The Joan De Arc

All the fits that's news to print

Phoenix, Arizona / Monday, July 4, 2005
©  2005 by JPB Publishing Ltd.

Founded AD 1968 / $5.00

On the INSIDE: Editorials A2 / Fun and Games A3 / Summer Nostalgia A4 / Crossword A5

Avenue Weather: Partly cloudy with possible late afternoon showers. High 109 / Low 79

Happy Independence Day

Famous Bueker clock gets makeover

     (BP) - The famous Bueker G.E. clock, which adorned the Bueker house family room at 3219 for twelve years in the 1960s and '70s, recently underwent a major refurbishing and repair.

     After functioning perfectly for almost 40 years, the clock began to emit a loud squealing sound in late 2004 as the gears and timing mechanism finally began to break down. The Joan De Arc Crusader has paid a substantial sum to fit the clock with a new high tech quartz motor that will henceforth run on battery power rather than from an outlet. The repairs were initiated and overseen by Susan Bueker, wife of Crusader CEO John Bueker and vice president of the Crusader Foundation.

     The Bueker clock was a 1965 Christmas gift from Gerald Swaggerty, and actually remained in the Bueker house for a full decade after the family left Joan De Arc in 1977. John Bueker took possession of the timepiece in 1989, and it is now on display in the lobby of the Joan De Arc Crusader office building in Glendale.

     The repairs to the Bueker clock were performed at the Alpine Clock and Watch Shop, 3502 W. Greenway Rd.

 

 

'60s state fair icon resurfaces

by J.Beaver

     A rare stuffed toy teddy bear from the 1960s, originally issued as a midway prize at the Arizona State Fair, has found its way into the Crusader Foundation collection.

     The now one-eyed bear, known affectionately as “Blinky,” was won by a then seven-year-old John Bueker at the 1965 state fair in one of the notoriously difficult midway games. John somehow managed to toss a nickel precisely onto a “Lucky Strike” space in the “Nickel Spot” game, winning the toy outright.

     In a touching display of sibling solidarity, young John sympathetically presented the bear to his sister Barbie on the drive home to assuage her distress over Daddy Bueker’s decision to abandon the fair prematurely that day. Blinky then remained in Barbie’s possession for almost 40 years before being returned to John as a surprise Christmas gift last December.

     “Blinky the State Fair Bear” will be on display in the Archive Room of the Crusader Foundation beginning in 2006.

 

     “Blinky the State Fair Bear” will be on display in t

 

Barbara Stewart finally paints a cat

by J. Bueker

     After decades of crushing artistic uncertainty and insecurity, former Joan De Arc resident and famous local artist Barbara Bueker Stewart has taken a huge step forward in her storied career. The painter recently produced her very first cat image, a challenge that she has been avoiding for the last four decades.

     The composition features the likeness of the artist’s former cat  MacKenzie situated in an open window and adjacent to a pitcher that once belonged to the artist’s grandmother and that has appeared in a series of works by Stewart. The cat peers out of the canvas at the viewer with a discernable smirk of amused feline annoyance.

     The painting was executed in response to a challenge from the artist’s son John who has proposed a series of cat likenesses. Stewart is currently reported to be working on a cubist rendering of MacKenzie that she plans to unveil to the public later this year.

     Barbara Bueker Stewart’s art may be viewed at www.barbarastew-art.com.

 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________JDA

 

On the INSIDE: Editorials A2 / Fun and Games A3 / Summer Nostalgia A4  / Crossword A5

Moon Phases:  New: July 6  First Quarter: July 14   Full: July 21 Last Quarter: July 27 

 

www.joandearc.com

  

Crusader Archives