Page 4 July 2011 By Dale Messmer Salt River Project’s annual Christmas party was one of my favorite childhood events. I can still see the red-mesh stocking full of cheap candy. On December 25, I can even feel the excitement. Sort of. My father had a 33-year career at SRP. As his eldest child, I was the fi rst to hear about the company and its dedication to its customers and workers. We had the Pera Club, a private party place just for SRP families. SRP, it seemed to me, was great. But institutions, like the cities they serve, change, and often not for the better. I don’t like thinking SRP less a benevolent provider of electricity and more a Water and Power Company. From a smaller worldview, SRP wouldn’t destroy a piece of the Valley’s heritage. They would save it. I would hope, anyway.  It was a usual deadline day, a Sunday. One of the bene fi ts of deadline falling on a weekend is the email in-box is very quiet. Not this month. A group of Arcadians decided, it seems, to fl ood us with email requests to save the trees. The black-sphinx date palms are in the Mountgrove neighborhood. They’ve grown in the way of SRP power lines. This group’s determined. Someone wrote an email that people could forward. They boast support from folks outside the neighborhood who appreciate the grove’s beauty and history. I’m proud that this group thinks our support can help them in their fi ght. I only wish it could. The paper does not have an editorial page, for one. Or the power that metro dailies build with investigations and well- crafted columns. So SRP isn’t going to listen to me any more than they do you.  Why should it all fall on SRP? It shouldn’t. They aren’t the bad guys. They’re distributing vital resources we don’t want to even try to live without. The discussion with the neighborhood, though, should center on how to save the palms, not whether to keep them. When my father was giving SRP the best years of his life, he drove me to see the trees. They are a spectacular Valley landmark. Residents bend. SRP bends. That’s how you keep the trees from bending into power lines. There’s often a solution if you change how you approach the problem. Not only that, my mother makes a great date cake 6423 E. Thomas Road • Scottsdale, AZ 85251 480-656-4600 • www.arcadiawd.com A Ponderosa Lumber Company ARCADIA ARCADIA W I N D O W & D O O R W I N D O W & D O O R ARCADIA W I N D O W & D O O R Windows • Doors • Kitchens • Shutters & Blinds Hardware • Moulding and much more! Best Prices...Period. FAIR PRICE ASSURANCE: IF YOU FIND A LOWER PRICE WE WILL MATCH IT & PAY YOU 25% OF THE DIFFERENCE 6423 E Thomas Road S Scottsdale AZ 85251 Visit us at our 3,000 square foot showroom! H Happy 4th, Arcadia! ESTABLISHED | EDUCATED | EFFECTIVE ● Private Sessions ● Semi-Private Sessions ● Mat and TRX Classes ARCADIA STUDIO 4422 E. Indian School ● 602-538-5686 CENTRAL PHOENIX STUDIO 742 E. Glendale Ave. ● 602-296-4649 www.thepilatesbodyaz.com ● P i t t S i The Pilates Body Residential ROC #: 221021 / Commercial ROC #: 251147 1831 W. Rose Garden Lane, Suite 4 / Phoenix, Az 85027 www. tribalwaters.us / 623-587-8500 Custom Designs Quality Pools & Spas Full Remodel Department Water Features Hard scaping Outdoor Kitchens Call Tribal Waters today to schedule your free estimate View our gallery on line at www.tribalwaters.us C U S T O M P O O L S & S PA S F O R T H E A R I Z O N A L I F E S T Y L E A&A TM MANUFACTURING 623-587-8500 ...and much more!

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