Portal, Arizona was our home for six days. Actually we were a mile out of town at the Cave Creek Ranch. Portal has three businesses. One is the Portal Store. They have a small grocery supply. They also have a cafe and places to stay. Down the road on the right is an empty building where an old hand- operated gasoline pump still stands. I believe it was Shell. Just past that is Portal Post Office. 85632. That is one of the places where the people meet. Next to the Post Office is the Myrtle Kraft Portal Library. It is located in the old school building. That is where the action is! This library is named to honor a woman of the Kraft Cheese Company who made Portal a home.When she retired from active leadership in 1995 the community honored her by renaming the library. They have most everything; books, DVD's, audio books, magazines and newspapers. They have talking books and large print. They have a summer library program for kids. They have FAX and WiFi. They have public computers.
In an area where there is NO cell phone activity a library like this is invaluable. I sat outside for awhile one day and watched the stream of traffic from the countryside come to the library. It made me wonder if we "city" folks fully appreciate our libraries. I imagine not. The computer in the Myrtle Kraft Portal Library put us in contact with the outside world for a little while. It is a neat place.
