When I was in my early twenties, I set the goal of bicycling through all 50 of the United States. I accomplished this over a 12-year period, and wrote and published two books about my experiences. My travels also took me into Canada. During a 1987 ride down the Icefields Parkway between Jasper and Banff,…
My previous Tucson Folk Festival 2010 posts have focused on the musical performances at this event. Well, I’m here to tell you that there’s a whole lot more to the Folk Festival than music. There was a wide array of vendors, including this mobile massage therapist… If you wanted to add to your music collection,…
Last month’s Swap Meet was a great place for the buying, selling and trading of anything having to do with bikes and bicycling. It also presented a wonderful opportunity to engage in the art of bike-tography, which combines bicycling and photography. In addition to getting wide-angle shots of all the action, the Swap Meet was…
The first weekend of May is generally when summer returns and breathes its fiery breath all over Tucson and southern Arizona. Not this year. If you didn’t bring a sweater and raincoat to this year’s Tucson Folk Festival, you wouldn’t have been very happy. And that would have been a shame, because the 2010 event…
Throughout this month, Tucson’s Watershed Management Group has been celebrating the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. WMG’s Earth Month celebration included a block party, street painting, a bike tour of water harvesting sites, and several workshops. The last two Earth Month workshops were held in my neighborhood. A nearby neighbor had a culvert cistern installed,…
This past Sunday featured a trifecta of bicycling events here in Tucson. The festivities started with the twice-yearly Bicycle Swap Meet on Fourth Avenue. Both new and used bikes, accessories, and bike parts were on sale… Want some cycling-themed clothing to go with your new or used bike? Swap Meet regular P. Nosa’s ready and…
The Meet Me at Maynards weekly social/run walk just turned a year old. To celebrate, 1,261 people converged on Maynards Market and Kitchen in Downtown Tucson. They began the festivities by sampling the wares from a variety of local vendors… In front of the market was a health fair featuring Rock and Stroll sponsor Tucson…
This past Saturday, a Tucson tradition began. Nine local bands joined together for a rousing good fundraiser for our community radio station, KXCI-FM 91.3. As one would expect from a station that plays a little bit of everything, a wide variety of musical talent was on display. Headliners Calexico weighed in with a tasty blend…
This past Saturday was another one of those warm, sunny Tucson classics. Perfect for one of the first days of spring 2010. All the better for holding Solar Rock, a sun-powered concert in Himmel Park. Attendees could review and sign the Solar Energy Industries Association’s Solar Bill of Rights… Or how about some Arizona sun-baked…
This past weekend was one of those springtime Tucson classics. Sunny days, warm temperatures, and who wants to spend a moment indoors? Time to head down to 4th Avenue for the 40th annual Street Fair. If you rode your bike to the fair, the City of Tucson offered free valet parking. And, yes, I took…
Care to share your love of reading with thousands of your best friends? Well, the Tucson Festival of Books is your kind of place. Now in its second year, the festival drew bibliophiles of all ages to the University of Arizona Mall. While there were plenty of booths filled with the latest books from all…
This past Sunday, the clouds threatened a repeat of the rain we had on Saturday. But that didn’t keep the Fords and their admirers from returning to Tucson’s Fourth Avenue. The occasion was the 2010 edition of Fords on Fourth, an all-Ford car show. Whether you’re into hot rods or classic pickups, this show offers…
Now in its third year, Tucson Carnaval celebrates spring, life, the arts, and community connections. This event featured concerts by many local bands, including Spirit Familia. Here’s Spirit Familia’s band leader, Jomo Alan, who lives a block away from me. He practices the flute while bicycling along our street… Richard Rivera adds guitar and vocals…
This past weekend, I attended the annual Dillinger Days celebration in Downtown Tucson. This event commemorates the 1934 capture of “Public Enemy Number One,” bank robber John Dillinger. The festivities centered around the Hotel Congress, where Dillinger and his gang of outlaws stayed when they first hit town. The hotel boiler caught fire, forcing the…
Well, it’s December, and the Christmas shopping season is hopping. Time to join several hundred thousand of your best friends on Fourth Avenue for Tucson’s Winter Street Fair. Along with several dozen other Watershed Management Group volunteers, I worked the edge of the fair. My job was to prevent people from leaving with open containers…
Tucson’s annual All Souls Procession turned 20 this year. It started in 1990 as a ritualistic performance by artist Susan Johnson, who was grieving her father’s death. All Souls now attracts more than 20,000 people to a memorial march/street performance on the streets of Downtown Tucson. Here are five glimpses of this year’s event. Before…
How about a nice, warm bowl of chili for a good cause? And, better yet, cooked and served with a smile by local firefighters? At last Friday’s Tucson Firefighters Chili Cookoff, thousands of gallons of the good stuff were available. Firefighters from various departments set up booths to sell dollar-a-bowl chili, with the proceeds going…
Tucson Meet Yourself marked its 36th anniversary this past weekend. This annual festival bills itself as “a celebration of authentic cultural foods and the living traditional arts of Southern Arizona’s folk and ethnic communities.” Because of the emphasis on food, the festival has also earned the moniker “Tucson Eat Yourself.” Since my digestive system was…
I just returned from another Homecoming weekend at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. And, just as during my student days, I got to experience Ann Arbor’s weather in all its glory. In other words, if you like variety in your cloud cover, Ann Arbor is your kind of place. It seemed as if…
I’ve been blogging about the weekly Meet Me at Maynards Social Run/Walk through Downtown Tucson since it started back in April. The event has grown quite a bit, and if you haven’t tried it yet, you should. If for no other reason than to enjoy some live music in Downtown Tucson. Entertainment at the start…
I just returned from visiting family in northern Vermont. While there, I attended U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ health care reform town hall in the tiny (pop. 600) town of Peacham, VT. The event attracted around 600 people to the Peacham Congregational Church… Since there have been disruptions at similar events held elsewhere, the security presence…