PICTURE ROCKS DIGEST

Welcome to the Picture Rocks Digest, a free newsletter about issues and events in the community. The print version of this all-volunteer publication is distributed at area businesses and community sites. If you have calendar events or news items, or if you would like to be added to our email list, please contact us at PictureRocksDigest@comcast.net.

The Picture Rocks Digest is a publication of Citizens for Picture Rocks, Inc., a nonprofit 501(c)(4) civic organization dedicated to improving the quality of life in the community. Citizens for Picture Rocks meets the third Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm in the Picture Rocks Community Center, 5615 N. Sanders Road. Meetings are free and open to the public. The next meeting is April 21, 2009. Everyone is welcome to attend. Membership not required, but highly recommended. Dues are $20/year for an individual or $25/year for a family.

CITIZENS FOR PICTURE ROCKS
Monthly Meeting
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Iced Tea Social Time at 6:30 p.m.
Meeting begins at 7:00 p.m.

Picture Rocks Community Center
5615 N. Sanders Road

Special Guest: Saguaro National Park Ranger Chip Littlefield
Featured Topic: Desert Tortoises
Come & Meet a Live Tortoise!
Free and open to the public.

COME TO THE COMMUNITY FAIRE!

The Picture Rocks Pride Community Faire will be held on Saturday, May 9, from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Picture Rocks Community Center and Park.

There will be more than 15 community information booths, hosted by the Pima County Sheriff's Dept., Picture Rocks Fire District, Red Cross, Food Bank, Library and many more. There will be game booths, hot dogs and soft drinks, clowns, face painting, a jumping house, a cake walk, a pie-eating contest and live entertainment.

Dist. 3 Supervisor Sharon Bronson will be on hand to help celebrate the installation of the shade cover over the children's play area and the start of the BMX-Skate Park. There will be lots of prizes, including hourly drawings for gift cards, and everyone who attends will be eligible to win one of three reconditioned computers or a telescope!

Everything is free, so don't miss this chance to celebrate our pride in Picture Rocks with family and friends. If you would like more information or wish to volunteer to help, call Jamie Kisthardt 520-682- 0287.

C4PR Secretary and Faire organizer Jamie Kisthardt (left) and Lisa Torres of PRO Neighborhoods finalized the paperwork on a $3367 grant to help fund the Community Faire and promote Picture Rocks Pride

CORNED BEEF, CABBAGE, & CRIMESTOPPING

The March Citizens for Picture Rocks meeting fell on St. Patrick's Day and featured an Irish-themed potluck followed by a presentation on home and personal security by Lt. Scott Martin, Commander of the Pima County Sheriff's Department Tucson Mountain Station.

Among the green-clad St. Patrick's Day revelers were Rita Taylor and Pat Anderson (left) and Chris Banks (right)

Lt. Martin advised the three dozen neighbors present to be responsible for themselves and be aware of what is going on around them. Most crimes depend on opportunity, he said, so it is up to us to avoid creating those opportunities. His suggestions: Don't leave cars with the keys in them. Don't put open purses in temptation's way. Don't walk into dangerous-looking situations.

Identity theft is a big problem, and he urged that mailboxes be checked daily, and outgoing mail put into USPS blue mailboxes. He advised keeping a list of valuables and credit card numbers, and shredding credit card and other mail solicitations. A post office box is a good investment.

He urged people to look self-assured on the streets, ready for anything, and to trust their intuition if something doesn't feel right. Check out self-defense charts as to where to kick, gouge, butt or hit to stop an assailant. If attacked, take a mental snapshot of the suspect and their vehicle to aid law enforcement.

Most home burglaries take place weekdays when people are at work. Home security can be improved with deadbolts, solid wood or metal doors, window locks or dowels, and keeping exterior doors locked whether you are at home or away. Exterior lights should be left on at night. Motion-sensing lights or timers are helpful. If away, leave a few indoor lights and a radio on to discourage burglars. And, Lt. Martin warned, never open the door unless you know who is on the other side..

ADOPT-A-ROADWAY CLEANUP ON APRIL 25

The next Adopt-a-Roadway cleanup will be on Sat., April 25, meeting at PRCC at 7:30 a.m. Lunch, tools and safety vests will be provided to volunteers over age 14. For more information, or to volunteer, call Chris at 682-7229.

COMMUNITY NOTES

• Correction: In an item on a possible Picture Rocks-Northwest Fire merger, last month's Digest incorrectly reported the date for Picture Rocks Fire District Board meetings. Those meetings are on the second Thursday of each month, 7:00 p.m., at the PRFD Admin. Offices, 12121 W. Picture Rocks Road, and are open to the public. We apologize for any inconvenience.
  


• Playground Shaded: By the time you read this, a new shade structure should have been installed over the Picture Rocks Park play area, the result of a Community Development Block Grant proposed by C4PR, and written by President Kaitlin Meadows.
  


• BMX-Skate Park Update: Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation and designer-builder Anderson Construction Company are continuing pre-construction planning for a proposed 10,000 square foot facility at Picture Rocks Community Park. Opportunities for community input will be scheduled soon.
  


• Thanks to Wheeler Taft Abbett Library for the generous donation of a complete encyclopedia set and other books to the library at Picture Rocks Community Center.
  


• Hummin' and Strummin' at Pima County Fair: See them perform on April 20, 3:00-5:00 p.m. on the Big Stage. Also, Hummer & Strummer Rick Elvers will perform on the Fair's Cantina Stage on April 18, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Check them out locally every Thursday, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m., at the PR Community Center. Free fun for all ages!
  


• 15 de Mayo Dinner: Enjoy Mexican food and live entertainment at the Picture Rocks Community Center on Friday, May 15, 6:00-8:00 p.m., $5.00 per person.
  


• Summer Children's Program at PRCC: Registration is April 13-17. Only 25 spaces available; if more apply, there will be a lottery. Call 682-7166 for more info.
  


• Summer School Meals: The Tucson Community Food Bank will provide breakfast and lunch for at Picture Rocks Intermediate and Marana High Schools for summer students and kids enjoying the park and pool, June 1 - July 28. To volunteer, contact Pam Moseley, 352-2421 x1233.
  


• Recession News & Blues: Due to budget constraints, the Marana High School swimming pool will not be open this summer, and the Tangerine Landfill has reduced its hours, now closing at 3:00 p.m. daily and closed on Sundays. PRCCI continues to distribute surplus produce and bread weekday mornings at 9:00 a.m., and its thrift store is open 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Monday-Friday, at 6691 N. Sandario Road. Donations of all kinds welcome!
  


• Avra Valley Habitat Conservation Plan Open House: The public is invited to comment on a proposed Habitat Conservation Plan for 20,000 acres of City of Tucson-owned land in Avra Valley. An open house will be held Thursday, April 16, 6:30-8:00 p.m. in the Javelina Room of Ryan Airfield, 9700 W. Ajo Way. For more information, calll 791-4675.
  


• World War II Bombers at Marana Regional Airport: On April 17-20, the nonprofit Collings Foundation will host walk-through tours and flights of World War II bombers at the airport, 11700 W. Avra Valley Rd. Walk-through tours are $12 for adults, $6 for children, no charge for World War II vets. Tour times are 2:00-5:00 p.m. on April 17, and 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on April 18- 20. Flight experiences can be arranged for an extra fee.
  


• National Park Week is April 18 - 26. In addition to regularly scheduled lectures and walks presented by park naturalists, many special programs in celebration of National Park Week are being offered at Saguaro National Park's Tucson Mountain District, including Junior Ranger Day on April 25, with special activities for kids 6-12 years old. For information, contact Ranger Chip Littlefield at 733-5157, or email chip_littlefield@nps.gov.
  


• Time of the Yellow Moon: Yellow tree blossoms light up the Sonoran Desert in April, the time of what the O'odham call Oam Mashath, yellow moon. Ocotillos are blooming early with red top-knots. White-winged doves return as summer creeps in. Snakes are very active, and cacti are sprouting their neon blossoms. Temperatures are mild, with little chance of rain; in 1976, however, it snowed enough in April to close schools.
  

A BRIEF HISTORY OF PICTURE ROCKS
Part Three: Arrival of the Conquerors

Athabascan peoples like the Navajo and Apache came down from Canada about the same time that Spanish conquistadors and missionaries arrived in the Southwest in the 1500s. The O'odham came under attack from the newcomers, and the Sobaipuri O'odham were driven off the San Pedro River by Apache raiders and merged with other O'odham groups.

Spanish soldiers, who called the O'odham people Papagos in the Phoenix area and Pimas around Tucson and Tubac, were forced to leave Terrenate Presidio after five years of Apache attacks. Indians were enslaved by the Spaniards and often brutally forced to become Christians. At the "sky city" of Acoma, many young male Indian survivors of the Spanish siege had one foot cut off to "tame" them.

There were revolts throughout the Southwest. The most successful was the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, in the Santa Fe-Rio Grande area, which expelled the Spanish from the Southwest for a dozen years. Revolts took place at Tubac and Tumacacori, also.

The Spaniards returned, still seeking the golden cities of legend, and the Southwest became part of New Spain, not winning independence and becoming Mexico until 1821. Yaqui Indians came up from the south and created a mix of Catholic and traditional ceremonies.

After the U.S. war with Mexico in 1848, the southern Arizona border was the Gila River, near Phoenix. The Tucson area remained part of Mexico until the Gadsden Purchase of 1854, when the United States paid $10 million for the land and established the present border.

Ranches were built and the native peoples removed. One local family, the Garcias, traces its roots here to the early 1800s. Neighbors Tillie Garcia and Jennie Garcia-Gonzales's great-grandmother homesteaded in the Orange Grove Road area when it was still Mexican land. The Garcia's cattle ranged from Ajo Road to Avra Valley Road, from Gates Pass to the Waterman-Roskruge Mountains. Cotton, corn and dairy farming took place along North Sandario Road. (to be continued)