Jon Johnson File Photo/Gila Herald: Randy Hawkins and his chuckwagon will be out in force at the 24th annual Pima Heritage Days.
By Jon Johnson
jonjohnsonnews@gmail.com
PIMA — It’s nearly time to strap on the feed bag and get out the dancing shoes as the town of Pima prepares to observe its founding 139 years ago.
The 24th annual Heritage Days, sponsored by the Eastern Arizona Museum & Historical Society, will be held Friday and Saturday, April 13-14. The event is the annual fund-raiser for the museum and emphasizes food, family, and fun.
The celebration kicks off with a quilt show Friday from 1 to 5 p.m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recreation hall on U.S. Highway 70. The quilt show continues the following day from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and all are encouraged to view the works of quilted art. Diane Allred and Kerma Matthews are accepting entries. For more information on the quilt show call 485-9462.
Clint Colvin’s pit barbecue dinner will be served Friday evening at the Clyde Davis Cafetorium, from 5 to 7 p.m. The meal includes beans, coleslaw, rolls, homemade root beer and Texas sheet cake. It’s just $10 to get a belly full for those 12 and older and $7 for those 11 and younger.
Don’t stay out too late, though, because the not-to-miss cowboy breakfast starts at 7 a.m. the following day at the W.M. Carter Farm Museum with the posting of the colors and a blessing on the food. Cooks Scott and Joyce Alder, Reece and Anna Jane Jarvis, Kurt Palmer, Shawn Wright and a host of others make the tasty bacon, eggs and all-you-can-eat- pancakes, while the rib-sticking delight that is the homemade and Dutch oven cooked biscuits and gravy prepared by Russell and Jonnet Woods form the icing on the cake. Plenty of juice and milk will also be served to wash down the tender vittles, which will be served through 9 a.m. or until supplies are gone. Prices for the breakfast are $5 per plate for those age 12 and over and $3 per plate for those age 11 and under.
The patriotic trio Tribute will be on hand to sing their hits, and Randy Hawkins’ chuckwagon and a heritage display of the Sanders and Ferrin families by Lucy Sanders Ferrin will be featured. Additionally, Heritage Days essay winners will read their compositions of “What My Heritage Means to Me.”
Tribute won’t be the only ones making sweet music as Oretta Graves will be playing ragtime piano in the oldest building in Pima, the second pioneer room of historic Cluff Hall.
Throughout the celebration, a raffle will be held for an Emerald Star queen quilt made and donated by Anna Jane Jarvis; a Helenite pendant by Stauer, donated by Edres Barney; and a window planter box made and donated by Tricia and Ron Garrett, according to a news release. The drawing will take place at 9:30 a.m. and the winner need not be present to win.
The Eastern Arizona Museum and Historical Society of Graham County Inc. will observe 55 years of operation July 24, 2018.
For further information call Shawn Wright at 965-1050.
The Eastern Arizona Museum is housed in three historic buildings, with its entrance being the former Bank of Pima, built in 1914. Adjacent to that is Cluff Hall. Built in 1882 out of tufa stone from the limestone quarry at Bear Springs Flat, the structure is the oldest building in Pima. Rounding out the facility is the former Rexall Drug Store, which was originally built around 1900. The museum and its board are seeking volunteers to assist with the operation of the museum and its events.
