| < | ^ | > |
Valley Variety Entertainers was the 1992 brainchild of magicians Kim (Mick) Welsh and Brad Zinn to bring holiday cheer to residents of the Salvation Army's Herberger Harbor Light shelter program on East Van Buren in Phoenix. This facility was a re-purposed hotel administered by the Salvation Army. The entertainment took place all afternoon on December 16th, 1992 and resulted in local television news coverage. Entertainers who volunteered their time and talents for this event included Puppeteer Dick Stites, Magicians Patrick Holcomb, Kenton Knepper, Docc Hilford, George Sands, Roger “Jolly Roger” Blakiston, Michael Finney, Mick “Slick Mick” Welsh and Brad Zinn. Additional entertainers included “Cosmos” the stilt walking clown, Mime, Cindy Olstein, “Kuddles” the Clown, “Sugar Babe” the clown, Sweetie“ the clown, Cactus Road Barbershop Quartet, ”Arni“ the juggler, Magician and Musician Flash Covington with Doc Jones on keyboards, Ventriloquist Bruce Wall, Tim Wade as ”Elvis“, Santa & Mrs. Claus, accompanied by Elf Margaret. Crew members that made the staging, sound, lights, and publicity possible included Glenn Ellis, Thanno Sahnas, Strato Sahnas, Shawno Knepper, Richard Welsh, Steve Jennings, Craig Nichols (video). Contributors of time, talent, publicity, and door prizes included, S. Claus Entertainment, Tony and Alma Mattingly, Ralph Welker, Margaret Pellegrini, Phoenix Fire Department, KNIX Radio, KMLE Radio, Sierra Adobe Post Office Employees, Hillshire Farms, Sun Magic, Valle Luna Restaurant, The Fish Market Restaurant, Top Shelf Restaurant, K-Mart, Easley's Fun Shop, St. Joseph's Hospital Media Services, Warren ”Tres" Cole, Buggi Productions, Questar Telecom Radio, Southwest Audio-Visual, KPNX-TV, Eileen Bailey, Major Dee Webb, Major John Webb, and Staff of Salvation Army of Phoenix. Thanks also to Major Bradley and Lt. Colonel Morelock of The Salvation Army of Phoenix. Variations of this Christmas holiday effort continued for the next two years. (All items from the Brad Zinn Collection)
