My friend of many years, Dick Geasland of MIKID shared this invite with me to share with you.

This is the upcoming MIKID Sue Gilbertson Leadership Award.

MIKID improves the behavioral health and wellness of children and youth through a family-centered approach.

MIKID offering an array of services to families of children with emotional and behavioral challenges. Last year MIKID served families in 69 Arizona cities and towns, providing education, resources, and support to hundreds of Arizona families annually.

MIKID’s history stemmed from one individual’s overwhelming concern for the lack of services provided for children in the mental health field and the many serious issues that were not being properly addressed. Sue Gilbertson began her quest in 1984 when her son, Eric, was diagnosed with mental illness.

In trying to get assistance for her son, Ms. Gilbertson found herself amidst a conventional medical community that was simply not equipped to handle the problems her son was facing. She was confronted with a community that was indifferent and uncooperative to her needs.

MIKID focuses on youth and youth-voice, as well as on the adults in the families they serve. In an effort to further this youth focus, MIKID created Youth Summits, a one-day Leadership training for youth, particularly focusing on Transition Age Youth (TAY).

The Willo Home Tour is right around the corner, on February 11th. This year is the 30th anniversary of the tour. Here are my tips on how to have a great time.

First, a couple disclosures. I live in Willo, but I’ve never put my home up on the tour. I purchased it in late 2013 as a short sale home, in need of quite a bit of work. With our busy schedule with our clients and my legislative duties, the renovation schedule is stretched out over a decade. So, its gonna be a while.

If you are new to Phoenix and you want a primer on the Willo Neighborhood, have a look at this video that I did a few years ago. Its the pre-beard days, and quite a bit goofy, but we had a lot of fun with it.  We did videos on other neighborhoods on our Youtube Channel, as well. (We just re-uploaded them all, so that’s why they have no views.)

Any-who….

Here’s what you need to do to get the most out the Willo Home Tour:

1) Get your tickets right away. They won’t run out, but its good to get them now, rather than standing in line.

2) The Willo Affair happens the evening prior to the tour and is quite a beautiful outdoor dinner in the neighborhood.

3) There are a bunch of food trucks and options, so don’t worry if you didn’t get breakfast on the way out the door in the morning. If you feel like grabbing breakfast, there are many near-by options, including Vovomeena, HobNobs, Press Coffee at the Muse Apartments, and so many other choices.

4) Support the local vendors! I’ve been out there with the vendors for years. They work hard and always appreciate a little love.

5) Wear comfortable shoes. Even if you take the shuttle, you are going to put some steps on that ol’ FitBit.

6) If you have accessibility concerns, check with the organizers. Not every one of these old homes is accessible. Some are, some are not.

7) Parking is a little mad. If you can park a little further away from the tour start, I suggest you do it. The weather is perfect to be outside, so take advantage of the stroll or roll!

8) Be mindful that people live in these homes. They work very hard to get them ready for you to see. But, if you have kids or pets that might want to explore, it may be best to find alternatives for them.

If you enjoyed this one, you might also like the Coronado Home Tour, in February. The Encanto-Palmcroft Home Tour only happens every other year, alternating with the Windsor Square Home Tour.

Phreddie the Yeti and Your’s Truly

Thank you all for helping us raise more money for Community Food Connections than we ever have before at the 2017 Phoestivus Market. We raised over $15,000 to support our city’s downtown farmer’s market. Total sales for both nights at the market were over $150,000.

While we don’t have an official head counter, we are certain that we saw well over 3,000 people on each night of the event.

A special thanks needs to go out to Sara Matlin, the director of the farmer’s market at the Phoenix Public Market, a division of Downtown Phoenix Inc.

As the years have gone by, I find myself doing less and less with the market logistics, as Sara has professionalized the operations in a way that I can only dream of.

So, we all get to spend more time at the market just talking to participants and vendors, rather than running around, putting out fires. This means a lot to me, in particular. I walked around the market both nights with a permanent grin of my face, seeing the thousands of people really enjoying this event.

We’ve become an institution in Phoenix that supports fresh food and Community Food Connections, and Sara gets a great deal of credit for that.

We, of course, could not do it without our sponsors. Our prime sponsor, Bookman’s has been a long-time supporter. As have been Impact Printing, Blue Sky Airport Parking, Downtown Phoenix Inc, Roosevelt Row, Dig It Nursery, Local First Arizona and, of course, us, The Get Your PHX Team.

This year, we welcomed the Arizona Opera, Pick Me!, Breadfruit, Roosevelt Point and Tuft & Needle.

We always get questions at or after the market about how one can become a vendor next year. Well, first, be locally owned and consider being a member of Local First. Then check out Phoestivus.com for more information and updates. Vendor applications are typically announced in late August and they fill up in only a week or so.

See you next year!

The Grand Avenue Festival is an annual thing that has grown over the last decade or so.

Its been nice to see it grow organically, as more businesses grow along Grand, but in a way that still respects the arts and local businesses that make the street what it is.

So, for your information, be sure to put the 2017 Grand Avenue Festival on your calendar. The theme this year: “undersea madness.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                         Contact: Sahar Mitchell

Production Agency for Participatory Arts

Phone: 602-615-0899

Email: strangefamilycircus@gmail.com

Undersea Madness: The 12th Phoenix Annual Parade of the Arts

(Phoenix, AZ) Grand Avenue Arts & Preservation, Strange Family Circus and PAPA, LLC are proud to present the 12^th Phoenix Annual Parade of the Arts at 6pm on

November 11, 2017. For over a decade, PAPA has brought the community together to celebrate artistic expression in downtown Phoenix. As a free, family friendly event, the parade is a unique pedestrian and bike procession based 100% on audience participation. This year’s theme, “Undersea Madness” will bring out local pirates, mermaids, sailors and pineapple dwelling sponges to Historic Grand Avenue. For a fourth year, the Grand Avenue Festival will bookend the procession.

PAPA is open to all; marchers do not need to register to march unless they plan to compete for prizes. Participants who choose to compete must check in by 5pm at PAPA Headquarters near Bragg’s Pie Factory, 1301 N W Grand Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85007. Contest prizes are broken into five categories: best costume, best float, best decorative bicycle, best kids or pets entry and best group effort. Keeping with PAPA’s policy to promote an ecologically friendly event, participants must be non-motorized.

The public procession lines up at 6pm. The parade, lead once again by local Taiko drummers Fushicho Daiko, will travel from Bragg’s Pie Factory southeastward on Grand Avenue from McKinley. The procession will end at Grand Ave and Polk where it will egress into the backyard of Unexpected Gallery, 734 W Polk Street, Phoenix, AZ  85007 for after hours festivities. As part of the Grand Avenue Festival, participants are encouraged to come early and stay late for the art, music, food, make-and-take crafts, fashion shows and other fun events.

The Phoenix Annual Parade of the Arts unites the arts with the greater community by providing an open-to-the-public, mobile expression of downtown Phoenix life. The free, family event is presented by the Production Agency for Participatory Arts, LLC. PAPA is a New Times Best of Phoenix winner.

Who: The 12^th Phoenix Annual Parade of the Arts (PAPA) at the Grand Avenue Festival

When: November 11, 2017, Procession at 6pm.    

What: Public procession – 2017 Theme “Undersea Madness”

Where: Bragg’s Pie Factory, 1301 N W Grand Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85007 (With procession on Grand Ave)  

For more information, visit www.phoenixannualparadeofthearts.com, strangefamilycircus@gmail.com

Follow us on facebook, twitter or call 602-615-0899 for more information.

Images available upon request

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Our friends at Don’t be a Chump, Check for a Lump are taking a run at “Non-Profit of the Year” in Foothills Magazine.

This is one of those things where you can vote by checking in at the Foothills websites. So surf on over and give them a vote!

Check for a Lump is one of the groups that we’ve supported over the years through our Charity Referral Network.

If you send us a referral for a home sale or purchase, and that transaction closes, we will make a donation to the charity of your choice. We will post on our blog and on Facebook that your referral was instrumental in making that donation happen.

Just this month, we made a contribution to Check for a Lump, as well as the Osborn Education Foundation, as a result of referrals from caring individuals.

You are cordially invited to attend a community forum to express your views and hear those of other Phoenix residents on the future of the Arizona State Fairgrounds, including its historic buildings. This community forum, hosted by Arizona state representative Ken Clark, Phoenix Historic Neighborhoods president G.G. George, Phoenix Historic Preservation Commission chair Bill Scheel, and Arizona Preservation Foundation president Jim McPherson, will be held at the Encanto Park Club House, 2605 N. 15th Avenue, on Wednesday, April 5, 2017 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Refreshments will be served.

News from the City of Phoenix:

General Contact:
Ed Lebow
Phone Number:
602-495-0197

Its that time of year again. The Devour Culinary Classic is February 26th through March 5th.

The Devour Culinary Classic is the region’s premier annual event hosted by Phoenix Art Museum, Local First Arizona and the Devour Phoenix Restaurant Coalition. Now offering a week-long series at multiple venues in Phoenix, the events showcase the fine food and drink restaurants, producers and purveyors of Arizona while furthering metro Phoenix as a dining destination worthy of international prestige.

An event for every taste, the series culminates into the ultimate two-day Devour Culinary Classic featuring culinary curators and purveyors who support the Arizona food, wine and restaurant industries. Attendees have the chance to partake in innovative culinary demonstrations, meet top chefs and restaurateurs as well as taste an enormous array of culinary excellence from the region’s best chefs, restaurants, local food artisans, brewers, and vintners.

In 2017, the Devour Culinary Classic will celebrate its eighth annual event with over 100 of Arizona’s best culinary personalities from restaurant owners and chefs to food producers, wine makers, distillers and craft brewers who will come together to create an incredibly unique culinary experience for 4,000 lucky guests. Attendees can expect the utmost in lively food experiences: partake in innovative culinary demonstrations and taste workshops, meet the makers of your favorite edibles and drinkables and taste an enormous array of culinary excellence from the region’s best.

And since Devour is put on by our besties at Local First Arizona, of course we want to make sure you know about it!

Do you have an event that you’d like us to announce in our newsletter under the community news section? We are always looking for interesting news. Shoot us an email at ken@getyourphx.com and let us know.