On the Go Goes to Mescal Movie Set

Brenda Rock

Ten women from The Women of Quail Creek traveled to Benson, Ariz., to visit the Mescal Movie Set. This was part of the On the Go Program Committee’s activities.

We were greeted by several volunteers in cowboy attire, some of whom had actually participated in the movies filmed over the years. After meeting all the actors and actresses involved, we toured the grounds with a docent, Dawn. She was excellent at sharing the history/background with us. She answered questions readily and led us to each building, some of which we could visit inside. She shared how each building could be converted to some other kind of building other than what we saw. This included signage, levels of the building, stairs, how to get a horse on the second-floor balcony, how to change walls, etc. It was very fascinating. She concluded after we all put ourselves in jail for a time, then released ourselves and walked to the casino. The day was beautiful as we walked down Main Street with the mountains in the background and where “Hollywood” visited for the first time in the early ‘50s.

After our tour, we shared rides into Benson to the Horseshoe Café. It was an old-time café, but it was recently purchased and renovated by a new couple. Lunch was great as we shared our thoughts about the Mescal set. Giggles and laughs were abundant.

We headed home after lunch and agreed that we all had a very wonderful day.