A movie Monday night. A hike in the morning Tuesday and slides that night. A pancake breakfast Thursday morning, a jam session in the evening. A dance Friday night. An informal worship Sunday morning, with a sing-along later on. Exercise classes Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. Card and board games every night. Special events on holidays. A monthly fund-raising flea market. Periodic parties to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries. Group trash-collecting along the highway.

Ken and Dolores Callahan

It might sound like the frenetic social schedule of a soccer mom in the suburbs, but the scene is Why, a tiny community in southern Arizona at the intersection of Highways 85 and 86.  RV snowbirds have been coming here for decades for the desert scenery ringed by mountains, as well as for the inexpensive cost of living and abundance of BLM land. The regulars helped build a community center about 30 years ago, and gradually organized activities evolved. Today the Why RV winter gathering remains low-key, but its range of activities rivals anything available at the much larger snowbird congregations in Quartzsite and Yuma.

The task of managing the Why program is currently on the shoulders of Dolores Callahan, the new president of the Coyote Howls Senior Citizens Club. (Coyote Howls east and west are two RV parks in Why.) She and her husband, Ken, retired 15 years ago from a family newspaper-vendor business in northern California and have spent winters here ever since. The Callahans have been involved with the Why activities all along, and now Dolores' new responsibilities make retirement seem like a misnomer.

 "It’s a full-time job," she says of the unpaid position. "We enjoy it, but on the few quiet days, we sit back and go, 'whew!'"

Much of a typical day is devoted to rounding up volunteers (Ken is already at her side) for physical chores like setting up tables and chairs, or for participation in an event, such as the jam session. "Just about everybody's willing to help, Delores says, "and many do so without being asked. The problem is, not everyone stays all winter. Some who help on this or that leave after six weeks, and I've got to replace them."

One mini crisis developed just before Thanksgiving, when Dolores, who was just starting as club president, realized that the volunteer chefs for previous Thanksgiving dinners weren't coming to Why this year. "I got some new volunteers and together we collected the information we needed to put out a dinner in the community center." She adds that the effort involved back-to-back eight-hour days. "By Christmas dinner I had enough experience so that it didn't take quite so long."

Around 30 RVers volunteered to assist with the Christmas dinner, which 150 people attended. A carol sing-along followed.

The Why Community Center

The Callahans show up at almost every event themselves--most events take place at either the community center or the Coyote Howls East activities room--to help or participate. At one of the gatherings in February, Dolores plans to show slides of an RV trip she and Ken made that traced Lewis and Clark's route.

Staying active is second nature for the Callahans, who have been married for 46 years (each had a first marriage). Dolores grew up on an Ohio farm where working seven days a week was normal. "And as an independent newspaper contractor, we couldn't afford to take a day off" during their business career, Ken adds.

The Callahans' involvement with the Why RV community continues even after everyone heads north to escape the summer heat. Each June, Ken and Dolores join several dozen other Why regulars at the National Oldtime Fiddle Contest in Weiser, Idaho. One year 52 came. The contest organizers set aside an area so the Why RVers can park together. Many Why snowbirds also stop by the Callahans' house in California

An RV boondocks on BLM land in Why

during the off-season to visit; last year the number totaled 44.

"All those activities make everybody pretty good friends," Delores says. "Everyone looks forward to getting together again in Why in November, and we also look forward to making new friends."

For more information on RVing in Why, contact the Callahans at P.O. Box 718, Ajo, Ariz. 85321, or www.coyotehowls.com.

DVD shows you what you need to know about camping on the public lands of the Southwest.