By Amaya Gayle Gregory To be present means more than I used to understand. I used to say, ‘I’m here, I live in the now’, but I had scarcely scratched the surface of what that meant. I had taken the first step, a step that graciously left time and space, me and others wholly intact. And boy, did I think I was something. I was running a con and didn’t even know it. I’d seen the futility of letting my past control me and the wasted breath of worrying about a future that hardly, if ever, came to pass, so…
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Verde Valley News – The Teen Library in Camp Verde invites teens ages 11 and up to Study Hall. Starting February 7 and continuing each Tuesday after, teens can use the Teen Library in peace and quiet to get some homework done from 4:00 – 6:00pm. Camp Verde Community Library is located at 130 N Black Bridge Road just off Montezuma Castle Highway in Camp Verde. The library is open Monday-Thursday 8:00a-7:00p and Friday-Saturday 9:00a-5:00p. For more information about this or any other library program visit the library’s webpage at https://www.campverde.az.gov/cvcl or call 928-554-8380 during library open hours.
… last Thursday was a day down at the lake where not everything went as planned … the rains had washed a great deal of mud and stuff into the water and the water was anything but clear. On our first trip up Castle Hot Springs Bay, the water was especially turbid and near the very upper end, it fouled the water intake on the engine … time for paddles to come out. We paddled over a mile back towards the boat launch ramp when some very nice people threw us a line and towed us back to the ramp…
Sedona News – The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Northern Arizona premiere of “Life Upside Down” showing Jan. 27-Feb. 2 at the Mary D. Fisher and Alice Gill-Sheldon Theatres. “Life Upside Down” is a romantic comedy about time, distance, and the human condition. Three couples, connected by friendship, love and work, are each stuck in their respective homes in Los Angeles during the beginning of lockdown. Finally forced to face their spouses, friends, lovers, and eventually themselves head on, their lives turn slowly but surely upside-down. “Life Upside Down” was created and filmed at the very…
Verde Valley News – The Clarkdale Historical Society is seeking volunteers to assist at the annual plant sale scheduled for March 18th, 2023 from 7:00 am until 12:30 pm. If you are interested in volunteering the day of the sale, please contact Patricia Carroll by email – patriciacarroll9@icloud.com or call/text – 801-824-1985 with your contact information. Loans of wagons, wheel barrels and boxes / plant flats are also sought. Be a part of this fun community event! If you can’t volunteer, please come to the sale! The inaugural plant sale was an overwhelming success, with almost every plant finding a home in…
CH’ÍHOOTSOOÍ, DINÉTAH, WINDOW ROCK, NAVAJO NATION – The Sheep Springs community was joined by state, chapter, and tribal leadership in celebrating the grand opening of the Tooh Haltsooi Community Center on Saturday, January 7. The center is a project of Yee Ha’ólníi Doo DBA the Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Fund and is a step forward from the organization’s direct relief services toward long-term, sustainable change in making Navajo and Hopi communities pandemic-proof. Outgoing Yee Ha’ólníi Doo Executive Director Ethel Branch (recently appointed as Navajo Nation Attorney General) said the resources provided at the community center will help create a…
Verde Valley News – Rubik’s Cubes are amazing. They combine each aspect of STEAM in one classic toy. The Teen Library in Camp Verde invites teens ages 11 and up to join our Teen Cubing Club starting Friday, February 3 at 3:00pm. The program will be in collaboration with Spectrum Healthcare. All skill levels welcome. Bring your own cubes or use one of ours. 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 (43 quintillion, 252 quadrillion, 3 trillion, 274 billion, 489 million, 856 thousand) is the number of combinations, including the solved state, of the original 3×3 Rubik’s cube, invented in 1974 by Erno Rubik as a…
By Amaya Gayle Gregory In the world, but not of it. What an interest phrase. Do you know what it means, how it actually plays out in this world? Not one of us is of this world. It only seems that way. To realize that truth is awakening from the dream, the illusion of materiality. It’s not something reserved for the special, the blessed or the lucky. It is what we all are. The only difference, and I do mean only, is that some of us have been convinced beyond doubt, that what everyone believes to be true, the consensus…
Sedona News – The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Northern Arizona premiere of “Cairo Conspiracy” showing Jan. 27-Feb. 2 at the Alice Gill-Sheldon Theatre. “Cairo Conspiracy” is Sweden’s official entry for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards. It has been shortlisted for the Oscars, making it one of 15 films vying for the nominations and top honor. It won the Best Screenplay Award at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. Adam, the son of a fisherman, is offered the ultimate privilege to study at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the epicenter of power of…
Verde Valley News – Forty-five Hispanic entrepreneurs from Maricopa County and 10 from Yavapai County are boosting the statewide economy as they prepare to graduate from Local First Arizona’s Spanish-language business accelerator Fuerza Local. The startups from Cottonwood, Sedona, Mesa, Maryvale, central Phoenix and south Phoenix range from restaurants to photography and life coaching to construction. Fuerza Local is a six-month business training course offered in Spanish at no cost to local business owners to support them in obtaining the necessary resources and tools to have healthy and successful businesses. With a goal of building an inclusive, sustainable Arizona economy,…
Sedona News – The Sedona Visual Artists’ Coalition (SVAC) is excited to announce the return of its annual Spring Open Studios Tour, taking place over the weekend of April 28-30, 2023 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Now in its 20th year, this beloved event – which is always free to the public – will feature 48 working artists across the Verde Valley who will open their private studios. Named one of the area’s top art events by the Sedona Chamber of Commerce, the self-guided Tour offers attendees an opportunity to visit with the artists in their studios,…
Backtrack three years ago, when COVID-19 had a tight grip on the world. Like most businesses, Rowe Fine Art Gallery temporarily locked its front doors, but that didn’t stop its most ardent supporters from purchasing art. “We had one couple—who started collecting my work long before I opened a gallery—tell us they considered Rowe Fine Art Gallery and its artists part of their family,” remembers gallery owner Ken Rowe. “During the pandemic, they called in to order art over the phone, not only because they wanted to add to their collection but because they wanted to make sure the gallery…
… this could be the last view a bird might have as this Coopers Hawk launched an attack at birds sheltered in one of our desert olive trees in the back yard … he was not able to get his talons far enough into the tree/bush to secure a meal so the tweety birds were safe and my raptor pal had to settle for a delayed meal. Check the intensity of this hawk out … total focus! Thanks to a friend who has helped me redo the back yard, we have sculpted the desert olive trees down to the point…
Sedona News – The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to partner with Chamber Music Sedona for a special encore of “Itzhak” in celebration of the Chamber Music Season on Friday, Jan. 27 at 4 p.m. at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre. From Schubert to Strauss, Bach to Brahms, Mozart to Billy Joel, Itzhak Perlman’s violin playing transcends mere performance to evoke the celebrations and struggles of real life; “praying with the violin,” says renowned Tel Aviv violinmaker Amnon Weinstein. Alison Chernick’s enchanting documentary “Itzhak” looks beyond the sublime musician, to see the polio survivor whose parents emigrated from Poland…
Sedona News – Don’t miss this unique opportunity to join artist, instructor and naturalist Mary Helsaple on Monday, January 30, from 11:00-1:00, for a free hands-on watercolor demonstration. This session will be about how to start a plein air and sketch journal for outdoor and travel. Mary will show and discuss the materials and how to organize a portable kit for sketching and painting. Mary is a winner of the Gateway to Sedona Artist Competition. She is honored to be given a chance to share her watercolor techniques and happy to share the magic of watercolor and her travel sketch journals. Her goal…