Tastes & Treasures donated to Glendale Elementary Teachers promote Historymakers

 Arizona Historymaker™ stories continue to be shared. Recently 150 “Tastes & Treasures” books featuring Historymakers honored from 1992-201 were donated to Glendale Elementary teachers. A big part of the book, published by the Historical League, is the Historymaker recipes and family memories.

We will celebrate the 2023 Arizona Historymakers on October 14 at the Arizona Heritage Center with 9 new honorees. Congratulations to Frank M. Barrios, Michael M. Crow Ph.D., Angel Delgadillo, Dolan Ellis, The Honorable Terry Goddard, Denise D. Resnik, Jeffrey M. Trent Ph.D., Daniel D. Von Hoff M.D., Mrs. Elizabeth J. White.

Invitations at https://www.historicalleague.org/event-inside.aspx...

1993 Historymaker Erma Bombeck

If you haven't read The Grass is Greener Over the Septic Tank or If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, What am I Doing in the Pits? by Erma Bombeck, you are missing out.

There is no denying that Erma Bombeck had a way with words. Her family gave us her Bean Dip story and recipe for Tastes & Treasures II: A Storytelling Cookbook of Historic Arizona. Found on page 181, Erma's humor shines through.

Here are two of Erma's famous quotes about food, “There are four basic food groups, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and chocolate truffles.”
“Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.”

Erma Bombeck was honored as a Historymaker in 1993 along with Senator John Rhodes, Bud Jacobson, Bill Kajikawa, Dwight Patterson and Jack Williams. AZ Heritage Center is proud to archive their oral histories, photographs and memorabilia from the Historymakers Recognition Program.

Carolyn Warner and Lisa Schnebly Heidinger guest speakers at Nov 6 meeting

Lisa Schnebly Heidinger and Carolyn Warner

What a delight to hear from past AZ Superintendent of Public Instruction, Carolyn Warner, with introductions from historian and author, Lisa Schnebly Heidinger. The duo are quite good at public speaking sharing amusing anecdotes and fascinating stories. They had also teamed up to write a book called Before I Forget. Carolyn's latest book is The Last Words, A Treasury of Women's Quotes.
Carolyn explained her career, "From a teen who wasn't interested in getting married, to a woman with six children, I slowly got involved with the schools." She directed the state's Department of Education 1975-1987.  She also met every President from Truman to Obama.
Of her close friendship with Erma Bombeck, "One day we were in deep discussion in the kitchen, while preparing dinner for the family. Until the bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken caught fire in the oven . . ." So many more great memories in the books. Looking forward to reading them.
The Historical League has also teamed up with Lisa in writing Tastes & Treasures II, A Storytelling Cookbook of Historic Arizona due out in January 2018.

Diana Smith welcomes Carolyn Warner

Carolyn Warner signs books with Lisa Schnebly Heidinger assisting

Historymaker Bil Keane statue

Honored as a Historymaker in 1992, Bil Keane contributed much to Arizona. A beautiful statue of his famous cartoon "Giddy-Up Daddy"
was recently installed at McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale as another tribute to this generous Arizonan. Many of his fellow Historymakers contributed to this installation including The Bombecks (Erma was a Historymaker in 1993 ), Audrie and Joe Garagiola (Joe honored in 2008) and The Long family (John F. Long honored in 2001). The Railroad Park is a popular place for children and families, complete with train rides, train museum and carousel.

Jana Bommersbach reviews ARIZONA Recollections and Reflections

"You can't know Arizona unless you know her people. There's no better way to know her people than through the Historical League's Commemorative Book. It's a priceless contribution to the history of Arizona and offers hours and hours of wonderful stories about wonderful people." --Jana Bommersbach, journalist and author

Celebrate Arizona’s Centennial by turning 320 pages of history in this beautiful leather-bound 8.5”x 9.5” book!

Living when honored, first-person oral histories from these Arizona Historymakers serve as the basis for this collection of biographies and memories. Photographs, many from personal family albums, provide further glimpses into the lives of these men and women whose achievements have impacted Arizona’s record of events in such diverse areas as the arts, community service, politics, sports and entertainment.

Read the interesting stories of Historymakers such as Erma Bombeck, Eddie Basha, Adam Diaz, John Driggs, Barry Goldwater, Jerry Colangelo and Sandra Day O'Connor in this collections that will be great for your coffee table.

Contact RuthMcLeod@earthlink.net for more information or visit www.HistoricalLeague.org

Oral Histories for www.HistoricalLeague.org

Since the Historymakers Gala and Recognition Program started in 1992, we have honored 55 notable Arizonans and recorded their stories; such names as John F. Long, Barbara Barrett, Erma Bombeck, John Rhodes and Adam Diaz.
Interviewing our Historymakers for their oral history is a daunting task yet very rewarding. As each person tells his life story, we begin to visualize their life, their childhood, their education, their career, their impression of Arizona.
This summer, members of the cookbook committee and many other Historical League members edited these oral histories so they could be put on www.HistoricalLeague.org. Pictured are Zona Lorig and myself working on Barry Goldwater interviews. As a Centennial Legacy Project, the League’s website will contain all the Historymakers personal stories along with formal portraits and family photos, making this information readily available to the public.
I did not realize how extensive this project was we started it. Comparing it to a great novel, comes to mind. You don’t want to put the book down or have the story end. It will debut this fall. Visit www.HistoricalLeague.org to enjoy a good read and help celebrate Arizona’s Centennial.

Lassoing young minds with Ourcourts.org

Great article on Sandra Day O'Connor in the Sunday, August 2, AZ Republic Viewpoints. Justice O'Connor has always championed education, wanting to "saddle up to help teach middle school kids about how their government works." Her life on the Lazy B Ranch gave her "lessons that inspired a lifetime of civic involvement and public service." Now she is working with Ourcourts.org to develop online lessons, games and history for teachers and students.

The Historical League has a summer project to do similar good works. Our volunteer staff is digitalizing the 55 Historymakers oral histories so they will be accessible on www.HistoricalLeague.org. This is part of the Legacy Project for the Arizona Historical Society to celebrate Arizona's Centennial. These oral histories are from Arizonans such as Erma Bombeck, Eddie Basha, Jerry Colangelo, Paul Fannin, Barry Goldwater, Esther Don Tang and Ed Mell. A complete list is on www.HistoricalLeague.org. The histories talk about their childhood, education, business and social and political life. You feel like you are sitting down talking with them over a cup of coffee . . . or glass of wine.

Love this photo of Sandra as a young girl on the ranch. Can you guess who is the other young man? . . . Barry Goldwater.