(soft upbeat music) - This week, on Arizona Illustrated January 8th, 10 years.

- It was a terrible tragedy one of the worst tragedies in Tucson's history.

We lost some amazing people that day.

- The challenges and comradery of the Highland games.

- Some of these people I've only met one time my entire life but we're all family.

- Even if you're having a bad day you support and rally each other for everything.

- And the music in making of Flor De Nopal.

- The cactus flower, right?

Like they're so bright, they are so full of energy.

And they are literally like in the middle of all these thorns.

(soft upbeat music) - Welcome, to Arizona Illustrated I'm Tom McNamara.

The AZPM crew and I are here next to the Rillito river along the loop, 131 miles of car-free paved bike lanes and trails, winding along a network of riverbeds and natural habitat.

And while the loop offers a safe place for a workout or walk, we are all looking forward to the day when we can again gather together at things like events and performances.

On this episode of Arizona illustrated, we offer you a way to do just that from the safety of your own home, is that day is not yet here.

Until then we all must remain vigilant, continue to practice social distancing and wear masks when appropriate, as a Corona virus is more prevalent than ever.

Here's an update.

Arizona is seeing the highest rate of new coronavirus cases in the world.

Setting new state records for new cases, deaths, test results and testing positivity in the past 30 days.

The state reported nearly 9,000 new daily cases up from just over 6,000 one month ago.

And since the first vaccines arrived in Arizona on December 14th, nearly 120,000 doses have been administered.

For more coronavirus Information, visit news.azpm.org.

January 8th, 2011 is a day that's seared into the memory of most of us here in Southern Arizona.

For it was on that day, 10 years ago that a gunman opened fire on a small gathering outside a Tucson supermarket.

19 people from our community were shot, six of them died.

For those who witnessed it, lost someone, or were injured January 8th changed everything.

In order to mark that day, remember those we lost, and continue to move our community forward, we sat down with five people whose lives were impacted in profound ways.

Pam Simon worked for her friend, congresswoman Gabby Giffords, and was at the "Congress on Your Corner" event.

Pam survived having been shot in the arm and chest.

Longtime journalist, Mark Kimball was Giffords press aid, he was not injured during the shooting and aided those who were.

Nancy Bowman, a registered nurse at the time, and her husband Dr. David Bowman were shopping just inside the safe way.

They emerged to treat the injured.

Trauma surgeon Randall Friese was on duty on January 8th at university medical center, as it was then known, and help treat the victims including Giffords, and nine-year-old Christina-Taylor Green - People who are not there can't possibly understand what it was like, among a bunch of people.

many of us know each other, many of us had never met each other before that day.

And they're now among my closest friends.

And we can go a year without seeing each other, and then we run into each other and it seems like could this possibly have been 10 years ago?

- It's something that you can't, forget that's for sure.

And you know you work through it, you try to figure out ways to make your life, as normal as possible.

But there's always that little thing that, you know on the back little thing on your shoulder.

- Well for me, I'm less trusting than I was before of just, what's going on around me.

I try not to be as blahzay that guy who looks a little weird is he's just sitting on the bench, you know, is he gonna do something?

And I don't do anything about it except to, make note of it.

So, it's a part of me that I don't, really like but it's there.

- It can touch any one of us, and I don't think most people recognize that, you know and it can be very, very earth shattering and earth shaking.

You know you, one day everything is fine, and then the next minute, someone is severely injured or murdered from gun violence.

- I just hold my children very close to me, much more than I used to, because they can be taken at any moment.

- I keep a reminder on my desk, the FBI gave back my bullet, and so there isn't a day goes by that I don't think about how grateful I am, to be hereto be able to have seen the birth of my two grandchildren, I just feel like every day is filled with gratitude.

- For me it's, like it happened yesterday, some days I just think so vividly the faces he saw, and what was happening and so that brings it right back.

Yeah things are blunted, but you can never and should never get rid of that memory.

Some like that and spend whatever energy you have to try and, make sure it doesn't happen again somehow.

- It was a terrible tragedy, one of the worst tragedies in Tucson's history.

We lost some amazing people that day, six amazing people, six people who, didn't really have much in common with each other were brought together, for one moment, and that was the last moment of all their lives.

And, they will be remembered as a group even now, they didn't know each other before they got to, the Safeway on January 8th, 2011.

- Gabe was a dear friend.

It's, hard to look at his picture without thinking of the loss.

Not only to all of us that knew him and to his family and his fiance, but the loss to our world.

because he was such an outstanding young man.

- And I see Roxanna and John Green all the time, and my heart breaks but I have this necklace that Roxanna gave me that was made in memory of her daughter.

And I cannot take this off because if I take this off, that means I'm forgetting to remember a nine-year-old girl who now would be 19, and going off to college.

These were actual people, members of our community that were stolen from us, and murdered, and I don't wanna forget that, and I don't think anybody should, and I wanna remember their names, and I wanna honor their names, and I wanna do things, that will honor them and honor our community.

- I think it helped our community realize the sense of community again, and the importance of a sense of community.

I mean, you know in the 21st century we are so used to communicating, in different ways and here the pandemic is forcing us to adapt again.

But I think that event here, made us reminded us that we are a community, we do matter to each other and we can get through tragedies by helping each other.

- On January 8th, 2021 the 10 year anniversary of the shooting, a commemorative ceremony and dedication of the January 8th Memorial entitled "Embrace", took place at the historic county courthouse in downtown Tucson.

Due to Corona virus concerns, the ceremony was private but, you can view it on the Pima County Facebook page.

The Memorial is scheduled to be open in February.

All of the people you just heard from, participated in AZPM 2012 documentary, Together We Heal and you can view the documentary on our website azpm.org/TogetherWeHeal.

And I will take a moment to remember the six people who were taken from us, on January 8th, 2011.

Federal judge John Roll, Phyllis Schneck, Dorwan Stoddard, Dorothy Morris, Christina-Taylor Green, Gabe Zimmerman.

2020 was eventful in almost every way, not the least of which were the gatherings and events that didn't happen.

And one of those being the annual Celtic Festival and Highland Games, that have been celebrated in Tucson for three decades.

Now we hope, the festival and games returned to Reed hope park this November.

But until then, here's a new story from senior producer Mitch Riley, put together from footage he shot, at the 2019 Highland games.

(instrumental music) - This is the World Masters Championships.

We got 10 countries represented, 151 athletes competing municipal world as an honor, to qualify to come out here.

(blows horn) - I'm a criminal investigator from Bristol Virginia.

This is the furthest I've traveled from home to throw which is just great, it's an honor to be here.

Going through high school I played baseball, basketball, football, and it just kind a reached a plateau, with my lifting.

and I'm a very competitive person, and I found something that a big old fat guy that's 50 can come out here and do, and be competitive with, and now I'm a Highland game athlete.

I do have an accident from Southwest Virginia although I'm Irish, I'm Irish descent.

I like Tucson, I love the dry heat, you know, back home we'd have like 97% humidity here we have zero.

(crowd cheering) - The Highland games are the Scottish athletics.

It's, almost like track and field meets strong man.

There's nine events, different divisions for men and women and masters being anybody from 40 on up.

When I first started, I was a fire paramedic but I'm a flight medic now.

We have more and more women learning that, they can do it, and that they don't have to come out on the field and know everything and be perfect.

They just come out on the field and have fun and you learn as you go.

- This comes from Scotland where England took away their weapons, and so they had to use what they had, trees to go across crevices in the ground, they had to use rocks to throw, the hammer, they would use that to throw at somebody, as a weapon.

- My clan is clan Mackay, Northern most part of Scotland, top half is the Highlands, people go oh, I'm not Scottish I'm not Irish.

Even if you're not of Celtic descent, it's more just the mindset of it.

To be part of a clan, be part of a family you don't have to be blood, it's the family.

I'm prior Navy combat veteran and I do combat camera for the army.

Because it's training for battle, you're not competing against any other athlete, you are but you're not, you're more competing against yourself.

Can you set a personal record?

(crowd cheering) (instrumental music) - Nice job Mike(murmurs) - Boom.

- We had five events, and I was fortunate enough to win off five of my events.

(crowd cheering) Chief is, it's actually the Pitchfork.

So you take a corner of it, it's a gunny sack, it's weighted at 10 pounds.

(soft music) They say that a lot of this is either farming or fighting, and this is more farming.

The Pitchfork with the hay up into the loft.

(crowd cheering) I won my sheath, and I managed a world record today.

28, feet three inches.

I'll hopefully win the whole thing I mean we still have four more, but I just take one event at a time.

- I tore a bicep tendon so this arm's gone, I have to get surgery on it, but I threw all left-handed today.

I'm gonna be in last place probably in every event, but I don't care, I'd rather be out here with my brothers and sisters.

As some of us will say, it is better to die on your feet in the field of battle.

Tend to sit on the sideline and watch from the hill.

Haber and Gaelic means felled tree, that was your original Army Corps of Engineers that was a bridge across the moat, a stream, ladder up in embattlement.

- It's not for distance It's just, you wanna get a perfect score of a 12, it has to turn one time, and it has to land at 12 o'clock in front of you per your shoulders the judge looking behind you.

So today I got to 12, I got to 12, 10, and then I got a drop, which is not very good.

And then today, when I dropped the cave, we're hit in the ear but you know, I should've got out of the way.

(crowd cheering) - I have yet to travel into a country where others didn't embrace you the same way as the U.S embraces each other.

Even if you're having a bad day you support and rally each other for everything.

- The best thing about this as a comradery, and I mean some of these people I've only met one time in my entire life but we're all family.

- Come on bell.

- The second is to be competitive, and I'm a very competitive person and to be able to come out here and do this, and have fun at it, its rewarding.

(instrumental music) - Some of my brothers and sisters we're gonna sit around tonight, talk about how the day went, what we would have liked to done better, what we were proud about and have plans, talk, have meals together, you know, fellowship.

(orchestra music) The first of Scottish, declaration of independence, it states, as long as there's a hundred of us left alive, we will not fight for honors, riches.

glories or lands, we fight for freedom.

No man will give up his freedom except for with his life.

(relaxing music) - For more information on the Tucson Celtic Festival, and the 2021 Highland games visit tucsoncelticfestival.org.

In February 2020, just before the societal disruption caused by the Corona virus pandemic was in full force, producer Andrew Brown filmed a live performance by an interview, with local electronic musician Bea Velasquez, a drawing on deep familial ties to the desert a traditional musical upbringing and discovery of identity Velasquez produces music that could only come from this time and place.

This is Flor De Nepal.

(audience chattering) - You don't know what's gonna happen, once you get on that stage but, you know all of the things that you've done to get on that stage.

Flor de Nepal, which means cactus flower, is electronic, synth, dark wave music project that, this is of me and about five machines that I communicate with.

♪ Open the door ♪ ♪ I see me too and I'll wait ♪ ♪ For you now baby I'll wait ♪ ♪ For you now baby ♪ If lyrics are so emo, but the beat is like, going if you would just wanna dance, and like that's literally like how I feel in life, right?

And so, I think it's just so special to be able to like have that combination of two elements, that seem contradictory now are they're like opposites, but really they're a part of the whole.

(electronic music) (crowd cheering) - Thank you.

Happy on Valentine's day.

My name is Flor de Nepal, and super excited to play for you all tonight glad you are enjoying it.

- What's with this hair cut though.

- But that's the one I was talking about precisely.

- Oh, mom and her little mushroom cut and that outfit.

- And looking at oh my God I am clearly so upset here.

Do you see this?

- That is the same face you make now when you're upset, it's exactly the same.

- That's how our family is always been we talk a lot of crap, but it's all like, constructive criticism is what we like to call it.

You know, it's never too mean.

I remember how much you hated these photos growing up, they made you so upset.

- I hated the photos, but I loved this suit because-- - I think the costume was awesome.

- Also this was like, I got to be a boy in this.

I had, I like little boys were in the coat.

- It's true.

- Yeah and so they dressed me up as a little boy.

- You always looked forward to that outfit.

- Yeah it's true.

I mean, I've always loved to sing and my dad's an opera singer, so he always taught us how to sing and stuff, and there was always music playing in the house.

- Always kept us really entertained when it came to, being in music like Bea would see and do the cello, and then I would do the viola, or tried.

But Bea always had like a really natural talent in music something that I've always known that I didn't have.

They just would pick something up and make something out of it.

(cello playing) - The end of middle school, was when I started to get like super serious with the cello.

When I started at ASU, I started as a music performance student.

(cello playing) and I was playing and practicing probably six, seven hours a day.

while I loved it, I felt so detached from all of these other really important things to me.

So I ended up switching my major, and setting something completely different.

(cello playing) And so I just kind a took a break.

(electronic music) And that's when, electronic music kind of like, really came to be.

(electronic music) So I identify as trans, like non-binary, when I moved back to Tucson three years ago, the main reason, even though I didn't tell anyone, the main reason when I moved back was because I really wanted to have my top surgery, and my parents live here, my sister lives here, and I have like long time friends here, and so I knew that if I was gonna go through that process, that I needed to have support.

Flor De Nopal as a project, really aligns, to like the progression and the development, and the acceptance, of my trans identity in a lot of ways.

♪ Come each night to make to make ♪ ♪ To make you feel well ♪ ♪ Make you feel well ♪ (electronic music) I started to think about, how challenging the desert is, but also like how rewarding the desert is.

Like the cactus flower right, like they're so bright, they're so full of energy and they are literally like in the middle of all these thorns right and that's kind of like, how I thought about this experience of moving back and getting top surgery was like, this really beautiful is about to happen, and I'm like ready for that balloon to open up, but it's also really tough, right?

There's a lot of like literal spines all around the situation.

(electronic music) Maybe a year after I chose that name for my project.

I also learned that cactus flowers are actually like, they're like non binary they're intersex all cactus flowers have both female and male parts.

(electronic music) Being able to walk in my truth, as challenging as that can really be, on a literal day to day is the only way that I'm gonna be able to like live my life, fully.

(electronic music) One of the things I fundamentally believe is that, people don't often want to be at the front wheel of their lives.

If you have reached a space, where you call yourself trans, you have done a lot of that ego death, reflective, deconstructive work, and decided to like take your life into your own hands and that makes us really special.

(singing in foreign language) (crowd cheers) Thank you.

- Before we go, here's a sneak peek at a few stories we're working on.

- We got back in school, and I believe it was October 12th, it was awesome because I'm someone who relies on my friends a lot and I will hang out with them and it's a big mental like just yes and it was weird, just not being able to do that every day.

I think probably one of the biggest changes to the school is having to wear masks around and not being able to take them off, and it's kind of hard to recognize people.

It's pretty stressful like just not being able to know what's gonna happen today.

And if your teachers are gonna be in school, our math teacher hasn't been here for a while, cause he had symptoms I'm guessing, he hasn't been in for like a week and he wasn't there for the first two weeks of in school that is, so that's been kind of weird.

Think of like if, there was a hybrid sport between, like lassoing cows and going fishing, I extend the lasso out, as much as I need it to be.

And then I try, to get the lasso over the lizards head.

It can be a bit challenging because the further away the line gets from you the harder it becomes to see, but then once it's over the head, I have the lizard.

And then once you catch it, you always wanna give it some support you don't wanna let it just dangle.

- A lot of paradigms about competition between people and you know, the survival of the fittest kind of approach, whether you're talking about businesses or competitors for resources.

That's kinda been the model of the capitalism has always been based on, and what we're finding is that where you find collaboration and synergy between people working with each other.

That's usually where you're gonna be more resilient to these climate changes, to these market changes, that can have a negative effect and so, this collaborative development is what we think is the big difference that we're finding that would work here as well.

So, in United States you have this division between everybody along political lines, and that has only made it worse, in terms of being able to have healthy communities or being able to take care of the environment in which you're living, so the environment can take care of you later.

- Thank you, for joining us here on Arizona Illustrated.

I'm Tom McNamara, see you next week.