Rio Rico Historical Society

PO Box 4201, Rio Rico, Arizona 85648



 www.rioricohistoricalsociety.org

JANUARY 2025

General Membership Meeting,

Tuesday, January 21, 2025, 6:00pm

BE SURE TO ADD TO YOUR CALENDAR

Changing Woman, A Novel of the Camp Grant Massacre,

Guest Speaker, Venetia Hobson Lewis

Location:

Rio Rico Community Center

391 Avenida Coatimundi, Rio Rico, AZ 85648

Award Winning Writer & Speaker, Venetia Hobson Lewis, worked at several stock brokerages before moving to Los Angeles, where for almost eighteen years, she was a corporate paralegal for a motion picture studio. She has written several award-winning Western short stories. She is privileged to live near Tucson, plans to tell more stories of the city, the territory, the state & the West.



NEW RIO RICO MUSEUM EXHIBIT

Historic Pioneer Ways of Working with Wood

Collection of Chris Novak

EXHIBIT DATES:

December 17, 2024 to February 5, 2025

Humankind has an affinity with wood. Man made tools and tools made man. Historically, woodworking tools were used to shape wood as desired, rather than designed to fit limitations of an existing tool. Hence, the design over time of different hand tools for specific uses and needs. Tools have been created to work wood for shelter, comfort and creativity. A well-made hand tool is a thing of beauty that is as much a pleasure to look at as it is to use.

Well-made and designed hand tools inspired people to experience the pleasure and satisfaction of creating beauty in wood with your hands and the tools your hands alone are capable of building. The 20th Century has changed woodworking techniques from the mastery of hand tools to power tools for shaping wood.

The displayed hand tools are like time capsules and range in age from the 1700s to 21st century. They are attractive, purposeful and personal for the craftsman who created and used the tool. This display shows a continuation and transition from wooden hand tools to combined wood and metal hand tools, to all metal hand tools. They stand as tributes to industry and aesthetics.

Chris Novak, past VP of the Rio Rico Historical Society & woodworking artist. This display is free and open to the public. Museum hours: Thursday- Saturday, 11:00 am-4:00 pm

Phone: 520-394-7745 Email: rioricohistoricalsociety.org



Nominations for the Historical Society Board

We are continuing to accept nominations for the Rio Rico Historical Society Board. 5 slots open far the nominees are:

Donna Butler

Victor Cazares

Heidi Daetwyler

Janice Ranck

If you would like to nominate anyone additional, please contact Helen Serras Herman (520-841-3284) or

Larry Brown (520-841-1335) or contact the society at rioricohistoricalsociety@gmail.com



Voting on the Rio Rico Historical Society Board will take place on January 21, 2025 at the General Membership Meeting.

President's Corner 

December has been a very busy month.

We are excited to announce that at the recent Country Fair White Elephant’s grant award ceremony on December 12, 2024, the Rio Rico Historical Society was awarded an $11,000 grant.  This is the largest grant we have ever received from Country Fair White Elephant and we are thrilled. And for the second year in a row, our application was one of the top five! We presented the White Elephant Grant Committee with a platter of sweet empanadas that Olivia Garino picked up from Nogales, and two complimentary Spring 2025 Bus Tour tickets, thus we were able to share and promote our upcoming events.

Funds will be used for the betterment of our museum and society outreach programs. Some of these programs as outlined in our 2025 White Elephant grant application include replacing old tech equipment, upgrading our museum lights and AV systems, working with our local schools to create a Summer Camp History Workshop, further develop our Mobile Exhibit project, and working with the Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District on developing a student Docent Internship Program. 

This grant award would not have been possible without the hard work of Helen Serres-Herman, Manny Trujillo, Bob Pattison, Olivia Garino, Veronica Sainz, Chris Novak, and myself. Chris Novak’s special exhibit entitled, “Historic Pioneer Ways of Working with Wood” opened to a crowd at the annual Christmas/Holiday Party on December 17.  If you could not make the party, do not worry the exhibit will be at the museum until February 5, 2025.  Don’t miss it. We hope our next special exhibit planned will be about the Residents of Rio Rico and Santa Cruz County who helped built the road to the Whipple Observatory, via a grant sponsored by the Smithsonian.

We are finalizing plans on our Spring bus tour March 29, and the Rummage sale in April.  Stay tuned for more information in the next newsletter.

Finally, we still need more nominees for our 2025 Board of Directors.  We will have 5 vacant spots to fill.  See the section below if you have someone you would like to nominate.

Happy Holidays,

Larry Brown

Sincere Appreciation to our Sponsors

DIAMOND:

If you have renewed your membership, we thank you very much. If you haven’t, please do it soon. Your membership dues help keep our museum doors open.

VISIT US ONLINE AT www.rioricohistoricalsociety.org & Facebook

Rio Rico Historical Society, PO Box 4201, Rio Rico, Arizona 85648