Desert Messenger

8 www.DesertMessenger.com May 7, 2014 Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com /DesertMessengerNews Follow on Twitter @DesertMessenger @QuartzsiteRain Contributed by: Violet Kiss Looking out of my offi ce window, I see a quiet, windless (at least today), sunny, gorgeous Quartzsite day! We all love our desert town, don't we? It's why we live here. I'm starting to see activ- ity buzzing about doing this, and that. Townspeople are talking about a farm- er's market, powwows and new types of events for all of us, young and old. A new sense of change is coming. We have a new Town Manager, Mr. Skylor Miller, coming in from outside our state with his wife and children. I hope we can all welcome them and show them how friendly and helpful we are. It is a new beginning for our beloved Quirky Quartzsite. A new start with no battles, no personal issues, making new possibilities abound for our little town. We're a 'family' town whether we are great grandparents, grandparents, parents, children, or simply with an extended family of friends. I love fresh starts, fresh possibilities. On that note of fresh possibilities, Salome High School's (SHS) Inter- act Club sponsored by the Quartzsite Rotary has been offi cially "approved". It was adopted by the Student Coun- cil and soon forging ahead setting up their guidelines, Constitution and By Laws. By getting this in order now, the students will have everything ready to go in the fall. When you read this we've just had our fi rst Interact Assem- bly to offi ciate the new club. We are so proud to sponsor this club. We want to invest in our youth knowing they're our future no matter what they decide to do or where they go. We are also very thankful of Mr. Arnel Anog, 2013's La Paz County Teacher of the Year and Arizona's 2013 Rural Teacher of the Year who is now our Teacher – Director of Interact at Salome High. 8-10 years ago, Arnel was the Director of the Interact Club of the Philippines. To have this experi- enced teacher and Interact Director is immeasurable, besides the fact he is so well liked at SHS. Interact is the youth-oriented pro- gram of Rotary based on the same Rotary ideals we use. This is a com- plete Youth-Adult partnership from the get-go. The elements of success for any youth-adult partnership are: 1) a culture of mutual respect which shatters age stereotyping; 2) exchang- ing communication, all are important, and all should be heard; 3) investment – which takes a commitment of time and energy, building strong relation- ships through patience and courage; and 4) meaningful involvement, involv- ing youth right from the beginning to build 'ownership'. We'll watch for potential leaders and encourage others who haven't had leadership opportuni- ties to develop their skills. We will hold each accountable for all decisions and actions, all of us. And, we, youth and adults, will monitor and challenge the impact of their programs on the com- munity. In the end, we all learn, adapt, respect, and challenge each other. We all hope in time you will see their im- pact on our communities and help par- ticipate in their activities. Fresh starts, fresh possibilities, aren't they great? You can always reach us at: quartzsite_rotary@nethere.com. Rotary Doings My Garden Angels We have great lunch menus, serving at 12 noon sharp! Suggested donation is only $3.50. There's cards, books, games, puzzles, pool table, Wi-Fi available. Community Services, Volunteers Needed! Come join the fun at Quartzsite SENIOR Center 40 Moon Mountain Ave. For more information call 928-927-6496 Senior Center open all year! Monday - Friday, 9am – 3pm 585 N. Central Quartzsite Open Mon-Fri 8-5 928-927-8787 Johnny DelPino, Owner BEST AUTO RV & TRUCK REPAIR SERVICE YOU CAN DEPEND ON! We sell U-HAUL BOXES by Joanne Winer Celia's Rainbow Gardens has undergone a lot of changes in the past few years, and it seems some- times that you go forward for a while, then something happens and you get sidetracked and need some expert help. Such is the case for one of our huge saguaros--the lone giant on the hill overlooking the amphitheater. I was informed last week that one of the arms had fallen off, and that it looked like the cactus was dying and would have to be cut down. Needless to say, this saddened me very much, but before anything else could be planned, I wanted to get an expert opinion on whether it could be saved or not. After trying unsuccessfully to get information through BLM or Des- ert Botanical Gardens (automated phones make me crazy), I went online and looked up what I was told the problem might be, and also found a professional cactus doctor who called me and made my day!! Dr. LeBlanc has been working with cacti for over 30 years, and works with the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix, and is a member of Na- tive Desert Seeds, Arizona Native Plant Society, and Central Arizona Cactus and Succulent Society. His fi rst words, after I explained what was going on, were, "Don't let any- one cut it down!" After looking at the pictures I had taken of the saguaro, he con- cluded that yes, it was bacterial ne- crosis, which is when bacteria gets in through the roots of the saguaro (and it is ONLY dangerous to other saguaros), and holes form on the skin and black goo oozes out. He told me in a lengthy con- versation that I would probably lose the top of the saguaro, and if it hadn't travelled down into the main trunks we could cut off the top and try and see if that would help--or, since he noticed that the other limbs were also turning black at the tips, what he suggested was that we disinfect the plant with a bleach solution at the base and let it dry out naturally and lose its fl esh, leaving its skeleton whole. He said he had done over 500 surgeries on these giants, and very successfully, and assured me that this disease would not infect other plants in the area, and would only be a problem to other saguaros, of which there are none close--he said as long as we put the bleach solu- tion around the base of the cactus and disinfected the ground it should be okay. Had we decided to do sur- gery on the limbs, we would have to disinfect the excised areas as well. So, for now, we are going to spray the disinfectant solution as instructed, and let nature take its course--the top is not heavy since it started shrinking, and the cactus should stand for a long time--either with or without fl esh. We have decided that this would make a great educational display, and if it should lose all its fl esh, he gave me directions on how to put rebar under the ground surround- ing the skeleton, and then put a ce- ment pad around it for even more stability. We can then strengthen it with fi shing line and varnish it to preserve it if we wish. We will try to get it to survive as best we can, but if it is inevitable that we lose the fl esh, at least we can preserve the SEE SAGUARO PAGE 14

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