Academy Village is becoming a village.
The first residents moved in early in October. By the end of the year thirteen residences were occupied and the number has grown since. So far everyone is pleased with their new house and loves the site with the open sky and desert and mountain views.
Above we see a cluster of homes nearly completed
already two are occupied but although
there is
development the desert landscape still predominates and the wild life puts in their
appearances from time to time. 
Road runners, coyotes, many birds and other wild life can often be seen.
We have mail delivery
Our mail boxes are shown here
Currently all mail arrives at the row of boxes shown here near the AV offices and models. The original 12 are shown and then new boxes to accomadate expansion. Larger packages UPS and FedX are delivered to our door. The peak shown in the background above is about 7050 Feet
We receive the morning paper. It is left out in front of our homes. Of course we have telephone service although it initally took some time to get the phones installed for a variety of reasons there should be no problem now.
We also have Cox cable TV after having had to relearn how rabbit ears worked and what snow was.
And speaking of snow twice during the month of January we have had snow on the ground.
Early morning snow.
It was not long lasting but as I type this update I can see snow on the nearby Rincon Mountains.
The first cable TV was installed on the day before New Years eve just in time to welcome in the New Year at a Pioneers party. There have been several parties in the village. A Christmas party was held in one of the Town Homes and is shown below
Below are a few of the Pioneers at the New Year's eve party.
New Year's Eve 2000
At these parties we have come to know our neighbors and future
neighbors some what better. 
We have decided that we are all pretty nice folks and we are going to enjoy living here.
The Village and the Academy idea is already flourishing. The first class, a beginning Spanish course started in October. The second course, in Archeology starts on Jan. 31. These classes are being held at the Univ. of Arizona Science and Technology Center off of Rita Road near I10. We now have a 14 passenger Van that will be able to take villagers to these classes and provide other transportation services. A trip is currently scheduled to go to the Tucson Art Museum.
January 10 through the 13th the Arizona Senior Academy sponsored a four day conference on Aging Memory and the Brain. It was held at the Hilton Tucson East.It was a very successful conference, in fact the best yet.
On Saturday at the conclusion of the Conference we had a special "Hard Hat Tour" of The Academy facility and The
Community Center under construction at the Village. had an opportunity to visit the
construction site for the AV Community Center. 
Community Center
as of
1/10/01.
Construction is well on it's way. The "Gathering Area", Conference rooms, Dining area, offices and health wing all looked quite spacious. The Center is scheduled to be completed in May and be fully operational by August 1. By that time the Tennis Courts and Swiming pool should be available. We will than have our classes, conferences and other activities located on site.
If you drive from the city to Academy Village via Broadway and Freeman you may have noted on your right just after having turned on to Freeman this pair of dancing saguaros.
I could have danced all night
One of the joys of Academy Village are the many spectacular sunsets.
