Jon Johnson File Photo/Gila Herald: Nick Bingham, left, and Scott Alder cook up some pancakes and bacon at the 24th annual Pima Heritage Days festival in 2018.
By Jon Johnson
PIMA – Ready to take a step back in time?
The 30th annual Pima Heritage Days, celebrating the 145th anniversary of the founding of the town in April 1879 is this Friday, April 19, and Saturday, April 20, and will feature a variety of food, fun, and family displays.
The event kicks off Friday with a Quilt Show at the Old Pima Church LDS Cultural Hall from 12 – 4 p.m. followed by a BBQ dinner at the Pima School Cafeteria from 5 – 7 p.m. The dinner will be $10 a plate ($7 for children 6-11 years old, with those 5 and under free) and will be held at the Pima School Cafeteria. The dinner will feature homemade BBQ beef and beans, coleslaw, dinner roll, and drinks. Entertainment for the dinner will feature fiddle music by the Matheson Music Foundation.
A barbecue dinner will be served Friday evening at the Clyde Davis Cafetorium, from 5 to 7 p.m. It’s just $10 to get a belly full for those 12 and older and $7 for those 11 and younger. Any youngster 5 or under eats for free.
Don’t stay out too late, though, because the not-to-miss cowboy breakfast starts at 7 a.m. on Saturday at the Willman Carter Farm Museum with the posting of the colors and a blessing on the food. Volunteers 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 $6 a plate for adults, $4 a plate for children, and those 11 and under eat for free.
This year’s theme is “Every Life Writes a Story” and will feature a flag-raising, a performance of the National Anthem, steam engine demonstrations, the quilt raffle, and multiple family displays. Raffle prizes include quilts from Judy Phegley and Joann Maldonado, jewelry by Edres Barney, a painting by Helen Ruth Cole, and quilting by Becky Post and Cindy Bryce.