Desert Messenger

JACK FROM PAGE 16 22 www.DesertMessenger.com November 5, 2014 VFW Post 769 VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS 120 S. Palo Verde, Quartzsite, AZ, 928-927-7697 The Canteen is a smoking establishment • Members & Guests Only for Alcohol Service ACTIVITIES FOR CORPORAL BEN SCOTT POST 769 AND LADIES AUXILIARY 769 We are collecting coupons you may have that you won't use. These go to the military families who can use them up to 6 months after expiration. Collection boxes will be placed in businesses around Town, churches, and at the Post. Please help us in this endeavor to assist our Veterans. November 7 – Friday Fish Fry's begin – 4:00 – 6:30 p.m. November 11 – Veteran's Day – 11:00 a.m. at the Planes at the Park. Pot Luck lunch will be held at Gunny's Military Museum. At- tend this ceremony, join us at the Museum 12:00 for the pot luck (bring a dish of food to share) and view our expansion plans. November 15 – Harvest Festival at Lutheran Church – 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Visit our booths for delicious Cobblers and other refreshments December 6 – Rose and Gary Fraser Memorial ChickNik at Fire Station – 12:00 to 4p.m. which is a benefi t to assist those train- ing for fi re fi ghting. December 6 – Christmas Light Parade at dark. Come out and enjoy the fl oats December 7 – Pearl Harbor Day Flag Cer- emony – 10:48 a.m. Also Pot Luck (entrée Furnished) – 12:00 noon. December 20 – Christmas Party and Pot Luck – 2:00 p.m. Annual Borderline Riders Christmas Run in Yuma. Funds raised are used to assist homeless Veterans January 10 – Hi-Jolly Parade sponsored by VFW. Check our VFW Post 769 website for additional activities www.vfwpost769.org Comrades meeting -Nov. 8 - 9:00 a.m. at Post Ladies Auxiliary meets- Nov. 8 - 9 a.m. at Post House Committee meets - Nov. 8 - 10 a.m. at Post Mens Auxiliary – Nov. 8 - 1 p.m. at Post District 1 Riders meeting 2nd Sat 2 p.m. - TBA Across from McDonald's • Quartzsite NEED CASH? Jim Buys STERLING SILVER! All Silver Coins, .999 Bars, Sterling Silverware, etc. Quartzsite, AZ -Tyson's Well Stage Station Museum is located at 161 W. Main (next to Silly Al's Pizza) in Quartzsite. Museum is open Wed. through Sun. from 10am-4pm. Free admission. Donations are accepted. See what's new and exciting at the Museum! If you haven't been for awhile, you're missing some amazing ex- hibits! Call the Museum at 928-927-5229 or visit www.QuartzsiteMuseum.com. The Quartzsite Historical Society meets the fi rst Wed. of the month, 2pm at the Quartzsite Library. We invite you to stop and visit and learn a little more about Quartzsite, Arizona and the interesting folks who call it home. Museum is a must see! SNOWBIRDS Furnished Trailers For Rent $325/mo. + up Cactus Patch RV Park 928-927-6717 including Fred & Elsie Kuehn, George Hagley, Bill Keiser, Bob Carson, Joe & Nellie Bush, Glen Strom, Marion Bea- ver, and Jim Fuqua among many oth- ers got together to discuss the impor- tance of transportation improvements in northern Yuma County. To his su- periors in Phoenix, Tex May willingly passed on the idea of improving Jack's bulldozed road. Tex advocated for that item be included in the 1953-54 Arizona Highway Department budget; $15,000 to grade and drain the 23-mile road be- tween Quartzsite and State Route 72. The job was scheduled for completion by August of 1953. As a board member of the Northern Yuma County School District, Joe Bush met with parents of the 15 students who could be bused to Parker High School in a 16-passenger school bus owned by the school district. Later, the District learned that their insurance company would not cover a school bus traveling more than ten miles on a dirt road. Joe then met with Tex May and Jack Curtis to fi nd out what it would take to get the State to schedule paving those 23 miles from Quartzsite to State Route 72. The next option for Quartzsite's high school students was to use the District bus to go up to Hope, meet and get on the Salome/Wenden bus, then travel on to Parker stopping for students in Vicksburg and Bouse. The daily round trip of 154 miles was long and tiring but the option of boarding Quartzsite's high school students away from home for four years was no longer an option. Residents of Ehrenberg, Cibola, Quartzsite, Brenda, Vicksburg, Bouse, Salome, Wenden, and the Alamo decid- ed to meet and discuss the educational needs of their children. It was agreed to pursue building a new high school in Central Yuma County. In the mean- time, it was arranged for Quartzsite's high school students to be bused 23 miles out of state to Blythe High School until the new high school in Salome was completed. Ehrenberg's students would continue attending high school in Parker with Cibola's students re- maining at Blythe. When trying to determine if and, if yes, where to build a new high school in Central Yuma County, the mileage which each student would travel to either Parker, Hope, Quartzsite or Sa- lome was combined to fi nd the lowest number of miles. With more students in Salome, Wenden, and the Alamo, the facts revealed that a school in Salome would dramatically reduce the overall mileage. In September of 1954, Salome High School welcomed students from all over Central Yuma County. The dai- ly round trip for Quartzsite's students would then be 77 miles, exactly half the distance to Parker via Hope or about the same using State Route 95 which had been paved only months earlier. Today, State Route 95 from Quartzsite to State Route 72 remains an important north-south transportation corridor thru Arizona. Perhaps someday that north-south corridor will extend from South America up through Canada, with Quartzsite an important business hub along the way. Well, with that in mind, Jackson "Jack" Franklin Curtis should indeed be remem- bered as a man of vision. He loved South- western Arizona and folks often referred to Jack as "a walking history book" because he loved sharing his many memories. At age 97, Jack passed away on July 30, 2004. Welcome back to Quartzsite Snowbirds...and for you that are new this Winter fun, you'll soon learn what you have been missing!!! If you are not familiar with the Cactus Dodgers Square and Round Dance group, stop my the Quartzsite Improvement Association Bldg. (QIA), 235 E. Ironwood, Monday nights from 7-9pm. Come on out for some Mainstream and Round Dancing, even if it's been awhile...come and watch maybe you'll remember a thing or two...could meet some old friends or make some new ones. (Free RV..Dry camping night of dance ONLY) Dance Schedule: 2014 Date Caller Cuer Theme Nov. 17 Bob Jones Fall is Coming Nov. 24 Dale Dockery Dale Dockery Fun, and Exciting Dec. 1 Bob Studovoss This way to Fun Dec. 8 Darrell Newell Carolyn Cook Christmas is Coming Dec. 15 Gordy Oseth Merry Christmas Dec 22 Darrell Newell Carolyn Cook Ho! Ho! Ho! Dec. 29 Dale Dockery Dale Dockery Pre-New Years Eve Cactus Dodgers updates

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