Unit Happenings

Unit 3-S

Brenda Newitter

The home of Laurie O’Toole and Ed Lynch (recent new residents of Unit 3-S) was the setting for the Unit 3-S Big Game party on February 3. Besides watching the game, residents participated in a soup making contest. All the soups that residents cooked up were delicious! After the judges tasted the soups, three top winners were announced. First place for soup went to Georgianne Zigarowicz with her coconut butternut squash soup. She was awarded a golden soup ladle! First place for chili went to Lorraine Roman with her cowboy chili and she received a chili pepper necklace! Second place for soup went to Helen Bellacqua for her New England clam chowdah…can you guess where Helen is from?

Fifty residents attended the party and had a great time talking with neighbors, eating the delicious soups and chili, oh, and watching the Big Game!

Unit 16

Bob Bowers

Twenty-six of Unit 16’s intrepid residents braved a wintry chill on February 17 and boarded the Black Trolley Limousine in SaddleBrooke for a trolley-like ride to Tucson and an afternoon at the two-year old Crooked Tooth Brewing Company. Owned by Ben and Julie Vernon, Crooked Tooth has quickly acquired a reputation for a family (and dog) friendly old neighborhood watering hole and is now listed as one of TripAdvisor’s top ten nightlife destinations for the city. When we arrived, a bright orange Los Locos Tacos food truck was parked in front, generators humming and the sweet smell of delicious Mexican food greeting us as we entered the warm and friendly family brewery. Plenty of seating is provided inside, and for warmer days a fourteen hundred square foot patio provides an outdoor beer garden with tables and space heaters. Inside, the cozy dining and drinking area belies the conversion from a 1950s auto garage; this was Charlie’s Auto Service for decades before. Ten taps are provided and the brewery rotates a large variety of homemade specialty beers, including several tangy sour brews. All the beers are brewed to reduce gluten and it’s likely that all offers were sampled by our 26 trolley riders, as they enjoyed $10 triple taco plates from the truck outside. No complaints were heard from any quarter. Although our group dominated the dining area, we were steadily joined by a friendly trickle of families from the neighboring university area. Fortunately, there was no shortage of tacos or beer.

Crooked Tooth, at 228 E. 6th Street on the corner of Arizona Avenue, gets its unique name from the company’s philosophical mantra: ‘Like a crooked tooth or a lazy eye, be yourself and relish what makes you different. Don’t conform, stand out.’ It was a beautiful afternoon and 26 SaddleBrooke non-conformists did their level best to stand out.

Unit 17

Mary Gelinas

The Unit 17 Social Committee has finalized plans for their “America the Beautiful” Spring Fling on Sunday, April 14. This has been an annual event since the beginning of the Unit and we all look forward to the camaraderie, games and great food.

There will also be many other upcoming fun events: Sunday, March 17 will be a Luck of the Irish Potluck. A Cinco de Mayo Fiesta will be on May 5. June 1 will be a Salad and Dessert Buffet and then we will Celebrate Summer on July 28 with an ice cream social. Lastly, there will be an End of Summer Hors D’oeuvres Party in August.

It is great when neighbors open their homes to host events like this; homeowners getting involved helps make this the best unit in SaddleBrooke. And we are always looking for new members to help on the Social Committee. Chairman Arlene Desjardins will be happy to give further information about our activities; contact her at 520-825-0544.

Ongoing activities include Wednesday Bowling and Wednesday Bridge. Jake Jacobson has done a great job of keeping these events going for many years. For more information, contact him at [email protected].

Unit 27

Sue Case

After a last-minute plea for someone to step up and host the January 2019 Snack and Chat, our resident “host with the most” graciously stepped up to volunteer his house for the event on January 26. With the help of his daughter, son-in-law and friend Carol, Chuck greeted everyone with his usual aplomb, also giving descriptive tours of his ever-growing musical instrument collection. Many thanks to Chuck and to all those residents who host these monthly events.

Sandy and Phil Barney hosted the February Snack and Chat on Saturday, February 23. Although this was the day after a big snowfall and the temperature still rather cool, a hearty few spent the evening on the outdoor patio, while the rest of us stayed warm inside. One could tell that all the attendees had the weather in mind when considering what type of food to bring, as the table was full of meatball offerings and no vegetables! But no matter, it was all good, as always. And it is so nice to see the neighbors on these monthly occasions that it’s hard to worry about the food.

Looking forward to warmer temperatures, Anne and Phil Doyle have announced the particulars of the Unit 27 Block Party, which will be held on Saturday, April 13, from 4:00-8:00 p.m. in the cul-de-sac in front of the Doyles’ home. The format will be the same as last year: pet activities, games, food, trivia and line dancing. Some food will be provided, with attendees bringing a dish as well. Give your payment of $10/pp to Phil Doyle by April Fool’s Day.

Unit residents contributed a total of $530 to give former Unit Rep, Larry Zanatta and his wife, Betty, a good-bye gift, as they will be moving to Scottsdale. In keeping with his background of service to others, Larry gave all of the money, except for $30, to various charitable organizations in and around SaddleBrooke. The $30 will go to purchase a good bottle of Pinot Noir, which is Betty’s favorite, to celebrate their 60+ years of marriage. We will miss them both and wish them well.

Unit 42, 43 and 45

Ann Lange

Thirty new Preserve residents mingled over mimosas on Sunday, February 17 at the Newbie Welcome Brunch and politely inquired, “Why did you tell us we wouldn’t be needing our long johns and bumbershoots in ‘Zona and wassup with the weather here anyway?” We did have an unusual amount of cold and wet weather this winter, but we always like to show our new arrivals an exceptional time and, well, we just go with the flow, or the snow. Although this day was a bit brisk, the drops dissipated just in time for the 10:00 a.m. gathering and the brightly shining sun restored our reputation throughout the festivities before the wind and clouds settled back in. A sensational smorgasbord of breakfast casseroles, bacon, fruit and coffee cake was a great big clue as to what life at The Preserve was going to be like. Might as well start getting used to that expanding tube around your waist that will soon be big enough to serve as a flotation device during the Monsoons. A heapin’ helping of thanks to Bonnie and Fred Barazani for hosting the brunch and to the alumni team, Deb and Rich Adinolfi, Donna and Paul Silverman, Diane Shipton, Kali Cohen, Virginia Loranger and Jessica Ramsey for jumping on the love train and preparing those delicimo dishes.

Following the fine sampling of Preserve palate, the Rookie Brookies gave their own intros and shared their hopes and visions of an active retirement life. The common theme of how loved and welcomed each had felt right after moving in told us how well we had done our job. No one talked about work, that dirty four-letter word, that if used around here, gets your mouth washed out with that clean four-letter word. And, no one talked about having been a head honcho PIP (Previously Important Person), big cheesy mucky-muck or bigwig hoity-toity in their past life, ‘cause as we know, here in the Geriatric Theme Park, we’re all sort of old dinosaurs with roughly the same carbon-14 dating. Eventually, even though we are well-preserved relics, we will all start to look alike and some spouses have already begun to require DNA tests to make sure they’re still lovin’ up on the right one. Fossilization will gently begin to set in, we will start attending lectures on paleontology, our vocabularies will greatly expand with fancy new words ending in “itis,” otis” and “ectomy,” and sooner or later, we will all book a stay or two at the Oro Valley Spa at the corner of Tangerine and Innovation Park. But if you want to be around people who laugh at themselves and pack as much fun and play into a second childhood as possible, you will get hooked on The Brooke.

So, new friends, welcome to the Preserve paradise, our little nook in the Brooke, where we love and care for each other, support the less fortunate in neighboring communities and live with meaning and purpose. As you close each day, take a moment to be still. No matter what the weather, take in the splendor of Nature’s ever-changing show starring the desert, mountains and sky. And feel the love.