Volume 13 • Number 12
The Voice of the Catalina Foothills
June 14, 2023
www.tucsonlocalmedia.com
INSIDE Sonoran Institute hosts Summer Solstice Party BY VERONICA KUFFEL Tucson Weekly Staff
Everyone is welcome at Snooze's table | Page 7 Foodborne illnesses are no joke | Page 8 Enter the world of Dr. Suess with the campers of Saguaro City Studio Arts | Page 10
T
he Sonoran Institute will take a hipper approach to fundraising with its Summer Solstice Party on Wednesday, June 21. “I didn’t want this to be a night of announcements and people making speeches and auctioning things off,” said Melissa Cordero, marketing manager. “It’ll be a nice night where people come and relax and know they paid for something good.”
The nonprofit will host a night of food, drinks and entertainment at the Playground Bar & Lounge to celebrate the first official day of summer. The party will include a live DJ and a 50/50 raffle, where all donations will be split between a winner and the Sonoran Institute. Around 8 p.m., the organization will also announce its new membership program, inviting participants to join its group of Sonoran Sustainers. The goal is to raise $6,500 in tickets and raffle contributions and welcome 20 new members to the Institute.
“It’s something that’s really going to help our organization and we’re using the summer party as the launch of it,” Cordero said. “Hopefully, during that party, we can get people to also become members the same day.” The Sonoran Institute connects the public with the environment with a focus on western water systems. Headquartered in Tucson, one of the organization’s major projects is cleaning the Santa Cruz and other waterways around the city. See SOLSTICE Page 6
Learn Tucson’s unvarnished history on these tours BY KAREN SCHAFFNER Tucson Weekly Staff
M
auro Trejo is down to give the dirty truth on his walking tours. Don’t expect any whitewashed history here. “I’m not afraid to offend anyone,” Trejo said. Take, for example, well-heeled Barrio Viejo, once called Barrio Libre. “This was Libre and they called it Libre because they say it was a free zone where no police would come,” Trejo said. “Basically, this was a crime-ridden place where you could expect to be stabbed at any point.” Maybe “they” had a point. “In 1870, a rancher by the name of Juan Oliveros gets involved in a love triangle, and he’s killed,” Trejo said. “They bury him in unconsecrated ground. The (Catholic) church wants See TREJO Page 5
Serving all of Tucson Specializing in the Foothills
Mauro Trejo, owner of Trejo’s Walking Tours, is a seventh-generation Tucsonan. Trejo promises to give the unvarnished version of Tucson’s history. (Karen Schaffner/Staff)