CHANDLER, Ariz. — A Valley city is celebrating what makes it special in 26 different ways. And now in Chandler, you can take a walk down memory lane from A to Z.
This new exhibit is called "Chandler A to Z." Anyone can walk through it now inside of the museum. Each letter of the alphabet is claimed by something interesting about Chandler, even the trickier letters like X, Q and Z.
Some of the letters are easy to recognize like A for agriculture, in a community known for farming alfalfa, cotton and dairies. Then there's B for Bashas, a local grocery store that started in the city and has been running for more than 90 years. There's also T for the Tumbleweed Tree, which is lit up every year during the holidays.
The museum’s programs manager, Tiffany Egnor said it took the museum about a year to develop the content for the whole alphabet. They had to brainstorm each letter and then find community members to loan them items for the exhibit.
Egnor said one uniquely Chandler fact that museum visitors will learn about is U for a UFO sighting that gained national attention.
It’s a story about an Air Force Lieutenant who said he saw a UFO in Chandler. His experience was recorded in Project Blue Book, which is recorded in the National Archives about unidentified flying objects.
“This UFO sighting was a daytime sighting," Egnor said. "The Air Force Lieutenant was in his backyard relaxing and he saw a moving object that he estimated the speed at 1200 miles per hour. Being an air force lieutenant, he was familiar with things and how they would move and how they would look and how they would travel through the sky. He knew it wasn't something he was familiar with or that he recognized."
The museum, near the Chandler Mall, is open every day except Monday. Admission is free. The exhibit will stay open through October.
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