October October 2017
www.MoonValleyTattler.com
VOL 37 No. 10
SECRET PHOENIX: EXPLORING AREA TREASURES BY SUSAN MERCER HINRICHS, REPORTER
Cuddles from the Heart My daughter, Ashlyn Ferguson is 8 years old and heard us talking about the hurricane and how we all wished we could help and do more. We explained that many lost EVERYTHING and were in shelters with their family. She was laying in bed with her ‘babies’ and said that she wouldn’t know what to do without them. That’s when she said she needed to go through hers and mail them to TX! She wanted to give them to the kids because she doesn’t know how they could sleep without them. She said we will send them cuddles and ‘We will call it “CUDDLES FROM THE HEART” She decided to ask her friends and families for donations and made a goal that seemed so large of 200! We posted it on FB, asked neighbors, asked friends, made lots of pickups and Ashlyn just sent off 472 stuffed animals! And she’s still going!
That proverbial Bucket List, with its places to visit and things to see. So many of us Moon Valley residents have them, as do others worldwide. But what gives us a leg up, when it comes to metropolitan Phoenix, is that we have our own book detailing many of the unusual, odd and/or unique places the area has to offer that should be included on our personal Bucket Lists. In Secret Phoenix: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful and Obscure, author and Tempe resident Christine K. Bailey dived into archives, alcoves and adventures to compile a thoughtful guide for both longtimers and newcomers alike. “I want to inspire people to go out there and to find those (unusual) stories,” Bailey says. “Every city has sites that are just waiting to be discovered. Even if you’re from here, people seem to find something remarkable in all of the places mentioned.” Some of the sites she’s brought to life or which she’s been able to reinvigorate with words include the carving of the Phoenix bird adorning the entrance to what’s known as the old Phoenix City Hall downtown, on the southwest corner of South Central Avenue and West Washington Street. It’s one of her favorites. “Many people wouldn’t think of taking a close look at the Phoenix bird,” Bailey says, musing that possibly now some may venture to have a gander at it. Another favorite: The anchor from the World War II-era USS Arizona, now displayed in Wesley Bolin Plaza near the State Capitol. Some other places Bailey highlights in her tome include The Ostrich, a former speakeasy, now serving beverages and edibles that’s housed in the basement of Chandler’s San Marcos Hotel. Among other locales and places to visit: The Black Date-palm orchard, still towering over residences on North 44th Streets, south of East Camelback Road. Bailey quips it’s a rare variety of the fruit, grown almost exclusively in the area; The historic Wrigley Mansion, nestled on a hillside near the Arizona Biltmore grounds. Anyone can join the Wrigley Mansion Club for a nominal $5 monthly trial membership to sample the venerable structure’s delights; Mystery Castle, a three-story hodgepodge
realm of rooms constructed with an equally eclectic bundle of materials, located on the South Mountain Park foothills, at 800 E. Mineral Rd. It’s described as a labor of a father’s love for his daughter; also. The iconic San Carlos Hotel, 200 N. Central Ave., in downtown Phoenix. Just what do you want to know about its ghost? Some Arizona Republic newspaper articles reported the story about the jilted young woman staying there who jumped to her death from its roof. If you’re lucky, you might see her wafting spirit wandering the hallways. Bailey says she discovered these and many more must-see venues in the course of her nearly six months of area research, then spent another almost three months documenting her findings with photographs; then came the actual book writing. She laments she wasn’t able to include all her findings in this volume. “Possibly,” she says, she’ll be able to update it in a later work. The Chicago native moved to Phoenix in 1998, after graduating with an undergraduate degree in English from Truman State University in Kirksville, MO. “I remember sitting in my fourth-grade class; and the English teacher read us a poem … and when I first heard her read it to us, I was so inspired -- what words could do to create such an image in a person’s mind,” Bailey says. From that point onward, her desire to write remained ignited. And perhaps, that spark will kindle the desire among Moon Valley-area residents to examine Bailey’s book’s contents, then trek out on their own to cross off a few items from it which land on that proverbial Bucket List. More information about Bailey, Secret Phoenix and others she’s written can be found at her website: www. christinekbailey.com and also at www.reedypress. com