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Iconic cowboy sign gets a long-overdue re-do
BY KRISTINE CANNON
Progress Staff Writer A s businesses reopen and foot traffic picks up in the Old Town area, residents might notice a facelift on the northeast corner of Scottsdale Road and Main Street.
The iconic “Most Western Town” cowboy sign received a fresh coat of paint by southern Scottsdale resident Patricia Badenoch over Easter weekend. “The weather was perfect,” she said. “Lots of families on bikes, strollers and even children with their training wheels still on now roamed the sidewalks and streets of Old Town taking advantage of no traffic.” Badenoch spent six hours repainting the sign Easter Sunday. While she used the same colors — red, blue, and tan for the chaps — what she did differently is repaint the original design
Southern Scottsdale resident Patty Badenoch gave the iconic cowboy sign on the northeast corner of Scottsdale Road and Main Street a facelift over Easter weekend. (Pablo Robles/Progress Staff Photographer)
BY KRISTINE CANNON
Progress Staff Writer
seeCOWBOY page 17
Children’s Hospital honors Scottsdale nurse
Locally, hospitals are recognizing their nurses’ achievements during this National Nurses Month, including Phoenix Children’s Hospital, which recently announced the recipients of their 16th annual Nursing Excellence Awards – including Northern Scottsdale resident Gretchen Schwindt, named this year’s Transformational Leader.
“It’s very exciting, for sure,” Schwindt said.
The Transformational Leader Award recognizes nurses who “embody a lead
Heralded as “healthcare heroes,” nurses have gone above and beyond to fight COVID-19, many flying to assist the hardest-hit parts of U.S.
ership style that fosters an environment where nurses feel their voices are heard, their input is valued, and their practice is supported.”
Children’s Hospital Chief Nursing Officer Julie Bowman said Schwindt received numerous nominations for the award.
“It’s so exciting that she was nominated and selected by staff and she is very deserving of this award,” Bowman said. “As a tenured nurse but new clinical manager, Gretchen has natural leadership abilities with a spirited approach to leading improvement work in her clinical area of responsibility.”
Schwindt may be relatively new to the role of clinical manager – taking the position in August – but she’s been at Children’s nearly 17 years. After 14 years in the neonatal intensive care unit, she transitioned to nurse coordinator, working for a fetal care program. “My plan was always to be in leadership,” Schwindt said. So, when her colleague Jennifer Mutascio asked if she’d like to take on her position as clinical manager, it was an easy “yes.”
Northern Scottsdale resident Gretchen Schwindt received the Transformational Leader award from Phoenix Children’s Hospital, where she works as a clinical manager. (Gretchen Schwindt)
for the rope around the lariat, which she discovered while scraping the old paint off. “That was fun seeing that original rope design,” she said. “And because I was raised on a ranch and had my own horse and so forth, I had a sense of a Western look.” Badenoch said, “It was evident much of the painting needed attention.”
“About a year ago, I noticed that the paint was fading, particularly the one that faces out to the street because the sun hits it. The red was turning pink,” she added. Badenoch knew the quarantine was the best time to pack up a ladder, her paint and her brushes and paint the sign while the streets were unusually quiet for spring.
This wasn’t Badenoch’s first time touching up the sign.
The first time she repainted it was in 2006, with the help of Darlene Peterson, and again around 2013.
“It definitely helped that she sought me out and that she knew what her team wanted and needed. I think that’s what made the easy transition for me to come in,” Schwindt said. “Well deserved,” “one of my favorite nurses,” and “a true leader and wonderful person” are just a few ways Schwindt’s team describes her. “It was really exciting for sure to be
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | MAY 31, 2020 Last May, Badenoch also spent about 50 hours repainting the weather-beaten fiberglass horse propped on the second level of the historic Porter’s Tavern building on Brown Avenue. “I was a little intimidated and felt challenged by it because this is kind of an icon. It’s like the cowboy, because it’s been there for years and years and years. Lots of people have energy on this, especially the people in the historic Old Town. So, I was a little nervous,” Badenoch told the Progress at the time. The cowboy sign has been a symbol of The West’s Most Western Town since the first version was erected by the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce in 1952. Its purpose then was to easily, cheaply and frequently promote community events on the chalkboard inside cowboy’s lariat.
“It quickly became the ‘iconic’ photo backdrop for many individual tourists and convention groups coming to Scottsdale – and continues to be,” said local historian Joan Fudala.
Fudala added that what many might not know is that the cowboy had a “kinfolk” starting in 1956. Replicas of the cowboy sign were posted in 15 locations throughout Scottsdale and the surrounding area to indicate the direction and mileage to Scottsdale. Today, however, only one cowboy remains: the one in Old Town. After the sign was remade from its original Masonite into sheet metal in the late ‘60s, it received its first facelift in late 1995, just in time for the first Super Bowl in Arizona. “I think the Cowboy sign, now 68 years old, is one of the most beloved symbols of Scottsdale,” Fudala said. “It’s a touchstone to the past and a familiar face as we look to the future. Multiple generations have been able to have a ‘Kodak moment’ — can we still say that in the digital photo op and selfie age? — next to the sign, and millions of motorists have driven past the Cowboy’s friendly welcome to Old Town.” It’s this very reason Badenoch has been so committed to preserving the sign over the years.
nominated, and to be nominated by my own staff was amazing. I was completely overwhelmed and surprised,” Schwindt said.
Schwindt calls the award a “group award.” “I have only been able to do what I’m doing because I lean on them so much to learn so much of the management role that I didn’t have experience in,” Schwindt said.
Schwindt was admittedly nervous to fill Mutascio’s shoes because of her extensive management experience and because Mutascio’s team respected her so much. So, when Schwindt took on the role, she concentrated on building relationships with her team members first. Within a few months, she has helped improve the team’s communication, transparency and overall wellness. “They wanted to make sure they had the opportunity to meet with senior leadership, that visibility. So, we started a quarterly breakfast with a VP,” Schwindt said. “It’s an open forum … and they can ask any questions they want to ask or tell them any concerns they have.” Schwindt also helped create a second wellness center in the East Building at Phoenix Children’s Hospital main campus, where she works with new graduates and experienced nurses.
The old cowboy sign was originally used to easily, cheaply, and frequently promote community events on the chalkboard inside cowboy’s lariat. (Scottsdale Progress archives)
GRETCHEN ���� page 16
“I realized that ... there was always people photographing themselves with it. It was almost more sought after then the Love sculpture; it’s amazing icon,” she said. Badenoch said while some want to “morph out of the ‘Most Western Town’ look” and make room for more businesses and high-rises, she still considers Old Town an attraction. “Not only is it an attraction for people coming from out of town, but it’s also an attraction for people who live here, even the younger generation, especially with the referendum thing. That was a major symbolic gesture on the part of the citizens of Scottsdale wanting to maintain some kind of authenticity to the downtown area,” she said, referring to the 17,000 signatures on a petition for a nowmoot referendum on the now-scuttled Southbridge Two project. “That was an amazing accomplishment to get that and that led credence to my sense of the importance of maintaining some sort of historic character and the heritage of that area; and a cowboy is symbolic of that to me,” she said. COWBOY ���� page 16
Schwindt helped convert a room on the third floor of the building into their own wellness room complete with a shoulder massage, a sound machine, yoga mats, healthy snacks, and more.
“Sometimes, it’s really hard at work and you don’t have the opportunity to get away and you bring some of that negativity home and it affects your personal life,” Schwindt said, calling the wellness room “a place to go away for a few moments, to re-center themselves, get ready for the rest of their shift and keep them mentally healthy, too.”
“I would not want to work anywhere else. I absolutely love working at PCH,” Schwindt said. “Our senior leadership is so supportive and amazing. “Right now, with everything that was happening with COVID and our census being down, a lot of hospitals were furloughing, and our leadership team wants our nurses, they want to keep them here. So, they just had a program where they’re supporting our nurses and they’re able to get their full paycheck,” she continued. Phoenix Children’s Pay Protection Program ensured that all full-time and parttime employees receive pay for 100 percent of their budgeted hours in April and recently extended through June 6. “That support from senior leadership down, it’s why you want to work here. You want to work here because of the children, and you have a great support system and leadership,” Schwindt said.
