Neighborhood Meeting 5-23-2026
Our neighborhood feels welcoming and safe because of the care, effort, and support of our fellow neighbors. Come get updates about our efforts and successes and how you can pitch in.
Past
Leslie Eldenburg – Celebration of Life
Saturday, April 25 – 10 AM – Hacienda Makaria in the Stables Facility – 3933 N Tucson Blvd. Our good friend, neighbor and University colleague, Leslie Eldenburg passed away in February. Her husband John Kovacik, Leslie’s Family and UA colleagues have organized a Celebration of Life for her this Saturday. John is hoping we can all share some recollections of Leslie and enjoy light refreshments at the end. If you are unable to attend but would like to honor her memory, gifts can be directed to the Leslie Eldenburg Endowed Scholarship at: https://tinyurl.com/InMemoryofLeslie or using https://give.uafoundation.org/giving-search and searching with her name. Several obitiaries have been posted: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/tucson/name/leslie-eldenburg-obituary?id=61277874 https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/bonnercountydailybee/name/leslie-eldenburg-obituary?id=61070408
Coffee With a Cop
Tuesday, March 24 – 9amThe Egg Connection3114 E. Ft. Lowell Rd. Meet with our Ward 3 Council Member, Kevin Dahl, as well as other officers who patrol our area. Community Service Officers, our Constable and more.
Restoration Celebration of Rio Vista Natural Resource Park, January 25, 2025
Over 60 guests gathered at the Park to celebrate the restoration. Voted in as part of Proposition 407, the Park received $330 K. The community fought for the resources to go towards renovating the natural side of the park, and Parks and Rec listened! It was a glorious day to celebrate. John and Jeanne Ronstadt serenaded folks as they arrived, and several Commissioners were present. Ron Spark, from the 2018 Park & Connectivity Bond Oversight Commission spoke of how open space is healing. So true. Fun photos from the Celebration!
Planting Event at Park, October 5, 2024
For the second planting event, volunteers showed up to help plant and learn about the park. And, it was hot! Carianne Funicelli of Strategic Habitat Enhancements instructs the volunteers. Carianne Funicelli assists Murray and Sue DeArmond placing the spaghetti lines around a cat’s claw. It was ninety degrees by 9 a.m., but we had the Catalinas––and even a few horses––as a backdrop while digging the holes. Matt Christman, Parks and Rec’s project manager, helps make cages.
Planting Event at Park, September 21, 2024
About 25 neighbors, friends, and staff convened at Rio Vista on Saturday the 21st to help beautify the main entrance of the park with trees and small plants. The plants were selected by Carianne Funicelli of Strategic Habitat Enhancements (SHE), https://www.strategichabitats.com/, who is on contract to design the native restoration plantings for the park. The plants including native trees like Desert willow, Screwbean mesquite, and Canyon hackberry as well as native plants including ocotillo, Thurber’s desert honeysuckle, desert milkweed, desert lavender and more are drought resistant and were raised locally. The drip irrigation from the existing system was extended to each plant.Under the direction of Carianne with support from Watershed Management Group project staff, the group was split up into three groups: one for planting trees, one for planting small plants, and one for making wire cages. With varying skills but all with the same eagerness and goal to help their beloved park, the teams got to work. By the end of three hours, the teams were experts! More planting restoration events are scheduled for Saturday mornings on Oct 5, Nov 2, and Nov 30 in different focus areas of the park, so come out and enjoy the camaraderie. Visit https://watershedmg.org/event to register.
Watershed Management Group (WMG) features RillitoBend’s efforts to keep Rio Vista Park natural, Summer 2024
In Watershed Management Group’s quarterly newsletter, Rio Vista Natural Resource Park is featured. Why? Because it shows how a neighborhood can come together around a shared vision of a natural resource park in the city. And with the implementation of the Master Plan and recent rains, the park has been transformed. Resident Catlow Shipek of Watershed Management Group (WMG) has been hired as a consultant to Tucson’s Parks & Rec Department to shepherd the restoration of the Park. Click on the links below to read about the efforts and see how the Park has been dramatically improved. For further information, read about the park on our Rio Vista Park page in our blog, RillitoBend Rambles. There are some lovely photos! Read the WMG article HERE
Presentation of Rio Vista Plan, April 18, 2024
Matt Christman, Project Manager, presented the trail map and schedule for the Rio Vista Natural Resource Park to over 30 neighbors. He explained that Parks & Rec followed the five main recommendations from the Master Plan approved by Mayor and Council in March 2023 as their guide. The work will address: 1, consolidating and upgrading the trails; 2, revegetating open space areas; 3, upgrading the signage; 4, enhancing riparian areas; and, 5, introducing stormwater harvesting. Under the direction of Catlow Shipek of Watershed Management, consultants are starting work next week (April 22nd), first with creating 30-35 shallow catch basins. Using soil taken from the excavation, Arizona Conservation Corps will build the trails. Audubon will start removing invasive species. Planting will start when the rains start, and irrigation will coincide with planting. Both Matt and Catlow with be onsite to supervise the consultants. Parks & Rec Operations will monitor the work done to assure plants are established and trails maintained. They anticipate working with volunteer groups to help, with monthly check-ins. Trash cans will be relocated to the edges of the park so maintenance crews don’t have to drive their trucks across the park.