The Villager

Chef John & Nikki Ramagli of J Wine Bistro have been involved and supportive of community efforts for years. Now, as we are all on quarantine due to the coronavirus, they again looked for a way to bring people together.

We miss baseball. My husband Gary and I are lifelong baseball fans. There may be no crying in baseball, but there is crying when you don’t have your favorite sport.

A big congratulations goes to Betty Uhrig earning the President’s Cup at Oakcreek Country Club Women’s Golf. The two-day competition took place on Tuesday May 5th and May 12th.

After more than seven years, Gail and Bud Simpson are stepping back from being Neighborhood Coordinators for the Green Bag Program.

On April 16, an email was sent to our BPRCC subscribers explaining that the Verde Valley Food Crisis Fund was struggling to meet needs for PPE, volunteers and funds.

Mary Morris is the Big Park Council’s rep for the Solo De Paso RAM.

Dahl to Door. Not just a clever name, but a creative venture to bring you the Dahl Organization’s award-winning foods at a time when obtaining quality meals and groceries has forever changed.

Community Easter events in the Village of Oak Creek were quite different this year from those of the past 11 years.

There are many people out of work or surviving on reduced hours. While those qualifying for unemployment are receiving some help, budgets are still tight.

“I love work and the people I take care of,” said Leslie Barris, a nurse of 17 years at Flagstaff Medical Center (FMC).

It has been a few weeks since The Penalty Box article was published. I am so pleased that quite a few friends, as well as people I did not even know, thanked me for writing this. We all seem to be “coping” - some far better than others.

This is without question a time when many are reflecting on the simple things in life that we had taken for granted. Almost daily, people are asking me for resources for helping start a garden.

We're several weeks into Gov. Doug Ducey’s order that all bars close and that all restaurants offer carry-out or delivery only — no more of the sit-down meals that are an important component of the Village of Oak Creek commerce.

For all the efforts of various officials to warn Americans to stay home and not inundate the usual tourist spots amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the message doesn’t appear to have reached many recent visitors to the Verde Valley.

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.”