A field trip to the local museum may not sound like fun to every kid but in this case, we’re pleased to report a good time was had by the Lobos from Mr. CW’s 5th grade class.

FRONT ROW: Mr. CW, Kannon, Alex, Losiram and Tristan   BACK ROW: Erika, Vivi, Amaya and Isela

The good times began when we learned Mr. CW had taught in the facility towards the end of its 100-year run as the elementary school in Patagonia. Several of the students also shared fond memories of the classrooms from their kindergarten days.

The hosts (our curators Tom & Linda Shore) are both former teachers so they devised a way to work a bit of learning into the trip. The kids teamed up to complete a crossword puzzle based on the clues they discovered in a scavenger hunt in the displays in the former classrooms.  Entertainment included a rendition of “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” on the player piano. Yes, there was dancing.

It was only fitting that the field trip ended with a few minutes spent on the jungle gym….for old time’s sake. Kids only, just like it was back in the day.

In mid-March, the Museum board of trustees made the decision to close the facility to visitors effective immediately. Like the rest of the world, we hope this health crisis comes to a swift end but we understand it is imperative that we too do our part to #flattenthecurve.

However, closing to the public does not mean the team will be twiddling their thumbs when there is a long list of projects to tackle.  Complementing the exterior coat of paint our home was given a few months ago, we’re going to take time to spiff the interior up as well. New paint and new lighting in the hall will brighten things up a bit. Our curators will also be constructing a series of new displays based on recent acquisitions from the George Proctor and Bob Lenon collections. They’ve even acquired a few mysterious and/or scary things that were once used by Doc Mock. Yes, there will be a new look on the inside of the museum when the doors re-open.

In addition, we’re going to start work on an exterior project that has been a vision for the past few years. We received permission from the Patagonia school district (our landlord) to install an ADA ramp on the back of the building a year ago. Since then, we’ve been raising funds for that effort in the hopes that the project would be completed in the next few years.
Thanks to a grant we received the Patagonia Regional Community Fund in November 2019, plus a few generous member donations, we are about 60% of the way towards our goal which meant a new way of accessing the museum seemed realistic for the 2021 timeframe.

That was the plan until the real world intervened. When the board made the decision to close, they also decided the time was right to move ahead with this project so that the museum is ready for ALL our visitors when our doors reopen. There are no real-time photos to share yet but rest assured that the ramp will be practical, sturdy and will look as though the original builders of the schoolhouse in 1914 thought a century ahead.

Stay tuned and stay safe, everyone.

Anne and Andy Anderson, the new owners of the Creative Spirits Artists Gallery.

The Museum has sold books, t-shirts and postcards at the Gallery for years but, thanks to the generosity of the Andersons and their interpretation of our 501C3 status, we will no longer be required to pay rent on our booth space. For a non-profit, that savings is enormous. It will drop directly to our bottom line enabling an ongoing investment in our community plans and programs.

The Andersons’ energy and marketing acumen have already brought a new look to the Gallery and we’re sure they have more in mind for the future. If you haven’t stopped by to see what they’re up to, please do and tell them their friends at the Patagonia Museum sent you.

The Patagonia Museum members meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 18th at 2 PM in the Patagonia Library. Our guest speaker will be Mary Noon Kasulaitis who will speak on the history of Arivaca.

Mary Noon Kasulaitis is a cattle rancher and retired Pima County Public Library librarian. She has been researching Arivaca history since the early 1980s. Her great grandparents, Dr A.H. and Emma Noon, came to Southern Arizona in 1879 to do some prospecting and started a cattle ranch at Oro Blanco, which is still in the family. Her father, Fred Noon, was on the Board of the Arizona Historical Society and wrote articles on Oro Blanco and Arivaca history in the local papers. Mary has published in the Journal of Arizona History and the Tucson Corral of the Westerners’ Smoke Signal. She is involved in historic preservation and is President of Friends of the Arivaca Schoolhouse & Historic Townsite, Inc. She lives on her grandfather’s homestead at Arivaca.

The Museum board will be holding our annual members meeting on January 18th at 10:30 AM in the Patagonia Public Library meeting room.

Following a short business meeting, you will hear from our guest speaker, renown local author, Nancy Valentine. She will speak about passages from her historical novel—”J.R. Bartlett and the Captive Girl”.

The book is based on a true U.S./ Mexico Borderlands story of the perilous and heartwarming journey of John Russell Bartlett, head of the 1850-1853 U.S. Boundary Survey Commission, to return a rescued Mexican Apache captive girl, Inez Gonzales, to her family in Santa Cruz, Sonora Mexico.

Call it what you will, the idea that items that have outlived their short term usefulness can be of value is a concept that matters to an organization like the Museum. Happily, our neighbors at the Empire Ranch Foundation feel exactly the same way which is why we are now the proud owners of 14 1940’s era school desks.

In terms of the back story on the transaction, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is partnered with the Empire Ranch Foundation (ERF)  for the purpose of preserving the Empire Ranch, one of our area’s treasures. School desks that were not needed at another BLM restoration project at the Fairbank schoolhouse have been in storage in an outbuilding at the Ranch since 2007.  Fortunately, Alison Bunting who is the historian for the ERF, as well as a member of the Museum, was aware of our plan for the Lochiel schoolhouse to become a community meeting place in the near future. She contacted our curators, Linda & Tom Shore, and the rest, as they say, is history.

We owe a big round of thanks to the BLM for their generosity, Alison for her thoughtfulness and the ERF volunteers for their helpful hands. The desks are off to a good new home and the ERF has regained some storage space…..which sounds like a win/win to us.

Good news! The Patagonia Museum will host our fifth fundraising and educational tour to the Rio Sonora Valley on February 18, 19 and 20. Our expert guides are Dr. Deni Seymour and Bill Steen. You can read more about their very impressive backgrounds here.  Musical entertainment will be provided by P.D. Ronstadt and The Company.

Our chartered motor coach will depart from Patagonia on Tuesday, February 18, at 8 am and will return to Patagonia on Thursday, February 20, in the late afternoon.

The price per person which includes transportation, lodging, meals and meal gratuities is $600 (double occupancy) per museum members and $650 for non-members. (As an FYI, membership into the Patagonia Museum is open to anyone who supports our work. The fee starts as low as $5 for students, $35 for individuals and $50 for households so if you are planning to go to Banamichi, it’s worth becoming a member….for that reason and a lot more.)

There is limited seating for this tour so please let us know if you plan to go  as soon as convenient. Proceeds from this fundraising event support our programs and projects.  For more info, see the Banamichi Bus Tour Flyer March 2020.

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 2020

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

The official word: the Patagonia Museum enjoyed another educational and entertaining bus tour to Mexico. On November 9, 10 and 11, museum guests traveled to Casa Grandes, Chihuahua and Mata Ortiz.

Highlights of the tour included a picnic lunch at Pancho Villa State Park in Columbus, New Mexico, a guided tour of Paquime and El Museo de las Culturas de el Norte, a pottery making demonstration in Mata Ortiz and a visit to the plaza at Viejo Casas Grandes .

Don’t take it from us…here’s what one of the participants had to say:

“Just wanted to thank you again for a great tour with wonderful people! You did a super job of getting everything organized and making adjustments when needed! Having Bobby Ronstadt along was an added bonus. Becky was also an excellent guide…..we learned so much!

Thanks to the generosity of the Community Foundation of Southern Arizona, the Museum’s home (formerly the Patagonia Elementary School) is looking pretty spiffy, if we do say so ourselves.

The Museum was awarded a grant by the South32 Hermosa Project Community Fund and used it to contract with Doctor Construction out of Tucson who was definitely up for the challenge.

A much need paint job and repair to the wear and tear of the last century leads us to believe the grand old lady is good for the next 105 years.

If you haven’t stopped by to see us in a while, please do. We think you will be pleasantly surprised by the updates, particularly to the exhibits inside.  The Museum is open Thursday – Saturday 2 to 4. Other times are available by appointment.

Our Fall hours go into effect next week: Thur – Sat 2 to 4.

If you haven’t been up to check out the Museum recently, we have new things on exhibit and even more on the horizon. Special items from the George Proctor collection are making their way into our exhibit rotation.

Thanks to the people in the community who are helping make our vision of preserving the memories of eastern Santa Cruz county a reality. You know who you are and we appreciate your generosity.