Desert Messenger

8 www.DesertMessenger.com December 7, 2016 SEE VFW PAGE 9 New business locator Map on its way! Craft Fair 1st Sat. of every month! Daily Activities! QIA 928-927-6325 235 E. Ironwood St., Quartzsite BINGO STARTS FRIDAY, NOV. 4 Opens at 5pm. Early Birds 6:30pm. Main7pm Concessions Available ROCKS IN MY HEAD The World's Greatest Rock, Prospecting & Outdoor Education Company RICE RANCH SPACE A37 Quartzsite, AZ OPEN Nov. thru March GOLD, SILVER, BUY & SELL Unique Rocks & Fossils Cabs - Rough - Slabs METEORITES-PETRIFIED WOOD Dino Bone & Mammoth Ivory Animal Parts & Leather Native American Artifacts Jewelry - Supplies - Beads GOLD PROSPECTING ROCKHOUNDING - LAPIDARY New-Used-Parts-Supplies Books-Maps-Local Site Info CONSIGNMENTS - RENTALS CLASSES - DEMOS QUARTZSITE PROSPECTING T-Shirts, Totebags, & More! Outdoor & Emergency Supplies EQUIPMENT RENTAL Specializing in Unusual & Hard to Find Items www.RocksInMyHead.com 605-376-8754 The Annual Hi Jolly Daze Parade is planned for Saturday, January 14th, 2017. The Quartzsite Area Chamber of Commerce & Tourism is spon- soring the event and invites every- one to be part of the celebration of Quartzsite's 150 years. Board Mem- ber Dave "Bear" Collier said, "are we to celebrate the end of 150 years or the start of the next 150 years? Be sure to come to the festivities and fi nd out." All groups, organizations, busi- nesses, individuals, are encouraged to participate. "We'd like to see fl oats and entries in the parade that refl ect where we've been and where we're going," Collier continued. Ev- eryone is invited to honor our past and our future. So get started plan- ning your fl oat and entry. There will also be activities in the park follow- ing the parade, so plan on a great time for the whole family. Registration forms are available at the Quartzsite Chamber & Tour- ism offi ce, located at 1240 W. Main Street, across from McDonald's. For more information call the new chamber at 928-927-5200. Hi Jolly Daze planned for Jan. 14 By Joanne Winer The Quartzsite Business Cham- ber of Commerce has been working hard to get the new Business Loca- tor map ready for printing, and they are happy to announce that it should be here in another week or so! The map has been a fundraiser for the Business Chamber since the fi rst one was done in 2004. Since then, it was updated several times, with the last one being done in 2010. They had planned to update it a few years ago, but never had a chance to get it done, so it needed over 60 changes since the last one! Paul Winer, who has drawn the map since the chamber came up with the idea, spent over 100 hours redraw- ing the whole grid and adding the new businesses, while having to take out those who had closed dur- ing the time since the last one was done. If you saw the fi rst one and compared it to this one, you would see how many hundreds of changes have been made and how much the town has grown since the fi rst one was drawn. The map shows every business in town (at the time of print), and gives people a great idea of what the town has to offer. This being the sesquicentennial (150th ) birthday of the founding of Quartzsite (1867), the map will be a collector's item, with special historical logo and drawings on it. The maps will cost $2.00 each and will be available at the Chamber offi ce as well as many businesses around town, including Paul's bookstore for sure. The map looks awesome,and orders are already coming in! Be sure to get your souvenir limited edition map and show it off to your friends all over the country so they can see what Quartzsite is all about! By Joanne Winer VFW Ben Scott Post 769 has long been working to help veterans in our community, and also does a lot of events that are on a national level. They are a very busy post and do a lot of community events as well as all their other work. This month, they are hosting two special events that they are hoping to do every year from now on. One of their Auxiliary members, Verla Fish, read about a program called "Wreaths Across America"., and wanted to start it up here in Quartzsite. The program was started in 1992 by a man who owned a tree farm. At the end of the selling season, he had a lot of trees and branches left, and rather than throw them out or burn them, he wanted to do something for the troops. So, he made the branches into wreaths and put them on all the graves at Arling- ton Cemetery where the veterans were buried. Everyone loved the idea. By 2010, it had grown to become a non-profi t organization called "Wreaths Across America". This or- ganization gives 7 wreaths to each participating VFW or other military organizations who wanted to be part of this program. These ceremonial wreaths include one for each branch of the military--Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard, and POW- MIA as well as the National Guard. The VFW also got an anonymous donation to buy 120 more wreaths that will be put on the graves out at the Hi Jolly Cemetery. This event will take place on Dec. 16 They will meet at the cemetery at 9 a.m. for a special ceremony, then will place the 120 wreaths among the gravesites--they are looking for volunteers to help place the wreaths. On Dec. 17, they will have a Pa- rade of Wreaths, where they will meet at the Post by 815 am and leave promptly at 8:40 am on their motor- cycles (honor guard) and go to the cemetery for the laying of the special wreaths at the monument there. One of the wreaths is also being placed in the Veteran's area in Celia's Rainbow Gardens later that day. VFW Events planned

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