Longtime Douglas resident Mary Maza has been chosen to be this year’s Douglas ARC Mother’s Day Cake Auction dedicatee.

DARC board members Dan Pollack and Gary Clark back left and right and Ana River, Mary Maza, Vicky Merritt, front row left to right. Maza is being honored as this years DARC Mothers Day Cake Auction dedicatee. Trisha Maldonado/Douglas Dispatch

The three founding mothers of Douglas ARC, Mary Causey, Ruth Elliott and Vi Heisey, started the Mother's Day Cake Auction in 1963. It started with a few well-known people in Douglas baking cakes. Their next-door neighbors would bid on the cakes and the neighbors on the other side would bid higher. Before you knew it someone bought the cakes and the proceeds went to Douglas ARC.

Since that time over $100,000 has been raised to help this charitable organization.

Maza has served on the DARC board for 25 years. “I tried it, I liked it and I’ve been very involved,” she said. She took a hiatus in 1994 then came back to DARC in 1997. She gave up her seat last year due to health reasons.

Maza joins a long list of other notable dedicatees some of which include Liz Ames, Raul Montano, Bill and Sandy Thomas and Ana Rivera as well as the three original founders.

Maza worked as a nurse for 24 years. “I had three teenagers at the time and my husband was working out of town,” she said. “I decided that I couldn’t be a nurse anymore because I did not want to leave my kids alone anymore.”

She then went to work for APS/Southwest Gas, who, at that time, were one in the same. When Southwest Gas separated from APS she went with SWG retiring after 26 years.

“Every year we have a chair every year that takes over all responsibilities from A-Z from lining things up to making sure that the cakes are delivered and Mary has been responsible for that,” “Executive Director Gary Clark said. “Over 25 years she has carried that joy on her back.”

Mary juggles everything from setting up the PA system to decorating the Gadsden lobby, said Clark.

“Actually it has been a lot of fun, you get to meet a lot of people you visit with a lot more people that you have every gotten involved with and people are so willing to help,” Maza said.

Maza has also been very intricate in developing the working relationship between DARC and the State building by providing them with maintenance contracts. “DARC does grounds maintenance and Mary was very instrumental in getting us our first job, with SWG and we have been their maintenance crew since then and provide maintenance to most of the state buildings in Douglas,” said Clark.

This year Vicky Merritt will be stepping in for Mary. “Those are some big shoes to fill; it’s a very well-oiled machine,” Merritt said.

The cake auction is in its 49th year and continues to raise much needed funds to help Douglas ARC survive.

The Mother's Day Cake Auction is held in the lobby of the Gadsden Hotel and broadcast live on KDAP 96.5FM. Both the Gadsden Hotel and KDAP donate their time and space to the cake auction. The auction starts Mother's Day at 1:00 pm.