Wayne Ecton has died. The former Scottsdale city councilman spent eight years on the dais. Moreover, he spent decades more serving this city in quieter roles. Colleagues knew him as a relentless volunteer long after his final term ended. His story started far from Arizona. Ecton grew up in Winchester, Kentucky, working in his father’s restaurant from age ten. However, … Read More
Scottsdale at 75: A Diamond Forged in Desert Light
Seventy-five years ago this June, a patch of sun-baked Arizona scrubland with 2,032 souls and barely a half-square mile to its name became an official municipality. Nobody could have predicted what it would become. That is the Scottsdale story: humble origins giving way to something genuinely extraordinary. The area’s bedrock dates back 1.8 billion years, and Indigenous peoples called it … Read More
Arizona’s Culinary Time Capsules: Where History Still Serves
We came across this graphic recently; a nicely rendered list of Arizona’s 20 oldest restaurants, and it sparked something beyond mere nostalgia. Here was proof that Arizona’s uniqueness isn’t just carved into red rock canyons or painted across Sonoran sunsets: it’s ladled into bowls, grilled on ancient flattops, and served with stories that predate statehood itself. The Palace Restaurant & … Read More