Desert Messenger

8 www.DesertMessenger.com February 5, 2020 The Pow Wow comes & goes By Jackie Deal It doesn't really happen over- night. It takes three days. Three days to convert the Quartzsite Im- provement Association (QIA) from an event center, Desert Theater and Bingo Hall to a Rock, Gem and Min- eral Show. (The POW WOW with- out Indians.) Saturday I drove through the QIA; about three vendors were setting up. Sunday I skipped. On Monday, oh, Wow - the entire parking lot was a-buzz with tents and awnings already up. Tents and awning going up. Tables being assembled atop saw horses. Tarps fl apping. Gen- erators revving. Inside the building, the stage was disappearing, piece by piece. Dis- play cases were materializing. All day the questions poured into the offi ce. "Where's this? Did you or- der that?" "Can you make a sign?" "There's no parking for volunteers." (Well, of course not. All the parking lots were marked off into 600 vend- ing sites.) If Monday was chaos, Tuesday was organized chaos. Well, almost or- ganized. Trucks unloading, vehicles everywhere. Tuesday started with all the food being frozen! All—includ- ing lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, cot- tage cheese. Something went wrong with the refrigerator truck. (Hide in the offi ce: don't ask.) Trips to Blythe to buy unfrozen foods, as stores in Quartzsite were exhausted. It takes around 300 volunteers to make the Pow Wow run. Some of the early kitchen crew start at 4:30 a.m. Some of the late Security crew work all night. There are 25 "areas" for volunteers, with Security alone involving 30 volunteers. (And they needed more.) Thursday and Friday settled down to only minor snafus and just a few blow-ups. "We're out of Desert Messengers." "We're out of mask- ing tape." "Masking tape? What happened to that big roll I gave you yesterday?" The water spigot becomes a gath- ering spot for vendors with buck- ets and pails. And spills! You can't live without water. Food carts and beverage carts load up and drive around. The kitchen churns out scrumptious smells, three meals a day, and continual confusion. "Sorry, breakfast is over at 9:15am." "But I wanted a Q Muffi n." (That's a breakfast muffi n sandwich.) The Hamburger/Hot Dog team would have won a "Crazy Hat" contest with their delectable "food"creation hats. Their food was even more popular than their hats. Things disappear: "Twenty fi ve pounds of sugar disappeared? How do you lose that a big a bag of sugar?" "Where did all the catsup and mustard go? There's gotta be a Bermuda Triangle around here." "I stirred 120 gallons of stew. One Hundred Twenty… Gallons! And we ran out every day." Things appear: "Hey, there's a cowboy hat in the kitchen!" "Get it outa there. Go sell it." "No. No! That's mine." Maintenance tries hard to main- tain: "They just blew up another battery? That's the third one!" Call Security: "Rufus is lose again." Rufus? "The dog, oh, yeah, we know him, we know where he belongs." (Big, dumb, slobbery, lovable dog, like the football hero you dated in high school!) And then there's the request to end all requests: "Can you fi nd some Smoke-FREE charcoal?" (Isn't that called electricity?) Finally the dear, sweet little lady who complained to the nice security guy: "Can't you do something about this? The rocks are too heavy!" Susan Watkins did a super-hu- man job of rounding up and assign- ing all the volunteers. She suggests that for next year you start calling November 1st to volunteer. She said, "This was the best group of volunteers I've worked with. They were cheerful, happy and worked together. Many of them made new friends. Why not try it next year?" Mike and Caroline Zinno were the "Show Promoters," (AKA the guys in charge.) Mike reports we had 262 vendors and about 98% of the booths were fi lled. Visitor at- tendance was "extremely high, we believe about 10K plus the fi rst few days and then it dropped off by the weekend about 5K for Sat. and Sun. We talked to many vendors and they said they had their best year ever." Richard Trusty, QIA President, felt that we "had a younger group of folks. More beads. The next gener- ation. "Maybe so, Richard, but we, "older" folks also will be back next year to make the Pow Wow bigger and better. It's a Pow Wow (gather- ing place) for all ages and all kinds. Next year's Pow Wow dates are January 20-24, 2021. Remember, while it might take a "village to raise a child", it takes lots and lots of vol- unteers to make a Pow Wow! SQUARE & ROUND DANCE LESSONS AT THE QIA (Quartzsite Improvement Assoc.) 235 E. Ironwood St., Quartzsite, AZ SQUARE DANCE LESSONS MONDAYS & WEDNESDAYS 1-3 PM $4 Per Person ROUND DANCE LESSONS MONDAYS & WEDNESDAYS 3-4 PM $3 Per Person Callers/Instructors Rick & Kathy Utter 208-267-5315 NOTICE OF A BLM PUBLIC INFORMATIONAL WORKSHOP The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is considering a proposal from 174 Power Global, Corp. to construct, operate, maintain, and decommission a utility-scale photovoltaic solar facility on 4,654 acres of BLM-administered land in southeastern La Paz County, Arizona, approximately 22 miles east-southeast of Brenda and 30 miles west of Tonopah. The proposed project would produce approximately 800 mega- watts of electricity constructed in two or more phases. A 4.6-mile 500 kilovolt transmission line would connect the solar facility to the regional electrical system via a new substation adjacent to the approved Ten West Link 500 kilovolt transmission line. The project would be within a variance area, which are BLM-admin- istered lands that are outside of a BLM solar energy zone identi- fied in BLM's Western Solar Plan. Variance areas are potentially available for utility-scale solar energy development, but the BLM must consider projects proposed in variance areas in accordance with an established BLM variance process. To inform the public about the project and the variance process, and solicit feedback from the public, the BLM will be holding a public meeting with a presentation followed by a public workshop on WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2020, FROM 6:00 P.M. TO 8:00 P.M. AT THE QUARTZSITE COMMUNITY CENTER located at 295 E. Chandler Street, Quartzsite, Arizona.

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