July 10, 2024 / Modified sep 5, 2024 10:18 p.m.

"Taking the camel to the drive-in?" Historian David Leighton's history of the Reid Park Zoo

Also on Arizona Spotlight: Visit the Word of Mouth Print Space; celebrate imagination at the Library's Megamania!! Festival; and meet the founder of the Naco Wellness Initiative.

Prairie Dog Town 1966 Reid Park Zoo A sign pointing to Tucson's Prairie Dog Town in 1966, it was the first exhibit of the future zoo.
Curtesy of Reid Park Zoo

Arizona Spotlight

July 11, 2024

NPR
(Download MP3)

Featured on the July 11, 2024 edition of ARIZONA SPOTLIGHT with host Mark McLemore:

  • This month, the Journal of Arizona History will publish a story and photo essay about the early history of the Reid Park Zoo, from 1965 to 1978. It is the result of more than 3 years of research by Arizona Daily Star “Street Smarts” columnist David Leighton, who will share some of the surprising history he has learned along the way.

Baby Ostritches and Zookeepers 1977 Reid Park Zoo Zookeepers Marc Bruns and Shanda Johnston in 1977, handling four baby ostriches named Sam, Pipin, Bilbo and Frog.
Courtesy of Arizona Daily Star

Rhinos 1986 Reid Park Zoo Rhinos Zibulo and Yebonga wallow in the mud at the zoo in 1986.
Courtesy of Joanna Gradillas

Baby Bear 1975 VIEW LARGER In 1975 Margolis, a baby sunbear waits for his mother to return to their enclosure.
Courtesy of Joanna Gradillas
Lioness 1968 Reid Park Zoo VIEW LARGER A lioness cleans her paw at the Randolph Park Zoo in 1968.
Courtesy of Arizona Daily Star
  • AZPM’s Sophia Hammer visits the Word of Mouth Print Space, a volunteer-led community-accessible printmaking studio. Workshops and studio resources are made available on a sliding scale to artists of all skill levels.
Word of Mouth Printing Machines VIEW LARGER Equipment and studio space are made available on a sliding scale to artists of any skill level.
Courtesy of Word of Mouth Print Space
Word of Mouth up close sketch VIEW LARGER Word of Mouth Print Space offers a unique opportunity for art aficionados to create and hone their skills. here is an up close look at one of the visitor's designs.
Courtesy of Word of Mouth Print Space
Word of Mouth Coco Chanel shirt VIEW LARGER T-Shirts are among the many items you can create at Tucson's Word of Mouth Print Space
Courtesy of Word of Mouth Print Space
  • Looking for a way to escape the summer heat using imagination? On July 20th, The Pima County Public Library hosts MegaMania, the free, all-ages summer festival of fantasy, science fiction, cosplay, gaming and crafts. Mark talks with two of the organizers about what to expect from this year’s line-up of guests, games & performances.

MegaMania 2024 The Pima County Public Library will be hosting their annual MegaMania event Saturday July 20th from 12-5 p.m. at Pima Community College's Downton Campus

Paige and John Paige Carlson and John Muñoz visit the AZPM studio to talk about the Pima County Public Library's MegaMania event.
AZPM staff/ Alecia Vasquez

  • And, Tony Paniagua will introduce you to a dual-national, cooperative effort that is improving thousands of lives in the small border community of Naco in Sonora, Mexico. Meet Tom Carlson, the 91-year-old co-founder and president of the Naco Wellness Initiative.

Naco Wellness Norma Bernabe spot Norma Bernabé is one of the women that does much of the daily work at the Naco Wellness Initiative's farm and gardens in Naco, Sonora, Mexico.
Tony Paniagua / AZPM

Naco Wellness 1 spot Tom Carlson and Lupita Sánchez met several years ago in Naco, Sonora, Mexico and have become close coworkers and friends.
Tony Paniagua / AZPM

Naco Wellness 2 spot The Naco Wellness Initiative farm and gardens in Naco, Sonora has watering and fertilizing systems to help the plants flourish.
Tony Paniagua / AZPM

Naco Wellness 3 spot Rows of healthy squash plants and other vegetables are flourishing at the Naco Wellness Initiative farm and gardens, where you can also see the greenhouse behind them.
Tony Paniagua / AZPM

Naco Wellness 4 spotlight Workers, volunteers, and students at the Naco Wellness Initiative harvest festival on Saturday 3 June 2023 display a variety of vegetables that were grown at the farm and gardens.
Tony Paniagua / AZPM

Naco wellness 5 spot Hundreds of people showed up at the Naco Wellness Initiative's harvest festival on Saturday 3 June 2023. The mix included residents from both sides of the border.
Tony Paniagua / AZPM

Arizona Spotlight
Arizona Spotlight airs every Thursday at 8:30 am and 6:00 pm and every Saturday at 3:00 pm on NPR 89.1 FM / 1550 AM. You can subscribe to our podcast on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, or the NPR App. See more from Arizona Spotlight.

Web page by Alecia Vasquez.

By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona