Expressing the Holiday Spirit
For Michael Fleishman, magic happens. Williams High School teacher by day, Santa by night, Fleishman is well suited for both roles. Approaching life with a twinkle in his eye, he is a student of human nature, looking to create meaningful interaction with each person he meets. That is a tall order for a Santa, employed >> Read More…
Driven to Make Customers Happy
Heath Harris, the owner of Heath’s Auto Service in Flagstaff, calls himself a classic overachiever. He may be right. He starts his day five days a week weightlifting. “I do it every morning at 5:00 a.m. to get my whole day in focus. It sets the pace and the intensity,” he said. Then he goes >> Read More…
Helping Steer Flagstaff’s Future
Stephanie McKinney is one of those people who, after talking to her for five minutes, you feel you’ve known forever. Effervescent and energetic might be two other ways to describe this dynamic community leader. Her day job is serving as vice president for business development at the National Bank of Arizona, where she helps fit >> Read More…
Teacher Empowering Young Flagstaff Students
It is not too far of a stretch to say that teacher Daniel Belieff runs his fifth grade classroom like the Marine Corps, because basically, he does. “It is the Marine attitude. We train hard; we play hard,” he said. “In the center of our room, there are the 14 units of leadership that our >> Read More…
Discovering Life’s New Paths Among the Red Rocks
It‘s been nearly 10 years, but the emotions of working at Ground Zero just after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks are still close to the surface for Mark Ranges. “I don’t look at the pictures. I can watch things on TV, but I still can’t look at the pictures,” he said. Ranges, owner of Sedona >> Read More…
Working to Preserve Northern Arizona Forests
Pascal Berlioux’s passion is something this region could use right now: a solution for increasing the health of our forests. He has spent most of his time in Flagstaff working closely with people on all sides of forest issues, from scientists to environmentalists. If plans work out, Berlioux’s passion should translate to hundreds of jobs >> Read More…
A Career of Caring for Creatures
She was not one of those children who grew up knowing she was going be a veterinarian. “It was not something girls grew up to be,” said Dr. Cheryl Howerton, owner of Alpine Animal Hospital in Flagstaff. “I wanted to be a teacher.” Still, she had an affinity for animals. “I brought a lot of >> Read More…
Three Decades of Serving His Community
About a year after he left his job as assistant dean at Northern Arizona University to open his own business as a financial advisor, Bill Babb had serious second thoughts. “I thought maybe this was a bad decision,“ he said. It was too late to return to the university. They had already replaced him. He >> Read More…
A Sustainable and Native Livelihood
When the idea of using xeriscape landscaping in yards became popular, most people resigned themselves that to save water, they had to settle for what Nigel Sparks calls a “gravelscape” – nothing fancy or colorful, just efficient. “I think that is what people came to see and that was not the intention when xeriscaping started,” >> Read More…
Committed To Serving Up Quality
Many would agree that Paul and Laura Moir are a well-matched couple. As owners of Brix and Criollo restaurants in Flagstaff, they are on the same page with values that have made the establishments popular: excellent service, sustainability and organic offerings. They met in 1996 while working in a Phoenix area restaurant. With college degrees >> Read More…
