They came from the Valley, from Tucson, even from Pennsylvania, to learn about prospecting and mining copper, silver, and gold in Globe/Miami. They found ore in likely places during their drive through Globe, Winkelman, Hayden, Kearney, Superior and Miami before returning to the hotel in Globe where they met Rascal John, the curmudgeonly assayer, and his lovely banker accomplice Roberta. There, our hearty rallyers cashed in their claims for big cash to be used at the auction!
If this sounds like a movie script, it was played out at Havasupai’22 in Arizona’s Globe/Miami copper mining region, the largest copper producing area in our USA! It was a beautiful drive with scenes of large-scale mining operations punctuating gorgeous Sonoran Desert scenery that showed an occasional reminder of 2021’s Telegraph fire. We saw mining towns that are thriving, and others whose heyday is behind us. And our carefully-planned tour even found a tiny town hosting a (surprise!) 400+ car low-rider show! Museums, small mining-town history, and our rallyemasters’ clues kept us all in our seats during the day’s drive.
Friday evening’s Happy Hour at the Waggin’ Vineyard and Estate was a pleasant surprise for most, and a great place to plan rallye strategy while meeting old and new friends.
Our home base was the Best Western in Globe, where Innkeepers Dawn and Jess Caldera and their friendly staff made our stay memorable with delicious home-cooked miners’ breakfasts and cookies at nite. These folks were simply over-the-top accommodating!
At the Saturday awards banquet and auction, rallye teams proved that sometimes it’s better to be lucky than smart, when those with more copper, silver and gold nuggets in their sacks had more cash and were able to bid higher on some cool prizes including M-B swag and copper-country artwork, collectable pieces, and mementos.
The competitive side also paid off with traditional kachina dolls going to those teams that best matched wits with the rallyemasters. When the scores were tallied, third place went to the team of Melanie Searle and Jana Sidler (Keystone Section), who were the only team to get all 14 picture clues correct! Second place was earned by David and Kim Cesal, who took their second successive Kachina. Finally, newcomers and guests Kris and Kevin Georgescored a stunning victory, taking champion honors in their first-ever Havasupai Rallye!
