Hello High Desert! I’m Mayor Kari Leon and we’re back for another Monday Morning Mayor for the month of July! The sun is out, our pool is open, and we’re kicking off our busy summer event season with concerts in the park, public swim classes, and our annual 4th of July Freedom Festival – more on that later!
Your Town of Apple Valley has already had a busy start to it’s summer event season. On Saturday, June 4th, we welcomed American Idol winner Chayce Beckham to Brewster Park for a good old fashioned hometown show. We estimated almost 3500 people attended the ‘Boots in The Desert’ Music Festival and we are hopeful to continue this event with our Apple Valley Idol each year! Other bands that night included The Silverado’s, B-OK, and American Idol finalist (and friend) Hunter Metts. I would like to personally thank all our sponsors who made this event successful including: Armstrong Fairway Insurance, Hitt Plumbing, Apple Valley Choice Energy, Agio Real Estate, Douglas Vance Construction, FBC Mortgage, Alliance Rendezvous Escrow, and Escrow Junction. Lastly, I’d like to thank our wonderful residents and community members for coming out to support these wonderful artists. Boots in the Desert 2022 was a night to remember, and we appreciate you all!
If you missed the June 4th concert, don’t worry! Apple Valley will once again be hosting it’s annual Sunset Concert Series at Civic Center Park that began on June 16th. The series continues into July with Southern Spirit on Thursday, July 14th and Latin Express on Thursday, July 21st. Come out and join your local community for awesome live music, games, food vendors and a beer garden! If you would like more information on the Sunset Concert Series, please contact our Recreation Department at (760) 240-7880 or visit www.AVRecreation.org.
July 4th also brings the Town’s award-winning Freedom Festival celebration and fireworks show back to Brewster Park! The event kicks-off at 2PM and the fireworks extravaganza starts at 9PM. We’ll have live music from “Wally Pride” and the “Charlie’s Angels Band”. Guests are encouraged to bring their lawn chairs and blankets for an afternoon filled with games, prizes, food vendors and a beer garden. The Town will also host a simulcast over the radio on Y102 during the show for residents to listen-in as the fireworks are bursting in-air! For more information, please contact the Recreation office at (760) 240-7880.
Our Recreation Department will also be bringing back the Firecracker Run on Saturday, July 2nd. Registrants can choose between a 5K or 10K Run and families or groups are also welcome to join! All paid runners will receive a custom finishers medal and we will have separate awards for men, women and children in each age division. The first 50 pre-registered runners will receive a free commemorative t-shirt. Pre-registration ends Thursday, June 30, however, guests may still register online or in-person at Town Hall. Check-in begins at 6AM and the race kicks-off at 7AM. Visit www.AppleValleyEvents.org or call (760) 240-7880 for more information.
Apple Valley’s Community Enhancement Team also makes their comeback debut on Saturday, July 16, for a Neighborhood Cleanup event! The Town’s Community Enhancement staff and Burrtec Waste Industries, Inc. will be located at Lion’s Park from 8AM to 2PM ready to accept yard waste, household trash, furniture, metal and other items free of charge for Apple Valley residents. In addition to the cleanup event and on the same day, the Town’s Household Hazardous Waste Facility will be open to the public from 10AM to 2PM to accept sharps, used tires, televisions, computers, and other household hazardous materials. The facility is located on Nomwaket Road between Powhatan and Ottawa roads. Both events are open to Apple Valley residents and are free of charge. Neighborhood Cleanup events are made possible, in part, with contributions from of community sponsors including Burrtec Waste, Apple Valley Choice Energy, CalRecycle, Waxie Sanitary Supply, and the Mojave River Watershed Group.
I think that covers July but I wanted to extend an early Save. The. Date! We have scheduled this year’s State of The Town for Wednesday, August 17th. This year, we will have a special evening event open to all Apple Valley residents and members of the public who wish to know more about their community. We’ll kick things off with a presentation right here in our Conference Center. We’ll have more details to announce soon! We hope you can join us.
Lastly, I wanted to address some new development coming to the Jess Ranch area. The Jess Ranch community has grown significantly with the continued development of the Jess Ranch Marketplace and residential neighborhoods. The construction of a new sewer lift station will supply an essential underground sewage line for the surrounding area.
Once complete, a majority of the lift station will be located underground with the remaining equipment sheltered by a block enclosure with decorative gates that will blend in with the commercial improvements and reduce the noise level. Construction activities should be completed in December 2022.
I wanted to personally thank all of our Public Works crews who have helped us get this project up and running.
That’s all for this update, Apple Valley. I’m looking forward to seeing you all during our busy event season. Be safe and be well.
