If she were alive, Mary Ewing Henderson would undoubtedly be pleased that her home in the Tucson Mountains, the surrounding 22.5 acres and its network of trails will be preserved by Pima County for the community’s benefit.

The Pima County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, May 14, approved a master plan for the property, including naming it the Mary Henderson Desert Center.

According to an obituary in the Decatur, Ill., Herald & Review, Mary Ewing Henderson died April 19, 2002, in Tucson after a long illness. She was 88. She married Arthur Henderson in 1948 and they made their home in the Tucson Mountains. Her husband died in 1952, but “her love of the desert and mountains led to her strong advocacy of maintaining open space and her longtime support of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum,” the obituary said.

The title to the property on West Anklam Road (see attached maps) passed to the museum when Mary Henderson died. In 2012, the museum donated the property to Pima County.

The master plan, already approved by the Pima County Parks and Recreation Commission, calls for the County to conserve the Henderson residence “and, possibly, adaptively repurpose the residential structure as an environmental education center … or park-related operations center.”

The County will “preserve the biotic communities and geological and hydrological features found at this site, restore natural habitat that has previously been disturbed, pursue the establishment of a wildlife corridor that connects the Mary Henderson Property to adjacent native habitat including Tucson Mountain Park, … construct a mixed-use pedestrian, equestrian and mountain bike trails system and trailheads, … (and) develop and install interpretive displays that detail the site’s history….

“Pima County shall continue to work with adjacent landowners to secure access and connectivity necessary to adjoin this site to Tucson Mountain Park.”

“I know this is something she wanted to happen,” Supervisor Sharon Bronson, District 3, said of Mary Henderson before the Board took action.

The first of four sessions of swim lessons at Pima County pools begins Monday, June 3.

Thanks to a generous donation from the Knights of Pythias Tucson Lodge #9, in partnership with the Picture Rocks Fire District, the first 50 area residents to register will get FREE swim lessons at the Picture Rocks pool, 5615 N. Sanders Road (see attached flyer).

Session I: June 3-June 13
Session II: June 17-June 27

Registration for Sessions I and II begins at 7:30 a.m. Friday, May 31 (Ajo pool swim lesson registration begins at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, June 1) and continues during open hours.

Lessons cost $20 for a two-week session (8 classes). Register at your local pool. Classes are available for children as young as 6 months. For specific class offerings and times, please call your local pool.

You may register for both Session I and II at this time. If your child progresses in one session to the next skill level, every effort will be made to accommodate him/her in the next level class in the next session.

Session III: July 8-July 18
Session IV: July 22-August 1 (Manzanita Pool Session IV will be M-F week 1 and M-W week 2 – ending on July 31 since TUSD goes back to school on August 1.)

Registration for Sessions III and IV begins at 7:30 a.m. Friday, June 28, and continues during open hours. You may register for both Session III and IV at that time.

If three or more lessons are cancelled in any given session due to lightning or mechanical malfunction, lessons will continue past August 1.

Swim lessons at Mulcahy YMCA at Kino Community Center and Northwest YMCA-Thad Terry pools are taught through the YMCA. Please call 838-0938 at (Mulcahy) or 229-9006 at Thad Terry for information on swim lessons and fees.

For other information about Pima County pools, including addresses, phone numbers and swim team opportunities, please visit http://www.pima.gov/nrpr/pools/index.htm.

The Pima County Board of Supervisors approved on Tuesday, May 14, allocating federal, state and County funds to employ and educate young people this summer.

The deadline for youth to participate in the Pima County One-Stop Career Center’s Summer Youth Program has passed. No new applicants are being accepted.

Employers who are interested in hiring or placing even just one young person age 14 to 21 in a summer job are encouraged to call (520) 798-0500 or email pledgeajob@pima.gov to choose from the list of qualified applicants. The funds allocated by the Board of Supervisors are used to provide minimum wage to the youth participating. Employer contributions to youth compensation allow more youth to gain summer work experience.

This year more than 4,000 youth applied for summer positions. About 3,000 applicants were tested for basic education skills. Youth who tested low were recommended for either a basic education program or for a program that combines work experience and basic education. Youth who test higher are placed in work experience or private internship positions. They attend an employability skills workshop, where they learn about good work habits and employer expectations before they go to work.

Approximately 1,250 youth will be in Pima County or agency positions. An additional 64 will work in Pima County Department of Transportation positions and 30 in Regional Wastewater Reclamation Department positions.

The Board of Supervisors approved contracts with Altar Valley School District, Catholic Community Services, Goodwill Industries of Southern Arizona, Portable Practical Education Preparation, SER Jobs for Progress, Tucson Urban League and Tucson Youth Development for academic and workforce services.

The contractors are nonprofit agencies and one school district that provide work experience, intern and basic education programs. The agencies were selected through a Request for Proposal issued in January 2011. Proposals were reviewed and recommendations made by a committee of the Pima County Workforce Investment Board.

New inflatable ship at Flowing Wells Pool

Get a head start on swim season at the Grand Reopening of the Flowing Wells Pool, 4545 N. La Cholla Blvd., on Saturday, May 18.

Pima County Supervisor Sharon Bronson, District 3, and Dr. Nicholas Clement, the superintendent of the Flowing Wells Unified School District, will speak at 10 a.m. followed by a free public swim until 1 p.m.

The pool at Flowing Wells Junior High School was upgraded during the off season. Improvements include:

• New filtration system.
• New tile and plaster in the pool.
• New pool deck and perimeter pool fence.
• Two additional permanent shade structures.

You can’t miss the inflatable ship!

Pool Season

Pima County’s seasonal swimming pools will open Memorial Day weekend – Saturday, May 25 – and be open through Labor Day – Monday, Sept. 2. (The Ajo pool will open for Memorial Day weekend, close and then reopen on June 1, 2013, for the remainder of summer.)

For admission fees, pool addresses and phone numbers, and other information, please visit http://www.pima.gov/nrpr/pools/index.htm.

Swimming Classes – Swim Lessons

The first of four sessions of swim lessons begins Monday, June 3. Lessons cost $20 for a two-week session (8 classes).  Register at your local pool. Classes are available for children as young as 6 months. For specific class offerings and times, please call your local pool.

Session I: June 3-June 13
Session II: June 17-June 27

Registration for Sessions I and II begins at 7:30 a.m. Friday, May 31 (Ajo pool swim lesson registration begins at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, June 1) and continues during open hours.

You may register for both Session I and II at this time. If your child progresses in one session to the next skill level, every effort will be made to accommodate him/her in the next level class in the next session.

Session III: July 8-July 18
Session IV: July 22-August 1 (Manzanita Pool Session IV will be M-F week 1 and M-W week 2 – ending on July 31 since TUSD goes back to school on August 1.)

Registration for Sessions III and IV begins at 7:30 a.m. Friday, June 28, and continues during open hours. You may register for both Session III and IV at this time.

If three or more lessons are cancelled in any given session due to lightning or mechanical malfunction, lessons will continue past August 1.

Swim lessons at Mulcahy YMCA at Kino Community Center and Northwest YMCA-Thad Terry pools are taught through the YMCA. Please call 838-0938 at (Mulcahy) or 229-9006 at Thad Terry for information on swim lessons and fees.

Swim Team

The Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department’s Novice Summer Swim Team Program provides a fun, exciting, and rewarding swimming experience for children ages 5 to 18 at all Pima County pools except the Thad Terry and Picture Rocks pools, and at the Marana Pool, 13251 N. Lon Adams Road.

The fee is $20 for the entire summer (includes practices and meets).

Registration begins at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 25, at any pool offering the program and will continue during regular pool hours until June 20 (or until the team at a specific pool reaches capacity).

The first swim practice is May 28. Swim meets are on Saturday mornings or nights during June and July. Swim meets will begin on June 1 and will continue until the Championship swim meet on July 13.

Marana Marlins may have a different fee and registration times. For more information regarding the Marana Marlins, contact Sara Bauer at 520-342-6401or maranamarlins@gmail.com.

For additional swim team information, please call (520) 877-6126 or (520) 877-6109 or visit http://www.pima.gov/nrpr/pools/swimteams.htm.

The Thad Terry swim team is offered through the YMCA. Please contact Thad Terry at 229-9006 for more information.

A health-care executive involved in the creation of the only health-care cooperative to participate in the health insurance exchange in Arizona under the Affordable Care Act will speak at the Pima County Workforce Investment Board meeting on Friday, May 10.

Health-care cooperatives are expected to offer coverage primarily to individuals and to companies or organizations with fewer than 100 full-time employees.

Jean Tkachyk is the Chief Operating Officer at Compass Cooperative Health Network, which was awarded a $93 million federal loan to set up the new health-care cooperative. Jean is also a partner in Eastwick Strategy Group, a health-care consulting company and formerly the Chief Financial Officer of University Physicians Healthcare (now part of The University of Arizona Health Network).

The meeting will begin at 7:30 a.m. in Rooms 109-112 at Pima Community College’s Community Campus, 401 N. Bonita Ave. It usually concludes by 9 a.m. and is open to the public.

The Affordable Care Act aims to expand health-care coverage through the creation of state-based health insurance exchanges where people will be able to compare and purchase coverage. Beginning in October 2013, people who do not have access to health insurance through an employer, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program will be able to purchase health plans through these exchanges. The new coverage will take effect in January 2014.

The Affordable Care Act also created a health-care cooperative program to improve consumer choice and increase competition. The federal government awarded nearly $2 billion in loans to help create cooperatives in 24 states.

The Pima County Workforce Investment Board is authorized by the Department of Labor and appointed by the Pima County Board of Supervisors to provide recommendations on local workforce policy and oversight of the Pima County One-Stop Career Center that connects eligible job-ready youth, adult and dislocated workers in local growth, high-demand industry occupations. It includes representatives of local businesses, nonprofits and educational institutions.

For more information, please visit http://www.pima.gov/ced/agencies-workforce-investment-board.shtml.

Celebrate improvements at two parks this month made possible by voter-approved Pima County bond funds and Pima County’s partnership with the City of Tucson.

Please join:

• Pima County Supervisor Richard Elías, District 5, and City of Tucson Vice Mayor and Ward 1 Council Member Regina Romero on Saturday, May 11, at 10 a.m. to celebrate the Menlo Park Neighborhood Revitalization Project at 301 N. Grande Ave.
• Pima County Supervisors Chairman Ramón Valadez, District 2; Vice Mayor Romero; and Ward 5 Council Member Richard Fimbres on Wednesday, May 15, at 9 a.m. to celebrate the opening of a skate park at St. John’s School Park, 602 W. Ajo Way.

Pima County invested 1997 Pima County bond funds of $850,000 to improve soccer field facilities at Menlo Park. An additional $498,975 from 2004 Pima County bond funds administered by the Pima County Neighborhood Reinvestment Program was invested into pedestrian safety and mobility improvements at the park.

Some of the administrative costs were covered by the City of Tucson Departments of Transportation and Parks and Recreation, and Ward 1 Back to Basics, which provided $30,000. The City of Tucson provided $318,000 in 2000 City of Tucson bond funds to construct a new restroom building and the plaza in the center of the park, and a Community Development Block Grant of $180,000 helped pay for the remaining sidewalks, lighting, chain link fencing, and a group picnic ramada.

The project’s traffic calming and park improvements were constructed by the City of Tucson’s Transportation and Parks and Recreation Departments. Improvements included traffic circles, speed tables, ADA curb access ramps, xeriscaping and water harvesting chicanes; and fabric shade sails over the pool deck and playgrounds, concrete decks, plazas and walls, landscape planting and support irrigation.

The project included Menlo Park Neighborhood Association members, especially, Mac Hudson, Bob Rodriguez, Lorraine Bartlett, Gene Einfrank and Lillian Lopez- Grant.

The Pima County Neighborhood Reinvestment Program also contributed $500,000 in bond funds to construct the skate park at St. John’s School Park. The skate park is lighted, and other improvements include a paved jogging track and ramada with picnic facilities. The site is shared by St. John’s School and the City of Tucson Parks and Recreation Department. Vice Mayor Romero contributed $4,000 in Back-to-Basics funds to the project.

Want to learn how to make jewelry, play tennis or use a gun safely?

Registrations are still being accepted this week for the Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department’s April 28-June 23 session of arts, crafts and special interest classes and workshops.

The deadline to register for the June 30-Aug. 25 session is June 24.

Classes for children as young as 4 include pottery, tennis and martial arts. Classes for adults ages 16 and older include art, jewelry, pottery, tennis, fitness, self-defense, preparing for death, and firearms instruction and safety.

Class descriptions, schedules, fees and registration forms are available online at http://www.pima.gov/nrpr/classes/index.htm or in the Pima County Special Interest Classes booklets available at Pima County Public Library branches.

Registrations are only accepted by mail. No faxed, phoned-in or walk-in registrations are accepted. Classes are filled on a first-received, first-registered basis.

Classes are held at six locations: A-Long’s Kung Fu Academy, 150 S. Camino Seco #12; Virgil Ellis Rifle and Pistol Range, Ajo Regional Park, Ajo; Flowing Wells Community Center, 1660 W. Ruthrauff Road; Northwest Art Center, 7770 N. Shannon Road; Omni Tucson National, 2727 W. Club Drive; and SE Regional Park Shooting Range, 11296 S. Harrison Road.

For class information, email LeisureClasses@pima.gov or call 520-877-6090.