Community Service - Sonoran Sunrise Grove, ADF

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Rillito River Walk Clean-up

The Sonoran Sunrise Grove, ADF, in conjunction with Tucson Clean & Beautiful, is responsible for caring for the Rillito River Park area between Ls Cañada and La Cholla roads. This is a real privilege because this particular area houses the Tucson Sun Circle, an "archeo-astronomical monument" which tracks the sun as it moves across the Tucson basin during the year (see photo at bottom of page).

We do the clean-up on twice a month on Saturday mornings before ritual. We meet at the Rillito River Walk on River Road at the parking lot between La Cañada and La Cholla at 8 am.
See our calendar for dates and times.

The clean-up is an excellent community service project providing immediate gratification in the form of appreciated part-goers and bicyclists. After the clean-up, we frequently go to a local restaurant for brunch, giving us further opportunity for fellowship. This is helping to bond the Grove into a more cohesive group for the core few who come out to the clean-ups. We truly want to expand that core group.

	On Sunday, May 16, 2004, Tucson Clean and Beautiful held a signing ceremony with the Grove at the Sun Circle on the section of the Rillito River Walk that we keep clean. Attending were B.J. Cordova, Coordinator of the Tucson Clean & Beautiful Adopt-A-Park program; Supervisor Sharon Bronson, Pima County Board of Supervisors - District 3 and Sharrie Barfield, Pima County Department of Natural Resources, Parks & Recreation. Also attending were numerous members of the Grove, led by Senior Druid David Foster (Gannd). After the signing ceremony, Julian Greene led us in a short ritual honoring the Earth Mother and the Nature Spirits. As for the actual clean-up days, "I really enjoy the walk," says David Foster (Gannd). "It's great exercise and great fellowship." And the work isn't hard, more like a pleasant walk. We meet early in the morning, though, to avoid the heat of the day. If you can't come often, we want to create a rotation schedule for those who want to participate periodically, so we know who and how many we can count on on any given detail. With 35 members in the Grove, members would only have to take a turn once every three months or so. The generosity of participants has left us with gloves, hats and sunblock, as well as all the necessary cleaning supplies, so just bring yourself! Soon their will be a sign at the Riverwalk informing passersby that the Grove is responsible for the cleanup there each month. Having the Grove identified publicly as an eco-friendly group is a good thing!
Gannd, Sherri Barfield, B.J. Cordova, Julian Greene and Sharon Bronson at the Signing Ceremony

Gordon, Josh, Kimberly, Mark, Julian, Gannd and Kirk pose in front of our new sign.
The Tucson Sun Circle