Last week I wrote a blog announcing the PBS documentary “Together We Heal” – interviews of those affected by the January 8, 2011 mass shooting at the Safeway in NW Tucson. Click here for my earlier blog with background information on the PBS production team. The show is written, directed and produced by AZPM’s Emmy® Award winner Tom Kleespie.

Hearing the heart-wrenching interviews of the shooting victims and heroes who responded to help them get medical aid that morning was difficult for me, as I know Gabby and I knew Gabe. Here’s the blog I wrote about Gabe (and the other victims) the day after he died (click here) – “Farewell Gabe Zimmerman, Congresswoman Giffords’ aide”.

Most of us in the Tucson community knew someone directly affected by this tragedy, which made it even more painful and shocking to us.

And in this documentary there is a solemn photo of me at the UMC memorial, mourning as I re-light candles in memory of the six who died. (I’m wearing my British wool gillie hat which my husband gave me in Oxford, where we were married).

View the show tonight at 8 p.m., and remind others of the January 8 repeat showing at 6 p.m. MST.

Our prayers are still with those who were injured that day and are recovering, especially Congresswoman “Gabby” Giffords who was shot in the head and receiving rehab in Houston. And hopefully there may be a sense of some peace for those who lost the six innocent people by this senseless shooting.

May we never forget:

Christina-Taylor Green
Dorothy Morris
Judge John Roll
Phyllis Schneck
Dorwan Stoddard
Gabe Zimmerman

And may we all move on and heal from this tragic event.

Yesterday about 150 people attended the Gabe Zimmerman Davidson Canyon Trailhead Dedication. This lovely area is about 1/4 mile west of Cienega Creek on Marsh Station Rd. north of Exit 281 of I-10. Several speakers spoke eloquently about Gabe’s legacy of loving nature and hiking: Jennifer Cox from Congresswoman Giffords’ office, Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll (whose District 4 this portion of the Arizona Trail is located in), Supervisors Richard Elias and Ann Day, and lastly Emily Nottingham, Gabe’s mother. Supervisor Carroll said that we all need “places and people to help us recover” from 1/8/11, that Gabe was “irreplaceable like this trail, a shepherd to all of us”. Supervisor Elias said that there was “no fairness” in this shooting of 1/8/11, but that “justice reigns supreme” with this beautiful trail dedicated to Gabe.

Gabe’s mother Emily spoke of his love of the desert and his ability to form “connections.”
Gabe’s father Ross Zimmerman, his brother Ben, his stepmother, fiancee Kelly O’Brien, and other relatives were present at this dedication, as were heroes Daniel Hernandez Jr. and Patricia Maisch, who were at the Safeway that morning. The tiles at the gateway of the trail from photographs of Gabe were made by LD 28 House Rep./artist Steve Farley and his tile team who were present. A night blooming cereus was also planted at the trailhead. I encourage all of you to visit this spectacularly beautiful desert area & hike it in memory of Gabe Zimmerman, and the five others who died that day.

AZ Daily Star photos from this event (click here). Gloria Giffords, mom of the injured Congresswoman was also present.

Press release from Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ office:

TUCSON – The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously today to name park facilities for an aide to U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and a 9-year-old girl, both of whom were killed in a Jan. 8 attack in which the congresswoman was seriously wounded.

The board voted to rename the Davidson Canyon trailhead for Gabe Zimmerman and to rename the Cañada del Oro linear river park for Christina-Taylor Green. Other victims of the shooting will be honored with markers at the Davidson Canyon trailhead, the board decided.

Gabe’s father, Ross Zimmerman, welcomed the board’s decision as a fitting honor for someone who grew up enjoying Arizona’s open spaces.

“Gabe was immersed in the natural world of the Desert Southwest from birth,” he said. “Before he could crawl, Gabe was carried in sling packs up the sides of mountains. Vacations tended to revolve around visits to National Parks, both inside and outside the United States. Emily Nottingham, his mother, became president of the Arizona Trail Association and Gabe helped her explore the passages of the Arizona Trail, including this one.”

Ross, a biologist and trail runner, noted that Gabe and his brother Ben were his favorite partners on numerous outdoor adventures.

“The spot chosen to memorialize our son is a fascinating confluence of Sonoran Desert edge and sheer canyon walls with beautiful vegetation,” he said. “Gabe visited the area with Emily on several occasions and we are touched that the trailhead there will bear his name.”

Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll agreed, noting that the renaming of the trail for Gabe had bipartisan support and was the result of many agencies working together.

“This is an appropriate tribute for fine public servant who greatly enjoyed Arizona’s outdoors,” said Carroll, who represents the district in which the trail is located. “Those who didn’t know Gabe will know him through this trail.”

The 30-year-old Zimmerman was community outreach director for Giffords when he was killed at a “Congress on Your Corner” event hosted by Giffords. Zimmerman organized the event at a shopping center on Tucson’s Northwest side.

Zimmerman was a natural athlete who enjoyed hiking and running in the Sonoran Desert. The Arizona Trail Association asked the county to rename the Davidson Canyon trailhead the Davidson Canyon-Gabe Zimmerman Memorial Trailhead.

Zimmerman was a member of the association and, while working for Congresswoman Giffords, helped get the Arizona Trail designated as a National Scenic Trail. The Davidson Canyon trail links to the Cienega Creek Natural Preserve and the Arizona Trail.

The Tucson National Estates Improvement Association asked the county to rename the Cañada del Oro River Park to the Cañada del Oro Christina-Taylor Green Memorial River Park in honor of the 9-year-old girl who was killed in the shooting.

The park runs along the Cañada del Oro wash from North La Cholla Boulevard to North Thornydale Road.

CONTACT
C.J. Karamargin
Communications Director
U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords
Arizona’s 8th Congressional District
(520) 881-3588 or (520) 909-8482