Thanks once again to our co-sponsor Borderlands Restorative Network and all the many volunteers who helped us pull off a wonderful day. Hundreds of people enjoyed the April 20th event in the Patagonia Town Park which included:

Speakers: (Connie Williams on climate change; Kate Tirion on permaculture; Sean Schrag-Toso on water resources; Rodo Sofranac on the Arizona Trail; Stephen Strom on Bears Ears; Kiyomi Morino on tree rings plus Ashley Avila & Connie Williams on our legacy). We extend heartfelt thanks to the organizations that sponsored the speakers: Patagonia Area Resource Alliance, the Deep Dirt Farm, Arizona Borderlands Democrats and the Patagonia Public Library.

Events: The Story Time Walk facilitated by Laura Wenzel, our librarian; kite giveaway & flying; face painting courtesy of  Patagonia Creative Arts Association; yoga in the park led by Samantha Shore of Sol Fit AZ plus movie screenings of “Modified: A Food Lover’s Journey into GMO’s” and “The Beaver Believers”.

Booths: Friends of Sonoita Creek;  Patagonia Area Resource Alliance;  AZ Democrats;  Borderlands Restoration native plant sale;  Energy bike demo; Friends of the Library book sale; Patches O’Nassis – Blue Road sustainable living demo, Tucson Audubon, the 4-H Healthy Living Ambassadors and the Lending Shed rummage sale.

Food: Rose Quiroga’s burros thanks to the Museum; Cassina Farley’s baked goods; Jackrabbit BBQ foodtruck; Ovens of Patagonia sweets and entrees from The Happy Cooker.

Music: was provided by Mariachis Penumbra, Gertie and the T.O. Boyz, the Zach Farley Band, Rebekah & Matt Rolland and the Hog Canyon Band.

Tours & off-site activities: such as area tree plantings, an art show and recycling lessons were provided by the Tucson Audubon’s Paton Center for Hummingbirds, Nature Conservancy Patagonia Sonoita Creek Preserve, the Deep Dirt Farm & Institute, The Patagonia Museum, the Patagonia Regional Times, Patagonia Creative Arts Association/Tin Shed Theater and Borderlands Restoration.

If you missed the event, folks like Kayla Lewis-Simpson took lots of great photos. Please check out our EARTHfest photo gallery where we’ve saved some of the 2019 pics because preserving memories is what museums do.

Mark your calendars. EARTHfest will be back on April 18th, 2020. Until then, take good care of our environment. As we all know, there is no Planet B.

We will meet in the Patagonia Public Library at 10:00 am on Saturday, May 11. Following a brief business meeting, award winning author, cowboy and horse lover Alan Day will discuss his latest book, “Cowboy Up! Life Lessons from the Lazy B”.

Mr. Day and his sister Sandra Day O’Connor co-authored the New York Times bestselling memoir “Lazy B”, which chronicles the story of the Day family and growing up on a harsh yet beautiful southwestern ranch.

Alan Day’s upbringing branded him a cowboy from the day he was born. To this day, he claims that he has soil running through his veins. He was part of the third generation to grow up on the 200,000-acre Lazy B cattle ranch straddling the high deserts of southern Arizona and New Mexico. The ranching and cowboy lifestyle appealed to him so greatly that after graduating from the University of Arizona, he returned to manage Lazy B for the next 40 years. During his career, he received numerous awards for his dedicated stewardship of the land. In 1989, Alan purchased a cattle ranch in Nebraska and soon after, a ranch in South Dakota. The latter became the first government-sponsored sanctuary for unadoptable wild horses. He developed and successfully used a herd modification-training program for his 2000 head of cattle and 1500 wild mustangs. Now retired from ranching, Alan divides his time between Tucson and Pinetop, AZ.

And there is no doubt the SCFPA benefit concert on April 25th was a resounding success, as evidenced by the fact that it was standing room only in the Benderly-Kendall Opera House.  
The Museum owes a huge round of thanks to those of you from the community who came to the event to support us. We also send kudos to the members of the Santa Cruz Singers, Evan Korey, their accompanist and Christina Wilhelm, director extraordinaire. Thank you for the hours you spent preparing for the concert. The standing ovation was well deserved.

If you haven’t attended an event at the Opera House in Patagonia, make a note to do so. It is an incredible venue and we promise you will not be disappointed by any performance you hear there.

We’re in the early stages of planning our next tandem event in 2020 with a concert under the stars on the Museum grounds at the top of the list. Doesn’t that sound like fun?

Until then, the Museum thanks the Santa Cruz Foundation for the Performing Arts for a truly magical event.

We are deeply honored that the Santa Cruz Foundation for the Performing Arts has chosen to hold a concert on Thursday April 25th, the proceeds of which will benefit the Museum. 

Under the direction of Christina Wilhelm, the Santa Cruz Singers, Patagonia’s outstanding community chorus, shows its versatility in a program that features the works of Franz Schubert and Aaron Copeland.

In addition to the classically beautiful Magnificat by Schubert, you will hear traditional American songs including the Boatman’s Dance, I Bought Me a Cat, Simple Gifts , Pretty Little Horses, At the River – transformed into beguiling contemporary harmonies by Aaron Copeland.

Concert admission will be $5 at the door. We hope to see you all there.

The Patagonia Museum sponsored its fourth bus tour to the Rio Sonora in March 2019.

We entered Mexico through Nogales and had stops in San Ignacio, Magdalena and Cucurpe before arriving in Banamichi for two nights. On the second day we explored downriver towns of Huepac and Aconchi before dining at the working ranch of Rancho Martina where bacanora and tortilla making demonstrations were presented. To close our day, Danza Xunutzi performed a series of delightful dances in the Banamichi Plaza. On day three, we returned to Patagonia, with stops in Arizpe and Bacoachi, crossing back into the USA at Naco.

Rebecca Orozco and Bill Steen provided knowledgeable and colorful commentary during our tour. Thirty-two of us traveled in the comfort of a 49 passenger tour bus from “South of the Border Tours”. Thanks to many of our fellow travelers for sending us their photos for our website gallery.

We’re already putting together plans for our 2020 trip so keep your eyes open for another unique opportunity to experience the Rio Sonoran culture.

Volunteerism is an important part of the mission of the Museum. If you are looking for some exercise in combination with good deeds, here’s what we have coming up this month:

Friday, March 22, join the museum as we pick up litter along Highway 82, starting at Mile Post 19 and Beaty Lane. We will begin at 9am

Thursday, March 28, The Patagonia Museum will host a workday at the Lochiel Schoolhouse, from 10 am to 2 pm. There are tasks for all ages and ability available.

Give us a call if you’d like more info on how you can help.

The Museum is pleased to announce that we are once again hitting the road on a trip to Mexico’s Banamichi and Rio Sonora.

Our motor coach from South of the Border Tours will depart from Patagonia at 8 am on Tuesday, March 12, 2019. We will spend two nights in Banamichi, Sonora enjoying various activities. We arrive in Patagonia on Thursday late afternoon, March 14, 2019.

Our guides will be Rebecca Orozco, Cochise College and University of Arizona History Instructor, and Bill Steen,co-founder of “The Canelo Project”. P.D. Ronstadt & The Company will provide the musical entertainment during our tour

The price per person ( $600 for nonmembers and $550 for members, double occupancy)  covers all meals and gratuities (for the meals), lodging and transportation. There is limited seating for this tour. Please respond as soon as convenient. Proceeds from this fundraising event support our programs and projects.
Banamichi Bus Tour Flyer March 2019

If you would like to join us, please print off the registration form and return it along with a check to PO Box 919, Patagonia, AZ 85624.

Banamichi Bus Tour Registration Form March 2019

Questions should be directed to German Quiroga at 520.343.5641 or via email: german@thepatagoniamuseum.org.

The 2019 trip is scheduled for March 12 – 14th. Details will follow but we can tell you, last year’s trip was a blast!

The Museum board will hold the annual members meeting on January 26, 2019 at 10:30 AM in the Patagonia Public Library meeting room. The brief agenda will include the election of the board members for the upcoming fiscal year.

The candidates are: German Quiroga, President; Bob Ollerton, Vice-President; Maureen De La Ossa, Secretary; Bonnie Maclean, Treasurer; Linda Shore, Curator; Bob Bergier, Member-at-Large; Ralph Schmitt, Member-at-Large.

The business meeting will be followed by a presentation by one of our favorite speakers, Dr. John Langellier. is topic will include the life and times of the Apache Kid, Army Scout and renegade.

The author of dozens of books and scores of articles, as well as a consultant to film and TV, Dr. Langellier shared this preview of his talk with us:

Geronimo’s long bid for freedom had ended. Now he and many fellow so-called Chiricahuas were prisoners of war in far off Florida.  Three of the men who had trailed him and his followers were U.S Army scouts known on their enlistment papers as the Apache Kid, Massai, and Rowdy.  The trio, once comrades in arms, would follow very different paths resulting in one of Arizona’s longest manhunts. Join military historian Dr. John Langellier as buffalo soldiers, Indian scouts, and a host of other military men and civilians attempt to round up the usual suspects criss- crossing the border between Mexico and the United States on this deadly mission.