Dedication Speech

Thanks to the over 40 Dear Friends who attended the Dedication of Parsons Preserve April 6.  It was a perfect day and a good time was had by all.

We are grateful to our Dear Friends who have sent many of their photos of the event.  Likewise, numerous Dear Friends have left inspiring comments on various Facebook posts.  Some have asked to read our speech at the dedication.

We did set up a digital voice recorder but it malfunctioned so we do not have an actual, verbatim record of what was said by each of the speakers.  We produced an outline for our own remarks and it appears below.  However, bear in mind that we never speak from a script--never have, never will. After much reflection about an upcoming speech, we write a narrative that provides guidance for our remarks.  We often glance at the narrative to remind our self to stay on topic and cover the primary talking points we hope to convey.   We often stray into extemporaneous tangents and topics but generally return to the main theme outlined in the pre-speech narrative.

Speakers at the Dedication included: Steve  Ayers, Wayne Ranney, John Parsons, Tony Gioia, Marsha Foutz, Wes Girard and Susun McCulla.  Each speaker delivered fine & eloquent remarks. Ayers and Ranney spoke more than once.  We occasionally interjected comments before or after each of the above speakers.

Thus, you can easily see the difficulty in presenting "a copy of our speech" as has been requested.  No such copy exists.

Even though the narrative below is not a verbatim rendition of the actual speech delivered, it does cover the salient points we wished to make.  We intended to focus on numerous individuals for their personal contributions to preservation of The Verde River.  However, we fell short in this goal by only mentioning a few of those listed.

The speech outline begins below the dash line.  Any type in BOLD ITALIC has been added during preparation of this blog post to help readers understand what may have been said...or not said.
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Welcome to The Verde River Family Reunion!

All you Verde River Moms, Dads, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Grand kids—Welcome to The Verde River Family Reunion.

It's great to see so many of The Verde River's Best Friends & Family here today.

We came back to the theme of the Verde River Family Reunion more than once.

Many Thanks to Steve Ayers for his efforts to create this Preserve and organize this event. Many Thanks to Wayne for coming all the way from New Zealand just yesterday especially to attend and speak here today!

Each & every one of you has done so much to help preserve, enjoy and celebrate this river and these beloved lands alongside. Some of the Friends & Family here today began boating and loving The River when they were kids—people like Jake Cecil and Reed Allen. Today Jake & Reed are part of the multi-generational legacy of support that The Verde River enjoys.
The Allen Family in particular spans four generations of lives along and with The River and they have contributed so much is ways at would take all day or several days to describe.

Discuss Dan Engler/Verde Newspaper, Kim/Nature Conservancy Chip/Drink Beer-Save Water/, Tony/TOCV Mayor, Diane/Cottonwood Mayor/Almanac, Wes/River Access.

We were able to highlight Chip, Tony, Wes, Dexter, Jake and Reed.  We missed many of the others we intended to discuss and Thank.

Once upon a time, The Verde River had no Friends. This Preserve is named for me because we helped The River make Friends. We started the snowball rolling and now The Verde River has countless Friends here there and everywhere. Friends who enjoy all The River has to offer and Friends work tirelessly to keep The River Flowing Free Forever.

First & foremost: I am forever honored by the Camp Verde Town Council's naming of this river channel property and especially Steve & Wayne's efforts in that regard.. I am deeply grateful and appreciative of this recognition for my efforts to “save” The Verde River. I am grateful for each and everyone of you who took time out of your busy Saturday to attend today's dedication. To be with The Verde River Family on a special day in a special place is truly special. THANK YOU!

Second: The “saving” of The Verde River was only possible with the combined, continued, dedicated and passionate efforts over many years by many people and organizations. Forty years ago there were no organizations working on behalf of The Verde River. Now there are more groups than I can name.

Third: I believe Parsons Preserve should provide lasting recognition for the effects, value and importance of community collaboration on behalf of the shared resources of The Verde River and its multi-faceted watershed.

Lastly: The development of Parsons Preserve offers a unique opportunity to showcase both individual and collective determination to conserve The Verde River and its resources for future generations. Although The Verde River Family gathered here today for this reunion and dedication love and enjoy The River, it's he future generations who stand to benefit the most from our collective efforts to preserve The River can create special places such as this one.

There are many cultural & natural resource topics that can be covered in Parsons Preserve. The challenge will be to balance those topics with the spirit of community collaboration so that Parsons Preserve is not too cluttered with an overabundance of interpretive information.

I hope this Preserve gets to speak with its own voice in its own way. Our goal was always simply to get people on the river because we knew the river would speak to them with its own voice in its own way and at did.

So, ultimately, I hope this can be a place where The river and the riparian can speak in their own way to people who come here.

I hope that Parsons Preserve becomes and remains forever an inviting area for individuals and Families to visit and utilize for reflection, education and camaraderie together alongside The Verde River.

We did get a chance to tell the below homespun anecdote and it drew quite a hearty laugh from the attendees.

CA McDonald, Loft Holloman, Tap Parsons, Carter Rogers, Henry Shill, Woody Diehl, Bob Barker sittin' around Saint Pete's Cafe and I pull up a chair to chat with The Good Ol' Boys. By and by I say, “You know what, guys? Someday The Camp Verde Town Council is gonna name a park for me!” HAHAHA

In closing this blog post narrative, we might add that the speech was well received and numerous attendees spoke favorably about it.  No one seemed to notice that I forgot to recognize so many deserving individuals.  We will soon be posting all of the photos that have been sent to a Google Photos album.  Thank You for your interest in the speech and THANK YOU for your love and efforts on behalf of The Verde River.

Directions To Preserve

Parsons Preserve is easy to find...if you know where it is!  Getting there for the first time can be tricky, confusing and, yes, you can get lost.  We hope these map graphics help guide you straight to The Preserve.  We plan to add long-lat coordinates on 02APR19 for those who use a GPS NAV system. Captions are below each map graphic.

Since most attendees will be coming from Camp Verde, we're showing that route first.  The High School is in the lower red box.  The casino is in the upper red box.  Continue north on Pecan Lane/Montezuma Castle Highway until Arena Del Loma, the only left turn between the high school and the casino. (Arrow #1)  Proceed due west on Arena Del Loma and bear to the right 45 degrees to the Northwest at Arrow #2.  Proceed to cross over I-17 and then turn left at Wampum. (Arrow #3)  Wampum turns into North Rustler Trail as the pavement bends to the south.  Proceed to the end of North Rustler Trail (Arrow #4) and either park and walk or drive to The Preserve.  The Preserve is located directly adjacent to and upstream from the Southbound I-17 bridge.  A more detailed map of the often confusing Wampum-Rustler interface is below

Other attendees may choose to use I-17 to drive to Exit #289 (The casino exit shown in a red box above.).  There are two ways to go to The Preserve if you are using Exit #289.  The first would be to drive south on Montezuma Castle Highway to Arena Del Loma--the only right hand turn between the casino and the high school at Arrow #3

The second ingress is to turn north from Exit #289 on Middle Verde Road. After passing The Distant Drums RV Park, Middle Verde Road curves and heads in a westerly direction.  Proceed on until the left hand turn for Arena Del Loma at Arrow #1

Follow Arena Del Loma to Arrow #2, then turn right on Wampum and proceed to North Rustler and thence toward The Preserve.  A more detail map of the Wampum-Rustler interface is below.

Wampum is a short east-west road (Arrow #1) that intersects Arena Del Loma just west of the I-17 overpass. Don't be fooled by the N. Long Rifle Road that spurs to the south of Wampum. (Big Red "X").  Long Rifle is a dead end.  Proceed west on Wampum (Arrow #2) until it curves nearly 90 degrees to the south and becomes North Rustler Trail.  You will need to stay on North Rustler Trail until it ends at Rawhide.  Please drive a very SLOW 25 mph through this residential neighborhood.  There is a permanent radar speed sign installed about halfway down Rustler.  People in this neighborhood are VERY sensitive to vehicles that exceed 25 mph.  Drive like 20-30 pairs of eyes are watching you...because they are.

OK, all roads described above lead to arrow #1 where North Rustler ends at Rawhide.  Rawhide reaches a dead end north not far north from the Rustler intersection. At and after 10:30 AM, a Camp Verde Town Marshall's Volunteer will be directing traffic at the Rustler/Rawhide intersection.  You may wish to park on Rawhide and walk or hitch a ride.  Or, if you  have medium to high clearance on your vehicle, you may wish to drive down into gravel floodplain of The Verde River.

The dedication will take place at Arrow #2.  The red line is a very approximate indication of the general area of Parsons Preserve.  The Preserve will eventually be closed to all vehicular traffic.  However, there will soon be a very large construction project underway in the area to reinforce & shore up the I-17 bridge piers.  Therefore, we and Camp Verde officials feel it is OK for vehicles to enter this area for the dedication.

If you have any questions about these map graphics or any requests or suggestions on how you wish them to be rendered in a more understandable and usable format, please contact us at:

happytrailsforever@gmail.com
Dedication Site from Golden Spike on Vimeo.

Above is a 360 view of The actual Dedication site.  It is a video recorded with our cell phone and it's OK resolution.  Below is a dash cam view of the access lane.  The dash cam records simultaneously in two resolutions--one is 125 megs a minute and the other is 10%  of that.  Consequently, we use the low resolution for uploading in a situation such as this.  Even though it's low resolution, it should give you a fairly good idea of the access lane.  Yes, it's kind of sketchy but it's OK for medium and high clearance vehicles.  Not sure a Prius could make it.  If you have doubts, park on Rawhide and walk or hitch a ride.
Parsons from Golden Spike on Vimeo.

Preliminary Design Commentary #1

First & Foremost, Many Thanks, & Much Appreciation are extended to Yunpei 'Rainia' Zhang,  Cris McPhail, and Steve Ayers for their tireless dedication and diligence on behalf of designing development for The Parsons Preserve.  We are greatly impressed and pleased with the effort so far.  Although we have numerous comments, please realize that none of our comments are criticisms.  We are 1001% supportive of the design process in whatever form and direction it may take.  We are very happy to have the privilege of making these comments.  However, in all cases, it is the consensus of the design team that takes precedence.  THANK YOU for your kind consideration & gracious hospitality!

I was very happy to see this mock-up on a entry sign. 

It's just about as perfectly rustic an entry sign as I can possibly imagine.  

I love this seating design idea.  It's perfect for all seating needs of The Preserve.

It will withstand any conceivable flood event and can quickly be returned to service.

This could make a perfect boundary barrier for the parking area.  Not only is it impenetrable by "bubba trucks," it is the perfect "debris catcher."  On 15FEB19, we observed debris being carried into the probable location of the preserve parking area.  Removal of both the fine and large debris from the parking area after each flood event would present a significant maintenance expense.  Usage of this type of a barrier would prevent much of the debris from reaching the parking area.

I really love this idea for visual monitoring of the water level of The Verde River in Parson Preserve!  I would ope that something like this could be readily visible from I-17. A single stone monolith would not constitute an obstruction of river flow but certainly would fun to watch when the water rose upon thee stone.

This is the type of structure that would work best in The Preserve.  Coincidentally, it is also the most common ancestral communal structure of the Yavapai-Apache Nation.  One such structure is permanently in place in front of the casino.  These structures are easy to erect and can be made into seasonal shade structure with the addition of cottonwood and willow branch trimmings. If they are knocked over by a flood,they can be put back in place with a minimum of time, effort and expense.

I love trails and the more trails the merrier but this might be too high a density of trails in comparison to the overall area of The Preserve. It appears that some of the trails have been overlaid onto the "social trails" made by rampant ATV usage.  I would suggest reducing trail density, especially as each trail segment is visible from other trail segments.  At a minimum I would scope several trail alignment and density options before deciding on a final courses of action.

This is the type of debris accumulation that can happen on the Verde River.  Prior to 15FEB19, there was no debris at this location in Rezzonico Park.  Now there is enough of it to practically become permanent there.  One must expect similar debris accumulations in Parsons Preserve in the years and decades ahead.

Here is the 15FEB19 Friday afternoon second high water peak encroaching into the most likely site for a parking area for Parsons Preserve.

I am happy to see the various draft layouts of Preserve usage areas included in the graphic above and those below.

In future renditions of the  trail layout, please use a color scheme that provides more visual contrast.  The purple lines are hard for my old tired eyes to see.  Thank You. (See trail comments above.)

It is an excellent planning method to focus on "Primary Landscape Spots."  I think it would be prudent to flag then on the ground and have various individual go onsite to inspect, review and compare them before finalizing them into the design criteria.

The emergency evac graphic below begs the question as to whether there will be a semi-hardened ingress/egress pathway for both emergency vehicles and maintenance needs.  It might be a good idea to create such a semi-hardened path and also to consult with CCF&MD as to whether the design meets their needs.

Comments resume once again under graphics.

It has been my personal experience that ADA trails are very lightly used.  This amount of ADA trails is probably in excess of what would ever be utilized.  It's also been my personal experience that every community has someone who is a sort of self-appointed commentator on the suitability of ADA facilities.  I would suggest attempting to determine who plays that role in Camp Verde and ask their opinion about ADA facilities for the Preserve.

These types of barriers are not sufficient to withstand the assaults of vandals and "bubba trucks."

As noted above, this type of barrier is PERFECT to thwart vandals and "bubba truck." LOVE IT!

As far as a local crop area, The Verde Ancestral Gardens is so close to Parsons Preserve, I would defer to them for this.  Their volunteers are stretched very thin and it is unlikely such a garden could be maintained without considerable volunteer effort.  Instead, I suggest at least one of the interpretive panels direct visitors to the existing ancestral garden.

Traditional playground equipment probably will not be able to withstand Verde River flooding.

This is a photo of Windmill Park playground equipment in Lake Montezuma taken 15FEB19. The playground was hammered by the overnight flooding event and this isn't even what Wet Beaver Creek is capable of doing.  The Verde River brings a much larger scale of potential destruction to the table.  I suggest all play infrastructure be made of rocks and tree stump segments.  If the stump segments are washed away, there probably will be others deposited at or near the same locations when the flood recedes.

I didn't have time to clip some of the crafting elements but I like the idea of place to stack rocks.  Many land managers dislike stacked rocks but, for whatever reason, humans appear to love stacking rocks.  Might as well go with the flow, so to speak, and give them a place to stack rocks.  The next flood will knock them all over anyway, so there's no loss.  Who knows? A rock stacking area might become one of The Preserve's most popular aspects and could well be a Star of Instagram!

Please refer to prior comments about trail density.

I suggest more "observation areas"  on the riverbank.

ANy of the above types of infrastructure will probably meet the fate of this picnic table as photographed 15FEB19 at Clarkdale's Lower TAPCO river access point.

The key to amenities at Parsons Preserve is sustainability.   If it's flood resistant, low maintenance and low initial investment, chances are pretty good that it will survive in the  long term.

I sincerely hope there are many, many of these placed in Parsons Preserve!  LOVE Them!

Due to the inherent difficulty of maintenace access, it is highly likely Parsons Preserve will be a "Leave No Trace," "Park It In-Pack It Out" kind of a place.

The only place for toilets will be at the parking area and they can easily be hidden by a structure similar to what is used at Rezzonico Park.  Also, they will have to be positioned so that the vendor can remove them quickly and easily should a flood warning be issued.

LOVE THESE!

The above are great ideas and I sure hope they are  incorporated.

Awesome!

See above comments.

Parsons Preserve definitely 1001% needs a wedding area.

Below are more reference photos of Windmill Park and also the water encroaching on the Preserve Parking location on 15FEB19.

The classic fate of traditional recreational apparatus!