Reid Park DeMeester Outdoor Performance Area
(Country Club Road, N. of 22nd Street, Tucson)
FREE to attend!

YOU’RE INVITED to participate in Tucson Arts Brigade’s 4th Annual Water Festival, integrating art, science and culture to raise awareness, promote stewardship, and foster creative expression about our water future. This year, The Water Festival is partnering with the Earth Day Festival at Reid Park!

THE WATER FESTIVAL is the ONLY large-scale community event in Pima County that showcases creativity and water solutions together and is a prime opportunity to engage the public through diverse activities for learning, networking, and family fun!

• Exhibitor Fair
• Performances
• Art Show
• Music
• Speakers
• Workshops
• Kids Activities
• 3-Mile Walk for Water (8am-9am)
• Cultural / Spiritual Connections
• Design for Water Solutions Contest
• “The Vibe” LIVE Art Happenings
• Fun Surprises & Special Guests!

I’ve been to this cool, refreshing festival in the past and even got to see Mermaid Odette in her portable pool. 4th Annual Water festival sponsored by Tucson Arts Brigade. More info at: http://www.waterfestivaltucson.org/ or call 520-623-2119, info@waterfestivaltucson.org. This festival integrates water, art, science, and culture to raise awareness about water use and resources.

More info on 19th Annual Earth Day at www.tucsonearthday.org, 520-206-8814,
info@tucsonearthday.org.

Join the Parade
All species great and small-insects, plants and animals-the Earth needs them all! Dress-up and participate in the “All Species Procession” as part of the Earth Day Parade! Make a banner and tell us how your species is so important to Planet Earth. Are you helping clean the air (trees and plants)? Are you an endangered or threatened species? The ice may be melting your home (global warming) or maybe there hasn’t been rain in a while so you are affected by drought or the threat of fire… let us know what we should do to help all species have a place on earth! Parade begins at 10:00 and winners are announced at 11:30.

Solar Competition
Model Solar Electric Cars and Houses, designed and constructed by middle school students, are real world engineering projects. The kits contain solar cells, motors, batteries, lights and other optional parts. The design and the construction is “left to the ingenuity of the student”! Competition begins at 10:45. Awards at 1:00!
For a kit order form and information on how to enter email Stacey at solar@swetucson.org

Alternate Fuel Vehicle Show
Check out vehicles that run on alternate fuels such as biodiesel, compressed natural gas, electric, ethanol, propane and waste vegetable oil. Ask the experts how you can start using an alternate fuel in your vehicle to keep the air clean for all.

Bike to the Zoo
Animals love the earth and need clean air too! So, ride your bike to the Reid Park Zoo and get FREE admission by showing your safety helmet. Before or after visiting the zoo, ride over to the Earth Day Festival for more fun!

Celebrate Mother Earth, and water– her most precious resource.

This 2009 book is a ten year story of how a conservationist/game reserve owner of 5,000 acres in Zululand, South Africa takes in an unwanted herd of 7 elephants, which were causing trouble in another reserve in Africa. If he didn’t take them in all of them would have been shot and killed. He becomes their “friend” and by his kindness and gentle speech is able to communicate with them, mostly the matriarch elephant named Nana.

But Anthony writes in the opening Prologue:

“Make no mistake, the title of this book is not about me for I make no claim to any special abilities. It is about the elephants – it was they who whispered to me and taught me how to learn.” (page 1)

There are numerous, exciting adventures related in the book – poachers, escape of the elephants, illness, birth & death, another female orphaned elephant, bush fire, flooding. He grippingly relates stories of living peaceably with the other animals in the African wild – snakes (including the deadly Black Mambas, pythons, and cobras), crocodiles, Cape buffaloes.

Later Anthony and his French 2nd wife Francoise entertain guests in a new luxury lodge at Thula Thula with jeep or walking safaris, to view first hand the African animals such as giraffes, zebras, rhinos, leopards, hyenas, antelopes, monkeys, etc., including this herd of elephants.

What is extremely touching is how Anthony becomes an “elephant whisperer”, as he learns to communicate with this novel herd by watching their ears, eyes, trunk explorations, and noting their stomach rumblings. He keenly observed their behavior and admired their sense of intuition and caring for their young. He also mentions that they can communicate via infrasound vibrations(through unique stomach rumblings) over miles with each other, perhaps throughout the African continent (page 154 & 155).

Anthony’s dream was to preserve the neighboring land into a Royal Zulu game preserve for the Zulu tribes that live nearby, and he also founded The Earth Organization to care for wild animal and plant kingdoms. He and Spence have also written another book about Anthony’s courageous work to save the animals in the Baghdad Zoo during Desert Storm in 2003 (“Babylon’s Ark: The Incredible Wartime Rescue of the Baghdad Zoo”, 2007).

When Anthony suddenly died last March 2, 2012 at age 61 of a heart attack, this elephant herd somehow knew and walked for miles out of the bush to stand outside of his home for 2 days, apparently to pay their respect for him, their deceased “friend”. How they knew he died was probably due to that special, spiritual bond that was created between him and this herd over 13 years. Indeed it was a fitting tribute to this admirable, kind man who saved their lives and took them without hesitation onto his large reserve to live peaceably in the wild once more.

After reading this book which helped me to understand and respect elephants a whole lot more, it also encouraged me to visit these magnificent pachyderms at the Reid Park Zoo in their new large enclosure Expedition Tanzania.

Tucson Parks and Recreation Department and Dan Felix Memorial Fund present the 7th Annual Family Festival in the Park. This free annual community-wide event is about having family fun and a terrific opportunity for Tucson Parks and Recreation to showcase programs and activities offered to the community. This year we have partnered with the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, so please bring a donation of canned goods to the festival. The event is expected to attract more than 9,000 Tucsonans. Family activities include stage entertainment, carnival games, inflatables, crafts, golf clinic, tennis games, and demonstrations of pottery, and drawing offered by the leisure class unit.

The Reid Park Zoo will have free admission as well as the Edith Ball Adaptive Recreation Center hosting an afternoon of free swimming from Noon-4 p.m. and Tucson City Golf will offer a free 10-minute golf instruction at the Randolph Driving Range adjacent to the park on Alvernon Way from 10 a.m.-noon. Come to our Parks and Recreation information booth to catch the highlights the various Parks and Recreation units offering services and programs to the community. Entertainment will be presented throughout the day and a variety of foods will be available for purchase through local vendors.

Who:Everyone

What:Family Festival in the Park

When:Saturday, November 17th, 10 a.m-2 p.m.

Where:Reid Park, 22nd and Country Club (West of the Zoo)

Contact:Sierra Davenport, Community Promotions and Marketing Manager
Sierra.Davenport@tucsonaz.gov or 837-8032 for more information

A special thanks to our event sponsors: Dan Felix Memorial Fund, Northwest Medical Center, Pyramid Federal Credit Union, Carondelet, Tucson Lifestyle Magazine, Bear Essential News, and Wendy’s.

First off, it’s all happening at the zoo:

On Wednesday, October 31st the animal residents of Reid Park Zoo will receive special Halloween treats. A schedule will be provided at the front gate for guests. Pumpkins will be delivered from 9 – 10:30 a.m.
Otters may nibble them, lions may roll them, and elephants will smash them. Many animals will have the opportunity to enjoy the unusual surprises. Staff will be on hand (some in costume!) to answer questions as animals discover the new items. There will be treats for the kids too!

Keepers regularly introduce a variety of foods, changes in physical environment, smells, and even sounds as enrichment. Items that are not part of a daily routine can improve an animal’s wellbeing by increasing exercise, and providing behavioral and mental stimulation. Creating a varying environment for Zoo residents has become an important aspect of animal care. For some animals, the pumpkins will be a tasty, healthy snack. For others, the source of enrichment is the presence of a new smell, shape, or texture.

Reid Park Zoo is open 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Regular admission fees apply.
For more information, visit www.tucsonzoo.org or contact
Kristen Metzger
Education Supervisor
837-8088 x 12

If you have children, enjoy a Halloween Extravaganza at Himmel Park branch library, 5 to 6:30 p.m., 1035 N. Treat Ave. (SW corner of E. 1st St.), in the NE corner of Himmel Park.

“Enjoy making your own treats and spooky crafts; listen to howling good stories and trick-or-treat around the library.”

Himmel library website: http://www.library.pima.gov/locations/himmel/

And if you don’t have kids and want to get in the Halloween mood, here’s a photo gallery of Zombie Walk 2012 held on the 13th of October in spooky downtown Tucson, click here. Warning for parents: these are graphically bloody photos of zombies/”undead” people taken by me and former Tucson’s Birthday photographer Jon Scanlon, so please exercise caution & discretion. (I don’t want to cause nightmares for your children.)

Hellfire Pizza Co. food truck at Zombie Walk 2012

Happy Halloween to all — children, youth, parents, elderly, even animals & zombies. Trick or treat?

So I started pondering about what I liked about central/midtown Tucson, where we have lived (two apartments, one home) for over 25 years. So here’s my informal list of 10 things I like about Midtown. Click on the blue hyperlinks if you are new to Tucson and need more information.

1. Himmel Park (south of Speedway, between Tucson Blvd. & Treat Avenue), has tennis courts recently resurfaced, an open air pool now open again for the summer, lots of grass, playing fields, an outdoor grass amphitheater for plays/concerts. A Shakespeare in the park performance of “The Taming of the Shrew” is performing there opening tonight, for three weekends at 7 p.m. $5 suggested donation, to benefit El Rio Theatre Project.

2. Himmel Park Branch Library, oldest branch library of Pima County (built in 1961), children’s storytime, teen activities, Senior Games (including mahjong), films & lectures, lots more, even books to borrow.

3. Reid Park at NE corner of E. 22nd St. and N. Country Club, much larger park with an outdoor performance center & stage, ramadas, playground equipment & stone turtles for children, a rose garden, dog run, a duck pond & gurgling streams, artistic sculptures, etc.

4. The Reid Park Zoo for the children and out of town guests: elephants, tigers, bears, (oh my!), even unusual anteaters and a capybara.

5. The Loft Theater, 3233 E. Speedway, independent and creative movie showings, plus a promised expansion and often freebies during special events

6. Casa Video, 2905 E. Speedway, terrific collection of recent and old DVDs and videos, plus free popcorn whenever you drop in (open daily 10 a.m. to 1 a.m.)

7. Yoshimatsu/Sushimatsu at 2660 N. Campbell – authentic Japanese food in two unique restaurants, plus a very cute gift shop of Japanese items, toys

8. Bookman’s on Grant (SE corner of Campbell): a used book store and much more – gift items, art paraphernalia, current magazines, musical instruments, electronic stuff, even jewelry. And a new Bookman’s is coming to E. Speedway near Camino Miramonte.

9. The University of AZ, between Speedway & E. 6th Street, between Euclid Ave. and Campbell, not only an undergraduate & graduate university, but a resource for the community with art displays, outdoor sculptures, lectures, musical & dance performances, festivals & workshops, intellectual stimulation for all ages. Starting tomorrow an 8-day Chinese Culture Festival, event schedule at www.confucius.arizona.edu.

10. Bicycle path on E. 3rd St. runs from Wilmot Road westward through midtown past lovely, small Miramonte Neighborhood Park (NW corner of Richey Blvd.), one block south of Himmel Park aforementioned (Treat Ave. and Tucson Blvd.), right through the University of Az (on University Blvd.) through to 4th Avenue and Stone Avenue, with several bicyle-friendly “hawk” crossings to help bicyclists cross the major intersections. For more info on bicycling and bike maps in Tucson, go to Tucson Pima County Bicycle Advisory Committee website (click here).

These are the 10 things that make my life more enjoyable and fun in midtown Tucson. What are yours?

A wonderful way to spend time over the long, hot summer months is to vist your local branch library (or the Joel D. Valdez Main Library downtown) and read! And this year the reading program highlights Arizona’s Centennial.

From the Pima County Public Library’s website.

Summer Reading Preview – Our State, Our Story: Celebrating 100 Years of Arizona

Summer Reading is on the horizon. This year it begins on May 24 and runs through July 21. On May 24, mosey on in to your library to pick up your Reading Passport and Arizona Adventure Pass. This year’s program also includes activities that will keep you and your family exploring, doing, creating, writing and reading all summer.
What’s New?

Along with the fantastic fun programs and events that come with Summer Reading each year, this year we are rolling out a new way to think about Summer Reading. This year it’s going to be about reading, writing, creating, doing, and exploring. It’s going to be about reading for pleasure, encouraging a love of reading for all ages, and participation in creative, challenging and exciting activities.

Everyone (adults, teens and kids) who joins Summer Reading this year will receive a Reading Passport and an Arizona Adventure Pass. Your Reading Passport is where you’ll set your reading goal and log your activities. (Have your passport stamped as you meet goals and complete activities.)

Decide Your Reading Goal
What’s a good reading goal? Set your reading goal of minutes or number of pages. Make it your goal to read all of the books in a series or all of the books by a certain author. Maybe you’ll want to read 10 books about horses. Got a stack of magazines you’ve been wanting to read? That’s a reading goal—something that’s a challenge, but not a chore.

Choose Six Activities
In honor of Arizona’s Centennial we’re going to give you a list of 100 activities. Throughout the summer you’ll choose six appealing activities from the list to complete and log in your Reading Passport. You’ll find things that are easy to do as well as others that are more challenging. Your Arizona Adventure Pass will come in handy since it includes passes for fun activities and interesting venues all over the state.

Summer Reading Night at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Who? Readers ages 2-14, your Adventure Pass is your ticket for free admission with one paid adult admission to Summer Reading Night on Saturday, June 23.

SummerQuest
You will have completed the journey with your fellow SummerQuesters when the hidden image you seek appears. How many of the quests will you fulfill to reach the goal?

SummerStory
Are you more the writerly type? SummerStory may be right up your alley. Each week the story will continue with an installment chosen from those you (teens 13-18) submit.
Finale Events

After you’ve accomplished your summer reading goals we want to help you celebrate!

Wrock out with those wizard rockers Harry and the Potters at the Hotel Congress on Thursday, July 19. Thanks to Bookman’s Entertainment Exchange and the Hotel Congress for joining with the library to make this event free and fun for all ages.

Kids who accomplish six activities will receive a pass to a finale event at Reid Park Zoo on Saturday morning, July 21!

The Summer Rock Concert returns this year. Talented local teen bands will play at this free, all ages, concert on July 21 at 8 pm. Teens who have completed 6 activities will receive a backstage pass to an exclusive VIP pre-party.

Wow! What a great way to continue to celebrate Arizona’s 100 birthday (February 14, 2012). Enjoy the summer by reading!

From Earth Day Festival website (click here).

The Tucson Earth Day Festival promotes Southern Arizona’s unique
environment and features activities, displays, music, dance and food.

It is great fun for children of all ages!

The 18th Annual Tucson Earth Day Festival is scheduled for Saturday April 21, 2012 at Reid Park. The Festival begins at 9:00 a.m. and ends at 2:00! The event features environmentally themed exhibits, music, performances, and food vendors. Admission is free, and all exhibits include hands-on environmental activities for young and old alike.

Join the Parade
All species great and small-insects, plants and animals-the Earth needs them all! Dress-up and participate in the “All Species Procession” as part of the Earth Day Parade! Make a banner and tell us how your species is so important to Planet Earth. Are you helping clean the air (trees and plants)? Are you endangered or threatened species? The ice may be melting your home (global warming) or maybe there hasn’t been rain in a while so you are affected by drought or the threat of fire… let us know what we should do to help all species have a place on earth! Parade begins at 10:00 and winners are announced at 11:30.

Solar Competition
Model Solar Electric Cars and Houses, designed and constructed by middle school students, are real world engineering projects. The kits contain solar cells, motors, batteries, lights and other optional parts. The design and the construction is “left to the ingenuity of the student”! Competition begins at 10:45. Awards at 1:00!
For a kit order form and information on how to enter email Stacey at solar@swetucson.org

Alternate Fuel Vehicle Show
Check out vehicles that run on alternate fuels such as biodiesel, compressed natural gas, electric, ethanol, propane and waste vegetable oil. Ask the experts how you can start using an alternate fuel in your vehicle to keep the air clean for all.

Bike to the Zoo
Animals love the earth and need clean air too! So, ride your bike to the Reid Park Zoo and get FREE admission by showing your safety helmet. Before or after visiting the zoo, ride over to the Earth Day Festival for more fun!

For more information on the Tucson Earth Day Festival please call 520 206-8814 or email e Tucson Earth Day Festival promotes Southern Arizona’s unique environment and features activities, displays, music, dance and food.

It is great fun for children of all ages!

The 18th Annual Tucson Earth Day Festival is scheduled for Saturday April 21, 2012 at Reid Park. The Festival begins at 9:00 a.m. and ends at 2:00. The event features environmentally themed exhibits, music, performances, and food vendors. Admission is free, and all exhibits include hands-on environmental activities for young and old alike.

Join the Parade
All species great and small-insects, plants and animals-the Earth needs them all! Dress-up and participate in the “All Species Procession” as part of the Earth Day Parade! Make a banner and tell us how your species is so important to Planet Earth. Are you helping clean the air (trees and plants)? Are you endangered or threatened species? The ice may be melting your home (global warming) or maybe there hasn’t been rain in a while so you are affected by drought or the threat of fire… let us know what we should do to help all species have a place on earth! Parade begins at 10:00 and winners are announced at 11:30.

Solar Competition
Model Solar Electric Cars and Houses, designed and constructed by middle school students, are real world engineering projects. The kits contain solar cells, motors, batteries, lights and other optional parts. The design and the construction is “left to the ingenuity of the student”! Competition begins at 10:45. Awards at 1:00!
For a kit order form and information on how to enter email Stacey at solar@swetucson.org

Alternate Fuel Vehicle Show
Check out vehicles that run on alternate fuels such as biodiesel, compressed natural gas, electric, ethanol, propane and waste vegetable oil. Ask the experts how you can start using an alternate fuel in your vehicle to keep the air clean for all.

Bike to the Zoo
Animals love the earth and need clean air too! So, ride your bike to the Reid Park Zoo and get FREE admission by showing your safety helmet. Before or after visiting the zoo, ride over to the Earth Day Festival for more fun!

For more information on the Tucson Earth Day Festival please call 520 206-8814 or email tucsonearthday@yahoo.com.

I’ve been to this festival in the past, and it’s very beneficial for families (especially children) to learn about our fragile ecosystems and to appreciate our Mother Earth.

And on Apil 22 (the actual Earth Day) please watch this 30 minute PBS-HD documentary “Seeking Water from the Sun” at 6 p.m. on KUAT Channel 6. Click here for youtube preview.

Seeking Water From the Sun is a production of Arizona Public Media, produced by Dustinn Craig and Tom Kleespie in association with the UA Renewable Energy Network, UA College of Engineering, and Bureau of Reclamation, and input and cooperation from various Navajo Nation Chapters, community members, and agencies such as the Division of Water Resources, the Navajo Division of Natural Resources, and Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency. This documentary is narrated by Norman Patrick Brown with musical score by Mary Redhouse.

Celebrate our Earth. Reduce Recycle Reuse.!

birthday logo

On August 20, 1775 Captain Hugo O’Conor, an Irishman in the Spanish Army selected the site for the Presidio San Agustin del Tucson in what is now downtown Tucson. This was the beginning of the historic presidio here and thus the beginning of the city of Tucson. Incidentally I just saw the statue of O’Conor at the Manning House downtown (450 W. Redondo Drive).

Lots to do today in celebration of Tucson’s 235th birthday, by starting off at:

El Presidio de San Agustin flag ceremony, 8 to 10 a.m. SW corner of Church Ave. and Washington St. in downtown Tucson.

“The five flags that have flown over Tucson – American, Spanish, Mexican, Confederate, and the State of Arizona – will be presented in a ceremony to celebrate Tucson’s 235th birthday. The Tohono O’odham Nation and Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona flags will also be presented, as will a replica of the 28-star American flag that was brought by the Mormon Battalion and flown over Tucson on December 16, 1846.

The ceremony will include an invocation, signing of a proclamation by distinguished guests, the honor guard presentation, and music and dance. The flags will then be retired to close the ceremony.

Those attending are encouraged to dress in period costumes and sample a piece of the Tucson birthday cake.

El Presidio flag ceremony, from their website

The annual flag raising celebrating Tucson’s birthday was begun by Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission in 1975. The Presidio San Agustín del Tucson interpretive center is located on the site of Tucson’s original adobe-walled presidio.”

I’ve attended this ceremony in the past, and the period costumes truly help to re-enact Tucson’s varied history, especially the Spanish Army soldiers.

Also lots of FREE birthday stuff today:

– Doubletree Hotel: free chocolate chip cookie, 445 S. Alvernon Way, 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.
– Reid Park Zoo: free admission for children (up to age 14), 3400 E. Zoo Court, adults $7, 9 to 4 p.m.
—Chick Fil A: free spicy chicken sandwich, 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., 3609 E. Broadway (near El Con Mall)
—DeGrazia Gallery of the Sun: free cake & ice cream, 10 to 4 p.m., 6300 N. Swan Rd. with a special exhibition of original drawings and paintings that tell the “Tucson Story” as seen through the eyes of famed Tucson artist Ted DeGrazia. “Tucson Story” is a collection of 17 sketches and six oil paintings of historical events and places in the Tucson area, including “Kino Building San Xavier”, “Wishing Shrine”, “Camp Fort Lowell”, “400 Apaches Raid Tucson”

and tomorrow, free birthday cake at the Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St., at 6 p.m., call 520- 622-8848. I hear there will also be an enormous sandcastle birthday cake across the street at Maynard’s Kitchen, as part of the Big Kahuna Tropical Bash (stay tuned for my blog on that event tomorrow).

For even more events for today and tomorrow, log onto the Tucson Birthday website (click here).

Plus a tribute today to Tucson’s “First Lady of Fashion” Cele Peterson who died on May 6, 2010 at age 101. Cele operated an upscale dress shop in Tucson since 1931 and was a benevolent, caring, community leader. The store is now at 4811 E. Grant Rd. in the Crossroads Festival Shopping Center.

Cele Peterson, courtesy of the Peterson family

This Annual Birthday celebration in August was Cele’s idea back in 2006 and we need to honor her memory today. We miss her, but her goal of “connecting” people has been happening all month all over Tucson. I attended her memorial service back in May, and hundreds of people dropped by to say “adios” to this grande dame.

Happy Birthday Tucson, con muchas gracias (with many thanks) to Cele.

Tucson Earth Day Festival logo

Time: 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., with 10:00 a.m. Earth Day Parade
Place: Reid Park, DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center, east side of Country Club, north of 22nd St.

Information below from their press release: “Exhibits related to the environment will include “hands-on” activities for children and provide information on environmental products, water conservation/water quality, household hazardous waste, wildlife, nature preserves and much more!

At 10:00 a.m. the unique and colorful parade will include participants dressed up as plants, animals, and insects, and environmentally themed floats. Batucaxe, high energy drum and dance group will lead the All Species Procession as part of the Earth Day Parade!

After the parade, watch as local middle school students test their design and construction skills in a model solar electric race car competition. Then change gears from model cars to full-size vehicles at the Alternate Fuel Vehicle Show. Check out vehicles that run on alternate fuels such as biodiesel, compressed natural gas, electric, ethanol, propane and even waste vegetable oil. Ask the experts how you can start using an alternate fuel in your vehicle to keep the air clean for all species.

Animals love the earth and deserve a place on earth too! So, ride your bike to the Earth Day Festival and for those riding their bikes (with a helmet) get free admission to the Reid Park Zoo by showing your bike safety helmet.”

For more information about becoming an exhibitor, parade participant or volunteer for the 16th Annual Tucson Earth Day Festival please visit www.tucsonearthday.org, call (520) 206-8814 or email tucsonearthday@yahoo.com

Every day should be Earth Day (April 22), but come celebrate early on April 17 at Reid Park.

I wrote a previous blog on August 11 about some of the events happening today in the Old Pueblo. Start off with the 8 a.m. flag ceremony at the Presidio de San Agustin downtown on the SW corner of Church Avenue and Washington St., and perhaps end up for more free cake at the Hotel Congress tonight at 5 p.m.

For the children, head out to Reid Park Zoo today for a free day with the animals.

For everyone, the dedication of the 4th Avenue Underpass starts at 4 p.m.,with free trolley rides later from UA Main Gate, along 4th Avenue into downtown.

“This is a party you won’t want to miss. Tucson is invited to share in the excitement of this revitalization project. When: Aug. 20, 4 p.m. to 11p.m. Where: In the Fourth Avenue Underpass, along Fourth Avenue and throughout Downtown. Details: The celebration kicks off at 4 p.m. with a ribbon cutting ceremony featuring Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup, City Council members, city leaders and other dignitaries.”

“Special plans include officially opening the underpass by having the Old Pueblo trolley burst through the ribbon, an Antique and Hot Rod Car Show (Tucson Street Rod Association). The underpass will be closed during the official ceremony, but will be opened to pedestrian, vehicular and trolley traffic once those activities wrap up. The trolley will be running all evening, offering rides from UA’s Main Gate, along Fourth Avenue and into Downtown.”

“The fun continues through the night with live music at several venues, activities in Downtown and on Fourth Avenue and merchant specials on both sides of the underpass. It’s the perfect time to visit your favorite businesses and venues! A special Thank you to Sundt Construction Company who is on schedule and doing a beautiful job. We are all looking forward to the Old Pueble Trolley route extension to downtown.”

Read about the 4th Avenue underpass opening in previous Tucson Citizen blogs by “Artistic Tucson” and “Tucson Metromix”.

For more events and information on what’s happening today log onto www.tucsonsbirthday.org for details.

Be there to celebrate Tucson’s diverse community and its 234th birthday.