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Sunday, March 31, 2019
Saba’s begins a long goodbye to Scottsdale BY WAYNE SCHUTSKY Progress Managing Editor
NEWS ............................... 19 Lawmakers weep at teen suicide hearings
NEIGHBORS ................ 27 Scottsdale boy is state spelling champ
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cottsdale will lose one of its longest standing connections to its history as the West’s Most Western Town when longtime ld Town retailer Saba’s Western Wear closes up shop this year. Saba’s, which �irst opened up in Scottsdale in 1 47, will be closing its two ld Town locations along with its Cave Creek and Mesa stores. Fittingly, the Saba’s in Chandler – where the business started in 1 27 – will be the last remaining location for the familyowned retailer, which once had as many as 10 locations throughout Arizona. Marion Saba, who still lives in Scottsdale with her husband, Richard, said the location at First and Brown avenues will close
Richard and Marion Saba of Scottsdale ran both Saba's stores in Old Town. Those two stores and Saba's outlets in Cave Creek and Mesa will be closing, leaving only the original Chandler operation. (Special to the Progress)
in the next several weeks. The location at Main Street and Brown Avenue will remain open longer, likely for one to two months. Marion and Richard were an integral part of the Scottsdale stores and the larger brand for many years, with Marion doing
much of the buying for the business and Richard working as general manager before his retirement. They both appeared as models in a slew of advertisements that appeared in the pag-
SABA’S
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Thieves steal part of a Scottsdale treasure FOOD .............................. 35 Loosen those belts, the fest is coming
NEIGHBORS ........................ 22 BUSINESS .............................29
OPINION .............................. 32
ARTS .................................... 33 FOOD & DRINK................... 35 CLASSIFIEDS .......................38
BY WAYNE SCHUTSKY Progress Managing Editor
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urglars walked away with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of autographed baseballs after a brazen, early morning smash-and-grab at Don Charlie’s restaurant March 27 – weeks before it is set to close to make way for a new hotel. The restaurant, scheduled to close on April 12, has catered to sports fans, athletes, media personalities and locals for decades since it opened in the early 1 80s. The walls are littered with memorabilia from every sport imaginable, much of it collected by owner Don Carson, who be-
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The 34 autographed baseballs stolen from Don & Charlie’s in downtown Scottsdale included many signed by legendary baseball players like Babe Ruth. (Photo courtesy of Scottsdale Police Department)
came close friends with the countless athletes who would frequent the restaurant, especially during spring training. Much of the memorabilia was collected by Carson on-site when visiting athletes, retired superstars and others would sign balls, magazine covers and other items for display in the restaurant. During a 2018 interview with the Progress, Carson estimated 700 balls lined the walls at Don Charlie’s. Thirty-four of those balls – many signed by Major League Baseball legends – are now in the wind.
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