Looking for a gift or clothes while working/visiting downtown Tucson?

Someone asked me if there was anywhere to shop downtown and upon reflection, here’s a list of 20 plus businesses, based on some research from the Downtown Tucson Partnership website and my own personal knowledge (click on the blue links for further info):

Desert Bloom 27 N. Stone Ave., 792-9882. Monday-Friday 9:30 am–5:30pm, Saturday Noon–5pm. Fine jewelry, unique gifts, distinctive home and garden accessories.

Flanagan’s Celtic Corner 222 E. Congress St., 623-9922. Wednesday-Friday 11am-3pm, Saturday-Sunday 9am-6pm. Celtic jewelry, pottery, t-shirts, Guinness items, more.

Friends of the Library Bookstore at the Joel D. Valdez Main library, 101 N. Stone Ave., 594-5500. Monday to Friday 11 to 2 p.m. Low cost books,CDs, DVDs.

Hotel Arizona gift shop, 181 W. Broadway, 624-8711. Greeting cards, Southwest gifts, more.

Hydra Leather and More 145 E. Congress St, 791-3711. Monday-Saturday 11am–7pm, Sunday 12pm-6pm. An eclectic mix of fashions, lingerie, shoes, and accessories for men and women.

Indian Village Trading Post 110 S. Church Ave. #4199 (La Pilita Village), 623-1162. Monday-Friday 9am-4pm, Saturday 10 am-3 pm. Jewelry, clothes and shirts native to Tucson.

June’s Corner Store 10 E. Broadway, Suite 108, 622-8100. Monday-Friday 9am-4:30pm. A large selection of greeting cards and gifts.

Mahlia Collection 410 N. Toole Ave. Suite 1, 791-2185, Monday to Friday 9 to 5 p.m. Jewelry, furniture, couture, accessories.

Maynard’s Market 400 N. Toole St., 545-0577, Sunday through Thursday: 7am – 8pm,
Friday and Saturday: 7am – 10pm. Gourmet foods, specialty gift items (candles, tshirts, Vy & Elle bags, greeting cards), more.

Old Town Artisans Shops 201 N. Court Ave., 623-6024. September–May: Monday–Saturday 9:30am–5:30pm, Sunday 11am–5pm, June–August: Monday–Saturday 10am–4pm, Sunday 11am–4pm. Located in the El Presidio Historic District is the little city block of Old Town Artisans. Five shops: Dawn Stewart (jewerly/fine art), La Zia (native arts & crafts), Old Town Pot Shop (pottery, artwork, & more), The Outpost (fine art & handicrafts),Tolteca Tlacuilo (world imports).

Perri Jewelers 13 N. Stone Ave., 624-4311. Monday-Friday, 9am-4pm. Diamonds, watches, jewelry, guaranteed jewelry and watch repair.

Re-Threads 66 E. Pennington St., 884-5553. Monday-Friday 8:30am-4:30pm, Saturday 10am-2pm. Recycled fashions.

Rockin’ Queen, Inc 45 S. 6th Ave, 461-1076. Monday to Friday, 10 am to 7 pm. Women’s high-quality clothing (100% bamboo, cotton & silk).

6th Ave. Stylez 41 S. 6th Ave., 409-7928, Monday to Friday, 11 am to 7 pm. Men’s and women’s casual clothing.

Studio 220/Got All Your Marbles 220 E. Congress, 628-1433. Thursday-Saturday 10:30am-2:30pm. Featuring our own interchangeable marble jewelry, as well as other fun, creative jewelry and art.

Tiendita Gift Shop at La Pilita Museum, 440 S. Main St., 882-7454. Tuesday to Saturday, 11 to 2 p.m. T-shirts, greeting cards, ceramic crafts by local artists, more.

drawing of La Pilita Museum by Nancy Lenches, 2004

Tucson Children’s Museum (Mrs. Tiggy Winkle’s Gift Shop) 200 S. 6th Ave., 792-9985. Tuesday to Friday 9 to 5 pm, Saturday & Sunday 10am-5pm. Plush novelties, coloring books, toys for children.

The Museum Shop at the Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block 140 N. Main, 624-2333. Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5pm. Sunday noon-5pm. A splendid selection of works by Arizona’s most talented artists and craftspeople. One-of-a-kind handcrafted glass, pottery, textiles, jewelry, and multimedia artworks available in this lobby-level shop.

We keep waiting for Downtown redevelopment to occur, for Downtown Tucson to have another “hey day” for more shopping and gifts. But check out what’s there now, and let me know if I missed any favorite shops which you frequent.

Did you know that 4 of the 5 recent Arizona Governors have been women?

I attended a panel discussion at the 2nd Annual Tucson Festival of Books about women politicians in Arizona (pre 1950). Then I started thinking about the women politicians since then and now:

Arizona Governors Rose Mofford (1988 to 1991), Jane Dee Hull (1997 to 2003), Janet Napolitano (2003 to 2009), Jan Brewer (2009 to present) were either Secretary of State or Attorney General before becoming Governor. Governor Brewer is seeking re-election in November, 2010. Prior to Governor Mofford, all of Arizona’s Governors were men.

Two of our 8 U.S. House Congressmembers are now women: Gabrielle Giffords (serving since 2007 in CD Eight) and Ann Kirkpatrick (serving since 2009 in CD One). Isabella Greenway was the first Congresswoman from Arizona (served 1933 to 1937).

Arizona's first Congresswoman Isabella Greenway

Two of the 5 Supervisors on the Pima County Board of Supervisors are women: Sharon Bronson (District 3) and Ann Day (District 1).

3 of our current 6 Tucson City Councilmembers are women: Shirley Scott (Ward 4), Karin Uhlich (Ward 3), and Regina Romero (Ward 1). At one time till December 2009 we had 4 women Councilmembers, including Nina Trasoff (Ward 6).

There are two women’s groups in Arizona promoting the election of more political office holders who are women:

The Arizona Women’s Political Caucus (AWPC) promotes pro-choice women candidates, saying on their website: “We are the only multi-partisan grassroots organization dedicated to increasing the number of pro-choice women in elected and appointed office. We work to help women attain leadership positions at all levels of government.” AWPC was founded in 1972 in Arizona.

Arizona List (founded in 2003) says they are “one of the state’s largest political networks and one of the largest financial resources for women candidates. We are the only Super PAC solely dedicated to electing women in Arizona. We are determined to change the face of Arizona by electing pro-choice Democratic women to state and local office.”

Arizona is in 9th place of 50 states in the percentage of women legislators (31.1%). Women hold 28 of the 90 legislative seats in Arizona. Several women candidates are running for the state legislature this year.

Up for re-election:

State Senate: Paula Aboud (LD 28), Linda Lopez (LD 29)

State House: Patricia Fleming (LD 25), Nancy Young Wright, (LD 26)

Candidates seeking election:

State Senate:
- Cheryl Cage in LD 26,
- House Rep. Olivia Cajero Bedford in LD 27,
- Marian McClure (former State House Rep.) in LD 30.

State House:
- Terri Lynn Proud in LD 26,
- Sally Ann Gonzales (former House Rep. & Pascua Yaqui Tribal Councilwoman) in LD 27,
- Mohur Sidhwa and Marlena Fineberg in LD 28,
- Andrea Dalessandro and Parralee Schneider in LD 30.

And only one woman attorney Felecia Rotellini is seeking the Arizona Attorney General job, in a field with five male attorneys. Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall has been serving since 1996, the first woman in that office. Only four women (27%) serve as County Attorneys of the 15 counties in Arizona.

Granted, there are more men running than women in all these races, but women have indeed come a long way in Arizona politics since 1950. Happy Women’s Herstory Month of March again, as indicated by these women, who seem to have strong backgrounds to run for public office.

Just ask LD 28 House candidate Mohur Sidhwa about her story of being an Indian immigrant from Pakistan who chose (as a teenager) to come to America, instead of staying over there and wearing a burqa.

New Yorker Colin Beavan decides to completely eliminate his personal impact on the environment for one year.

 See this documentary, “No Impact Man”, about Beavan’s quest at 7 p.m. tonight at the University of Arizona’s Gallagher Theater that is “making people laugh and sympathize all at the same time.”

 The Gallagher Theater is on the first floor of the Student Union Memorial Center, 1303 E. University Blvd.

“It means eating vegetarian, buying only local food, and turning off the refrigerator. It also means no elevators, no television, no cars, buses, or airplanes, no toxic cleaning products, no electricity, no material consumption, and no garbage.”

Find out more about the documentary at www.noimpactdoc.com.

movie poster

From the website: “Thus, in November, 2006, Beavan launched a year-long project in which he, his wife, his two-year-old daughter and his four-year-old dog went off the grid and attempted to live in the middle of New York City with as little environmental impact as possible.”

Colin takes his “caffeine loving, retail obsessed, television loving” wife (Michelle Conlin) and baby daughter along for this “green” ride.

I’ve had people in rural Hawaii tell me they are trying to get “off the grid” by using solar heating and composting toilets. And here’s a family that tried to do it for a year, in populated, urban NYC. I can’t wait to see how they did it. I think I could live without TV for a year, could you?

Think “green” and see this movie for free, but try to walk, skate, bicycle, or take the Sun Tran bus to it, to lessen the impact of more automobile gasoline usage.