Desert Messenger

December 21, 2016 www.DesertMessenger.com 5 Read Desert MESSENGER ONLINE @ www.MyQuartzsite.com Quartzsite General Store, LLC Beer & Wine Fresh Retail & Wholesale Meats Homemade Sausages Arizona Lottery & Pick Fish & Game Licenses A.P.S. Pay Station Accept EBT, Debit & Credit Cards HOURS 8am - 6pm every day! Quality Meats at VERY Affordable Prices! For all your GROCERY NEEDS & MOORE! Fresh Produce Daily! Hamburger Ground Fresh Daily! GREAT LOW PRICES! Welcome back Snowbirds! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! 410 E. Main Street, Quartzsite • 928-927-6310 What a great Christmas Light Parade Nature's Nuggets BUYS & SELLS GOLD Nuggets - Jewelry- Coins- Silver Call Richard & Richard 928-927-5479 • 435-730-3388 Quartzsite YEAR ROUND! GOLD SHOW Feb. 10, 11, 12 2017 MEMBERS & GUESTS Please join us at Post 769 305 N. Central, Quartzsite Thursdays 4-6pm FOR TACOS Beef Tacos -- $1 ea. donation Quesadillas-- $2 ea. donation Taco Salad $5 ea. donation Chef's Suprise- Donation See you there! By Joanne Winer The 13th annual Christmas Elec- tric Light Parade sponsored by the Quartzsite Business Chamber of Com- merce was held on Dec. 10, 2016. It was a great event again this year! Despite a few glitches (every parade has some), the parade made its way down Main Street and ended up at Town Hall for the rest of the festivities. The judges were set up in front of the General Store again and they had a hard time picking out the best of the best--there were so many good entries. The judges included Verla Fish, Twyla Lee, Debbie, Maggie Ross and Brenda Miles. There was a tree lighting cer- emony at Town Hall with Mayor Norm Simpson talking about what a great parade this was and how everyone got together to do this event. Santa and Mrs. Claus greet- ed the kids inside and gave them all goodies. There were refreshments and lots of fun. Special thanks to Town Hall staff for doing such a great job setting everything up after the parade. The trophies were awarded in several categories. The award for Best Business went to 88 Shades RV Park, and the one for Best Non- Profi t went to the Friends of the Quartzsite Food Bank. They also won for Best Original for their fl oat with Puff the Dragon on it. The Best Individual/Family award went to Art and Becky Hastings for their cardboard car hauling a lighted tree on a little trailer behind them. They also won the Best Lit award this year. Art and Becky have been in every parade since we started, and have always been a big hit. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormon Church ) won two awards this year. They won for Best Church, and also won the top Travelling Trophy which they get to keep for a year for their Nativity Scene. The Best Antique/ Classic Vehicle award went to John Hendrix, and the Best ATV Group was won again this year by the Rainbow Acres group. The Business Chamber would like to also thank the General Store for allowing us to set up the judge's tables again this year, and also to all the judges for participating. Special thanks to Tony Carnevale and John Prutch for all their work, and to Marie and Ray for playing Santa and Mrs. Claus again. Of course, the parade would not be a parade without all the entries that came in, and it was so great to see so many getting into the spirit this year! Thanks to the Police Dept. and Ham Operators for helping with the road closures, and to the Police and Fire Dept. for leading the parade again. It was such a nice evening with the weather cooperating and it not being too cold--hundreds of people lined the streets to watch the pa- rade go by, and we thank everyone who came out and enjoyed this event with us. Hope to make it even bigger and better next year!!! [See parade photos on Page 39] Dan Field, County administrator terminated Parker, AZ - During the La Paz Coun- ty Supervisors meeting on Monday, Dec. 19, 2016 the board voted to place County Administrator Dan Field on administrative leave begin- ning Jan. 1. He will remain on pay- roll with full benefi ts while using an estimated 3 months accrued vaca- tion pay. He will then be terminat- ed without cause. The board stated they will be neutral when giving references if needed. Field stated it was time for the county and himself to take a different direction. This was the second time in 14 months his position was up for re- view. His employment was a major campaign topic this year, with Dis- trict 2 (Quartzsite area) Supervisor- Elect Duce Minor publicly promised to vote to terminate Field's contract as County Administrator. Duce Mi- nor and other new county offi cials will be sworn in on January 3, 2017. Field also served as Quartzsite Town Manager and Town Attorney for 7 years, from 2002-2009, be- fore being appointed as the County Administrator.

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