PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS!

• March 2023: The Arivaca Library Teen Advisory Board (TAB) joins with the Arivaca Dancehall to begin the project. They start outreach and fundraising for creating new pollinator gardens on main street, and 4 local businesses sign up to participate! 

• April 2023: The Endangered Species Coalition (ESC) awards a $1000.00 grant for the project, and TAB fundraisers are held at the Arivaca Farmer's Market 1st Saturday event and the Earth Day event at the Arivaca Dancehall!

• May 2023: To celebrate Endangered Species Day, new pollinator gardens are created at La Gitana Cantina and Arivaca Sonz Hardware!

• June 2023: A new pollinator garden is created at Arivaca Mercantile, and signs for all the gardens are painted by youth and adults from the Arivaca Community Center and Arivaca Early Learning Center!

• July 2023: ESA@50, created by a group of 36 non-profits to fund projects that honor the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, awards a $3000.00 grant to fund the creation of an endangered species mural!  ESC and the Arivaca Dancehall combine forces to fund additional costs, a mural team is formed with community members and TAB members, and planning begins.

• August 2023:  Tohono O'odham artist Paul 'Nox' Pablo is hired to design and paint the mural, and works with the mural team to finalize plans.  From August 29th-Sept 2nd, he paints a beautiful 3-sided mural at the Arivaca Dancehall, featuring Saguaro cacti, the Lesser Long-nosed Bat, Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, and Monarch Butterfly!

• September 2023: A community event is held on September 3rd at the Arivaca Dancehall to dedicate the new mural and celebrate the Endangered Species Act!  On September 13th, a national celebration of the Endangered Species Act is held in Washington, DC which includes a video presentation about the Arivaca mural project and other 2023 education and conservation projects!  (View it at this link:  ESA at 50 Award Ceremony Video)

• October 2023: ESC awards a $1200.00 grant for the creation of additional new pollinator gardens!

• November 2023: New pollinator gardens are built at the Paisley Buddha gift shop and The Gathering Space, and additional pollinator plants are added to the gardens at the Arivaca Library and the Arivaca Dancehall!  Another TAB fundraiser is held at the Arivaca Dancehall's 1st Anniversary event, and an Arivaca resident makes a donation of $500.00 to the project for additional new gardens in 2024!

• February 2024: ESC awards a $1000.00 grant for the creation of a new Nighttime Pollinators mural, to be painted by Tohono O'odham artist Paul 'Nox' Pablo next to a new nighttime pollinators garden at the Arivaca Dancehall's Earth Day Celebration on April 20th! 

• April 2024:  ESC awards a $750.00 grant for the creation of additional new pollinator gardens!

• April 2024: The Earth Day Celebration is filled with fun and education!

1. The painting of the new Nighttime Pollinators mural by Paul 'Nox' Pablo;

2. "Bats of the Desert SW" presentation by Bats Conservation International Agave Restoration Coordinator Rachel Burke;

3. "Pollinators of the Desert SW" presentation by Endangered Species Coalition Creative Engagement Director Jeanne Dodds;

4. The planting a new nighttime pollinator garden along the dancehall's back fences, with agave, yucca, and other white and night-blooming plants;

5. Natural pigments workshop with Jeanne Dodds; 

6. Nature craft activities and a scavenger hunt;

7. Debut of the beautiful new Endangered Species Coalition t-shirt fundraising campaign!

8. Launching of our new Home Gardeners Program!

9. TAB craft booth raises $129.00 to fund the signs for the new Home Gardener Program!

10. The Arivaca Pollinator Pathway Project was featured in a story on the Public News Service's environmental reporting webpage on April 20th, Earth Day 2024!  

11. The fundraising campaign launched by The Endangered Species Coalition (ESC) and featuring this fabulous t-shirt design by Tohono O'odham artist Paul 'Nox' Pablo raised close to $3000.00 during April & May to support ESC's work to conserve and create pollinator habitat in the Desert SW and other locations!

• May 2024: The Arivaca Pollinator Pathway was featured in a cover story posted on the Endangered Species Coalition website on May 17th, Endangered Species Day!  Also, a new in-ground pollinator garden and food garden was planted at Arivaca Community Center on May 21st! 

• June 2024: Our Pollinator Week Party on Sat. June 22nd was a great success!  The "lobby" of the dancehall was filled with colorful displays, thanks to:

  1. Chris Robie from the Xerces Society, who brought all sorts of educational materials and fun activities about butterflies, bees, and other pollinators;

  2. Monica King from the Southern AZ Beekeepers Association, who brought a demonstration beehive filled with living bees;

  3. Mary Scott, who brought her beautiful butterfly books, note cards, and magnets for sale to benefit the Arivaca Pollinator Pathway Project!

     Then we learned so much from presentations by:

• Mary Scott, who shared her vast knowledge about the types of butterflies that live in the Arivaca area, their life cycles and behavior, illustrated with some of her 20 years of butterfly photos, many of which are also included in her two new books. 

• Monica King, who shared fascinating details about the life of honeybees, and how beekeepers around the world are witnessing and coping with the dangerous overuse of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers in agriculture  and home landscapes, and what we can each do to make positive change.

In addition, Mary Scott has donated all the proceeds from sales of her new butterfly books, magnets, and photo note cards to the Arivaca Pollinator Pathway Project! Words cannot express how grateful we are for her generous support!