Thank You Dick Eggerding!
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I have been searching for months for a place that befits the name of this cache. I think the newly landscaped walking path where the cache is hidden illustrates my point exactly.
If you have lived in the "OV" for a while, you may have noticed beautiful sculptures and artwork scattered amongst the newly developed commercial areas around town. The strip mall on the Southwest corner of Naranja and 1st has some great examples. Oro Valley Marketplace has some too (hint, hint). Do you think the developers of these sites put them there because of their generous appreciation of the arts? Maybe, but I don't think so. One person is primarily responsible for making your next visit to Walgreen's a more pleasant experience, Mr Dick Eggerding. I learned about Mr Eggerding and his work from an article in Oro Valley Magazine, November 2009. Here is the text from that article:
DICK EGGERDING By Dave Califano Photography By Jennifer Polixenni Brankin
At 76, Dick Eggerding has been a lot of things to a lot of people; high school sweetheart and husband, father of two, grandfather, military serviceman, Washington University graduate, professional opera singer, president and chair of a major southeastern insurance company, cancer survivor, arts activist and lover.
Born in 1933, Eggerding was reared by a single mother — his father died when he was just 2 years old — during the Great Depression and World War II, at which time he collected scrap iron and sold savings stamps for the war effort. By age 14, his love affair of the arts was fully rooted when he started performing in school plays and local productions. By 21, he had graduated from university and married.
In 1988, after a career in insurance, Eggerding and his wife, Marjorie, retired in Oro Valley. “We were living in Scottsdale and wanted to retire there,” he explains. “Then we came down Highway 79 and we got to that first panoramic view and were like ‘Wow, look at that!’ We’ve been in love with Oro Valley ever since.”
At this point in the story, you would expect Eggerding to have settled into a life of golf, dinner parties and reading, but you would be severely mistaken. Since landing in Oro Valley Eggerding has co-founded the Greater Oro Valley Arts Council, established the Oro Valley Public Art Code and the 1% for Public Art funding and the Oro Valley Community Foundation. He’s also served on numerous boards, task forces and the like. I sat down with Eggerding over some pasta, or as the waitress playfully joked “some ravioli with your cheese again,” to talk about the state of arts in the region.
OVM: How did you get involved in the Oro Valley arts community?
DE: Back in 1994, I was chair of the so-called Arts Advisory Board. My partner, Bob Weede, and I contracted with the Arizona Commission on the Arts to do a cultural assessment for the town. In that they made several recommendations of what the community can and should do and one was to create a non-profit arts organization. The other was to have a Percent for Art ordinance. So if there is construction by commercial or the town there should be a percentage for art.
That same year was the beginning of the general plan for the town. There was nobody on the board but me who represented the arts. So I wrote up the entire section of the general plan on arts and culture and as part of it I threw in all of the stuff from the assessment.
OVM: Did you meet with any opposition?
DE: I used politics for the arts; I never used arts to be a politician. And people accused me of that. I had to live that down for about two years. Everybody thought I was doing all of this because I was going to run for office. That’s not why I did it. I did it because of my passion.
OVM:There is no denying that you have passion.
DE: I am not a joiner. I am a volunteer entrepreneur. I like to start things, like the arts council (GOVAC), the 1% for Public Arts, the Historical Society, the [Oro Valley] Community Foundation. I enjoy the challenge.
OVM: You co-founded GOVAC. How did that come about?
DE: In 1996, Bob Weede and I formed a 501(c)(3) called the Greater Oro Valley Arts Council. It took us a year to get the thing through the IRS. In December 1997 the Arts Advisory Board, en masse, all resigned and became the board of GOVAC. We took a risk and I got the board to designate GOVAC as the designated arts organization and it was put in the general plan and is in the general plan today.
OVM: You created the 1% for Public Art ordinance too. How did that happen?
DE: In 1995, I wrote a letter to the mayor and council saying that the general plan indicated that we should have a 1% for Public Art ordinance. The mayor appointed me to work on it. The developers were up in arms. I finally convinced them, “You can write it off and you will be leaving something behind for the town and you’ll be revered for it. The very first project was the ballroom revision at the [Hilton] El Conquistador. If you go over there you will see a huge ram. That was the very first project under the ordinance. It cost $35,000.
OVM: GOVAC recently changed its name to Southern Arizona Arts & Cultural Alliance, and also its mission. What are your thoughts about that?
DE: Times change and organizations have to adjust to those changes. I think the organization, under the circumstances of the economy is doing what ever they can do to survive.
The actual constituency for the arts hasn’t changed and that is the important part. I do believe that the Alliance is on the right track in today’s conditions. They’ve diversified and that’s good. The real problem is everything local is suffering. If I could make an appeal, my appeal to Oro Valley is to get out and support the Alliance.
OVM: You’ve done so much for the community, you must be very proud?
DE: I revel in the success. I get up in the morning and I drive down Rancho Vistoso and I see the public art. I go to the hospital and see the art there. I have a beautiful day every time I get up because the arts are there. I am extraordinarily proud of the public art.
OVM: What do you see for the future?
DE: The country is in the throes of something huge and nobody knows where it’s going. Art will survive. The infrastructure of the city is like the heart but arts are the soul.
For information about local arts and cultural events, visit SAACA.org.
Now, on to the cache! It's a 1.5 inch long tube, bring your own pen and tweezers. It is an easy find, with a real spoiler of a hint. My point is to make this cache as easy as possible to find. The goal is to take you to a place where you can appreciate the effort of Mr Dick Eggerding. The area is very seldom used, so you will probably have the walkway to yourself. Parking is very near and the cache is wheelchair accessible. Thank you Dick Eggerding!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ynef Fgnayrl '08