What's New (Updated 8/18/10)
| "Celebration of the Cowboy" -- Roundup & Open House at the Historic Empire Ranch, October 23, 2010 | |||||
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Roundup time is coming! Be sure to attend the Annual Roundup & Open House at the Historic Empire Ranch on Saturday, October 23, from 10am to 4pm --it's a Western experience for the whole family! The
Empire Ranch Roundup & Open House is the Foundation's annual public
event celebrating Arizona's Western history and culture. The Roundup
also showcases Bureau of Land Management and Empire Ranch Foundation’s
efforts to preserve the Empire Ranch for future generations to enjoy. This
is the 10th anniversary of both the Roundup & Open House, and the
creation of the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area.
Free
Admission;
$10 parking donation requested, which includes a wagon ride, raffle ticket
and program. |
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| ERF Members Are the Absolute Best! | |||||
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heartfelt thank you to all who have renewed their annual
membership. Approximately
300 members have responded as of July 31, raising nearly $30,000. And,
more than 70 new members have joined since last April.
Please share with your friends your passion for preserving the
historic Empire Ranch and for our western heritage education programs. If you have not already done so, please act now to start or renew your membership for the coming membership year (July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011). With your help we can fulfill our mission to protect, restore and sustain the Empire Ranch's historical buildings and landscape as an outstanding western heritage and education center. Every member counts, and we're counting on you! |
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New
Summer Camp for Youngsters Premiers |
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| Legacy Day -- Tortilla, Reatas, Roping, and More | |||||
| Fifty middle school students arrived for Legacy Day at the Empire Ranch on May 5th, eager and ready to experience a taste of ranch life. Throughout the day they learned some essential ranching skills from a faculty of local experts. The day's activities included instruction in roping, horse hair braiding, horse harnessing, and adobe brick making. Tortilla making proved to be a fun and new experience for most students; this snack served to whet everyone's appetite for the hearty cowboy lunch of shredded beef, beans, more tortillas, and brownies provided by ERF volunteers. Definitely a different kind of classroom! | |||||
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| Empire Ranch House Preservation Work | |||||
| We are now implementing
recently approved plans to improve the historical appearance of six rooms
in the Empire Ranch House Victorian Addition, and to increase the
interpretive information provided to visitors about them. Our new
signage will include expanded information on the history of the individual
rooms and on their restoration and preservation measures to date and
planned for the future. The initial rooms targeted for these improvements are the Master Bedroom, built between 1878 and 1880, and the Master Bath, added between 1890 and 1900. The walls and ceilings will be patched and painted by ERF volunteers. Light fixtures and curtains reflective of the Vail period will be installed. The walls will display text, photos, and other visual materials, such as letters and family trees, that will tell the story of the rooms and those who lived there. On other preservation fronts, June 19th Volunteer Day workers focused on annual maintenance tasks that are critical to the Empire Ranch House surviving summer challenges: monsoon and fire season, including mowing, weeding and cleaning gutters. New wood used in repairs to the corral fences was treated to improve durability and appearance, and historic woodworker volunteer John Weiss is underway on a work plan to return key historic doors to their original look, right down to the surface mounted lock hardware and ceramic door handles. |
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(Click here to see a
cumulative list of preservation projects completed or scheduled since
2000.) |
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| Donations&Membership Send e-mail correspondence to: info@empireranchfoundation.org |
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