By J.J. Lamb Sarah Eveleen “Evie” Rae Schley arrived in Arizona in 1900 from New Jersey with her husband George Rae, who was ill with tuberculosis, and their daughter Jessie. They were hoping for improved health and a fresh start. Evie, George and business partner Otto Schley had interests in the Cuprite Mine and other mines in the Santa Rita’s...
By J.J. Lamb The verdant stretch of land along the Pantano Wash we call Rancho del Lago today has drawn people to Vail for millennia, but Otto Schley, Vail’s first unofficial ‘mayor’, was the first to imagine building a golf course there. His dream was written up in the January 31, 1914, edition of the Arizona Citizen. “Tucson is not the only city...
By J.J. Lamb Charron Vineyards is one of Vail’s very special places. The original owners Leo and Rhea Cox planted the vineyard in 1995. Charron is Rhea’s maiden name. The name is French and brings many visitors with the same last name from Quebec, Canada to enjoy a wine tasting. Twelve years ago Leo and Rhea sold their vineyard to Susan and Milton...
By J.J. Lamb Jimmy and Oscar Leon anxiously waited for their mother, Carmen, to have everything ready for their long walk from their home along the Pantano to the Vail Depot. Once a month they went to town (Tucson) to shop and visit family and friends. They stayed overnight in town with family. For Oscar and Jimmy this was the best part—they would...
Growing up in the Rincon Valley:Memories of family, School and the 1918 Pandemic By Ramona Benitez Franco “I was born on the thirteenth of May 1902, on my parents’ ranch in the Rincon Mountains. My parents’ names were Angel Benítez and Desideria Vindiola. My father was born in Banamachi, Sonora, Mexico, in 1860 and died in 1937. He came to Tucson...
By JJ Lamb “…I first met Jack when I was 13 and he was 16 and at that moment I said to myself, “that’s the man I’m going to marry; oh, those beautiful blue eyes!” Jane Dillon moved with her family to Vail in 1935. The Dillon family operated the Vail Junction Texaco Gas Station. She and her brother attended the Vail School...
By JJ Lamb Esmond Station K8 Section Gang Museum Club – Powered by Kids, Fueled by Curiosity4th – 8th Grade Students Section Gang Museum Club students have been learning about foodways. Through thinking about a food that is special to their family and asking questions they are discovering the role that food plays to bring people together, to...
By JJ Lamb Twenty years ago, there were approximately 1,500 people living within a five-mile radius around the original village of Vail Between the Tracks™. Today, the population has ballooned to nearly 13,000. With so many new people calling Vail home it’s important we take the time to understand the reasons people live here. New and old...
By JJ Lamb Arizona made Christmas official in 1881, eleven years after it was declared a federal holiday in 1870. It was not the commercial event that it is today. Having enough toys to actually have a toy box was almost unheard of. Boys may have received homemade marbles of baked clay, glass aggies or coveted steelies as treasured items. Some...
