 Bisbee… a place I’d only heard about 10 months ago and now I live here. It’s been an interesting experience over the last 10 months, first travelling, then coming back to and finding a sense of place and eventually a new home which I love. I’ve moved from Eugene, OR, a place with a reputation of being weird, to a place that may actually be a bit weird, but in ways that seem right for me now. Eugene is more confused than weird, despite the reputation. In my mind, it has always seemed so, and it seemingly more confused every day now, with every city park having become a tent city, no one knowing what to do about it. Nobody likes it, neither the folks in the South Hills nor the folks in the tents. It is an embarrassment for the city and reflects a declining pride-of-place. I’m happy to be mostly finished there, at least for now, tent cities not being the only affliction in Eugene. Against all odds, I built a business and a reputation in Eugene, achieving a measure of success no matter how you choose to define it. And for the time being my ties are not severed. I have friends, an address, and an office there, awaiting my return to socialize and meet for business. And now I have friends in Bisbee, which calls itself “Mayberry…on acid.” Not lying. I’m not sure yet if that motto is official, but it is the town motto. I’ve met, in no particular order, the guy who people refer to as the “de-facto town mayor”, the bartenders at the Thirsty Lizard, the Brewery, The Double P, and the Bisbee Social Club, a city councilman, a comedian’s wife, (not to diminish her status as a individual!) artists, a builder, a landscape architect, a doctor, a television star, and world traveler…and the list goes on. Importantly, everyone I’ve met is proud to be here, happy to participate in a community with a rich history, and, I think, a viable future. Thanks for the welcome, Bisbee, I look forward to getting to know you better! 
2 Comments
Dawn LN Walker
11/15/2021 04:51:35 am
I am a Bisbee girl from a Bisbee family before 1900. Bisbee is a part of me and I have Bisbee blood in my veins. A family that came here years before 1900 of miners blood. I graduated in 1975 as a Bisbee Puma as did my parents, grandparents, great grandparents, and generations that came before them. What you don't know is "Mayberry on Acid" is not what Bisbee is to us that are from here. You don't know the Bisbee we knew and the town that was ours and our history. The drive in movie theater, the Lyric theater, baseball, football, picnics and one big Bisbee family growing up together. A town that had a outstanding dance school called "Crystal Shaw Hayden School of Dance" where I started dancing at the age of 3 and it shaped my life. The mines closed. Our dance school closed. But I have danced all my life. I brought the first Pilates class to Bisbee over 25 years ago. Until Covid sidelined my program. The old Bisbee High School is for sale to the public now. The Old High School where my parents met and my Aunts and Uncles passed each other in the halls smiling at each other, holding hands and marrying right out of high school and loving each other until one departs this world. The old high school that is in the Guineas Book of world records for having an entrance on every floor from street level. I saw a post on Facebook asking "How long do you have to live in Bisbee to be from Bisbee?" One person said they had been here 6 months and others proceeded with their numbers. From 3 months to 3-4 years saying they were now from Bisbee. After the #s popped up for days I couldn't bite my tongue any longer. I had to speak honestly that if you weren't born here or come here as a child and most a part of the mining family you will never BE from here. I am just asking of you one thing. Respect out town and history that created Bisbee. I have MANY stories from my ancestors that created this town that we Iive and love. I am a mix breed of many people that are here legally fom many countries. And we're proud Americans. I am from two Native American Nations that originated in this country. Our original native Bisbee families came from all over the world but back then we were on mining family. I hope you enjoy Bisbee but rember why Bisbee is here. If it 11/15/2021 06:33:47 am
Hello Dawn, I'm so happy for your comment! And I think I understand every bit of what you are saying. I was born and raised in a mining town, Riddle, OR. It was the only nickel mine in the continental US. My Dad helped to build the mine and I worked there in High School, first as a laborer and then as a welder. We too had a drive-in and a theater in town. Since I graduated in 1971, we are of a similar era. And that town too, is not what it was when I was growing up. Please understand that I'm proud to have come from that background, and I'm proud to be here now. I think the "weirdness" of Bisbee is fun, but I know that the town is more than that and I will do my best to honor the history, both European and indigenous, that is so rich in this area. I hope we can meet one day, I'd love to hear your stories of Bisbee! Kindly, Gary D Leave a Reply. |
Author
|
RSS Feed