Dear Mayor Gameros,

My name is Mary Miller. My husband John and I had the pleasure of visiting your town on Saturday, May 5. We were driving from Phoenix to our home in Colorado and were determined to stay off the Interstates as much as possible.

Our route took us through Globe just as the celebration was about to kick off and we just had to stop to participate. What a treat! We are both retired from the US Army and were delighted to see the young color guard do an excellent job of presenting the colors. We were frankly rather surprised, and happy, that you led the Pledge of Allegiance, that is something that is rarely done and we thought it was just wonderful that you included it in your opening ceremony. Your singer was very talented, she did a lovely job performing the anthem, and it was so fitting that the Father blessed the crowd. We were so impressed at the spirit of community alive in the festivities and the soaring sense of patriotism so unabashedly on display. It is heartwarming to know that there are still communities in our land that know the importance of these rituals for bringing people together and reminding them that we have more in common than we have different.

We are so glad that our trip brought us to Globe, it was an unexpected delight on an otherwise long drive.

I am including a few photos I took at the festival, the townspeople were so welcoming and the area so lovely, we enjoyed spending time there very much. We could tell that Globe is a special place.

All the best,

Mary and John Miller