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Sixth annual WinterFest, BookFest returns
Watch Wyatt Earp come alive in Scottsdale
BY ANNIKA TOMLIN
Foothills Focus Staff Writer
The WinterFest and BookFest will mark their return to Black Canyon Heritage Park on Saturday, Jan. 29.
WinterFest offers participants of all ages and physical abilities discovery experiences to instill respect, responsibility and stewardship for the surrounding area’s cultural, historical, recreational and environmental offerings.
History buffs and established and fledgling authors will have the chance to meet writers, booksellers and illustrators at BookFest. During the event, the Old Cañon School Museum will be open for tours.
Longtime Black Canyon Heritage Park volunteer Ann Hutchinson has watched Smokey the Bear will make an appearance at the WinterFest and BookFest held at Black Canyon Heritage Park on Saturday, Jan. 29. (Photo courtesy of Black Canyon Heritage Park)
Wyatt Earp, a great grandnephew of the famous Tombstone lawman, will perform the one-man play “Wyatt Earp: A Life on the Frontier” at the Fellowship Center of Desert Hills Presbyterian Church on Jan. 30. The play was written by Earp’s late wife, Phoenix playwright Terry Tafoya the event evolve. “The first one was mainly a celebration of getting everything finally in place at the park because the land had been donated to us in 2006,” Hutchinson said. “Every year since we’ve done it and our partners keep coming back and we grow.”
This year’s upgrades include ADA-compliant improvements to the visitor center, an update to 8 acres of the park, and the addition of fish and native trees.
“The Black Canyon Community Library will be there,” Hutchinson said. “Barbara Renner has children’s books, specifically. Her ‘Quincy and the Quail’ books are great.”
Additional BookFest participants include local authors Wayne Treptow, Ann
see WINTERFEST page 17
BY SCOTT SHUMAKER
Foothills Focus Staff Writer
On Sunday, Jan. 30, the Fellowship Center of the Desert Hills Presbyterian Church in Scottsdale will host a one-man play about Wyatt Earp performed by … Wyatt Earp.
The Earp who will embody the famous lawman in “Wyatt Earp: A Life on the Frontier” said he descends from one of the Wild West Earp’s uncles. Though the connection is distant, the actor bears a family resemblance to the frontiersman.
While the modern Earp was growing up in Indianapolis, he said his family didn’t talk much about their Western connection, even though his mother named him Wyatt in honor of it. The name came in handy, he said, as an insurance agent for New York Life, where he worked for 50 years before retiring.
“(The name) made me a little more memorable to my clients than other people,” he said.
Then in 1978, Earp met Phoenix playwright and theater owner Terry Tafoya Earp. Her passion for Arizona history drew Earp deeper into his historical connection. After pursuing her dream of playwriting in the late ’80s, Tafoya Earp wrote “Wyatt Earp: A Life on the Frontier,” a play about her husband’s famous namesake.
The play is set in 1928 and features an elderly Earp telling his story to a reporter in Los Angeles, where the lawman, bodyguard, miner, saloon keeper and buffalo hunter, to name just a few job titles, died in 1929. Earp is probably most famous for the Tombstone shootout that killed three outlaw cowboys, but Wyatt and his wife, Sadie, traveled throughout the West during their 47-year life together, from Prescott to Alaska. The play aims to present a view of Earp that goes beyond the Hollywood legend.
“A Life on the Frontier” and other plays proved successful for Tafoya Earp. She died in 2019, following years of medical battles after an accident in 2006 that left her quadriplegic.
Wyatt Earp, who today splits his time between Tombstone and Phoenix, said he has performed “A Life on the Frontier” 1,049 times. He’s also branched out into other historical characters, including Doc Holliday, Will Rogers and the Western photographer Edward Curtis. He’s giving weekly performances as Curtis at the Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West during its “Light and Legacy: The Art and Techniques of Edward S. Curtis” exhibit.
But it’s the Wyatt Earp show that has taken the actor to 22 states and five coun-
WINTERFEST From page 16
Metley and Mike Haboush as well as local historian Michael Sandford, Glorybound Publishing, Black Canyon Historical Society & Museum, and Queen Valley Historical Society with author Carol Schumacher.
WinterFest will boast a host of exhibitors like the Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter, Tonto National Forrest-Cave Creek Ranger District, Desert Foothills Land Trust and Sonoran Reptiles.
“We should have Smokey the Bear there,” Hutchinson said. “Wild Heart will be there with some raptors.
“Prescott Heritage Zoological Sanctuary will be there with some critters. The Friends of Agua Fria (National Monument) will have an art activity for the kids.”
Food will be available as well, courtesy of Nora Jean Koffee Koach and Sunshine Learning Center. Attendees are welcome to walk the grounds on a guided tour as well.
“(The walking path is) only a half mile so even the little kids or the wheelchair bound can go around no problem,” Hutchinson said. “We are encouraging our exhibitors to have little activities. A lot of the books will be children’s books.”
Coinciding with the WinterFest and BookFest is the virtual silent auction that runs through Friday, Feb. 11.
“A couple years ago we did the auction on site and then last year when we couldn’t do the in-person event so we said, ‘Well, we can still do a virtual auction,’” Hutchinson said. “We had so much success with it that we are going to do it again. The businesses in Black Canyon City are very supportive of what we do.”
The auction items include a pair of tickets to Misa Azteca by ProMusica Arizona; a two-night stay in the Sun Angel Cabin or Sparky’s Den at Tonto Creek Camp; a $50 gift card to The Tennessee Grill in Anthem; a private wine class for 20 through Total Wine & More, and a certificate for handgun classes by Johnson Group TAC. A full list of the auction prizes can be found on the Black Canyon Heritage Park website.
Masks are not required for this outdoor event. Hand sanitation and hand-washing stations will be set up.
“We missed last year so this is a comeback for last year,” Hutchinson said. “We have signs on more of our plants so when people do take a walk, they can tell what the plants are. “We’ve expanded our butterfly gardens and we actually have an e-butterfly site (that started in December).”
WinterFest will boast a host of exhibitors like the Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter, Tonto National Forrest-Cave Creek Ranger District and Desert Foothills Land Trust. (Photo courtesy of Black Canyon Heritage Park)
WHEN: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29 WHERE: Black Canyon Heritage Park, 33955 S. Old Black Canyon Highway, Black Canyon City COST: Free admission INFO: blackcanyonheritagepark.org
WYATT From page 16
tries. People around the world are entranced by the stories — some true, many dubious — that have grown around the Tombstone lawman.
“I never dreamed that Wyatt would have so much wattage,” he said.
The historic Wyatt Earp’s life has become woven into the mythology of the United States, surrounded by apocryphal stories and freely embellished by Hollywood. There’s fierce debate among Western history buffs about “the real” Earp and his legacy. Any claim about the historic Earp is likely to be met with a challenge.
For his interpretation of the lawman, Earp said he relies on friend and historian Ben Traywick, who served as official historian for the town of Tombstone for 39 years before he retired in 2010. Earp views his famous namesake’s career in the West as a search for prosperity.
“He and the likes of him, they were just chasing the opportunity for economic prosperity,” Earp said. “He wasn’t interested in law enforcement. He was an entrepreneur. … They were all in search of the bucks.”
But Earp doesn’t have a problem with the Hollywood versions of the Earp brothers. His favorite is the 1993 film “Tombstone” starring Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp.
“Movies are criticized inappropriately. A movie is not a documentary,” he said. “‘Tombstone’ has a lot of untruths in it, but who cares.”
His upcoming Scottsdale performance of “A Life on the Frontier” will be his 1,051st show. After so many shows, he said he’s fine tuned his interpretation of Earp, but said “I try to stay very loyal to the historical authenticity of the script.”
“I give every performance everything I have,” he said. “There will be every human emotion involved.”
WHEN: 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 30 WHERE: Fellowship Center of Desert Hills Presbyterian Church, 34605 N. Tom Darlington Road COST: Free INFO: 480-488-3384
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Warrant singer says nostalgia leads to success
BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI
Foothills Focus Executive Editor
Valley resident and Warrant singer Robert Mason says hometown shows mean one thing: nonstop calls and texts.
“Seriously, it’s cool to see familiar faces in the audience,” says Mason, whose band will play the Pool at Talking Stick with Skid Row and Winger on Saturday, January 29.
“I get to sleep in my own bed, if I choose. There’s always a weird pressure but no pressure. I feel like I’m in this traveling circus and I’m always playing these other cities. Very rarely do we come home; probably six or eight times in the 13 years I’ve been in the band. There’s a little more mayhem because it’s a hometown show.”
With a pair of double-platinum albums
Warrant will play hits from their 1992 album “Dog Eat Dog” with additional performances by Skid Row and Winger at the Pool at Talking Stick on Saturday, January 29. (Photo by Stephen Jensen)
and three top 10 singles, Warrant inked a deal with Columbia Records in January 1998 and released “Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich” one year later.
The album spawned the singles “Down Boys,” “Sometimes She Cries” and “Heaven,” the latter of which reached No. 2 on the U.S. charts. Warrant’s follow-up album, “Cherry Pie,” featured the singles “I Saw Red” and “Cherry Pie,” eclipsing the band’s previous effort.
The key to Warrant’s longevity are those songs and the corresponding nostalgia. Mason says the tracks recall a simpler time.
“I think there’s a strong nostalgic pull for that era and these songs,” he says. “The demographics are not only the people who lived through it the first time, but a generation or two later are able to have fun.
“They recognize the ‘fun’ factor and the recklessness these songs have. It’s tonguein-cheek sometimes, romantic and nostalgia at other times. The ballads hold up and stood the test of time because people loved them so much back then.”
Mason says the songs have been given a second life in videogame, movie and TV placements, introducing a new generation to the songs.
“It transcends the ’80s, early ’90s, Sunset Strip hair rock or whatever bad moniker you want to put on that time period and musical style,” he says. “I just call it good rock music.”
For the 2022 tour, Warrant is revamping its set, thanks to a discussion between Mason and guitarist Joey Allen.
“We’re going to do a little block of (the 1992 album) ‘Dog Eat Dog’ songs,” he says. “That record deserves attention and, 30 years later, it’s remembered fondly by enough fans. The songs have great energy, and the band was on fire musically. It may not have blazed a trail in the charts the way ‘Heaven’ or ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ did. But it definitely deserves attention, and we love it.”
The band will also talk about “Dog Eat Dog.” The rest of the show will feature hits.
“It’s all the songs you know and love by heart and want to sing,” he says. “Our show is pretty heavy on the first three records. That’s where the nostalgia and biggest success of the band lies. Obviously, we feel some sort of obligation to play those songs. Basically, it’s just a bunch of high-energy rock by guys who are happy to be out and doing what we do. Hopefully it shows.
“I like inciting a little mayhem and excitement in the audience. We want them to stare at our shows, not stare into their phones. Rock is heart, rock and a little south of the belt buckle. It’s supposed to be all those things. It’s how I grew up and I’m proud to be able to bring that.”
Skid Row, Warrant and Winger
WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday, January 29 WHERE: The Pool at Talking Stick Resort, 9800 E. Talking Stick Way, Scottsdale COST: Tickets start at $25 INFO: 480.850.777, talkingstickresort.com
