Category Archives: Holiday

Williams prepares for Mountain Village Holiday

Posted on by

640-141029-18WILLIAMS – The trees are starting to look bare as the beautiful fall colors are starting to give way to the coming winter. The long range forecast shows a possibility of snow on Sunday. The city is stringing lights. The Pumpkin Patch train ended and the Grand Canyon Railway Haunted Train has given way to Christmas lights in preparation for Mountain Village Holiday. The annual Mountain Village Holiday begins Thanksgiving weekend and runs through the new year.

The Grand Canyon Railway is also preparing the Polar Express which starts November 7 and runs through the new year.

The City of Williams has sent applications for the annual lighting contest and they may also be picked up at the City Hall on First Street.

300-MVH-1Mountain Village Holiday kicks off with the annual lighting of the Christmas tree on Second Street and a Parade of Lights. During this period the Young Life camp hosts a Thanksgiving dinner and the Kiwanis Club hosts a community dinner.

There is still plenty of Halloween, of course. The scarecrows still adorn Route 66. Bearizona ends their Howly Growly Owly Festival tomorrow. Their new cave display of small creatures of the west—such as mice, scorpions and Ringtail Cats—will remain.

The First Baptist and Family Harvest Churches, across from Safeway on Grant, will hold safe activities for the kids.

Of course trick-or-treating of the houses and businesses on Route 66 will still be available.

Just after Halloween, the weather forecast shows a chance of rain on Saturday with a low of 37. Sunday there is a 30% chance of snow with accumulations of less than a half-inch. A high of 47 is possible during the day dropping to 23-degrees overnight. Fair weather returns Monday with highs around 50-degrees during the day dropping to the mid-20s at night.

Roger Corman’s Little Shop of Horrors

Posted on by

It isn’t Halloween without a Roger Corman classic. And this one is about as classic as it gets. The Little Shop of Horrors was remade into a horrible musical in the 80s, but this is the original version. This film stars Jonathan Haze who worked in only a couple of dozen other films. There are a couple of other faces, however, you may recognize.

You will, of course, recognize three-time Academy Award winner Jack Nicholson as the masochistic Wilbur Force. He went on to star in The Raven, another Corman campy classic staring Vincent Price and Boris Karloff. He was the Joker in the Batman movie by Tim Burton. And, of course, the President in Mars Attacks.

Another face you might recognize is the flower munching Burson Fouch, but you may not know his name. That is Dick Miller who also played third man at lunch counter (You’ll have to research that one). Miller has been acting since 1955 and has had bit parts and co-stared in movies and on television right up to the 2014 horror comedy Burying the Ex.

Camp Civitan Afghan raffle

Posted on by

afghan-raffleWILLIAMS – Camp Civitan Thrift store is holding a raffle for a beautiful Afghan blanket created by Pam Hendrickson. Tickets are only $2 each or 3 for $5. The proceeds benefit Camp Civitan and their activities to help people with special needs. Tickets for the drawing may be purchased at the Thrift Store, 129 W. Route 66 in downtown Williams. The drawing will be held sometime just before Christmas.

Bearizona Howly Growly Owly festival weekends

Posted on by

Howly-6970WILLIAMS – Howly Halloween, Batman! Bearizona is hosting Howly Growly Owly Festival weekends in October. Visitors are encouraged to dress up in costume and those that do will get a “beary” special treat.

Don’t forget to judge their scary bear scarecrow for the scarecrow contest being sponsored by the Williams Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce. Pick up an entry form at any participating merchant and judge at least nine scarecrows. You must get a sticker from the merchant. Drop off your entry at the Chamber of Commerce in the Williams-Kaibab National Forest Visitor Center by October 28th and you could win a gift basket.

Festivities Include:

Howl-O-Ween Express: Hop on the windowless bus that takes visitors through the drive-through animal exhibits. This is about as close as you are going to get to our animals, so you don’t want to miss out. Patrons can howl with the wolves in the Alaskan Tundra & Arctic Wolf enclosure and watch the bison interact with a special Howl-O-Ween enrichment treat. Bus rides depart from the Fort Bearizona parking lot at 10:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m. & 3:30 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday in October.

Howly-012Growly Bear Cave: Those who dare can walk through our super scary Haunted Mine Shaft (PG-13 Rated)

Raptor Show: Guests should plan to catch an Owly Raptor Show at 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. or 3:00 p.m., after visiting Fort Bearizona’s baby and smaller animals.

Howly-4293Wandering Entertainers: Every Saturday and Sunday between 11:30 a.m. -2:30 p.m. members from Circus Bacchus are here to entertain guests with juggling performances, balloon twisting and more.

Photo Ops: Several areas of the park are decorated in different themes so visitors can take photos with their families.

Bearizona’s mission is to promote conservation through memorable and educational encounters with North American wildlife in a natural environment.

Invasion of the Saucer Men.

Posted on by


This Halloween season we offer another “scary” movie for you. We present Invasion of the Saucer Men.

This one is actually not scary, nor was it intended to be. There are a few scary scenes to be sure. Such as the crawling hand. The overall attempt of this gem, however, was to counter other juvenile delinquent movies of the time.

Like many other movies, an attempt at a remake was filmed, albeit poorly. There is nothing like the original on this one. The best comical saucer movie since this 1957 classic was the 1986 Tim Burton movie Invaders from Mars.

Last Man on Earth too close for comfort?

Posted on by

As Halloween approaches, we like to share some of those old “B” movies from around the Internet. Our first concerns The Last Man on Earth. Vincent Price plays a scientist trying to find a cure for virus that is spreading throughout the globe. As he watches his family die, he does not even realize he has the cure.

This movie was remade in the sixties. The Omega Man stared Charlton Heston. It was remade again in the recent thriller Legend staring Will Smith.

This film is exceptionally eerie this year with the recent news of the Ebola virus permeating the news.

Closing in on the Holiday Season

Posted on by

vegan-witches
The holiday season is upon us. Already Christmas decorations are being sold across Northern Arizona alongside monster costumes and candy for Halloween. In between lays the most maligned holiday of the season, Thanksgiving. Candy and new iPhones are apparently more important than being thankful for what you have.

Happy Constitution Day

Posted on by

Happy-Constitution-Day-640px

“If the day should ever arrive, (which God forbid!), when the people of the different parts of our country shall allow their local affairs to be administered by prefects sent from Washington, and when the self-government of the states shall have been so far lost as that of the departments of France, or even so far as that of the counties of England–on that day the progressive political career of the American people will have come to an end, and the hopes that have been built upon it for the future happiness and prosperity of mankind will be wrecked forever.” – John Fiske, historian, quoted in “Our Changing Constitution” by Charles W. Pierson, Doubleday, Page & Company, 1922.

September 17 is designated each year as Constitution Day and Citizenship Day by 36 United States Code §106 (PDF). This day is meant to commemorate the signing of the Constitution. It is also meant to recognize those who, by coming of age or NATURALIZATION (in contrast to amnesty) have become citizens of these States united.

This is not to be confused with Bill of Rights day, which is December 15, nor the ratification of the Constitution. This is the day the Constitution was signed by the representatives at the Constitutional Convention. It was not ratified until 1789 and not by all thirteen colonies. The Bill of Rights would not be added until two-years after that.

According to the law cited,

The civil and educational authorities of States, counties, cities, and towns are urged to make plans for the proper observance of Constitution Day and Citizenship Day and for the complete instruction of citizens in their responsibilities and opportunities as citizens of the United States and of the State and locality in which they reside.

Across the country schools will, no doubt, be having students color pictures of the Constitution brown without reading at it. No sense having a discussion on the condition of the colonies at the time (sometimes called history) or the words of the founding fathers.

So it will be up to you to actually study the Constitution on your own. Here are some recommendations.
Continue reading →