News from the Upper Gila Valley
June 2009: Duncan Farmers Market is about to sprout again; Duncan celebrates new Mayor M.C. Holliday.
The Duncan Farmers Market will re-open on Independence Day, July 4th, from 8 am to noon, and will continue on Saturday mornings into the fall. This year the market will move to Spezia Square, on the main highway. Look for the big sign on the corner between the Visitors Center and Duncan Dollar.
As with last year’s market, we’ll be featuring fresh-picked produce from Duncan Valley farmers and gardeners, potted herbs, native and non-native plants and arts and crafts by local folks. We expect to see an occasional bake sale and –we hope!—locally made preserves too. And the 4th grade plant sale will return once or twice – we’ll send a special notice about that when it happens.
The Upper Gila River Valley has been an agricultural center for more than a century. Blessed with pure waters from the Gila and naturally rich soil, the valley is adorned year after year by verdant fields filled with neat rows of crops. In recent years, shifts in immigration policies and other factors have forced many farmers to change from food crops to mechanically harvested crops like cotton and alfalfa. A few farmers, notably Rex Jensen in nearby Virden, New Mexico, still grow the superb chiles, tomatoes, squashes and melons that the region is known for. And we would be remiss not to mention Alessa Jensen’s bottled salsa, simply the best salsa in the world. You can buy it year-round at Hilda’s Market on Highway 70.
The Duncan Farmers Market was launched in 2008 to help safeguard the food farming culture of our area. It’s open to growers small and large, to local artists and craftspeople, and others who bake or “put up” local crops. We hope to see you there!
For information or to get on our Farmers Market email list, please write to duncanfarmersmarket@yahoo.com.
Other news: Welcome Mayor M.C. Holliday
On June 5th, the Town of Duncan seated as Mayor Arizona Rangers Captain M.C. Holliday, who was elected in the March primary. Mayor Holliday has already shown outstanding leadership in our town by building a dynamic, cooperative relationship between the Greenlee Rangers and the Sheriff’s Department and by instituting a steady and stabilizing presence by the Rangers in our community. He and his wife Lynne Holliday, along with Terry Dodge and Don Thurman, have organized a Ranger Cadets program serving the youth of the community. We welcome our new Mayor and look forward to working with him in many different areas of improvement for the Town of Duncan. We also welcome new Town Council member Denise Ice, also elected in March.
