Phoenix, Arizona / Sunday, April 1, 2018
Founded AD 1968 / $10.00

©  2018 by JPB Publishing Ltd.

Avenue Weather: Partly cloudy with possible late afternoon showers. High 86 / Low 59

On the INSIDE: Editorials A2 / 50th Birthday A3 / Best of Crusader A4 / Interview A5 / Easter Nostalgia A6 / Crossword A7

_____________________________________________________________

50^th Anniversary Edition

(BP) – No sir, this is no April Fools’ Day prank. The Joan De Arc Crusader is now officially 50 years young.
     In this special anniversary issue, you will find a plethora of sentimental musings, arcane timelines, fond recollections, and enough sappy nostalgia to kill a healthy bull moose. We have endeavored here to do justice to a half century of unforgettable, cutting-edge Phoenix residential-street journalism. Or something like that.
     The Crusader’s modest origins are shrouded in the wispy mists of neighborhood legend and have by now been amply recounted in this space. Suffice it to say that this newspaper was born of an aging Underwood typewriter at 3219 in the mid-1960s, following in the footsteps of kid publications inspired by Carl Bueker’s stubborn refusal to take his children to a long-gone central Phoenix aquarium shop. Oh such humble beginnings indeed.
     The Joan De Arc Crusader’s mission through the years has never been entirely clear, but seems to have something to do with perpetuating a collective remembrance of the time and place in which it emerged. In one sense perhaps, the endeavor here has been one of preservation, an attempt to hold fast the onrushing floodwaters of time as they inexorably engulf and obscure our past. Fortunately, we inhabit a culture with a peculiar fondness for nostalgia, and the Crusader seems to fit right in. In this edition therefore, we take a moment to wax nostalgic about ourselves.
     Please join us as we celebrate the Joan De Arc Crusader’s golden anniversary.

_____________________________________________________

Crusader Time Line
By J. Bueker

Being a brief yet pleasingly comprehensive retrospective of significant milestones in the history of the Joan De Arc Crusader:

April, 1968 – The first issue of the Crusader is published after its predecessor, The Sloppy Gazette, is renamed at the suggestion of Carl Bueker.

__________________________________________________________

June, 1968 – Editor John Bueker changes the Crusader motto from Carl Bueker’s “Brag We Do Not” to his own “All the Fits that’s News to Print.” Chris Dickey and Mark Wells sign on as cub reporters.

__________________________________________________________

… Time Passes …

November, 1993 – The Crusader awakes from a 24-year hibernation for its first issue since 1969 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the newspaper with a special commemorative edition.

__________________________________________________________

July, 1998 – The Crusader observes its 30^th anniversary and the paper’s first online edition appears at
http://members.aol.com/JBCynic/jdacrusader.html. 

__________________________________________________________

September, 1999 – The first appearance of the ever-popular “Chuck’s Corner” column by former JDA resident Charles Bueker III.

__________________________________________________________

January, 2000 – The Crusader welcomes the new millennium and establishes the Crusader Foundation for Advanced Joan De Arc Studies.

__________________________________________________________

June, 2002 – The Joan De Arc Avenue website is launched at www.joandearcavenue.com, later www.joandearc.com.

__________________________________________________________

June, 2004 – The Joan De Arc Crusader archives makes its debut, providing online access to back issues at http://www.barbarastew-art.com/archives.htm.

__________________________________________________________

December, 2005 – The Crusader sparks controversy when it raises the newsstand price to an unheard of $10.00 per ish.

__________________________________________________________

September, 2012 – The Crusader is named “Best Phoenix Neighborhood Blog” in the annual New Times Best of Phoenix^© issue.

__________________________________________________________

November, 2014 – The Crusader receives a photo credit and citation in the Wall Street Journal for providing a vintage Park Central photo used in a feature article.

__________________________________________________________

November, 2015 – The Crusader acquires the www.joandearccrusader.com online domain.

__________________________________________________________

April, 2018 – The Crusader marks its 50^th birthday.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________JDA

On the INSIDE: Editorials A2 / 50th Birthday A3 / Best of Crusader A4 / Interview A5 / Easter Nostalgia A6 / Crossword A7

Moon Phases:   Last Quarter: April 8    New: April 15   First Quarter: April 22   Full: April 29