The Villager

John and Nikki Ramagli will remember 2020 as the year their businesses went complete off-road, in terms of facing challenges that aren’t on any business road map.

The Big Park Community Coordinating Council will follow recommendations from Yavapai County with respect to meetings.

As we work our way through these historic events we would like to remind everyone that this will pass, and as a community many lessons will be learned, and together we will be stronger for them.

Easter Sunday is a day of traditions. Many people make this their annual day to attend a church service. Others like to go to an Easter Sunrise Service. In the Village of Oak Creek you can do both.

May of 1952. Frieda had a premonition, rose in the middle of the night, climbed on her bicycle and rode across the Glienicke Bridge into West Berlin.

We just weren’t sure what to write about in this new world we’re becoming accustomed to. We’ve been sitting on Joan Young’s article about dining with her family in Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania; another one is about the great new take out eatery in West Sedona called Conscious Cuisine; another about the wonderful pastoral tasting room and new wine club at DA Ranch; and of course, we always like to report on our nine days of feasting during the Sedona International Film Festival.

Each day brings more news about what we can NOT do now. It feels like “Chicken Little and the sky is falling." I believe we are at a crossroads now, and it is time to change our focus on what we cannot do, to what we actually can do. I understand feeling that “my” life is out of control. Let me explain why, and what I believe we can change.

In recent weeks, we’ve seen several major stories in the news. On the political front, in addition to the arrival of the presidential election through the 2020 caucuses and primaries, we have just experienced the third presidential impeachment in American history.

The Big Park Regional Coordinating Council is far from making any type of formal statement or taking an action regarding municipal incorporation in its area. However, at least a flow of information on that subject has been established.

Famous words from The Music Man, “You gotta know the territory." With that in mind, my first action as leader for the Big Park Community Coordinating Council was reaching out to each of the 26 council representatives for a “coffee chat."

According to a joint news release by Lowell Observatory and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (January 6, 2017), “Artificial light glow is a threat to astronomical research, personal safety, and the health of both humans and wildlife, and the problem is worsening with the proliferation of LED billboards and blue light LEDs as an option for street lighting.”

Joanna Horton McPherson, founder and owner of the Sedona Village Learning Center (SVLC) understands team-work and the essential need for explaining the mission, the strategy and the timeline to her lead teacher and school director, to her new board of directors, to community volunteers, to initial financial supporters … and to the public.

Construction is a hard business, takes a toll on the body and the rate of disability is high. In 1983 and 1988 Michael had to have knee surgeries. In 2009, the pain and problems with his knees became so bad he was forced to file for disability (more than a year after being medically recommended).

Easter Sunday is a day of traditions. Many people make this their annual day to attend a church service. Others like to go to an Easter Sunrise Service. In the Village of Oak Creek you can do both.

In the words of Lisa Shugrue, owner of The Hudson and Javelina Cantina with husband Mark, “The idea birthed on Valentines, 2019. By April, that idea morphed into let’s create a restaurant and provide an experience that locals and tourists alike would not be able to get anywhere else in the world. We knew we had a view that was unparalleled. Let’s create a restaurant that is on par with the view”

I would have to say my proudest accomplishment in life is my four children. They have grown up to be the most amazing adults who amaze and inspire me constantly. To see your children become great additions to the human race is a miraculous discovery.

Iris Yang will be the featured speaker at the library’s community book discussion Tuesday, March 31, 1:30 p.m. at Sedona Winds Retirement Community, 405 Jacks Canyon Road.

“I’ve never been part of a more caring, generous, volunteering community,” said Jim Cunningham, pastor of the Village Church of the Nazarene. “Having lived in seven states and moved almost 50 times, that says a lot.”

We never know if we would be successful achieving the goal, but not going for it is a 100% guarantee of not reaching it. So, give yourself a chance.

Sedona area Rotarians celebrated the accomplishments of Red Rock High School’s Interact Club recently. Enjoying a taco lunch, the student members shared the club’s community activities, the Rotary Youth Exchange Program and the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards camp (RYLA).

While a small organization devoted to looking into what it will take for the Village of Oak Creek to incorporate is still in its infancy, there has already been much learned about the challenges and obstacles to a creation of a city or town.

The Village of Oak Creek has a new school called the Sedona Village Learning Center. It is a non-profit organization serving preschoolers ages 3-5, and will open Monday, March 16, 2020.

The decision of incorporation will be democratically determined by the residents of the VOC, not by the media or the opinions of a few who expressed their viewpoints in the January 1 edition of The Villager.

According to Psychology Today, the light pollution of our modern, industrial societies is damaging our circadian rhythm and as a result our metabolic systems.

Yet again, we Village of Oak Creek residents have been told what is for our own good.