INSIDE THE AUGUST 2025 ISSUE: Moonshot Honors Local Entrepreneurial Champions p. 3
Framing Northern Arizona in the Shane Knight Gallery p. 9 Santo Manone has Outdoor Adventure in the Bag p. 10
A New Dawn for Dishes at Puebla Sunrise p. 6
Kinney Construction Becomes EmployeeOwned Business p. 11
Kitchen Tools Meet Artisan Chic at Unique Boutique p. 8
Sky-High Celebration: Flagstaff Trades Fireworks for Drones Amid wildfire concerns, a 23-minute light show dazzled crowds and sparked support for a repeat performance By Peter Corbett, FBN
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ith 300 drones, Flagstaff celebrated Independence Day with its first-ever light show that illuminated dark skies over
McMillan Mesa for 23 minutes and replaced the red, white and boom fireworks display of the past. Growing concerns about wildfire dangers and noise issues led to a switch to an aerial drone display.
Flagstaff officials appear likely to continue with a drone show next Fourth of July, despite some traffic snarls. “Overall, the community seemed pretty happy, and we’re always happy when we’re fire safe,” said Haley Reynolds, Flagstaff events and marketing manager. “We met with a couple of our internal partners, and we have a large debrief scheduled in the next couple
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of weeks,” Reynolds said. “But it’s the general consensus it was a successful event. Now we just have to navigate forward.” Flagstaff paid Open Sky $95,000 to stage the Fourth of July drone show. The 3-year-old company, based in Salt Lake City, has presented more than 500 shows, said Erik Merkow, Open Sky vice president of sales and marketing. Continued on page 38
North Rim in Flames: Region Reels from Loss and Heartbreak Wildfire destroys lodge, impacts tourism, businesses, jobs
Kristie Gaydos of New Jersey takes in the beauty of the canyon in the quiet of a late afternoon. Photo by Robert Pennell
August 2025 | Issue 8 Volume 18
‘Please don’t burn, you are too beautiful!’” In the darkness, they learned Arizona Highway 89 to the west was already closed. As they drove to Marble Canyon, they saw other campers “set up at every turn out,” fleeing the fires. The next day, Friday, July 11, Matthew MarBy Bonnie Stevens, FBN ciano was scheduled to serve guests at the Grand Canyon Lodge. About two hours before his shift ith tired legs and cherished memories, was to begin, a staff meeting was called. “The Maraka Oltrogge, vice president of guests had been evacuated the day before, so we philanthropy at Northern Arizona found out we were going to have some time off Healthcare, spent the last night of her hiking trip with her dad and friends, basking in the beauty of because there were no guests to serve.” Shortly after the meeting, Marciano received a the mixed conifer forest and camping just outside group text to evacuate immediately. “We didn’t the National Park boundary on the North Rim know the risk of the Dragon Bravo Fire at the of the Grand Canyon. At 11:15 p.m., Thursday, July 10, she was awakened by a bright light and an time. The bigger concern was the White Sage Fire, and we thought our area was going to be safe,” he urgent message. said. “As we were leaving, we saw that the other “A Game and Fish officer introduced himself fire was picking up, it started getting scary as we and kindly explained that we needed to evacuate given the wildfires that surrounded us to the north got closer to the smoke. It was a surprise to all of us.” and southwest,” she said. “It was surreal to pack By 10:30 p.m., Saturday night, July 12, the up and begin our drive back in the middle of the night. I stopped and quietly said to our campsite, Continued on page 39
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