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By Sam Hosler
Mayor, Kearny
This past weekend I went back to Winslow, where I spent my high school years and where I also served as an Episcopal priest before I moved to Kearny. It was a sad/happy occasion, the funeral of my wonderful nephew, Jim, who died just short of his 52nd birthday.
I saw many people I had not seen in years, both friends and family, and as we caught up on things I was asked, several times, “So where is Kearny?”
This question always surprises me. Why don’t people, especially native Arizonans, know about Kearny? I gave most of them an answer that goes like this: “Kearny is a wonderful small mining town reached by driving East from Phoenix on Highway 60 to Superior. Turn south at Superior and drive 22 miles over two beautiful mountain passes and drop down into the Copper Basin where Kearny lies nestled above the banks of the Gila River.” I have a similar answer prepared using Tucson as a reference point.
Maybe my answer to the question is part of the problem. It uses Phoenix and Tucson (two large cities) as the starting point. That might be a practical way to answer the question, but I am tempted to answer in a different way: “Kearny is in the heart of Arizona’s copper industry, a driving force in Arizona’s economy. It’s on the Gila River, one of the great water sources for central Arizona. The elevation (2,000 feet) is also the population (2,000 people), and the beauty of the Sonoran Desert and the mountain ranges lies all around us.”
Maybe I should use that answer more. It seems that many people in Arizona think that mining is a “used-to-be” thing, and they are surprised to learn that our mine is the second largest in Arizona.
There is more to Arizona than shopping malls and movie theaters, and Kearny is one of the best towns in Arizona because we don’t have such things and don’t have to drive in heavy traffic, either. And we are blessed with winter citizens from other states who know Kearny’s wonderful qualities.
What do you say when someone asks you where Kearny is? Please let me know. You can find me most mornings in the Post Office.
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