Yes, this is a baseball, not a softball, but you get the point.

Anyone wanting to help a kid while they take in a ballgame can do so Saturday.

The second annual KLPX Us n Them Softball Tournament to Benefit La Paloma Kids hits Hi Corbett Field, 3400 E. Camino Campestre, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Each of the four tournament teams consists of one KLPX radio station DJ backed by listeners chosen over the last few weeks.

There’s no admittance fee, but folks are asked to come armed with new or slightly used sporting goods that will be donated to La Paloma.

The event also offers live music from Tucson band Crosscut Saw, food, drinks, game booths and most likely some hilarious antics on the field.

More info: www.klpx.com/events.php

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Do you know of other charity events to benefit non-profit Tucson organizations?

Post them below or e-mail rynski@tucsoncitizen.com (rynski@tucsoncitizen.com)

Dulce Gonzalez, 5, cools off in a running creek at Madera Canyon.

Day trips are a great way to get away without the cost of, say, flying to Paris.

Southern Arizona is rife with riveting adventures and a three-day weekend is the perfect time to take one.

I thank the reader who suggested a day trip feature and hope others contribute their own ideas.

Since the paper had an awesome staff of feature writers, I scoured the archives and found an ideal trip for late May.

DAY TRIP: MADERA CANYON

With the weather heating up, it’s a perfect time for the short trip to Madera Canyon. Nestled in the Santa Rita mountain range, you’ll be protected by foliage as you hike or picnic. (You’ll still want to start relatively early to beat the heat. Temperature tends to be about 10 degrees cooler than in Tucson.)

One of the big draws for the thousands of folks who visit the canyon annually is birding. Among the canyon’s residents are the trogons, Townsend’s warblers, yellow-eyed juncos and gray flycatchers, though there are many, many more – some 200 species have been seen. For a nice, up-to-date list of recent bird spottings, visit friendsofmaderacanyon.org.

Hikers can enjoy a variety of trails, and Madera is also a popular spot for photographers.

Where to eat

Get shade from sycamores at the Madera picnic area, and from oaks across the road at Madera Trailhead Picnic Area; $5 vehicle parking.

Or, for something less rustic, try the Grill on the Green at Canoa Ranch. It’s a Bob McMahon restaurant and features fare similar to Old Pueblo Grille; (520) 393-1933. (Yes, I checked Friday. The place is still open and will be this weekend.)

The drive

About 42 miles south of Tucson. Take Interstate 19 about 25 miles south of Tucson to Exit 63. Turn left onto Continental Road and drive one mile. Turn right on White House Canyon Road and go 14 miles to the top of the canyon.

To learn more

Nogales Ranger District (Santa Rita Mountains, Madera Canyon): (520) 281-2296

fs.fed.us/r3/ coronado

Memorial Day weekend update from the Coronado National Forest

Santa Rita Mountains (Nogales Ranger District)

Open: Madera Canyon campground and picnic areas, Upper White Rock campground, Whipple picnic site, and Calabassas picnic area.

Note: All Pena Blanca Lake recreation areas remain closed due to mercury clean-up efforts.

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Madera Canyon sounds grand, but remember it will probably be packed due to the holiday.

Also remember to steer clear of the Pena Blanca Lake area unless you’re a fan of mercury.

Sonoran Science Academy is set to receive $5,000 for winning the Bookmans’ Reading Challenge.

The school, 6880 E. Broadway, had the highest average number of books read per student in a Tucson school.

In February, March and April, the school’s 157 students read 10,476 books, or an average of 67 books a student.

The school was one of 22 in Tucson to participate in the third annual challenge. Tucson students read more than 160,000 books for the challenge. Statewide, students read more than 296,500 books.

Representatives from Bookmans Entertainment Exchange will present the grand prize check at a 9 a.m. Wednesday award ceremony.

Luria dreams of having larger downtown setup

Michael Luria, the new executive director of the Tucson Children's Museum, 200 S. Sixth Ave., says, "I keep one eye on the present, to make it more fun. And the other eye on the future: What does the Children's Museum look like in three, four, five years?" He is standing by a model of a Tyrannosaurus rex in the museum.

Home prices are way down, 401(k) tumbles have negated many a near-term retirement and jobs are vaporizing left and right. But people are going to the Tucson Children’s Museum in growing numbers.

That doesn’t surprise Michael Luria, who became the museum’s executive director April 18 after serving six years on its board, the last four as president and president-elect.

During his board tenure, attendance has mushroomed from 59,470 in 2003 to 95,204 in 2008. Attendance this year is up 10.4 percent.

“I keep one eye on the present, to make it more fun,” Luria said. “And the other eye on the future: What does the Children’s Museum look like in three, four, five years?”

In the “present,” a new coat of paint went onto the 1901 facade in recent weeks; the wall blocking the view of the Carnegie Library building that houses the museum came down last year; Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle’s Toys will become the museum’s gift shop on May 21; summer camp is being revived; Monsoon Mondays will keep the museum open until 8 p.m. on Mondays from Memorial Day to Labor Day after one- and two-month trials the past two summers; and two new exhibits are in the works for fall.

For the future, Luria wants a new museum facility, a quest he’s pursued since 2006, when the Legislature approved extending the Rio Nuevo tax increment financing from 2013 to 2025. Luria was the board member most keen to get a new children’s museum in the lineup for the now-sidelined Rio Nuevo Tucson Origins complex.

He still remains eager to build a new museum twice the size of the present one, which is squeezed into the confines of an early 20th-century library. But he acknowledged that is in a “holding pattern” now because the City Council has put Tucson Origins on the back shelf.

“Having a new facility would create endless opportunity for type, size and variety of exhibits we could have,” he said, especially traveling exhibits that are too large for the museum’s current space.

Luria describes this as a “year of change” for him.

He turns 40 on May 25. He started the year as the face (and owner) of Terra Cotta restaurant and now he’s the full-time face (and executive director) of the Children’s Museum, transitioning from interim executive director, the post he assumed Nov. 17.

The “interim” melted away after he, his father, Don Luria, and stepmother, Donna Nordin, closed Terra Cotta on Jan. 31, giving Michael Luria the clear schedule to devote to the museum requested by board members.

“If you look at the context of where we were seven years ago, we did a pretty good job,” Luria said. “If you look at other children’s museums, it’s not that we aren’t doing a good job but that others are doing a better job.”

Luria attended a Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums meeting in 2006, and from that day on all of his travels involve visits to children’s museums, 18 so far. Other board members also have added children’s museums to their travel itineraries.

He just returned from an Association of Children’s Museums meeting in Philadelphia, where the Please Touch Museum boasts 165,000 square feet in its new home at historic Memorial Hall, which was built in 1876. It moved into the new space in September.

“That’s 10 times our size,” he said. “The thought I hope I helped plant (with board members) is, as good as the museum is, there’s more that we can achieve to have exciting, international facilities that are fun.”

Luria also was impressed by the Children’s Museum of the Desert in Palm Springs, Calif., and the Creative Discovery Museum in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Palm Springs museum prides itself on being a “magical place . . . in a cheery, bright and inspiring environment,” executive director Lee Anne Vanderbeck said.

Chattanooga offers hands-on exhibits with “a friendly staff that loves to play and have fun,” executive director Henry Schulson said.

Luria and his wife, Maya, have two children, 12-year-old daughter Kelsey and 8-year-old son Max, but his children didn’t draw his attention to the museum. Neighbor Pete Torrez, a real estate investor, was on the museum board and he tapped Luria in 2003 to get involved for two reasons: Luria operated a successful business, Café Terra Cotta, and he had two kids.

Six years later, Torrez credits Luria with helping turn a deficit of $139,000 on $414,000 in revenue in 2001 into $9,353 net income on $719,000 in revenue in 2008.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled that he was chosen,” said Torrez, who served two terms on the museum board earlier this decade. “I think he is the ideal candidate. He is well-connected and he knows how to get things done. He knows how to cultivate relationships.”

Evelyn Carswell-Bing was co-founder of the Children’s Museum in 1986 and chaired its board of directors for the first few years. “He would be my ace student,” said Carswell-Bing, a retired associate professor of early childhood education at the University of Arizona. “I have seen executive directors come and go. The thing I found about Michael immediately is when he made a decision, he always followed through. More important to me, he looked at the museum as a children’s learning center as opposed to another activity.”

Luria spent his entire adult life and late adolescence at Café Terra Cotta, which dropped the “cafe” after a 2004 fire. When it opened in 1986, he was a busboy and then transitioned to the business side and working the room.

By 1992, Luria had become operations manager for the two Terra Cottas – one at St. Philip’s Plaza and the other in Scottsdale. He organized construction of the cafe’s last home on Skyline Road, which opened in 2001, the same year the Scottsdale cafe closed.

Reopening after the 2004 fire led his parents to step back and Michael essentially became the primary owner. Post-fire lunch numbers declined and last year Terra Cotta became dinner-only, just in time for a sliding economy.

“In early January, we as a family, we decided to close,” Luria said. “We had a horrible fall. December was a telling month for us. January was not good, the season isn’t going to be good.”

Terra Cotta closed Jan. 31.

“Meanwhile,” Luria continued, “the (museum) board was making plans for a search. (The executive director) position was posted about 45 days. People understood how committed I was. I had some board members encouraging me to apply. In some ways, it’s a very natural transition because I’ve been so involved with the museum.”

Luria has brought improvements to the museum's home in the 1901 Carnegie Library.

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MICHAEL LURIA’S TOP GOALS FOR CHILDREN’S MUSEUM

1. Enhance educational programming

2. Broaden museum accessibility for those in need throughout our community

3. Install new hands-on exhibits

4. Strengthen collaborative relationships in the community

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IF YOU GO

Tucson Children’s Museum

200 S. Sixth Ave.

• Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday; closed Monday except for Monsoon Mondays, which start May 25 and run through Sept. 7. The museum will be open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. with $1 admission after 5 p.m.

• Regular admission: $5 children and senior citizen, $7 adults

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ATTENDANCE

2003 59,470

2004 60,698

2005 69,836

2006 80,611

2007 88,568

2008 95,204

MOST POPULAR EXHIBITS

For children

1. Mind Your Own Body

2. Build It

2. (tie) Dino World

For parents

1. Build It

2. Mind Your Own Body

3. Dino World/ Fire Engine

Kyle Lehew, an employee of Mrs. Tiggy Winkle's Toys, shows kids infant friendly robots. The store will open a location inside the Tucson Children's Museum later this month.

Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle’s Toys will open a downtown branch, replacing the gift shop at the Tucson Children’s Museum, 200 S. Sixth Ave.

The 32-year-old local toy merchant at Grant and Swan roads will open at the Children’s Museum on May 21, said Lisette DeMars, a store manager.

Shoppers will not have to pay museum admission to go to the store.

“I’m superexcited about people who work downtown being able to buy Christmas gifts during their lunch hour,” DeMars said.

This collaboration transforms a gift shop into a full-fledged toy store, said Michael Luria, the museum’s executive director.

“That is not our core competency,” Luria said. “Our primary focus is not for the gift shop. (Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle’s) puts us in a superior league” compared with other children’s museum gift shops.

DeMars will stock the downtown store with similar educational, wooden and European toys carried at the 4811 E. Grant Road store.

“We’re having tons of fun planning for all the parties we can throw once we have a permanent space downtown,” DeMars said.

She hopes to have activities on the museum lawn such as bubble blowing and kite flying. Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle’s is an activities-oriented toy shop, she said.

Luria said gift shop discounts to museum members will apply at both Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle’s shops.

“They have the opportunity to move products back and forth between the shops,” Luria said.

The museum gift shop orders from 25 vendors, while Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle’s does business with 6,000 vendors. DeMars plans to triple the inventory in the 300-square-foot space.

Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle’s has had event collaborations with the Rialto Theatre and the Loft Cinema, and managers DeMars and David Correa were eager to expand to downtown.

“To be really honest, we started a whisper rumor,” DeMars said. “We said, ‘The Children’s Museum, wouldn’t it be cool if we could be there?’

“We secretly visited the gift shop. It’s a good gift shop, but gift shops is not what they do. Within a month, the rumor had made it to Michael (Luria). He said, ‘Can we have lunch?’ ”

The museum gift shop will be closed May 18-20 to allow conversion to Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle’s, which plans to open May 21 before its grand opening event May 25.

Beginning May 25, museum and store hours will be 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays to Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.

Fourth-grader gets early birthday party Saturday

Arthur Paz

Family and friends of Arthur Paz gave him an early birthday party Saturday.

The 10-year-old, who had battled cancer since he was an infant, wasn’t going to make it to his 11th birthday.

In fact, “Baby Arthur” as his loved ones call him, died in his mother’s arms a day later.

While Arthur’s last days were filled with pain and he was in and out of consciousness, there was joy for him as well, his mother, Tammy Robles, said.

One of his teachers at Santa Clara Elementary, where he was a fourth-grader, videotaped his classmates saying they missed him and wanted him to come back.

“He really enjoyed that,” his mom said.

He came home for the last time from the hospital on Thursday.

The following day was the annual Cinco de Mayo festival at Santa Clara, where Arthur loved being part of the folklorico group.

His fellow members danced without him, dedicating their performance to their friend. The school parent-teacher organization is donating about $1,600 from food sales at the event to his family to help cover funeral costs, but members know it won’t be nearly enough.

It also has set up a fund where donations can be sent: Santa Clara PTO (for Arthur Paz), 6910 S. Santa Clara Ave.; Tucson, AZ 85756. For more information, call Sylvia Tautimer at 545-3791.

Viewing will be from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday at Carrillo’s Tucson Mortuary, 204 S. Stone Ave. A funeral Mass will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Santa Monica Catholic Church, 212 W. Medina Road.

Arthur’s mother said he was mostly asleep Saturday when relatives and friends brought him presents, which his 8-year-old sister, Anisia, opened for him.

They weren’t sure he was aware of what was going on.

But early the next day, when he was awake, his mom and sister asked him if he remembered the presents and he acknowledged that he did.

“He was a wonderful, very courageous, little boy, said his great aunt, Patricia Paz – Tía Pat. “Although his whole life he was back and forth to hospital and doing chemo, he was a very happy little boy.”

His mom said she could see he had little time on Sunday, but he was fighting to stay alive.

“It was hard, but I said, ‘OK baby, I give you all my permission that you can go with God. It’s OK and everybody is going to be fine because when you get to heaven you’re going to be our little angel up there.’ ”

A young inspired author, Dylan Blankenship of Desert Willow Elementary, wrote a story about "My Friend the Magic Box."

If doughnuts and Pop-Tarts had a smackdown, who would win? How about pizza and spaghetti?

Stories that Soar, a local theater program featuring snippets of plays written by schoolkids, will answer those questions when it offers two performances at the University of Arizona on May 9 showcasing the best of its work this school year.

“When adults write about kids, it’s very different from when kids write themselves. It’s very entertaining for everyone, and it offers a great glimpse into the world of kids,” said Sharon O’Brien, artistic director for Stories that Soar.

The stories are collected over a period of several weeks at elementary and intermediate schools, then developed into plays with live actors, music and sound effects. The actors then return to the schools for assemblies featuring the submitted plays. The group has performed in 10 local schools and three in Phoenix this year.

Actors come from a variety of backgrounds and range in age from 19 to 50, O’Brien said.

Darby Blaker, who graduated in December with a UA bachelor’s degree in speech and hearing sciences, joined the group at the suggestion of a friend. She was quickly hooked, she said.

The plays are a great way to bring out kids’ feelings and thoughts, which are basically the same feelings and thoughts adults have, Blaker said.

“I think it’s every kid’s dream to see something they created brought to life,” she said.

The UA performances will offer two or three stories from each of the schools the group worked with this past year, O’Brien said.

Topics range from the serious – war and immigration – to the whimsical – a fight between spaghetti and pizza.

A reception with balloons, face painting, raffles and a silent auction to benefit Stories that Soar begins an hour before showtime.

Stories that Soar has been active for eight years. The group has a stable of about 20 actors, though only about 10 will be in the UA shows.

The food fights became part of the program after several kids submitted plays based on fights between their favorite foods, O’Brien said.

“It’s a three-round favorite food smackdown. Doughnuts and Pop-Tarts decide to be friends; it’s too hard to fight,” she said.

To find out the winner in the pizza-spaghetti matchup, head to UA on May 9.

Timothy Jones of Soleng Tom Elementary wrote about a mail carrier who gets lost in space.

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IF YOU GO

What: “Best of Stories that Soar!”

When: 2 and 7 p.m. May 9

Where: University of Arizona Marroney Theatre, 1025 N. Olive Road.

Price: $8 for adults, $5 for kids ages 12 and younger. Available at Mrs. Tiggywinkle’s Toys, 4811 E. Grant Road; Antigone Books, 411 N. Fourth Ave. or at the door May 9.

Info: 975-9970, www.storiesthatsoar.org

Michael Luria, co-owner of the recently closed Café Terra Cotta, has been named the new executive director of the Tucson Children’s Museum, 200 S. Sixth Ave.

He had served as interim executive director for the past five months and before then was the president of the museum’s board of directors.

Luria was the face of the museum in the past two years in efforts to get a new Tucson Children’s Museum included in the now-delayed Tucson Origins museum complex west of the Santa Cruz River and south of Congress Street.

“Michael has a contagious enthusiasm and dedication to the museum that we have seen in action throughout the years,” board President Louise Sternberg said.

Anthony Silvain did some rock-climbing at Rudy Garcia Park during a previous Healthy Kids Day. Rock- climbing is just one of many activities available to kids this year..

Tell a kid it’s time for cardiovascular endurance training, and you’re likely to get a blank stare.

But offer up a little “Dance Dance Revolution,” Wii Fit, a rock-climbing wall, jumping castle or even toddler yoga – and your little one is far more likely to get moving.

Finding ways to make family fitness fun is the goal of Saturday’s free Healthy Kids Day, sponsored by the YMCA of Southern Arizona and Pima County Public Library.

With nearly 1 in 5 American 4-year-olds being obese and a third of all teens overweight, the message is more important than ever, said Berlin Loa, program outreach director at the Jacobs/City YMCA Program Center.

“In 1991, we saw a trend had begun of children sitting still, with video games and TV as the baby sitter,” Loa said.

The shift in how children spend free time has resulted in heavier kids, and the YMCA and library are trying to lighten things up.

Fun events will be held Saturday at three YMCAs:

• 8:30 a.m. to noon, Northwest center, 7770 N. Shannon Road

• 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Ott center, 401 S. Prudence Road

• 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Jacobs center, 1010 W. Lind St.

Events also will be held at library branches throughout Tucson.

Activities include a kids’ “Y-Athalon,” with swimming, walking and running; modified Junior Olympics; a jumping castle obstacle course; family relays; a checkers game using baby carrots and broccoli pieces that you can eat after capturing them; electronic sports wall games; toddler yoga; a climbing wall; Zumba dance aerobics; and “Dance Dance Revolution” tournaments.

Parents can take home a free Healthy Family Home Starter Kit that includes games, activities and self-tests related to health, activity levels, nutrition and spending family time together.

At least 3,000 Tucsonans are expected to take part in the events, which are held in more than 1,700 YMCAs nationwide.

Loa said the program is especially important during the economic downturn, when more kids are expected to stay home this summer instead of attending camps or sports programs.

“We will show families fun things to do at home, whether you live in a house, an apartment or a mobile home,” she said.

“The key is to make it fun.”

Hula hooping like Alexandra Osorio is a great way for kids to stay active.

Ezekiel Ortiz (foreground), Eddie Alvarez (at left in background) and Tina Lynch get a work out on a minitrampoline at a previous Healthy Kids Day.

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More Fitness Fun

Looking for other ways to inspire your family to get healthy?

The Tucson Children’s Museum is holding A Wealth of Health, Family Health and Wellness Fair, also on Saturday.

Live entertainment, hands-on activities, prizes, healthy snacks, a jumping castle, Wii Fit and more will be featured.

When: 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday

Where: 200 S. Sixth Ave.

Price: Free admission; healthful food available for purchase

Info: 792-9985, tucsonchildrensmuseum.org

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If you go

What: YMCA Healthy Kids Day

Where: Three YMCA branches and several Pima County Public Library branches (see story)

When: Saturday, various times

Price: Free

Info: For a schedule of YMCA events and times, go to www.tucsonymca.org/events/ hkd.php. For a schedule of library events, go online to library.pima.gov/about/news/?id=1251.

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Teen Iron Chef

Are you a kid who likes to create edible concoctions?

Show off your skills at the Healthy Kids Day Teen Iron Chef competition Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. at the John Valenzuela Youth Center, 1550 S. Sixth Ave.

Teams of six teens will battle one another in creating a healthful snack within a set time.

The winning snack will be chosen from a panel of celebrity judges, and prizes will be awarded.

The competition is organized by University of Arizona library science students, said Sol Gomez, librarian at the Sam Lena-South Tucson Branch Library, who is helping with the event.

Participants won’t know until competition starts what ingredients are available to them.

“They will come up with healthy snacks, something they could put together when they come home from school, that taste great,” Gomez said.

To register for the contest, call 594-5265.

Luis Soto of Sergio Salazar Painting works on the trim of the Tucson Children's Museum.

New paint and decorative banners are giving the finishing touches to a yearlong effort to spruce up the 1901 classical revival Carnegie Library building at 200 S. Sixth Ave.

The Tucson Children’s Museum and city Parks & Recreation Department are collaborating to improve the looks of the historic building that had been largely obscured by a block wall since 1960.

“The goal is to bring new life to the Carnegie,” said Michael Luria, interim executive director at the children’s museum, which occupies the former library building. “Once the wall came down you could see all the peeling paint.”

Parks & Recreation, which owns the building, tore down the wall in front of the Carnegie from April to June 2008 and replaced it with a wrought-iron fence to reveal the colonnaded structure to people at Armory Park and those walking down Sixth Avenue.

Parks & Recreation last week and this week is repainting the facade using about $5,000 that was left over from the $233,200 1997 Pima County Capital Improvement Project bond used to remove the wall and build the fence, said Howard Dutt, landscape architect at Parks & Recreation

The children’s museum will drape two banners on each of the five street light poles on Sixth Avenue and the seven light poles on Scott Avenue. Each banner will display images of children who use the museum, Luria said.

He expects the Sixth Avenue banners to be installed in early May and the Scott banners to be up by the end of May. Private funding is paying for the banners, he said.

The Scott banners will go up just as the streetscape project finishes to bring wider sidewalks, more trees and shrubs and benches to Scott Avenue from Broadway to the Temple of Music and Art.

Bob Seaberg, a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, works on a new children's playhouse that will have the same color scheme as the Tucson Children's Museum.

Rincon Rotary club member Ann Strug and Andrew Zlaket, 12, paint picnic tables.

Three University of Arizona students are holding a fundraising luncheon Saturday for the Shyann Kindness Project at the Outback Steakhouse, 4871 E. Grant Road.

The project assists children in “stressful situations” and seeks to inspire others to perform “random acts of kindness,” according to the nonprofit’s web site.

The students, Anna Townley, Roger Altobelli and Lauren LePage, hope to raise $2,000 through sales of tickets to the noon lunch. Outback is donating the food and preparation, LePage said in a news release.

Agency director Sandra Rosati said in the release that donations have fallen off this year and the project needs funds to purchase toys and other items for children and money for operating and transportation costs.

The project is named after Rosati’s adopted daughter who died in 2005 at age 7 of complications from several ailments including cerebral palsy.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $5 for children. For information or to purchase tickets, call 991-7009 or go to www.shyannkindness.org.

12-year-old raises $800 for ill father of classmate

Alan Villaseñor with his dad, Agustin, in 2006.

When 12-year-old Alan Villaseñor took to the school stage Friday to help a family battling cancer, his dad was right there with him.

Alan lost his father – 42-year-old Tucson chemist Agustin Villaseñor – to brain cancer last July.

Now, in honor of his dad, the Tucson boy is helping other families in their fight against the disease.

Alan presented fellow La Cima Middle School student Kimberly Nguyen and her parents with a check for $800. The 11-year-old’s father – Long Nguyen, 47 – is battling cancer in his brain, lungs, liver and pancreas.

“They’re down to their last 40 bucks right now,” Alan told his peers and teachers at an assembly at La Cima, 5600 N. La Cañada Drive.

Alan hoped the family could use the money for medicine, food and other expenses.

“I hope it helps you guys a lot,” he told the Nguyens.

Eunice Nguyen, 40, wiped away tears after she and her husband stepped down from the stage after accepting the check.

She said her family, which also has two children in high school, will use the money to make a house payment and for other expenses.

“I can’t believe this happened,” she said. “It’s doesn’t seem real.”

“It’s so good,” said her husband, a refugee from Vietnam who worked as a cook in a Chinese restaurant before becoming ill last year.

Principal Gail Gault said Alan’s kindness “epitomizes what La Cima students are all about.”

“Alan has done an amazing thing,” she said. “You hear all the bad stories about youth. This is a good thing.”

Alan got the idea for starting the fund in a class that helps students prepare for college. He was inspired to get involved in community service. He wanted to honor his dad while helping families of cancer patients who are struggling financially.

He recalls overhearing his mom’s worries about coming up with $2,000 needed for chemotherapy treatments.

Alan started the nonprofit Agustin Villaseñor Memorial Cancer Fund.

He has sold about 500 colorful “Knock Out Cancer” rubber wrist bands for $2 each. He sent e-mails to local businesses and received donations from Jim Click, Dobbs Honda and Casino Del Sol.

He plans to award a check to another family soon.

Alan said he felt his dad’s presence alongside him onstage as he made the award to the Nguyens.

“He was a good dad,” Alan said. “He was always helpful and funny. He would help me with my math homework.”

Seven-year-old Adel Villaseñor recalled how their dad – who emigrated from Cananea, Son. – would tickle them with his giant mustache.

Their dad managed to stay upbeat during his illness. Alan recalled, “He acted like everything was fine when it was a living hell for us.

“I’m just happy and excited that I can help another family,” said Alan, who dreams of becoming a graphic designer.

Patricia Villaseñor, 42, is proud of her son. She says she knows her husband is proud, too.

“He’s always with us,” she said of Agustin, wiping away tears.

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To give

To donate to the Agustin Villaseñor Memorial Cancer Fund, checks can be deposited at any Chase Bank branch.

The account number is 767566193.

The federal tax ID number is 26-4402464.

For information, call 275-1919.

A kind Tucsonan with a big heart has helped the family of murder victim Derreck Burruss, 16, remain in its home.

Gail Leland, director of the nonprofit Homicide Survivors, was the host of a presentation ceremony Thursday at which Morgan Hunter gave Lakia Culver, Burruss’ mother, a check for $2,200.

The family’s home was heading for foreclosure because Culver hadn’t been able to work for several months after her son was shot on his way home from a watching a movie at Park Place on Jan. 5, 2008.

Hunter decided to help after reading about the killing and the family’s struggle to keep its home a year after the boy’s death.

“She was just incapacitated for several months,” Hunter said of Lakia Culver.

The retired University of California administrator prepared “a little document” he and his wife Sharon gave to neighbors at Heritage Highlands, a retirement community in Marana.

Forty residents donated the $2,200, Hunter said.

“The thing that really impressed me was this is a family trying to keep it together. They just needed somebody to step up and help them,” he said.

“It gave Lakia the spark of knowing somebody cared.”

The Tucson Fire Department Public Safety Academy is taking applications for its girls fire camp May 29-31.

The camp teaches firefighting and rescue operations under the supervision of female firefighters from TFD and Northwest Fire Department. The camp is open to girls age 14-17, and applicants must be in good physical condition with a current physical and medical insurance, a TFD news release said.

To apply, contact Cheryl Horvath at chorvath@northwestfire.org or Laura Baker at laura.baker@tucsonaz.gov. There is a $25 fee for girls accepted to the camp.

The application deadline is April 17. For more information, call Horvath at 887-1010, Ext. 2005; or Baker at 791-5211, Ext. 1208.

Nutty Scientists Orson Lohr (left), 19, and Justin Tietjen (right), 20, get help during Thursday's performance at University Medical Center from Savannah Torres (second from left), 6; her brother Ruben Torres,12; and Jade Sandoval, 6.

Science becomes a gloppy, goopy and hair-raising subject when the Nutty Scientists take the stage.

And, boy, do kids love it.

The Nutty Scientists, a performing duo consisting of Orson Lohr, 19, and Justin Tietjen, 20, had their first public performance Thursday.

While they’ve practiced in front of friends, the pair’s official premiere took place in one of children’s playrooms at University Medical Center, 1501 N. Campbell Ave.

“I liked the hair trick best,” said audience member Ruben Torres, 12. Torres had been recruited with his sister, 6-year-old Savannah Torres, for a water trick that left them both with wet heads.

The hair trick to which he referred was performed with volunteer Jade Sandoval, 6, who held her hand on a device that produced a gentle current. Her long, dark hair began to stand on end, not unlike a fright wig.

More than just a fun time, the skit helps illustrate some scientific concepts.

The gloppy goop was part of an experiment that illustrated a chemical reaction between two liquids to become a gel.

Pumping air into an empty plastic bottle proved it would fly across the room when the stopper holding in all the air was released.

“It’s a lot of fun,” said Shery Christopher, who is helping bring the Nutty Scientists franchise to Tucson.

Created in Spain, where there are 130 franchises, the program provides “edu-tainment” for kids ages 4 to 16.

Franchise consultant Christopher’s mission is to see what adaptations the program needs to fit in the American market.

Judging from the audience reaction Thursday, the program works pretty well as it is.

“We just want to have a little fun with the kids,” Christopher said. “Get them to laugh and have a little joy in their lives.

“It’s so much fun they don’t even know they are learning.”

Christopher hopes the program can expand, as it has in Europe, to include schools, birthday parties, summer camps, workshops and other places kids frequent. One franchise is already set up in Louisiana.

But Nutty Scientists Lohr and Tietjen don’t have to think about all that. They’re too busy creating glop or shooting plastic bottles across the room.

Both lucked into the Nutty Scientist gig through knowing Christopher – and being able to memorize their lines.

Lohr is a freshman business major at University of Arizona. Tietjen is a sophomore at ITT Tech in Tucson who aspires to design video games.

Neither young man had scientific or acting career aspirations, but both have had success working with kids.

Lohr coaches wrestling at Amphitheater High School and Tietjen helps with Little League.

Both also enjoy the younger audience, not only because they may be a tad easier to perform in front of, but because they also openly show their appreciation.

“I like to see them get amazed,” Lohr said.

“A smile on a kid’s face makes your day,” Tietjen said.

Orson Lohr of the Nutty Scientists discusses the glop that was created during Thursday's performance at University Medical Center.