We are realtors. And, in the space of this newsletter, we do our best to drive just in that lane. We try not to get too political.

We leave other times for that. We are citizens of our country, after all.

However, we would be remiss if we did not encourage you to sign the Outlaw Dirty Money petition. This ballot initiative would require basic disclosure of what we commonly know of as “dark money.”

No level of government can work properly — from the legislature to the Department of Real Estate, unless we have basic disclosure of the money –often laundered– that is being spent to influence our government.

Please take a moment to learn more at this website and find a location to sign the petition in person.

If you know us, you know that we support Local First Arizona. And, we support Independence Week.

You can save 20% at your favorite local businesses during Independents Week, June 30 – July 8!

Independents Week is Arizona’s only week-long celebration of local businesses that lets you save money while shopping local.

Here’s how it works:

Donna Reiner, a local historian and a good friend of Get Your PHX, has written many articles over the years for the Arizona Republic and others about what came before us. We use her services when we list properties of historic significance to help us tell the stories behind the homes.

We are happy that Donna is allowing us to re-publish some of her articles on a monthly basis. If you or your business ever needs a historian, let Donna know at laydeescholar@hotmail.com.

(Obviously, this article was published originally after labor day. We don’t want you to think that you’ve been asleep for three months when you read this.)

In the Good Old Summertime

Labor Day has come and gone. And the memories of summer have rapidly faded away. If only the Phoenix weather reflected the change. But oh no….it’s still HOT! And the natural inclination is to want to cool off in any pool or one of our many lakes.

In “vintage” times, school didn’t start until after Labor Day, and by then the bristling heat had cooled to more “tepid” figures. However, things are different now and we all, young and old alike, ache to find some way to cool off. So, what was it like in the pre and post WWII era? Where were those swimming holes besides Riverside Park before you had one at your house?

Granted the canals were an option before they were cemented, although not always safe. But there were formal, noncity owned pools which often opened in April and closed right after Labor Day. Many even provided picnic areas and dance pavilions.

The Arizona Republic had listings of such places although it can be difficult to sort them all out as they changed owners and names. Cottonwood Pool, opening in 1946, was at 4524 N. 7^th Street by the Grand Canal. Like many pools of its ilk, icy cold water from wells fed the pool and the overflow went back into the canal. Broadway Pool at approximately 20^th Avenue and Broadway was also filled with icy cold well water. The sea blue paint of the pool with silver trim was something to see along with its high and low diving boards. The teen club, Hullabaloo, opened on the site of that pool in 1967.

George Bailey Nelson had two pools. His first near 40^th St and Thomas Road had a sandy bottom when it opened in 1927. After he closed that one in 1944, he built another near 19^th Avenue and Turney. It too had cold well water with the overflow going back into the nearby canal. One frequent user mentioned the pool finish as “sprayed on gunnite [which]was very rough and would tear up the wet skin on your knees.” This popular pool allowed huge tractor inner tubes which was a favorite of boisterous teenagers. When the pool closed in the 1970s, it became a fishing hole.

Joyland Pool near 35^th Street and Van Buren boasted being the largest pool in the valley with its 220’ length when it opened in 1924. It had a sandy beach, multiple diving towers, and a slide. Saguaro Beach located on the current site of Circle K Park in South Phoenix had two pools. The larger round one had a slide and the other was strictly for diving.

Alas, none of these pools survive beyond photos and memories.

Donna Reiner, a local historian and a good friend of Get Your PHX, has written many articles over the years for the Arizona Republic and others about what came before us. We use her services when we list properties of historic significance to help us tell the stories behind the homes.

We are happy that Donna is allowing us to re-publish some of her articles on a monthly basis. If you or your business ever needs a historian, let Donna know at laydeescholar@hotmail.com.

In late fall of 1906, Adam Diller and his large family left their home in Bluffton, OH for Phoenix, AZ taking household items and farm equipment on the train that they would need to start a new life in territorial Arizona. The Dillers, along with other Mennonite families from Ohio and Indiana, were drawn to the Phoenix area because of its fertile farm land.

The Dillers first purchased 40 acres on what was then the outskirts of Phoenix along 16^th Street between the Phoenix Ditch and what is now Roosevelt Street.  A dairy was there initially and the Diller family sold the milk to Phoenix residents. A resourceful family, the Dillers began making textured cement building blocks using water from the canal which were used to build their two-story home near 16^th Street and Fillmore. Unfortunately, the house has long since disappeared from this busy intersection.

Before the sale of the 16^th Street property (these forty acres were later sold in 5 and 10 acre parcels), the Dillers purchased 60 acres of citrus on 7^th Avenue between what is now Butler Drive and Dunlap. This area of north Phoenix was our “citrus belt” due to the vast acreage of citrus groves and small citrus growers nestled between the Arizona and Grand Canals.

Once again, the Dillers built their home with cement blocks that they had made near their former 16^th Street home. The design of this house was different from the 16^th Street home.

Dan Diller purchased property south and adjoining his parent’s land. It was on this property that an unusual sweet orange tree was discovered. What made this orange different from others in the grove was its size, lack of seeds, and extraordinary juiciness.

Careful propagation of buds from the “mother” tree sometime around 1920, led to the creation of what is now known as the Diller Orange. Lewis Diller, the son of Adam, planted and sold many groves of this orange during the 1920s. This Arizona sweet orange was shipped to market and ads in the local papers offered them for sale. The Diller orange tree is still available for purchase at some select nurseries in the valley.

Today the home on the west side of 7^th Avenue is listed on the Phoenix Historic Property Register and the National Register of Historic Places. Those textured cement blocks are a testament to the soundness of the home and the love the Diller family gave to this place.

Many of you who live in Central Phoenix may have watched the multi-year struggle of Harmony Mosier against cancer. Harmony, the young daughter of Paul and Keri Mosier, had rare form of cancer. She passed last Wednesday. You can see a tribute video to her here.

What was remarkable about her story was just how bravely she fought. We all watched as she struggled through round after round, with varying degrees of invasive and painful procedures, as well as radiation and chemotherapy.

Paul and Keri are active friends in our community. Keri makes beautiful jewelry, which she has sold at our Phoestivus Market since its inception. Paul is a well-regarded author and publisher.

Paul and Keri documented their struggle on Facebook and our community followed with rapt attention. Their writings and photos presented a touching and meaningful chronicle of a close and loving family dealing with a foe, which they rallied together to fight. Watching their story, we could see just how much the community was drawn her cause, with t-shirts, fundraisers and tributes.

Theirs is the story of two working parents who, when confronted by a demon who sought to take their daughter from them, put everything on the line. The doctors and hospitals, while bringing to bear all of their knowledge and new treatments, still cost money.

Without opining on the state of our health care system in American, we want to take this opportunity to request that you look at Harmony’s story and take a moment to donate to the GoFundMe campaign, which was set up long ago to help fight. Now that Harmony is gone, the bills remain for a family who has lost so much.

Michelle and I have donated and we will again. With so much grief, and in a moment when they will turn to focus on the beauty of the short time they had with Harmony, we hope that the community will help take the burden of medical bills off their shoulders.

As members of Local First Arizona, we are big fans of supporting locally-owned banks and credit unions.

Not only are the big national banks bureaucratic, slow and detached from our community, we also have a hard time forgiving them for their role in the Great Recession (as well as how they often mis-handled short sales and foreclosures).

Yep. So, many reasons…

Anyway, there is a great way that you can support your community, local businesses and local banks –switch over!

Local first is hosting a Community Banking Month Celebration this month and we encourage you to check it out.

“Local First Arizona invites you to join local banks, credit unions, and local businesses for our spring gathering at The Newton. Financed locally, this adaptive reuse is the perfect spot to meet local businesses, and local banking options! Enjoy drinks from First Draft Book Bar and complimentary bites from Southern Rail.

RSVP at this link.

ABOUT THE NEWTON
An adaptive reuse project by Venue Projects and John Douglas Architects, The Newton is a mixed-use concept housed inside Phoenix’s former (but iconic) Beef Eaters building. Named after Beef Eaters’ Founder Jay Newton, today The Newton is a place where people can read, dine, gather, and shop. The Newton is home to the Phoenix location of Changing Hands Bookstore,Southern Rail, Southwest Gardener, and Christofolo Schermer Consulting. The Newton is also an event venue, with three private event spaces available for private events and parties.

WHAT TO EXPECT:
The Local First Arizona networking mixers are an excellent way to meet local business community and connect with LFA staff. Meetings are typically held on the third Wednesday of the month from 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM at different local business throughout the Metro Phoenix. We dedicate the first hour to networking, and from time to time include special networking activities, to keep things fresh.

At 7:00 PM we begin announcements, this is when we share upcoming events, organization updates and share news about the local movement. At the end of announcements, we hold a prize drawing, donated by members to showcase their business (local items only and minimum value of $25, please)

Are you new? Need a member benefits refresher? Join us from 5:30PM – 6:00PM for a quick overview of your Local First Arizona membership. Open to new and potential members.

Mixers are open to local business owners, local nonprofits, local charities, other local institutions and their employees. As a courtesy to our host, you must RSVP. For more information email Community Outreach Manager, Kendall Jones at: Kendall@localfirstaz.com

If you read this blog much, you know we are big fans of materials recovery in Phoenix. Remember how the City of Phoenix found a way to divert 36,000 tons of previously-considered useless palm fronds in to animal feed?

So, its nice to see Local First Arizona hosting tours of the Phoenix Materials Recovery program. It is worth a tour.

One plug from us, though. Think of all of the thousands of new gadgets that have batteries in them now, from pens to cars. All of those small batteries have precious metals in them –some worth more than gold. All of which require invasive and polluting mining to develop. What would it look like if we could divert those metals away from our land fills and back in to our circular economy?

That’s a net win for Arizona, as all of those metals originate from outside of Arizona.

It would take an investment from our cities in educating the public and coordination with businesses to help collect those items.

That said, now back to the news about the Local First tour:

At this event, you will meet Local First Arizona’s Green Team at Phoenix’s Material Recovery Facility (aka the MRF) where you will see how recycling is sorted and processed. This eye-opening tour is free and you’ll walk away with a new appreciation for recycling.

Thanks to our friends at Recyclebank for supporting this event! Attendees will receive bonus points from Recyclebank for attending. The North Gateway Transfer Station is located at 30205 N. Black Canyon Hwy, Phoenix and we will meet there. RSVP via email to Carrie@localfirstaz.com.

Donna Reiner, a local historian and a good friend of Get Your PHX, has written many articles over the years for the Arizona Republic and others about what came before us. We use her services when we list properties of historic significance to help us tell the stories behind the homes.

We are happy that Donna is allowing us to re-publish some of her articles on a monthly basis. If you or your business ever needs a historian, let Donna know at laydeescholar@hotmail.com.

One of the basics we learned at an early age is to share. Share our toys and games, share our room/space, and maybe even share our clothes. But….it may not have been easy,.

A delicate balance between the needs and wants of city and county governments seems to exist in many areas. But sharing a building? How much and in what form will or could it take place? At one time, the Arizona territorial government shared the upper floor of the first Phoenix City Hall until the capitol building was completed in 1901 (it was understood that this situation was temporary). But that building is long gone from the memories of most residents. Nevertheless, there is one quite striking example of sharing that still stands out: The County/City Administration Building at 125 West Washington.

The building reflects first upon the growth of this urban area, both city and county, and also the mature local governments of Phoenix and Maricopa County. By 1920, Phoenix had surpassed Tucson in population and the county was more populated than any other Arizona county. Having status as the location of the state government also lent importance to these two governing bodies. Thus when it came time to provide larger quarters for their respective administrations, the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce suggested (perhaps pressured is more appropriate) the city and county to join efforts to build a magnificent structure in the center of downtown.

A design competition narrowed the field to seven architects and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors selected Edward Neild from Shreveport, Louisiana in September 1927. And here’s where those “sharing” problems began to arise. The City of Phoenix preferred the local firm of Lescher and Mahoney. So, what could be done to solve what might have been a dreadful impasse?

Each governing body decided that “we can do this” using both architects with Neild being the overall supervisor on the project. Neild designed the Maricopa County portion on the east side of that building on West Washington, and Lescher and Mahoney designed the City of Phoenix portion including the interior on the west end. Two separate entrances mark the difference between the two governments.

By the 1950s, both bodies had outgrown their respective sides and made plans to build SEPARATE buildings. Sharing was no longer a viable option.

While most people see a unified building on the exterior, on the interior you encounter the now non-functioning doors between the city and county sides. Who knows if these differences have actually saved this historic building from demolition.

Phoenix gave Landmark status to Historic City Hall in 2004.

Donna Reiner is the co-author of three books on Phoenix history.

We were pretty excited to learn about the new working urban gardens and restaurant concept for Los Olivos Park at 28th and Indian School: The Farm at Los Olivos.

This is a public-private partnership with Greenbelt Hospitality, who’s owners are well known for their work in the community. Matthew Moore’s family has farmed in the valley since the 1920s and he currently lectures on art and agriculture across the country. Aric Mei is most known for The Parlor Pizzeria, proclaimed by The Food Network as the best pizza in Arizona.

Have a listen to this KJZZ news story on the possible development.

The project will take the western 30% of Los Olivos park to create working urban gardens and community space, along with dining. It will consist of beautifully designed organic produce gardens, an art and education center, and healthy concessions that will provide a unique and delicious food and recreation experience for its visitors.

The ultimate goal is to build a stronger and more resilient food culture in our community while providing an educational experience for visitors.

The City of Phoenix issued an Request for Proposal (solicitation) for the creation of a new Park amenity with agriculture, education, and concessions as the core requirements. The Greenbelt team responded along with other proposers.

After a independent review process, Greenbelt was selected as the highest scoring applicant. Through this new public/private partnership, the new amenity will be financed and operated by the Greenbelt team and will require no taxpayer dollars.

Additionally, the land itself will continue to be owned by the City of Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department, and most importantly, no park land will be sold.

Now, here’s the most important thing to know. There will be a city council meeting for final approval on March 22nd. Be sure to attend if this issue is important to you!

Learn more at their Facebook Page.

There will be a public charrette on March 10th to consider ideas of what could be done with the State Fairgounds.

What is a charrette? Well, first, a little background.

About every ten years, we begin to hear rumors that the State of Arizona wants to relocate the State Fairgrounds from its current location at 19th Ave and McDowell to some unknown location.

Thus far, the move has never come to pass.

This time, there seems to be a stronger push for a relocation. The Governor’s office issued a request for information (RFI) last March to get ideas of what the public would like to see happen. Some folks wanted to keep the fair where it is. Some wanted to move it and build homes. Some wanted a public park. One of the tribes even offered to take the fair to their land.

There are many ideas, plus most of us want to be 100% certain to preserve the historic buildings on the fairgrounds.

So, what can you do when there are so many competing interests? Well, you get them all in to a room with some smarty-pants architects and city planners for a day and share as many ideas as you can come up with. At the end, the architects and planners lock themselves in a room and come up with some ideas, which the present to the public.

That’s basically what a charrette is.

I have my idea of what should happen, but your ideas are just as important.

So, you can learn more on the State Historic Preservation Office’s Facebook page. Better yet, you can join us on March 10th.