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.

Charlie Spillar, who blogs online here at Tucsoncitizen.com as “Artistic Tucson” was just named one of 10 “local heroes” in the Tucson Weekly’s Dec.22-28 issue (on news stands now). Charlie was praised for his leadership in helping to save the unusual Valley of the Moon, finding new homes for the Magic Carpet Golf statues after that entertainment venue closed, and fighting to retain a drive-in theater in Tucson when the De Anza Drive In Theater also closed. I know Charlie from meeting over the last year/half at art receptions and galleries, and he is indeed passionate about art and preserving it. His own whimsical bird sculptures are unique and attractive, last seen by me at the Art Gallery on the NE corner of Stone/Speedway.

Photo courtesy of Charlie Spillar

To read more about Charlie go online to www.tucsonweekly.com (article is written by one of our former editors/artist Ryn Gargulinski, now a writer for the Weekly). Or pick up your issue today or tomorrow all over town, page 18.

Another local hero in that Weekly article is Patricia Maisch, who wrestled that gun clip away from Jared Loughner on January 8, 2011. She is now a spokesperson for Mayors Against Illegal Guns, to tighten background checks of people who purchase guns. The article about Patricia is on page 15 of the Weekly. She is also honored as one of AARP Magazine’s “The Daring Dozen” in their December 2011/January 2012 issue (page 51). These 12 American individuals are recognized as people who use “their energy, creativity and passion to make the world a better place.”

Arizona shooting heroes Ret. Army Col. Bill Badger and Roger Salzgeber are honored along Patricia for their acts of physically bringing armed Loughner down to the ground at the NW Safeway. I recently met both Patricia and Roger at the Tucson hearing by the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, through mutual contact Daniel Hernandez, Jr.

A tribute to one of these “daring dozen” was given to my former boss Hawaiian U.S. Senator Dan Inouye (page 48), now President Pro Tempore, who is committed to “common courtesy” as a “Chief Compromiser”. The Senator has served in the U.S. Senate since Hawaii’s statehood in 1959. He just sent me a President Pro Tempore medallion as a keepsake.

Read this AARP article about “Inspire Awards Honorees” online (click here).

Congratulations Charlie and to these other 9 Tucson local heroes, and to the AARP “Daring Dozen”, which also included famous people such as Jane Goodall and the late Steve Jobs.

Homicide Survivors Inc., will be hosting a National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims Safety Fair on Sunday September 25 at the UA Mall. This fair will be held from 3 to 6 p.m., and a vigil will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. For more info, call 520-740-5729.

Speakers will include Attorney General of Arizona Republican Tom Horne, City of Tucson Police Chief Roberto Villasenor, and former Congressional Intern Daniel Hernandez Jr., who assisted Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords when she was shot in the head on January 8, 2011.

Participating organizations at the Safety Fair include Ben’s Bells, CODAC, Emerge!,Pima County Attorney’s Office – Division of Victim Services, Southern AZ Red Cross, 88 Crime, and the Christina Taylor-Green Foundation.

That evening AG Horne will be at a fundraiser for Republican Mayoral candidate Rick Grinnell at McMahon’s Prime Steak House. For questions about this piano reception, contact Barbara Bathen 520-370-0529 or barbarab@grinnell4mayor.com.