2018 was an active year in Page, with lots of transitions. Page elected a new mayor and council members, three of whom took their first steps on the dais. 2018 saw the first time Page elected women on its city council.  A longtime city manager left, a new one took her place. We said goodbye to a few good friends, and welcomed a few new ones.
We said adieu to Great Lakes Airlines and said hello to Contour Airlines.
In November the city of Page put in the bank all the money it needs to pay off its bond debt, which freed up enough money to begin some of its ambitious strategic improvement plans. 2018 saw the groundbreaking on several new construction projects. The city and the chamber of commerce brought back the Christmas Parade in 2017 and vastly improved upon it in 2018, and added the Festival of Lights.
The Page Sand Devils athletics dominated in several sports: girls basketball, wrestling, track, softball, baseball, football and cross-country. The teams had some of the best performances Page has seen in years, with many great individual performances too. Winterguard brought home its first state championship.


February
Levi Tappan announces run for mayor
Thirty-eight year old Page native Levi Tappan announced in mid-February that he would be running for mayor of Page in the November elections. The father of three, Marine veteran and Page Hospital sonographer would ultimately go on to win the election.

Business leaders hold meeting to discuss way to improve Page’s customer service
A group of about 50 business owners, civic leaders, corporate representatives and business managers gathered at the Courtyard by Marriott to discuss ways to improve Page’s dismal customer service, after an alarming number of reviews on Yelp and TripAdvisor suggest to future tourists visiting Page that they take the extra time to move on and spend their night elsewhere.
With NGS closing and Page’s economy and industry pivoting strongly to tourism, it was a subject all in attendance were keenly interested in.

Lady Sand Devils basketball crowned champions again!
For the third time in four seasons the Lady Sand Devils competed in the 3A North Championship title game, and for the second time in four seasons they emerged wearing the champions’ crown. Led by guards Myka Taliman and Mikala Benally the Sand Devils defeated the Monument Valley Mustangs 41-34.

Page High student receives prestigious journalism offer in New York
Page High School student and aspiring writer, Makenzie Erickson, received an offer to attend the esteemed School of the New York Times, an intensive ten-day course in journalism for high school students who are passionate about a career in journalism, and serious about sharpening their research and writing skills.

3 Sand Devils wrestlers take the podium at state championships
The Sand Devils wrestling team added some new names to its Wall of Fame in 2018. Senior Kamron Whitewater, wrestling in the 106-pound category, took first place. Junior Hayden Gracia, wrestling in the 145-pound category, took first place at state. He returns in 2018 to defend his title.  Senior Christian Penrod, wrestling in the 138-pound category, placed fourth at the state championships. All three have been wrestling under the tutelage of coaches Kyran Keisling and Matt Penrod since they were four years old, and took their first tumbles on the mat as Dust Devils.
March

BBC films documentary about Princess Margaret in Page
The British Broadcasting Corp. spent two days in Page filming a documentary about the life of Princess Margaret. Princess Margaret and her husband, Lord Snowden, spent a few days touring Page’s attractions during a Nov. 1965 tour of America.  

Cancer Outreach closes its doors, Bjorholms leave
Due to health problems Jo and Leo Bjorholm closed the doors of the Cancer Outreach, something they started in Oct. 2010 as a way to help a friend with cancer pay for her travel and lodging expenses while fighting cancer. During its seven year existence the facility helped 77 patients.

City of Page conducts housing study
The City of Page spearheaded a comprehensive housing study which addressed current and future housing needs. The study, conducted by Michael Baker International, included an in-depth demographic analysis, a housing condition evaluation and a community outreach process. The study was spurred by numerous Page houses which have been purchased and converted to vacation rentals, which has ultimately led to a housing shortage, making it increasingly difficult for Page agencies and businesses to recruit.

Wilderness River Adventures returns to its Glen Canyon roots
Wilderness River Adventures, which held the government contract to provide river trips from the Glen Canyon Dam to Lees Ferry until 2006, regained the contract in autumn of 2017 and began river operations in March 2018, using rafts that are more fuel efficient and utilizing current Americans with Disabilities facilities.

Great Lakes Airlines suspends operations
In a letter dated March 26, Great Lakes Airlines suspended its operations in and around Page, without any prior warning.

Winterguard brings home its first state championship
Coached by Katrina Wunderlich and Gwen Lasslo the Page High School Winterguard, in its second season, brought home a state championship.

April

Powell Museum hires new operations manager
Cheri Brown became the new operations manager of the Powell Museum and Visitor Center, replacing Billie Wright. Brown formerly worked for the Family Bargain Center.

Softball team crowned 3A North Regional champs
The Page High School softball team brought home the 3A North Regional softball trophy, defeating Window Rock Fighting Scouts. Amaya Curley, who led the league in stolen bases and runs, was named 3A North Regional Softball Player of the Year.

The Sand Devils baseball team wins 3A North Regional championship
The Page High School baseball team grabbed the 3A North Regional championsip. They played the Window Rock Fighting Scouts.

Red for Ed
Numerous Page High School teachers walked out of their classes as part of the statewide Red for Ed movement, protesting low teacher and staff pay, and advocating for better school funding.

May

Bowen Martin has big day at state track meet
Sand Devils junior track star, Bowen Martin, finished first at the state track championships in the 3200meter, 1600 meter and the 4x800 meter relay. As a team the boys track team finished fourth at state.

191 horses die at Gray Mountain stock pond
After a widespread drought and famine hit the Gray Mountain area, 191 wild mustangs died.

Topo map finds a new home
The famous, hand-carved relief map that was once displayed inside the Carl Hayden Visitor Center found a new home inside the Glen Canyon Natural History Association’s new building. The map, which was originally hand-carved by Robert Miller, was later restored and touched up by Pat Talbott.

City council votes to end visitor center at Powell Museum
Mayor Bill Diak and members of the Page city council voted to end the Powell Museum’s role as the city’s visitor center. The vote came after the Powell Museum asked for $78,000 from the city for its fiscal year operations. The city instead approved a budget of $60K.
Later in the year, the mayor and city council changed their earlier decision and funded the museum $70k, with a promise to keep it open going forward, at least for the next few years.

June

Civil Air Patrol comes to Page
A branch of the Civil Air Patrol formed in Page after Major Randy Hammit and his wife Kelli Hammit, proposed the idea to the Page City Council, which unanimously approved it.

Page Police open command center at Horseshoe Bend
Page Police began parking their mobile command center at the Horseshoe Bend parking lot to help deal with the influx of visitors. The Police help direct traffic, and deal with issues related to heat, dehydration and accidents.

July

NPS finishes first phase of Horseshoe Bend construction
After seven months of construction, a National Park Service construction crew completed the Rim Viewing Area at Horseshoe Bend, which includes a level viewing platform and railing. And ADA-approved trail will be completed in early 2019.

Page hires new city manager
The city of Page hired Michael Celaya to be its new city manager after losing Crystal Dyches earlier in the summer. Celaya formerly worked as town manager in Gila Bend, Ariz. and city manager in Surprise, Ariz. 

Celaya also brought with him 21 years experience in municipal strategy and developmental expertise.

August

Contour Airlines begins Page operations.
Contour Airlines made its first flight carrying passengers from Page to Phoenix in August. The airline began its operations with 12 weekly round trip flights to Phoenix Sky Harbor. They have since added flights to Las Vegas.  Contour’s 30 seat jet has been a big improvement over Great Lakes nine seat prop plane.

Three city employees fired
Economic development coordinator Lexie Woodward, community enchancement technician Aaron Bixler and community development director Kim Johnson were surprised to learn that the recently-hired city manager had terminated their positions.

September

Susan Eubanks named new CEO of Page Banner Health
After Page Banner Health’s CEO Brian Kellar was named CEO of Banner Casa Grande Medical Center, Susan Eubanks, was appointed as the facility’s new CEO. Eubanks has served as the hospital’s chief nursing officer prior to that.

NGS buyer backs out
Middle River Power and its subsidiary group, Avenue Capital Group, which had been in talks to purchase the Navajo Generating Station, announced in September that they no longer planned to pursue the purchase of the failing power plant. No other buyers have come forward.

October

Mayor Diak, city manager kick off For Our City Page
One of mayor Bill Diak’s last acts as mayor was to start a city-wide volunteer program, called For Our City Page. The program will unite faith-based communities, non-profits, businesses and everyday citizens on projects that will benefit the city and its citizens.
The plan is pretty simple. One, identify a problem. Two, find a solution to fix the problem. Mobilize a group of volunteers to fix the problem.

Football team crowned 3A North Champs
For the second year in a row the Sand Devils football team brought home the 3A North regional championship. Their run for the state championship came up short when they were defeated by Valley Christian a couple weeks later.

November

Page Police officer TerEick receives major award
Page Police detective Terry Tereick was given the Heart of Gold Award for demonstrating extraordinary compassion and dedication to working with victims of crime.

Panthers football team are NAIC champions
The Page Middle School Panthers won the NAIC championship game by a score of 22-20 over the heavily favored Kayenta Colts. The Panthers finished the season with a 7-2 win-loss record.

Bowen Martin, Morgan Fowler and Trent Holiday place 1st, 2nd, 3rd at state CX championships
The Page High School Runnin’ Devils boys team have kept up the school’s long-running tradition.
The team dominated the state championship cross-country race, bringing home its fifth consecutive title. Individually Bowen Martin placed first with a time of 16:02, Fowler place second with a time of 16:19 and Trent Holiday place third with a time of 16:37.

Encompass Health Services closes
After operating at a loss for seven and a half years, Encompass Health Services closed it primary clinic in Page on Nov. 21. It did not close its mental health and substance abuse services.

Mayor Tappan, new city council take oaths of office
During a special city council meeting city of Page vice mayor Jon Kocjan canvassed the votes of the Nov. 6 midterm elections, after which city clerk Kim Larson led the incoming mayor and city council members through their oaths of office.
Incoming mayor Levi Tappan, along with council members Kristin Davis, Mark Cormier, Rick Yanke, Theresa Bowlby and Dennis Warner took their oaths of office as they began their new terms.

December

Page citizens make suggestions for downtown revitalization
The Downtown Revitalization Committee held an open forum in early December to discuss what the citizens of Page want as the city progresses with its downtown and Block 17 revitalization.
During their time in Page the five city planners the city had hired to consult on the revitalization project did a note-taking walk-through of page observing tourist, traffic and business patterns.

Festival of Lights was a big hit
The City of Page ended the year on a high-note with the very successful Festival of Lights. The event began with the Christmas Parade, which had more floats than last year. Following the paraded Page residents and visitors gathered in the city park which they found decorated with light trees, an ice-skating rink, campfires, s’mores-making stations and much more.


Numerous construction project underway as city jumpstarts projects from its list of strategic priorities
    With money to pay off its bond debt in the bank, the city of Page is taking aggressive actions to tackle numerous projects on its strategic priorities list. As 2018 ends construction crew are at work on improving and expanding the parking lot and facilities at Horseshoe Bend, sidewalks at the city park, expanding the parking lot at the Page Community Center, and constructing the skatepark. Resurfacing city streets is next on the city’s list.