photo courtesy of Momma's Organic Market

So the wife grabs the local paper this morning and on the cover was a small little sticker advertising a local organic market. She opens the paper and starts to read about this market and all the wonderful things it has to offer.

Park West, a fairly new “open-air” shopping center, is home to “Momma’s Organic Market” every third Saturday of the month from September to April from 9am to 2pm. It offers locally grown organic fruits and vegetables, local mechants, and companies showcasing green products. They’re extremely kid friendly as well offering a petting zoo, a “bounce house”, story time, and face painting. The market spreads across the length of the shopping center giving plenty of room to sit and people watch; which is always a fun past time for adults. Park West itself is a fantastic place to shop, dine, and hang out at as well. From ShopParkWest.com:

The open-air center is anchored by a 14-screen Harkins Theatre, 9 sit-down restaurants, more than 50 specialty retailers and two beautiful parks. The center’s western resort feel includes relaxing “Bali” lounges, reflecting pools and wood shutters. The picturesque center also features outdoor fireplaces, unique art pieces, canopy-lined walkways and beautiful landscaping.

photo courtesy of Momma's Organic Market

Overall I think Momma’s Organic Market has a really cool vibe with or without the kids and the fact that most of the vendors there are locally owned businesses makes it worth the time to check out each month. For more info check out http://mommasorganicmarket.com or their blog at http://mommasorganicmarketaz.blogspot.com.

Tyson Crosbie, the one that got it all started, says that he broke off from yet another popular Friday night get together; Phoenix Friday Coffee (#pfc). “Austin Baker is passionate about coffee and started a Friday after work meetup to visit the local coffee shops. I started going and loved the community that built up. I saw that the groups were getting bigger than the venue and attempted to create an additional PFC coffee meetup on Friday. This caused a lot of tension in the community and a lot of confusion on Friday and so Phoenix Friday Nights was born. It had a similar call to action: Go out on Friday with friends and have a good time, but a different venue and geography. It was a place to meetup at local downtown businesses: Restaurants, Bars, Coffee, etc. as a starting point for the night.”

After a few weeks of meeting up in central Phoenix Evo Terra and few others from the East Valley decided to create their own spin off dubbed East Valley Friday Nights (#evfn). “Props for the concept go to Austin Miles for Phoenix Friday Coffee. It was nice & local for me, but coffee isn’t on my list of post-week libations. Tyson started #pfn. More like what I wanted, but too far & too late. So I made a commitment to show up at a place with good beer & good food on Friday on the east side of Phx. Turns out, lots of folks wanted to join me!” Since then, 3 more spin offs have come and spread across the valley. Never again can anyone in Phoenix say they have nothing to do on a Friday night; no matter what part of the valley you live in.

I personally know a lot of the people that attend these events and between watching them on Twitter, seeing the photos on Flickr, and hearing stories from them later on; these are meetups you don’t want to miss. Due to personal schedule conflicts, I am unable to attend these events on a regular basis but will be making a effort to at least start hitting up #wvfn in the future.

So check the site every week to find out where the meetups will be around the valley and join the fun. You’re guaranteed to at least meet some new people.

The quote that caught my eye? Unrefinery.com had this to say about the recognition:

We hesitate to even call Phoenix a city; the decentralized home turf of Allied Waste would be best described as a 400-square-mile monument to sprawl, water waste, traffic bottlenecks, and crystal meth. Urban planning sometimes seems esoteric, but Phoenix offers a real-world reminder of why we need it.

Thoughts?

Maintenance crews took the statue the following weekend, but returned it September 22 with a new coat of varnish. They also sawed off the dangerous branch.

The statue and base had previously been knocked down by a drunk driver early New Year’s Day in 1963, when it was closer to 17th Avenue and Washington went straight west, instead of diverting to Adams as it now does.

‘Cause I’m almost, I’m almost Irish
And I hope almost, is good enough for you
And I’m mostly, I’m mostly Irish
OK mostly I’m American it’s true
Maybe the little bit of Irish in me
Could be the little bit of Irish in you

What does this have to do with Phoenix? Because Phoenix has a large Irish population and a Celtic music scene.

Thanks to groups like the Irish Cultural Center and the Arizona Irish Music Society, there are a lot of venues to find good Irish music.
One I highly recommend is Saturday, October 4th. The Arizona Irish Festival at Margaret Hance Park and the Irish Cultural Center in Phoenix is a can’t miss event.

Irish Cultural Center
1106 N. Central Ave.
Phoenix, AZ, 85004
(602) 308-4601.

If you want to participate directly in the music, you can learn an instrument or how to dance at the Cultural Center. If you just want to listen, the Arizona Irish Festival is a good place to start, but there are many other opportunities in the valley as well.

Jane Hilton - St. Patrick's 2007 - Photo (c) Chris Seggerman

Tim Finnegan’s Irish Restaurant & Pub
9201 N. 29th Ave.
Phoenix, Arizona 85051
Phone: 602.997.2323

Shay also plays frequently at O’Connors Pub located at I-17 & Dunlap (East of Fuddrucker’s), which has been a second home to me for years.

Shay playing, Saint Patrick’s Day, 2007

If you are not into the pub scene (and there are several around the valley, which I will write about later), there are alternatives. This Friday, September 26, at Mama Java’s Coffeehouse (Indian School between 32nd St and 40th St) will feature:

• 8pm Singer-Songwriter David McKay w/ Jane Hilton, violin, viola and mando bird
• 9pm Glaswegian Singer and Guitarist Ian Walinck, Jane Hilton, fiddle, and Sarah Henrich, bodhran

Another great venue is Fiddler’s Dream.
From their web site:

Fiddler’s Dream Coffeehouse is located at 1702 East Glendale, in North Phoenix, just 1 block North of Glendale Avenue on the east side of 17th Street. We are on the grounds of the Phoenix Friends Meeting, on the Southeast corner of 17th Street and Cactus Wren.
We’re open from 7:15 pm until 11:00 pm Friday and Saturday nights (Performances start at 8:00 pm) and on Thursday 6:15 pm to 10:00 pm (music starts 7:30pm), we’re open for our Open Stage Night, so stop and visit. We also have some special events-check our calendar! In January 2009 we celebrate our 22nd Anniversary – and we plan to keep getting better and better. As an all-volunteer organization, we are always looking for nice folks to staff the kitchen, emcee, and lots of other fun stuff. Let us know if you’d like to be involved!
We offer a smoke-free, alcohol-free, COMPLETELY ACOUSTIC musical environment in a small venue. It’s a lot of fun, and we hold an open-stage at the end of most Friday and Saturday shows … 10 minutes or three songs.
For information on each weekend’s events, call (602) 997-9795. Fiddler’s Dream is COMPLETELY ACOUSTIC, which means we have no sound system, no microphones, and no amplifiers – and none are allowed per our incorporating charter. If you are interested in performing at Fiddler’s Dream, and can do a completely acoustic set, e-mail or give us a call.

I have been to all the venues except Tim Finnegan’s and I am pretty proud of AZ’s Irish Music scene. See you around

“Legal Aspects of HOA’s”
21 September 2006
6:30pm in room B160
Chandler-Gilbert Community College.

This class will be instructed by Augustus Shaw (The HOA Guy), Shaw & Lines LLC and is designed to provide participants with a practical foundation of the legal components of Homeowner associations. This includes creation and enforcement of codes, covenants and restrictions (CC & Rs), legal jurisdictions and obligations of homeowner associations, and rights of homeowners. As the laws are continually changing with respect to HOAs, legislative updates are included. This class is facilitated on a volunteer basis by attorneys specializing in community association law.

Class registration is $25. A light dinner is provided. For more information and to register please contact The Leadership Centre at http://www.theleadershipcentre.org or by phone at (480) 732-7174.

We could do a heck of a lot better in regards to registering to vote and then voting, or in the number of folks signing up to run for office (without committing fraud that is). But when the call goes out for volunteers, or there is a need to rally around a cause, Phoenicians show up. So here is the call. Get to know the good people at the Volunteer Center of Maricopa County. If you have a driver’s license, it takes about three clicks to register to vote. If you have room in your home call Carol and adopt a friend.

Number 7 – Civic Vitality

Counting down the top 30 reasons I love living here in the Valley as we head towards one year here at MBPHX.