Foothills News May, 18 2022

An interview with travel writer Tom Miller | Page 4 • Tucson baker Don Guerra up for a James Beard Award | Page 12

FOOTHILLS NEWS M ,  • V  • N  • .TLM.

Graduation Section

Pomp and Circumstance Celebrating outstanding graduating seniors | Page 9

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Foothills News, May 18, 2022

Desert To-Dos The Three Musketeers.

It’s all for one and one for all at the Gaslight Theatre, which is continuing their rendition of The Three Musketeers.

For those unfamiliar, the eastside Gaslight Theatre performs a special kind of family-friendly parody, filled with music, stage effects and endearingly bad jokes. While it’s been updated for modern audiences with a healthy dose of quirk, the story remains the same: The fate of France hangs in the balance as swashbucklers battle for the throne. In the hands of the Gaslight family, this funny French farce says “All For One and Puns For All.” 6, 7, and 8:30 p.m. Daily through June 5. 7010 E. Broadway.

(520) 886-9428. $27 for adults, $15 for children. thegaslighthreatre.com Arizona Symphonic Winds at Udall Park.

Enjoy some light classical music courtesy of the all-volunteer Arizona Symphonic Winds.

This performance series takes place at Udall Park, where you can enjoy overtures, light classics, marches, Broadway show tunes and popular music.

Bring lawn chairs, blankets, and picnic lunches to these evenings of entertainment for the whole family. Saturday, May 21.

7 to 8:30 p.m. Free. Udall Park, 7200 E. Tanque Verde Road.

The Tributaries. Hear a throwback to the 1970s folk rock sound when local band The Tributaries performs at the Gaslight Music Hall in Oro Valley.

The Tributaries will perform the music of James Taylor, Carole King, Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot and more. The Tributaries host the show “You’ve Got A Friend.” Saturday, May 21. 6 p.m. At the Gaslight Music Hall, 13005 N. Oracle Road #165. $27, with discounts available for children, students, seniors, and members of the military and first responders. (520) 5291000. gaslightmusichall. com Dos Estaciones. ​​See a twist on traditional Mexican cinema when the Fox Theatre screens “Dos Estaciones” as part of their Cinema Tucsón series. With this film, director Juan Pablo González offers a “welcome twist to the traditional films set in the idyllic haciendas” of Mexico. “Dos Estaciones” tells of a businesswoman who fights the impending collapse of her tequila factory in an increasingly globalized industry. This screening is hosted by the University of Arizona Latin American Studies.

Thursday, May 19. 7 p.m.

At the Fox Theatre, 17 W. Congress St. $6. (520) 547-3040.

Foxtucson. com

Madara’s Master’s Series. ​​Have you ever wanted to see the Sonoran Desert through the eyes of some of the greatest painters? A new exhibit at Madaras Gallery is just that. Madaras’ Master’s Series is a collection of saguaros painted in the style of Jackson Pollock, Frida Kahlo, Van Gogh and more. We’re talking about surreal saguaros, cubist canyons, and chiaroscuro chollas! All month. Monday - Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. / Sunday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. 3035 N. Swan Road. madaras.com Movies on the Lawn.

Get some snow in the desert, when the Town of Oro Valley screens the “Call of the Wild” at the Community & Recreation Center lawn. This classic adventure story

by Jack London follows a dog sled team through the harsh Yukon wilderness. Oro Valley’s Movies on the Lawn allows for a fun night out with family and friends for a movie under the stars. The movies will begin shortly after sundown. This takes place every third Saturday of the month. June’s film is “Encanto,” July’s is “The Goonies” and August’s is “Sing 2.” 7:30 p.m. Free. At the Oro Valley Community & Recreation Center, 10555 N. La Canada Dr. orovalleyaz. gov

FOOTHILLS NEWS

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Foothills News, May 18, 2022

Travelin’ Man: An interview with Tom Miller

Jeff Gardner Tucson Local Media

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om Miller’s writing career has sent him around the world, from Cuba to Spain and throughout the American Southwest.

After nearly 50 years of underground journalism and travel writing, Tucson resident Miller’s latest project looks inward. Where Was I? A Travel Writer’s Memoir documents Miller’s exploits from the 1968 Democratic National Convention to the chaos of Nigeria. As much as it is a personal memoir, Miller says the book also serves as a guide for travel writers, and writers in general.

The book is both essay and journalism, drawing from documents, notes, memory, and stories from friends and family. After all, as Miller ex-

plains in the book’s introduction, he’s never cared for the distinction between writer and journalist; a good journalist should use literary allusions when called for, a good writer should observe well, and a good reader should appreciate both.

“There’s no particular rules I want to adhere to. The rules of writing are to be broken, and I did that a few times in this book,” Miller said. “I made it a point of not looking at other memoirs, because I was afraid I might copy their techniques. But I had a general framework for a memoir and I followed that.”

Though the book documents decades of travel, it opens with a more modern development: Miller listing his daily struggles with Parkinson’s Disease. Miller explained that the disease

“takes the travel out of travel writing” and eventually he was unable to do basically any travel at all. But in an effort to continue writing, he decided to write about his own history. Despite the memoir being bookended by the disease, he says overall it is an optimistic book.

“I say ‘optimistic,’ because I was able to pull it off, so to speak,” Miller said. “At a certain point a few years ago, I looked forward and realized there was very little to look forward to. But when I looked backward I saw there was an entire career to write about.

So I was optimistic about the approach, and saw that it worked.”

While some of the chapters are explicitly based around a location, such as “Colorado” or “South Africa” or “Tucson,” others are based on his work

for The New York Times, freelancing, and travel writing.

For lessons on travel writing, Miller explains that the best of it gets under the skin of a locale to sense its rhythm.

He says to distrust any travel writing that opens with a cabby driving in from the airport or closes quoting a bartender at last call. Or, more generally, “avoid cliches like the plague, like the plague.”

“There’s a certain continuity both geographic and literary in the book. And those weren’t written goals, but those two approaches were always in my mind,” Miller said.

“It’s not just from one end of Speedway to another, it’s the entire Western Hemisphere and even further. This book isn’t just written for people in Tucson, but people in Tucson will certainly appreciate it from a literary level.”

Foothills News, May 18, 2022

Where was I? An excerpt from Tucson author Tom Miller’s new memoir Tom Miller

Special to Tucson Local Media

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n impulse one Sunday before parkinson’s and after Thanksgiving, we decided to be tourists, that is to say, we went for a walk in the cactus forest east of Tucson. Not just any cactus and not just any forest. The cactus was a saguaro, the plant that had been my friend since moving to the southwest years earlier. The forest was the 66,500-acre eastern flank of the Saguaro National Park.

(Your actual acreage may vary.)

We entered the park about 3:30 that afternoon, almost two hours before sunset, looking forward to a hike free of NFL football or NPR news. “Hike” may be too strong a word, but we did undertake an energetic walk after we parked at the Loma Verde trailhead.

How refreshing to stroll through nature, even if it was neatly prepared for you, me, and everyone else. First, we walked this way passing gnarled mesquite trees, then that way avoiding tangled scrub brush.

Finally, we passed palo verde trees slightly uphill to the north, intersecting a trail somewhat downhill to the east. We saw trail signs, which we ignored, confident that we’d end up back where we began. Saguaro here, saguaro there, everywhere saguaro saguaro saguaro. It’s an anthropomorphic plant that one minute has a regal bearing and the next, a goofy cartoonish posture. Carnegiea gigantea reminded me of the drunken fool who shot at a saguaro in the wilderness north of Phoenix back in 1982. Frustrated that the majestic 125-year-old sa-

guaro he fired at wouldn’t fall over dead, he picked up a cactus rib from the desert floor and started poking at one arm of the grand plant.

The arm, which weighed almost a quarter ton, fell on him and killed him instantly. The trunk of the cactus, meanwhile, having lost its ballast, fell on him as well.

A double homicide, as I saw it.

One of the signs in the Saguaro National Park that Regla and I ignored was for the Squeeze Pen Trail. Another pointed to the Cholla Cactus Trail. One more destination sign was the Pink Hill Trail. The more trail signs we ignored, the more we enjoyed our outing. We were nothing more than weekend trekkers when we found ourselves at a wire fence, the other side of which was a lightly traveled road on Tucson’s far east side. We soon noticed the sun slowly beginning to set and we found ourselves mid-forest. All we had to do was reverse course and we’d be back at the original trailhead.

Against a spreading twilight, the cactus, both distant and nearby, looked more and more elegant.

“Mute mobs of them throng the desert dusk,” wrote John Updike in his poem “Saguaros.” The first patches of darkness appeared.

Overhead, Pegasus took his rightful position among the stars. The trail signs we’d ignored earlier now confused us with names, directions, and distance. This time it wasn’t just evening, it was night. Would we have to find a rise on this moonless night and stay until sunrise?

It appeared we would.

Was that a hoot owl overhead? Maybe. A lizard slithering through the buf-

felgrass? Could have been.

Did we just hear a javelina and a coyote or was that our imagination? If we stumbled into a jumping cholla cactus we’d be pincushions for sure. Mountain lions, we later learned, lived far back in the arroyos. We were nowhere near them, except in our mind.

We looked for the highest spot around, a nearby hillock if possible. Finally we found a slight rise on the Squeeze Pen Trail, took a deep breath, and sat down on the ground. Neither of us spoke our fears out loud, but we were both nervous that we’d be forced to spend the night in Saguaro National Park. To put it bluntly, we were plumb lost. I played the journalist’s game “Write That Headline!” and I didn’t like what I read.

First Regla lay down, her head on my lap. After a few minutes we switched.

Would this go on until the Sonoran Desert sunrise, more than 12 hours away?

The Dylan line struck me once again: “There must be some way out of here.” At least we could sip water— if we had thought to bring some. Certainly we could use our flashlight—if we had brought one. Our dilemma would be resolved by calling 911—had we carried a phone with us. As the air turned cooler extra clothing would have been helpful—had we brought some. A trail map could guide us—had we not left ours in the car. We were fearful, both of us utterly unprepared and lost. Every few minutes we’d break the silence. “Hellooooo!” we’d yell. “Hellooooo!” We were desperate for leaving and desperate for staying.

While we hellooooo’d, a 48-year-old man driving a

Tucson author Tom Miller reviewing his next adventure piece.

2007 Chevy Tahoe pulled into the Loma Verde parking lot and looked into our car. It was John Williams, a burly park ranger in a Smokey Bear hat. Darkness had already fallen, and Williams was making his final sweep along the eight-mile Cactus Forest Drive looking for overnight campers and lost hikers. He saw our car, but neither driver nor passenger; not even food wrappers.

Williams listened for calls for help, and heard none. He looked for flashlights bobbing about and saw none. He sounded his siren and flashed his lights.

We could neither hear nor see him. We kept up our occasional “helloooo!”

He could have driven off during a “hellooooo!” none the wiser, completed his rounds, and gone home.

Honey, what’s for dinner?

Regla thought she saw a dim blue and red light in the direction of the Loma Verde parking lot but it never occurred to either of us that they’d be lights of our salvation. We shouted. Was that our faint “helloooo!”

Williams heard? It was. He walked up the Loma Verde and Squeeze Pen trails toward us. He yelled hello.

We were ecstatic and yelled hello back. From that point the experienced park ranger easily located the inexperienced walkers. Relief dominated our emotions.

For Williams it was all rou-

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Photo by Jay Rochlin

tine work, but clearly, he had saved us from a frightful night. We were rescued; I wanted to hug him.

As he escorted us down to our car, Regla, a big-city girl, acknowledged that she was “scared to death of wildlife.” Replied Williams: “Oh, you would have had an uncomfortable night, but you’d have made it.”

We arrived at the trailhead shortly after 8 o’clock. The temperature in the park sank to the mid-40s that night. We stopped for Chinese on the way home. © Copyright 2022 Tom Miller. May not be reprinted without written permission.

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Foothills News, May 18, 2022

Tucson researchers help image black hole at center of our galaxy Jeff Gardner Tucson Local Media

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n Thursday, May 12, people across the world set their eyes on the first ever image of the black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. This image was the result of an international scientific collaboration called the Event Horizon Telescope, and marks the most significant finding in all of astronomy — at least since the last time the Event Horizon Telescope team imaged a black hole.

In 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope gained

worldwide fame by unveiling the first image of a black hole: the Messier 87* black hole some 50 million light-years away. Now, they’ve revealed the second black hole ever directly imaged, Sagittarius A* at the center of our galaxy, which is 26,000 light-years away.

Multiple Tucson-based astronomers and scientists work on the Event Horizon Telescope team through the University of Arizona.

In total, the collaboration involves more than 300 scientists and 80 institutions around the world.

“Until now, we didn’t have the direct picture confirming that Sag. A star was

indeed a black hole,” said Event Horizon Telescope science council member Feryal Özel, a UA professor of astronomy and physics.

“This image shows a bright ring surrounding the darkness: the telltale sign of the shadow of the black hole.

Light escaping from the hot gas swirling around the black hole appears to us as the bright ring. Light that is too close to the black hole, close enough to be swallowed by it, eventually crosses its horizon, leaving behind just the dark void in the center.”

This second black hole image looks very similar to the original black hole

image: a blurry orange ring within the blackness of space. Özel says they look similar because they are the outcome of the same fundamental rules of physics.

By their very nature, black holes do not emit light. So the image is not of the black hole itself, but of its absence as it distorts the light around it. The Sagittarius A* black hole is estimated to be 4 million times the mass of our sun.

“The fact that the light appears like a ring, with the black shadow inside, tells you it’s purely gravity,” said astronomy and physics professor Dimitrios Psal-

tis in a UA release. “It’s all predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity, the only theory in the cosmos that does not care about scale... Wherever we look, we should see donuts, and they all should look more or less the same.”

The Event Horizon Telescope is not a single telescope, but a network of telescopes across the world that combine their information to produce these images. Current locations include observatories in Arizona, Spain and Mexico.

The Messier 87* black hole and the Sagittarius A* black hole appear roughly

the same size. However, this is only because Messier 87* is 1,500 times more massive but 2,000 times farther away.

“Now we can study the differences between these two supermassive black holes to gain valuable new clues about how this important process works,” said Event Horizon Telescope scientist Keiichi Asada. “We have images for two black holes — one at the large end and one at the small end of supermassive black holes in the Universe — so we can go a lot further in testing how gravity behaves in these extreme environments than

Foothills News, May , 

Courtesy photo

ever before.”

Looking forward, Özel says the Event Horizon Telescope team is also interested in how black holes change over time.

“If you looked at the

source one day versus the next, or one year versus the following year, how would that change, and how much light would it emit in different wavelengths?” Özel said in a

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Foothills News, May 18, 2022

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Foothills News, May 18, 2022

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Catalina Foothills High School senior wins Flinn Scholarship Jeff Gardner Tucson Local Media

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ince he was a kid, Catalina Foothills student Noah Wellman had a deal with his dad: If he got a full scholarship to college, his dad would buy him a car. Years in the making, that goal came true when Wellman earned the Flinn Scholarship, valued at more than $100,000.

“It was in the back of my mind for a while, and this year I finally went through the interview process,” Wellman said. “I found out in mid-March.

It was really exciting. I shared it with some of my teachers that I thought had a big impact on my academic career. It’s a very comforting thing to be able to go through college without accumulating a lot of debt, which is increasingly a problem for people my age.”

The Flinn Scholarship, now in its 37th year, is one of the most lucrative merit-based scholarships in the state. It provides a full ride for college at one of Arizona’s public universities, and additional options for study-abroad experience. This year, more than 1,000 Arizona students applied, but only 20 received the scholarship — less than a 2% acceptance rate.

“My family was pretty surprised and happy.

It was a long application process,” Wellman said. “One of the biggest moments was when the semi-finalists were announced. They cut the applications from 1,200 to 80 students. I kind of felt like I wouldn’t make it. But from there, I feel it was just a matter of who happened to resonate with the interviewers. All of the other candidates were strong. But I was so happy to hear that the Flinn Foundation selected me.”

Wellman will attend the University of Arizona, where he plans to study physics. He says he has always been interested in science, and while he might switch to another STEM major, physics is a good foundation for him.

“The sciences are something I’ve always been interested in. My dad is a geological engineer and my grandpa worked at NASA for a while on some of the Mars rover projects. So it’s part of heritage,” Wellman said. “I really enjoy math and science, and trying to understand the world in a concrete way.”

These interests are reflected in Wellman’s extracurriculars throughout his time at Catalina Foothills High School. He participated in robotics club, tech challenge, and the science Olympiad, which allows student teams to show off their STEM

knowledge in a competitive environment.

Wellman says he is grateful to the variety of resources Catalina Foothills School District provided through his 12 years of education. Beyond the extracurriculars, he says the teachers were very supportive.

He selected math teacher Alyssa Keri as his distinguished educator on the Flinn application. Wellman said Ms. Keri guided him through math understanding, not just for himself, but also “learning how to communicate and share that understanding with others.”

Wellman also highlighted English teacher Brian Bindschadler from Orange Grove Middle School, who helped build a strong foundation in writing that carried him through his high school years and definitely helped with the Flinn application process.

“I’m really grateful for all the opportunities. I enjoyed not just the science side of things, but I also got to participate in the band as a drum major. We got to do arranging and orchestrating in a small ensemble class,” Wellman said. “That helped make it a really fulfilling high school experience.”

Although attaining the scholarship was a long time coming, Wellman says his advice for future students is to not be too

focused on a single goal.

“I know I had the Flinn Scholarship in the back of my mind, but it’s not always the best idea to have just one college or one thing you want to do after high school,” Wellman said. “Really, what appealed to the Flinn Foundation about me is that I focused on doing what I was interested in through high school. I joined band and science Olympiad. I followed what interested me, and that’s really what’s important, espeCourtesy photo cially at this stage in life — find what interests you “I really enjoy math and science, and trying to understand the world in a and pursue it.” concrete way,” said Catalina Foothills High School senior Noah Wellman.

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Foothills News, May 18, 2022

Amphi High valedictorian eyes a Mountain View valedictorian triple STEM major at UA follows in family footsteps Jeff Gardner Tucson Local Media

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his year’s Amphitheater High School valedictorian Justin Nguyen did not always plan on achieving the top spot in his class. He had earned some high school credits while still in middle school, which resulted in a B grade in some classes. He figured his class ranking of #2 was secured, until one day he was checking his grades online and happened to see he moved up to #1.

“I was shocked. I did not think I was going to get it, and honestly wasn’t planning on it. But through challenging myself in all my classes, I got here,” Nguyen said. “My parents were really proud of me. It felt like a big honor for them to have their son be valedictorian.”

Nguyen says his passion for learning, especially in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), helped guide him through school. At Amphitheater High School, he participated in the robotics club, the National Honor Society, the Interstellar science symposium and more.

“I’ve always loved the creative aspect to STEM, like the ability to take a problem and create a solution of your own,” Nguyen said. “One of my favorite classes in high school was AP Physics for that reason. I was able to solve problems and work to better understand those solutions.”

Following this passion, Nguyen plans to attend the University of Arizona. While a single engineering or mathematics degree is often

enough to get many students cowering, Nguyen is setting high goals for a triple STEM major: mechanical engineering, physics, and math.

“I’ve heard a lot of the classes overlap, so I’m not too worried about having excessive work,” Nguyen says with a laugh. “It’s gonna be fun.”

With this type of work, Nguyen says he wants to eventually be part of a team that will help change the world — perhaps in the style of SpaceX. While Nguyen has always been interested in the sciences, he says his teachers at Amphitheater High School helped strengthen that enthusiasm.

“The teachers are overwhelmingly supportive of what I do. They’ve always supported me in class, especially if I’m struggling.

Even without their support, I probably could have been valedictorian, but I would have struggled a lot more to get where I am,” Nguyen said.

“The teachers always give me a new perspective on looking at problems and concepts.

Some of them even took time out of their weekends to Zoom with me to help me understand the content better.”

Amphi teachers were helpful, but Nguyen says he has an eagerness for self-learning.

This especially came in handy during the pandemic, which took up roughly half of his high school career.

“If I’m being honest, I think I kind of thrived with online schooling,” Nguyen said. “This was mainly because the teachers were very flexible with how they were teaching because everything was so new. But for me specifically, I think I benefited

Jeff Gardner Tucson Local Media

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from time management. During downtime I could finish other work or relax, which helped with my mental state.

I think it led to me performing better overall.”

Although his valedictorian speech isn’t fully prepared yet, Nguyen says he has a few key pieces of advice for future students: don’t give up on yourself, and don’t be afraid to ask for help.

“I view life as an art piece, and you are the art. I feel like people are constantly growing, physically and mentally.

And since we’re always growing, we should build on top of what we already have. We should always strive to be the better us, who we truly are,” Nguyen said. “To achieve that, people shouldn’t be afraid to reach out for help. Being afraid to ask for help or move forward can lead to things like depression, and I think it’s important to know how to maintain your mental health.”

Even being academically impressive and interested in self-learning, Nguyen says he wasn’t afraid to ask for help.

No doubt that mindset will be crucial during his time at UA. “Going that extra mile matters—always set higher expectations for yourself,” Nguyen said. “That makes a stage on which you can grow.”

or Mountain View High School valedictorian Benjamin Guillermo, the ideal class ranking was #3. It was the highest academic standing he could have without needing to deliver a speech at graduation.

But when Mountain View students take to the graduation stage on May 17, it will be alongside a congratulatory speech from Guillermo— and he’s okay with that.

“Honestly, my goal was just to do well. I didn’t want to compare myself to other people. I felt like I did well in my classes, got as much as I could out of my high school education, and I was happy with that,” Guillermo said. “It was such a surprise for me and my parents when we found out I was valedictorian.”

Although valedictorian is a major achievement, Guillermo jokes that his success broke a kind of plan he had with his older sister. She was a senior at Mountain View when he was a freshman, and got seventh in her class ranking. They said that if he got a higher grade than her, and then their younger brother got an even higher grade than Guillermo, it would mark continual academic improvement for their family. But it didn’t quite turn out that way.

Guillermo says his older sister was a kind of mentor throughout his life, teaching him how to read and supporting him through school.

“She was one of my big-

gest inspirations to get good grades, because she had a perfect 4.0,” Guillermo said.

Outside of the classroom, Guillermo took on a number of extracurriculars during his time at Mountain View: volleyball, swim, marching band, model UN, mock trial, chess club and more.

How does he have time for it all?

“I really don’t, I just take it out of my sleep,” he says, nonchalantly. “But really, I was just making friends, meeting people, and having a good time in my high school career.”

Although Guillermo is a naturally driven student, he says Mountain View and the Marana Unified School District in general heightened his willingness to learn.

“It’s a really positive environment. There’s a good group of honors students,” Guillermo said. “The teachers are very supportive, but I’d say most of the joy comes from interacting with classmates.”

While he couldn’t interact with fellow classmates as much during pandemic restrictions, he says this time did not negatively affect his academics.

“I know it affected some students, but for me it was mostly the same,” Guillermo said. “I like teaching myself a lot of work. If I don’t get a concept, I’ll go online and find the answers myself. So for me, it actually mostly fit my learning style.”

As for advice to future students, Guillermo stresses to take control of your education and make it a priority—though everyone might

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not have the same energy to take on more than halfa-dozen extracurriculars as he did.

“A good idea is to just make high school a priority. A lot of your future is dependent on that,” Guillermo said. “One thing I think about is, looking toward the future, where I would be if I didn’t make the choices to take APs or to get a high GPA. I wanted to be able to choose what college to go to.

I wanted to be able to make those kinds of choices, rather than have someone else make them for me.”

After high school, Guillermo plans to go on a twoyear mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, though the destination is not yet known.

Following that, he wants to pursue an undergrad in medicine from Brigham Young University to eventually become a pediatrician.

“I’ve just been trying to have a fun time in high school and make my future as strong as I can,” Guillermo said.

Foothills News, May 18, 2022

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Foothills News, May 18, 2022

Bread Man: Thanks to his astounding Barrio Bread, Don Guerra is up for a James Beard Award Nicole Feltman Tucson Local Media

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on Guerra, who has earned a reputation as one of the most celebrated bakers in the nation, is up for a James Beard Award next month.

Guerra, founder and owner of Barrio Grains and Barrio Bread, has come a long way since baking bread out of his garage in 2009.

Besides a planned expansion of his midtown bakery, Guerra has launched two projects with the celebrated team behind El Charro.

This is the third time Guerra has been nominated for a James Beard Award, the “Oscars of food.”

“There is something to this three, three is my lucky number,” said Guerra who was previously nominated

for a Beard Award in 2019 and 2020. Guerra is up against four other contenders in the outstanding baker category. The winner will be announced on June 13 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

“I am super pumped for this,” said Guerra. “It’s exciting. I love this thing because I love to see energy in our community.”

Guerra is up for the award based on his Natural Love and Bread, which uses local grains and an ancient French sourdough technique without sugars or oils. The result is deliciously fluffy and hearty loaves that sell out at his shop in Broadway Village at the corner of Country Club Road and Broadway Blvd.

Guerra and his bread have been celebrated in national publications, with The New York Times call-

ing him “a leader of the local-grain movement in Tucson” who “challenges others to reimagine craft baking with an eye towards Latino and Indiginous roots.”

As he wants to find his ingredients within 100 miles of Tucson, Guerra’s need for local grains has helped Southern Arizona growers develop a market for locally grown grain. He recruits farmers to plant grain through a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant under the Sustainable Agricultural Research Education (SARE) program.

By seeking local ingredients, Guerra says he’s proud to support a local and greener economy.

“I am most passionate about the work I do, connecting people and being a part of a community,” Guerra said. “My genetic makeup is this bread.”

Guerra, 51, has been making this style of bread for roughly three decades.

After graduating high school in Phoenix, he got an academic scholarship for the University of Arizona. He was the first in his family to go to college and described himself as a kinesthetic visual learner, so attending traditional university courses was challenging at times and he ended up dropping out, although he says that his self-development at the university was helpful for his future.

Guerra started baking bread professionally when

Photo by Nicole Feltman

Dough boy: Don Guerra in the kitchen.

he was just 20 years old, landing a job at Boulders Resort in Scottsdale in the early ’90s. Guerra got an itch to learn about making European-style bread. He spent hours in the library searching for books on bread and baking.

Guerra eventually found Arizona Bread in Scottsdale and helped build a bakery for a family that wanted to incorporate European style bread. While assisting with this project, he enrolled in Paradise Valley’s Community College’s one-year intensive business program.

Guerra would wake early in the morning to attend his classes, then would bake bread all throughout the night on four hours of sleep.

After he graduated from the business program, he moved to Flagstaff to start a bakery with a business plan

that he wrote when he was 23 years old. By the time he was 27, Guerra was the owner of two bakeries with 40 employees in two states, Arizona and Oregon. He ended up selling both bakeries because he was overwhelmed running two businesses at such a young age.

Guerra moved back to Tucson in 2001. He missed the sunsets, sunny weather, and, most importantly, the people. He had a vision for a new bakery in Tucson.

But when Guerra moved back here, he took a detour from baking. He went back to the UA to study teaching.

His wife was a teacher, so he thought he would give it a try. He went to work for the Tucson Unified School District in 2002. It was one of the best things he could have done, he says. Working as a teacher made him real-

ize that he really wanted to be a baker.

In 2009, Guerra left his teaching job and founded Barrio Bread in his garage.

He was making about 900 loaves of bread a week using an Italian deck oven.

“Everyone thought it was this crazy idea, but I am a dreamer,” Guerra says.

“What you can think of and dream up, I want to live as a reality.”

The business took off.

Soon he had his Broadway Village storefront (which he’s looking to expand in the near future.) The bread on the bakery’s shelves sold out regularly and before long, he was supplying it to local restaurants.

He recently joined forces with the Flores family that runs Tucson’s El Charro restaurants for two projects: Barrio Charro,

Foothills News, May , 

Photo by Alexandra Pere

Customers line up outside Barrio Bread.

which features “tortamano” sandwiches, as well as The Monica, a new downtown venture.

Carlotta Flores, the owner and executive chef at El Charro Café, had a simple answer when asked when she wanted to go into business with Guerra: “Why not Don?” Carlotta Flores says Guerra shares her love of giving back to the community. “He is not only a master at what he does, but a gentleman.”

Guerra anticipates more side projects and is increasingly eager to work with other people.

“I’m usually one step ahead,” he says. “I get on that wave just right and I ride it.”

While many restaurateurs struggled during the pandemic, Guerra says it actually helped his business. Nine months before COVID hit, Guerra had video modules up and running on his website for people to learn about how

to make Natural Love and Bread.

With a shortage of bread on store shelves at the beginning of pandemic, those lessons were embraced

by Tucsonans who were mostly stuck at home, so they had time to experiment with baking. He had hundreds of thousands of pounds of flour to share with the community.

Guerra is a big supporter of hyper-localism and simply prepared foods with fewer ingredients. The pandemic and, more recently, problems with supply chains have put a focus on locally prepared alternatives.

Guerra has also found time to spread the gospel of his bread-making techniques. He’s given talks around the world in Mexico, Taiwan, Poland and elsewhere on his baking process and lessons he’s learned about cultivating local grains.

Guerra says that his biggest goal is to leave a leg-

acy of grain growing and food production with local grains in Tucson with the hope that people embrace those techniques long into the future.

“It’s important to be a knowledge keeper, but also give other people knowledge and share it forward,” he says.

Guerra says hard work and passion started his journey, but it’s the support of the Tucson community that has brought him success. “I was the creator of it,” he says, “but it has to live on its own.”

While the last five years has been a whirlwind, Guerra expects the next five will be even bigger.

“I have this beautiful career,” he says. “I had no idea what happened. It was all bread.”

Follow Don Guerra on Instagram @barriobaker.

Visit Barrio Bread’s website at barriobread.com to get more information on Guerra’s bread and grain.

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Ending with walk or run 4 Grape group 9 Exude irrepressibly 13 Poppable muscle, informally 14 Popular Japanese brew 15 Experts 16 Scorpion’s stinger 18 Ikea department 19 Polo of “The Fosters” 20 “Don’t worry” 22 Less soaked 24 .com alternative 25 Lose 27 “Already?”

29 Likely answer to “Who wants ice cream?”

30 Festival, in Arabic 31 Awe and Tay, for two 32 One to tip 34 Breading for tonkatsu 35 Tortilla dough 1

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46 Zero out 47 Plead 48 Therein lies the rub!

49 Bit of metadata 51 Wet weather wear 53 Poet’s sphere 54 Coverer 56 Portion 57 Word with sitter or steps 59 Good name for a black cat with white feet 61 Commander, in Arabic 62 Mt. Fuji setting 63 1990s TV nerd 64 Is that what ewe said?

65 Uber-enthusiast 66 Part of a child’s bedtime ritual 67 Stale

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Excellence in ordinary things is the accomplishment that matters more than any standout performance you could give. The only trouble is, this important work often goes unacknowledged, while flashier fetes garner attention and praise. Credit and cheer yourself on.

Also, recognize the subtle, essential work of others.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Shouldn’t true love also be easy love? And yet, were it really so, there would be no love stories. This week, the plot thickens. The rules will be reviewed and possibly rewritten. Loyalties will be tested. You’ll learn more about the person you love and about yourself.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). When you can’t figure out why something happened, it’s natural to go into mental overdrive trying to work it out. But people have acted on their feelings, and there may be no reason that will suffice. Get ready for exciting new happenings. Stop analyzing the last thing.

Choose a takeaway. Put it to rest.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Most people, at some point in life, struggle with feeling good enough for the situation at hand.

While such assessments are a part of growing and knowing oneself, if you can figure out how to skip the self-evaluation this week, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and trouble. You’re more than enough, so dive in and handle it.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Communication conundrums will occur. When you don’t know what to say, you’re in a good place.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). As Carl Jung You’re recognizing the complexity of the suggested, the self is a “coincidentia situation, the need for careful listening and oppositorum” -- both bright and dark and discernment. A pause can be an invitation. yet neither. Since it is impossible for a People get in trouble overusing their lips, person to produce purely good or purely bad not for overusing their ears. outcomes, don’t fret. You’ll complete 25 imAQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). You’ve known portant things before the week is through, yourself to strive for a pure heart, clear mind all with the best intentions. and devout soul. You’ve also known yourself LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). There’s something not to worry so much about it. Maybe the good about whatever style you approach latter way suggests greater self-acceptance with this week. If you overthink things, at and a kinder overall demeanor. It’s a week least you care, and you’ll probably come of not trying, just being, and deciding that’s up with something the others missed. perfectly fine.

Underthinking shows trust in the universe, and it leaves room for people to help you, so PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). More than any other time in history, people have come to connections get made. All will be well. expect to be entertained at every juncture.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Your natural cuYour advantage is your curiosity. You don’t riosity and open-mindedness will take you wait for others to captivate your attention. to unusual places this week. You’ll accept Instead, you find your own reasons to enthings you don’t yet understand, and people gage, which is a sign of special intelligence. will accept you before they understand you, too. This spirit of inclusivity -- an extension of trust and a willingness to learn one another -- keeps life interesting and fun.

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“That’s good” thinking 2 “That’s good thinking!”

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6 Mother-of-pearl 7 “Parasite” actor Woo-shik 8 Adds to the team, so to speak 9 Go (for) 10 Cookie-flavored cereal 11 Fictional character partially inspired by Mexican folklore 12 Provide digital approval 17 Apt rhyme for chop and crop 21 Artist who said “A line is a dot that went for a walk” 23 Breaker 26 The “A” of A.Q.I. 28 Exhibited 31 Hardly strict 33 One to tip 34 Candy once marketed as a smoking cessation aid 36 Big tub 38 One name for the game depicted in this puzzle 39 Like Rome starting in the first century B.C. 40 Promo 42 “Rush!”

43 Perseus’ horse 44 Mousse alternative 45 Bigwigs may have big ones 46 Actress Margot of “Bombshell” 47 Carnival hypeman 49 Case of emergency?

50 Clear 51 Geico “spokeslizard” 52 “Nevertheless, ___ persisted” 55 Dessert wine 58 Himalayan ox 60 Foxy 1

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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). The contradictions stand defiantly before you, daring you to make sense of them. It’s a trick. They cannot be reasoned into a peaceful state. Stand back instead. These ideas are like the south side of two magnets: in a state of repellent instability that just might cause one side to flip.

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ARIES (March 21-April 19). Even as authentic as you are, there’s a performative aspect to socializing. It is, after all, an art form, and all art takes effort to master. You’ll put thought into your interactions. You’ll analyze what works and grow from what you learn. Picking the right people to share yourself with will be your first success key.

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HOROSCOPE By Holiday Mathis

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TMC introduces rovers to attend to your medical needs

Nicole Feltman

Special to Tucson Local Media

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ple want to be at home, they don’t want to leave.”

This partnership is offering an alternative to patients who do not want to visit the hospital or do not have access to a primary care doctor. It can also be a safer option for patients who don’t want to risk catching COVID or another bug at an ER or urgent care facility.

TMC Director of Case Management Jeanne Rhodes said that not everyone who goes to the ER or to urgent care needs to be hospitalized.

Instead, they can be very well served in the comfort of their own homes.

“People for the most part, if surrounded in the right environment, get better at home in that environment, so that will allow us to make the right call at the right time for the right patient,” Rhodes said.

Through Dispatch Health Bridge Care visit, any patient admitted to TMC who might be up for readmission will be visited by Dispatch and be met anywhere between 24-72 hours. They will assess their house, food insecurity and social determinants that would hold back health care.

The TMC and DispatchHealth partnership is helping not only patients of the hospital, but also relieving stress on TMC’s overwhelmed system.

Over the course of the COVID outbreak, many hospitals were frequently overloaded and sometimes had to send patients to other hospitals, sometimes in other states.

Many people do not have access to technology, healthcare or transportation, so this collaboration is offering an accessible alternative for all those in the Tucson Metro area. Dispatch health will be accepting most insurance companies.

ext time you need to go to urgent care, you might be able to get an old-fashioned housecall instead.

Tucson Medical Center officials announced last week that they have partnered with DispatchHealth to give patients comprehensive, athome, acute care.

TMC is currently the only hospital in the Tucson metro area providing this mobile urgent care model.

DispatchHealth currently has four active “rovers” (cars) in action serving the larger metro from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week, including holidays.

Every rover has an emergency care-trained DispatchHealth medical team and is fully equipped with necessary tools and treatments to give patients in-home care, including on-site diagnostics and a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act-certified lab.

Lead Nurse Practitioner Robyn Green said the service her colleagues provide is so stellar that she would trust them enough to care for her own mother. Green has been a nurse practitioner for eight years and has been working with Dispatch Health in Tucson for the past 15 months.

She has already made 2,500 visits in the few months Dispatch and TMC have been partnered.

With the rover, Green can do EKG scans, set up an IV, provide medications on scene, sew up cuts, diagnose COVID-19, flu, UTIs and STDs, do blood tests, perform ultrasounds and X-rays, and more.

“I know this is the future of For more information, visit health care,” Green said. “Peodispatchhealth.com.

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