Post by desert dweller on Jan 10, 2017 21:54:13 GMT -8
I’m reposting a trip report from 2011.
But, first an update.
In January 2011 Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was attacked at gunpoint while attending an event called “Congress on the Corner” in Tucson.
Here is the Wiki article about the event.
Link
Six years later a park is going to be built downtown to memorialize the event. The park will include an “embrace” symbol as part of the architecture. To promote the event a photo shoot was planned capturing folks from Tucson outlining the symbol on the outfield of the local ballpark.
Jody and I got together and became part of the photographed symbol.
Embrace Symbol
Some of the crowd at the photo event
Here is the original trip report.
“Where are you?” I yelled into the cellphone. “I’m standing under the stop sign at the corner of Enke and Warren!” My friend, Jody, was also yelling into her phone. “So am I!” was my reply.
It was obvious that we were on opposite corners. But she was closer to the entrance and so it was me that had to wade through the thousand-person mass which separated us. I made my way through, attracting much disdain with my many “Excuse me, please. Thank-you. Sorry. Excuse me, please. Thank-you. My friend is over there. Excuse me, please. (Ignore the growls and name calling, I told myself. Be polite.) Thank-you. Sorry.”
Jody had gotten there hours before and had made her way up towards the entrance under the guise of meeting friends who had saved her a place. It worked. Even though she really didn’t plan on meeting anyone she knew, there ended up being a half-dozen folks she did know. So she felt a little less guilty. I felt a little guilty because I passed by a guy from work and his wife who had been there since 9:30 that morning. It was 2:30 and I was going well beyond them towards one of the entrances to McKale Center, University of Arizona, Tucson.
Satellite Trucks
Crowd waiting at one of the entrances to McKale Hall
We were all there for the memorial for the six peopled killed and fourteen people wounded, including Congresswoman Gabriel Giffords, during an attack on the Congresswoman by a local extremist with a weapon and much ammunition.
Gabby was at an event she called, “Congress on the Corner”. She would come back to Tucson from Washington on a regular basis and set up a stand at shopping centers, schools and other public places in order to get feed back from her constituents and to answer their questions. Last Saturday morning, things didn’t go well.
McKale Center holds fourteen thousand people. It was completely full. There were another twelve thousand overflowing into the Stadium. The reason for the big draw was that President Barack Obama was going to be speaking live in the Center. All week the hype from the national media played up the event. It was a mixture of politicians, pundits, reporters, bloggers, military members, first responders, medical staff, fire department, law enforcement, secret service, technicians, sunglass wearing guys in dark suits, sunglass wearing guys in civilian clothes.
Those in attendance represented the great diversity of Tucson. Included were Anglos, Hispanics, Native Americans, African Americans, Persians, Arabs and many more subsets. We were there not only to mourn the losses and to celebrate the survivors, but also to present to the world our town, our small town of a million people. As large as it is Tucson still has the feeling of a being just a large hamlet. And last night, our mutual respect and camaraderie shone its bright light. The tragedy reminded us that we are a community. We chose Gabriel Giffords as the one to represent us and very much resented when someone tried to take her away.
The ceremony began with a traditional Native American blessing given by Carlos Gonzales, of the Pascua Yacqui Tribe in Arizona, and is a half Mexican . He grew up in Tucson’s south side barrios to become a family doctor and teaches at the Medical School at U of A. The blessing was given with the permission of the Elders of his tribe and moved us all with its message of hope and life’s continuance.
Next to speak was Daniel Hernandez, the intern who saved Rep. Gabby Giffords' life. He rushed to her as soon as she was hit and kept her alive and conscious till the medics arrived. We should expect to see more of him in national politics in the near future. He spoke well and with a humble tone.
Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of Homeland Security and former Arizona Governor, also spoke. Many in the Hall cheered her warmly remembering when she led Arizona with a clear agenda. She received more cheers than the current governor, Janet Brewer.
Finally, President Obama came to the podium. Tucson, being a vastly Democratic, showed its support by standing and applauding for many minutes. His talk has been extensively covered by the media and much has been said about how he turned it into a political event. However, it wasn’t Obama who created the festive air of the evening. We Tucsonans had been giving our prayers and condolences for the past few days. Each of the fallen will have their private ceremony with family and friends. We were ready to celebrate the survivors and the miracle of Gabby Giffords’ apparent wonderous prognosis.
President Barack Obama speaking in Tucson
I gave my boss less than a day’s notice that I was taking Wednesday afternoon off. I didn’t mention why. I’ve never seen a standing President speak in person. I figured it was a once in a lifetime event. As soon as I heard he was coming to town, there was no doubt I’d be there.
Here are some photos of the event.
My good friend Jody
Myself
We will heal
Some of the crowd
More photos are here.
link
But, first an update.
In January 2011 Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was attacked at gunpoint while attending an event called “Congress on the Corner” in Tucson.
Here is the Wiki article about the event.
Link
Six years later a park is going to be built downtown to memorialize the event. The park will include an “embrace” symbol as part of the architecture. To promote the event a photo shoot was planned capturing folks from Tucson outlining the symbol on the outfield of the local ballpark.
Jody and I got together and became part of the photographed symbol.
Embrace Symbol
Some of the crowd at the photo event
Here is the original trip report.
“Where are you?” I yelled into the cellphone. “I’m standing under the stop sign at the corner of Enke and Warren!” My friend, Jody, was also yelling into her phone. “So am I!” was my reply.
It was obvious that we were on opposite corners. But she was closer to the entrance and so it was me that had to wade through the thousand-person mass which separated us. I made my way through, attracting much disdain with my many “Excuse me, please. Thank-you. Sorry. Excuse me, please. Thank-you. My friend is over there. Excuse me, please. (Ignore the growls and name calling, I told myself. Be polite.) Thank-you. Sorry.”
Jody had gotten there hours before and had made her way up towards the entrance under the guise of meeting friends who had saved her a place. It worked. Even though she really didn’t plan on meeting anyone she knew, there ended up being a half-dozen folks she did know. So she felt a little less guilty. I felt a little guilty because I passed by a guy from work and his wife who had been there since 9:30 that morning. It was 2:30 and I was going well beyond them towards one of the entrances to McKale Center, University of Arizona, Tucson.
Satellite Trucks
Crowd waiting at one of the entrances to McKale Hall
We were all there for the memorial for the six peopled killed and fourteen people wounded, including Congresswoman Gabriel Giffords, during an attack on the Congresswoman by a local extremist with a weapon and much ammunition.
Gabby was at an event she called, “Congress on the Corner”. She would come back to Tucson from Washington on a regular basis and set up a stand at shopping centers, schools and other public places in order to get feed back from her constituents and to answer their questions. Last Saturday morning, things didn’t go well.
McKale Center holds fourteen thousand people. It was completely full. There were another twelve thousand overflowing into the Stadium. The reason for the big draw was that President Barack Obama was going to be speaking live in the Center. All week the hype from the national media played up the event. It was a mixture of politicians, pundits, reporters, bloggers, military members, first responders, medical staff, fire department, law enforcement, secret service, technicians, sunglass wearing guys in dark suits, sunglass wearing guys in civilian clothes.
Those in attendance represented the great diversity of Tucson. Included were Anglos, Hispanics, Native Americans, African Americans, Persians, Arabs and many more subsets. We were there not only to mourn the losses and to celebrate the survivors, but also to present to the world our town, our small town of a million people. As large as it is Tucson still has the feeling of a being just a large hamlet. And last night, our mutual respect and camaraderie shone its bright light. The tragedy reminded us that we are a community. We chose Gabriel Giffords as the one to represent us and very much resented when someone tried to take her away.
The ceremony began with a traditional Native American blessing given by Carlos Gonzales, of the Pascua Yacqui Tribe in Arizona, and is a half Mexican . He grew up in Tucson’s south side barrios to become a family doctor and teaches at the Medical School at U of A. The blessing was given with the permission of the Elders of his tribe and moved us all with its message of hope and life’s continuance.
Next to speak was Daniel Hernandez, the intern who saved Rep. Gabby Giffords' life. He rushed to her as soon as she was hit and kept her alive and conscious till the medics arrived. We should expect to see more of him in national politics in the near future. He spoke well and with a humble tone.
Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of Homeland Security and former Arizona Governor, also spoke. Many in the Hall cheered her warmly remembering when she led Arizona with a clear agenda. She received more cheers than the current governor, Janet Brewer.
Finally, President Obama came to the podium. Tucson, being a vastly Democratic, showed its support by standing and applauding for many minutes. His talk has been extensively covered by the media and much has been said about how he turned it into a political event. However, it wasn’t Obama who created the festive air of the evening. We Tucsonans had been giving our prayers and condolences for the past few days. Each of the fallen will have their private ceremony with family and friends. We were ready to celebrate the survivors and the miracle of Gabby Giffords’ apparent wonderous prognosis.
President Barack Obama speaking in Tucson
I gave my boss less than a day’s notice that I was taking Wednesday afternoon off. I didn’t mention why. I’ve never seen a standing President speak in person. I figured it was a once in a lifetime event. As soon as I heard he was coming to town, there was no doubt I’d be there.
Here are some photos of the event.
My good friend Jody
Myself
We will heal
Some of the crowd
More photos are here.
link