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Phil Boas: There are lessons for today from a 1929 Christmas story in Nogales

The Show regularly checks in with the editorial board of the Arizona Republic to talk about current issues facing the state and the region — featured in columns on the newspaper’s op-ed pages.

This week, editorial page editor Phil Boas shared a Christmas story from Arizona’s past.

In 1929, the Arizona-Mexico border was moved, temporarily and informally, to allow children from Nogales, Sonora, to come to Nogales, Arizona, to the town’s Christmas tree. The kids went home with toys, food and clothes.

The story is not all that well-known in Arizona, even among long-time residents of that border community. 

The Show spoke with Boas to learn more about the event and how it got started.

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Mark Brodie is a co-host of The Show, KJZZ’s locally produced news magazine. Since starting at KJZZ in 2002, Brodie has been a host, reporter and producer, including several years covering the Arizona Legislature, based at the Capitol.