Neighbors
www.SanTanSun.com
July 6 – July 19, 2013
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Neighbors Escape for the day to fun, highcountry events
Summer Splash Tour
Am I A Neighbor?
Where to Eat
Neighbors PAGE 52
Spirituality PAGE 53
PAGES 68-70
Bay Leaf a new concept in Indian cuisine
BY TERI CARNICELLI
SanTan Sun-area residents looking to get out of the scorching Valley heat for a day or two might want to check out some fun, free or low-cost events taking place in the high country this month. Just slightly less than 2 hours from the East Valley are the small communities of Pine and Strawberry, located outside of Payson. Temperatures are typically about 10 degrees cooler than the Valley in the summertime, and while there are great local arts and antiques shops to while away the time in, the weekend of July 6 and 7 has an added draw: the 33rd annual Pine-Strawberry Arts & Crafts Festival. The free event will be held inside the air-conditioned Pine-Strawberry Community Center, 3916 N. Highway 87, Pine. Browse through 75 arts and crafts booths featuring stained glass, jewelry, wood items, pottery, hand-woven baskets, hand knitted and crocheted baby items, artwork, greeting cards, copper items and more. There also will be fun events and activities for children. The Pine-Strawberry Fire Department will be serving an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast with sausage, orange juice and coffee in the mornings for a fee. There will be additional food and beverage vendors on hand throughout the day. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 928-476-4480 or go to pinestrawberryartscrafts.com.
GREEN DAY: Purchase native plants for the home garden, and enjoy special activities and tours at the Arboretum at Flagstaff on Sat., July 13 as part of the annual Plant Sale and Penstemon Festival. Photo courtesy of the Arboretum at Flagstaff
Flagstaff Next up is the fifth annual Flagstaff Jewelry, Gem and Mineral Show, July 12 SEE ESCAPE PAGE 46
TASTY MEALS: Victoria serves up Bay Leaf Chicken Tikka with a smile. STSN photo by Lynette Carrington BY LYNETTE CARRINGTON
Tangy. Savory. Sweet. Spicy. Any combination of these words describes the taste symphony of traditional Indian food. Bay Leaf Café has a very large menu of the finest in Indian cuisine coupled with entrees that are newer taste sensations. Made with the freshest of ingredients and offered at very attractive prices, diners have the chance to try a kaleidoscope of food at just one restaurant. Rambha Singh is the owner of Bay
Leaf Café and it has been a lifelong dream of hers to own her own restaurant and bring the finest in Indian food to her clients. “Everything here is made fresh,” states Singh. “We take a lot of pride in that and hardly anything we use in the restaurant is frozen.” One of the most popular dishes at Bay Leaf Café is the rice bowl. It is customized according to each diner’s individual taste and is also one of the selections on the “Grab and Go” menu. The handful of items on that particular menu are great for dining in or perfect for the busy worker who needs to get back to their desk. Bay Leaf Chicken Tikka is a delicious entrée that combines a specially marinated chicken breast, tandoor grilled and served with onions on a sizzling iron skillet. Chilly Chicken is a spicy dish that features boneless chicken cubes marinated with house spices and tossed in a chili sauce. Another section of the menu features Indo-Chinese fusion dishes, such as chicken, Gobi and Paneer Manchurian dishes that combine Indian-style foods tossed in delicate or sweet soy sauce. All recipes at Bay Leaf Café are recipes passed down SEE BAY LEAF PAGE 48
Hamilton grad dances toward success BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI
When Donna Anderson enrolled her daughter Alexa in dance, she saw it merely as a way of strengthening her 12-year-old daughter’s body and mind. Little did she know that only eight years later, at the age of 20, Alexa would have already amassed a wealth of experience that includes dancing behind Kanye West, The Wanted, Havana Brown, Icona Pop and Demi Lovato, among others. Now a Los Angeles resident, the Hamilton High School graduate recently made a triumphant return to the Chandler Center for the Arts to perform as part of Shaping Sound Dance Co. “She really brings her movement qualities to Shaping Sound,” says Teddy Forance, one of the Los Angeles-based troupe’s founders. “She’s so good about being clean and musical, but also, she has a very individual way of moving that not many people do. I think she is a great choreographer, too.” Dance wasn’t always something that was favorable to Alexa. She admits that she “hated dance” at first because she was frustrated. She started relatively late with dance—at age 12—while others begin at 4.
SUCCESSFUL DANCER: Hamilton High School graduate Alexa Anderson has danced behind Kanye West, Demi Lovato and others. Submitted photo
“Originally my mom enrolled me in dance because I was born really prematurely,” Alexa says. “I had a hemorrhage in my brain that gave me a right-side weakness. She enrolled me in dance to try to help with my physical disabilities.” Donna explains she went into labor at 26 weeks with Alexa and stayed in the hospital for two months until her daughter was born. SEE CHANDLER DANCER PAGE 48
Perfect attendance for two students BY TRACY HOUSE
This June, more than 2,800 Chandler Unified School District students completed their education, earning high school diplomas. Among the graduates, only two had the distinction of never being absent. Darby Vance and Alexandra Palmatier attended CUSD schools from kindergarten through 12th grade without missing one day of school.
SHARING THE SPOTLIGHT: Darby with his sister, Chance, who has not missed a day of school since she was in pre-K, is a junior at Hamilton. STSN photo by Tracy House
Darby began school in pre-K at Goodman Elementary, transferred to Hancock Elementary for sixth grade and attended Bogle Junior High and Hamilton High schools. Darby says he made it a goal to not miss school. “The biggest thing that motivated me to do this is my parents,” he says. “I didn’t have an option when I was younger and so from K to junior high it was really just up to them. Once high school started and I had to drive myself, just having that many years of doing it, it’s hard not to miss or not want to go. It’s basically been a goal since I found out about it in grade school. It’s awesome that it’s finished.” He’s going to try to do it in college, but may take a day off if he gets sick, he adds. “I’ve been sick,” Darby explains. “I’ve gone to school with a cold, but I’ve never really been bedridden. I did get sick during breaks. There have obviously been days where I haven’t wanted to go to school, but one reason why I resisted is I’ve had this goal. It’s overridden any desire to not go to school.” Dale Vance, Darby’s dad, says he never had to fight with the kids to get up in the morning to get to school. The family planned vacations around the intersessions and summer and it was a SEE PERFECT ATTENDANCE PAGE 50