BETSY ANDREWS
Betsy is an award-winning writer, educator, and creator of art for common spaces. 

ROLLIN' BOLLS (IF NOT FOR COTTON): Connecting through Memories, Marbles, and Mulligans

"Rollin' Bolls (If Not For Cotton)" is a whimsical, interactive sculpture inspired by the ripe, open bolls of a cotton plant and rendered in the vibrant colors of an Arizona sunset. Made possible by an ¡HOLA! (Highlight Our Local Artists) grant from WESTMARC in partnership with the City of Litchfield Park, ROLLIN' BOLLS reminds us of Litchfield Park's history as a cotton ranch. It drew people from a variety of geographic regions, ethnic heritages, and socioeconomic origins. They all came to work, and they all found ways to play.  Whether it was shooting marbles or getting a do-over at the first hole, the early residents of Litchfield Park had this in common with each other and with us today: after work or school was done, everyone from company executives to farm laborers, from homemakers to children---everyone  had fun playing games.  And often, those games involved little round balls.

Cotton cultivation for use in tires after World War I brought Paul Litchfield, an executive at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company of Akron, Ohio, to the Salt River Valley in 1916. A small compound built in 1918 to house visiting executives later expanded and opened to the public in 1929 as the Wigwam Resort, with golf courses, tennis courts, and croquet. 

Mexican nationals, through an agreement between the U.S. and Mexico, worked on the ranch six months a year and many became citizens. Others, mostly of Mexican heritage, arrived from mining towns for the healthier working conditions on the ranch. Members of the Yaqui Tribe of the Sonoran Desert joined them. In 1929, the Depression brought workers from far and wide; although wages were low, employees and their families, largely of Mexican heritage, received free housing and utilities in one of five camps, or campos, on the ranch. Authors Cruz Pariga Dominguez and Belen Soto Moreno wrote in their book, Los Campos: The Camps of Litchfield Park 1929-1986,  that life was hard in the camps, but it wasn't all work. "A favorite pasttime for the men was playing cards or dice....The men also liked to sing and play the guitar.... Often the instruments were handmade...Everyone also liked to dance....[and] the men and boys were passionate about playing baseball." Of course, the children played, too, often with toys made from other things. "The irrigation ditches were their swimming pools....On windy days, our fathers made kites ....The boys would play in the puddles after a rain, making sailboats out of newspaper. They also made sling shots and played marbles. The girls would cut pictures out of catalogs and make paper dolls. Both boys and girls would make tops from old spools of thread, play hide-and-seek, and a variety of forms of the game of hopscotch."

Playing games connects--people to each other, to the outdoors, to a sense of fun.  It's an important part of the history of Litchfield Park. Rollin' Bolls invites passersby to play. Spin the old golf balls that have been given new life, painted by community members. See each unique ball as an important part of the whole. Spin them. Wiggle them. Find the families of quail, rabbits, saquaros, and prickly pears hiding among them. Shift the colors. Make a little change. Have fun! And remember the cotton and the common ground we all share. 

--Betsy Andrews, 2025

PHOTO OF ART AFTER INSTALL

Visitors enjoy a round of golf at the Wigwam Resort, c. 1955. Photo courtesy of the Wigwam Resort.

Boys play a game of marbles in Los Campos (The Camps) of early Litchfield Park, 1930-1945. Photo courtesy of the P.W. Litchfield Heritage Center.

THANK YOU!
“Rollin’ Bolls (If Not For Cotton)” was designed by local artist and author Betsy Andrews, but it took a small village to bring the vision to life. The Wigwam Resort donated their collection of old range balls to the project. Litchfield Park local Brandon Belluzzi, along with Robby Bennett, provided welding services. The helpful staff at Estrella Mountain Community College Maker Space helped with a drill press. Structural engineer Derek Hanson of Structural Engineering Excellence provided structural drawings, Parker Oviedo at Powder Plug provided the powder coat, contractor Eddie Tarango helped with the install. Kids and grownups in the community painted golf balls. Everyone at the Litchfield Park Historical Society, especially Chuck Emmert and Judy Cook, provided their time, knowledge, expertise, and good humor. Cotton brings the community together, again!

Permission to use quoted material granted by the Litchfield Park Historical Society.

References:
Pariga Dominguez, Cruz, and Soto Moreno, Belen. Los Campos: The Camps of Litchfield Park 1929-1986.  Litchfield Park, AZ 2017.
Crouch, Celeste. Images of America: Litchfield Park.  Arcadia Publishing. Charleston, SC, 2013.

Students at Barbara Robey Elementary created these paper mosaics. Each student completed one square, using either warm (oranges) or cool (blues) colors, or a combination of the two. What fun to put them together and see the combined effect of everyone's efforts!