Thursday, March 10, 2016

Going Global

The San Carlos Braves basketball team is The Talk Of The  Town after winning the Tribe's very first-in-history championship.  The Tribe organized  huge parade for them and their photos and overtime victory story are all over the local newspapers.  (Links at end of this blog post.)

Going Global...

We're Back In The Tonto Again. After two brief drive-by visits to Globe, it's time today to spend few hours visiting this historic and active mining area.

Globe got its name back in the 70's (that's the eighteen seventies) when some itinerate prospectors found a large sphere of pure silver. Legend has it that the giant chunk of metal had the rough shape of the continents etched onto its surface. So, what's any ol' prospector to do? Why name the place Globe. Honest, that's truly how Globe got its name.

I spent a lot of time in Globe in the 80's. (that's the nineteen eighties). I started passing through Globe in the spring of 1980 when traveling with Tucson's Whitewater Explorers Club to kayak the Salt River Canyon's locally famous rapids up yonder toward Showlow.

Eventually, I wound up working as a rafting guide on The Salt. Then a Flagstaff outfitter hired me to spend a lot of time hanging around Globe for two reasons.

First, he wanted me to help create a better image of whitewater rafting. Believe it or not, back in the 80's the local folks in Gila County had a real negative image of whitewater rafting. Basically, I spent time giving slide shows about The Salt and meeting with local leaders to smile and say nice things.

Second, the outfitter paid me to record oral histories of local folks—real sons of the pioneers kind of people. That was truly the highlight of my long association with Globe. My interview with third-generation rancher Lloyd Hicks was the most memorable of those oral history interviews. Lloyd died shortly after I recorded his stories. His family asked if they could use my video in his Memorial Service. The things they said afterwards about the power of that video will forever be a part of my Global Experience here.

So many Globe stories! It would take me a long time and a LOT of words to even scratch the surface of why Globe will always be a big part of my Arizona Life & Times.

Today, we have a very busy schedule in Globe. Lots of mundane shopping and errands but also a much-hoped-for visit with Don and/or Cindy and maybe a glimpse of their B&B “The Roost.” Don and Cindy have invested a big chunk of their life in creating a first class B&B in Globe-Miami. It's such a nice place that the Frank Lloyd Wright folks stay there when they visit Globe.

Why would the Frank Lloyd Wright folks be visiting Globe? Well, believe it or not, the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture has taken a serious, professional interest in the area. So much so that the school now has a formal project involving the local area. As this week's newspaper says, “They will help us paint our own blank canvas.” Three community open house meetings are scheduled this month to kick off the active portion of the project. Chances are good that the Wright People will be once again staying at Cindy and Don's Place when they visit Globe.

It's a short drive to Globe from our camp at Site #111 in the Jack Rabbit Loop of Windy Hill campground beside Roosevelt Lake. In fact, it's the same driving time and distance as it is to go from our Rimrock home to Cottonwood, only a whole lot more scenic with a whole lot less traffic.

There's a lot going on in the Greater Global Area this weekend. First, Tonto National Monument is staging their annual Heritage Days this weekend. It's the Tonto NM's biggest event of their yearly calendar. It's also the only time you can visit the Upper Cliff Dwelling without a reservation. You can simply show up and take the hike and see the place for yourself. At all other times of the year, you must make a reservation and those reservations can be mighty hard to get.

Meanwhile at the San Carlos Apache Tribe's Apache Gold Casino 7 miles east of Globe, there's going to be a huge Pow-Wow with a $32,500 pot of prize money. Big Pow-Wow prize money always draws some of the nation's best Pow-Wow participants.

And then, if that's not enough, nearby Superior is staging the community's biggest annual event—The Apache Leap Mining Festival. One of the many highlights of this 28th annual event is the wildly popular Chihuahua Races that begin at 11 AM Saturday on Main Street in front of Besich Park. While Chihuahuas can't run as fast as greyhounds, the little dogs have a whole lot more class and style when they get their race game faces on.

Plus, if that's not enough, the bass are biting big time at Roosevelt. Yes, the annual massacre of the lrge mouth bass has begun. Roosevelt's campgrounds are bulging with the big rigs and fancy boats of fishermen seemingly from everywhere. You see, when the bass begin to spawn even the dumbest fisherman can look like a fishing genius. The bass will bite anything, practically anywhere any time. The number of fish caught in Roosevelt in the next 2-3 weeks will easily number in the 1000's. 

Plus, if that's not enough, Spring Break starts tomorrow for Arizona State University and most all of The Valley's school systems.  That means the Roosevelt campgrounds will be even fuller with youthful partiers.

This is High Spring in The Greater Global Area. We're enjoying our Tonto Time here. It's a fine and fitting way to wind down our Road Trip and stage to return to Rimrock.

Here's links to the San Carlos basketball story.  Sounds like something right out of the movie "Hoosiers."








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