SPECIAL EVENTS
TQ&A
EVENTS THIS WEEK
Ross Zimmerman
DOWNTOWN PARADE OF LIGHTS Colorfully lit entries and floats vie for cash awards based on beauty, originality, creativity in the use of lights, craftsmanship, effective use of colors and materials, in the 17th Annual Parade of Lights from 6:30 to 8 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 17; free. The parade has a new route: Beginning at 17th Street and Stone Avenue, it turns right on Ochoa Street and ends at the southwest corner of Armory Park. Bring a blanket or chair; bleacher seating is available, but limited at Armory Park, 221 S. Sixth Ave.
Ross Zimmerman says the idea for Beyond Tucson: Commemorate, Celebrate, Commit came up when he was talking to Ron Barber about the looming anniversary of the Jan. 8 shootings. There will be many somber ceremonies to honor the victims—including Zimmerman’s son Gabe, who was killed, and Barber, who was severely wounded. However, Beyond Tucson, on Saturday, Jan. 7, is intended to connect people through exercise, fun and the enjoyment of the outdoors, and for people to celebrate the strength, resilience and beauty of Tucson. The Zimmerman family began working on the Tucson Trails Tribute Fund to honor the victims, and the first TTT event is Beyond Tucson. For more information, go to www. beyond-tucson.org, or search for it on Facebook.
HOLIDAY EVENTS AT LOEWS VENTANA CANYON Loews Ventana Canyon Resort. 7000 N. Resort Drive. 299-2020. The 12 Days of Christmas concludes with a live holiday performance from 6:15 to 7 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 15; free, food and refreshments are available for purchase. The Jewish Community Center Childrens’ Choir performs traditional Hanukkah songs, and traditional treats are served, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 21; free.
Mari Herreras, mherreras@tucsonweekly.com
How did the Tucson Trails Tribute start? After the shootings, one of the people who came to town to help with things was Steve Golden, the cousin of my wife, Pam Golden, Gabe’s stepmother. He works for the National Park Service’s rivers and trails programs. Their stock in trade is working with communities to develop things in cooperation with the Park Service to get people outdoors and active. He applied those skills to pull together a large selection of entities in town to commemorate Gabe and others. Who are the entities working together? He was able to bring together the city and county, the Udall Foundation, the Sonoran Institute, Child and Family Resources and Tucson Medical Center. I was flabbergasted by the cross-section he got involved. Pam and Gabe’s mom, Emily, were all in the loop on that, and then Pam and I got involved in early meetings to focus on the main idea. Gabe and I had worked together on a map for his boss’ website on points of interest. Something we put together was the fact that Congressional District 8 was known as one of the, if not the, most biodiverse regions in the United States. How does that relate to the Tucson Trails Tribute? You can make the argument that Tucson has more incred22 WWW.TuCsON WEEKLY.COM
ible trail systems in the metropolitan area than any city in the United States. Our wonderful mountain ranges are nationally known among climbers. Outside magazine said it was the best for roadbiking. But the idea is that we should make use of our wonderful public lands and get people out and mentally engaged to improve their physical and mental health. … We quickly came to the idea to focus on outreach programs that use these public lands to get people, especially young people, out in nature, and physical and mentally healthy. What’s one way to get folks out more? One idea is the development of a trail system. That is certainly one of our longerrange goals, but our focus right now is on the short term: getting people out. We hired a staff person, Michelle Crow. … She worked as Gabe’s counterpart in Raúl (Grijalva’s) office. They were good friends and colleagues. What about the idea for Beyond Tucson? Ron Barber assembled a meeting to point out that the anniversary of the shootings is approaching fast, and to figure out how we would commemorate the shootings. It occurred to me that on Saturday, Jan. 7, before the anniversary, would be a good day to stage something. Our goal would be to get as many
people (as possible) out and about that day doing something active and worthwhile that commemorates our loss in some way that is positive. Sunday, Jan. 8, is going to be more somber and about loss. The concept for Beyond Tucson quickly evolved into something large-scale. … We have more than 100 community partners now. Tucson Trails Tribute sponsored an event at Reid Park, and other groups have organized dozens of other things across the region. Are you surprised that there’s a strong interest in helping with Beyond Tucson? I’d say I’ve been pleased and encouraged. I’ve known for months that there are a lot of good people in Tucson who wanted to help. At Gabe’s private funeral service, we had 650 people, and we had to work to keep it at that. Keep in mind that thousands of people were touched by this. If you want to be involved, is the Beyond website the best place to go? Yes. If you go to the website, you’ll already see an array of events. If you see something you want to go to, please register so the organizer has an idea of how many people are going to turn up. Also, if there are people who want to stage something that we have not spoken to yet, there is a section on the website they can access.
MERCADO HOLIDAY BAZAAR Mercado San Agustín. 100 S. Avenida del Convento. 461-1110, ext. 8. Artisan foods, children’s clothing and toys, jewelry, specialty gifts and traditional holiday foods like tamales, buñuelos and champurrado are for sale by local artisans and small businesses from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday, Dec. 16, through Sunday, Dec. 18; free admission. A life-size gingerbread house and photo ops with Santa highlight activities for kids. Visit mercadoholidaybazaar.wordpress.com for more info. THAI FOOD BUFFET FUNDRAISER Tucson Buddhist Meditation Center. 1133 S. Swan Road. 745-4624. Pad Thai, egg rolls, chicken curry, vegetarian curry, desserts and more are served from 5 to 7 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 17; $10, free child younger than 10. Proceeds help underwrite free classes at the center. TUCSON VILLAGE FARM BENEFIT SHOW Tucson Village Farm. 4210 N. Campbell Ave. 6265161. Art by Art for People and farm-fresh hors d’oeuvres are sold to benefit Tucson Village Farm programs from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 17; free admission. Raffle tickets are sold for a trip to South Africa. Call or visit tucsonvillagefarm.com for more information. ZOO LIGHTS Reid Park Zoo. 1030 S. Randolph Way. 881-4753. Jingle bells, falling snow and Santa are featured among the twinkling lights from 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday through Sunday, through Friday, Dec. 23; $5, $4 member, $3 age 2 through 14, free younger child. Visit tucsonzoo. org for more information.
UPCOMING DID JEWISH PIONEERS EAT CHINESE FOOD ON CHRISTMAS DAY? Tucson Masonic Lodge No. 4. 3590 N. Country Club Road. 323-2821. The Jewish History Museum hosts a traditional Chinese dinner at 5:30 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 25; $20. RSVP to 670-9073.
BULLETIN BOARD EVENTS THIS WEEK BE A SANTA TO A SENIOR A program to provide gifts and companionship to seniors who otherwise might have neither continues through Monday, Dec. 19. Donors pick up an ornament with a senior’s name and wish list, then return the ornament with items from the list. Volunteers wrap and deliver the gifts. Locations and details are at beasantatoasenior.com. COFFEE KLATCH BOOK SALE Kirk-Bear Canyon Library. 8959 E. Tanque Verde Road. 792-5021. A sale of coffee-table books takes place, and refreshments are served, from 2 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 17; free. CONSIDERING DIVORCE Murphy-Wilmot Branch, Tucson-Pima Public Library. 530 N. Wilmot Road. 594-5420. Representatives of the Family Center of the Conciliation Court and the family law section of the Pima County Bar Association offer information about the emotional and legal aspects of divorce from 6 to 7 p.m., the third Wednesday of every month. Free. Call 740-5590 for more information. GIFT-WRAPPING BENEFIT La Encantada. 2905 E. Skyline Drive. 299-3566. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society benefits from dona-
tions to a holiday gift-wrapping service on the upper level of La Encantada. Hours are 3 to 8 p.m., Friday, Dec. 16; noon to 8 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 17; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 18; and Monday through Friday, Dec. 19 through 23. Donations of wrapping supplies are welcomed. Email shannon.gaines@lls.org. HANDMAKER HOLIDAY HAPPENING Handmaker Jewish Services. 2221 N. Rosemont Ave. 322-7035. A multicultural party celebrates winter holiday traditions from around the world, including Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa, with harp music, holiday treats, cookie-decorating and holiday card-making, at 2:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 20; free. HOLIDAY SHOW AT MADARAS GALLERY Madaras Gallery. 3001 E. Skyline Road, Suite 101. 615-3001. Snow scenes and holiday gifts are featured from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday; and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday, through Saturday, Dec. 31. Free. Visit madaras.com for more information. HOW TO GET BENEFITS YOU’RE QUALIFIED FOR Ellie Towne Flowing Wells Community Center. 1660 W. Ruthrauff Road. 887-9786. One-on-one consultation with an economic resource specialist provides direction and access to available benefits, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 15; free. Call 903-3912 to schedule an appointment. SOCRATES CAFÉ Metropolitan Grill. 7892 N. Oracle Road. 531-1212. A group discusses philosophical questions old and new at 6:30 p.m., the first and third Monday of every month; free. Call 575-1743 for more information. SOCRATES SATURDAY FORUM Ward 6 City Council Office. 3202 E. First St. 7914601. All are welcome to join a philosophical discussion at 9 a.m., the first and third Saturday of every month; free. Email lanamorgan1@yahoo.com for more info. SOUTHERN ARIZONA ARTS GUILD Local artists are invited to participate in meetings at 8:30 a.m., the first and third Saturday of every month; $13, $10 member. Meetings on the third Saturday include a casual critique session. Visit southernazartsguild.org for more information. TOUR THE TEMPLE OF MUSIC AND ART Temple of Music and Art. 330 S. Scott Ave. 884-4875. Arizona Theatre Company offers a backstage, behindthe-scenes and historic tour of the Temple of Music and Art at 11:30 a.m., the first and third Saturday of every month, through March 17, except Jan. 1; free. Call 884-8210, ext. 8610, for tour reservations or more information. WORD WEAVERS Dry River Collective. 740 N. Main Ave. 882-2170. A women’s writing circle meets from 1 to 3 p.m., every Friday, except Dec. 23, in Kaitlin’s Creative Cottage in the courtyard; $5. Bring writing tools; tea, cookies and interesting writing prompts are provided. Call 622-6161 for more information.
OUT OF TOWN CAREGIVER SUPPORT GROUP Joyner-Green Valley Branch, Tucson-Pima Public Library. 601 N. La Cañada Drive. Green Valley. 594-5295. Grandparents, and adoptive and other kinship caregivers, meet for information and mutual support at 10:30 a.m., the third Friday of every month; free. Lunch is provided. Call 323-4476, ext. 109, for information. DEMOCRATIC CLUB OF THE SANTA RITA AREA Green Valley Democratic Headquarters. 260 W. Continental Road. Green Valley. 838-0590. The club discusses current events every Wednesday, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; free. All are welcome. Email acalkins10@aol.com, or visit gvdemocrats.org. EVENTS AT RINCON VALLEY FARMERS’ AND ARTISANS’ MARKET Rincon Valley Farmers and Artisans Market. 12500 E. Old Spanish Trail. Vail. 591-2276. Hours are 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday. Dec. 17: Pet day and community sale behind the barn. Closed Dec. 24 and 31. Visit rvfm. org for more information about upcoming events; and rinconinstitute.org for more information about the market’s sponsors. TRUNK SHOWS AT WESTERN NATIONAL PARKS BOOKSTORE Western National Parks Association Bookstore. 12880 N. Vistoso Village Drive. Oro Valley. 622-6014. Zuni fetishes are for sale from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 17. Huichol art, including beaded carvings, yarn paintings, masks and gourd bowls, are exhibited for sale from Monday, Dec. 19, through Thursday, Jan. 5. Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday; and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday; free. Reservations are not required.