I’m Wyndie — I grew up in Cottonwood, a small-town, close-knit community my family has been part of for four generations. From Christmas parades at my great-grandmother’s flower shop in Old Town to hunting with my dad in the foothills of Clarkdale, the Verde Valley shaped the way I see the world.

Like a lot of kids from small towns, I left for a while — first to Flagstaff for school, and later to Florida for a year because I wanted to live by th...