Volume 13 • Number 14
The Voice of the Catalina Foothills
July 12, 2023
www.tucsonlocalmedia.com
INSIDE Meet our southern neighbors with Borderlandia BY KAREN SCHAFFNER Tucson Local Media Staff
La Baguette Parisienne generates rising interest | Page 8 Old Crow Medicine Show plans boisterous set | Page 13 Mike Dyer: Casting a coach aside | Page 15
A
lex La Pierre is obsessed with history and the relationship between the United States and Mexico. He shares his love through Borderlandia, “a binational organization committed to building public understanding of the borderlands.” One way it does this is through tours. Guests can journey to the late 18th century and follow in the footsteps of Capt. Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto as he sought to establish an overland route from Mexico to Alta California. Leading a party of three Catholic priests, 20
soldiers, 11 servants, 35 mules, 65 head of cattle and 140 horses, de Anza left Tubac Presidio and journeyed across the desert to Monterey, California. Along the way, he showed what a fine diplomat he was by establishing good relations with the Native American peoples, including the Yuma. Or, guests can visit a mission, the San José de Tumacácori mission at Tumacácori National Historical Park, less than an hour’s drive south from Tucson on I-19. The tours begin at the visitor’s center. There’s even history to savor at this small building. “There are so many layers of history here,
and the first layer of history here is this visitor’s center,” founder Alex La Pierre said. “This is almost 100 years old,” he said. “It goes back to the New Deal era, when FDR was putting people back to work in the Great Depression. … What’s so fantastic about this visitor’s center is that it was actually the result of a product of an expedition. The National Park Service sent a whole team of archaeologists, anthropologists (and) historians down to Mexico just across the border, and they were charged with investigating all the missions, the network of Fr. Kino’s missions.” That team took design elements of those See BORDERLANDIA Page 5
Passion for running bonds Michelle and Luke Nolen BY JAMES LOTTS Tucson Local Media Staff
F
or longtime Tucsonan Michelle Nolen, running is more than just exercise. It is her passion. It’s also a way for her to bond with her son, Luke. In April, Nolen accomplished one of her “bucket list” items when she ran the Boston Marathon. Nolen ran when she was younger and revived it after she gave birth to Luke. When she started running seriously, Nolen didn’t plan on participating in the Boston Marathon. “My son has special needs, but he always loved being pushed in the strollers on our walks and runs,” Nolen said. “So, as he got older and bigger, and outgrew the standard-bought jogging stroller, I needed to find a way to keep that going.”
Nolen was then introduced to Team Hoyt Arizona. The organization was founded after Rick Hoyt, who uses a wheelchair, asked his father, Dick, to push him in a race. Nolen said Team Hoyt helped her find the equipment she needed to run with her son. Her goal was to run with Luke in the Boston Marathon. At the time, she had seven years to train. Participants in the Boston Marathon, like Luke, must be age 18. To prepare for her first Boston Marathon, Nolen increasingly ran farther. She went from 5Ks to 10Ks and then half-marathons until she was ready to run in Boston. Nolen raised over $11,000 for the parent organization, The Hoyt Foundation, so she could register to run in the Boston Marathon. She was overwhelmed but excited. She See BOSTON MARATHON Page 6
Michelle Nolen and Rick Hoyt of The Hoyt Foundation/ Team Hoyt. (Michelle Nolen/ Submitted)