Dig this! Summer reading program “Dig into Reading”:

May 24 to July 20 at all Pima County Public library branches, including one near you.

520-791-4010, www.library.pima.gov. Click on the images for more information about summer reading events.

More About Summer Reading 2013

Children will receive a game board when they sign up. Each time they reach a goal, they can visit their library to pick up stickers, special lists of recommended activities, activity booklets with coupons for a variety of destinations, and more. If they complete all of their goals, they can receive a pass for one admission to Breakers Water Park.

Summer Reading Times lists the fun events and activities scheduled throughout the summer. It also includes book recommendations for all ages, how to choose books for children, discount coupons, and ideas for things to do to “dig” into and stay active this summer.

Dig into the public library collection for lots of good books this summer.

Powerful, traumatic stories of teenage drugs, pregnancies, juvenile prison time, poverty — by eight young people in Southern AZ are edited by Susan Lulic Enholm of Tucson. The eight (Carlos, Christina, DeAnne, Jarid, Marquis, Megan, Melissa, Nicole) are all now adults, and in their own words honestly related how they grew up with mostly unwed or divorced parents, in poverty, in dysfunctional families where some of their parents used drugs. And these eight separately got involved with inappropriate peer groups/gangs, drugs, sex at early ages. And several had babies as teenagers.

The stories are heartbreaking (especially ones about sexual abuse) but realistic. And all of these young people eventually drop out of high school due to failing grades & performance, inability to study or control their impulses. None of these eight young people had good role models to follow, and several of them witnessed domestic violence or suffered from child abuse.

In Melissa’s own words:
“Probation was a turning point, obviously. Hang in there. Don’t drop out. Life is too important to leave your education behind. You can’t get anywhere without an education. You’ll probably regret it. I know I did. I regretted it a long time.I think if you have a drug problem, talk to someone about it. I think you’ll know if you have a problem because you just feel it. You have this aching where you have to get higher and higher. Get help right away.” (page 89)

These stories are in sharp contrast to young people who grow up in a privileged world of middle or upper class wealth – with intact, loving parents, no drugs, no teen sex, college bound expectations, but later may become people who also face adversity through bad marriage or career choices, infertility, and depression.

The book is a worthy attempt to reach out to teens who are going through similar circumstances, and who may need to hear how other young people “turned their lives around”. Some of them specifically related what their lowest point in life was and what caused them to change, and escape the chaotic world they were in.

Although the editor is not in contact with these authors anymore, one hopes that they have found better lives, and may be able to change the lives of their own children and break the cycles of poverty, crime, child abuse.

This book portrays horror but inspires hope.

Contact the editor Susan Enholm at susanenholm@comcast.net for information on how to purchase her book, which sells at $12.95, published by City Girl Press, www.citygirlpress.com. It’s in e-Book and softcover.

The Tin Drum / Newly Restored Director’s Cut!

Sunday, May 19 at 11:00am and Tuesday, May 21 at 7:00pm (Essential Cinema monthly film series)

Free Admission • Suggested Donation $5 at the Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd.

Winner of the 1980 Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award and the 1979 Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or!

Danzig, 1924. Just before the start of WWII, Oskar Matzerath is born with an intellect beyond his infancy. As he witnesses the hypocrisy of adulthood and society, he rejects both, and, at his third birthday, decides to stop growing — and succeeds! — then finds that playing his favorite toy, a tin drum, is useful for tuning out things that annoy him, like his mother’s dallying with their Polish boarder, the Nazi rallies his father attends, or even the advent of war itself. Caught in a state of perpetual childhood, Oskar lashes out at all he surveys with piercing screams that can shatter glass and frantic poundings on his tin drum.

The powerfully symbolic drum at the center of this epic and sometimes shocking story has been vigorously debated and interpreted since Danzig native Günter Grass’s debut novel of the same name made him world-famous, and it remains ambiguously multi-layered in Volker Schlöndorff’s stunning adaptation. (Grass had refused a film version of his novel for twenty years, but, after seeing the script by Schlöndorff and Buñuel collaborator Jean-Claude Carrière, not only gave his consent but worked on the dialogue himself.)

The first German film ever to win the Best Foreign Film Oscar, this is “one of the best cinematic translations of a major novel ever made” (Newsweek). An unforgettable fantasia of surreal imagery, striking eroticism and unflinching satire, this newly restored version of The Tin Drum includes twenty minutes of footage unseen since the film was trimmed at the insistence of its distributor for the original 1979 release. (Dir. by Volker Schlöndorff, 1979, Germany, in German with subtitles, 163 mins., Rated R) Digital

I remember reading this book years ago before I met my Native German husband. And the film is equally unforgettable. My husband calls this film “compelling”.

Note: I also am a volunteer at the Loft Cinema, and have been for years.

Schedule:

Friday, Sept. 20
7-8 PM
Unisource Building Conference Room
88 East Broadway in Tucson.
Eric Klinenberg, an inspiring, nationally known speaker (author of the critically acclaimed book, Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago) will hold a public talk.
(Free and open to the public)

Saturday, Sept. 21
7:30 AM until 4:30 PM
Tucson Convention Center
Meeting Rooms

The Purpose of this Conference:

This conference is being organized by the Arizona Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility with the support of a coalition of co-sponsoring community and national organizations as well as local leaders. The purpose is to build new and fortify existing cross-cultural, community, and governmental partnerships to educate and engage community action to address the anticipated public health impacts of climate change in the Southwest.

Why It’s Very Important:

Extreme weather events in the Southwestern U.S. and adjacent Borderlands are on the rise and with them, higher incidences of health-related impacts such as heat stress, newly emerging infectious diseases, asthma and other respiratory illnesses. Moreover, as the “hottest, driest part of the United States,” our region is already experiencing longer and more intense heat waves and (the threat of wide scale power blackouts), a “dramatic spike” in forest fires, severe dust storms, and changes in the amount and timing of rainfall and seasonal snowmelt that threatens water resources and food security. While these events are alarming, communities in the Southwest are preparing for these risks and other impacts outlined in the new National Climate Assessment through planning and prevention strategies aimed at reducing our vulnerability to extreme weather and local climate impacts.

Who Should Attend:

Community and neighborhood leaders, formal and informal educators, citizen activists, government and non-profit agency personnel;
Climate scientists, and health professionals in the Southwestern U.S. Northern Mexico, and First Nations who have an interest in community based action for preparedness to develop more resilient neighborhoods, towns, cities, borders regions, and tribal lands;
National leaders and members of PSR, environmental groups, and policy making agency representatives.

The Conference Experience: see detailed agenda online (click here).

Conference Goals:

1. Actively address the issue of the public health challenges in the face of climate change in the Southwest through the offering of distinguished speakers and facilitated stakeholder workshops designed to encourage and develop new leaders (and to support and re-energize existing leaders) in building innovative community organizing strategies for climate change adaptation.

2. Sustain the work of these community leaders into the future by providing networking opportunities, resources (see deliverables below), and mentoring.

3. Offer a replicable model for engaging communities in climate adaptation throughout the nation

Conference Objectives:

To provide a public forum for facilitated stakeholder input into the development of six strategic plans for building resilience into these areas of climate risk vulnerability:

Assuring Local and Regional Food Security,Availability, and Safety
Integrating Health Care, Emergency Medical Response and Disaster Preparedness
Promoting Mental Well-being and and Spiritual Health
Educating Our Children and Schools for New Environmental Problem Solving
Building Resilience in Our Cultural Diversity with Cross Cultural and Cross Border Cooperation
Organizing to Strengthen and Support Our Most Vulnerable Community Members

Conference Deliverables:

A summary report of the conference that includes an evaluation of how well we met our objectives based on a survey of stakeholder responses on knowledge, attitudes, and overall satisfaction with the conference
Distribution of this report to all attendees via a follow up email and link a to a web resource
A resource manual in a downloadable PDF format
Follow-up 3-hour facilitated workshop with senior government personnel to support the integration of the resource manual and stakeholder input into planning and preparedness for climate change in Tucson and Pima County.

I heard Dr. Barbara Warren, MPH one of the organizers of this conference speak at Drinking Liberally a few weeks ago, and she talked about those six working groups above on 1) preparedness/emergencies 2) mental health & well-being 3) food & water security 4) education of children 5) vulnerable populations 6) cross-cultural concerns & the border w/ Mexico. Contact Dr. Warren is you are interested in serving on any of these groups at bwarre01@gmail.com. I honestly think that we in this Southwest desert need to learn to raise our air conditioning temperature control knob and not “refrigerate” ourselves so much during May to September, as well as plan for wise water use for a growing population.

Register early and save these dates of September 20 and 21 for this “Ready or Hot?” conference.

photo courtesy of J. Jones

Last reminder, Tuesday, May 14 Grand Prize crystal chandelier and auxiliary prizes. The drawing is scheduled to take place at Dragonfly Gallery from 4-6 p.m. Tickets purchased were placed into the drawing and acknowledged by letter or email. Tickets may also be purchased at the gallery.

Single ticket $100
3 for $250
5 for $400
12 for $900

If ticket sales are too low, the Grand Prize Drawing for the chandelier will be extended through September, 2013. The chandelier is professionally appraised at $50,000. In fairness to the value of the chandelier, at least 350 tickets must be sold ($35,000) by 6:00 p.m. on May 14, 2013.

Mail your ticket orders and payments to:

Dragonfly Gallery
P.O. Box 2389
Tucson, AZ 85702

or call or email Beth Daum at 520-628-3164, x 210, bethdaum@dragonflyvillage.org,

Make checks payable to Amity Dragonfly Village. You need not be present to win.

We appreciate your support.

If enough tickets are sold by May 14, some lucky person will win this amazingly ornate crystal chandelier for your home, office, mansion, or chateau. The Dragonfly Gallery is at 146 E. Broadway, between 5th and 6th Avenues. We’ve admired this chandelier at some of the art & music events at this gallery, and it is truly stunning.

Good luck to the one lucky winner!

Belly Dance Tucson offers Tucson’s best belly dance classes for dancers of all levels, student recitals, professional dance troupe performances, and community events. We are Tucson’s premier full time Belly Dance Studio. Come take a class with us or hire a belly dancer to perform at your next party or special event!

520.235.6712

Photo above courtesy of Belly Dance Tucson, L to R: Jessica Walker, Lindsey McFall, Heidi Sellers.

And 2nd Saturday Downtown is celebrating their 3rd year anniversary. It’s been three years of a lot of fun and frolic downtown, so don’t miss this Saturday’s fest.

To top that off, there’s going to be classic rock concert by Five Way Street on the Top Of Pennington (T.O.P.) garage at 110 E. Pennington Street (between Scott and 6th Avenue) from 7 to 9 p.m. I’ve never been up there for a concert, so this event sounds promising and new, with great views of the city.

NEON MILE: SIXTH ANNUAL HISTORIC
MIRACLE MILE OPEN HOUSE AND TOUR

FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2013, 5:30 P.M. – 10:30 P.M.
STARTING POINT: MONTEREY COURT, 505 W. MIRACLE MILE

The Sixth Annual Historic Miracle Mile Open House and Tour will take place on Friday, May 10, 2013, from 5:30 p.m. to – 10:30 p.m. This year the FREE event will feature historic and revitalized resources on Miracle Mile between the Oracle Road intersection and Fairview Avenue.

This special evening will include history lectures; tours of the Ghost Ranch Lodge historic cactus garden; a celebratory lighting of the iconic Wayward Winds Lodge neon sign, salvaged, restored, and re-installed on Miracle Mile; and a guided, flashlight tour of the Evergreen Cemetery to discover some of Tucson’s notable people and their connections to the Old Pueblo. Bring your flashlight and get a different perspective on our past.

Monterey Court, the host for this year’s event, will be celebrating its first anniversary as an adapted historic resource with music, cake, outdoor market shopping, gallery tours, and much more! All are invited to celebrate the Historic Miracle Mile area and its ongoing revitalization.

Talks on the historic significance of the area, with particular attention to the contribution of neon to the historic mile, will be given at 5:45 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. at Ghost Ranch Lodge. Presenters include Carlos Lozano, founder of Vanishing Tucson; and Demion Clinco, President, Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation. Between 5:45 p.m.
and 7 p.m., there will also be ongoing guided tour of the Ghost Ranch Lodge historic cactus garden.

The historic Wayward Winds neon sign lighting will take place between 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., followed at 8 p.m. by the after-dark tour of Evergreen Cemetery with historian Ken Scoville, starting from the Monterey Court. Parking and event information will be available at Monterey Court, and west of the facility on Miracle Mile.

This free Open House and Tour is a collaborative effort of the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation, Ward III, City of Tucson, and businesses and organizations in the Oracle/Miracle Mile area.

For more information about the event, visit www.preservetucson.org and click on News & Events, or contact Linda Mehall, Ward III, at (520) 791-4711, or Linda.Mehall@tucsonaz.gov.

I’ve taken that cemetery tour with Ken Scoville in the daytime, but this nighttime one sounds spooky. Enjoy this open house on Miracle Mile.

Emerge! serves many mothers who would go to the end of the earth to protect their children. Each year we choose one mother, a mother who has displayed exceptional courage and strength. At our Mother of the Year Luncheon we tell her story, and celebrate her bravery. This 12th annual event will also honor the service of our CEO for seven years, Sarah Jones.
Help us celebrate!

Save the Date! 12th Annual Mother of the Year Luncheon
Thursday, May 9, 2013, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Westin La Paloma Resort

Single Tickets $75 Each Purchase your tickets today! Call 520-795-8001 ext 7013 or purchase online at http://www.emergecenter.org/

There will also be a terrific silent auction, which you can view online and purchase raffle tickets online as well. You do not have to be present to win. Raffle tickets are $5 check or five for $20. View fabulous silent auction/raffle items
(click here).

And Happy Mother’s Day on May 12.

©2013 Oldemark LLC

Tucson, Arizona – The Tucson Wendy’s franchise wants to show their support for all Tucson educators and “Give Something Back” on their special day for the hard work and dedication they put forth each day. On National Teacher Appreciation Day Wendy’s is inviting all Tucson educators and staff members to visit any one of 14 locally owned Tucson area Wendy’s restaurant to receive a FREE Jr. Hamburger.

Who: Tucson educators and staff members
When: May 7, 2013 in honor of National Teacher Appreciation Day
What: FREE Jr. Hamburgers for all educators and staff members (one per faculty member)
Where: All Tucson area Wendy’s locations
How to redeem offer: Present faculty badge.

Logo courtesy of Triwest Restaurants LLC. The Wendy’s name, design and logo are registered trademarks of Oldemark LLC and are licensed to Wendy’s International, Inc.

Contact: Rochelle Romero
Field Marketing Manager
Triwest Restaurants LLC
(520) 271-6194
r.romero@wendyscos.com

Pick up a delicious, cool Wendy’s frosty (my favorite) while you’re there.
And appreciate your teachers and educators.

National Press release from Wyland Foundation below. They say on their website that “Together we pledged to save 742,175,738 gallons of water this year”. See information about Tucson specifically below the press release.

TORRANCE, Calif., May 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Five U.S. cities were honored today for residents’ commitment to water-saving choices as part of the second annual National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation. Separated into five population categories, the winning cities are Denver; Tucson, Ariz.; West Palm Beach, Fla.; Bremerton, Wash. and Laguna Beach, Calif. Residents in all 50 states made more than 44,000 online pledges to save water, use less energy and reduce pollution in four categories – home, yard, community and life – with potential cost savings of more than $30.6 million.

Presented nationally by Wyland Foundation and Toyota, the National Mayor’s Challenge had participation from 70 mayors across the U.S., including Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock; D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray; Columbus, Ohio Mayor Michael B. Coleman; Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn; Tucson, Ariz. Mayor Jonathan Rothschild and Santa Fe, N.M. Mayor David Coss. City leaders encouraged their residents to participate in the online challenge, which also provided access to regional water and energy resources along with cost-saving tips.

“This year’s challenge gathered the support of an impressive list of cities, mayors, corporations and nonprofits, all of whom shared our enthusiasm for working toward a more sustainable future,” said environmental artist Wyland, founder of the Wyland Foundation. “Congratulations to the winning cities. The environmental education and pledges will have an impact in bringing the conversation about conserving resources closer to home.”

At a May 10 event in Denver, Hancock will draw the grand prize winner of a new Prius c from the pool of winning cities’ participants, who are also eligible to win hundreds of water-saving fixtures and gift certificates to Lowe’s stores. A $1,000 Lowe’s Shopping Spree will also be chosen from among the entire pool of U.S. participants. The National League of Cities, CH2M Hill WaterMatch, Rain Bird Corporation, Lowe’s home improvement stores, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) WaterSense, and the U.S. Forest Service supported the challenge too. The additional support from well-known comedians through Comics for Conservation, a series of public service announcements, expanded this year’s environmental message. Pete Dominick, longtime SiriusXM host, stand-up comic and CNN contributor, was the official spokesperson.

Toyota’s partnership with the Wyland Foundation and the Mayor’s Challenge included a new element this year – an eight-state U.S. environmental educational tour to schools and communities, reaching 4,000 students. The mobile, 1,000-square foot Wyland Clean Water Mobile Learning Experience featured interactive exhibits to demonstrate the relationships between humans and water.

“Toyota has a deep commitment to environmental sustainability across our operations, making our work with the Wyland Foundation a natural and rewarding fit,” said Michael Rouse, vice president of diversity, philanthropy, and community affairs for Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. “By helping expand the reach of the National Mayor’s Challenge this year, we hoped to encourage more people to learn and participate in conserving natural resources.”

In addition to making water-saving pledges, challenge participants pledged to reduce their use of single-use plastic water bottles by more than 5.4 million bottles and eliminate 69.9 million pounds of hazardous waste from entering watersheds. By altering daily lifestyle choices, pledges also resulted in potentially 18.3 million fewer pounds in landfills and 2.2 million fewer pounds of fertilizer in the waste stream. Potential savings of 67.8 million gallons of oil and 2.7 billion pounds of carbon dioxide rounded out the final pledge results.

To learn more about the National Mayor’s Challenge, visit www.mywaterpledge.com. For tips on how to save water every day and to learn about water-efficient products for the home, visit www.epa.gov/watersense.

About the Wyland Foundation
Founded in 1993 by environmental artist Wyland (best known for his series of 100 monumental marine life murals), the Wyland Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization, is actively engaged in teaching millions of students around the county about our ocean, rivers, lakes streams, and wetlands. The foundation’s latest project, FOCUS (Forests, Oceans, Climate – and us) brings together the U.S. Forest Service, NOAA, and numerous non-profits to teach young people about the future of our water supplies, climate, and global health. www.wylandfoundation.org.

Additional news re: City of Tucson from Wyland Foundation media contact Steve Creech, steve.creech@wylandfoundation.org:

Water Saved
38,829,430 gals

Dollars Saved
$1,620,719.71

Less In Landfill
959,198 lbs

Fertilizer Not in Waste Stream
112,110 lbs

Water Bottles Saved
275,230

Hazardous Waste Avoided
3,550,640 lbs

Oil Saved
3,444,114 gals

CO2 Emissions Reduced
139518770 lbs

“It was clear that Tucson was motivated to win. Even during our visits to the community with our clean water mobile learning center, we noticed the people in Tucson – right down to the kids – seemed generally well informed about the importance of water to the future of the city. The effort of Tucson to become sustainable is a powerful model for the rest of the country. While people enjoy the competition and the prizes, the challenge is really aimed at broadening the dialogue about conservation. Tucson got people talking. And we find —that when conservation becomes top of mind, people start making changes. And that’s what this is all about.”
—Wyland, environmental artist and founder of the Wyland Foundation