The Breakfast Club
An Affiliate of the
The Knife & Fork
Breakfast Club Visits Wilcox/Stout's
Cider Mill
14 Apr 2007
by Warren McIlvoy
The April Breakfast Club
event took us to a new destination called
Our flight began with a departure to the east for GRINE intersection just north
of
Judging from the volume of traffic on the radio, it appeared that we were in
the middle of the Breakfast Club gaggle heading to Wilcox. After passing the IAP, we
turned toward the first of two waypoints which was essentially a 10-mile
straight-in approach to runway 21. There was just enough turbulence to make the
approach a tad interesting and Paul "the task master"
Fortune would not let me use the auto-pilot. Despite all of our efforts, I
was able to fashion a reasonable landing and taxi to the ramp which was now
teaming with Breakfast Club aircraft and members.
After securing the aircraft, we walked over to greet some of the Breakfast Club folks
and was soon directed to Tom Larimer. Tom was
my Willcox contact who had arranged for a
place to eat as well as organize the transportation into town. Tom introduced
me to Dave Walters, Harry Myers, Pete Erickson, and town Manager, Mike
Leighton. Harry, Pete, and Dave are local aviation
enthusiasts. I then met Louise Walden of Walden Aviation (520-384-2908
or email at: jlwalden52@yahoo.com),
a more hospitable FBO would be hard to find. After the last of the arrivals has
been secured, we broke-up in groups to fit the various modes of transportation
with one of the locals accompanying each vehicle to provide lies and tall tales
as we wended our way through the historic portions of old Wilcox. One
downer was that we ran out of locals for our vehicle so I had to drive that
car. We just followed the lead vehicle and made-up our own tales of infamous
gunslingers and bawdy women who once prowled the dusty streets of Wilcox.
Another oddity that caught our attention was the ample supply of churches that
occupied every street corner for blocks on end. It seemed that there was a
church for every soul in the city.
At this point, I would like to include some history of Willcox
gleaned from browsing a "Google" search.
"The City of
Other Wilcox Facts
On July 06, 1900
Warren Earp was shot outside a saloon at the intersection of
When the City was
incorporated in 1915 the spelling of Wilcox was changed from Wilcox with only
one L to Willcox with two L's.
Singing Cowboy Rex
Allen grew up in Wilcox. Rex was the last of the silver screen cowboys. But for
many people, he is most familiar as the narrator of over one hundred Walt
Disney TV shows and movies".
Still, a little more about Wilcox:
"Wilcox began as
a small cow town and was once known as the "Cattle Capital" of the
nation. Cattle are still an important aspect of the economy, and a large
livestock auction is held annually in Wilcox.
Row crops such as
cotton and small grains are significant as well. The diversification of
agriculture has resulted in the establishment of apple orchards, pistachio and
pecan groves, ostrich farms, grape vineyards and two
hydroponics tomato green houses.
A well-established U-Pick-it
industry provides fresh produce for all of Southern Arizona and
Still
More:
"The first name for the
present community of Wilcox was Maley, after Jame H. Mahley (b. 1850), who in 1882 was a resident of Dos Cabezas. Maley was so called because the railroad
right-of-way went through Maley's Ranch. The legend concerning the change in
the name is that when the first train came through, Gen. Orlando B. Wilcox
(1823-1907) the commander of the Department of Arizona, was on board and
received an ovation. Since its beginning as a railroad point, Willcox has been important as a cattle shipping
center."
P.O. est September 13, 1880. Name
changed to Wilcox Nov. 23, 1889.
Barnes, Will C.;
Granger, Byrd (ed.)
P. 57
The first named for
this location was Maley, because the railroad right-of-way extended through
James H. Maley's ranch. At the time, Mahley (b. 1850)
was a resident of Dos Cabezas where he had moved in
1882. Simultaneously General
This important
agricultural and cattle center is close to Wilcox Playa, an enormous shallow
dry lake which Antisell in 1854 called Playay de los Pimas, and by
Mexicans, Playas (their term for a dry lake devoid of plant life). Sometimes it
was mapped only as
Barnes, Will C.;
Granger, Byrd (ed.)
Our entourage eventually made it to the Best Western Plaza Inn for
breakfast. Tom had arranged for the hotel to set us up in a separate room (we
weren't that rowdy) with the table set in a large "U" shape. My wife
and I sat near the local folks and we got our food orders in a relatively short
period of time. The food was pretty good and in ample quantities but the
further from our place in the "U" that you got, the longer it took to
get your selection. I wonder if the hotel ever had such a large group of people
at one time?
After
a leisurely breakfast, we piled into our vehicles for the short ride to Stout's
Cider Mill (http://www.cidermill.com/)
to sample and purchase some of their "Mile High Apple Pies".
"In 1985, Ron and Corinne
Stout planted over 6,000 apple trees on their Bonita,
Today, we have over
10,000 apple trees representing 18 varieties, concentrating heavily on Granny
Smith for our pies, with the Gala,
I inquired about how big their
"mile high" apple pie was and was told that it was 10-#'s.
10-#"s!!! You've got to be kidding me! Do you have any idea how much
damage a 10-# apple pie could due to my blood sugar? Or how much sabotage that
could do to my waistline? Our next option was a 5-pounder. We chose two of
these, one for immediate consumption and one for the freezer. That way the
dietary mayhem could be spread-out (not to mention the waistline) over a much
longer time frame.
It was now time to load-up the vehicles and head
back to the airport. Since av-gas was considerably
cheaper than in the
On behalf of all the Breakfast Club
folks, I would like to thank Tom Larimer for his invaluable assistance
in making this a truly enjoyable and successful Breakfast Club
fly-in. Without his help, this event would not have become reality. Add to the
list, Mike, Dave, Harry, and Pete for adding a local
flavor to our visit. And to the Waldens'
for marshaling and promptly refueling our aircraft. The friendliness and the
hospitality of all the Wilcox folks will make this destination a repeat
event on the Breakfast Club itinerary list.
The Wilcox Gang
What's Next?
The May Breakfast Club event
will be the first of two fly-in/overnight events. We will be flying into
Click on the Wilcox link to view photos of the fly-in event.