Local restaurants are doing their best during the worst times

By Laura Latzko   The COVID-19 pandemic has been hard on the restaurant industry, especially local mom-and-pop restaurants in Cave Creek and Carefree. These local restaurants have needed to adapt to change to be able to survive. Two local restaurants, Giordano’s Trattoria Romana and Harold’s Cave Creek Corral, have done just that. Giordano’s Trattoria Romana For Giordano’s Trattoria Romana, surviving d ...

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Barrett-Jackson offers an enhanced and safe live auction

By Kamala Kirk One of the world’s leading auction houses for classic and one-of-a-kind cars, Barrett-Jackson hosts annual auctions and lifestyle events that draw nearly half a million people. Since its founding in 1971, the company has continued to expand and innovate, becoming the first collector car auction to offer live internet and television coverage. The Scottsdale 2021 auction is set for Saturday, Ja ...

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Michelle Moore says all women can be empowered to help

By Annika Tomlin Michelle Moore hasn’t let the hardships of being a mother and cancer survivor get in the way. Founder and president of the Phoenix-based nonprofit organization Mother’s Grace, Moore recently published her first book, “A Mother’s Grace: Healing the World, One Woman at a Time.” With around $2,000, Moore founded Mother’s Grace in 2009 as a nonprofit that provides financial assistance for housi ...

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The English Rose Tea Room serves visions of Sugar Plum Fairies

By Jacqueline Robledo For many people, seeing “The Nutcracker” ballet in a theater is a holiday tradition. The COVID-19 pandemic is making that a little difficult this year. But Jo Gemmill is doing something about it. Her English Rose Tea Room in Carefree is once again hosting a Nutcracker Tea Party December 5, December 6, December 12 and December 13. The dates are sold out, but more will be added. Masks wi ...

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Delta Dental Foundation fights more than just cavities

By Alison Bailin Batz In 1997, “Titanic” ruled the box office. Hanson had everyone singing “MMMBop.” Delta Dental of Arizona launched one of the most impactful nonprofit organizations in the state.  “Delta Dental of Arizona started the Delta Dental of Arizona Foundation with the mission to improve oral health across the state, particularly for uninsured and underinsured groups and communities,” says Barb Ko ...

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Yasmin Tajik couples her career with educating others

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Yasmin Tajik sits in her Fountain Hills home surrounded by camera equipment. Photo backdrops, prints and white gloves are strategically placed around her dining area. But there is more to Tajik than photography and her business, Yasmin Tajik Fine Art Prints. She took her company and mixed it with her humanitarian spirit to capture stories while giving back through the sale of e ...

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Gary Spaniola brings ’60s-inspired music to Arizona

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Gary Spaniola was in the successful Detroit band Bitter Sweet Alley, when he just decided to call it quits. For 25 years, the new North Scottsdale resident avoided music and instead invented a high-end software system for home automation. “I was in love with that,” he says. “I taught myself computer language and code. That’s how I designed that program.” Now—much like music 25 ...

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Memory care community allows residents to thrive

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski William Swearingen is passionate about senior living communities. As senior vice president of sales and marketing for Spectrum Retirement Communities, Swearingen was part of the team that brought Lone Mountain Memory Care to life in February 2018. “It’s one of the most beautiful memory care-specific communities that I’ve ever seen that doesn’t overdo that luxury component,” Swe ...

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Medspa’s Charles Small wants to help clients look great

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Charles Small says owning Glo Medspa is the “best job ever.” Because of his work and that of his staff, Small’s clients leave the Scottsdale Medspa living their best life. “The best part of my job is helping people look better and then they feel better about themselves,” Small says. “It’s definitely rewarding.” Small’s background is in helping people. For 15 years, he served as ...

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Carefree Restaurant Week celebrates its dedicated following

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Jo Gemmill believes there’s power in numbers. Collectively, Carefree’s restaurants and coffeehouses—including her English Rose Tea Room—will make their mark with the third annual Carefree Restaurant Week from October 1 to October 11. “It’s a chance to say ‘thank you’ to all the folks who have supported us through the pandemic,” says Gemmill, who also serves as the Carefree Rest ...

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Couple brings their hometown flavors to Cave Creek

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Federico Venturini and Viola Tagliaferri, the husband-and-wife duo behind Carefree’s Pizzicata, are expressing their love for their home country of Italy with Pomodoro Italian Grill & Seafood in Cave Creek. The couple says, in Italy, the most important part of the dining experience is the company. They believe in those interactions, and they want to make a dining experience ...

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Sequoia Goes Pro: Toyota’s family vehicle gets better with age

By Greg Rubenstein Like the colossal trees found in Northern California, Toyota’s Sequoia is nearly as ancient—at least in automotive years—rolling on a platform largely unchanged since its 2008 debut. Fortunately, this full-size sport utility vehicle has only become better with age, and a new-for-2020 TRD Pro trim adds rugged good looks and upgraded off-road capabilities to a body-on-frame SUV with big-tim ...

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Tom Bullock’s Zany Railroad

By Marshall Trimble Tom Bullock was a gregarious, smooth-talking promoter. He’d been a bartender on Prescott’s Whiskey Row before heading to New York, where he made a fortune building street railways. Bullock proposed building a railroad from Seligman, on the 35th Parallel mainline, to Prescott. Meanwhile, Prescottonians raised $300,000 to bring the railroad to their city. The 72-mile branch would connect a ...

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AZ Custom Hats & Apparel merges with Arizona Custom Embroidery

By Kamala Kirk When Brett Ortiz launched AZ Custom Hats & Apparel in 2016, his business grew quickly and built a reputation for making high-quality, custom products that include everything from hats and accessories to clothing items. “We started out selling hats with different sayings on them,” Ortiz says. “That eventually grew into people wanting us to make them custom hats, which then snowballed to sh ...

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Cave Creek Distillery gets OK to make whiskey on-site

By Sarah Donahue From the Appalachian to the Sonoran Desert, Chris Chapman is planting his 250-year-old moonshine recipe in the heart of Cave Creek. A former post office will soon be a fully operational distillery—Hillis and McGee Cave Creek Distillery—with tastings as well as basic distilling and advanced distilling courses. Guests can enjoy live music played by a bluegrass band each weekend. He plans to c ...

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