|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Mary Jane Pottebaum
(520) 394-0121
info@spirittreeinn.com
OR
Christina Wilhelm
(888) 202-1942
scfpa@scfpapresents.org
NEW "Evening Serenades" Summer Series HOSTED BY Spirit Tree Inn in Patagonia
June 14, July 19, Aug. 16, Sept. 13
PATAGONIA, Ariz. (June 2, 2009) -- This summer The Santa Cruz Foundation for the Performing Arts will present "Evening Serenades," a monthly Sunday concert series hosted by the Spirit Tree Inn in Patagonia.
Evening concerts on June 14, July 19 and Aug. 16 will be in the pre-Civil-War Amish barn on the 52-acre site of this historic bed-and-breakfast. The fourth is an afternoon family picnic event on Sept. 13 under the massive cottonwood tree at the entrance to this historic property.
Concerts in the barn start at 7 p.m. and feature these musicians:
June 14 - The Santa Cruz River Band performs traditional Western and Mexican ballads. Troubadours Teodoro "Ted" Ramirez and Michael J. Ronstadt perform in English, Spanish, Welsh and Native American languages.
July 19 - This acoustic guitar evening features the harmonies of Stefan George, Lavinia White, Steve Grams and Danny Krieger performing works from bluegrass to blues.
August 16 - Andy Hersey's cowboy country vocals are accompanied by Tim O'Connor's fiddle and mandolin.
The Sept. 13 family picnic program features The Redhouse Family Dancers, performing traditional Navajo dances. This event starts at 3 p.m. under the cottonwood tree at the entrance to the Spirit Tree Inn. This tree is believed to be 130 years old and one of the 10 largest Fremont cottonwoods in the world. Families are invited to bring a blanket and a picnic supper.
All concerts benefit the Santa Cruz Foundation for the Performing Arts, a non-profit organization. The $12 per concert donation ($10 for SCFPA members) is tax deductible. Children 12 and under are admitted free for the picnic concert.
Higher and cooler than Phoenix or Tucson, the Spirit Tree Inn offers a secluded retreat just three miles from Patagonia along the Harshaw Creek in the Coronado National Forest of Southern Arizona. This tiny bed and breakfast, once part of the historic Rocking Chair Ranch, has just six rooms. Summer rates are 15 percent lower than the rest of the year. The Spirit Tree Inn also offers 3 nights for the price of 2 from Sunday through Thursday.
The 1830s barn was dismantled in Amish country in Pennsylvania and each piece tagged before being trucked 2,200 miles to its new home. The barn raising was led by Caleb Ebby, a traditional barn-building expert who knew how to put the 170-year-old pieces back together again.
The innkeepers are Mary Jane Pottebaum and brothers Tom and Joe Bartholomeaux -second-generation natives of Southern Arizona. They guide guests to the wide array of activities nearby - ranging from exploring ghost towns to shopping in Mexico, fishing in Patagonia Lake or exploring the Arizona Trail on foot, horseback or mountain bike. Bird-watchers just need to bring their binoculars. And the dark nights are ideal for stargazing.
Their bed and breakfast is environmentally friendly and furnished with an eclectic array of antiques, handcrafted artifacts, artwork and memorabilia. The inn is located in the heart of Arizona's wine country and near the scenic high grasslands of the San Rafael Valley and the Nature Conservancy's Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve. The small town of Patagonia offers dining, shopping and art galleries.
The main ranch house was once the headquarters of the Rocking Chair Ranch, purchased in the 1920s by Alvin E. "Buchie" Buchenberg, the son of German immigrants, and then given to his daughter as a high school graduation present. She ran it as a cattle ranch and married a local rancher. They sold the ranch in the 1940s and eventually it was split into parcels in the 1960s. Earlier the B&B was known as The Place at Harshaw Creek.
The Spirit Tree Inn is located at 3 Harshaw Creek Road on temperate high desert land at an elevation of 4,300 feet. This area is known as the Mountain Empire and has a rich history of mining, ranching and railroading that characterizes the "taming" of the American West. Today it also has a reputation as an artist's haven and a place where careful stewardship of the natural surroundings is the rule. Spirit Tree Inn is roughly 60 miles southeast of Tucson or 160 miles from the Phoenix metro area.
For information on the concert call 888-202-1942 or email scfpa@scfpapresentes.org. For more information on Spirit Tree Inn, call 520 394-0121 or visit the website at: www.spirittreeinn.com.
###
|
