ARIZONIQUES

Something of an almanac, a sampler, a calendar, and a guide to places, events, and people unique to Arizona and the Southwest.

THE GREAT AMERICAN RACE

Not one of them is younger than forty-nine, and some are over eighty, but nearly a hundred will roll the 3800 miles from Disneyland, in Anaheim, California, to New York City in eleven days. From June 25 through July 5, lovingly restored antique cars from all over the world will compete in the Great American Race. Actually more a rally than a race, the event sends drivernavigator teams vying for $250,000 in prize money. The winner will be the car finishing not in the fastest time but in the time closest to the predetermined "perfect" figure computed by the race committee. The real winners, however, are spectators along the route who get to see these classic automobiles parade through their towns. Watch for the Great American Race to enter Arizona June 26, following Interstate 40 from the Colo-rado River to Williams, then heading for the Grand Canyon on State Route 64 and U.S. 180. On June 27, the cars will travel State 64 to Cameron, then U.S. 89 and 160 to Tuba City. From there the race follows State Route 264 across the scenic high desert of the Hopi and Navajo Indian reservations to the Arizona-New Mexico border.

LONGEVITY IN ARIZONA

According to statistics of the National Center for Health, men in Arizona live 70.5 years on the average, and women 78.3 years. The best place to live to a ripe old age, says the center, is Hawaii, where men reach an average age of 74.1 and women an amazing 80.3. The worst place is Washington, D.C., where men average only 64.6 years and women 73.7. The national average for men: 70.1; for women, 77.6.

SAGUARO STREETLIGHTS

The year was 1939, and a growing Phoenix needed to improve its street lighting. Some creative businessman came up with the idea of replacing the dim ten-foot-high street lamps with new, brighter lights on tall poles resembling Arizona's saguaro cactus-thus, presumably, bringing publicity to the city and attracting more tourists. Merrill Robbins headed a committee that approached the late Reg Manning, famed newspaper cartoonist (who would later win a Pulitzer Prize), for a sketch of a saguaro streetlight.

August Rau, chief engineer for a Phoenix steel company, contracted to build the new light standard and fabricated a striking replica of the famous saguaro from corrugated steel. The steel cactus was planted in front of the Phoenix Junior Chamber of Commerce office on West Adams Street, painted a dusty green, and two lamps were hung from its arms. The pseudo saguaro captured everyone's imagination-until the steel company engineer announced its cost. A price tag of $1200 each burst the project's bubble, and Phoenix installed more conventional lights.

So what became of the saguaro streetlight? It has remained with the Phoenix Jaycees through three changes in location. You can see it today, in all its unnatural glory, in front of their office at 4133 North Seventh Street.

CASA DEL AGUA

One of these thirsty summer days, take some time to find out how to make the best use of the Southwest's limited supply of water by visiting Tucson's Casa del Agua. There you can tour a residence that gets by on onethird the water a conventional home uses. Casa del Agua is packed with water-saving ideas that can be adapted to almost any home, including construction techniques, landscaping, plumbing fixtures, rainwater harvesting, solar greenhouses, drip irrigation, and use of gray water. Visit Casa del Agua, at 4366 North Stanley Place in Tucson, between noon and 4:00 PM. Sundays. For group tours at other times or for other information, call 624-9000.

TIME-SHARE TOYS

If you love sports and recreational gear but haven't bought much because of the high cost and the hassle of maintaining it, check out Adventures Unlimited. This new business in Mesa, Arizona, offers its members a 250,000dollar inventory of recreational equipment, including sailboats, jet skis, fishing boats, camping trailers, speed boats, and a host of other adult toys. You pay a one-time fee of 995 dollars, then fifty dollars a month, plus a small handling charge each time you use the equipment. Adventures Unlimited claims to save you eighty percent off the normal cost of owning or renting. And the company takes care of all cleanup and maintenance. For information, call 833-1111.

WORLD'S SMALLEST AIRPLANE

Robert Starr of Tempe, Arizona, owns and flies the Bumble Bee, the world's smallest manned airplane. The biplane measures nine feet four inches in length and has a six-foot-six-inch wingspan. It tops out at 180 miles per hour.

ARIZONA'S FIRST RULING CLASS

Evidence from a recent archeological excavation of a ruin near Marana, Arizona, northwest of Tucson, reveals that the Hohokam culture (which disappeared about A.D. 1400) had a thriving textile industry and a large adobe "palace" with "middle-class" dwellings surrounding it.

The ruin, inhabited around A.D. 1200, yielded evidence of cultivation of agaves for food and fiber, stone axes used for scraping the agave stalks, and crude pottery spindles for spinning the fibers. Says archeologist Glen Rice, who headed the Arizona State University team excavating the Marana site, "We've found fairly tight evidence of different levels of wealth, a large labor force made up of farmers and artisans, and the first monumental architecture built as private residences in Arizona."

The ruin was in the path of the Central Arizona Project aqueduct, and funding for the excavation was provided by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation.

CALENDAR

June 6 through 8, Sonoita. The fiftieth annual Sonoita Quarter Horse Show. The oldest quarter horse show in the nation draws more than 900 entries to the ranching country of southern Arizona. Phone 455-5553.

June 7 and 8, Prescott. The thirteenth annual Folk Art Fair includes weaving, spinning, soapmaking, horseshoeing, and other old-time crafts and skills at the Sharlot Hall Museum. Phone 445-3122.

June 13 through 15, Flagstaff. The Pine Country Rodeo attracts top-ranked Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association competitors to the Fort Tuthill Rodeo Grounds. Phone 774-4505.

June 20 through 22, Holbrook. Old West Days celebrates Holbrook's heritage with a parade, booths, exhibits, and simulated gunfights. Phone 524-6558.

June 20 through August 3, Flagstaff. Native American Arts Invitational Exhibition at the Coconino Center for the Arts displays some of the finest Indian works being created today. Phone 779-5944.

June 21 and 22, Payson. The thirteenth annual Country Music Festival brings together country and bluegrass vocalists, specialty instruments, and "buck" dancing. Phone 474-4515.

June 21 through 28, Seligman. This northern Arizona ranching town celebrates its centennial with team roping, dances, Mexican and Indian cultural activities, and more. Phone 422-3662.

June 28, Tucson. Music on the Mountain. Escape the desert heat with the Philharmonia Orchestra of Tucson in concert at Mount Lemmon Ski Valley. Bus service is available. Phone 323-6565.

June 21 through 29, Sedona. Sedona Chamber Music Festival. A series of concerts featuring standard chamber selections and novelties in the inspiring setting of Red Rock country. Phone 282-2374.

For a more complete calendar, free of charge, please write the Arizona Office of Tourism, Department CE, 1480 East Bethany Home Road, Phoenix, AZ 85014. Unless otherwise noted, all telephone numbers are within area code 602.

Edited by Robert J. Farrell Designed and illustrated by Ann Hermanson