Steve Urie resigns. Council seat open

Steve Urie has resigned from the Gilbert Town Council to run for the state House of Representatives. He lives just north of Morrison Ranch, and the Ranch is in District 22 where he will run.

In the meanwhile, you might have a chance to be on the Town Council without running for election!

Read more here.

Mission Community Church

This church is sandwiched within Morrison Ranch. You might want to check it out, as they just opened a new sanctuary.

About Mission Community Church

Established: 1995 in Gilbert.

Affiliation: Converge Worldwide (Baptist General Conference), a Christian fellowship of evangelical churches.

Congregation: 4,000, mostly young families drawn from the Southeast Valley and beyond.

Lead pastor: Mark Connelly.

Vision: "In the name of Jesus, do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God." (Micah Chapter 6, Verse 8)

What's new: Grand opening on Sunday of new, theater-style worship facility seating 1,500. Services are at 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 11:59 a.m.

Grand opening project: Through an arrangement with a New York-based organization called charity:water, the church will donate five years of drinking water to a person in a developing country, for every person who attends this Sunday.

Where: 4450 E. Elliot Road, Gilbert.

Details: 480-545-4024, mission68.org.

Ongoing charitable projects

• Rescuing girls from the sex trade industry in the South Pacific. The church, teamed with Homes of Hope in Fiji, is in the process of building a 43-acre village in Suva, Fiji, where girls rescued from exploitation and trafficking are rehabilitated. The village is 70 percent completed, and when done, will house 200 girls. More such villages are to be built.

• In partnership with the non-profit Somebody Cares Malawi, the church has adopted the regional village of Chikudzulire, in Malawi, Africa, an impoverished country. About 1,000 children orphaned when both their parents died of AIDS live in the village, where the church has established clean water, wells, a feeding center, community center and pastoral care.

• Closer to home, the church helps House of Refuge East, a non-profit that helps homeless families and individuals in crisis by providing transitional housing and supportive services. Church volunteers work with children, transition families to a sustainable lifestyle, manage donations, coordinate service projects and assist in the development of future mission opportunities.

• Supplying food and personal items to Open Arms Care Center in Gilbert.

• Open Table is a ministry (a life-coaching program) designed to help people trapped in the cycle of poverty break the cycle and become self-sustaining. Their slogan is "from homeless to wholeness, one life at a time."

---

Higley Estates is getting all spruced up!

Mike Miller is putting a fresh coat of paint on the walls of Higley Estates. It looks sharp!

Rain in the Ranch

This is a little late, but for those who want to know, we got .16 inches of rain on Tues.

Last Weekend for the Renaissance Festival

This is the last weekend, and it looks like the weather will be good. No Youth Fishing Day, so you might want to do this! Read here.

Not Too Many Got Away

Wow, what a day Saturday turned out to be! A ton of people came to the Town Center lake to get some fishing lessons, free food and sunshine. And the day did not disappoint. It was a little breezy, not as warm as some recent days, and therefore perfect weather to sit lazily and watch your line in the water. It was so fun to watch the first-time fishermen and women, and to hear the applause of the folks nearby whenever someone reeled one in.

It all started the day before, when The Water Expert stocked the lake with 900 Bluegills, 3,000 Fat Head Minnows, and 200 Large-Mouth Bass. Blue, Fat, and Large: doesn't that sound like a fishing dream?

Then on Saturday morning, the tents were up, the doughnuts were out, the rods were available, the bagpiper was piping....?

And before you knew it, the shoreline was crowded with folks trying their luck. The AZ Game and Fish loaned out 181 rod and reels, and some folks brought their own equipment.

The next picture has one of those memory-making stories. These guys had a line in the water and turned aside for a moment and then heard a *plop* in the water. The rod and reel were gone, taken away by a fish. So the Game and Fish guy gave them another line with a weight on it and told them to cast along the bottom to see if they could get their rod back, perhaps by dragging it in by the line. They cast for about an hour and finally did hook it and reel it in. When they plucked the rod out of the water, the line ran out the other way, and when they reeled in that line, this fat bass turned out to be the rod-thief.

This young man caught his first fish, though I'm not sure his sisters were as happy as he was:

The excitement on this little redhead's face is catching:

This was the biggest bass catch of the day;

or at least that we caught on film.

And not just the young folks got in the picture; this fellow caught a carp:

And then it was time for more food. Thanks to MMM Landscaping and Youth Outdoors Unlimited for helping out and providing 150 hamburgers, 164 hot dogs, 200 bags of chips, 120 sodas, and 200 bottles of water...

There were a few casualties reported; the Water Expert didn't allow these to go back in because he didn't want them floating, if you know what I mean:

We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. This event was a winner!

Morrison Ranch Youth Fish Day

It's Saturday, and it's gonna be BIG!

Bulk Trash

This is a friendly reminder that next week is bulk trash pickup week by the Town of Gilbert.

Please make sure you are not putting your bulk trash items on the mow strip as this prohibits the Associations landscapers from performing their duties while mowing and working through out the community.

Please place your items in your driveway or on the street next to the curb. If your items are too big to put in the street or driveway then I encourage you to please make alternate arrangements for disposal.

Please do not place your items out any sooner than Sunday night.

Morrison Ranch Youth Fish Day

Another Saturday Bashas' Festival

This Saturday, March 13, there will be another outdoor festival at Lakeview Village. It runs 8 to 3, I believe.

Rain in the Ranch

As of 6:30 this morning, we got .65 inches of rain yesterday, and nothing measurable since midnight. That last doesn't seem right to me when I look outside, but I don't have hard evidence to the contrary.

A Reminder

We have some fun places nearby. One is Joe's Farm Grill. And it's on TV!

Here is an article.

Parts of the General plan update are online

Read here. You can review the plan or go to an open house soon.

Rain in the Ranch

The total rain yesterday was .65 inches at Higley and Elliot. A slightly less precise guage at Sossoman and Elliot had .86 inches. That is a lot of rain! And there is another storm about a week out. This is turning out to be one wet winter!