Cheap Shots 01-03-1990

Attention, yuppie shoppers! Arizona's oldest merchant family, the GOLDWATER clan, is back in business. For the first time in years and years, the family is going to use its name to sell goods. Patriarch BARRY GOLDWATER and his family, whose name was plastered across stagecoaches last century, sold their department stores long ago. Only last January, however, the stores' owner finally changed the name "Goldwater's" to the mundane "Robinson's," and now the coast is clear. Barry's daughters PEGGY and JOANNE and other family members incorporated last month as Goldwater's Foods of Arizona Inc. and plan to sell "Southwestern gourmet" foods like chips and salsa. Granddaughter CAROLYN ROSS says the ex-senator himself will be on the board of directors. Peggy Goldwater once marketed salad dressing under the brand name "Peggy Jane's," but the family knows the name "Goldwater" still has some magic left. "What better name to identify with the Southwest?" asks clan lawyer CHARLES MYERS. We get the picture. When you think of chips, think Goldwater. When you think of a dip, think KEATING. . . .

Phoenix continues to lurch along in a search for a new KIDDIELAND for ENCANTO PARK, but some of the statistics spewing from the Parks Department are hard to believe. According to the department, Kiddieland drew 750,000 visitors in 1985--that's an average of 2,000 a day--and the last operator of the quaint little amusement park, which closed in '86, supposedly grossed $1.35 million in his three-year contract. The city's seeking bidders to run the new Kiddieland, which will cost $3 million in bond money and will offer fewer than half the rides of the old Kiddieland. The new Kiddieland also will feature the old park's carousel, but that's no thanks to the city. A group of irate citizens managed to save the carousel from Parks Department bulldozers. The Encanto bandshell was not so lucky, and parks official JIM BURKE says no new bandshell will be built. Progress is our most important product. . . .

One of the many decisions that awaits ROSE MOFFORD is the appointment of a new member to the ARIZONA GAME AND FISH COMMISSION. Tree-huggers are lobbying the governor hard for a "non-consumptive" person. Translation? Somebody who doesn't hunt. The SIERRA CLUB's novel idea--novel for Arizona--calls for Mofford to appoint someone from among the state's birdwatchers, animal watchers, hikers and photographers. Is it too much to ask to have at least one commission member who isn't supported by the hunting lobby? Mofford mouth VADA MANAGER says "no final decision" has been made. Asked about the tree-huggers' desires, he replies, "She regards that as important and takes that under consideration." Note to leaf-lickers: Don't hold your breath.