BY MARK MORAN Tribune Sta Writer
Planned development in Queen Creek is not coming to a halt, contrary to what seems to have become national public opinion.
Prompted by a state Department of Water Resources study that predicts Arizona will fall short by about 4% of its groundwater needs for
When Nick Demos took the reins of Christ Church of the Valley’s Stars youth athletic program two decades ago, he never imagined the program would become one of the Valley’s go-to sports programs for kids.
“When I started, the goals I set were embarrassingly low,” said Demos, the director of CCV Stars and lead sports pastor.
“I think we had 900-something kids maybe and I thought, ‘Man, wouldn’t it be so cool if we ever got 1,000 kids in one season?’”
From those humble beginnings in the West
the next century, Gov. Katie Hobbs on June 1 issued a moratorium on new housing developments that do not have an assured 100-year supply of groundwater.
“ e governor and the ADWR did not put a ashing red light out that said ‘stop!’” said Paul Gardner, Queen Creek utility services director.
“ ey put a light out that is like a ashing yellow. Caution. Trouble up the road. But it’s 100 years.”
But while there will be no total shutdown of development in Queen Creek – Hobbs directive does not apply to industrial projects – it could raise the bar for many as 10,000 houses that could still be built in the future. Gardner said nearly all the development that has been planned here already has a proven 100-year underground water supply.
Rebecca, a 2-month-old mixed breed, checks out a guest at the Arizona Animal Welfare League East Valley Adoption Center inside the Chandler Fashion Center. Rebecca and a lot of other kennel mates are hoping people not only come and check them out but also help the league with a fundraising campaign. For the story, see page 15 (David Minton/Sta Photographer) see FIELDS page 3
Valley, CCV has grown to 17 campuses and serves 22,000 kids with its Stars youth sports programs valley-wide.
“I never could have had the vision of what’s grown to now. We don’t take it for granted,” Demos said. “I would say we’re not a group that kind of rests on our laurels or pats ourselves on the back very long. We want to get back to work and keep making this a really high-level customer service.”
Part of that continuing work is happening in Queen Creek, where CCV is scheduled to open a permanent church campus next year.
e congregation currently gathers at Faith Mather Elementary School on Sundays until the new digs are ready, where dozens of volunteers construct and then disassemble a makeshift auditorium in the school’s gym every week.
“We launched a portable campus in Queen Creek in March 2021 that has grown to more than 500 attendees,” said CCV Queen Creek Campus Pastor Curt McReynolds.
e Queen Creek Stars athletes have had to practice and play remotely, too, often
This rendering shows Christ Church of the Valley’s proposed 16-acre Queen Creek campus with 3 ½ acres of athletic fields to be developed in the open area. The fields will begin hosting games next spring. (Courtesy of Christ Church of the Valley)
out of town while they wait for new elds.
But those elds are on the way.
e new building is a little way o , but developers have broken ground on 3 ½ acres of what will soon be soccer, ag football and other sports elds, all professionally leveled and maintained.
ey will come complete with lights, restrooms and concession stands open on game days.
Bryan Gardiner is first and second grade soccer coach for Christ Church of the Valley’s Creek Hornets. While son Logan sits on his knee, his son Oliver stands next to him. (Special to the Tribune).
“ is gives us an essential point,” Demos said. “So, rather than renting facilities or bouncing between facilities, we’ve got kind of a permanent home base that we know we can really plant a ag and invest into a community and that we are planning on being there for the long haul,
FIELDS page 4
An edition of the East Valley Tribune Queen Creek Tribune is published every Sunday and distributed free of charge to homes and in single-copy locations throughout Queen Creek
CONTACT INFORMATION
Main number: 480-898-6500
Advertising: 480-898-6559
Circulation: 480-898-5641
Publisher: Steve T. Strickbine
Vice President: Michael Hiatt
ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT
Display Advertising: 480-898-6309
Classifieds/Inside Sales: TJ Higgins | 480-898-5902 tjhiggins@TimesLocalMedia.com
Steve Insalaco | 480-898-5635 sinsalaco@TimesLocalMedia.com
Advertising Sales Executive: Jane Meyer | 480-898-5633 jane@TimesLocalMedia.com
NEWS DEPARTMENT
Executive Editor: Paul Maryniak | 480-898-5647 pmaryniak@TimesLocalMedia.com
Managing Editor: Cecilia Chan | 480-898-5613 cchan@TimesLocalMedia.com
Arts & Entertainment Editor: Alex Gallagher | 843-696-6442 | agallagher@TimesLocalMedia.com
Reporters: Mark Moran | 480-898-5601 | mmoran@TimesLocalMedia.com
Ken Sain | 928-420-5341 ksain@TimesLocalMedia.com
Sports Editor: Zach Alvira | 480-898-5630 | zalvira@TimesLocalMedia.com
Photographer: Dave Minton | dminton@TimesLocalMedia.com
Production Coordinator: Courtney Oldham | 480-898-5617 production@TimesLocalMedia.com
Design: Ruth Carlton | rcarlton@TimesLocalMedia.com
Circulation Director: Aaron Kolodny | aaron@TimesLocalMedia.com Circulation: 623-535-8439
FIELDS from page 3
as a church and as a youth sports organization.”
Stars is sending nine teams to the U.S. club soccer national tournament in Denver next month.
The fields will also help ease congestion as teams scramble for playing time amid a shortage of fields and soaring population growth.
“This is perfect timing because Queen Creek is seeing an explosion in homes and families coming in,” McReynolds said.
“This will help alleviate and really work alongside some of the other sports entities and with Parks and Rec.
“I think it is just another option for people that are able to stay in Queen Creek and not have to go out to neighboring communities for practice or for gain.”
McReynolds uses his own family as an example of how the fields will reduce the stress on parents trying to rush their kids to evening and weekend activities.
He said when his family to Queen Creek and the kids wanted to play sports, he and his wife Jessica were always on the go, running kids to Gilbert, Mesa, or Chandler for
games or practices.
“As the valley grows, it’s just harder and harder to get from community to community. And with more people, more construction, more traffic, it just becomes a barrier,” he said.
“For some families that 30-minute drive back and forth, it’s not a big deal,” he said. “For others, it’s a really big deal. And that may be the difference of a kid, a parent saying yes or no, to them experiencing sports.”
CCV and Stars also provide an entry point for kids and their parents to find a church home.
“The mission of Stars is really to use sports to engage the local community so that we can build relationships with families, and over time really provide an on-ramp to back to the local church if that’s something they’re interested in,” Demos said.
“CCV Stars is open to the community and you do not have to be of a certain faith or any church affiliation. But that is really the heartbeat behind Stars is an outreach from the church to the community to build relationships through sports as kind of that neutral platform.”
Demos said roughly 12% of the kids who enrolled in sports programs last year
wound up coming to church at one of the CCV campuses.
“We don’t want to bait and switch or Bible beat anybody,” Demos said. “At the end of the day people are enjoying their experience, they see a coach that really cares about them as more than just an athlete.
“And sometimes it’s a tragedy or trial they’re going through and they know that ‘hey, this is a sports program I trust, maybe I need to investigate the church,” he continued.
“It could be a family that is hopefully seeing a really healthy well-rounded coach that maybe they want to be a little bit more like or wonder what makes them a little bit different. We want to authentically build relationships with people,” Demos added.
“Hopefully they know that CCV is a place that they trust and respect and value, even if it never goes further than the fields.”
The 16-acre Queen Creek CCV campus is set to be completed on the southeast corner of Ellsworth and Chandler Heights roads next fall and the fields even earlier.
“At its full build-out, the campus will feature dynamic, engaging environments for kids, students, and adults to learn about the life-changing power of Jesus,” Executive Pastor Tony Burgarello said in a press release.
“In addition to these offerings will be a dedicated space for children and adults with special needs to experience relationships with peers as they learn about God’s great love for them,” he added.
The law requires that supply for most any project in any Arizona municipality.
He said developers of about 8% of remaining vacant land in town got “caught” by the moratorium and will now have to prove they have a 100-year water supply that comes from a source other than underground before they can build.
Such sources could include recycled or surface water or water brought in from elsewhere.
Queen Creek is already addressing that issue.
The town just purchased a yearly allocation of a little over 2,000-acre feet of Colorado River water from GSC Farm in Cibola for $24-million, which Gardner said is projected to start flowing into town via the Central Arizona Project canal system later this month.
Three western Arizona counties are suing GSC in federal court to kill the deal, although a judge refused their request to issue a temporary injunction that would have halted any water delivery until the suit is settled.
The Cibola deal qualifies as “other than groundwater” and can be used to satisfy the requirement of a 100-year source of assured water for future development, Gardner said.
“The town has been working proactively to diversify its water supply to reduce reliance on groundwater and is committed to ensuring a safe, reliable supply of water today and into the future,” the town said in a statement following Hobbs’ announcement.
The town has also purchased the rights to 5,000 acre-feet of ground water each year over the next 100 years from the massive Harquahala aquifers west of Phoenix for $30-million.
One acre-foot of water is roughly 326,000 gallons, enough to serve about three single-family households for a year.
Hobbs quickly moved to also allay any concerns that the state is running out of water and fears that any planned development would be halted.
She said the restrictions do not apply to any industrial development or any already approved residential projects.
“This pause will not affect growth within any of our major cities where robust water portfolios have been proven to cover current and future demands,” she said.
Fifteen of the Valley’s most populous municipalities have a Designation of Assured Water Supply (DAWS), which they earn by proving every 15 years that they have a 100-year water supply.
The designation is one that municipalities must work continuously to maintain.
“It’s a very heavy lift to get to a designation,” said Sarah Porter, director of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University. “It’s very difficult to get there.”
Developers need a Certificate of Assured Water Supply that proves their projects have a 100-year water supply before they can build. But they only need to prove that once.
“Cities that have a Designation (of Assured Water Supply) are not impacted by this groundwater model and the regulation is not triggered,” Porter said.
“Queen Creek does not have a designa-
tion. So, when a new subdivision is developed, the developer must go to the state and prove it has 100 years’ worth of water.”
Because Queen Creek does not currently have a DAWS, individual developers have had to prove to the state that there is a 100-year water supply for every subdivision that they want to build.
“For now, the reality is if somebody decides that there is some undeveloped part of Queen Creek where they want to do a new subdivision, they will not be able to get a Certificate of Assured Water Supply unless they are able to demonstrate that they have a water supply that is not local groundwater,” Porter said.
Developers prefer to draw on groundwater beneath the land the build on.
“That’s cheaper,” Porter explained. “That’s how they can avoid expensive water infrastructure. The water is right there. They can just pump it out, lightly treat it and deliver it.”
Gardner hopes Queen Creek can achieve a DAWS and have 400 or 500 years of water on hand partly because residents currently pay a state replenishment tax on the water they use under the CAWS.
“It’s almost like what I call a hidden tax,” Gardner said. “If we become designated, we have full control of what that bill will be. I feel like we can do it for at least 50 cents on the dollar less.”
Gardner added that the town may eventually be able to eliminate the tax altogether.
“That’s money they can keep in their pockets and use to do other things with,” Gardner said.
dence and get a Designation of Assured Water Supply.
“That’s how the other cities are looking at it,” Porter said. “They are thinking about being a ‘forever city’ with …a forever water supply.”
The town’s $867.1-million budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 sets aside 20%, or almost $170-million, for water acquisition as it chases that goal.
“It has been our goal all along,” he said of
Amid resident opposition and support, Queen Creek Town Council on June 7 gave final approval to the locally owned Pecan Lakes Entertainment Center.
The $16-million agritainment venue will be built on 11 acres at the northwest corner of 206th street and Riggs Road, between Fat Cat’s and Horseshoe Park and Equestrian Centre.
Most of the attractions have been designed to keep people outside, project developer Greg Davis of iPlan consulting said. They keep the project within the definition of the agritainment zoning category.
The venue also will expand an existing, but largely ignored, exotic herb garden already on the property.
“We have something good here,” Davis said, adding Pecan Lakes CEO Tim Campbel told him, “We need to find a way to get more people here. We need to find a way
to tie it into something bigger and larger.”
Pecan Lakes Entertainment Center will feature signature restaurants, karaoke, escape rooms and a three-story, 80-element ropes course with varying degrees of difficulty. Mini-golf, a FlowRider surfing simulator, a go kart track, and outdoor games and entertainment areas also are planned.
Opponents didn’t buy the agritainment pitch.
“This an amusement park. To quote the developers, ‘a mega entertainment center,’” said neighbor Troy Kastorff, who argued the venue falls outside the town’s definition of agritainment.
“The amusement park has a very tiny component of gardens, approximately 1.5 acres. Those gardens have not been successful,” he continued. “They have been closed for nearly two years. These gardens are now an afterthought or an add-on to an amusement park.”
Other opponents cited concerns over increased traffic, noise from the go karts and the physically imposing attractions’
impact on the neighborhood’s ambience.
“I think the thing that hold us up is the size of the ropes course. It just does not fit in,” said Lori Curtis. “That’s a big structure.
“That is not just a little play area or a little agricultural area. That is a large, three story … structure.”
While Curtis did express concern over the ropes course attraction and potential noise from the go karts, she added she is not entirely opposed to the whole project.
But she wished the home developer had disclosed his plans when she asked them last spring about his intentions as she was deciding whether to buy a house nearby.
“When I asked what was going in, I was told ‘Caldwell’s Barbecue’ and perhaps a very nice Japanese steak house,” she recalled. “I was never informed of a possible amusement park, a ropes course. I maybe would have still bought my house, but it was not disclosed to me.”
Opponents also expressed concern about traffic, the planned 90-10 ratio of entertainment to agriculture on the property and the proximity of some buildings
to nearby homes.
Davis noted that the developer took input from residents during public hearings and made sure no building would be within several hundred feet of existing homes.
He also said the developer worked to assure homeowner views would be minimally impacted, if at all.
There was also a good deal of support expressed by neighbors at the meeting, including Connor Edwards, who has lived in Queen Creek since 2007.
“I grew up out here,” Edwards said. “I’ve seen a lot of change that’s been happening out here. I have a young family, young kids, and I am beyond excited to be able to take them to Pecan Lake Entertainment to have them participate in the mini-golf and the ropes course and the go karts.
“There’s nothing like it. It will be a great place to raise kids.”
Edwards added he has friends who are just starting families and consider-
We
We
Oral
Oral
Professional
Professional
Dental
Dental
Tooth Extractions
Oral Mass Biopsy
Tooth
ing a move to Queen Creek because of the things the town is doing to be family friendly, including Pecan Lakes Entertainment Center.
Mayor Julia Wheatley said she gets a lot of requests for the town to provide more recreational opportunities.
“This is important to us, “Wheatley said. “Something our residents are always asking for is opportunities to get out, to recreate. We have young families that need things to do. We have a very active community.”
Supporter and Pecan Lakes neighbor Cameron Howell reflected on how much money he has spent traveling the coun-
try with his family to visit theme parks for an experience similar to what he said his kids will now be able to have steps away from their front door, albeit on a much smaller scale.
“My six kids need something to do,” Howell added. “They need a place to go that’s not just Target. They need somewhere to go where they can do something. They can learn how to surf. They can learn how to putt a little bit better.”
While arguments on both sides of the issue were pointed, the speakers remained civil, partly because many of the people who spoke in support and in opposition have done so at every public hearing along the way.
Queen Creek Planning Administrator
Erik Swanson pointed out that impassioned residents do not always maintain decorum like they have throughout this process.
“With these types of cases you often get a lot of controversy and frustrations on both sides of the aisle,” Swanson said. “I would like to commend (people) because, although this has been a difficult case, they have behaved themselves very professionally and I have never had an attack or anything like that. So, I want to particularly commend the residents who I would say are on the opposing side of the request.”
Vice Mayor Jeff Brown acknowledged the issues cited by opponents, stating, “I understand the concerns and I struggle and try to figure out as I sit up here what is in the overall best interest.”
Brown added that he always gives a deferential nod to people who are located closest to projects like the Pecan Lakes Entertainment Center, but in this case voted in support because he felt it is in the best interest of most residents.
Brown said in addition to the economic and entertainment value the project will bring to town, he also wondered aloud what could wind up in this loca-
tion if not a venue that still prioritizes open space.
He pointed to potential dangers inherent in a recent moratorium by Gov. Katie Hobbs on building new homes that do not have an assured water supply.
“One of the ways one can skirt around that issue is multifamily,” Brown said. “You can develop multifamily in this state without having a 100-year water supply. So, is that what goes there?”
Council also gave the final go ahead for the construction of 166 single family townhomes on 16.5 acres at the northeast corner of Sossaman and Rittenhouse roads, and reduced the property tax rate for existing residents from $1.83 to $1.72 per $100 of assessed value, freezing the amount of taxes paid by property owners in Queen Creek by reducing the property tax rate each year as property values increase.
“Lowering the primary property tax for residents is significant,” Wheatley said. “It is a testament to the Town’s financial stability, the community continuing to be a desirable place to live and this council’s commitment to being fiscally responsible.
see PECAN page 11
The history of Juneteenth will be remembered next weekend in Queen Creek with its second annual official celebration.
The free event, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday, June 18, at the Barney Family Sports Complex, 22050 E. Queen Creek Road, focuses on community, said organizer Laura Craft.
“We would like our community to grow and develop strong ties to each other so that we might benefit from one another,” Craft added.
“As most of us are not originally from Arizona, we need to be able to rely on each other to prosper as a community,” she continued. “We are only as good as the growth of our friends, neighbors, and community.”
The event will include dancing, singing, instructor-led painting, many vendors, and a special recognition of all African American fathers present.
June 19 marks the day in 1865 when U.S. soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas to inform the last enslaved people in the United States they had been granted their freedom.
The Biden administration made June 19 a national holiday two years ago, and Queen Creek, which is 75% white and less than 4% Black, according to U.S. Census data, quickly got on board, organizing a Juneteenth celebration.
Part of making the community connection that Craft talked about includes bridging a potential racial divide, according to mental health professionals.
“We’ve seen a lot of violence in the community against people of color, and not just school violence. It kind of really upsets the community,” said Patricia Taylor, MS, a licensed professional counselor and one of the sponsors of the upcoming Juneteenth event.
She also is one of two professional counselors who will be on hand for on-the-spot help if someone needs it and to schedule counseling appointments for people who
want to make them for a later +Taylor said gatherings like this have historically proven to be positive and healing overall for people of color, and that, together, a group of like-minded people can help build bridges and overcome division.
“When there’s one voice that’s speaking out, nine times out of 10, someone else is dealing with the same thing,” Taylor said. “And so, you know, we address community mental health on this level by participating in community events such as this.”
In addition to having to live with the symptoms of a mental illness or emotional trauma, Taylor said people have historically faced a stigma associated with mental health issues, and sometimes do not seek treatment because of it even though everyone faces some sort of stressors in their lives and should not be afraid to talk about them with a professional counselor.
“So, it’s really important for us to be at Juneteenth so that people of color can learn about mental health services and have access to providers who look like them; thereby further helping to eliminate stigma,” she continued,
Taylor listed “depression, or anxiety, or feelings of loneliness, you know, worry, concern, fear,” as symptoms for which should consider treatment.
“The external stigma is if I share that information with someone, then they’re going to think I’m ‘crazy.’ Or if you experience these things at the workplace, they are going to think that you’re not mentally stable to complete your job.”
Taylor added that people of color have had an even tougher time overcoming perceived mental health stereotypes.
“There’s a historical connotation where people of color don’t really trust medical providers for various reasons,” she said. “And so, people don’t step outside of that even when it’s warranted.”
Taylor explained when it comes to dealing with mental health issues, she has noticed clients in her practice seem to perceive “safety in numbers,” which gives them a sense of comfort and the ability to share more deeply the issues they are experiencing.
“When you hear that there’s more than one person that’s dealing with something, then that helps to eliminate the internal stigma,” Taylor explained.
“It doesn’t diminish you as a human being. If anything, it makes you stronger because you’re able to talk about some of the things that you are struggling with.”
Information: queencreekjuneteenth. org.
It remains unclear why Dr. Dawn Foley unexpectedly resigned as superintendent of Higley Unified School District with two years left on her contract.
The Governing Board voted 4-0 last week to accept Foley’s resignation, effective June 30, and announced that Associate Superintendent Sherry Richards will serve as the lead administrator.
“We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Foley for her dedication during her time with us, which led to remarkable achievements for our district,” read the statement HUSD released shortly after the June 6 vote. “As she moves forward, we wish her the very best in her future endeavors.”
The district said it will be conducting a search for a new superintendent.
DR. DAWN FOLEY
How the search will be done is up to the board and “discussions are still ongoing,” said spokeswoman Teresa Joseph.
The board met for nearly five hours behind closed doors June 5 before approving Foley’s resignation and her performance pay. Foley was not present at the meeting nor did she attend the regular board meeting the following day.
Gilbert Sun News was told by the district that Foley was not available for an interview.
Board members Amanda Wade and Michelle Anderson declined to say why Foley resigned. Board members Anna Van Hoek, Kristina Reese and President Tiffany Shultz attended the executive session and the following brief meeting via telephone. Reese left the discussion after executive session and did not cast a vote.
The board appointed Foley superintendent in July 2021 after she had been serving unofficially in that capacity since the year prior when then-Superintendent
Michael Thomason abruptly resigned. Thomason at the time said he wanted to focus on “family and future endeavors.”
Foley’s original contract was to end June 30, of this year but the board amended the contract in July 2022, extending it to June 30, 2025.
Her annual salary was $208,650, according to Joseph.
Foley first came to HUSD in 2008 where she worked for six years as the director of curriculum and instruction before leaving for Mesa Public Schools to be the director of teaching and learning.
She left that position in 2019 to return to Higley to be the associate superintendent of K-12 Educational Services.
During her short tenure, Foley helped steer the district through the pandemic and notably saw two bond elections fail at the ballot box– a $95-million measure in 2021 and a $77.2-million bond in 2022.
The district has 16 campuses in Gilbert and in Queen Creek and has about 12,000 students.
Mesa, AZ - When it comes to chronic pain and/ or neuropathy, the most common doctor-prescribed treatment is drugs like Gabapentin, Lyrica, Cymbalta, and Neurontin. The problem with anti-depressants or anti-seizure medications like these is that they offer purely symptomatic relief, as opposed to targeting and treating the root of the problem. Worse, these drugs often trigger an onset of uncomfortable, painful, and sometimes harmful side effects.
The only way to effectively treat chronic pain and/or peripheral neuropathy is by targeting the source, which is the result of nerve damage owing to inadequate blood flow to the nerves in the hands and feet. This often causes weakness and numbness.
As displayed in
figure 1 above, the nerves are surrounded by diseased, withered blood vessels. A lack of sufficient nutrients means the nerves cannot survive, and thus, slowly die. This leads to those painful and frustrating consequences we were talking about earlier, like weakness, numbness, tingling, balance issues, and perhaps even a burning sensation.
The drugs your doctor might prescribe will temporarily conceal the problems, putting a “BandAid” over a situation that will only continue to deteriorate without further action.
Thankfully, Mesa is the birthplace of a brand new facility that sheds light on this pressing problem of peripheral neuropathy and chronic pain. The company is trailblazing the medical industry by replacing outdated drugs and symptomatic reprieves with an advanced machine that targets the root of the problem at hand.
Effective neuropathy treatment relies on the following three factors:
1. Finding the underlying cause
2. Determining the extent of the nerve damage
(above 95% nerve loss is rarely treatable)
3. The amount of treatment required for the patient’s unique condition
Aspen Medical in Mesa, AZ uses a state-ofthe-art electric cell signaling systems worth $100,000.00. This ground-breaking treatment is engineered to achieve the following, accompanied by advanced diagnostics and a basic skin biopsy to accurately analyze results:
1. Increases blood flow
2. Stimulates and strengthens small fiber nerves
3. Improves brain-based pain
The treatment works by delivering energy to the affected area(s) at varying wavelengths, from low- to middle-frequency signals, while also using Amplitude Modulated (AM) and Frequency Modulated (FM) signaling.
It’s completely painless!
THE GREAT NEWS IS THAT THIS TREATMENT IS COVERED BY MEDICARE, MEDICAID, AND MOST INSURANCES!!
Depending on your coverage, your peripheral neuropathy treatment could cost almost nothing – or be absolutely free.
The number of treatments required varies from patient to patient, and can only be determined following an in-depth neurological and vascular examination. As long as you have less them 95% nerve damage, there is hope!
Aspen Medical begins by analyzing the extent of the nerve damage – a complimentary service for your friends and family. Each exam comprises a detailed sensory evaluation, extensive peripheral vascular testing, and comprehensive analysis of neuropathy findings.
Aspen Medical will be offering this free chronic pain and neuropathy severity evaluation will be available until June 30th, 2023. Call (480) 2743157 to make an appointment.
Due to our very busy office schedule, we are limiting this offer to the first 10 callers. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SUFFER ANOTHER MINUTE, CALL (480) 274-3157...NOW!!
We are extremely busy, so we are unavailable, please leave a voice message and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Youth and amateur sports are a pillar of Visit Mesa’s strategy to drive tourism and hotel stays in Mesa and Queen Creek.
And the organization’s faith in youth sports has not been shaken by the financial woes of the region’s marquee amateur sports facility, Legacy Park, which opened in February of 2022.
Uncertainty surrounds Legacy Park’s financial footing and future ownership after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month and the current owners seek a buyer for the park.
But amid the dour news, events at Legacy are still bringing crowds to the park at Ellsworth and Williams Field roads each weekend.
The park also signed new facilities agreements even as financial woes mounted after it first defaulted on its $284 million loan agreement with bond holders last October.
Legacy’s bankruptcy filing lists over 200 facility use agreements, many inked in recent months.
Visit Mesa, the official destination marketing organization for Mesa, the Town of Queen Creek and other attractions outside Mesa, has helped drive out-of-state business to the park.
The organization is a broker of hotel and event bookings, working closely with the sales people for various travel destinations, including Legacy Park.
Visit Mesa officials said they are often the initial point of contact for site selectors exploring Mesa as an option for an event.
Rodney Reese, a Legacy Cares executive who the nonprofit announced last month will oversee the day-to-day operations of the park during bankruptcy, sits on Visit Mesa’s board.
Visit Mesa leaders say the sports park has boosted local tourism in its first, troubled year, and Visit Mesa remains as bullish as ever on youth sports tourism and Legacy Park.
“If there is such a thing as recession-proof tourism, it’s youth and amateur sports,” said Visit Mesa CEO Marc Garcia.
“Even in an economic downturn, and finances are tight in a family, they’ll forgo their family beach vacation, but they will not forgo John or Jane’s opportunity to be seen by some college coach at a college showcase tournament, which is very often what we’re hosting at Legacy sports park.”
Garcia said overall Mesa tourism has been strong this year, and fiscal year to date, hotel occupancy is up 3.3% and lodging rates are up 12%.
Garcia attributes that to numerous Visit Mesa initiates, like becoming the first Autism-certified destination in the U.S. and the region’s Fresh Foodie Trail.
But he also cites sports tourism, a domain where Legacy Park plays a key role.
He acknowledged that some Mesa residents have no interest in youth sports and complain about traffic impact from large tournaments and other events.
But, he said, “You have to just remember how much money they’re dropping into the economy and that saves you money at the end of the year.”
And Garcia believes few industries can bring in tourism dollars like youth and amateur sports.
“When you’re our business, you love to be in a situation where you’re not only enticing people to visit, but you’re darn near obligating them to visit,” he said.
“And that’s what happens when you have a product like Legacy sports complex because the families, they don’t really have a say. Their coach says ‘we’re going to play in this tournament.’ They don’t have a choice – they’re coming to visit.”
Lance Fite, director of sports sales for Visit Mesa, has helped to keep the park occupied during its opening run, Garcia said.
“As it relates to weekend business, Lance and his partners at Legacy’s sports department are doing a damn fine job of bringing those visitors in,” he said.
The destination management organization is less involved in Legacy’s weekday business, which targets residents signed up for league play and other activities.
Fite believes Mesa’s troubled destination sports facility is a gamechanger for
“This is an opportunity to pass savings on to our residents without comprising our investment in public safety.”
The amount of property taxes residents will pay in fiscal year 2023-24 is approximately the same as the amount paid last year, which is about $441 annually for the median value home, according to a the town.
“By lowering the tax rate, the savings is $58 for the median home, with a projected cumulative savings of $553 over the next five years. The Town’s property tax revenues will increase each year only through property taxes from new construction of homes and businesses,” the statement said.
The Pecan Lakes project passed 6-0 with council member Dawn Oliphant absent. The developer, Pecans Lakes Entertainment LLC, is finalizing site details and plans to break ground in the next two months.
“It was a good night,” Campbell said in an email. “We plan on building the entire project in one phase. Various parts of the project will open at different times starting with the barn in September or October followed by the ropes course and golfing a few months later and everything else by next summer.”
Still, with the details now pretty much in place for the new entertainment venue, some neighbors remain unhappy.
“I’m sad because our neighborhood’s very divided,” Curtis said.
AQueen Creek legislator ripped Gov. Katie Hobbs’ veto of a bill he said would prevent the filming of sex acts on public property.
Calling the measure little more than “a thinly veiled effort to ban books,’’ Hobbs vetoed that bill and several others, pushing her total vetoes past 100 for the current legislative session.
Other vetoes included bills:
Prohibiting the state treasurer from investing in companies that donate to Planned Parenthood or other organizations that promote, facilitate or advocate for abortions for minors;
• Banning “ranked choice voting’’ or any form of balloting that has multiple stages of counting;
• Increasing the number of people living in an area who must consent to an annexation into an adjacent municipality.
• Curbing the use of aerial drones to photograph or observe people in a private place.
But Hobbs found particular fault with the proposal by Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek.
Part of what is behind the bill was an incident last year reported by Havasu News involving a teacher at in Lake Havasu City who, with her husband, a fourth-grade teacher at another school, were filming obscene videos in her classroom and posting them for money on a social media site.
The school acknowledged that some students found the video online but said it had not been taped during the school day.
Hoffman’s bill sought to make it illegal to film or facilitate “sexually explicit acts’’ at any publicly owned or leased property.
Sen. Priya Sundareshan, D-Tucson, said she presumed that already was against the law.
“Amazingly, it’s not,’’ Hoffman responded. “I don’t think anybody ever thought to have to believe that folks were going to use public facilities for porn-filming locations.’’
That part of the legislation appeared to have little opposition.
What did draw concerns was the other half which said no state or local agency is allowed to expose minors to sexually explicit materials.
“I’m reading this and I’m wondering, does this include a library that has a book with any sexual situation, even if it was in the adult section just because a child could potentially find it on the shelf?’’ Sundareshan asked.
“It absolutely does include that,’’ Hoffman responded, adding that he saw no reason not to combine both topics within the same legislation.
But Hoffman focused almost exclusively on what happened at the Lake Havasu City school and not the governor’s comment about him keeping certain books away from children.
“It’s absolutely sickening that Katie Hobbs is allowing pornography to be filmed in our state’s taxpayer funded classrooms,’’ he said.
“These should be safe spaces for our kids to learn in, not venues for the sexually explicit adult entertainment industry,’’ Hoffman continued. “No 12-year-old child should ever have to worry that their middle school desk was the location of a porn shoot.’’
But the testimony on the bill was focused not on the filming but the effect of the other section on what materials should be available to children.
Elijah Watson said he understands the desire to protect children from sexually explicit materials. But he called the legislation “dangerously broad,’’ failing to provide adequate assumptions.
Consider, he said, examples of literature like “Beloved’’ by Toni Morrison which include memories of sexual abuse and exploitation. Then there’s “The Great Gatsby’’ with homoerotic language and “Of Mice and Men,’’ which uses vulgarity and racist language.
Watson said violations carry a presumptive term of 1.5 years in state prison, something he said should not be imposed on teachers for assigning a book.
Hoffman pointed out that lawmakers actually approved a similar measure last
Rescue dogs usually come with a not-so-happy back story. So, they are not for everyone.
“Over the last few years, even just the last two years, I’ve noticed a huge shift in how people view rescues,” said Quinn Borchardt, who manages the Arizona Animal Welfare League (AAWL) Adoption Center at the Chandler Fashion Center.
“We do get people who are still wary about rescuing,” Borchardt said, “but are starting to change their minds about getting a rescue animal versus a puppy mill.”
Rescue dogs could be older, they may have been abused, and they may lack the social skills families are looking for.
e AAWL Chandler location is raising the money it needs to replace the kennels. Alessandra Navidad, AAWL’s president and CEO, says it needs $105,000 and has raised about $40,000 so far.
“ ere’s many of them that are unusable,” Navidad said of the kennels. “It just means we can’t have as many animals up for adoption. We can’t put those animals in those kennels.”
AAWL took over that Chandler location in 2012, replacing a puppy mill. at’s where dogs are bred speci cally to sell to
families.
Maya Crisp uses a watering can to top up the bowl for Macademia, a 6-year-old mixed breed puppy’ at the Arizona Animal Welfare League East Valley Adoption Center inside the Chandler Fashion Center Mall. (David Minton/Sta Photographer)
AAWL has its primary location near Sky Harbor Airport in central Phoenix. e Chandler adoption center is its only other location.
Navidad said the league usually send puppies and smaller dogs to Chandler to be rescued.
She said what sets AAWL apart is that it o ers a full-range of services – including veterinary care and dog training as well as adoptions.
Many of the dogs sent to to the league require vets right away.
“We just took in, over the weekend, 12 Parvo puppies from one of our partners here in Maricopa County.”
e parvovirus is a highly contagious viral disease that usually impacts dogs between 6 and 20 weeks old, but can sometimes impact older dogs as well.
When their partners don’t have the success to treat Parvo, they send the dogs to AAWL.
“We have the medical capacity to be able to provide that intensive treatment for those animals until they recover,” Navidad said. “We have a great success rate
with Parvo and the puppies are doing well.”
Many of the other dogs AAWL takes in come from Arizona’s rural counties.
“About 60% of our animals come from rural shelters across the state of Arizona,” Navidad said. “ ese are tiny shelters where most of the time they’re open intake. ey’re government run shelters, they don’t have a lot of resources.”
Some of those resources that are lacking include vaccinations, which is why government-run shelterssend the dogs to AAWL.
Borchardt said most of the dogs that arrive in Chandler are usually adopted within a week. Some go home with a family in less than 24 hours.
She said the longest it has taken to adopt a dog during her tenure as manager of the Chandler location is three weeks. e center also occasionally gets cats and kittens.
For now, the workers at the Chandler Fashion Center are looking forward to getting new kennels.
“We have two or three that we just can’t use,” Borchardt said. “We’ve been patching the up, using silicone, glue and screws and stu . ey’ve just been overrun by puppy teeth, and digging, and everything. It will be our biggest renovation project here since we took over the store about 10 years ago.
Arizona Animal Welfare League Chandler Fashion Center
(near Dillards on the second floor) 602-781-3906
aawl.org
Rebecca, a 2-month-old mixed breed puppy acts shy while guests look over all the animals available at the Arizona Animal Welfare League East Valley Adoption Center inside the Chandler Fashion Center. (David Minton/Sta Photographer)
After more than three decades in the restaurant business, Mike Mallery has nally achieved his dream.
“I always looked for a small place that I could maybe call my own,” said Mallery who, together with his wife Kim, now owns the popular breakfast and lunch Bistro restaurant at 22721 S. Ellsworth Road in Queen Creek.
It was run successfully for more than a decade by Blake Mastyk, who sold the place for $195,000.
Mallery went to culinary school and spent most of his 35-years in the restaurant business in the kitchen. He, his wife and son moved to Queen Creek from Oregon about ve years ago and Mike had been looking for a restaurant they could own and operate.
“I’ve never been in the restaurant industry and Mike has always talked about the dream of owning his own place,” Kim Mallery said. “And nally, with the potential of the Bistro, he kind of got me on board with that dream because I can see the potential of the Bistro…how cute it is.
“It’s just like the secret, local hidden gem that I love. He convinced me it was a good idea.”
When the Mallerys arrived in Queen Creek, Kim was not thinking about work at all.
“When we left Oregon and came down to Arizona, I had my eye geared toward retirement even though I was only in my early 50s,” she said. “It was like, ‘Okay, this is the start of retiring. You know, we’re gonna start winding our careers down.’”
“It was kind of a big change of direction for us. But I think it’s a good change.”
Mike knows the restaurant business is hard. He has tucked away dozens of lessons, and maybe a few recipes, in his 35 years in the industry.
e hours are long. Customers can be grouchy, especially if they are hungry. Food prices volatile and the economy al-
ways uncertain. ere are always maintenance issues.
“You have to deal with all types of things,” he said. “Everything from dealing with plumbing to broken down equipment to making specials, food costs –learning how to adjust during COVID the last few years and having to understand a whole new way of takeout.”
Equipment failure is the number one issue for Kim.
Even understanding that there will be issues, she called it “shocking” but realizes broken equipment is inevitable – and expensive.
“I come in every morning and then like, just kind of give myself a little sigh and a prayer: ‘And please don’t tell me that anything broke.’ And then some and then some days, they tell me two or three things broke. “ ey’re like ‘this refrigerator is hot the shelf and the dish room broke.’ I’m just so looking forward to a day where I have all the equipment running smoothly.”
Finding and keeping a stable base of
reliable and dedicated employees can be a challenge. So far, it has tilted in the Mallerys favor, largely because of the base of workers who were with Mastyk for the better part of the decade he owned the Bistro.
“It can be hard to nd employees,”
Mike Mallery said. “One day, you’ll have 10 people who want jobs and the next year you can’t nd one person who wants a job.
“So, one thing I’ve learned over the years is that to keep your good employees and treat them how you want to be treated.”
In the little over a month the Mallerys have owned the Bistro, they say they have already grown close with their employees.
“I feel like we’re already kind of family, but they’re all younger,” she said. “So, Mike, and I feel like the mom and dad and we inherited this group of 11 kids. It’s kind of cool. And they’re great. ey’re a great crew.”
Added Mike: “ ey’re all of di erent breed. You make a lot of friends, and you
learn a lot from other people, too.”
Kim agrees the key to employee retention is treating people well.
“Treat them right,” she said. “ en they stay loyal to you. ey don’t just feel like they’re our employees, they feel like they’re vested in its success.”
Regular customers have told the Mallerys they are not keen to see many changes on the menu and would like to see some things that went away during COVID make a comeback, like the Friday night dinner specials the Bistro was known for.
“I’ve had hundreds of people say don’t change anything about the menu,” Mike said. “And I’m like, ‘Okay, I’m not gonna change menu, but I’m gonna add my love to it.’”
“People are worried that we’ll take away the pesto and we will not take away the pesto,” he laughed. “So, it’ll stay on the menu. But that doesn’t mean we can’t add some of our own special touches and stu . It seems like the customers are invested, too.”
He was no “urban cowboy,” but Bill Schrader’s rst cattle drive followed a cosmopolitan course – at least by today’s standards.
And the “cattle trail” taken in 1941 sounds as if it could be a daily commute these days.
From a West Valley start at 27th Avenue and Baseline, Bill helped drive the herd eastward into Tempe, then north, right up Mill Avenue.
“We drove our cattle right through the middle of Tempe,” Schrader remembered. “Cows walkin’ on sidewalks…[and since] the river was running that year, and it was so full, we had to cross the Tempe Bridge.”
Longtime Valley residents might wonder about taking such a circuitous route
to the old Phoenix Stockyards, but Bill and his family weren’t in the beef business.
e Schraders were moving their dairy operation from Laveen to Scottsdale and 12-year-old “Billy” was actively involved.
“I’ll never forget it…all the way to Hayden and Indian School in Scottsdale.”
e West’s Most Western Town became Bill Schrader’s hometown and the early morning chores on the Scottsdale dairy farm instilled in him a personal vision and work ethic that was anything but passive.
Active in the youth group at his Methodist Church, taking on leadership roles at Scottsdale High and in the 4-H Club, young Bill would never be called a “loner.”
As he pursued his higher education at Arizona State College (now ASU), Schrader discovered an even greater level of involvement via the ballot box.
Mid-20th Century Arizona remained mostly agrarian, so Bill’s election as superintendent of the annual 4-H Fair during his ASU days wasn’t “small potatoes to the thousands of 4-H members and their families who competed to win accolades for their farm and home skills.
ere was a much more personal element for Schrader – his marriage at age 21 to his high school sweetheart, Bondena. Together, they would raise four children. e ballot box again beckoned. Elected to the City Council in 1958 at age 29, Schrader four years later became Scottsdale’s rst elected mayor under the current city charter.
e young mayor charted a course that helped Scottsdale grow.
Blunting an attempt by Phoenix to annex property to the McDowell Mountains, Scottsdale annexed DC Ranch, expanded the city limits to the Carefree Highway,
maintained rights to underbird Field (now Scottsdale Airport) along with Shea Boulevard and established Scottsdale Road as the boundary with Phoenix. All under Schrader’s leadership.
Following his two-year term as mayor, Bill followed the example of his father and won election to the Salt River Project Board of Directors. He served District 7— Scottsdale, northern Tempe, and eastern Phoenix — in that role until 1990, when he was elected SRP vice president.
In 1994, Schrader was elected president. His three four-year terms coincided with the six two-year terms of a certain congressman.
Personal observations attest to the fact that Bill was “everyman,” but not just any man.
Schrader seemed comfortable in any
see HAYWORTH page 18
The family of ve sat across from us and I couldn’t stop watching them throughout dinner. e oldest of the three kids looked maybe 13, though mostly I saw only the top of her head. She spent dinner tapping at her iPhone. Her two siblings, perhaps 10 and 8, a girl and a boy, also had electronic devices at the table, and they stayed engrossed in their digital worlds.
Take a bite. Tap. Chew, tap. Spear a forkful of chow mein. Tap, tap, tap. ey rarely looked up. Just tapped away life.
I would have eavesdropped on the family’s conversation, except there was nothing to overhear. Dad took a call at one point. at was the sum total of their chatter. Something occurred to me as I watched, a thought I’ve been pondering for days. I think I’m correct, though I hope not.
What a miserable childhood the 21st century provides its children. Has there ever been a lousier time to be young?
I grew up in the 1970s in Queens, New York, a time when there were no bicycle helmets. ere was no such thing as a cell phone or video games, no such thing as a GPS to track your location 24-7, no Ritalin, no cable TV, no Internet, no “peanut-free” lunchrooms, no vegan snacks, and no such thing as a “helicopter parent.”
For toys, I had a baseball mitt and a worn basketball, a G.I. Joe and the board game “Operation” – for an afternoon, until my brother and I lost the plastic arm and leg bones. Our Zenith TV got NBC, CBS and ABC, plus three fuzzy independent stations that ran the “Million Dollar Movie” and sports. We also got a couple of UHF channels where you could catch wrestling, provided you held the TV antenna and stood balanced on one leg with a hand on the window sill.
It was a great time to be a kid. I wouldn’t trade it for all the iPhones and Nintendo Switches known to man. at’s what I thought watching these kids tap on thousand-dollar devices while mom and dad split some Mongolian beef. eir blank faces and oblivion took me back to the summer I was 12, after fth grade.
My neighborhood was gripped with terror that June, held captive by a serial killer who called himself “Son of Sam.” e .44 Caliber Killer struck eight times in New York between the summer of 1976 and 1977, killing six and wounding seven. Sam spent the summer of ‘77 burrowed deep in our brains, because of the letters he left at the scene or mailed to Jimmy Breslin at the Daily News.
“I love to hunt,” Sam’s wrote. “Prowling the streets looking for fair game – tasty meat. e wemon of Queens are z prettyist of all.”
My parents took extreme precautions to keep us safe that summer. Every night, once our family nished eating meatloaf or sh sticks – TV o , no books allowed at the table – my mother said, “You two be careful” and “no crossing Utopia Parkway,” before sending us back out to play ball or ring-o-levio until all the good sitcoms came on at 8.
We jumped bikes over trash cans. We shoplifted baseball cards from Henry’s candy store. We ignored the warnings about Utopia Parkway and chucked crab apples at the city bus. We were kids who thought we’d live forever, Son of Sam aside. e only thing we tapped was someone’s doorbell, before we ran and hid behind the bushes.
We never knew what it was to be bored. We never knew the silence of digital life. Childhood then was loud and fun. It was nothing like the sad childhood of 2023 –and thank God for that.
The Surface Transportation Board’s (Board) Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) announces the availability of a Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for public review and comment. The Draft EA analyzes the potential environmental and historic impacts of approximately 6.0 miles of new rail line in southeastern Mesa, Arizona. Comments are due to the Board by June 30, 2023.
The Draft EA is available on the Board’s website, www.stb.gov, by clicking “Search STB Records” and searching for “Decisions” using docket number “FD 36501.” DOCKET NO.
To learn more about the proposed rail line and the Draft EA, please visit: bit.ly/3pNXz9s.
or funeral. Our inflationproof preplan arrangements ensure your wishes are respected. Call or visit us online today.
setting—whether o ering committee testimony in Washington, walking cotton elds in the East Valley or volunteering with the Charros during Spring Training at Scottsdale Stadium.
But his casual, congenial demeanor should never be confused with living life in “cruise control.”
Perhaps because SRP’s mission is to deliver water and power to so much of Arizona, Schrader employed a nautical metaphor to convey what energized his approach to living.
“Don’t wait for your ship to come in— swim out and meet that ship!”
Schrader met the end of his earthly existence on May 17 at age 93.
When family and friends gathered at Scottsdale United Methodist Church on June 3 to celebrate his life, they did so knowing that it was where young “Billy” rst answered the call as a servant leader. And many in attendance also believed that if the Almighty is ever in need of volunteers for a cattle drive right up the “Streets of Gold,” William Perry Schrader will be rst in line.
The play – a 46-yard touchdown reception as time expired against USC – was so memorable it earned its own nickname.
e Jael Mary.
But former Arizona State and NFL wide receiver Jaelen Strong hopes to be de ned by more than two standout seasons in Tempe and an unforgettable 2014 catch. He wants to make a di erence for young athletes in the Valley.
rough his new athletic and academic youth organization, 602Era, Strong is committed to providing opportunities through sports for young athletes. e organization features teams in 7v7 football, basketball, baseball and track and eld for students in elementary school through high school. He eventually hopes to create an IMG-like academy in Arizona.
While it’s a business, Strong hopes the lessons learned are far-reaching.
“We are trying to teach kids how to challenge themselves and develop constantly no matter what. e goal is to get kids to college for free through sports,” Strong said. “ e foundation of 602Era is creating a network of alumni who will learn through years of being in the program and return to give back to the youth in the community. It’s a ‘reach one, teach one’ type of thing.”
Strong, alongside an elite team of former athletes and trainers, formed the business in January with the goal of becoming Arizona’s most prominent youth athletic organization.
Four months into the process, Strong has attracted youth from all over Maricopa County, including 34 two-sport athletes from eight high schools, some of which in the East Valley.
“I started 602Era because that is the area code of Phoenix and I wanted people to know that when we leave the area that we are from Arizona,” Strong said.
“ at way it gains that activation of the
Valley that coach (Kenny) Dillingham at ASU is trying to incorporate. I want to create that great relationship through 602Era with the community, Arizona State and all other colleges across the country.”
Installing foundational values and shaping the young athletes into better people has been the highlight of the rst few months, Strong said.
He believes his model of six pillars, no excuses and two places (school and playing eld) will set the standard for what it takes to be successful. He expects every athlete who joins 602Era to adhere to the expectations of the pillars and demonstrate the same work ethic on the eld and in the classroom.
e creation of the six pillars ideology was inspired by former Arizona State coach Todd Graham. Playing under Graham in his two seasons at ASU, Strong credits his former coach with implementing an environment that prioritized growing just as much o the eld as on it.
Former Clemson tight end and 602Era assistant coach D.J. Greenlee built a relationship with Strong after his cousin and all-pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins introduced the two when he was his teammate on the Texans. e two have stayed friends since and Greenlee was one of the rst people Strong called when recruiting coaches to 602.
Since then, Greenlee has been instrumental in establishing the 7v7 football teams for the various age groups. Just like Strong, Greenlee wants to “instill in these guys what I’ve been instilled from my past coaches and coach Dabo Swinney at Clemson.”
Still, the primary goal for Strong, Green-
lee and the rest of the 602 team is to provide the best leadership and training possible to help their players achieve their goals of playing at the next level.
He already has organized visits to the ASU and UNLV football programs while setting up camps and introducing his connections in the football world to his players.
Maren Pellant, the mother of 602Era player and Hamilton High School quarterback Beckham Pellant, believes that in the few months her son has worked with Strong, she has seen his skills develop and has watched him become more mature and focused o the eld.
“He’s done grade checks and holds them accountable. He just wants the best for them,” she said. “He wants them all to play at the next level. So, he’s going to do everything he can to coach them up to that level so that they succeed.”
Beckham values Strong’s experience and knowledge and hopes it will put him
in a better position heading into his senior season.
“He’s a great guy to look up to. I mean, he’s obviously done it. He’s been to the league. He’s been in college. He’s done everything that we all hope to do,” Beckham said.
Strong, who grew up in Philadelphia and played at Los Angeles Pierce College before the they next step to Power 5 football, frequently shares his story of determination and following in his dreams.
“He tells us a lot about his upbringing, how he ended up at JUCO and then ASU,” Beckham said. “He uses his story to motivate us. And even if we do go to JUCO, we know we can still make it big.”
Strong’s motivation is to o er an alternate route to learn and thrive under professionals who have had success in athletics and o the eld.
His coaching days are just getting started, but he already has big plans for the future.
“I’m going to open a school,” he said. “It’s been in the back of my mind for a while, and it is the next step in how I want to impact the youth.”
Strong wants to establish an “elite type of IMG school in Arizona,” Greenlee said, and build a curriculum that better prepares kids for college and a career in professional sports.
Whether it is training kids on the eld, running an athletic organization or taking the steps to build a school, Strong has committed himself to using his platform for the betterment of future generations.
Although the ASU great will never be forgotten for the e ect he had on the eld, the legacy he is building o it is what pushes Strong to continue to leave his mark in the Valley.
“ e kids know that they make my life so much better,” he said. “ ey give me a purpose to wake up every day and keep pushing.
“As long as I’m servicing the kids and I’m reaching one and he reaches another, that’s the only thing that matters to me.”
Babbo Italian Eatery is swinging for the fences June 15 with its second annual Baseball for Babbo Day of Giving, when it will donate all sale proceeds to the Seena Magowitz Foundation – a national nonpro t for pancreatic cancer research and awareness
Last year Babbo raised just over $100,000 for the charity and is aiming to exceed that total because “it’s a cause that is very near and dear to our hearts,” said Babbo Italian Eatery marketing director Taylor Schultz.
“Since we are a family-run restaurant that has been around for over 20 years, it felt like it was the right time to do it around Father’s Day especially since Babbo means ‘daddy’ in Italian,” she said. is year’s campaign is personal for Schultz, the daughter of Babbo founder Ken Pollack.
When Pollack was given the devastating diagnosis of stage four pancreatic cancer in February 2021, things didn’t look good. He was given a prognosis of three to six months to live.
He de ed the odds and fought vigilantly until he died last December.
During his ght, Pollack made strong connections with his care team at HonorHealth Research Institute and Mayo Hospital with the Seena Magowitz Foundation.
Schultz said her father learned how the foundation “donates a lot of funds to pancreatic cancer research, which is very important because it’s a very underdiagnosed disease and it is oftentimes diagnosed very late.
“ e more research we have, the better
Babbo Italian Eatery marketing director Taylor Schultz said the restaurant’s Baseball for Babbo Day of Giving reflects the philanthropy of her late father, Ken Pollack, who founded the pizzeria chain. (David Minton/Sta Photographer)
it is for anybody going through that sort of treatment process.”
Because of this, June 15 marks a big day for Babbo Italian Eatery’s Valley locations – including Queen Creek, Cave Creek, Scottsdale, Mesa and Phoenix – as the restaurants will donate 100% of its earnings from dine-in, take out, gift card and merchandise sales to the Seena Magowitz Foundation.
Because Pollack was also a lifelong baseball fan, each location will feature ra es that give customers the chance to score baseball memorabilia like signed jerseys, baseball cards and baseballs donated by Memory Lane Inc., Milwaukee Brewers
menu right now,” Schultz said.
Schultz said favorite item on the menu is a pizza.
“We have a zucca pizza, which is a light pizza that is topped with fresh zucchini, squash, mozzarella, scallions and goat cheese. It’s delicious,” Schultz said.
Calling her father a philanthropic man who had held charitable events bene ting Phoenix nonpro t Young Life and the Arizona Humane Society, Schultz said Baseball for Babbo Day of Giving perfectly represents who her father was.
merchandise and Arizona Diamondbacks season tickets.
Ra e tickets can be bought and individual donations can be made at babboitalian.com.
Additionally, the Ken Pollack family and Roger Magowitz will each match funds raised during the Baseball for Babbo Day of Giving event up to $50,000.
Of course, Schultz said the event not only enables people to support a good cause but also enjoy a good meal.
“We’re very known for our spaghetti and meatballs. We have amazing salads, pizzas, huge calzones and then we have some summer cocktails as part of our summer
“He was really excited about it and was really happy to be able to do this. My dad is de nitely a philanthropist at heart,” Schultz said.
“One of his sayings was ‘If you give, you will get and if you get, you should give.’ is is something that just totally embodied him and everything he did.”
She is looking forward to seeing her sta and customers rally behind a cause.
“It’s just a way to bring everybody together for a uni ed cause and really honor somebody that we care about,” Schultz said. “I feel like our sta is really excited and just we want to get the word out there for the state of giving.”
To nd Babbo locations and other information: babboitalian.com.
IWith JAN D’ATRI
t’s officially pool party season and chips and salsa are our go-to favorites for backyard barbeques. If you’re looking for some fun new salsas to try, I’ve got some delicious options.
The first is one of my favorite recipes for stand-out salsa fresca. It uses ingredients found in many diced tomato-based salsas, but you can heat it up or tone it down anyway you like.
The second option is a roasted eggplant salsa which was rescued out of my own recipe box – the one I’ve had for years stuffed with recipe clippings, potluck favorites and scribbles on scratch paper.
It’s perfect if you’re looking to add something a little different to your salsa spread. Now, all you have to do is grab a chip and dive right in.
Ingredients:
• 6 large cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 4 large whole shallots, unpeeled
• 3 large Asian eggplants or one large eggplant
• 1 Poblano chile
• 1-2 fresh Thai chiles (bird chiles) or large jalapeno, minced
Directions:
Preheat oven broiler to 400 degrees. Grease a baking sheet with olive oil. Place unpeeled garlic, whole shallots, eggplants and poblano chile on baking sheet and place under broiler about 4-5 inches from broiler. Turn vegetables often to brown and soften on all sides.
Remove vegetables as they soften. Garlic and shallots will soften first, then poblano chile and finally eggplant. Eggplant will take about 8 minutes.
Salsa Fresca Ingredients:
• 4 large vine-ripened tomatoes, or 7-8 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1-2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped fine
• 1 large green chile (Anaheim or Hatch) diced
4 cloves garlic, minced or chopped fine
¼ cup chopped red onion, diced fine
• ½ cup green onion, chopped fine
Directions:
In a bowl, combine above ingredients. (Or use a food processor, pulsing a few times until desired consistency.) Don’t over pulse.
• 1 Poblano chile
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 2 level tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves, chopped fine
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive oil for greasing baking sheet
• Pita chips, crackers or crustini toast
When cool enough to handle, peel garlic, shallots and poblano chile and place in a food processor. Pulse several times but leave chunky. Scrape the eggplant flesh from the skin into the food processor. Pulse once or twice to combine.
Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Stir in minced chile, fish sauce and cilantro. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature with pita chips, crackers or crustini.
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
• 1-2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Juice of one lime
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons Mexican oregano
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• ½ to 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
Serve with tortilla chips. Note: Salsa is best when refrigerated for 1-2 hours to allow the flavors to blend. Store in an airtight container.
If you think oxygen therapy means slowing down, it’s time for a welcome breath of fresh air.
Introducing the Inogen One family of portable oxygen systems. With no need for bulky tanks, each concentrator is designed to keep you active via Inogen’s Intelligent Delivery Technology.® Hours of quiet and consistent oxygen flow on a long-lasting battery charge enabling freedom of movement, whether at home or on the road. Every Inogen One meets FAA requirements for travel ensuring the freedom to be you.
• No heavy oxygen tanks
• Ultra quiet operation
• Lightweight and easy to use
• Safe for car and air travel
• Full range of options and accessories
• FAA approved and clinically validated
