SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Help these guys get back on the golf course!

Cave Creek Museum “Stamp Mill Dream Team” sends urgent plea to public: Purchase $20 ticket to 2012 Charles Schwab Cup Championship Oct. 31- Nov. 4!
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Left to right (top row to bottom row): Hank Smith, RicParrish, Charlie Connell and Reg Monachino are some of Cave Creek Museum's volunteers working to restore an historic Stamp Mill dating back to 1880.
Courtesy Photo/Evelyn Johnson

CAVE CREEK – Evelyn Johnson, Cave Creek Museum’s executive director, often refers to the group of 10 retired men who are volunteering to restore the Museum’s historic Stamp Mill as her “dream team.” Since April 2009, the volunteers have logged in more than 7,000 labor-intensive hours cleaning, fixing, and lugging more than 80,000 pounds of iron pieces on museum property as they worked to restore and rebuild the mill, believed to date back to 1880. Stamp mills once were used to crush hard-rock ore in the gold-mining process. Once more funds are raised, the rare structure could be operational as early as next fall.

“Oh, we’re dreaming alright,” said Al Zeman, a Museum board member who helps lead the restoration efforts along with Charlie Connell of the Arizona Mineral and Mining Museum Foundation. “We’re dreaming about finishing this project and finally getting back onto the golf course.”

Connell agreed, adding: “Evelyn has been working us to the bone. We really need the public’s help to raise the final amount of funds needed so we can complete the restoration and get back to our retirement.”

Unbeknownst to Johnson, Zeman and Connell have been making an urgent plea to the public to purchase $20 tickets to the 2012 Charles Schwab Cup Championship October 31 –November 4 at the Cochise Course at the Desert Mountain in Scottsdale. Because 100 percent of proceeds for each ticket sold goes to the Museum, Zeman and Connell thought this would be the perfect way to raise funds quickly and finally be done with the Museum ... er, the Stamp Mill project.
Cave Creek may be quirky, but the idea of supporting the Museum’s Stamp Mill restoration project resonated with town folk and before long, Johnson got wind of the plan.

“Al and Charlie’s scheme to get out of working at the Museum is pretty clever,” Johnson said.“Quite honestly, I’m getting tired of hearing them complain about their aches and pains. I can’t even imagine how they would do back on the golf course. They’ll probably need handicaps.”

After consulting with her faithful docents and dedicated board, Johnson decided to go along with the plan and agreed to sell tickets at the Museum and on the golf tournament’s website, https://www.schwabcuptfc.com/tickets/forward.php?C=CCM. Tickets can also be purchased here but donors need to choose Cave Creek Museum as the non-profit recipient.

“We’re going to need a lot of community support to pull this off,” Johnson said. “We’re hoping to raise $12,000 by October 31.”

Cave Creek Museum is located at 6140 Skyline Drive. The Museum re-opens for the season on Wed., Oct. 3 but will be selling tickets via phone and on the web links above until then. Credit cards are accepted. Once open, museum hours are Wed., Thurs., Sat. and Sun. from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Fri. from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For information, call 480-488-2764, or visit www.cavecreekmuseum.org.