ELOY — It was a very interesting year in the City of Eloy, from the design process of the new city hall to looking for a new superintendent for the Toltec School District.
The top news stories for 2017 in Eloy were:
- New City Hall Project.
- Former Superintendent Jeff Van Handle leaves Toltec School District.
- Santa Cruz Valley Union High School Football Team goes to 2A State Championship.
- The Fiestas Patrias.
- Overall community outreach and involvement.
- ) At the beginning of 2017, city officials started the process of constructing a new city hall in downtown Eloy. As the year progressed, so did the planning and designing process of the city hall. By the end of the year, city officials announced they would be able to break ground in early 2018. With a 10-month construction schedule, the new city hall should be finished in late 2018 or early 2019.
- ) Early in the year came the revelation that Toltec School District Superintendent Jeff Van Handle was making way more money then anyone thought he was. Most of his income came through an organization that he was the CEO that did business with the district. As 2017 came to an end, Van Handle announced that he would be leaving in October, effective immediately.
The Toltec School Board selected Arizona City Elementary School Principal Denise Rogers to be the interim superintendent until they hire a new superintendent in the spring of 2018. And to finish the year out with a bang, on Dec 27, 2017 the Toltec School Board announced that the board president was resigning and that they would be looking to fill the vacant seat on the board by the end of January 2018.
- ) Over the past few years the Santa Cruz Dust Devils Football Team has been pretty much flawless. This year the Dust Devils went 12-0 all the way to the 2A State Championship. The Championship game was a rematch of the 2016 semifinal game against Thatcher. Unfortunately, for the Dust Devils “Deja vu” was all the Dust Devils got to experience. In 2016, the Dust Devils were leading going into the fourth quarter to eventually lose the game in overtime by one point. Again, in 2017, the Dust Devils were leading going into the fourth quarter to lose once again in overtime by just one point.
- ) Eloy’s biggest event of the year came and again blew everyone’s minds at how successful it was. The 2017 Fiestas Patrias was another great success and it was even bigger and better then the year before. In 2016, the Lucha Libre event made its debut and when it was brought back in 2017 it was even more of a crowd pleaser. It seems like it will be a part of the Fiestas Patrias for years to come.
- ) Throughout the year there has been several events that were put together to raise money for the community and to help better the future of Eloy. For example, the Community Outreach of Robson Ranch/ Heart of Eloy under the direction of Betty Peterson Founder/President of CORR and Heart of Eloy has held multiple events throughout the year. In fact, the community of Robson Ranch is a very supportive foundation for the Eloy community. Whether it is a pickleball tournament to raise money for the fire department or a shoe drive at Curiel School.
For Eloy, it was a very successful and productive year and everyone is trying to carry that momentum into 2018.