Province neighborhood turns 10

No Bashas’. No Fry’s. As for a single street light, Dennis McCormac said there wasn’t one.

“This was a cotton field at the time,” said McCormac, who sat in a lawn chair Saturday surrounded by fellow neighbors gathered for an outdoor celebration.

The occasion?

Province residents, including McCormac, came to the community’s outdoor pool and amphitheater to celebrate the neighborhood’s 10-year anniversary.

Wendy Weber, lifestyle director at Province, said March 8, 2014, marks the exact 10-year anniversary of the community’s incorporation.

“It’s a very momentous occasion for Province,” Weber said. “A huge milestone for them.”

Weber said more than 800 residents intended to come out to Saturday’s celebration, which was held at the community’s Village Center. The number could have been greater, but Weber had to cut off the number of RSVPs because there wouldn’t have been enough food.

The celebration, which was restricted to residents only, began at 1 p.m. and was scheduled to 6 p.m. Three live bands performed for residents who rested in lawn chairs. Food and drinks were provided and cake was given out.

Province is a 55 and older adult active community that has been in the hands of homebuilder Meritage Homes for more than four years.

Meritage took over the community from Engle Homes, which filed for bankruptcy in January 2008.

Just outside a gate entrance to the party, posters detailing the history of the community’s last 10 years were hung on the side of a fence.

Written on a small sign next to the posters were the words: “Cheers to More Years!”

Shirley Puffer, a resident for about three years, stopped to view the posters. She was dressed in shorts, a T-shirt and wore sunglasses – the same attire other residents wore on this sunny, blue-sky day.

Puffer said she and her husband moved from the state of Washington where it rains 11 months a year.

Her take on the Province community: “It’s an oasis in the desert.”

The lush green grass and the blue lake water near the community’s entrance caught her eye when the couple was looking around at retirement communities.

“It’s like heaven,” she said. “You can’t beat it.”

McCormac and his wife Barbara became the owners of the fourth house in the community, which hadn’t been built yet when they put money down.

The two had lived in a home on the edge of South Mountain overlooking Phoenix for about 20 years before they decided to move.

The residents who live in Province are “really buying into a lifestyle,” McCormac said. They can be as busy as they want or as remote as they want.

“We wouldn’t trade it,” he said.