74th Coconino County Fair Early Bird Tickets available

FLAGSTAFF —Early bird tickets are available for the 74th annual Coconino County Fair that runs from September 1-4. The early bird tickets and wristbands are available until July 31 online and at Bookmans.

The ticket costs are:

  • Adults – $8
  • Youth (6 – 12) – $3
  • Senior (65 and older) – $4
  • Early Bird Carnival Wrist Bands (all-day pass) – $30

You can purchase wrist bands at www.CoconinoCountyFair.com or cash only at Bookmans Flagstaff Entertainment Exchange, 1520 S Riordan Ranch Street.
*Processing fees may apply
**Some rides may require additional tokens; $2 processing fee online

KA6LMS – Special Radio Event

The Last Man Standing Amateur Radio Club is joining with a team of seasoned special-event operators across several states to present a multi-band, multi-mode special event celebrating the prime-time network TV show for its positive and accurate portrayal of amateur radio. During its nine seasons, the Last Man Standing ARC also operated as KA6LMS from real radios on the set during production breaks, making thousands of contacts with the show’s amateur radio fans.

The special-event team includes the Long Island, N.Y. – based Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club, the 12 Days of Christmas and the K2Heroes teams, and a number of guest operators and podcasters.

KA6LMS and a number of affiliated stations will livestream their operations. At times, the Amateur Logic team will pick up video feeds from active stations to provide commentary and context.

The event will start at 00:00 UTC on March 24, 2021 and end at 23:59 UTC on March 30, 2021, the last day of shooting for the show, which is concluding its long, successful run.

The event will feature guest operators with special 1-by-1 call signs in most call sign areas. The 1×1 calls will act as Bonus Stations qualifying contacts to be able to download a “Clean Sweep” certificate. The KA6LMS call will also be used with a /(Call Area) attached to give access around the country.

The intent is to operate on as many bands and modes as possible. Satellite and repeater operation is also encouraged. We want to thank the PAPA Repeater system and Georgia DSTAR. We’ll be running on REF012A DSTAR and a DMR TalkGroup via PAPA and REF030B via Georgia DSTAR.

Because of Covid-19 restrictions, operations from the set will be limited to crewmembers at times the stage is otherwise empty. Operations will always be spotted online.

Eric Clapton and Van Morrison release anti-lockdown songs

This month, Eric Clapton and Van Morrison released an anti-lockdown song called Stand and Deliver. Eric Clapton performed the blues-style song written by Van Morrison. The songs are released under the label of “The state51 Conspiracy.”

Previously Van Morrison released songs entitled “No More Lockdown,” “Born to Be Free,” “As I Walked Out.” The song rebellion was started by Van Morrison to support his Lockdown Financial Hardship Fund to help musicians hurt by shutting down concerts.

Channel 10 will carry The Grio network over-the-air.

LOS ANGELES– Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group is proud to announce its recently-acquired MGM over-the-air broadcast television network Light TV will officially transition to TheGrio.TV television network on January 15, 2021 – the start of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend. The newly-rebranded broadcast television network TheGrio.TV will feature African American-focused content reaching over 100 million U.S. households via over-the-air broadcast television stations, cable/telco/satellite platforms, and free digital streaming.

TheGrio.TV – with its new network brand slogan “Our Culture Forever” – will feature movies, sitcoms, dramas, concerts, talk shows, variety shows, game shows, news, and lifestyle content.

Byron Allen, Founder/Chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group

At one time owned by NBCUniversal, TheGrio.com was purchased by Byron Allen in 2016 when it had less than 1 million monthly active users. In Summer 2020, TheGrio.com achieved its peak of over 10.5 million monthly active users. TheGrio.com is now one of the most visited news and entertainment sites for the African-American community, and is the largest employer of African-American journalists. In the past 2 years, Allen Media Group has invested over one billion dollars in acquiring media assets, including The Weather Channel in 2018, and 16 ABC-NBC-CBS-FOX broadcast network affiliate television stations around the country. Allen Media Group plans to invest an additional $10 billion over the next two years to acquire other strategic media assets.

“The Grio – which means ‘storyteller’ in Africa – is the first platform to offer an online digital news destination, a free streaming app providing local news, weather, sports, traffic, and entertainment content geofenced to the user’s zip code, and an over-the-air broadcast television network,” said Byron Allen, Founder/Chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group. “TheGrio.TV is especially important to me as it will both serve and uplift all viewers. TheGrio.TV is the first and only 100 percent African American-owned and targeted broadcast television network and free digital platform – making us truly authentic, without being filtered or controlled by others outside of the community.”

Still time to get in on some of the Easter egg hunt

bunnyaWILLIAMS – The Easter egg hunt is still going on at the Williams Recreation Center. Most of the eggs, however, have been found. There is still time to get in for barbeque chicken, hotdogs, cole slaw and other treats.

High above the event the Zip Line is running and drawing a crowd.
zipline

There is also a yard sale at the First Baptist Church of Williams on Grant street across from Safeway.

You still have time to partake of some of the activities.

Tow Mater visits Williams

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WILLIAMS—Tow Mater took time to stop in downtown Williams Friday as he traveled route 66 with a host of classic cars. The cars were part of a rally on their way to a car show in Bull Head City.

While route 66 was mentioned in the film Cars—of which Mr. Mater was a star—Williams has another connection to the film. An artist for the production traveled route 66 making sketches of old cars for the film. One of the sketches was drawn from a Model-T owned by Eddie—formerly of Eddie’s Tires. The sketch was used to create the “Lizzie” character in the movie. The Model-T was purportedly owned by Pancho Villa at one time.

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Carnival starts today at 5 pm

brown-01WILLIAMS—The carnival is back in Williams. Brown’s Amusements set up in the Visitor Center parking lot across the street from Circle K and next to the Recreation Center on Railroad Avenue. Advanced all day ride passes can be obtained through the Chamber of Commerce in the Williams Visitor Center for $18.

brown-02Tickets are $1 each and each ride takes 3 to 5 tickets. No cash is accepted at the rides or for the games. Wristbands are available, but only good on the rides. Wristbands are not valid if they have been removed. They are only good on the day of purchase.

There are no refunds for tickets or wristbands.

For safety reasons, no pregnant women or people with casts are allowed on the rides. All riders must be at least 36″ tall and some rides require the rider to be up to 52″ tall.

The carnival runs through Saturday at 11 pm.

Santa visits the recreation center and Kiwanis Dinner follows.

WILLIAMS—Santa will be busy in Williams on the 15th and 16th with Santa’s World of Wonders on Saturday and the Kiwanis annual dinner on Sunday. In addition the Save-Meant to Rescue organization will host a wine and beer tasting event to benefit the Williams animal rescue effort.

On the 15th, Santa will visit the Williams Recreation Center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. where there will be games, prizes, treats and family fun.

At 6 p.m. the animal rescue group Save-Meant To Rescue will host a wine and craft beer tasting event with hors d’oeuvres and live music at the historic “Yellow House” near Safeway. Tickets are $30 and are available thru MTR members or call 928-635-1571

The annual Kiwanis Dinner will be held December 16th at Doc Holiday’s in the Holiday Inn. The event will run from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. The Kiwanis holds the annual event with a visit from Santa and prizes for the kids. Everyone is invited.

Advent Concerts begin next Sunday at the Episcopal Church

The annual Advent Concerts begin Sunday, December 2nd at the Episcopal-Lutheran Church on 2nd and Grant in Williams. Each concert begins at 4 p.m. each Sunday with a reception following. The concerts are free and open to all, but a donation is gratefully appreciated.

The first concert features bluegrass music. Reverend Ann Johnson describes this concert as guitar-picking and a lot of fun.

The second concert December 9th features the twenty-voice Arizona Mountain Chorale of Flagstaff.

The third concert on December 16th will feature the principle harpist of the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra, Elizabeth Elgin.

Finally on the 23rd the program features lessons in carols with special music.

Second street is closed because of the city Christmas tree. To reach the Episcopal Church take a right turn onto Third Street from Route 66 and a left turn on Grant. If you are traveling west on Railroad from Flagstaff, turn left on First Street. Go through Route 66 and turn right onto Grant at the post office.