Lugo Charities Inc. is pleased to announce that it will be hosting the 4th Annual Bike-In-A-Box Christmas event on Sunday, December 16, 2012 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at St. Augustine Cathedral Church court yard that is located at 192 South Stone Avenue.

A special invitation to 500 under-privileged children from youth organizations, schools, churches, and children-support agencies in the Greater Tucson area will be attending this special day of giving.

Santa and Mrs. Claus will arrive at 11:00 am to greet the children. Each child that has pre-selected will receive one of five-hundred (500) bicycles that we are planning to give away, along with a bike safety helmet provided by Tucson Medical Center of the Children’s Miracle Network.

The bicycles will remain in the box so that the parents or guardians can, together with the child, assemble the bicycle in promoting the true Christmas spirit and teaching the children the basic assembly and adjustments to their new bike.

There are many children in Tucson that may not enjoy the special occasion that Christmas should bring to all. Christmas should be remembered as a time of giving to help those in need.

Lugo Charities Inc. dba Bike-In-A-Box is a 501(C) (3) non-profit organization which assist underprivileged children, so your contribution is tax deductible. Please click on the donation link as we would appreciate your support to make this a successful event to many children in need.

Merry Christmas! Jesse Lugo

You can donate online at http://www.lugocharities.com/, or by calling in to the John C. Scott radio show tomorrow between 4 and 5 p.m. KVOI 1030 AM on the radio. I reported about this 2 years ago with a photo (click here) and last year (click here). Host Scott, and guests Jesse Lugo and District 4 Supervisor Ray Carroll raised $10,770 today on the radio show.

$45 purchases one bike, so please help by donating online, or calling 520-790-2040 on the radio show, as they need to raise money for 500 bikes. You can also mail checks to:
Bike In A Box
P.O. Box 26363
Tucson, AZ 85726

12/3/12 Update: Lugo reported on the John C. Scott show today that $22,195 has been raised to date. Please continue to send donations by mail, or online.

12/4/12 Update: $23,705 raised to date, so hopefully the goal of $25,000 will be reached shortly. Thanks to all who have donated so far. Go online if you haven’t, or mail a check to the address above.

12/5/12 Update: John C. Scott just reported on his radio show that $25,510 has been raised, so their goal has been reached. Thank you Tucson.

12/6/12 Update: $26,710 raised according to radio host John C. Scott. Drop by on Dec. 16 to see the kids get their bikes, 11 a.m.

Remember the first moment you heard/read online that CD 8 Congresswoman “Gabby” Giffords had been shot in the head (credit to blogger “3 Sonorans” for his fast blog here at Tucsoncitizen.com, minutes after the shooting).

Remember when you realized that 19 persons including a 9 year old child had been shot & injured at that Safeway in NW Tucson.

Remember the pain when you realized that you personally knew someone who died (for me, Gabe Zimmerman, Gabby’s community outreach aide). Remember the grief thereafter for such a senseless killing.

Remember anxiously waitng for news from UMC of the condition of the injured.

Remember going to that Safeway to pay your respects to the six fallen on the sidewalk.

Remember going to the UMC memorial to light candles, and to the Congresswoman’s office to place flowers, pray for healing and peace of mind.

Remember President Barack Obama’s speech on January 12, 2011 at McKale Center, in which he stated:
“I believe that for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness, and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us”.

We all remember January 8, 2011 and the first responders, Surgeon Dr. Peter Rhee at the UMC Trauma Unit, the outpouring of love and support for the families of the murdered and the injured.

Today, as we reflect on the events of that day a year ago, here is a list of some events to attend, to collectively continue the healing:

7 a.m.

Ben’s Bells Distribution – Hundreds of Ben’s Bells will be randomly distributed throughout Tucson in memory of those we lost and in gratitude for our beautifully supportive community. Contact: Phone:520-628-2829

10 a.m .- 5 p.m.

A Day of Kindness at the Children’s Museum — Tucson Ben’s Bells invites families to gather to sign the Kindness Contract, to paint Kindness Coins and to hang Kindness Wishes in the trees at the Museum. Contact: Children’s Museum Tucson, 520-792-9985, 200 S. 6th Avenue

10:11 a.m. Community-wide Ringing of Bells

1:00 p.m. Interfaith Service
San Augustine Cathedral
190 S. Stone Avenue, Tucson, AZ

3 p.m. – 5 p.m. January 8th Lecture Series
Centennial Hall – University of Arizona Campus
1020 E. University Boulevard, Tucson, AZ
The event will be streamed live at http://ondemand.azpm.org/live.

6:30 p.m. – Candlelight vigil on University of Arizona Mall, with speeches
Congresswoman Giffords and her husband USN Captain (ret.) Mark Kelly will be attending.
The vigil will be streamed live at http://ondemand.azpm.org/live.

For my earlier blog with many more details on today’s events including other faith services (click here).

Today let us remember January 8, 2011.

UPDATES: my notes in comment section below about some of the events I attended today.

1/9/12 update: Channel 6 video of the vigil: http://azpm.org/news/story/2012/1/9/1616-view-jan-8-2012-candlelight-vigil/

It’s supposed to be a special time for Christians (Catholic and Protestant) to celebrate and rejoice in the birth of Jesus Christ. But it can be so much more, in spreading the message of love, faith, & hope throughout your community and the world.

Last night at the Christmas Eve Mass at St. Augustine Cathedral, Bishop Gerald Kicanas preached that “we are all precious children of God”. He also said we need to “create a world of peace.”

Many non-Christians (like my birth family of Jodo-shu Buddhists in Hawaii) celebrated Christmas as a family tradition and secular holiday from school/work. I’m sure that can be said of other religious families & communities as well.

Now to be politically correct, American communities may also celebrate the 8 days of Hanukkah (Jewish Americans), Kwanzaa (Black Americans) from Dec. 26 to January 1, sometimes Bodhi Day (December 8 for Buddhists commemorating the birthday of Lord Buddha), and even Diwali (Hindu Festival of Lights) till mid-December.

However you celebrate these holidays, even if its just to get together & exchange gifts and fellowship, please reflect upon what faith means to you spiritually, and to spread love (and the “aloha spirit”) to your family, friends & neighbors.

And Merry Christmas to all today. Mele Kalikimaka in Hawaiian (click here for last year’s blog on the 12 days of Christmas – Hawaiian style).

Happy Holidays,

Because of generous donations, Lugo Charities Inc. is pleased to announce that we will be hosting the 3rd Annual Bike In A Box event on Sunday, December 18, 2011. This year the event will be held at St. Augustine Cathedral Church court yard located at 192 South Stone Avenue.

We will need registration volunteers to be present by 10:00 am so that we can prepare for the event. The volunteers will help to coordinate registration lines and direct the children there for about two hours.

A special invitation to 500 under-privileged children from youth organizations, schools, churches, and children-support agencies in the Greater Tucson area has been sent as they will be attending this special day of giving.

Santa and Mrs. Claus will arrive in a ladder fire truck at 11:00 am to greet each of the children. Each child will be treated to a Christmas stocking and receive one of five-hundred (500) bicycles that we will be giving away, along with a bike safety helmet provided by Tucson Medical Center of the Children’s Miracle Network.

The bicycles will remain in the box so that the parents or guardians can, together with the child, assemble the bicycle in promoting the true Christmas spirit and teaching the children the basic assembly and adjustments to their new bike.

For more information please visit our web page at: www.LugoCharities.com

Please let me know if you will be able to help on Sunday, December 18th from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm at St. Augustine Cathedral Church court yard located at 192 South Stone Avenue.

Merry Christmas,

Jesse Lugo
Lugo Charities Inc.
Bike In A Box
P.O. Box 26363
Tucson, AZ 85726
Web: www.LugoCharities.com
Office:(520) 322-0714

I blogged about this terrific event last year in its 2nd year (click here). Please volunteer or donate $ if your can, to help make this another wonderful year for the 500 lucky children getting their own bike. Each year about $25,000 has to be raised to purchase these bikes.

The pictures above are worth a thousand words (from me). I recently enjoyed an art show at this renovated Bates Mansion, which is a fabulous place downtown. It’s at the old Mountain Oyster Club locale, on the SW corner of Stone Avenue and Franklin. Enjoy this fiesta!

Last night I attended the preview opening of a special exhibit “Our Padre on Horseback” honoring the 300th anniversary of the death of Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino, S.J. (1645 to 1711), at the Diocese of Tucson Archives at 300 S. Tucson Blvd. The exhibit itself depicts 16 of the 24 missions that Padre Kino founded, with photos, maps, drawings and several lovely Ted DeGrazia reprints. Last night Bishop Gerald Kicanas and Father Chris Corbally spoke of the work of Padre Kino and the Kino Heritage Society. Father Corbally aptly said that Kino “used all his knowledge and survival skills to bring people to God”. Padre Kino is remembered as a “Missionary & Explorer, Friend of Native Peoples, Founder of 24 missions, Scientist & Map maker, Candidate for Sainthood, and Arizona’s First Cattleman.”

This exhibit will run through May 30, 2011, hours of operation M, T, TH, F from 9 to 4 p.m., phone 520-886-5201. (The archives bldg. is at the south end of this property shared with St. Ambrose Parish & School.)

Additional upcoming weekend events to mark the 300th anniversary of Padre Kino’s death, which was on March 15, 1711:

Concerts in honor of Padre Kino by Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra– Sat. March 12, 7:30 p.m. at St. Augustine Cathedral, and Sunday March 13, 3 p.m. Catalina Foothills H.S. Auditorium (4300 E. Sunrise Dr.), $20 admission for each.

Memorial Mass on Sunday March 13, 12 noon, St. Augustine Cathedral, Diocese of Tucson Celebrates Padre Kino’s Life, 192 S. Stone Avenue.

Tucson Festival of Books, Sunday March 13, 4 p.m. University of Arizona Student Union, Catalina Room, “The Trail of Arizona’s First Cowboy & Missionary Explorer” by a panel of authors(Ben Clevenger, Deni Seymour, Jacqueline Soule). Free event.

For more details & events, log onto Kino Heritage Society website, www.padrekino.com. And for my earlier blog on Padre Kino & the Kino Heritage Society click here.

Lugo Charities Inc. is pleased to announce that it will be hosting the 2nd Annual Bike-In-A-Box Christmas event on Sunday, December 19, 2010 from 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. at St. Augustine Cathedral, 192 South Stone Avenue.

A special invitation to 500 underprivileged children from youth organizations, schools, churches, and children-support agencies in the Greater Tucson area will be attending this special day of giving.

Santa and Mrs. Claus will arrive at 12:00 noon to greet the children. Each child will be treated to a Christmas stocking and receive one of five-hundred (500) bicycles that we are planning to give away, along with a bike safety helmet provided by Tucson Medical Center of the Children’s Miracle Network.

The bicycles will remain in the box so that the parents or guardians can, together with the child, assemble the bicycle in promoting the true Christmas spirit and teaching the children the basic assembly and adjustments to their new bike.

CEO Jesse Lugo with the assistance of John C. Scott (radio talk host with a show of the same name, on KJLL the Jolt, 1330 AM) raised over $27,000 to pay for these bikes, gotten at discount from Walmart at $45 each.

Apparently this is the 11th year of providing these bikes, but in the past volunteers assembled the bikes, but now they are being presented in a cardboard box for the families to assemble themselves.

John C. Scott & Jesse Lugo delivering bikes in a box in 2009

Congratulations to Jesse Lugo and John C. Scott for their hard work, and many thanks to the hundreds of donors who all helped to reach that monetary goal.

Riding a bike safely is a wonderful skill everyone should know. And owning their own bike is probably something most of these children would not have dreamed of, except for the wonderful generosity of the many Tucsonans who helped with Jesse’s project.

For more Information go to Lugo Charities, Inc.

Bike In A Box
P.O. Box 26363
Tucson, AZ 85726
Office:(520) 322-0714

Arthur Albert Chapa

Memorial services were held today at St. Augustine Cathedral, 192 S. Stone Avenue in memory of former Arizona Board of Regents member Arthur Albert Chapa, who passed away on November 19, at age 69, from H. pylori-induced cancer.

Chapa was well known in Democratic political circles, “raising money for Democratic candidates, serving as a staffer for Congressman Morris K. Udall (1978-81), and serving on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ transition team in 2006. He was the state director of President Bill Clinton’s 1996 re-election bid.” (from Az Daily Star article on November 23).

He served on the Arizona Board of Regents for 8 years (1990 to 1998), according to his friend former Gubernatorial candidate Eddie Basha, who spoke today at his service. Both Basha and another friend former State Senator George Cunningham referred to Chapa as their “brother/hermano”. He graduated from George Washington University Law School, and also worked as a lobbyist for Pima County.

Basha said that Chapa “spoke against discrimination” and worked towards increasing in-state minority enrollment at ASU’s Law School, and wanted the best “quality of life experience for all the students.”

Bishop Gerald Kicanas (who officiated today) spoke of Chapa as a man whose “life was well lived, given in service to others”. He said that “some make a difference” in life and that Chapa was one of those who did, as he “wanted the best for his community, because he always wanted more not less” for Tucson.

Art Chapa is survived by his wife Lynette, three children, three grandchildren.

Numerous politicians, City and County officials were present today at this memorial service, including all five Pima County Supervisors (Ramon Valadez, Sharon Bronson, Ray Carroll, Richard Elias, Ann Day), County Administrator Chuck Huckleberry, UA President Robert Shelton.

The Chapa family has established a fund in his name to increase awareness of H. pylori-induced cancer, and contributions can be sent to the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, 1295 N. Martin Ave., Tucson, 85724. Remembrances can be posted at www.MeM.com.

Kino Mission Concert Series

artwork of Padre Kino, from their website

Mission San Agustin

“Christmas in the Southwest” and “Misa Criolla” by Ariel Ramirez

Tucson Masterworks Chorale

Christopher B. Thomas, Guest Director

Date: Saturday, Nov. 20, 2010

Time: 7:00 pm

Place: St. Augustine’s Cathedral, 192 S. Stone Avenue, Tucson, Arizona

General: $15, Seniors/students $12, children free if accompanied by an adult.

Notes: Concert commemorating Padre Kino’s Tucson Entrada in November 1692 and the founding of the Mission San. Agustin. Read about Padre Kino’s first journey to Tucson in a featured article by Kino Heritage Society’s Secretary Raul E. Ramirez at Kino Legacy (click here).

For more information on the concert: Tucson Masterworks Chorale, Phone: (520)730-5640 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (520)730-5640      end_of_the_skype_highlighting.
“The concert will begin with Mexican baroque, the likely music that Padre Kino heard when he first arrived in Mexico City. It will move on to include music set to Pima Indian texts, since Padre Kino worked closely with the Native Americans. A beautiful collection of “Carols and Lullabies – Christmas in the Southwest”, accompanied by harp, guitar, and marimba, will close the first half of the concert. The second half will be devoted to the exciting work, Misa Criolla by Ariel Ramirez.”

Reception to follow at San Augustine Cathedral Parish Hall.

My prevous blog on the Kino lecture & other events leadng up to the 300th anniversary of Padre Kino’s death in 2011 (click here.)

St. Augustine Cathedral in downtown Tucson

Halau Hula O Ualani, The Maguire Academy of Irish Dance, Ballet Folklorico Tapatio, Los Changuitos Feos performed. And St. Augustine birthday cakes were enjoyed by all at the end of the fiesta.

St. Augustine cathedral & fiesta banner

people enjoying the fiesta

hula dancer performing on stage from Halau Hula O Ualani

more hula dancers performing

Maguire Irish dancers performing

lovely dancer from Maguire Academy of Irish Dance

Ballet Folklorico Tapatio performers

Ballet Folklorico Tapatio on the new beautiful flower stage

Bishop Gerald Kicanas at the Mass inside the Cathedral

St. Augustine's statue

Los Changuitos Feos leading the procession after Mass

Los Changuitos Feos in the Cathedral

Happy Birthday St. Augustine cake

Feliz Cumpleanos San Agustin cake

More photos online at Tucson’s Birthday website, www.tucsonsbirthday.org.

La Fiesta de San Agustin
Time: 4pm – 9:30pm
Admission: Free To The Public
Location: St. Augustine Cathedral – Placita
Address: 192 S. Stone (downtown, south of Broadway)
Phone: 623-6351 (work)
Contact Name: John @ 404-9974 and Leilana @ 294-9812
Email: johnj4698@gmail.com

“Arts and crafts, food booths, native American dancers, Las Donas de Los Descendientes– Diverse cultural entertainment, including the Menehune Hawaiian Dancers (Halau Hula O Ualani), the Maguire Academy of Irish Dance, Los Chanquitos Feos, and Ballet Folklorico Tapatio.

As is tradition, the fiesta will also have a mass at 5:30 p.m. with Bishop Gerald Kicanas and a procession with a statue of St. Augustine. The bishop and representatives of a variety of cultures will walk to the music played by Los Changuitos Feos.

The procession will go around the block and end in the placita adjacent to the cathedral, where the bishop and a Yaqui medicine man will give a blessing before the rest of the party goes underway.”

Where else can you a hula show, mariachi performers, Mexican folklorico dancers, Irish dancers and a Yaqui medicine man all at the same event? Enjoy Tucson’s diverse cultures and celebrate Tucson’s 235th Birthday.

St. Augustine cathedral

UPDATE: Photos by Jon Scanlon of this fiesta, click here.