Good morning, East Mesa. It is a plan-around-the-heat weekend: early mornings outside, air conditioning by midday.
- 🥬 Two Saturday markets open early at the Great Park and Vertuccio Farms. Produce and vendors before the heat sets in.
- 🎶 Duo Ocotillo plays 1960s hits at Red Mountain Library. Saturday morning, cello and classical guitar.
- 🍳 Sunday brunch with live music at Las Sendas. The Patio and Grille on Eagle Crest Drive.
- 🏗️ Eastmark Corridor and Dev Watch. A foreign-trade-zone vote, a new Ellsworth restaurant, and a Higley sewer project.
- 🏫 From the schools. Mountain View closed Friday, Desert Ridge band camp next week.
- 🎟️ Around the Valley. Aurelio Voltaire in Mesa, plus three Phoenix shows.
Get to the markets before noon
Two of East Mesa's Saturday markets run early this weekend, and in mid-July that timing is the whole point.
Key facts:
Both sit within a few minutes of each other in the southeast corner, so it is an easy Saturday-morning loop: the Great Park stalls first, then Vertuccio's on Power Road. The reason to move early is simple. By midday the lots bake, and Mesa is deep enough into summer that the city pools are the more sensible afternoon plan.
What to watch: both markets run through the summer, so if this weekend gets away from you, the same loop is there next Saturday.
The weekend
Friday
- 🦖 Dino Dig, 10 a.m., Red Mountain Library. Kids excavate a dinosaur from an egg, ages 3 and up. Details.
- 🎨 Art Journaling, 11 a.m., THINKspot at Red Mountain. Adults, journals and materials provided. Details.
- 🎬 Family Movie Night, 2 p.m., Red Mountain Library. Godzilla vs. Kong, rated PG-13. Bring blankets. Details.
- 🏀 Tournaments fill Arizona Athletic Grounds. Piestewa Games basketball and the ACL Mesa Signature cornhole open both run Friday. Details.
- 😂 Act Out! stand-up and improv. The Bridge Improv Theater in Mesa. Details.
Saturday
Sunday
- 🍳 Sunday Brunch with Rachelle Romeo. The Patio and Grille at Las Sendas, 755 E. Eagle Crest Drive. Live music with brunch. Details.
Around East Mesa
- 🏠 Homes across Mesa are taking about 55 days to sell, with the median sale price near $452,500, down about 1% from a year ago.
- 📖 The AARP Experience Corps holds an info session Monday, July 13 at Red Mountain Library for residents 50 and older who want to tutor Mesa Public Schools students in reading. Details.
- 🎲 Bunco returns Tuesday, July 14 at Augusta Ranch Golf Club, an easy daytime social for the 55-plus crowd. Details.
- 🏊 Mesa's city pools are open daily through July 18, the practical afternoon answer once the markets wrap. Details.
🏗️ Eastmark Corridor and Dev Watch
What's getting built along Ellsworth, Signal Butte, and the East Mesa industrial corridor.
- 📦 Trade-zone vote near Pecos and Sossaman. A July 20 council vote would grant foreign-trade-zone status, a customs-duty break on imported goods, to Arrow Global Supply Chain Services at three adjacent sites on East Pecos Road and South Sossaman Road. Details.
- 🍜 New Vietnamese spot coming to Ellsworth. Tastea Pho Banh Mi Café, a sit-down restaurant serving lunch and dinner, cleared its city license last month and is headed to 3442 S. Ellsworth Road. Details.
- 🚧 Higley corridor sewer expansion locked in. The city set a guaranteed price last month for a new lift station and sewer line covering about 350 acres around Longbow Golf Club, adding capacity for Amazon, American Leadership Academy, and Sunshine Acres among others. Details.
From the schools
Around the Valley
A few picks worth leaving East Mesa for this weekend.
- 🖤 Aurelio Voltaire. Gothic folk singer-songwriter, one night at The Rosetta Room in Mesa, Friday. The closest drive on this list. Tickets.
- 🏀 Phoenix Mercury vs. Indiana Fever. The Mercury host Indiana downtown, Thursday at 7 p.m., Mortgage Matchup Center. Tickets.
- 🪗 Los Texmaniacs. Tex-Mex conjunto at the Musical Instrument Museum's Music Theater, Thursday night. Tickets.
- 🎧 Wax and DJ Hoppa. Underground hip-hop at Crescent Ballroom, Friday. Tickets.