The Patagonia Area Resource Alliance, along with Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, hosted a booth at the annual Patagonia Fall Festival. Thank you to our volunteers, board members and SSSR coordinator Lisa for all the work putting together and staffing our booth. We had a great time seeing our supporters and creating new ones!
One of the more memorable moments for me came when a mom and her son stopped by our booth. The mom asked where the proposed mining activity was happening in the Patagonia Mountains. I started to tell her that one of the mines was near the old Harshaw town site and the mine claims included the old cemetery as well. Her son, who was about 12 years old, opened his own wallet and made a donation to us. I was amazed to see a young person concerned enough about the future of his favorite camping places to donate his own money.
Another person who left an impression on me was a father and his four year old son. The father was excited about the recent jaguar sighting in southern Arizona and what it might mean to stop the mines from coming in. He told me that he lived in Nogales and was in the trucking industry. He drove dump trucks and knew the kind of traffic that mining would bring to the area. I expressed surprise, telling him that I thought everyone in Nogales wanted the jobs. He said, “No, we don’t want another Sierrita or Clifton/Morenci.” The politicians love to talk about the mines as if they’re the savior to our economy because of all the jobs they will supposedly provide. It was refreshing to meet someone–a potential mine employee–saying No to the mines.
Speaking of politicians, they were out in full force at the Fall Festival. We had politicians visit our booth from the county level all the way up to national. It was certainly evident that it is an election year. One of the local vendors complained that sales are always slower during election years. We certainly felt that our time at the Fall Festival was well spent! See you next year!
