The tragic Tucson Tragedy happened 4 years ago on Saturday, January 8, 2011. Here are photos taken this afternoon by freelance photographer Jon Scanlon of the memorial plaque on the boulder in front of the Safeway supermarket at the SE corner of Oracle/Ina. Many people left lovely flowers today in remembrance of this mass shooting at this site.
Six people died that day on that sidewalk outside the supermarket. Let us not forget them:
Christina-Taylor Green, age 9,
Dorothy “Dot” Morris, age 76,
Judge John Roll, age 63,
Phyllis Schneck, age 79,
Dorwan Stoddard, age 76,
and Gabriel “Gabe” Zimmerman, age 30 (whom I knew).
A Prayer gathering was held today at the Northminster Presbyterian Church on Tucson Blvd/Ft. Lowell (where Phyllis’ funeral was held in 2011), and a Day of Kindness & Remembrance was scheduled at Tohono Chul Park. Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild rang the fire bell at Tucson Fire Central on Cushing Street in downtown Tucson at 10:10 a.m. this morning, at the exact time of the shooting.
Two events tonight at 7 p.m. —
Memorial services at St. Philips in the Hills, 4440 N. Campbell Ave. and a Memorial poetry reading at the UA Poetry Center, 1508 E. Helen St.
Former LD 2 Congressman Ron Barber who was shot twice on Jan. 8, 2011 will be reading at the latter event. Mayor Rothschild will be at the Memorial service.
Let us also remember the 13 wounded that fateful day, including former CD 8 Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who is still recovering (aphasia, injured right arm and right leg). She was able to bicycle on a recumbent bicycle in El Tour de Tucson’s 11 mile children’s ride this past November, 2014.
There is still ongoing a January 8th Memorial Foundation exhibit at the Arizona History Museum with lots of the memorabilia from the 3 impromptu memorials that sprung up after the shooting — at UMC, Congresswoman Giffords’ former Swan/Pima office, and at the Safeway. I was at the opening of this exhibit back in October, and it is a somber experience to see the hundreds of candles, stuffed animals, tiles, written prayers & cards that were left at these memorials.
And don’t forget the upcoming Beyond-Tucson events on January 10, and the Concert for Civility on January 11. Consult our online Blog for Arizona Calendar for all details. And on that calendar are more details about tonight’s service and poetry readings.
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Very somber & reflective poems at UA Poetry Center tonight read by 14 members of The Chorus (from a Greek tragedy) of the “voice of society suffering”, a voice that “guided, questioned, examined, looked for consolation as it witnessed the suffering” per Poet Laureate Rebecca Seiferle. Former CD 2 Congressman Ron Barber (a survivor) read a poem by friend Greg Hart, about the images at the UMC Memorial while he was in the ICU. Then 13 other voices described their feelings, thoughts, memories of 1/8/11 – Samuel Ace, Andi Werblin (read by Lisa Bowden), Tommaso Cioni, Ann Dernier, Pamela Uschuk, Kimi Eisele, TC Tolbert, Rafael Otto, Brook Michalik, Carrie Brennan, LoganPhillips, Francisco Alarcon and Rebecca. A multitude of words, composed by people who felt the suffering of January 8, 2011, yearning for hope and peace. For more, see. http://www.korepress.org/Jan8Memorialwritings.htm. Also there tonight were Ron’s wife Nancy, and Emily Nottingham, late Gabe Zimmerman’s mother, along w/ 70 audience members.