Lyn's note: Please feel free to send us any pictures you'd like included. Here is the link to this week's Pictures of the Week.
http://carefreeazbusinesses.com/pictures-of-the-week-51418.html
http://carefreeazbusinesses.com/pictures-of-the-week-51418.html
Photo by Stephen Hatcher
Here is your bonus round from Herbert.
http://aneyeonyouproduction.com/51218-am-birdsrabbitsliizard.html
Here is your bonus round from Herbert.
http://aneyeonyouproduction.com/51218-am-birdsrabbitsliizard.html
Photo by Herbert Hitchon
Town of Carefree Marketing newsletter
http://www.carefree.org/336/IN-THE-NEWS
CITYSunTimes link:
http://news.citysuntimes.com/
Hi Lyn:
Nice touch to include the link of Judge Maxon's talk from the 2016 Veterans Day event. Judge Maxon is actually a US Army Brigadier General. I think he is a JAG general as opposed to a field general.
In any event, he’s an impressive man and is responsible for the existence of the Veterans Court in Maricopa County and maybe elsewhere.
Best regards,
John Crane
Dear Lyn,
Thanks for the information. I am happy to see that Carefree is participating in the Veteran Court Program. We see a lot of Veterans at the food bank and this sounds like a way to give them a hand up.
Pam DiPietro
(Lyn's note: Like the Food Bank, the Veterans Court is a wonderful service.)
Veteran's Court: who knew, and how cool!
Kathy Riemer
Town of Carefree Marketing newsletter
http://www.carefree.org/336/IN-THE-NEWS
CITYSunTimes link:
http://news.citysuntimes.com/
Hi Lyn:
Nice touch to include the link of Judge Maxon's talk from the 2016 Veterans Day event. Judge Maxon is actually a US Army Brigadier General. I think he is a JAG general as opposed to a field general.
In any event, he’s an impressive man and is responsible for the existence of the Veterans Court in Maricopa County and maybe elsewhere.
Best regards,
John Crane
Dear Lyn,
Thanks for the information. I am happy to see that Carefree is participating in the Veteran Court Program. We see a lot of Veterans at the food bank and this sounds like a way to give them a hand up.
Pam DiPietro
(Lyn's note: Like the Food Bank, the Veterans Court is a wonderful service.)
Veteran's Court: who knew, and how cool!
Kathy Riemer
LYN,
WHAT A NICE STORY ABOUT YOUR FRIEND BLAINE KEITH. TOO BAD WE DON'T HAVE MORE LIKE HIM. NEVER LOOKING FOR PRAISE OR RECOGNITION --JUST ALWAYS WANTING TO DO HIS BEST FOR HIS FAMILY, FRIENDS AND COUNTRY. I AM SURE IT HAS BEEN AN HONOR TO HAVE KNOWN HIM AND I WISH I COULD HAVE MET HIM. THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR E-MAIL.
SEMPER FI
RON KRAUSE
(Lyn's note: I was in the steel business back in Philly. Papa Ron owned the mill we bought steel from, and we have stayed in touch all these years. My parents owned our business, and his kids worked with him. I always told Blaine and Papa Ron that they were my 2 favorite Marines. I included Ron in Monday's email about Blaine.)
What a great story from a great American. Thanks for sharing.
Phil Corso
My sincere condolences to Col. Keith’s family. Blaine was a friend and an important part of our community. His sacrifice to our nation is his honored. He will be missed.
Mike Farrar
Lyn, my husband Dick Stockton and I just finished reading your newsletter and the incredible letter that Blaine wrote to his grandkids.
One word....WOW!
Dick read it to me in his deep and rich “announcers” voice and he got tears in his eyes (as did I) as he was reading the story.
They don’t call it “The Greatest Generation” for nothing.
We’re so sorry for your loss and the loss of a one-of-a-kind man to his family.
Semper Fi
Jamie Drinkwater Stockton and Dick Stockton
Blaine & me at the Carefree Veteran's Day event
MEMORIAL DAY…………………..AND WHAT IT MEANS TO ME.
My father was a World War ll Army soldier who fought in the Battle of the Bulge. The last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front, it was the third most lethal American battle by numbers….over 19,000 killed. Subzero temperatures caused the rugged roads to “bulge” thus the name. He drove tanks through the snow covered densely forested land to deliver fuel to the troops. I can’t imagine the death and devastation of human lives that he must have witnessed and that stayed with him until his death in 1998.
My husband, an Army Captain Huey helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War, flew over 800 missions in 365 days in-country and the images will never leave him. The bodies he picked up, the wounded he tried to save, the men in his unit who didn’t make it home. Never a day goes by (now over 50 years ago) that some reference is not made to his fallen comrades.
I have read and re-read the rhetorical reply of Councilman Farrar to me when I suggested he reference the web site usmemorialday.org for guidelines in commemorating Memorial Day.
It gave me thought as he implied that Mayor Peterson, Carefree Council members and Town Administrator Gary Neiss tried to stop his voice and blocked him at every turn in this struggle to bring Memorial Day to Carefree. Councilman Farrar felt his efforts had been exposed to political resistance.
I believe the Carefree Council, Mayor and Town Administrator believe what I so passionately believe.
Memorial Day services should not be held in commercial centers for political purposes.
Susan Vanik
(Lyn's note: Susan Vanik, while serving on the Carefree Council (2011-2013), started the Veteran's Day event, a tradition which was continued by Arthur Gimson while serving on the following Council. John Crane inherited it from Arthur, and has organized and run it for the past 5 years. All 3 care deeply about veterans and consider it a labor of love and respect. None ever considered Veteran's Day "their" event, like Councilman Farrar refers to the new Memorial Day event as a "Mike Farrar event". Mr. Farrar has served on the Council since 2011. Prior to his decision to run for Mayor, obviously made some months ago, he has never attempted to hold a Memorial Day event in Carefree.)
Lyn:
I have been reading the comments about Mike Farrar and, initially, I was not going to add to the fray. But, at the post office, I saw Mike Farrar's poster for mayor with a key word being "unity".
This is sad, very sad, since I cannot think of any current member of the Town Council who has created more division than he has promoted unity.
Over the most-recent 15 years of living in town, the Sonoran News hasn't been the best friend of Carefree. It is a little better now than 10 years ago. But it was the place that Carefree dissidents took their messages when they were unable to convince others of their ideas. We all remember Bob Coady and his rants, Doug Stavoe used it for his losing recall campaign against Mayor David Schwan, Peter Koteas wrote-in even after leaving town. The late Jim Van Allen was constantly featured on the Letters to the Editor page. Mike Farrar has joined them.
I was at the Town Council meeting when Mike Farrar stepped down from the dais to address his colleagues about their alleged unwillingness to support the Memorial Day event by failing to contribute $1,000 for wreaths. I heard him state that this event was going to cost the town "zero dollars" compared to the expenses for the Veterans Day event. I later learned that one of my subdivision neighbors (Mr. Tom Fiedler) offered to underwrite the cost of the wreaths. (On a personal note, I believe that the laying of wreaths is appropriate for a memorial such as the Tomb of the Unknowns, or other similar monuments. I also like to see flags near the headstones at the National Memorial Cemeteries. I can understand where Les Peterson is coming from whether wreaths on a commercial stage is appropriate. Maybe, one day, the Town will have a monument to those that made the supreme sacrifice in the Carefree/Cave Creek Community cemetery.)
Mike and I were both elected to the Town Council in 2011. The only reason that I ran for office was to hopefully get elected to replace some of the then-current council members who seemed bent on divisiveness and criticism. I was elected and believe that the Town Council became a better servant of the people it represented. Mike and I have never been the closest of friends, but, for the most part, we have been civil. I say, "for the most part" because I cannot forget the way he conducted himself at a budget meeting. That had to be either for 2011 or 2012. I cannot recall all the circumstances that led up to the comment, but he stated that Glenn Miller was "nothing more than a firefighter". I didn't like it then, and I still don't like it today. (Perhaps it was because I was a volunteer firefighter in 1967 and have first-hand knowledge of what first responders go through.) At that time, as I saw things, Glenn was undoubtedly the hardest working council member, he attended every event, I don't think he missed a council meeting, worked on signage, worked his tail off for the Christmas Festival, and was always available.
During budget workshops and similar meetings, Mike would often display his self-anointed attitude of superiority. I tired of hearing of his double MBAs from Thunderbird and Helsinki and his greater knowledge of economic development, while name-dropping.
His recent letter to the Sonoran News, along with his remarks to the Town Council, reminds me of the behavior of a petulant child, one who pouts, whines, and cries if he doesn't get his way.
Over my many years of business, I have been called out for doing, or saying, the wrong thing, or doing and saying the right thing in the wrong way. Don Sorchych of the Sonoran News alleged that I was a member of the Carefree "Old Boys Club". I took it as praise considering that I had only been in town for 5 years! He called me the "Sarcastic Brit" and the "Pompous ass with the accent" (among other names). Yes, I can be sarcastic, maybe facetious; I blame that on my heritage from the UK and I do my best to curb it, sometimes failing.
During my one two-year term, I was always promoting the idea of a "fire service fee" to cover the shortfall between the 1% sales tax and the cost of the Rural Metro contract. During the 2011-2013 period, the Town was taking funds from operations to offset the annual $200,000 - $400,000 shortfall. The Town's contract has since been amended and the shortfall has been reduced, but there is still a shortfall. I continue to believe that all property owners (both commercial and residential) have received huge financial benefits from the Fire Service contract and that the Town could better use its funds for many other projects instead of making up shortfalls. I did not disparage my colleagues for their positions, nor did I write letters to the Sonoran News.
While I did not attend the Budget Workshop of April 24, 2018, I have watched the video on Carefree Truth website. A great deal of time was spent discussing 'cost recovery'; and there were many unpleasant exchanges between Mike Farrar and his colleagues. At that meeting, I was shocked to hear his criticism of his fellow council members that they were not supporting the Memorial Day event since it was "a Mike Farrar event". Mike Farrar may not recall the first two Veterans Day events, which were chaired by former Council Member Sue Vanik, he may not recall the next two Veterans Day events, which I chaired. He may recall the more recent events chaired by Council Member and now Vice-Mayor John Crane. In all those years, not once did I ever hear the events as belonging to a Council Member.
Mike Farrar's letter writing may not be the smartest move for someone running for Mayor of Carefree. It puts him in the same group of chronic complainers, Bob Coady, Doug Stavoe, Peter Koteas, Jim Van Allen, John Traynor, and others. I do not like it and I do not think that the majority of Carefree voters like it either.
His petulance borders on bitterness when he stated that both the Mayor and the Town Administrator had "slighted" him over his inability to obtain their support for his ideas. While he may be pointing a finger of blame toward others, he is also pointing three fingers at himself.
In a nutshell, I do not like adversarial situations and the pettiness that accompanies them. As Dr. Krahe stated several times during the budget workshop, and I paraphrase, 'let us move on with the business of why were are here'. Dissenting voices need to be heard, but not with spite, anger, divisiveness, and/or maliciousness. I cannot foretell the results of the Mayoral election results but Mike Farrar's actions do not reflect "unity". I, for one, will be voting for Les Peterson.
Arthur Gimson
Hopefully you forwarded the information you copied, in its entirety from my website, to all the folks in Town Hall, in addition to your editor, Vice Mayor Crane, so that they are all aware of this transgression and the larger storm that is coming. The willful malfeasance will be coming to an end.
John Traynor
(Lyn's note: For quite some time, John Traynor has claimed that Gary Neiss writes Carefree Truth. Now, it seems he thinks Vice Mayor John Crane is my editor. But at least I seem to be getting the writing credit now. John Traynor supports Mike Farrar for Mayor.)
Farrar Has Wasted 7 years of Carefree’s Time
Those that hit below the belt, have nothing of value to offer. Someone should remind Mr. Farrar he’s part of the so called establishment that he has stepped on and ridiculed, struggling to get in the race, after announcing his candidacy. He’s always been a master at using folks for personal gain. Has anyone asked Mr. Farrar WHY he has decided to finally “get interested” in his council seat after an excruciating and useless 7 years of grandstanding? It’s very well known that Farrar is using Carefree as a stepping stone to try to advance his numerous failing attempts for a political career at the state level. Good luck.
A little festival, cheap photo opportunities, failed endorsements, and wrapping himself in the American flag doesn’t display proven leadership. He is your quintessential politician who haphazardly threw a picture up on-line of himself shaking hands with Gov. Doug Ducey and called it an endorsement and then hastily took it down once a Carefree resident called him on misleading advertising.
What’s scarier is that Mr. Farrar has aligned himself with resident and long time town complainer, Mr. John Traynor (who by the way has LOST 3 elections for Carefree Town Council). Mr. Traynor is another “no solutions” professional. Birds of a feather always flock together. These folks are bad news for any town. We don’t need slimy politicians who twist the facts for personal gain. Shame on you, Mr. Farrar, you might get away with this in the town west of us (of which you seem to spend more time in anyway) but this is not how Carefree residents behave. The only unity you will bring to Carefree is to those who are unified to vote against your transparent, disingenuous, self serving ways.
The honorable and PROVEN Mayor Les Peterson has my vote.
Long Time Observant Carefree Resident
C. Roberts
(Lyn's note: Mr. Traynor lost 4 times, if you count his attempt to get onto the Council by applying for appointment to the seat vacated by Jim Van Allen, at which time he got zero votes. He lost in 2 regular elections, then was the losing candidate in the failed recall attempt.)
Run Mike run.. all the way to California where you belong...
Laurie Palace
My wife came incredibly close to getting bit on Saturday while I was in Lake Havasu. Somehow a 4 ft long rattler got into our walled back yard. We have no clue how but as my Lynn was walking under our porch on the narrowest part of the walkway (2.5 ft) she heard the rattle and luckily missed being bitten. She went inside and took some photos. Even through the window the rattler could see her and got into an attack position (see photo). We are conducting an inspection to see it might have gotten in but more importantly we have no idea if it will get out on its own. Pretty scary!
Paul D. Maley
MEMORIAL DAY…………………..AND WHAT IT MEANS TO ME.
My father was a World War ll Army soldier who fought in the Battle of the Bulge. The last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front, it was the third most lethal American battle by numbers….over 19,000 killed. Subzero temperatures caused the rugged roads to “bulge” thus the name. He drove tanks through the snow covered densely forested land to deliver fuel to the troops. I can’t imagine the death and devastation of human lives that he must have witnessed and that stayed with him until his death in 1998.
My husband, an Army Captain Huey helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War, flew over 800 missions in 365 days in-country and the images will never leave him. The bodies he picked up, the wounded he tried to save, the men in his unit who didn’t make it home. Never a day goes by (now over 50 years ago) that some reference is not made to his fallen comrades.
I have read and re-read the rhetorical reply of Councilman Farrar to me when I suggested he reference the web site usmemorialday.org for guidelines in commemorating Memorial Day.
It gave me thought as he implied that Mayor Peterson, Carefree Council members and Town Administrator Gary Neiss tried to stop his voice and blocked him at every turn in this struggle to bring Memorial Day to Carefree. Councilman Farrar felt his efforts had been exposed to political resistance.
I believe the Carefree Council, Mayor and Town Administrator believe what I so passionately believe.
Memorial Day services should not be held in commercial centers for political purposes.
Susan Vanik
(Lyn's note: Susan Vanik, while serving on the Carefree Council (2011-2013), started the Veteran's Day event, a tradition which was continued by Arthur Gimson while serving on the following Council. John Crane inherited it from Arthur, and has organized and run it for the past 5 years. All 3 care deeply about veterans and consider it a labor of love and respect. None ever considered Veteran's Day "their" event, like Councilman Farrar refers to the new Memorial Day event as a "Mike Farrar event". Mr. Farrar has served on the Council since 2011. Prior to his decision to run for Mayor, obviously made some months ago, he has never attempted to hold a Memorial Day event in Carefree.)
Lyn:
I have been reading the comments about Mike Farrar and, initially, I was not going to add to the fray. But, at the post office, I saw Mike Farrar's poster for mayor with a key word being "unity".
This is sad, very sad, since I cannot think of any current member of the Town Council who has created more division than he has promoted unity.
Over the most-recent 15 years of living in town, the Sonoran News hasn't been the best friend of Carefree. It is a little better now than 10 years ago. But it was the place that Carefree dissidents took their messages when they were unable to convince others of their ideas. We all remember Bob Coady and his rants, Doug Stavoe used it for his losing recall campaign against Mayor David Schwan, Peter Koteas wrote-in even after leaving town. The late Jim Van Allen was constantly featured on the Letters to the Editor page. Mike Farrar has joined them.
I was at the Town Council meeting when Mike Farrar stepped down from the dais to address his colleagues about their alleged unwillingness to support the Memorial Day event by failing to contribute $1,000 for wreaths. I heard him state that this event was going to cost the town "zero dollars" compared to the expenses for the Veterans Day event. I later learned that one of my subdivision neighbors (Mr. Tom Fiedler) offered to underwrite the cost of the wreaths. (On a personal note, I believe that the laying of wreaths is appropriate for a memorial such as the Tomb of the Unknowns, or other similar monuments. I also like to see flags near the headstones at the National Memorial Cemeteries. I can understand where Les Peterson is coming from whether wreaths on a commercial stage is appropriate. Maybe, one day, the Town will have a monument to those that made the supreme sacrifice in the Carefree/Cave Creek Community cemetery.)
Mike and I were both elected to the Town Council in 2011. The only reason that I ran for office was to hopefully get elected to replace some of the then-current council members who seemed bent on divisiveness and criticism. I was elected and believe that the Town Council became a better servant of the people it represented. Mike and I have never been the closest of friends, but, for the most part, we have been civil. I say, "for the most part" because I cannot forget the way he conducted himself at a budget meeting. That had to be either for 2011 or 2012. I cannot recall all the circumstances that led up to the comment, but he stated that Glenn Miller was "nothing more than a firefighter". I didn't like it then, and I still don't like it today. (Perhaps it was because I was a volunteer firefighter in 1967 and have first-hand knowledge of what first responders go through.) At that time, as I saw things, Glenn was undoubtedly the hardest working council member, he attended every event, I don't think he missed a council meeting, worked on signage, worked his tail off for the Christmas Festival, and was always available.
During budget workshops and similar meetings, Mike would often display his self-anointed attitude of superiority. I tired of hearing of his double MBAs from Thunderbird and Helsinki and his greater knowledge of economic development, while name-dropping.
His recent letter to the Sonoran News, along with his remarks to the Town Council, reminds me of the behavior of a petulant child, one who pouts, whines, and cries if he doesn't get his way.
Over my many years of business, I have been called out for doing, or saying, the wrong thing, or doing and saying the right thing in the wrong way. Don Sorchych of the Sonoran News alleged that I was a member of the Carefree "Old Boys Club". I took it as praise considering that I had only been in town for 5 years! He called me the "Sarcastic Brit" and the "Pompous ass with the accent" (among other names). Yes, I can be sarcastic, maybe facetious; I blame that on my heritage from the UK and I do my best to curb it, sometimes failing.
During my one two-year term, I was always promoting the idea of a "fire service fee" to cover the shortfall between the 1% sales tax and the cost of the Rural Metro contract. During the 2011-2013 period, the Town was taking funds from operations to offset the annual $200,000 - $400,000 shortfall. The Town's contract has since been amended and the shortfall has been reduced, but there is still a shortfall. I continue to believe that all property owners (both commercial and residential) have received huge financial benefits from the Fire Service contract and that the Town could better use its funds for many other projects instead of making up shortfalls. I did not disparage my colleagues for their positions, nor did I write letters to the Sonoran News.
While I did not attend the Budget Workshop of April 24, 2018, I have watched the video on Carefree Truth website. A great deal of time was spent discussing 'cost recovery'; and there were many unpleasant exchanges between Mike Farrar and his colleagues. At that meeting, I was shocked to hear his criticism of his fellow council members that they were not supporting the Memorial Day event since it was "a Mike Farrar event". Mike Farrar may not recall the first two Veterans Day events, which were chaired by former Council Member Sue Vanik, he may not recall the next two Veterans Day events, which I chaired. He may recall the more recent events chaired by Council Member and now Vice-Mayor John Crane. In all those years, not once did I ever hear the events as belonging to a Council Member.
Mike Farrar's letter writing may not be the smartest move for someone running for Mayor of Carefree. It puts him in the same group of chronic complainers, Bob Coady, Doug Stavoe, Peter Koteas, Jim Van Allen, John Traynor, and others. I do not like it and I do not think that the majority of Carefree voters like it either.
His petulance borders on bitterness when he stated that both the Mayor and the Town Administrator had "slighted" him over his inability to obtain their support for his ideas. While he may be pointing a finger of blame toward others, he is also pointing three fingers at himself.
In a nutshell, I do not like adversarial situations and the pettiness that accompanies them. As Dr. Krahe stated several times during the budget workshop, and I paraphrase, 'let us move on with the business of why were are here'. Dissenting voices need to be heard, but not with spite, anger, divisiveness, and/or maliciousness. I cannot foretell the results of the Mayoral election results but Mike Farrar's actions do not reflect "unity". I, for one, will be voting for Les Peterson.
Arthur Gimson
Hopefully you forwarded the information you copied, in its entirety from my website, to all the folks in Town Hall, in addition to your editor, Vice Mayor Crane, so that they are all aware of this transgression and the larger storm that is coming. The willful malfeasance will be coming to an end.
John Traynor
(Lyn's note: For quite some time, John Traynor has claimed that Gary Neiss writes Carefree Truth. Now, it seems he thinks Vice Mayor John Crane is my editor. But at least I seem to be getting the writing credit now. John Traynor supports Mike Farrar for Mayor.)
Farrar Has Wasted 7 years of Carefree’s Time
Those that hit below the belt, have nothing of value to offer. Someone should remind Mr. Farrar he’s part of the so called establishment that he has stepped on and ridiculed, struggling to get in the race, after announcing his candidacy. He’s always been a master at using folks for personal gain. Has anyone asked Mr. Farrar WHY he has decided to finally “get interested” in his council seat after an excruciating and useless 7 years of grandstanding? It’s very well known that Farrar is using Carefree as a stepping stone to try to advance his numerous failing attempts for a political career at the state level. Good luck.
A little festival, cheap photo opportunities, failed endorsements, and wrapping himself in the American flag doesn’t display proven leadership. He is your quintessential politician who haphazardly threw a picture up on-line of himself shaking hands with Gov. Doug Ducey and called it an endorsement and then hastily took it down once a Carefree resident called him on misleading advertising.
What’s scarier is that Mr. Farrar has aligned himself with resident and long time town complainer, Mr. John Traynor (who by the way has LOST 3 elections for Carefree Town Council). Mr. Traynor is another “no solutions” professional. Birds of a feather always flock together. These folks are bad news for any town. We don’t need slimy politicians who twist the facts for personal gain. Shame on you, Mr. Farrar, you might get away with this in the town west of us (of which you seem to spend more time in anyway) but this is not how Carefree residents behave. The only unity you will bring to Carefree is to those who are unified to vote against your transparent, disingenuous, self serving ways.
The honorable and PROVEN Mayor Les Peterson has my vote.
Long Time Observant Carefree Resident
C. Roberts
(Lyn's note: Mr. Traynor lost 4 times, if you count his attempt to get onto the Council by applying for appointment to the seat vacated by Jim Van Allen, at which time he got zero votes. He lost in 2 regular elections, then was the losing candidate in the failed recall attempt.)
Run Mike run.. all the way to California where you belong...
Laurie Palace
My wife came incredibly close to getting bit on Saturday while I was in Lake Havasu. Somehow a 4 ft long rattler got into our walled back yard. We have no clue how but as my Lynn was walking under our porch on the narrowest part of the walkway (2.5 ft) she heard the rattle and luckily missed being bitten. She went inside and took some photos. Even through the window the rattler could see her and got into an attack position (see photo). We are conducting an inspection to see it might have gotten in but more importantly we have no idea if it will get out on its own. Pretty scary!
Paul D. Maley
Photo by Lynn Palmer
Not one, but two, dogs with rattlesnake bites Friday. Watch and snake train pets.
Donna Lombardi
Thanks Lyn, for the additional comment. Event was a great success. Harold's are so supportive of the Communities and organizations such as the Foothills Food Bank.
Hugs,
Pam DiPietro
Not one, but two, dogs with rattlesnake bites Friday. Watch and snake train pets.
Donna Lombardi
Thanks Lyn, for the additional comment. Event was a great success. Harold's are so supportive of the Communities and organizations such as the Foothills Food Bank.
Hugs,
Pam DiPietro