 Way back in 2017 Pinal County Open Space and Trails leader Kent Taylor spearheaded the Oracle Park improvement project. Several neighbors got together to offer their perspectives and students from the UA's School of Landscape Architecture were enlisted to help out. Then covid hit and things seemed to go sideways. But Taylor persisted behind the scenes among other things figuring out a funding stream and responding to neighborhoods concerns.  Kent Taylor Backed first by Supervisor Peter Rios, followed by Supervisors Kevin Cavanaugh and Jeff McClure, Taylor's efforts chugged along as plans were formalized and construction contracts bid out.  Peter Rios Then in early March construction crews began showing up. That's when we knew the improvements were for real! Union Yes!  Kaz noted the union sticker on the back bumper right off!  Some of the work  Luis  José
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 It seemed pretty much impossible a few short months ago that a group of young students in the Tri-Community could pull together a band concert in the San Manuel School District Auditorium before the end of the school year. After all, most of the 30+ members had never played their instruments individually much less collectively before the new band program began in the fall. But skeptics (Kaz and I admit to being among them) failed to reckon with the talent, professionalism, and determination of Lorena Candelaria. We know Lorena and her familly from church, Zumba, and the Oracle Community Center but had never been witness to her consumate skills in building a musical program from scratch with young people in a few short monnths. In that regard the concert last night was revelatory!  There are so many back stories to this accomplishment that I can't begin to detail them here. There's the role of the Oracle Piano Society and the brilliant leadership of Dr. Stephen Cook and OPS board leader Rachel Opinsky (pictured above with Dr. Cook, Lorena, and congratulatory flower deliverer Kaz). There's the vital role of music in educating the young recognized by Mammoth-San Manuel school leaders. And there's Lorena's personal history teaching, raising a family and overcoming life threatening health challenges.
(That's just for starters.) "Amazing" is an overused word these days but here its richly deserved. The band concert last evening in San Manuel was truly amazing.  Aldo rocks a Steinway Cuba is distinguished by the magnificence of its arts and culture creatives. Now upon return from our visit we can testify personally to this reality. It’s no surprise that the performative arts of Cuba resonated deeply with Kaz and myself. After all we have lived in Oracle for more than 40 years and our town’s future, a bit like Cuba’s, depends in part on diverse artistic endeavors to sustain residents and attract visitors. So now the “Oracle-Cuba connection” emerges as especially rich and timely. While on our trip to Havana we couldn’t even begin to plumb the depths of Cuban sensibilities, we did experience enough to come away blown away by the energy and talent that graced performances we witnessed. To a person our group of 37 from the US felt the same way.  Daiana Lopez-Gavilan, Maestra, conducts superb orchestra One of several high points of our shared experience was a concert led by Aldo López-Gavilán himself. When word of his concert spread, people of all ages and backgrounds flocked to the event. We overheard locals declare he could fill a stadium with fans of his musicality… on a day’s notice. During an almost three hour performance Aldo summoned masters (many of them youngsters!) of keyboards. drums, and horns to join him on stage, contributing to a sense of collective accomplishment that was met with raucous approval by the audience (including us). We came away believing Aldo and company were Cuban rock stars (or should we say “jazz stars”) true to their own unique calling.  Flamenco at its thriling best in Havana We applaud Steve and Bridget Cook and the Oracle Piano Society for any and all efforts to more deeply connect Oracle, Arizona with Havana, Cuba now and into the future.  Steve and Bridgit Cook in Havana |
AuthorKaz and I moved to Oracle in 1979. The house we bought dated to the late 1940s. With little advance knowledge of the place, we set out to build a new life together, intending to settle in and raise a family. 
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