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CANYON CORRIDOR CONNECTION
A Remarkable Christmas Tradition
in the Canyon Corridor
Twenty-eight years ago, GCU graduate and Canyon Corridor resident
Ima Jean Dolan felt devastated, facing Christmas as a recently divorced mom
with no money to buy her two very young children the kind of gifts they were
used to. In desperation, she decided to enter the first Fiesta of Lights parade
sponsored by the City of Phoenix.
ExplainingtothemthatmakingothershappyforChristmaswaswhatChristmas
was really about, she purchased a used dress to convert into a Christmas angel
costume for her daughter, using clothes hangers to fashion the angel wings.
She converted her son’s pedal tractor into a Christmas train engine using
cardboard to make a frame. At the parade, Ima Jean recalls her son having
such a good time trying to run down his sister while she kept hissing at him to
“stop that!”The kids so charmed the judges that the family won first prize, a
vacation to San Diego, which they took in the spring.
She continued that message on Christmas morning by delivering meals
for the Salvation Army. She volunteered for the least desirable assignments
such as going to “the third shanty by a bridge” so her children could begin to
understand what true poverty was. They ended that day by driving to the first
snow area they could find. Little did she know that she was growing a three-
generation family Christmas tradition of giving and caring for others that has
lasted over a quarter of a century and is still going strong.
In 1992, city budget cuts ended all major events, including the Fiesta of
Lights parade and the Fourth of July celebration. Ima Jean says her children
insisted on saving the parade. Doubting that she could succeed, she still went
to every City Council meeting and budget hearing. She started a Citywide
penny campaign to save the parade. It ended with her bringing a car and a
truck loaded with $13,000 in pennies to City Hall. Wheeling the $50 bags
of pennies to the mayor’s
office with major news
media coverage, she and
her allies were successful in
reinstating the major City
events. Every year, the family
now takes the float to an
elderly mobile home park,
handing out little gifts to the
elderly and their pets. They
do the same for families
and children in Sunnyslope,
Youngtown and other
neighborhoods.
Her children, all GCU
graduates and still living in
the Canyon Corridor, have
grown up and are now are the
ones designing, building and
organizing the professional float construction process in only seven days
from design to finish. Her grandchildren now give the gifts to the children
and elderly in the community. And Ima Jean works with local schools to
identify needy families and then collects and donates gifts, food and
household supplies for Christmas. Her family even won the APS Best Use
of Lights award against all the commercial entries in 2014. Ima Jean reflects,
“The worst time in my life became the best time in my life.”
Communi t y Highl ights
By Beverly Konik
GCU graduate, Ima Jean Dolan and son
2014 Winter APS Best Use of Lights Award
John Peltz worked for Kmart for 39 years. His wife,
Sandy, was a member of the Alhambra Elementary
School District governing board for 16 years.
They’ve lived on West Mariposa Street, two blocks
south of Grand Canyon University, for 40 years,
and Sandy grew up just a few blocks away.
So it’s safe to say that the Peltzes know a few things
about being loyal to their hometown. And when they
found out that GCU was partnering with Habitat for
Humanity to help renovate up to 700 homes in the
surrounding neighborhood, it confirmed
their belief that the university has
the same spirit of perseverance and
community support.
“Being retired, this is a Godsend to us,” Sandy said.
The first phase of the Canyon Corridor Project, part
of Habitat’s Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative, is
scheduled to take 18 months, and the subsequent
three phases will be spaced out over the subsequent
two years. GCU is contributing $700,000 to Phase 1.
The work at the Peltzes’ home will include tearing
down their wooden fence, which was blown over in
storms, and replacing it with a block wall. Student
workers, some of them team leaders and all of them
working in conjunction with Habitat personnel, also
will put in new siding on the house and replace all the
windows with the double-paned variety.
“He’s excited about the wall. I’m excited about
the windows,” Sandy said, laughing. Having spent
her whole life here, Sandy remembers GCU when it
was, in her words, “a little tiny school in a big field.”
Back then, she said, the area was mostly farmland,
Camelback Road was a “slightly paved two-way
street,” and when monsoon rains hit the Valley her
father couldn’t take his usual route down Indian
School Road because it was too muddy.
Today, GCU Arena is visible from their white-brick,
ranch-style home, and one of the students at the
rapidly growing university is their granddaughter,
Brittany Crossey. Sandy said she’s a big GCU fan
because, as a longtime school board member, “I relate
to education and the problems they go through.”
John also expressed admiration for the way the
university has gone about its business, but the
Habitat project cemented his feelings. “I think it’s
fantastic,” he said. “What they’re trying to do in the
neighborhood, that’s what really impresses me.”
Homeowners who take advantage of the GCU/Habitat
offer are required to put in a minimum number of
“sweat equity” hours, and John certainly has pitched
in already. A tour of his backyard showed how he
has removed plants and rocks from all around the
fence to give workers easy access.“I realize I have to
do my part,” he said. Habitat for Humanity has done
its part by building, renovating or repairing more
than 800,000 homes in 100 countries since 1976.
The partnership between GCU and Habitat’s Central
Arizona affiliate is one of the first of its kind.
By Rick Vacek, GCU News Bureau
GCU/Habitat for Humanity Project
Ready to Aid Neighbors
Sandy and John Peltz are grateful for the work that will
be done on their home through GCU’s partnership