Quartzite Recap article printed in BOB Newsletter

Recap: RV Tent Show, Quartzsite, AZ

In late January, Dr. Lynn Martell, D.Min, Director of Special Services at Loma Linda University Health, Aaron Laudenslager, Senior Development Officer at Loma Linda University Health, Matt Miller, Senior Development Officer at Loma Linda University Health, Tricia Murdoch, Senior Development Officer at Loma Linda University Health’s School of Medicine, BOB member and RV enthusiast Vern Haase of Omak, WA, and his wife Sandy, BOB member and avid outdoorsman Scott Wilcox of Morro Bay, CA, as well as 21 other BOB member volunteers, many with their spouses, set out to host a booth at the 32nd Annual Sports, Vacation & RV Show in Quartzsite, AZ. Their goal was to spread the word and educate attendees about proton therapy for prostate cancer and other illnesses.
Scott sent us a recap:

January in Quartzsite, Arizona, is like no other place on earth! The little town of 3,400 swells to over 1,000,000 from January 17th to 25th, with RVs as far as the eye can see. The main show was held in “The Big Tent,” with an estimated attendance of over 150,000, most of whom are retired and in the age group that may have experienced cancer or know someone that has.

This year there was a new booth in “The Big Tent”— the Loma Linda Proton Beam Therapy/BOB booth. Vern estimates that thousands of people were personally contacted by BOB members and LLUCC staff members and hundreds of copies of proton therapy brochures and information sheets were handed out. In addition, any man who told us he had untreated prostate cancer or a rising PSA was given a copy of Bob Marckini’s book, “You Can Beat Prostate Cancer: And You Don’t Need Surgery To Do It” as well as an LLUCC DVD about proton therapy.

Vern and Sandy Haase spent hundreds of hours on the phone, emailing, and making sure the booth was staffed for this event and deserve special thanks for their efforts. They are another great example of BOB advocates dedicated to helping others facing cancer to get the information that might save lives.

Vern told us that he and Sandy felt the event was an “invaluable way to educate men, women, and their loved ones on the merits of proton treatment at LLUCC.” Vern and the other volunteers met and spoke with thousands of people, young and old. They learned that some had never even heard of a PSA test. Vern said, “We encouraged and even consoled many who were either experiencing cancer themselves or had a loved one who was ill.”
An event attendee told Vern, “I don’t know what you guys are doing there, but normally the old guys sit around the campfire talking about new parts for their motorhome. This time everyone was talking about prostate cancer and proton therapy.”
The new “Team Proton” has great expectations for next year. They already have ideas for improving the booth, making new connections, and are working on gathering even more volunteers for the January 2016 event. If you’re interested in attending, please contact Vern Haase at 509-826-4931 or email thevernandsandy@aol.com.

I have been remiss in keeping up on the blog! Now I'm behind over a month. May have to break this into two entries....

We have had no further mishaps (praise God!), and enjoyed our final month in Green Valley. One day we took a drive in a loop south to Nogales, then East and North up to Patagonia Lake. I just liked the name and wanted to see what a 'lake' looks like around here, as the rivers are all dry!

On our way, we stopped in an artsy town called Tubac and wandered around before having lunch. Nothing quite caught our fancy, so we resumed our trek. 

Interestingly, the landscape on the east side of the mountains we look at every day is entirely different from our side! The west side is desert with typical desert plants, but the east side is more like a plain, only hilly! It had an abundance of grasses and looked much like E. Central Oregon with fir trees and fewer cacti. Patagonia State Park was a couple of miles off the highway, but a lovely drive. We were rewarded with views of water! It is likely a dammed river, but there was actually WATER in it! 

Patagonia Lake

We stopped in a parking area and took a brief nap before resuming the loop back toward home.

About a week later, we made plans once again to go to Tombstone with our friends, Bill and Virginia, but Fritz and I both came down with a mild case of the flu and our plans had to be canceled. We figured there's a reason we weren't supposed to go to Tombstone this trip, so it remains on our bucket list.

We were playing cards with another couple, Paul and Amelia, when Amelia exclaimed that 11 was her lucky number. I asked why? It's her birthdate! I asked what month, and she replied "October"! We were all surprised to find she and Fritz share a birth date. Just out of curiosity, I asked Paul when his birthday is. "September" was his reply. I asked what date. He answered, "the 16th"! MY birthdate! Thereafter, we referred to one another as our 'twins'! How unlikely is that??

One of our final events at Green Valley was a ladies luncheon and fashion show. Amelia coerced me into signing up as a model. You pick your own clothes from the sponsoring store, and because I hadn't felt well that week, I missed going with the rest of the 'models', so struck out on my own. I decided to get something I would 'never' wear. However, I was so strongly encouraged to buy the outfit, I did! (Any ideas on where I'd wear this???) It was great fun!

 On our way to Yuma, we stopped in Maricopa and drove to Sun City West to see our friends, Carolyn and Burton Todd. They are such a delightful and generous couple and we enjoyed a wonderful home-cooked meal. Afterwards, they loaded us up with five bags of citrus from their little orchard. Lemons and oranges and tangelos and grapefruit. Yum! Here is just a sampling of the bounty! We plan to stop again on our way home, and they have promised to load us up again. Chewelah folks, we plan to share!

It rained on and off that day, and the desert mountains were beautiful with the dark sky and occasional rainbow in the distance! I was driving while Fritz napped, so was unable to capture the beauty.

We arrived in Yuma March 1st, and I will pick up our tales from here another day. I'll just leave with the teaser that Yuma is NOT what we expected! Til next time on down the road.....