What's Happening at Valley of the Moon ?

Casting Call for Monty Python Show on Saturday, May 26th, 2012 6:00m - 8:00pm

Actors and Stage Crew of all ages and abilities are needed for Valley of the Moon's summer production of The Monty Tale of King Arthur Python. Recruiting for actors, tech crew, costume designers, and prop makers. All ages welcome. No experience is needed.

Free Moon Movies presents: The Dark Crystal on Saturday, June 2nd, 2012 7:00pm

Bring the whole family for a night of adventure, imagination and entertainment under the stars, when Valley of the Moon presents it's next major motion picture: THE DARK CRYSTAL on Saturday, June 2. Admission is free, but a $4 suggested donation is appreciated. Gates open at 7:00PM and Movie starts at 7:40PM. Snacks will be available. Bring a blanket or lawn chair and a friend.

Come before the movie to explore a world of magic and be dazzled by the Fairy Lights of historic Valley of the Moon. Come stroll through the evening sparkle as you explore winding paths, magic statues and enchanted gardens. The Dark Crystal is about another planet, another time. 1000 years ago the mysterious Dark Crystal was damaged by one of the Urskeks and an age of chaos began! The evil race of grotesque, birdlike lizards the Skeksis: gnomish dragons who rule their fantastic planet with an iron claw. Meanwhile, the orphan Jen, raised in solitude by a race of the peace-loving wizards called the Mystics, embarks on a quest to find the missing shard of the Dark Crystal, which gives the Skesis their power, and restore the balance of the universe. Rated PG.

OPEN-FORUM YOGA EVENINGS at Valley of the Moon - Every Sunday from 3:00pm - 5:00pm
Every Sunday Bogdare will be Hosting Open Forum Yoga Evenings at Valley of the Moon! Come together Sundays for a 2 hour session of learning an Art and Open Forum Yoga with LIVE music by Okat! OPEN-FORUM YOGA means that everyone is free to do their own style of yoga and can share with anyone who would like to learn from them. There is no one teacher, we are all teachers and we are all students. ALL AGES WELCOME!
Park entry $3.00
FREE: for VOM and Bogdare members
Time: 3:00pm - 5:00pm
First Hour: Walk in Greet/Art Topic
Second Hour: Open Forum Yoga
Coffee, Tea and Healthy Tidbits Provided by Tucson Eats Dinner! Listed Below are all the "Art Topics" we will have for each Sunday: Sponsored by: Tucson Eats Dinner and Fractal Films Live Music by: Okat Promotion Video By: Fractal Films

Board of Directors Meeting
Saturday, June 2nd, 2012 12:00pm - 1:00pm The monthly meeting of The George Phar Legler Society, which governs Valley of the Moon, will meet at 2544 E Allen Rd. All those who wish to assist Valley of the Moon with long term planning, event coordination, or fundraising should attend. This is a public meeting and all are welcome. We welcome families, teens, elders and the differently able.

FREE MOON MOVIES and MORE
If you have suggestions for free movie night join us on facebook and let us know!

Valley of the Moon is the World's only historic fantasy fairyland garden park dedicated to Kindness. The Moon was lovingly imagined and built by George Phar Legler between 1923 and 1967, now kept alive by a small band of dedicated Volunteers, Magic Lovers, Families, Teens and anyone who believes that Happiness is Given and Not Sold. A-ZE-O (health to all), Pilgrim. Valley of the Moon is kept going by donations and 2 fundraising shows a year, the spring and fall shows. The Haunted Ruins have been a longstanding Tucson tradition. It is also open to the public the first Saturday of every month.

Valley Moon Videos

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2677818656182364327&hl=en

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a PYGMY HUT! As you may know, some statues from Magic Carpet Golf moved to Valley of the Moon. We are thrilled to report the statues are on site and glad to have a safe new home!

VALLEY OF THE MOON LISTED IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
September 5, 2011 (TUCSON) - Valley of the Moon, built by hand by George Phar Legler between 1923-1932, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on July 27, 2011. The designation of this important, whimsical fairy-tale-inspired landscape is the result of a cooperative project of the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation and The George Phar Legler Society.

Valley of the Moon is a rare expression of post-World War I Spiritualism. Its character, form and function illustrate this mystic movement's values and is the sole known example in Arizona, said Demion Clinco, President of the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation, who prepared the nomination." The garden's architectural details evoke the closely-related to 'Storybook Style' popularized by Hollywood in California during the 1910s - 1920s."

As a unique expression of the early Twentieth Century Modern Spiritualism movement, "Valley of the Moon" physically manifests not only fairy-tale motifs and tropes, but also the philosophical tenets of George Phar Legler, pastor of the First Spiritualist Church of Tucson: kindness to others is the foundation of happiness. The vast array of stone buildings in various full-side and miniature scales offer the distinctive characteristics of a romantic folly, and a unparalleled example of "Storybook" garden architecture.

"The listing on the National Historic Register will help give Valley of the Moon much needed publicity and help to ensure that it will continue to thrive for another 88 years, or more," said Randy Van Nostrand, President of The George Phar Legler Society.

Valley of the Moon History

Valley of the Moon, conceived, designed and built by George Phar Legler, expresses Spiritualism's surge in popularity following World War I, which was itself augmented by the sensational news surrounding the sighting and photography of fairies in the United Kingdom, popular fairy‑tale and fable literature, and the prominence and accessibility of exotic European fantasy architecture in silent cinema in the second and third decades of the twentieth century.

In his youth, George Phar Legler, under the tutelage of a socialist shoemaker, was exposed to Spiritualism during its height at the end of the nineteenth and start of the twentieth century. Modern Spiritualism was born in the middle of the 1800s with two major surges in America, the first following the end of the Civil War and the second following World War I and the great influenza epidemic. Seances, mediums, and the ability to communicate with the dead were the principle tenets. Spirits, ghosts, elves and fairies inhabited the lives of believers.

George Phar Legler's personal tale seems derived from fairy-tales. His early childhood, as if penned by the Brothers' Grimm, involves a wicked stepmother, stowaways and an influential shoemaker. Consumed by legends, spirits and fairies, he became an inseparable part of his own mythic landscape, which he began to create at the age of 38.

A guide, narrator, self-described 'mountain gnome', and permanent resident of the enchanted garden, Legler transformed himself into one of the roles of his own fable; a cloaked figure who for years lived in underground caves on the property, surviving on nothing but milk; yet celebrated, as a folk hero in newspapers and magazines including LIFE Magazine. As the twentieth century advanced, myths and fairy-tales faded in the wake of World War II, the cultural revolution of the late 1960s and the Viet Nam War.

Almost completely forgotten, Legler, an anachronism of a bygone era, retreated into his crumbling garden. A hermit, he vanished into the overgrown grounds, unheard for a decade. In the 1970s a band of high school students, with faded memories of childhood moonlit excursions into the park, climbed the fence and found the elderly, frail Legler barely alive. The students extracted the ancient Rip Van Winkle from the deteriorating terrain and nursed him back to health. Thereafter, the students and Legler, then 90, worked together to restore the property. Upon Legler's death at almost the age of 98, the students inherited a foundation which owned Valley of the Moon to become its trusted stewards and to guard the garden in perpetuity.

Background

The Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization established in 1985 dedicated to preserving Tucson's Unique Architectural Environment.

The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation's historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America's historic and archeological resources.

The George Phar Legler Society was established in 1982 to protect Valley of the Moon for future generations.

Available sources include:
Demion Clinco, President, Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation
Randy Van Nostrand, President, The George Phar Legler Society

Photo opportunities and stock and historic photography are available upon request.

Valley Moon is now on facebook! Click Here To Check It Out

Valley of the Moon is an Arizona Historic District, and as a Non-profit organization our board meetings are open to the public. The next meeting of The George Phar Legler Society will be the first Saturday of each month at 12:00 NOON at Valley of the Moon, 2544 East Allen Road. Help in the planning of the restoration of Valley of the Moon.

A-ZE-O (health to all)