Happy Sunday, Holbrook. Here is your week.
Wednesday is the one to circle this week, because it starts before sunrise, it runs well past dinner, and there's more than one reason to be at the high school.
There's something new standing at Hunt Park, and it isn't finished yet.
Clue No. 4 in the hunt for the hidden $100 is waiting below, and the letters you've been collecting are finally starting to look like something.
⛈️ This Week's Weather
Highs near 95 and lows down around 65 this week, which is the stretch of late August where the afternoons still feel like summer and the evenings finally don't.
The stormy flag is up too, so don't let a clear morning talk you out of throwing an umbrella in the car.
Around Town This Week
Entrance to Petrified Forest National Park is free on August 25 for the 110th birthday of the National Park Service. Spend the day exploring the painted desert, the petrified logs, and the trails just east of Holbrook. Free entrance applies to US citizens and residents. Other fees may still apply.
The City of Holbrook is calling on the community to help clean up town ahead of Fair Weekend. Meet at Hunt Park at 6:00 AM on Wednesday, August 26, then help clean, beautify, and take pride in Holbrook. Together let's get the town looking its best before the fair rolls in. Every set of hands helps.
Holbrook Community Clean-UpHolbrook Community Clean-UpHolbrook High girls soccer hosts the Page Sand Devils at Holbrook High School. Kickoff is at 4pm. Come pack the sideline and cheer on the Roadrunners. Boys follow at 6pm against the same school, so you can make an evening of it.
Holbrook High boys soccer hosts the Page Sand Devils at Holbrook High School. Kickoff is at 6pm. Come pack the sideline and cheer on the Roadrunners. The girls play first at 4pm, so come early and stay for both.
Holbrook High girls volleyball hosts the Show Low Cougars at Holbrook High School. First serve is at 6:30pm. Come fill the gym and cheer on the Roadrunners.
Navajo County veterans, here is something worth knowing. Fishers of Men for Veterans hosts a Veterans Outreach on the fourth Friday of every month, and the gathering takes place at the First Baptist Church of Holbrook.
The last Saturday of the month brings the Motherload Market back around. Out on Route 66 at 113 E Hopi Drive, you will find a swap meet, crafters, food, and all manner of new and used treasures, running from 9am to 1pm. Thinking about selling? Vendor spots come in at just $15, and you can reach the market through Facebook or by emailing thefossilfile@gmail.com.
Now Showing at the Roxy
Now Playing: The Odyssey
Christopher Nolan's version of Homer has landed on Route 66, with Matt Damon as Odysseus clawing his way home from the Trojan War past the Cyclops, the Sirens and Calypso. It runs just under three hours, so get your popcorn before you sit down.
Showtimes: Sunday at 3pm, Monday at 7pm, and Thursday at 7pm. The Roxy is closed Tuesday and Wednesday.
Mark Your Calendar
Four things worth getting on the calendar early.
The 2026 Rat Rod Magazine Route 66 tour is rolling through Holbrook. The convoy is on an 8 state, 7 day, 1,800 mile run down Route 66, and Holbrook is one of the stops. Details
The 95th Navajo County Fair and Rodeo runs a full week at the Navajo County Fairgrounds in Holbrook. Gates open Wednesday, September 16 with opening ceremonies at 5:30 pm, and the fun runs through Sunday, September 20. Details
Pedal the Petrified is back. NPC Friends & Family hosts this non-competitive cycling tour through Petrified Forest National Park to raise money for Northland Pioneer College student scholarships. Details
In Motion Physical Therapy's community run series for National Physical Therapy Month, with a 2 mile, a 5k, and a 10k. It is built for walkers, beginners, and seasoned runners, and all ages and fitness levels are welcome. Come move with the community and support healthy living. Sign up at the link. Details
Talk of the Town
Hunt Park has new shade. A metal ramada now covers the concrete pad next to the playground, and it's the first real cover that corner of the park has had.
It isn't finished either. More awnings are on the way, and tables are going in underneath them, so the park is going to look pretty different by the time the weather turns.
The timing works out, because Hunt Park is exactly where Wednesday's Community Clean-Up meets at 6am. If you're going, you'll get a look at it.
Holbrook Lore
The park is older than the Park Service
Here's a good one for Tuesday. That free entrance day is the National Park Service's 110th birthday, which puts the agency's start at 1916. Teddy Roosevelt had already made the Petrified Forest a national monument back in 1906, so the park out east had a ten year head start on the people who run it.
Holbrook liked that wood enough to build with it. In 1925 a place went up on Apache Drive with chunks of petrified log set right into the walls, and road travelers knew it first as the Petrified Log Station and later as the Thunderbird Tavern, with the Ortega family in its story along the way. It was a whole building made out of the same thing people drive across the country to look at.
The picture above is from 1993, so it's a look at a different decade rather than a promise of what you'll find driving past today. Either way, it's proof that the main attraction out east has been part of this town the whole time.
The Hidden Hundred
Each week we run a Holbrook photo clue, a landmark, a statue, or a piece of local history, with a few letters shaded in the answer. Figure out the answer, write down the shaded letters, and keep collecting.
When the last clue runs, the bill goes into hiding, and your collected letters unscramble to spell exactly where it is. First to find it keeps it, and subscribers always get the clues first.
Solve the spot, then keep the shaded letters to yourself. 1 more set is coming over the next few weeks, then the hunt goes live.
What's a petrified log's favorite kind of music?
Rock.
A joke that'll make us groan, a slice of Holbrook history, an event folks should know about, or a great photo you snapped?
Send it our way.
Share It With Us →Till next Sunday. See you out on Route 66.
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