Mardi Gras in Quartzsite

Who is the masked person at the Art Show- Mardi Gras Masquerade in Quartzsite, AZ.? It was I. As an author, I was invited to sell my RV Chuckles books at the event on Saturday, February 25.

There were three sections to the costume contest, 1. Jesters, 2. Authors and Artists 3. The public. The photo of Luse and Daniel who are Indians or Native Americans doesn’t show their beautiful moccasins. I asked ten -year -old Aria if she was Cinderella. She answered, “ I’m usually Aurora but you can call me Cinderella because I’m always losing my shoes.”

Aria’s mother, Angela and father, Aaron were entertainers who played the guitar and sang. I even sang for my supper. The song was “This Land is My Land”. The food was fresh vegetables and dip, cookies, and cheese and crackers with gallons of ice-cold lemonade.

My friend, Paul Winer, also played Boogie Woogie on the piano as part of the entertainment.

The weather was hot so I didn’t wear my velvet cloak for very long. Debbie, who is both a poet and an artist, drank a lot of water. Several of my author friends were also present.

Several displays of art were excellent but my favorites were the leopard and polar bears painted by Elizabeth Lauder. She kindly gave me permission to photograph her with her art. You can see these paintings on stone at her studio in Prospectors Panorama on Kuehn Rd. in Quartzsite.

Old Town Wickenburg

We accompanied Opal, Frank and Zorro to Old Town Wickenburg yesterday. The Old Town area has been restored to its old grandeur with shops or restaurants in the restored buildings. Our first stop was at the Santa Fe Depot, which is the Visitor’s Center and the Chamber of Commerce.

Terry is standing by engine No. 761. Opal had a conversation with the recording of the teacher who had just arrived by train to Wickenburg to teach the youngsters who were almost her own age and size. Frank is walking with Zorro in the shade of the tall palm and mesquite trees.

The old buildings are enhanced with statuary that is so realistic that Terry jumped a foot in the air when he saw the rattlesnake.

The Hassayampa Building was originally called the Vernetta hotel and was owned by a black woman named Elizabeth Smith. The church is the St. Anthony of Pudu Catholic Church. The red brick schoolhouse is called the Garcia School.

Terry and Frank are reading the poem “Thanks for the Rain” that is depicted in the statuary.

The bust is of Henry Wickenburg who discovered the nearby Vulture Mine where over 30 million dollars of gold have been mined.

Another advantage of being in the old section of town is the size and true magnificence of mature trees and cacti. Prisoners kicked in or dug out of adobe buildings so prisoners were chained to this mesquite tree instead of in a town jail. Today, this tree is over 200 years old.

The dancer statutes were in front of the 1937 Mexican/ American restaurant where we had a very good lunch before returning home to our RV.

If you want to see the people in the background of these photos, double click on the lower left side of the photos to enlarge the pictures.

Four years ago Betty organized a Birthday Party for her husband Duane that has become an annual Boomer event for a Mr. Ed Birthday Party. When Betty tried to find a cake, all she could find was a cake that said "Happy Birthday to Ed." The bakery said that the family didn't want the cake because Ed had died but she could have it at a reduced rate. Betty bought the cake.

Last year we had terrible weather with wind, rain and even hail which inspired Betty and Duane to write poetry. This year’s cake reads: “ Our dear Ed,
We’re sorry you’re dead
But your timely demise
Did save us some $ bread $;
If it’s not too much trouble
For someone who’s dead
Please keep the hail
From hitting our head!
Happy Birthday, Ed!”

There were about 65 to 70 people at the potluck event for the Escapee Boomers as they boondocked in the BLM Arizona desert. Duane and Betty grilled hot dogs for everyone while the rest of us furnished the condiments, hot dishes and salads. We didn’t forget Mr. Ed as we sang "A horse is a horse of course . . . unless it’s Mr. Ed" and then "Happy Birthday to Duane."

Front-Porch Family-Style Music

The Haining Family with parents Mike and Peggy Haining, James age 20, twins Ruth and Pearl age 19 and Grace age 16, played a wonderful hour-long concert for our church service in Emerald Cove today. The “Front Porch” music that was both inspirational and harmonious was hard to describe. Their literature calls the music “Family harmonies, Bluegrass instruments, Fiddle tunes, and Yodeling.” They sang traditional hymns and country gospel as well as songs written by the family as they played fiddles, guitar, auto harp, banjo, mandolin, harmonica, and brass fiddle.

Their choreography was amazing as they smoothly moved closer to the microphone to perform the solos, duets, trios, and quartets. You never knew who was going to going to play which instrument next since they each played several instruments.

I asked for permission to take photos and put them on my blog. They are hoping and praying for more dates for their concerts. If you would like to know if they could perform for your church or activity, you can go to www.HainingFamily.com/ or to info@hainingfamily.com.

General Patton Museum

Terry Hager and I were classmates for three and a half years in Hudsonville, Michigan. He wrote “Death on the Night Watch” and has had several articles in Escapees Magazine. Two of his articles are in my book, “More Chuckles and Chuckholes -More Confessions of Happy Campers.” Look for his article, "Picture This" to be published in the March/ April issue of Escapees Magazine.) The background in the photo is a 1930 trailer.

Terry Hager suggested that we meet and visit the General Patton Museum. Terry and Ruth traveled east and my husband Terry and I traveled west and met at the Chiriaco Summit Café exit 173 on Interstate 10. Training for the troops was done in this geographical area. Lunch was good and we had no problem conversing about our father and teacher’s participation WWII, our writing and RVing in general. The museum was very informative about this time in history.

I knew that they had rationing during WWII but didn’t know about recycling. The poster reads:

“UP HOUSEWIVES AND AT ‘EM”
“ PUT OUT YOUR PAPER- METAL- BONES.
THEY MAKE PLANES, GUNS, TANKS AND AMMUNITION.”