 1655 W. Frye Road, Chandler. Info: Gina La Benz, 480-262-8401 or Gi nalabenz@Gmail.Com.

Stuffed With Love Shopping Buddies

What: Help children of low-income families “shop” for donated gift items for their families.

When: 3-6 p.m. Dec. 7. Where: 650 E. Morelos St. Chandler. Info: Gina La Benz, 480-262-8401, gina

labenz@gmail.com; Samantha Wertman, 480- 874-7597 samantha@icanaz.org.

Jewish Family And Children’s Service

It’s A Wrap! Gift-Wrapping Event

What: This festive event enables individ uals who wish to celebrate the season with other adopt-a-family sponsors an opportunity to wrap their donations as a community. attendees share lunch and community as they ‘wrap up’ their spon sorship commitment.

When: 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Dec. 1. Where: Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale.

Info: Jayne Plotkin, jayne.plotkin@jfc saz.org.

Arizona Helping Hands

What: 24th annual holiday toy drive for foster families. Donations, volunteers, and sponsors needed. Bring a new, unwrapped toys to their Fill Santa’s Sleigh event. When: 5-8 p.m. Dec. 6.

Info: azhelpinghands.org/holidaytoy drive; Bethany Eggleston at develop ment@azhelpinghands.org.

Researchers use GPS to track Sonoran desert tortoises

BY OLIVIA DOW Cronkite News

Sonoran desert tortoises are built for the desert. With their short legs and tough shell, they slowly but skill fully traverse Arizona’s rocky terrain, and like goats, can get to places humans can not. And in our increasingly dry and hot climate, they just might have lessons about survival.

“If there’s anything that’s built for long term drought, it’s the Sonoran desert tor toise,” Chad Rubke with the Arizona Game & Fish Department said. “These guys are like little tanks of the Sonoran Desert.”

Sonoran desert tortoises can hold water for up to a year, Rubke said. That matters given that Arizona is in a megadrought.

“They hold all their water resources within their bladder; they have a really big bladder,” Rubke said. “That makes up a large portion of their body weight, and they get a lot of their moisture from the food that they eat.”

The tortoises, unsurprisingly, are not fleet of foot, traveling 10 to 12 miles over a few years, Rubke said.

One of the ways researchers are able to monitor tortoise movement is through ra dio telemetry, Rubke said. He knows this because Arizona Game & Fish has moni tored and tracked Sonoran desert tortoises since the 1980s.

The McDowell Sonoran Conservancy now is doing its own study using technology to track Sonoran desert tortoises to answer such questions as how urban expansion af fects the species. The conservancy manages the 30,500-acre McDowell Sonoran Pre serve, which is owned by Scottsdale.

Rubke said he helped get the conservan cy’s three-year study up and running but has mostly been on the project’s periphery.

The conservancy started the study in 2021, using telemetry devices that tracked the tortoises’ location once a week. This year, it added GPS units to collect location data every hour.

“We’re going out there every three weeks

to swap out the GPS unit on the tortoise (so) that we can get that data back,” said Jessie Dwyer, the biodiversity manager at the conservancy. “We will use the telemetry equipment to actually track the location of the tortoise and then we get that data from the GPS for their fine-scale movements.”

The conservancy attaches transmitters

to the shells of 22 tortoises across the pre serve, Dwyer said. The study is possible through special permits from Scottsdale and Arizona Game & Fish.

Researchers hope to get an idea of how human factors affect the tortoises.

So we have some tortoises that are right by trails or trailheads or roads, things like that, and some tortoises that are more in ternal to the preserve that we can get a comparison on how they’re moving in rela tion to human activity,” Dwyer said.

Over the first year, Dwyer said, research ers found many tortoises by trailheads in the preserve. Near Thompson Trailhead, there is an active construction zone that tortoises have found their way into. Dwyer said these tortoises have been relocated back into the preserve.

“That’s an area we are keeping a big eye on and we have a few tortoises that we’ve tracked in that area,” Dwyer said. “They do interact with humans on a frequent basis.

Jessie Dwyer, biodiversity manager at McDow ell Sonoran Conservancy, demonstrates how a transmitter and GPS tracker are affixed to the wild tortoises in the study. (Emily Mai/Cronkite News)

These tortoises live a very long time, so they might have a typical route they usually go through and then all of a sudden there is construction there one year.”

Although the study will continue for an other year, Dwyer said they have learned the preserve’s tortoise population is al most “cut in half” by Rio Verde Drive, which separates the preserve.

Dwyer said they have not observed tor toises moving across Rio Verde Drive, so two populations exist, one on the north and the other on the south. They said that this, “may be impactful in the future where those kind of populations of tortoises are cut off from each other, and how that might affect them genetically.”

So far, they have found that each tortoise is individual in its movements, some travel a lot while others do not travel as much. Dw yer said they have also found the tortoises are “variable” in the way they use the land scape. Some have more complicated rock burrows and others dig shallow burrows.

“One of the cool things that we’ve seen with this study is we’ve seen a lot of juve

niles lately, and also some tortoise eggs as well, which is a really good sign of a healthy tortoise population,” Dwyer said.

Sonoran desert tortoises are a keystone species in the Sonoran desert, meaning they are an important factor for the overall eco system. However, Dwyer said, the tortoise is easily affected by human disturbances.

“We’ve seen it with the kind of sister sub species of Mojave desert tortoise with a lot of urban development has really been det rimental to the species,” Dwyer said. “Any sort of development or human recreation but also climate change as well.”

Although Arizona is still in a drought, the state’s longest drought since the U.S. Drought Monitor started in 2000 oc curred from Aug. 18, 2009, to June 4, 2019. Drought remains a concern, even though August 2022 was the 11th wettest in 128 years, according to the monitor.

In February, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser vice denied endangered species protection to the Sonoran desert tortoise, citing the species has adult populations in the hun dreds of thousands currently in the wild.

Krista Kemppinen, senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson,

said while Sonoran desert tortoise popula tions are relatively stable, there is concern for the future.

“The big concern is as droughts get more frequent, and more intense, that there will be declines in the future,” Kemppinen said.

Kemppinen said Sonoran desert tor toises are “intune” with the desert environ ment, feeding on vegetation from monsoon rains, but habitat loss, cattle grazing and invasive plant species, she said, could harm

AUTHOR from page 4

attention from science and society but for two distinct reasons,” Serocki said.

“More and more veterans, athletes and peo ple in general are talking about their issues with it, bringing it to the forefront,” he said.

“This is good because as more and more people share their stories, it brings more and more awareness of mental health issues and their prevalence in society today.

“Secondly, and more importantly, this also helps the individuals to heal because they are talking about it.”

He also feels like he has turned a corner in

their ability to thrive in the desert.

“Biodiversity in general… is just so es sential to maintaining ecosystem function and through that, delivery of ecosystem services,” Kemppinen said. If a species has a drastic decline, she said, it can impact the entire ecosystem. “And by the time that it’s declined so significantly, it may even be too late for us to recover it. So we do re ally need a diverse and stable ecosystem to provide a series of benefits to society.”

his life through his books.

“Not only have I written about my strug gles with PTSD,” he said, “more importantly, I am writing about how I overcame it in natu ral, healthy ways, and how I rebuilt my life.”

“With all of these tools and skills I now have in my arsenal, I feel whole, complete, and happy in the fact that I know myself per sonally and that I am completing the work that I was put here to do,” he said.

“My life is very satisfying and fulfilling. I can now say, with great confidence, I am happy and mean it.”

His books are available at robertserockijr. com

ning to spend more than they did in 2021, while lower- to middle-income individuals are more cautious when set ting budgets for the holiday season,” the federation said, echoing similar predic tions by other experts.

Regan Amato, vice president and re tail specialist for the global real estate investment company Jones Lang Lasalle said, “Local performance and sales num bers among metro Phoenix restaurants, retailers and most services are strong” and that the Valley is “in a very good position going into the holiday season, which traditionally only further boosts sales.”

“In-store shopping has experienced something of a renaissance this year, beating online ordering for the top shopping method,” JLL’s annual holiday shopping survey said. “After two years of dealing with the pandemic by staying close to home, consumers are ready to get back to shopping in stores.”

Against this backdrop, area business owners are keeping their fingers crossed

even though the pandemic gave way to continuing supply line disruptions, high er costs and staffing shortages.

“After everything opened back up again, we were charged around a 7% surcharge added to the delivery fee,” said Ana Wells, owner of urbAna in the Scottsdale Quarter. “I think the main driver of that was the cargo ships that were getting stuck and the delay on that.”

The surcharge has impacted longstanding businesses like The Paper Place in Old Town.

“I just had to go re-order our bags and that was a 20% increase,” said The Pa per Place co-owner Betsy Hendricks. “I mean, 18 to 20% is almost the standard in everything we’re buying and because of that, we had to increase the prices.”

Wells said she had to do the same, explaining, “My vendors are increasing their prices a little bit and because of that, we’ve had to raise our prices.”

Businesses across the East Valley re ported similar challenges.

Tiffany Shultz, who started Sip and Shop boutique store at the SanTan Vil

lage in Gilbert in November 2020, said inflation forced her to raise prices be tween 5% and 10% on various products such as wood.

Rebecca Hill, executive director of the Downtown Chandler Community Part nership, said businesses “do feel like the season has started a little bit slower, but I think it’s still too early to tell if it’s re ally the impact from inflation.”

“In some instances, there have been some delays for shipping for sure and I think everybody’s feeling the additional cost.”

Because of this, Hill said businesses have become more proactive in ordering products to sit on shelves this holiday season.

But many retailers also found ways to mitigate drastic cost increases.

Lacey Barta, who owns The Boutique in downtown Mesa said she has man aged to circumvent significant wholesale cost increases by “sourcing correctly,” resulting in only a 3% to 4% increases in her prices.

She said she carefully selects suppliers in both Arizona and across the country with an eye toward value.

“I haven’t had that huge of an issue,” Barta said of her product costs. “And it’s because we’re sourcing where we need to be sourcing.”

Labor shortages another issue

Though staffing shortages have been a consistent thorn in area businesses’ side for at least a year, owners find particular challenges as they beefed up their staff

to support an expected influx of shop pers flooding into their doors during Black Friday and Small Business Satur day as well as most days from now until Christmas.

Though she’d like to add four more employees, Shultz said finding employ ees has remained difficult.

Shultz said she’s fielded about 50 applications recently but only three showed up for an interview.

“We have a good staff,” Shultz said. “But I’m always looking to hire more people because it has been difficult to find people.”

Barta also is relying on her core staff to push her through the holidays.

With two full-time employees and three part-time, Barta said she’s pre pared for the holiday shopping season but could use the extra help and would eventually like to expand.

“In the past few years, they’ve been great and consistently getting bet ter, and were just growing,” Barta said. “Even though the economy might be a little scary right now, it doesn’t mean that we have to be scared about holidays or anything.”

On the other hand, Julie Judd who serves as the store leader for Altar’d State in Scottsdale Quarter said she was able to hire seven new employees for the holiday season.

Back in stock

Area stores have begun to see prod

Tiffany Shultz of Sip & Shop in Gilbert said that while “we have a good staff,” she is “always look ing to hire more people because it has been difficult to find people.” (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

Nonprofit treats WWII centenarian to the flight of his life

BY SAMANTHA CHOW Cronkite News

Dressed in the same flight suit he wore in World War II, 100-year-old Ted Giannone stepped into a bright yellow Fairchild PT-26 trainer plane late, becoming Grounded No More’s 500th rider.

For 30 minutes, Tony Anger, owner and founder of the Mesa-based nonprofit Grounded No More, flew Giannone around east Mesa and the Superstition Mountains.

Since 2016, he has flown hundreds of veterans on such “honor flights” free of charge, with support from donations.

Grounded No More was an “accidental ministry,” as Anger puts it.

While working for the Commemora tive Air Force at Falcon Field, which offers public rides in vintage warplanes, Anger met a young man who wanted to fly in a B-17 to honor his grandfather, who flew a “Flying Fortress” in World War II.

“It was a great story right up until he went to pay,” Anger recalled. “The lady said, ‘Thank you, that will be $425. … If you’ve ever been in the military, you know

SHOP from page 12

ucts return to shelves.

“I think what we’re seeing this year is a lot of easing of the supply chain chal lenges that people had last year and the retailers have some inventory on their shelves this year, which is great,” said Scottsdale Quarter marketing manager Christina Calhoun.

Barta said it wasn’t long after the 2021 Christmas shopping season that “we were already planning for next holi day because we know fresh what didn’t work, what did work.”

“With what is thrown at us, we pivot, and so we’ve got a lot of plans here for this holiday and we’re excited,” she said.

Added Calhoun, “One thing that we’re noticing that’s different this year is that everyone’s starting their holiday much earlier.

“A lot of stores began putting up their holiday displays immediately after Hal

that $425 is probably what you take home every month.”

Instead, Anger offered to fly the man in his Fairchild – dubbed “Amazing Grace” –for free.

After a conversation with his wife, Kar en, Anger started Grounded No More and began taking veterans on honor flights in 2016.

Earlier this year, while Anger was check

ing the log books, he noticed the organiza tion was approaching its 500th flight.

“We were looking specifically for some body special for our 500th ride,” Anger said.

That’s when he heard about Giannone.

In 1940, shortly after he was eligible to enlist, Giannone joined the Navy as an aircraft mechanic and gunner on a TBF Avenger torpedo bomber. He served about

30 years, active duty and Navy Reserve combined, and worked for the aerospace company Grumman as a field-based ad ministrator building the lunar module.

On Oct. 30, he added another honor to the list: Grounded No More’s 18th World War II veteran and fourth centenarian to take an honor flight.

Dozens of people gathered at Falcon Field Airport to support Giannone and Grounded No More.

“All of this is so unbelievable,” Giannone said. “And for a guy like me? I’m just a guy, nothing special.”

That statement was quickly followed up with disagreements among the crowd.

Like many veterans Anger flies, Gian none hadn’t been in a military plane in years.

“One thing I’ve noticed about these vet erans, especially the older ones, they get up in that airplane and they’re slow get ting in,” Anger said, “but when they jump out, they’ve gone from 100 years old back to an 18-year-old.”

And, sure enough, Giannone landed with a mile-wide grin and both arms in the air.

loween and I think the reason that we saw that was because everyone finally had that inventory in stock and they want to make sure they get it out on the shelves, so people had plenty of time to shop early,” she said.

Shultz said inflation does not seem to have impacted customer activity.

“We’ve still seen the same number of customers in the same volume that we’ve seen in the past, despite having to raise prices due to the economy right now,” Shultz said.

Overall, Shultz said she saw a rebound in her sales ahead of last year with con sumers going out “ready to support lo cal... We’re seeing that again this year, So far despite inflation and the way the economy is, we’re ahead of where we were last year.”

Barta said the clothing store has also seen a gradual increase in sales, a sign of a return to normal.

“The pandemic just really made people

want to get out and go shopping,” Barta said. “And so, it really kind of helped with that and growing ourselves.”

Area retailers also are ratcheting up their appeals to customers to think local when they start looking for gifts.

“I’m a big advocate of shopping small and the small businesses are what makes the heartbeat in the communi ties,” said Lisa Garber, owner of Galicia Fine Jewelers in Scottsdale.

“We are the ones that people come to when they need donations here in the school, for charities or anything else. So, I always remind people – ever so kindly and ever so respectfully – to remember us not just when you want to ask for something.”

Despite the anxiety among business owners as they gear up for the holiday shopping season, many are still hoping for the traditional jolt it receives from the Black Friday rush as well as the next day, Small Business Saturday.

Judd says she and her team at Altar’d State are excited to open their doors for its first Black Friday sale.

“It’s our first year, so we’re excited,” Judd said. “Our plan is just to wow ev eryone with the fashion that we have over there and honestly, it’s the most fun day of the year for me. I’ll bring in candy canes and hand them out to everyone and I’ll be wearing a Santa hat.”

Merchants also are hoping that area municipalities’ special tree lighting cel ebrations will entice crowds to down town shops.

And the global tax and audit consult ing brand Deloitte said retailers also can take heart in one fact.

“The bottom line is that despite the obstacles, consumers will likely find ways to make the holidays special,” it said. “And savvy retailers likely will be the ones who find ways to engage with evolving spending priorities to shine this holiday season.”

Centenarian Ted Giannone raises both hands in the air as he lands at Falcon Field Airport in Mesa after becoming Grounded No More’s 500th rider since 2016. (Samantha Chow/Cronkite News)

East Valley couple continue African mission

BY COTY DOLORES MIRANDA Tribune Contributor

Kay West has jetted from Phoenix to southern Africa and back six times in five years.

The only year she couldn’t go – usu ally with a team of local friends and supporters – was in 2020 when the pandemic impeded travel of any kind.

Along with her husband John, she is a co-founder of the Ahwatukee-based nonprofit Swaziserve, founded in 2010 after the couple sold their threestory Ahwatukee home and all their possessions to go to Swaziland. The

country since 2018 is called Eswatini, also written as “eSwatini.”

The Wests’ ministry was focused on spreading the word of God as well as helping local women and children im prove their lives through projects in cluding feeding programs for children, the elderly, and at-risk families. The couple also established an orphanage.

In 2014, West said, God called the couple to relocate across the border from Eswatini to South Africa, where they ministered to the same Swazi tribe.

Her book “Refiner’s Fire: My Walk with God in the Rainbow Nation” re

lates their story in South Africa from 2014 to 2017.

While John West was very handson during their seven-year residence in Africa, moving back to Ahwatukee has required his attention be focused on working to support himself and his wife while using his talents to also help Swaziserve.

“Kay and I work together as a team,” said John. “While she does the ‘up front’ mission work,’ I do the behindthe-scenes things like accounting, banking, formatting newsletters, and

see MISSION page 21

Kay Cassidy West and her husband John West of Ahwatukee have spent a decade helping impoverished villages in two African countries and lived there for a time after selling all their possessions. (File Photo)

ASU professor’s program yields useful apps

TRIBUNE NEWS STAFF

Akind of super brainstorming ses sion by Dr. Neal Lester and his Project Humanities team at Ari zona State University last month pro duced a unique app that helps at-home caregivers find resources that could help them avoid burnout.

That app – as well as another app and a web application – were the products of the ninth annual Hack for Humanities:: Hacking for the Social Good, an online and in-person collaboration of people of all ages and backgrounds who come to gether for an intensive 36-hour session with a specific mission.

Working in five-person teams, partici pants are challenged to create product that addresses various social, economic, and political issues within three tracks: aging and wellbeing, civic engagement and environmental justice.

Each team’s product had to exemplify at least three of Project Humanities’

seven Humanity 101 principles: com passion, empathy, forgiveness, integrity, kindness, respect and self-reflection.

Lester, ASU Foundation Professor of English, is founding director of Project Humanities, a 12-year-old initiative de signed to “connect the university and diverse, local communities for engaged, inclusive, multidisciplinary public con versations about the intersections of hu manities, social justice, racial/gender/ sexual identities, and more.”

Lester describes Hack for Humanity as “a global multi-professional, interdis ciplinary, entrepreneurial hackathon.”

Because it offered for the first time a chance for people to participate solely online, Hacks for Humanity drew 98 participants, 32 volunteers, and 36 men tors from. around the country and the world.

Lester said participants came from 10 states as well as Cameroon, Canada, Egypt, India, Nigeria, Philippines, Po land, South Africa, United Kingdom and China.

With the support of grants and do nations from a variety of major cor porations, Hacks for Humanities was held at ASU SkySong in Scottsdale last month and began with an opening ses sion titled “The Power of Storytelling,” by former Project Humanities Associate Director Alycia de Mesa, “who stressed the fact that every successful product in the world and in this event had to be a compelling story about which someone cares,” Lester said.

To demonstrate that storytelling po tential and impact, participants created short stories around funny Gifs, bolster ing the teammates’ camaraderie.

Day 2 opened with Dr. Loretta Cheeks, whose expertise in artificial intelligence and machine learning “specifically chal lenged teams to think of the humanity missing from too many tech solutions and interventions,” Lester said.

Website building was the focus of a workshop by ASU Project Humanities alumna Jamila Kahn, who “reminded attendees that websites are a window

into one’s business venture so should be clear, concise, engaging, and accurate,” Lester said.

Andrea Passarella began the session’s third day, reminding participants that mediation and self-care “are intricately connected to personal and professional success.”

The teams’ hacks were judge by Cole Busby, ASU alum with a BS in neurobi ology and a minor in Spanish; Dr. Karen V. Busch, a resident at ASU Mirabella whose background includes experi ence designing, managing, and evaluat ing large collaborative projects both for governmental and nongovernmental agencies; Marchelle F. Franklin, director of the Phoenix Human Services Depart ment; and David W. Hopkins, former vice president of IT applications at CSAA In surance Group.

The top prize went to a team compris ing Neha Balamurugan, Mihir Goyenka, Bhrugu Dave, Emma Williams and Sarah

anything else I can do to support our mission of Swaziserve.”

A crucial part of his support actually involves them both.

“Most of all, we pray together. We’re a small organization but do our very best to serve God and His people with excellence,” he said.

“John works full time to support us so that, unlike many other nonprofits, we do not take any salary,” said Kay. “Donations go directly to those we serve. We choose to live frugally so that I can focus full time on ministry.”

On their last trip July 5-28, COVID, the Russia-Ukraine war and in-coun try rioting and violence were part and parcel of experiences Kay and her fel low women travelers faced.

“Our team of four women had been planning for months for our sojourn in the countries of eSwatini and South Africa. When two of us contracted COVID only weeks before we were to leave, it was a little disconcerting, though we did recover in time,” West wrote in a missive to her followers on Swaziserve.com.

Getting to and from southern Africa was arduous for the four women, who selected the best travel price but not the most expedient passage.

Their journey began with two days of travel and were met by a friend who ferried them three hours to their first South Africa stop.

They visited over 20 villages, towns and cities in the two countries during their stay.

Their return trip required crossing the border from Eswatini into South Africa to Tambo International Air port in Johannesburg. From there the women jetted to Frankfurt, Germany then on to Chicago and finally, Phoenix.

“In addition to our team of four from the U.S., we were accompanied by various African ministry partners and friends along the way, who acted as in terpreters as well as helping us with all the shopping for donations, dis tributions of donations, and so much more,” said West.

West said miracles followed as the various countries’ COVID-19 travel re

quirements fell by the way.

“We were very relieved, but still had the test prior to crossing the border into eSwatini to deal with. God took care of that, too,” she said.

“The news has been rife for months with stories of canceled flights, people stuck in airports, and luggage lost. In fact, some dear fellow missionaries, who traveled about the same time we did, had much of their luggage go miss ing. All six of our flights were without incident and all seven of our suitcases arrived on time and intact.”

She said COVID-19 has devastated the Eswatini/South Africa region.

“As Americans, we suffered from CO VID economically, but for the people we serve in Africa, who already had nothing, the impact was horrendous,” she said.

“Many were already surviving handto-mouth with absolutely no money or ability to store food beyond their daily needs. So immediately many people went hungry. Compounded by severe lockdowns at times, they couldn’t even go out to work or find food,” she re ported.

“Their economic recovery has been hard, just as ours has, but they started with less to begin with. Thanks to the generosity of donors, Swaziserve has been able to give funds for emergen cies to approximately 30 families a month since early 2020.”

Further making life difficult for those served by Swaziserve are food shortages exacerbated by the RussiaUkraine war.

And then, the women faced frighten ing issues in-country.

“For three days when we were in South Africa, the news was of full-scale rioting and road closures happening in one city where we were to stay for several nights. The protests abruptly ended the evening before we were scheduled to travel there,” said West.

“We were to drive a certain road to reach several communities where just a month before a busload of people had been robbed and then murdered on the same route. Honestly, it is not a super-safe place to be, but God made a way and covered us,” she said.

As they prepared for their flight home, she added, “another large-scale protest began taking place in the area where we had been ministering for several days. Once again, we escaped unscathed.”

Kay has also been to Kenya in the past years as part of a medical mission team and stayed on to train women in another project in which she’s in volved as International Leadership Developer for Southern Africa’ for Moms in Prayer International (MIP). In that capacity she oversees leader ship development in 14 countries.

In both, she lauds her local ministry

partners who oversee and are actively involved in a plethora of projects.

Swaziserve partners run a feeding site for more than 100 children and the orphanage, provide and raise chickens in villages that allows the communi ties to earn money. They also run sew ing programs, employment assistance for a rural clinic and other projects.

“They are the locals and can do the ministry so much better than we ever could,” said West.

Swaziserve supporters, locally and beyond, have helped keep current projects moving forward, and helped add new ones such as the children’s sponsorship program establish by the Wests after returning to Arizona.

“We continue to be so grateful to our wonderful Ahwatukee neighbors for your compassionate support of not only those in our community, but also for people across the globe,” said West.

She praised their generosity, which she said “continues to help widows, orphans, and families who are in des perate need know that they are not forgotten.”

She said Bridgeway Community Church in Ahwatukee has been very supportive of Swaziserve since its in ception.

“One recent example is that our church raised over $5,000 for the team to use during their trip to purchase ba sic needs as gifts for over 200 women and their families,” she said.

Kay is actively involved in public speaking and recently addressed a conference at Arizona Christian Uni versity and she has been a featured speaker with Moms in Prayer Interna tional.

She has also published “Refiner’s Fire; My Walk With God in the King dom of Swaziland” and “Refiner’s Gold; My Walk With God in the Rainbow Na tion,” which are available on Amazon.

A third book ‘Threads of Gold’ is ex pected to be completed later this year.

“This one will be a little different from my first two books. It’s a com pilation of the stories of the African women themselves, taken from indepth interviews with them that I had the privilege of doing,” she said.

Information: Swaziserve.com

Kay West, second from left, last year published her second memoir of her time in Africa. (Facebook)

Dementia education coming to a doctor near you

BY LIN SUE FLOOD Contributor

It’s staggering to think that 6.5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s. You may even know a relative, friend or neighbor who has it.

With the highest growth rate for demen tia in the nation, Arizona is projected to reach 200,000 cases by 2025.

Family members who are suddenly thrust into the “caregiver role” are desperate for support, unprepared to face a disease that lasts years and becomes more challenging as it progresses. The lack of healthcare profes sionals trained in dementia care affects us all.

The good news is… there is help — and it’s literally coming right to your doctor’s office.

Hospice of the Valley’s Dementia Care and Education Campus is launching an unprec edented education project aimed at training more than 3,000 health providers over the next 14 months to enhance dementia care for those with early and moderate stages of the disease. The extensive campaign is be

ing funded by the Maricopa County Depart ment of Public Health.

“Half of all primary care physicians feel the medical profession has little to no prep aration for serving the burgeoning num bers of people living with dementia,” said Hospice of the Valley Dementia Program Director Maribeth Gallagher, citing a recent Alzheimer’s Facts and Figures Report.

“There is a tremendous and critical need for dementia care education and training that will help providers deliver evidencebased skillful and compassionate care,” Gal lagher said. “And that need will only grow as the incidence of dementia rises each year.”

This education project covers a wide variety of topics, from assessing and diag nosing mild dementia to understanding which medications help or harm dementia patients.

The presentations also give doctors prac tical tools they can share with family care givers, such as the soothing effects of “Vita min M” — music — or ways to decode be haviors that express unmet needs like fear, anxiety or pain.

Hospice of the Valley already offers an in-home Supportive Care for Dementia pro gram at no charge to family caregivers who are caring for loved ones — from pre-diag nosis through the early and middle stages of dementia. This new initiative focuses exclusively on medical professionals, equip ping them with tools to help their patients manage early and moderate stages of the disease with knowledge and dignity.

“We can educate providers — and through them, families — to improve quality of life for people living with all types and all stages

of dementia,” said Supportive Care for De mentia Medical Director Gillian Hamilton.

“Physician offices are the first stop for families concerned about memory loss, and how they talk to families sets the stage for the whole journey through dementia.”

Hospice of the Valley Executive Medical Director Ned Stolzberg is confident this unique training opportunity will be widely embraced.

“Having been in primary care myself, I know how helpless physicians and nurse practitio ners can feel when confronted with patients struggling with dementia,” he said. “Not only problems related to diagnosis and treatment, but also the myriad challenges that arise in the social realm. Awareness of even the basic tools to address some of this will greatly em power our medical community.”

Call (602) 767-8300 or email education@ dementiacampus.org to schedule presenta tions for healthcare providers.

Lin Sue Flood is director of Community Engagement at Hospice of the Valley. For information on programs and services, visit hov.org.

Alzheimer’s and their caregivers.

Tahir for their app, called CareUp. Each team member won $1,000 for their in vention.

Their app addresses of caregiver burn out resulting from the emotional, physi cal, and financial stresses of caring for their elderly and/or disabled loved ones.

The app streamlines the process of attaining resources and/or funding for in-family caregivers by providing users with direct access to applications and submission links.

“The Humanity 101 principles in this product are respect, empathy, and com passion,” said Lester.

Goyenka, who is pursuing his master’s degree at ASU in computer science, said caregivers tending to family members with Alzheimer’s can more easily find in formation and resources on the internet because Alzheimer’s research is highly funded and there are specific nonprofit organizations set up to support those who have the disease.

But it may not be as easy for the care giver who is taking care of a family mem ber who has, say, debilitating arthritis or a psychiatric disorder.

“If you look at it overall, this industry is pretty much fragmented,” Goyenka said. “There is no one-stop solution.”

Second place went to a team that devel

oped a web application called Generation Connection that facilitates friendships across generations. Students and retired seniors can exchange and educate each other with their life experiences.

Third place was won by a team that developed an app, called Ubuntu, that addresses the problems of people with

“The app helps to improve the quality of the day-to-day lives of Alzheimer’s pa tients and their caregivers by enabling patients to record memories, play mem ory quizzes, get reminders, and to con tact their caregivers quickly,” Lester said. “Caregivers can monitor the location of the Alzheimer’s patient, view notes, and create a task list."

Supporters provided raffle items rang ing from Tempe Lake boat rides to As You Wish pottery-making opportunity, and a signed Cardinals football.

Teams competed for cash prizes total ing $10,000 made possible by this year’s Sponsors: State Farm Companies Foun dation, ASU University Technology Of fice, ASU J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute, JDT Family Foun dation, Jenny Norton and Bob Ramsey.

For more details about this event, see www.hacksforhumanity.io. For de tails about the multiple award-winning Project Humanities imitative: projecthu manities.asu.edu.

Favorite songs engage and enliven people living with all stages of dementia. (Courtesy Hospice of the Valley)

Dr. Neal Lester’s ninth annual Hack for Humanities: Hacking for the Social Good drew 98 participants, 32 volunteers, and 36 mentors from around the country and the world. (Courtesy of Dr. Neal Lester)

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East Valley, Scottsdale teams ready for the Open Division

BY ZACH ALVIRA Sports Editor

It’s been widely regarded by national media outlet MaxPreps as one of the top football postseason tournaments in the county.

Arizona’s Open Division has had its critics in the past, especially those who believe it may no longer be needed with some of the top programs in the state all at the 6A level. But it’s remained intact, and the Arizona In terscholastic Association has said it will con tinue to be.

What that brings to Arizona high school football coaches, players and fans is a new level of excitement on Nov. 25. The best against the best. And the East Valley and Scottsdale is yet again well represented.

No. 2 Basha vs No. 8 American Leadership Academy – Queen Creek

Basha locked up the No. 2 seed in the tour nament after taking down Hamilton and Chandler in consecutive weeks, a first for the Bears in their history. At the time, both pro grams were nationally ranked – Chandler as high as No. 9 in the country.

It was two of four nationally ranked oppo nents Basha faced this year. The Bears beat California’s Los Alamitos, which featured two of the top players in the country, to start the season and fell to Liberty out of Peoria, the No. 1 team entering the Open Division playoffs.

The loss to Liberty came before wins over Hamilton, Chandler, Casteel and Perry to close out the season. Simply put, it helped Basha reset.

“Liberty got us last night and it definitely

American Leadership Academy – Queen Creek senior quarterback Drew Cowart has led the Pa triots to the No. 7 ranking in the Open Division and the only 5A team to make the elite eight. (Andy Silvas/Contributor)

set off the fire to get ready to face Hamilton and Chandler,” Basha assistant coach Blake Silberschlag said. “The mindset is ALA –Queen Creek is up first. They score a lot of points, and they have a lot of really talented kids. They’re going to get our best shot and

we’re going to get their best shot. We’ll see what happens from there.”

Like all other Open Division teams, Basha used the week off before the postseason to recover and prepare for American Leader ship Academy – Queen Creek, the only 5A team to make it in the elite eight.

Key matchups will include Basha’s talent ed secondary featuring Oregon commit Cole Martin and another star on the other side in Miles Lockhart against ALA wideouts Ryan Meza, Jayden Williams and athlete Bubba Agne – who splits time at running back with Mitch Jensen.

The Patriots made a big jump to get into the Open Division. They were behind both Sandra Day O’Connor, the No. 8 seed, and Highland, a team most wanted to see in. But

Hamilton alum Terrell Suggs inducted to ASU Hall of Fame

BY EGAN ADLER Cronkite News

College football’s sack king stepped onto the Arizona State campus 23 years ago as a 17-year-old from Chandler’s Hamilton High School, un aware of the impact he would have on the Sun Devils program or that he would one day be counted among the school’s greatest athletes.

Terrell Suggs, who was better known for his exploits as an overpowering running back at Hamilton, swept every major collegiate defensive award as a junior at ASU in 2002, recording 24 sacks, an NCAA Division I record that still stands.

He went on to become one of the most feared pass rushers in NFL history, and recently was among nine former Sun Devils inducted into the ASU Athletics Hall of Fame and Distinction.

“Never could have imagined it,” Suggs said. “When I got the call that, ‘You are inducted into the Hall of Fame,’ I was like, ‘What?’

“You’re shocked, and I’m still taking it all in.”

Suggs, a two-time Super Bowl cham pion with the Baltimore Ravens who be came affectionately known as “T-Sizzle,” was inducted during halftime of ASU’s Oct. 8 upset victory over the Washing ton Huskies, joining former NCAA wres tling champion Anthony Robles, former women’s basketball coach Charli Turner Thorne and player Briann January and five others in the 2022 class.

Suggs was a homegrown star, the first local high school player to go into ASU’s Athletics Hall of Fame since Levi Jones of Santa Cruz High in Eloy and Desert Vis ta’s Zach Miller were inducted in 2016.

Terrell Suggs, one of the most accomplished defensive players in ASU history, was recently inducted in the ASU Athletics Hall of Fame and Distinction. (Screenshot via Cronkite News)

OPEN from page 26

ALA got the nod, and head coach Ty Detmer said his players are up for the challenge yet again.

ALA made the Open Division last year at the same position dan faced Hamilton. The Patriots played the Huskies close for a half before a lack of depth got the best of them.

They feel they’re better off this season, but it comes against an opponent that yet again features one of the top quarterbacks in the country in junior Demond Williams. Basha’s high-powered offense with Deshaun Bu chanan at running back and Bryson Dedmon at wideout, among others, will challenge the Patriots.

But this ALA team is one that has scored over 40 points in all but one game this sea son with Drew Cowart leading the way at quarterback. They have fire power, too.

“We’re gelling at the right time,” Detmer said. “This group hangs in there, they play hard together and they trust each other. I’m really proud of the effort they’ve been able to give week in and week out.

“We’re the type of team that can give some teams problems because our coordinators are really good and we’ve got 26 seniors that have a lot of maturity and experience. It’s a great group.”

No. 3 Chandler vs No. 6 Centennial

One of the surprises of the Open Division was Chandler remaining at No. 3 over No. 4 Hamilton, which beat the Wolves in the final game of the regular season two weeks ago.

But Chandler coach Rick Garretson said he and his team have put that behind them. They know what they’re capable of, and they have the talent to make it happen.

“I’ve always thought that if we play our Agame, I like our chances,” Garretson said. “We didn’t play our A-game the other night on of

fense. We didn’t play our A-game against Ba sha. It’s time to gear it up.”

Chandler will open the postseason against Centennial, a scrappy team that has once again become a power out of the West Valley. Garretson knows they have a strong defense and offense that, if given the opportunity, can pour on the points.

The Wolves, just like they did entering the season, feel overlooked. They’ve heard the critics say they’re not as strong as they used to be. They have heard early predictions from some that say Centennial will pull off the upset.

But that doesn’t matter to them. They have confidence in junior quarterback Dylan Raiola. They have confidence in sophomore running back Xavier Valdivia, who may once again lead the backfield with junior Ca’lil Valentine injured. And they know they’re defense is still one of the best in the country.

“Our defense played very well both of those games,” Garretson said of his team’s two losses. “We prep hard. Our kids prep hard. Our coaches prep hard. You do every thing you can as far as preparation and let the chips fall where they may.”

No. 4 Hamilton vs No. 5 Saguaro

Perhaps one of the best matchups of the four is Hamilton hosting Saguaro. The two have become rivals in recent years, meet ing in the semifinals of the Open Division in 2019, a nationally televised game in 2020 and last year again in the semifinals.

The Sabercats upset the Huskies last sea

son, but both teams know they’ve reloaded since then.

The Sabercats enter as the No. 5 seed af ter losing three games in the regular season. They felt counted out. They felt overlooked. They set out to prove themselves and have played a good brand of football since adopt ing the mindset that playoffs started for them early in the regular season.

“We knew if we wanted to get in, we had to win after that Liberty game,” Saguaro coach Jason Mohns said. “The biggest thing early on we were struggling with was ex ecution. We watch film and we walk away knowing we are right there. It forced us to have way more urgency and to show up and execute.”

Devon Dampier has once again proven himself at quarterback, and the duo of Jae don Matthews and Zaccheus Cooper at run ning back with him have complimented his game. Saguaro has once again dealt with injuries, but it still managed to win out and secure the Open Division spot.

But in comes a Hamilton team fresh off a win over rival Chandler. The Huskies also felt disrespected that Chandler remained ahead of them in the rankings. But now they’ve put that behind them.

Quarterback Beckham Pellant has been electric since taking over for the injured Roch Cholowsky. He almost led Hamilton to a win over Basha and orchestrated a gamewinning drive against the Wolves. He’s ready for the spotlight, and so are all the players around him.

“For us, it’s getting ready for the next game but with that, somebody’s season is going to end,” Hamilton coach Mike Zdebski said. “They’ve ended our season the last two out of three. At some point, we need to fix that, correct that and get over that hump. We need to play a complete game.

“We need to win this game.”

The winner of Hamilton-Saguaro will face the winner of No. 1 Liberty vs No. 8 Sandra Day O’Connor. The Open Division playoffs kickoff

at 7 p.m.

New ASU women’s basketball coach oozes passion

BY SAM STERN Cronkite News

From the moment the lights flashed on and the cameras began record ing, the new face of Arizona State women’s basketball oozed passion and leadership with every word.

Natasha Adair, former head coach at the University of Delaware, now sits in the driver’s seat of a Sun Devils program that is trying to build a winning culture. That goal is underscored by Adair’s ev ery statement, her words coming from, as she puts it, “a premise of love.”

She has some awfully big cleats to fill. After 25 historic years, former head

coach Charli Turner Thorne, the win ningest coach in ASU women’s basket ball history, retired and handed the keys to a brilliant basketball mind who is well-established in her own right.

Over a combined 10 years as coach of University of Delaware, Georgetown and the College of Charleston, Adair posted a 167-143 (.539) record. The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Coach of the Year award she won in 2021 highlights a résumé full of success and development.

Since day one of the Adair era at ASU, the offseason focused on building a foun dation that would help both the players and the coaches thrive. Preseason pun dits ranked the Sun Devils at the bottom

of the Pac-12, but Adair isn’t bothered by the outside noise.

ASU is poised for a season of develop ment and improvement.

“I think that’s been the biggest thing we focused on, especially in the offsea son when everyone got here. It was just more about the culture of the team,” Adair said. “You had six players that were here, and then there was so much change. With the new players coming in, we still talked about why (pick) ASU, and I think if you keep everyone focused on the why, then it doesn’t matter where the players came from. It’s just where we

Friday

Chandler junior quarterback Dylan Raiola has led the Wolves to the No. 3 ranking in the Open Division playoffs. Chandler will face No. 6 Cen tennial on Friday. (David Minton/Staff)

Hamilton junior quarterback Bekham Pellant has been electric since stepping in for the in jured Roch Cholowsky. He now plans to lead the No. 4 Huskies in the Open Division playoffs against No. 5 Saguaro in the first round Friday.

Saguaro senior quarterback Devon Dampier has led the Sabercats to yet another Open Division appearance, this time as the No. 5 seed against No. 4 Hamilton. (Corey Cross/Contributor)

And Suggs believes that Arizona State’s football program can emerge again as a Pac-12 Conference contender by keep ing the state’s best high school players at home in the future.

Interim coach Shaun Aguano invited more than 50 of the state’s best high school prospects in the next three grad uating classes to the Washington game, underscoring his commitment to pursu ing local talent.

“It all starts with an Arizona recruit,” Suggs said. “(If) you want to build a program, you have to win the home base. The hometown kids have to stay home and commit to making the pro gram better. That’s definitely where it starts.

“Coach (Aguano) has definitely start ed to put them in the right direction.”

Suggs dominated high school football in the state at Hamilton, then chose to stay home and play in nearby Tempe. He

said the pride and support he received from the community that watched him blossom into a star made that decision special.

“I just love the commitment and the loyalty that everyone still has,” he said. “Through highs and lows, they’re still going to support the team. And that’s what we need. That’s how you get back to those glory days – the loyal support of the fans.”

Those glory days are what the Arizona State community is seeking now more than ever.

Other Hall of Fame inductees also credited the support they received dur ing their time at ASU, which led to suc cess beyond the Tempe campus.

“It laid the foundation. I was sur rounded by great people and strong leaders who showed me how to be suc cessful and what it took,” said January, a two-time Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year who went on to a 14-year career in the WNBA. “I kind of soaked

all of that up and, in every step of my career, used that foundation that I built here at ASU.”

ASU’s wrestling mats gave Robles, a former Mesa High School star born with only one leg, a platform to inspire others inside and outside of sports.

“It’s just a great honor,” said Robles, who won the Pac-10 Championship three times. “To see the athletic greats that came before me that are in the Hall of Fame and to be inducted with this amazing class, I’m just truly blessed. It’s a dream come true, and it shows hard work pays off.”

Suggs, who is expected to be voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame when he is eligible in 2025, spent three seasons in Tempe before entering the 2002 NFL Draft. The Baltimore Ravens selected him with the 10th overall pick, making him just the sixth Sun Devil since 1970 to be drafted in the top 10.

After transferring to Hamilton from Chandler High, Suggs was named Ari

zona Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior, then found immediate success at the next level.

He totaled 163 tackles and an ASUrecord 65.5 tackles for loss along with 44 career sacks, 14 forced fumbles and nine pass deflections. His 2002 season included the national sack record and a school single-season record for tackles for a loss (31.5).

And of course nobody can forget his performance in the 2002 “Duel in the Desert” when for 60 minutes Suggs tor tured the Arizona offensive line en route to two sacks, eight tackles and an ASU victory over the Wildcats.

“It was a really good year,” Suggs said. “(Receiver) Shaun McDonald and (quar terback) Andrew Walter had a coming out party and lit some things up. A high light for us was when we went up to Eu gene and beat No. 6 Oregon, after falling behind and coming back with a fourthquarter comeback. We really felt we had a shot at the Rose Bowl.”

are now.”

The messaging has been simple from the beginning – defend, rebound, run and score.

That’s been her mantra throughout her coaching career. In Adair’s eyes, elite rebounding and team defense will be at the heart of the team’s game plan during the season.

“Defense wins championships, and we’re a team that’s going to rebound,” Adair said. “All of my teams that I’ve been a part of over the years are top in the country in rebounding. That sends a message when you make extra-effort plays, and we want to be that team.”

As a former USA All-American high school power forward in Silver Spring, Maryland, Adair emerged as a top re cruit before a career-altering anterior cruciate ligament injury in 1990. After recovering, she played for Pensacola Ju nior College, where her dominance on the glass helped lead the team to two state championships.

Adair’s experience as a former player, and in particular a talented power for ward, has assisted in sculpting teams

that hustle, compete and dominate on both ends of the floor. Most notably, last season with Delaware, her team won a regular-season title and advanced to the Women’s National Invitation Tourna ment semifinals (WNIT) while averag ing a tournament-best 20.3 rebounds

per game.

One key to Adair’s success is the syn ergy among the coaching staff. She has a track record of bringing the same assis tants to every coaching stop, and coach ing with former players helps build trust with new players.

“They’re real genuine, like, everything that coach A(dair) says is really from the heart,” said freshman guard Trayanna Crisp, who was ranked as the No. 73 over all prospect in the class of 2022 by ESPN. com. “And the way she teaches is not nec essarily aggressive, but rather to teach you and to build you. But she’ll obviously get on to you whenever it is needed.”

With Adair at the forefront, fans can rest assured the Sun Devils will battle each and every time they touch the hard wood.

“I want our players to see me for who I am. I’m a mom,” Adair said. “I think for me to be able to show them who I am off the court, it will allow them to under stand my passion and my drive on the court. My sole purpose is to make sure our young women are coached holistical ly, and to just build their strength, their toughness, and build that confidence in them that they can do anything. I coach from a premise of love, but also support.

“This program will always be player led and coach supported,” she added, “meaning we will empower our young women to find their strength to use their voice, and just to be rock stars with all that they do.”

ASU women’s basketball coach Natasha Adair was all smiles after the Sun Devils beat Northern Arizona, 69-68, in Monday’s season opener. (Susan Wong/Cronkite News)

Region begins to sparkle with Christmas cheer

BY ALEX GALLAGHER GetOut Staff Writer

Residents across the East Valley looking for places get into a fes tive spirit have many events to choose from.

Starting this weekend, cities will be lighting up their downtown areas and even some neighborhoods will join he fun with boat parades. Here’s a look at some of the regions highlights.

Mesa

Continuing with a long-standing tradi tion, Downtown Mesa will start looking like something out of a Hallmark holiday movie.

Bright lights will be wrapped around light poles and festive decorations will glam up Downtown and Valley Metro’s light rail will be transformed into a Christmas train.

And a massive four-story Christmas tree on Macdonald and an accompany ing ice rink are among the big attrac tions all season long as part of the eighth

annual “Merry Main Street” celebration.

“There’s been a long tradition of cele brating the holidays in downtown Mesa,” said Mesa Mayor John Giles. “When I was a kid growing up here, it was a big deal when the city would roll out decorations that would be hung on the light poles and downtown Main Street, so we have tried to rekindle that.”

An annual performance to kick off the holiday season that has Giles the most excited.

Giles is a star in the returning rendi tion of the play “The Man Who Killed Santa Claus” – which is based on the true story of how merchants in Mesa during the Great Depression came up with the idea of pushing a dummy dressed as Santa Clause out of a plane and deploy ing a parachute.

The parachute failed to open, trauma tizing hundreds of kids.

In an attempt to rectify the traumatiz ing blunder, former Mesa Tribune editor John McPhee donned the red coat and

Downtown Mesa is transformed throughout Dec with its Merry Main Street décor and events. (Special to GetOut)

Chandler will light its traditional tumbleweed tree at A.J. Chandler Park downtown on Dec. 3. (Special to GetOut)

Scottsdale’s month-long holiday Scottsdazzle celebration will start making the city sparkle with a holiday sing-along and tree lighting ceremony on Nov. 26. (Special to GetOut)

EVENTS from page 30

hat but the damage was done.

He was remembered from there on as “The Man Who Killed Santa Claus” and has since been immortalized with a play recreating the botched stunt.

“It’s a very funny, very true story about this tradition of downtown Mesa being the place to come to celebrate the holidays and we’ll have some great, tal ented professional actors reenacting the story,” Giles said.

Chandler

Just south of Mesa, Dr. A.J. Chandler Park in downtown Chandler will glitter with a magical candy land known as Sug arland.

What began as a way to get coopedup residents out of their homes and outside in a safe manner during the height of the pandemic has since be come a tradition for Chandler residents, according to Downtown Chandler Com munity Partnership spokeswoman Jes sica Walrath.

“Sugarland began in 2020 as a way to bring Christmas to Downtown since it seemed like everything was closing and there wasn’t going to be Christmas be cause people couldn’t be around each other,” Walrath said. “It was born out of a way just to bring everybody together safely outside and with this interactive display.”

Since its humble beginnings two years ago, Sugarland is aiming to be bigger than ever this year.

“We are going to kick off Sugarland

with a big reveal and then there are a ton of events planned for Saturday Nov. 26 – which is Small Business Saturday,” Walrath said. “We’re going to have street performers perform live music on the street for patrons as they stroll and shop

locally in downtown Chandler or grab a bite to eat.”

This year’s display will include lightwrapped trees, a fruit roll-up slide, large gumdrops kids can climb on, and several other candy-themed interactive installa tions.

Chandler will light its Tumbleweed Christmas Tree at 8 p.m. Dec. 3 in down town’s A.J. Chandler Park. It will be pre ceded by family-friendly activities 4-6 p.m. and a parade at 6:45 p.m.

At 35-feet tall and 20-feet wide, the tree has nearly 1,000 tumbleweeds cov ered in 65 pounds of glistening glitter, 25 gallons of white paint and 20 gallons of fire retardant. The tree is wrapped in more than 1,200 LED lights.

Known nationwide, the iconic tree has been featured on several Travel Channel shows and Saturday Night Live.

The Tumbleweed Tree debuted in 1957, making 2022 its 66th year.

Scottsdale

Scottsdale plans to kick off its monthlong Scottsdazzle festivities with a tree lighting ceremony and holiday-tune sing-along on Saturday, Nov. 26.

“We kick off the holidays with a huge, wonderful event called the ‘Sing-Along and Tree Lighting Ceremony that hap pens down with the Scottsdale water front,” said Karen Churchard, city direc tor of tourism and events.

“It’s just very dazzling,” she said. “We have a full orchestra – MusicaNova – that performs and we have different local ce lebrities that sing and lead the attendees in song.”

After nearly a dozen classic holiday tunes, the fanfare will climax with the lighting of the 40-foot-tall Scottsdazzle tree and three smaller trees atop the Marshall Way Bridge.

Scottsdazzle’s a calendar is chock full of over 30 events counting down the days to Christmas Day, beginning with deals during Small Business Saturday, a chance to meet Santa at the Old Town Farmers Market, and wine cork crafting at the Holly Jolly Wine Cork.

“We want to showcase Old Town Scottsdale as the place to do your holi day shopping, to do your holiday cel ebrations, and to come out and get in the mood,” Churchard said.

Tempe and Gilbert

No desert celebration of Christmas is complete without a boat parade and the East Valley hosts two of them.

At 7 p.m. Dec. 3, The Islands in Gilbert, located off Warner Road between Coo per and McQueen roads, will see scores of brightly colored boats cruising the community’s lakes.

A week later, form 4-9 p.m. Dec. 9 along Rio Salado near Tempe Town Lake, the annual Fantasy of Lights Boat Parade is the centerpiece of a festival that includes food and other fun.

Ahwatukee

Ahwatukee gets into the spirit thanks to Millie’s Hallmark shop. Entertainment precedes Santa’s arrival beginning at 9 a.m. Friday, Nov. 25 in the Ahwatukee Plaza, 5027 E. Elliot Road, Ahwatukee.

Downtown Chandler will be transformed into a holiday candy land when Sugarland sweetens up the streets for the third year in a row. (Facebook)

The Islands community in Gilbert, like Tempe, has an annual holiday lighted boat parade. The Islands event is Dec. 3, Tempe’s is Dec. 10. (Special to GetOut)

EVENTS from page 32

The event is free and includes kids’ activi ties like face paniting. Here’s a guide to the region’s holiday events:

SCOTTSDALE

• Hidden in the Hills:

When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 25-Sunday, Nov. 27. Where: See the website for a map Cost: Free Info: sonoranartsleague.com

• Scottsdale Quarter

When: Friday, Nov. 25: Dicken’s Carolers 11 a.m., Mrs. Claus and Grinch 11 a.m. and LED Violinist 5 p.m.

Where: The Quad at Scottsdale Quarter, 15279 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. Cost: Free Info: scottsdalequarter.com

• McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park Holiday Lights

When: 6-9:30 p.m. nightly starting Friday, Nov. 25 to Friday, Dec. 30. Where: 7301 E. Indian Bend Road, Scott sdale Cost: $15 Info: therailroadpark.com

• Immersive Nutcracker: When: Saturday, Nov. 26, and Sunday, Nov. 27. Dec 1 through 31 Where: Lighthouse Artspace, 4301 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, Cost: $30 Info: immersive-nutcracker.com/phoenix

• Frosty Margarita and Taco Tour

When: 11 a.m. Thursdays through Sundays beginning Saturday, Nov. 26 through Dec 22.

Where: 7142 E. 1st St., Scottsdale Cost: $145 Info: joyridesaz.com/fiesta-margaritaand-taco-tour/

• Prancer’s Puzzle Rides

When: Saturday, Nov. 26 through Saturday, Dec. 31; Various times Where: various locations Cost: $79 Info: scottsdazzle.com/event/prancers-

puzzle-rides-dec-31/

• Holiday Weekend Entertainment at Scottsdale Quarter

When: Saturday, Nov. 26: The Santa Social 2 p.m. and Holiday Movie in The Quad 6 p.m. Where: The Quad at Scottsdale Quarter, 15279 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. Cost: Free Info: scottsdalequarter.com

• Scottsdazzle Holiday Lights Tour

When: 6:15 p.m. nightly from Saturday, Nov. 26 to Tuesday, Dec 27 Where: 7142 E. 1st Street, Scottsdale

Cost: $125 per vehicle Info: joyridesaz.com

• Jake Shimabukuro: When: 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 26 Where: Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, 7380 E. 2nd Street, Scottsdale. Cost: Tickets start at $48 Info: scottsdalearts.org/events

• Holly Jolly Wine Cork Crafting

When: 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 26 Where: 7134 E. Stetson Dr, B110, Scottsdale Cost: $40 Info: scottsdazzle.com/events

• Scottsdazzle Sing-Along & Tree Lighting Ceremony

When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 26 Where: Scottsdale Waterfront, 7135 E. Camelback Road, Scottsdale Cost: Free Info: scottsdazzle.com/event/singalong-tree-lighting-ceremony

• Meet Santa at the Market/Old Town Scottsdale Farmers Market When: 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 26 Where: Old Town Scottsdale Farmers Market Cost: Free Info: scottsdazzle.com

MESA

• Arizona Lights in the Night When: Wednesday, Nov. 23 through Thursday, January 5 Where: Thompson Events Center, 1901 N. Alma School Road Mesa Cost: $39.95 per vehicle Info: arizonalightsinthenight.com

• Mesa Turkey Trot: When: 8 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 24 Where: Red Mountain Park, 7745 E. Brown Road Mesa Cost: $15-$35 Info: mesaturkeytrot.com

• Merry Main Street: When: 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 25 Where: 20 E. Main Street, Mesa Cost: Free Info: merrymainst.com

• The Man Who Killed Santa Claus When: 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 25 Where: One E. Main Street, Mesa Cost: $10 Info: mesaartscenter.com

CHANDLER

• Tumbleweed Tree Lighting When: 4-8:30 p.m. Dec. 3, Where: Dr. A.J. Chandler Park West, 3 S. Arizona Avenue, Chandler Cost: Free

• Sugarland When: 5 p.m. to 10 pm. Saturday, Nov. 26 – Sunday, January 2 Where: Dr. A.J. Chandler Park West, 3 S. Arizona Avenue, Chandler Cost: Free Info: downtownchandler.org/do/sug arland

• Ballet Etudes Nutcracker: When: 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 25, Saturday, 7 p.m. Nov. 26, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 26 Where: Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Ave, Chandler Cost: $29-$31 Info: balletetudes.net/the-nutcracker.

GILBERT

• Water Tower Lighting When: 6-8:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 28. Where: Water Tower Plaza, 45 W. Page Ave, Gilbert Cost: Free Info: gilbertaz.gov

QUEEN CREEK

• Queen Creek Extreme Bulls: When: 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 25, and Noon, Saturday, Nov. 26

Where: Queen Creek Horseshoe Park & Equestrian Centre 20464 E. Riggs Road, Queen Creek.

Cost: $20 Info: visitmesa.com/sports-planner/ queen-creek-xtremebulls

APACHE JUNCTION

• Superstition Mountain Museum Sale

When: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Dec. 10 & 11 Where: 4087 N. Apace Trail, A.J. Cost: Free for boutique. Info: superstitionmountainmuseum.org

Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive by helicopter at 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 25, at Millie’s Hallmark Shop at, 5027 E. El liot Road, Ahwatukee, following entertainment and free kid-friendly activities. (File photo)