Tucson’s Bike Fest 2008 ended this past Sunday. The final event was a scavenger hunt for a good cause. And it started and ended at one of our coolest two-wheeled places, BICAS… The 5th annual Alley Cat Bike Scavenger Hunt was a fundraiser for El Grupo Youth Cycling, and it attracted 134 riders. The cycling…
Yesterday was a total bicycle day in Downtown Tucson. The day started with the El Bike Swap de Tucson on Fourth Avenue. It’s one of the largest bicycle swap meets in the country… The swap’s a good place for some great deals on bicycles, bike parts, and tools… And it wouldn’t be a Tucson event…
If you’re into fluttering insects, the Desert Botanical Garden’s Butterfly Pavilion is the place to be. Located in southeast Phoenix, the Pavilion is quite the draw for photographers, including my friend and mentor, Judy Vorfeld: Judy and I visited the Butterfly Pavilion this past Saturday. You can catch the Butterfly Pavilion exhibit between March 1…
Yesterday was cold, windy, and rainy. Despite the not-so-perfect weather, the annual St. Patrick’s Parade wound its way through Downtown Tucson. The Seven Pipers Society helped lead the way… Since this was a Tucson parade, it had to include some industrial-strength weirdness. The Mashed Potato Queens were more than happy to oblige… This puppy found…
Yesterday was a great day for a ride, and I’m not just referring to bicycles. I pedaled mine down to Fourth Avenue, where the Tucson Law Enforcement Motorcycle Festival and Swap Meet was raising funds for the Special Olympics and Shop with a Cop. As one would expect, there was a lot of highly polished…
Yesterday morning, the Mustangs, Thunderbirds, Fairlanes, and T-birds lined up on Tucson’s Fourth Avenue. The occasion was Fords on Fourth, an all-Ford car show… Fords on Fourth offered a veritable banquet of treats for those who like to get under the hood… Or you could see the festivities reflected on this hood… If there’s one…
I’ve been seeing a lot of the Tucson Fire Department recently. Not that I’ve had any house fires or accidents. It’s just that we keep running into each other at large community events. The above shot is from last Saturday’s Harambee Festival, where the TFD was offering firetruck and ambulance tours.
This past Saturday, Tucson Parks and Recreation and the Northwest Neighborhood Center hosted the 24th annual Harambee Festival. Harambee (pronounced "ha-RAM-bay") was a coming together of cultures to celebrate Black History Month. It featured ethnic food, information on community resources, and plenty of local talent, including One Kingdom Image…
This past Saturday, Tucson’s Northwest Neighborhood Center hosted a safety fair. This event included free Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) etching, courtesy of the Tucson Police Department: The idea behind VIN etching is to make your car a less attractive target to car thieves. (Alas, Arizona has quite a few of those.) Since windows are the…
In January 1934, the United States was in the throes of the Great Depression. Since the suffering was so widespread, driving fancy new cars and sporting the latest fashions was an easy way to stand out. Especially in a small town like Tucson, Arizona. Standing out was what notorious bank robber John Dillinger and his…
Yesterday brought an early Christmas present for Ann Hoy, her youngest daughter, Dani, and her grandson, Aiden. They became the proud owners of the 273rd house constructed by Habitat for Humanity Tucson: This occasion was marked by an official Habitat dedication, which included some really cool housewarming presents: I first met Ann when she came…
Here in Tucson, we love our offbeat parades. Take, for example, the annual Downtown Parade of Lights. If there’s a theme, it’s "Things That Have Lights On Them." And that covers a lot of territory. The 13th edition of this parade included a collection of vintage police and fire vehicles, the public library’s Bookmobile, a…
Cross Mardi Gras with All Souls Day and what do you get? Tucson’s All Souls Procession, that’s what! This annual event is one of the largest parades in Arizona. It features thousands of costumed marchers who celebrate the universal experience of death. The marchers are preceded by a giant urn (shown above), which gets burned…
Event photography can be as predictable as the schedule that the opening ceremony will follow, and as unpredictable as how people will react to your camera. I prefer to do candid shots, but there are times when people simply insist on posing. In these cases, I just let ’em pose and take the photo. Or,…
Alert readers will note that the above photo was not taken at this past Saturday’s Michigan-Ohio State football game in Ann Arbor. We didn’t get any touchdowns in that one, which the Buckeyes won (again) by a score of 14-3. Oh, well. With a new coach and a revitalized team, we may just get ’em…