SOZA FAMILY NEWSLETTER September 19, 1973

On Sunday, September 16, 1973, I had the honor and pleasure of hand delivering to the THF, Soza / Sosa Fund's Honor Roll of Donors, for eventual display in the "Jose Maria Sosa Room" at the Casa Del Gobernador. We urge you to visit the Casa and see this beautiful five page parchment roll, 12 x 18 inches, handwritten in Spencerian script with Higgens brown ink, and Peliken naranja drawing ink, accentuated with gold paint. Mr. Juan Soza Rodriguez of Pasadena did the penmanship. We extend our heartfelt thanks.

On this occasion, I want to acknowledge my gratitude to my brother and sister-in-law, Mr. & Mrs. Raul Soza, Wilmington, CA, whose unselfish generosity, made possible the loan of $3,000.00 to the Soza / Sosa Fund; thereby making possible the Fund's gift to the THF of $5,000.00, and which gift made possible the restoration of the "Jose Maria Sosa Room". October 20, 1973 is the first anniversary of this loan, and we still need $2,200.00 to repay the loan. May we count on your donation? Names of all the donors will be entered on the "Honor Roll".

Our work on the Soza genealogy continues, somewhat slowly at this time, as we continue to seek out missing data on persons very central to our work. We will advise as soon as we have a final draft ready for completion. Meanwhile, continue to send me all changes that may occur in your respective families.

The proposed Soza Ranch State Park continues to be another major area of interest. We are very much encouraged by the endorsements by the Arizona Historical Society (AHS) and the THF. Previously, the Arizona State Park Board wrote encouragingly, and the Arizona Academy of Science has termed the worthy of preservation. Our next task is to seek Federal and State legislative endorsement. More on this later, as we seek to establish the Soza Ranch State Park in time for the bicentennial celebrations of the City of Tucson and the United States of America in 1975-76.

Lastly, we respectfully invite you to send greetings to Mr. & Mrs. Ben Moreno Soza, 215 East 18th Street, Tucson, Arizona 85701 on the occasion of their 50th Wedding Anniversary on September 29, 1973. Mr. Ben Moreno Soza has been of inestimable help in furthering our work, and we invited you to join us in saluting Tio Benito and Tia Armida on September 29th. Looking forward to your help toward repayment of the loan.