18 AUGUST 2024 Y ou could say Kirk Strawn is a dreamer, and he’d be anything but offended. The 63-year-old entrepreneur is driven by an unbridled imagination, a quest for discovery and a sincere desire to inspire others to do the same. He and his wife, Mary, are the human engine that propels Walter, a mix of local businesses involving social service, music, the arts and restaurants – all intended to foster a sense of community. Who is Walter? It all began in 1997 when Strawn stumbled across the chassis of an old firetruck built by the Walter Motor Company in 1963. The truck had been used at airports and for wildfires throughout Arizona and was ultimately laid to rest at Gold King Mine. “I traded an old VW camper for it and converted it into a VW bus on steroids. We named it Walter and he was the beginning of our traveling production company,” Strawn said. Today, Walter Productions is the parent company of all their business ventures, including Walter Studios, Walter Where?House, Walter Station Brewery and at the foundation of it all, their nonprofit, The Walter Hive. Mary operates the Walter Hive, a combination of youth development initiatives focused on the healing power of arts while Strawn operates the retail businesses. “The Walter Project is intended to be an enduring 100- year company, well beyond Mary and me, and even our two daughters,” Strawn said. “We want it to inspire and uplift people through the generations.” Strawn was born and raised in Iowa and attended medical school at the University of Iowa. He moved to Arizona in 1988 to finish his residency at Scottsdale Memorial Hospital. “In school, I thought I wanted to be a veterinarian but soon discovered I was more interested in human medicine,” he said. He met his wife at the county hospital, where they tended to a young emergency room patient. It was “love at first sight,” and they married in 1991. Strawn practiced medicine for 20 years and then started a healthcare company, which he ultimately sold to Blue Cross-Blue Shield. The Strawns live in the heart of Arcadia, along with their neighboring adult daughters and numerous friends they have recruited to the neighborhood. “We started our own little community and absolutely love it,” he said. Strawn strongly believes a meaningful relationship exists between people, machines, and imagination, and he has committed himself to addressing this. “When we were kids, we were all artists, but along the way, some of us forgot how to express ourselves. Our various programs are meant to bring those instincts back. Walter the bus has had a second life and there’s a message for all of us: there are second chances. People can reimagine themselves, expressing themselves in new ways,” he said. He and Mary are interesting profiles: physicians- turned-philosophizers-turned-dreamers with a passion and determination to make their ambitious goals a reality. To ensure that they stay committed to their 33-year-old marriage, they remarry every five years. “We’ve had seven weddings so far, and another one is on the horizon,” Strawn says. “But we have someone different officiating each time, so it all feels anew.” Not unlike the renewal of Walter. Kirk Strawn