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Let's Get Above It All and Take a Look at The Land

One thing is certain: We Share The Land

With all that have come before in our diverse heritage and all who will create our future legacy.
Everywhere is important producing "Echoes Down The Centuries" while we focus on all the people, places, and progress in the single century of Arizona's Centennial from 1912-2012.
Geographically, several large systems that characterize what is now the American Southwest and northern Mexico converge inside Arizona.
Historically, several groups of people have found their pathways converging here over the course of time, either following natural riverways and natural migration routes, or creating man-made trading, commerce, and transportation systems to move and connect resources both locally, across the nation and world-wide.
Santa Cruz County - where the first county-wide commemoration and celebration of Arizona's Centennial is initiated by the opportunity of participating in local working groups on The Heritage Mural Project funded in part by the Arizona Office of Tourism's Rural Tourism Development Grant Program - takes it name from the river named Santa Cruz, where it originates in the grasslands and headwaters of The San Rafael Valley, flows South into Mexico for 35 miles, and re-emerges in a vast watershed through what is now Kino Springs. We have two points on the map to mark connecting Nogales, an international port-of-entry, with Patagonia-Sonoita-Elgin, The Mountain Empire.
From Nogales the Santa Cruz River flows North - where towns and cities like Rio Rico [rich river], Tumacacori/Carmen, Tubac, and Amado - developed over the course of time along the riverway. Fertile grasslands gave birth to agriculture and farming, our cattle and ranch traditions. The rivers and valleys created habitats for migratory species [butterflies and birds included], territories for wildlife, and attractive areas to live. The geophysical features provided rich natural resources to establish mining as an industry in Arizona - drawing many here -while today those same resources maintain our quality of life.
Our mutual endeavors are based on the people, places, and progress that make Patagonia, Santa Cruz County, and Arizona what it is today and what we create as a legacy for future generations.

Local Working Group Digs Into "A Hidden Paradise"

Three years in advance of the official Arizona Centennial Celebration 1912-2012, a group is being formed now to reflect on Arizona's past, present and future as well as our rich diversity - of people, places and progress. It is our mission to make this milestone meaningful and memorable by:
Commemoration: providing the opportunity to learn from our past, and tell all the stories of Arizona that should be told so we can continue to move forward with better understanding and empathy among our citizens.
Celebration: of all that we are as Arizonans or "Zonies" - hosting a homecoming for friends and family, and welcoming newcomers [one and all] - showing all the innovation and progress we have made since our early beginnings.
Collaboration: bringing together the public and private sectors on this unique occasion to create meaningful celebrations and projects -- this Heritage Tile Mural Project being the first one here in Patagonia and throughout Santa Cruz County - whose impact will endure into the future.
Each of the nine communities named in funding provided by the Rural Tourism Development Grant Program (RTDGP) of The Arizona Office of Tourism - Amado, Tubac, Tumacacori/Carmen, Rio Rico, Nogales, Patagonia, and Sonoita/Elgin - will develop their own local "historical branding heritage program" in each project location throughout Santa Cruz County. It is the first county-wide project to be initiated in advance of the AZ Centennial.
Community of Patagonia & Communities in Santa Cruz County: to showcase Arizona's rich and diverse tapestry on natural, cultural and social history, and economic vibrancy
Cooperation: when we use this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as a catalyst to plan for and invest in our future, so that the next generations here may enjoy the same and even higher quality of life that our forebears established for us - AN ENDURING LEGACY.
If you would like to join us, please sign on here with your comments and contact information.
Feel free to upload an image or old photograph, or tell a story, or surprise us with some new information!
You mail likewise email: patagonialwgazchp2009@gmail.com
Stop in at the Patagonia-Mountain Empire Visitor Information Center
317 McKeown Avenue
Mon-Sat from 10:00-5:00, Sun 10:00-4:00
Call: [Toll-free] 888-794-0060 or local 394-0060
Fax: 520-394-0020
Everyone is Welcome. Invite others to participate.
[Version in Spanish to be posted]
Thank you/Gracias