📻 Creeker Broadcast

Unincorporated Maricopa County Islands – ThanksFULL Samhain Update

Brothers, Sisters, and Fellow Creekers,

This is your Unincorporated Maricopa County Islands Broadcast, where the desert speaks, the washes carve, and the saguaros keep watch.

🌵 The County Islands – Who We Are

We live on the County Islands — unincorporated pockets of land surrounded by cities but ruled only by Maricopa County.

  • No mayor.
  • No city council.
  • No HOA telling you how to live.

Here, independence is daily practice. The County gives us numbers and laws, but it is we, the Creekers of the Islands, who maintain easements, watch the roads, and keep order among neighbors. The Islands are not gaps on a map — they are sanctuaries of self-governance.

🦉 UMCI Animal Control – Our Shared Watch

In the Unincorporated Maricopa County Islands (UMCI), Animal Care & Control covers:

  • Stray or aggressive dogs.
  • Dog bites or licensing issues.
  • Pickup of loose animals when reported.

Wildlife — coyotes, bobcats, javelina, owls — falls under Arizona Game & Fish.
👉 Important Reminder: Harboring wildlife on your property is against Maricopa County ordinance, especially in residential areas. If you’ve got a bobcat taking up residence, you can discourage it with ammonia, set a trap, and call Apex Animal Control. Ask for Mitch to safely relocate that bobcat to a less populated area where it can thrive without putting neighbors, pets, or livestock at risk.

Keep these numbers handy:

  • MCACC (Animal Care & Control): 602-506-PETS
  • MCSO (Sheriff Non-Emergency / 911) for threats
  • AZ Game & Fish: 602-942-3000

The County provides the numbers. On the Islands, we provide the watch.

🍂 ThanksFULL Tradition – October 15–30

This season we gather the Islands’ way with a ThanksFULL Card & Recipe Swap.

  • A card is a blessing.
  • A recipe is a story.
  • Together they become food for the soul.

Like Sinterklaas, we leave gifts for one another. Like Thanksgiving, we sit at a common table. On the Islands, we make our own traditions by sharing what matters most: gratitude, memory, and neighborly care.

🕯 Samhain – Honoring the Lineage of the Islands

As Samhain arrives, the veil thins and our ancestors draw near.
We light candles for Mothers and Fathers, Grandmothers and Grandfathers who walked these washes before incorporation lines existed. Their courage roots us still. Every recipe and card is a bridge across time, linking those who came before with those who will walk the Islands after us.

🔔 Closing Word

We are not a single Island. We are Islands — unincorporated, rooted, and strong.
Independent in Law, yet bound in spirit.
Surrounded by city, yet governed by community.
Often overlooked, yet never erased.

As long as the saguaros stand and the washes flow, the Unincorporated Maricopa County Islands will remain.

To join in all community events, contact me, the Community Coordinator, at Does This Help — creeker.site.

Stay rooted. Stay watchful. Stay ThanksFULL.

~ Your Creeker Broadcast