Mid Town Enchantment (Phoenix: house, weddings, clubhouse)

[EdEKit]

This is my city, Tall, Dark and Handsome for the ladies, and Just Glamorous enough for the men. Your city and my city have a lot in common, but every city has something special. That one bright spot, everyone wants to visit now and then. My City has more than one. It's a big city.

This is the story of one of those places. Older than the vast majority of the city, it hardly qualified as the best part of town when the town was new. In fact it started life as a dump in a creek bed out of the main street and well out of the social center. It was truly the garbage dump. But, garbage dumps, landfills to the sticklers for detail, get full. This one did, and at the same time the city began to grow.

My city did something about the dump, they leveled it off, dug a hole in it and dug a web of canals leading off the main lagoon. Then they added water, grass, shade trees and some decorative palms. They named it "Encanto Park," butchering the Spanish language a little, but they can be forgiven, for even with the bilingual name it is a Parque Encanto. It has been a place for me since I was a toddler, and the city was still a one horse town.


About 16 years after I met Encanto Park, they added a greeter, just like Wal Mart.
This monument is dedicated, not to a soldier of fortune, or a hero of war, but to the men and women of science and technology, the burgeoning industy of the Valley of the sun in 1957. Androgenous the statue stands facing the setting sun at the main center of the park. That center is the Clubhouse.
Built as an original feature of Encanto Park it has been the scene of Senior Proms and regular cotillions. Weddings and Anniversary celebrations were found here, and the bands played on Saturday nights for the social scene. It served, for many years as a Restaurant for the only public golf course in town. The snack bar at the back is long gone as is the fine dining inside, but the building is still in use for meetings and for the special events of the senior center next to it.

Right around the north side of the Clubhouse is the park's less noticed oasis, a small lily pond, with a populaton of tiny fish and snails. The fish won't stand still for pictures, and the snales are just too well camouflaged to be photographed without special equipment. The pond is bounded by a planting of cat tails and other water vegitation.
The display may seem mundane, but this City of mine is in the middle of a vast desert, and these plants are not regular features of a land better known for the Saguaro Cactus. The cul de sac of the back side of the clubhouse provides a view of the boathouse, where in years past young men rented canoes to explore the channels leading off the lagoon, canoes and small electric motor boats have been replaced with a fine selection of four person paddle boats.
I spent many a peaceful afternoon on the water there with my family. Such a treat in the summer heat to man the paddles in a race with mom and dad, handicapped by the little sisters in their boat, while big brother and I tried desperately to keep the canoe from running up against the shore. That lagoon also had the attraction of ducks and geese, and even a family of swans for chasing with the two man adventure ship.
It may be impossible to roller skate in a buffalo herd, but you can sure aggravate a lot of ducks with a canoe, and later be forgiven by feeding them the crusts from mom's special sandwiches, made just for that purpose. It was the only time Dad would let us strip the crust from our P.B. and J.


One of my favorite features of the park has to be the stone bridges, created with lava stones and crossing the lagoon at strategic points, some of them have been lost to age. The park is a converted dump, and the ground has settled, cracking the masonry of a few of the bridges, but this one still stands, improved with a steel guard rail in recent times. The originals had walls, just about the right height for a three year old to lean over and see the duckies. Falling in was a real risk. The replacement bridges are not nearly as rustic, but this troll house is still standing. Change is a real part of life, and it can be embraced or cursed. Hugs seem to be a better way.
Phoenix might have been a one horse town for a long, long time, but about 1948 it boasted a population of wooden horses on the first carosel in the whole state, and at the time one of only a half dozen or so west of the Mississippi river . Some years ago plans to remove the fantasy horse rides met with a public outcry, and a fund drive to restore the old Merry Go Round on Enchanted Island. The City's only roller coaster, was also a feature of the amusment park and has been replaced with the Dragon Land Express. And the ferris wheel, with its rocking cages is gone for a flying circus. Look out Snoopy, the Red Baron is in the air today.
Enchanted Island is not the biggest or most exciting theme park in the world, but it is ours, and we're proud of it. Company parties, Birthday Parties, Even a wedding or two have graced the Birthday island. I would have gotten married there but my fiancé would not hear of it. She wanted, and got, a real church wedding, but there are other ways to worship, and Enchanted Island sees a population explosion every Sunday.
Mr. Toad might just feel right at home here, even without the willows. This little beauty is guaranteed to get more mileage than the typical Buick, and more fun per inch than most more practical cars. Just like NASCAR, this one only turns left. For the more modern 7-year-old the ride features a couple of sports cars, If you want a helicopter, well there's a whole squadron of them over by the Snack Bar, and a couple of starships right out of Star Trek.
Once upon a time Enchanted Island boasted a railroad train that was so tiny the engineer had to ride in the caboose. Well it wasn't realy that small, but the biggest passenger had to be less than four feet tall. They upgraded a few years ago, and extended the line to cover more territory too. The train is built for a movie set and it is adult size.
I had a chance to talk to the engineer, and he is proud of his train, even though he is the conductor and brakeman too. I don't want to embarass the young man but I saw him whistle at a duck that was close by. There is a big brawny railroad about a half mile away, they trade whistles, or at least it seems like they do.
The park, on a Sunday afternoon draws a mixed bunch of people, that fella acting like Snoopy's arch enemy is from Romania, I got to talk to his mom and little sister while I waited for him to pull out of his dive.
The lagoon is stocked for fishing, and does require a license, in fact, the first fish I ever caught was a blue gill from that very same water, I wish I had waited till now to hook him, he would have been a giant. The park also boasts a coule of public golf courses, and a huge expanse of picnic area.
For those of you who have joined us in the State Capitol, or are just passing through, Encanto Park is a worthy place to spend a day. And, if you don't want to be busy making lunch, the Hamburger works are just a short walk up the avenue, great burgers, and air conditioning for comfort.

Well, every day comes to an end, and this perfect one has done just that.























Time to go and find a place to rest a weary head, dream of peace and the days ahead.