The Mesa Market Place is open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 7:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. and is at 10550 E. Baseline Rd., Mesa, AZ 85209, at exit 193 Signal Butte Rd. and Hwy 60. Info: 480-380-5572 and www.mesamarket.com. Fully handicapped accessible. Free Parking, admission, and entertainment.
You’re invited to attend our Memorial Event at the Mesa Market Place Swap Meet Saturday, May 27 from 9:00 a.m. until Noon. The event will take place in their Food Court in the middle of the second row, Row B and on Row C, just behind the Food Court.
It will be an action-packed event. There will be Military and First Responder equipment exhibits. Both the Military Exhibit and Children’s events will run from 9:00 a.m. until Noon.
There will be a Remembrance, including the presentation of our Colors, at 10:30 a.m. in the Food Court.
Children and Grownup Activities: There will be lots of face painting, balloon art, coloring, drawing and note-writing, for both kids and grownups.
Exibits and Displays: There will be two very unusual vehicles on display: a Vietnam era helicopter, Series III OH-6a Hardbelly Cayuse Loach, and a Vietnam era M35 Deuce-and-a-Half cargo truck.
Both have been restored and come with an amazing history. This helicopter served in Vietnam from 1970 to 1973, and survived six crashes while in service.
Twenty and Thirty foot scale models of both the USS Phoenix Submarine and the USS Arizona Destroyer will be on display.
The USS Phoenix is a 1/15 scale model of the nuclear powered submarine USS Phoenix (SSN-702,) named after our city. The Phoenix was a Los Angeles-class submarine that was 362 feet long and, on the surface, had 32 feet of the ship under water. The USS Phoenix is sponsored by the Perch Base Chapter of the United States Submariners.
The USS Arizona is a large scale model of the destroyer that was lost on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor, Hawaii with no advance warning.
The Arizona Army National Guard, Mesa Police Department, and Mesa Fire Department will also exhibit equipment.
Stop N Shop Military Surplus, located in Apache Junction, will exhibit equipment and be there to answer questions.
The 10:30 a.m. Remembrance: The Motorcycle Color Guard of America will begin the remembrance by presenting the American flag, and will also honor veterans in the audience by presenting flags for the five branches of the Armed Forces. There is nothing like National and Branch Service flags flowing in the breeze behind a motorcycle.
Western singer Cord Price will sing the National Anthem, and other patriotic favorites. Vietnam Veteran and Purple Heart recipient, Chuck Byers will present the Keynote address.
The Patriot Youth Corps will perform the ‘Missing Man’ Ceremony and the ‘Wounded Warrior’ Ceremony.
Author Keith Warren Lloyd, who wrote Above and Beyond, about WWI pilot Frank Luke, Jr, will speak about the flying ace. Luke AFB is named after him. Lt. Frank Luke, Jr. was a Phoenix native who along with several hundred other pilots, gave the Allied Forces the advantage needed to win the war.
The Jewish War Veterans Copper State Post 619, a significant contributor to the Carl T. Hayden Veterans Affairs Hospital and Arizona StandDown, a three day event serving homeless and at risk veterans and their families will participate as well.
Here’s what will happen to all the colored pictures and notes that will be created at this event: Packages From Home sends thousands of care packages to military personnel serving in the Middle East every year, and will not send a package out without including a personal note or picture in it.
All of your creations will be delivered to them to remind our active duty Armed Forces personnel that they are remembered and are appreciated. Many of them are parents, and it means a lot to them to get an original piece of art from a young person. For more information about Packages From Home, go towww.packagesfromhome.org.
Mesa Market Place is open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 7:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. and is at 10550 E. Baseline Rd., Mesa, AZ 85209, at exit 193 Signal Butte Rd. and Hwy 60. Info: 480-380-5572 and www.mesamarket.com. Fully handicapped accessible. Free Parking, admission, and entertainment.
Do something fun for your Dad this Father’s Day, Sunday, June 18. Treat the whole family to a Market Breakfast (two eggs, toast, and hash browns) for only $1.75 each, and enter to win $25 Mesa Market Place Market Money!
Breakfast is served from 7:00 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. Special Father’s Day Market Breakfast Coupons are available at www.mesamarket.com and are good for the $1.75 Market Breakfast on Saturday, and Sunday, June 17 and 18.
The opportunity to win $25 Market Money runs from 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Twelve lucky people will win $25 Market Money. Mesa Market Place Market Money is accepted at all merchant’s shops.
Classic R & B and gospel performer, Teddie Morrow will be singing in the Food Court from 9:00 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. Anyone who heard the Tower of Power and the Whispers perform back in the ‘60s ad ‘70s remembers the funkadelic horn sound coming out of Oakland, CA. Singing right with them and opening their shows was Teddie Morrow.
The electrifying Stax performer, Rance Allen, loved performing with Morrow in the day. On more than one occasion on stage Rance said, “Teddie, you take me back home.”
Morrow still has a hugely impressive five-octave voice range and moves a man half his age would love to have.
Mesa Market Place is open Saturdays and Sundays, 7:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. and is at 10550 E. Baseline Rd., Mesa, AZ 85209, at exit 193 Signal Butte Rd. and Hwy 60. For more info, call: 480-380-5572 or go to their website www.mesamarket.com. The market is fully handicapped accessible. Parking, admission, and entertainment are always free.
Want to get in the holiday mood for Independence Day early this year? Then you’ll want to bring the whole family to Mesa Market Place Swap Meet on Saturday, July 1, from 9:00 a.m. to Noon. It will be a great way for a family to do something fun together.
The event is free. Face painters and balloon artists will create masterpieces for every member of the family. Moms and dads are invited to treat themselves to have a flag or a fantasy creature painted onto their faces, too.
There will also be drawings for $25 Mesa Market Place Swap Meet Market Money every half hour. A total of twelve lucky people will win.
Color and drawing tables will be set up. Adults and youngsters are invited to write notes and color pictures to go into ‘Packages From Home’ care packages, destined to go to soldiers serving overseas. Everyone writing a note or coloring a picture will get a free ice cream. (www.packagesfromhome.org)
Also, between the hours of 7am and 10:30am on Saturday and Sunday, July 1 and 2, get their Market Breakfast, two eggs, toast, and hash browns for only cost $1.75 with Independence Day coupon posted at www.mesamarket.com.
Country entertainer, Cord Price will be singing in the Food Court from 9:00 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. He covers the old standards sung by Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Bill Monroe, Willie Nelson, and Johnny Cash. He’ll also perform contemporary country music.
Mesa Market Place is open Saturdays and Sundays, 7:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. and is at 10550 E. Baseline Rd., Mesa, AZ 85209, at exit 193 Signal Butte Rd. and Hwy 60. For more info, call: 480-380-5572 or go to their website www.mesamarket.com. The market is fully handicapped accessible. Parking, admission, and entertainment are always free.
Click on the Registration Form below for a printable form.
If you like car shows and you love what the Arizona Humane Society does to ease the lives of dogs, cats and other domestic animals, then you’ll want to head over to the 2017 Charity Car Show Saturday, September 2 at the Mesa Market Place Swap Meet. The show runs from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
The Arizona Humane Society Waggin’ Wheels Adoption Van will also be at the car show, full of puppies and dogs looking for a good home. Adoptions will take place from 9:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
More than 100 vintage, classic, and modified cars, trucks, and motorcycles are expected to be on display in the hopes that car enthusiasts and animal lovers will stuff dollar bills into money bins set in front of each vehicle.
“Exhibitors are even encouraged to solicit votes (money) before the car show begins,” says Shirley Blahak, event organizer. “The goals of the car show are straight forward: to get together with other car aficionados, to have a good time, and to raise as much money as possible for the Arizona Humane Society.” It’s all in good fun because 100% of the money the vehicles raise will be donated to the Arizona Humane Society.
Each entrant will go home with a 2017 Charity Car Show dash plaque. The top five money makers will each be awarded an engraved remembrance.
The show, an annual event, is sponsored by Arizona Mini Owners, a cheerful group of newer and vintage Mini Cooper owners.
Expected at the event are a large number of Mini Coopers and a number of PT Cruisers. Several vintage Triumphs and Austin Healeys will also be there, as will an authentic London taxi. Ford, Chevrolet, and Chrysler lovers will be happy to see vintage, classic and modified cars and trucks on exhibit, too.
And there will be a real treat for military collectors at the show, too. Dr. Baron Smith is bringing in his Vietnam era helicopter (1970), a Series III OH-6A Hardbelly and a ‘Deucy’ M35 triple-axle 2 ½ ton cargo truck.
In past years, some of the shows entries have been unusual. Children caught up with the idea of raising money for charity have even entered their Tonka trucks and midget race cars. Other unusual entries have included bicycles and motorcycle trikes.
So if you have a vehicle you’d like to enter, big or little, no matter how many tires, you can get more information at www.mesamarket.com. There is a $10. charge to exhibit.
A hand made 42 panel quilted comforter will be auctioned off at 1:30 p.m. The panels are embroidered and feature tributes to animals, and the difference they make in our lives. The highest bidder will go home with the comforter, and all the proceeds will go to the Arizona Humane Society. 
Attendees will also enjoy being entertained by Kevin James, emcee and platter spinner. He delivers music from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.
The event is free (except for donations made to the Arizona Humane Society). Parking and admission is always free at the Mesa Market Place.
The event runs from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Mesa Market Place is open 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Signal Butte & Hwy 60. 10550 E. Baseline Rd. Mesa. 480.380.5572. www.mesamarket.com. 100% Handicap accessible.
Click on the flyers below for printable copies!
Modified Motorcycle Association hosts combination motorcycle and classic car show
The Modified Motorcycle Association, also known as the MMA has a new district here in Arizona, called the Superstition District, and they are jumping right in to start raising money for MMA’s mission and for Arizona StandDown (www.arizonastanddown.org), a veteran-oriented non-profit.
They are hosting a show called the ‘MMA Motorcycle & Classic Car Show’ on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017 from 9:00am to 1:00pm at Mesa Market Place Swap Meet, at the intersection of Signal Butte Rd. and East Baseline Rd. in Mesa, AZ. It is designed to be a family and community event.
Both the MMA and Arizona StandDown are non-profit organizations. Arizona StandDown will receive 20% of all the show’s proceeds with the MMA receiving 80%.
The MMA is not just a riding group like so many others but has serious and substantial safety and educational goals. The MMA teaches education of drivers toward awareness of motorcycles, motorcycle safety and the group has their own legislative action committee.
They even have a successful outreach campaign to educate school children about motorcycle safety because the MMA is a member of AMSAF, the Arizona Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Federation (amsaf.org).
Their website is http://mma-az.org where you’ll find more information. The Arizona branch of the MMA also has four other districts: the Eagle/Leather District, the Rim Country District, the Verde Valley District, and the White Mountain District.
All of MMA’s districts will participate in the Superstition District’s October 7st Motorcycle & Classic Car Show, so there will be quite a few motorcycles and trikes at this show.
Each vehicle will have a collection bin in front of them. The goal of the show is to collect as much money because the ten vehicles that collect the most money will win engraved remembrances.
“We expect more than 200 motorcycles, vintage, classic, and modified cars and trucks to participate in the hope that enthusiasts will stuff dollar bills into money bins set in front of each vehicle,” said Dawn Kackley, MMA, Superstition District’s Show Director.
Exhibitors are even encouraged to solicit votes (money) before the car show begins. The goals of the show are straight forward: to get together with other aficionados, to have a good time, and to raise as much money as possible for the MMA and for Arizona StandDown. It’s all in good fun because 100% of the money the vehicles raise will be donated to these non-profit organizations.
And there will be a real treat for military collectors at the show, too. Dr. Baron Smith is bringing in his Vietnam era helicopter (1970), a Series III OH-6A Hardbelly and a ‘Deucy’ M35 triple-axle 2 ½ ton cargo truck.
There is a $20. charge per vehicle to register to exhibit ($25.for registering after September 29, 2017.) Special accommodations can be made if entire car clubs or motorcycle clubs want to exhibit in a group together.
So if you have a vehicle you’d like to enter, big or little, no matter how many tires, you can get more information by contacting Dawn Kackley: 480-213-1184 and soloridergal@aol.com. Information will also be available at www.mesamarket.com.
The event is free to the public (except for donations they choose to make.) Parking and admission is always free at the Mesa Market Place.
The event runs from 9:00am to 1:00pm. Mesa Market Place is open 7am to 4pm Signal Butte & Hwy 60. 10550 E. Baseline Rd. Mesa. 480.380.5572. www.mesamarket.com.
Saturday, October 28, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.:
A free family event: Safe Haven Trick or Treating at the Mesa Market Place Swap Meet!
Bring all your ghosts and goblins in costume and let then trick or treat their way through 1600 booths starting at the Food Court! Trick or Treaters will each get a trick or treat bag and will enjoy contests, surprises and treats throughout the day.
Entertainer Linda Keith will be in the Food Court creating fun for Trick or Treaters and parents, alike. She’ll deliver music, dancing, free goody bags, contests from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
Merchants join in the festivities, too, by offering up candy, treats, and toys! “We have 900 merchants stocking 1600 shop spaces! I think this is the biggest daylight trick or treat event in the state of Arizona,” said Joan Wells, Market Place event organizer.
Both young people and their parents are also invited to color pictures and write notes to be included in Care Packages destined to go to Armed Forces personnel stationed in the Middle East. Packages From Home (www.packagesfromhome.org) sends out thousands of Care Packages annually, and insists that each package has a handwritten note or colored picture inside. Each artist and note-writer will get an ice cream sandwich.
The Mesa Market Place is open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 7:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. and is at 10550 E. Baseline Rd., Mesa, AZ 85209, at exit 193 Signal Butte Rd. and Hwy 60. Info: 480-380-5572 and www.mesamarket.com. Fully handicapped accessible. Free parking, admission, and entertainment.
Nancy Fassbender shows the cover of her book, ‘My Fallen Hero.’ which tells the stories of Pinal County veterans who died in combat. On the table is the notebook in which she first kept the stories.
Author Nancy Fassbender will be in the Mesa Market Place Food Court on Saturday, November 4, from 8am to 1pm. She would love to meet local veterans, and will be signing her book, ‘My Fallen Hero.’ Please plan on stopping by to meet her.
Here is an article written about Nancy Fassbender:
Author Nancy Fassbender honors Pinal veterans killed in combat
(This article was written by Bill Coates at bccoates@cox.net. Published in ‘Pinal Central’ www.pinalcentral.com)
GOLD CANYON — Nancy Fassbender placed a three-ring binder on her kitchen table. Between the covers were some 70 stories about sacrifice.
All are different. But all have two elements. The people behind the stories have a connection to Pinal County. And all died in combat.
Fassbender, 63, spent three years researching and writing their stories.
“I’d get up every morning to do this,” she said. “Three o’clock was really not uncommon, because it’s quiet. Nothing but solitude.”
These are, after all, stories calling for quiet reflection. Stories about men — they are all men — who died for their country. You can debate if they died in a Good War. Or an unpopular war. But all died on our behalf.
Quiet reflection, though, doesn’t call for a funeral march. The stories in Fassbender’s binder aren’t meant to be read with “Taps” playing in the background. They’re one- and two-page biographies filled with courage, chance or even a bit of humor. The story of Mathew Juan has all three.
He was born in Sacaton. Still a teen, he left his home to join the circus. Soon after, the Great War had erupted in Europe. Now it’s known as World War I. By 1917, America had been drawn into it.
Young men were being drafted. But Juan had an out. He was a member of the Gila River Indian Community. And, at the time, Indians were exempt from the draft.
The rule didn’t always work in practice.
“Walking down the street in Wichita Falls, Texas, he was arrested for not having a draft registration card,” Fassbender said.
He didn’t fight it. He joined the Army instead. He lied about his age and changed his name to Mathew Bennett Rivers. He sent a postcard to his parents. He shipped out on the Tuscania, bound for France. It was sunk by a German U-boat.
More than 200 American soldiers were killed. Juan survived. He ended up in the first American attack on German territory. Machine-gun fire ended his life as he charged a stronghold.
He was awarded the Silver Star.
Judging by its cover, the binder could be mistaken for a dry report. It’s not. It’s a work of care and compassion.
“I gave my heart and soul to this,” Fassbender said.
That’s probably something she hadn’t anticipated. She started out compiling names and stories as part of a simple research project for the Pinal County Veterans Memorial Foundation.
The foundation was set up to raise money for a memorial to fallen veterans from Pinal County. It has some $95,000 in the bank. Another $5,000 and it can break ground. The city of Casa Grande has already donated the land, a parcel at Ed Hooper Rodeo Park.
Fassbender got involved in 2010. She was living at Sunscape RV Resort in Eleven Mile Corner. A retired accountant, she had moved there from Nebraska. She had a personal connection to veterans. She served in the 1970s as a helicopter mechanic in the Nebraska Army National Guard.
At Sunscape, she delved into her family tree. Her research led to a book and CDs. It was thorough and engaging. And it came to the attention of the Sunscape manager.
He told her about the memorial foundation. He said they needed somebody to research the county’s fallen veterans. She was glad to do it. She started out with a bare list of names. Some misspelled. Many omitted.
Fassbender took to the internet. The library. Old newspaper clippings. She spoke to relatives and friends of the fallen if she could locate them.
Her research led to William Wesley Patterson. Patterson was killed by a sniper in Vietnam. It was 1967. He was an 18-year-old Marine.
He never knew his son, conceived before he shipped out. The son was adopted. He became a Marine himself. His adoptive father was a Marine. Fassbender’s research had completed the circle.
Over time, Fassbender shared some of her stories with me as well — stories that led to columns.
I wrote about Billy Swearengin, a navigator in World War II. Swearengin was killed when his plane went down over Germany, just weeks before the war’s end.
Fassbender put me in touch with Billy’s brother Max. He told me about Billy and their time together. Max died in November, months after I spoke to him.
I wrote about John Michael Turner, thanks to Fassbender. He was killed in Vietnam. I spoke to Turner’s father, a retired Army colonel. Fassbender made it all possible.
But that’s just the tip. The rest of the iceberg lies in Fassbender’s binder. Flip to any page and you’ll find a story worth your time.
Sgt. Katsumi Leonard Takasugi fought in World War II.
Before heading off to combat, he visited his family. Like many Japanese-Americans, they had been relocated to an internment camp. The Gila River reservation in their case. Takasugi noted the irony. He wore the same uniform as the soldiers guarding his parents.
Though from California, Takasugi enlisted in Pinal County. That met one requirement for inclusion in Fassbender’s binder. He met the other fighting in Italy, where he was killed.
He’s among 20 WWII heroes in the narrative. Other wars had their own fallen heroes. WWI, four; Korea, five; Vietnam, 35; Iraq and Desert Storm, three.
Their names will be etched on the memorial’s wall. So will many others whose stories Fassbender didn’t tell. It wasn’t for want of trying.
“I researched over 250 names,” she said.
She simply couldn’t find information on many of them. The further back, the harder it was. For WWII, the wall has many more names than stories — 109 in all. For Vietnam, it will have 37. Fassbender was able to write about all but two.
Added up, the stories would fill a book. And, in fact, a book is in the works.
“My Fallen Hero” by Nancy Fassbender will be out in February. Other war stories — beyond those of the fallen — will share the pages. Fassbender writes about the Great Escape from a German POW camp. Dogs and pigeons in war. And the Monopoly game’s role in combat.
Proceeds from the book’s sale will benefit the veterans memorial.
Fassbender will be at the Mesa Market Place to sign copies.
For more information, query the memorial foundation at info@pcvmf.org or visit its website at www.pcvmf.org.
Veterans Day Remembrance, Saturday, November 4, at the Mesa Market Place Swap Meet
The public is invited to attend a Veterans Day Remembrance at the Mesa Market Place Swap Meet Saturday, November 4 at 11:30 a.m. The Motorcycle Color Guard of America will begin the remembrance by presenting the American flag, and will also honor veterans in the audience by presenting flags for the five branches of the Armed Forces.
The Patriot Youth Corps will remember those who gave their lives by performing the Salt Ceremony.
Local author, Nancy Fassbender will share information about her book, My Fallen Hero, which tells the stories of Pinal County veterans who died in combat. She will also autograph books she sells.
Before and after the remembrance, adults and children are invited to write notes and color pictures to go into ‘Packages From Home’ care packages.
The Mesa Market Place is open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, 7:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. and is at 10550 E. Baseline Rd., Mesa, AZ 85209, at exit 193 Signal Butte Rd. and Hwy 60. Info: 480-380-5572 and www.mesamarket.com. Fully handicapped accessible. Free Parking, admission, and entertainment.
The public is invited to attend a Pearl Harbor Day Remembrance at the Mesa Market Place Swap Meet Saturday, December 2 at 11:30 a.m. in the stage area of the Food Court.
Cord Price will sing the National Anthem, and other songs.
The Patriot Youth Corps will remember those who gave their lives by performing the Salt and Wounded Warrior ceremonies.
Author Nancy Fassbender will speak about U.S. Navy Ensign George Hellworth Gilbert, who served and lost his life serving on the USS California, during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Nancy Fassbender penned, ‘My Fallen Hero,’ about Pinal County service people who gave their lives in wars and conflicts to protect our freedoms.
Precious few who survived attack Pearl Harbor Sunday morning, December 7, 1941 are left. Our World War II and Korean War veterans have long advocated for better care for more recent veterans through lobbying and service organizations like the Military Order of the Purple Heart, the American Legion, the VFW, and even the Veterans Administration.
And the Vietnam Veteran, who was shunned in the 1960’s and 1970’s by the public, is an advocacy powerhouse, partnering with Korean War Veterans to insure that Afghanistan and Iraq Veterans are cared for and honored properly, something denied to them.
This remembrance is not only to remember the 3,581 service people who died or were wounded because of the attack on Pearl Harbor, it is a tribute to the continuing sacrifices made by surviving Veterans and their families to insure that the returning veteran is supported and has an honored place at the American table.
Before and after the remembrance, adults and children are invited to write notes and color pictures to go into ‘Packages From Home’ care packages.
The Mesa Market Place is open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 7:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. and is at 10550 E. Baseline Rd., Mesa, AZ 85209, at exit 193 Signal Butte Rd. and Hwy 60. Info: 480-380-5572 and www.mesamarket.com. Fully handicapped accessible. Free Parking, admission, and entertainment.
