Written by Maggie Trinkle
As we leave The Historic Y, having been Sky Island Alliance’s home for the past ten years, we are excited for what this journey promises: while still close to the U and 4th Ave., we will be closer to Downtown and its amenities; we will have easier parking for staff and volunteers; a slew of awesome new neighbors; suitable storage for our field gear and a more functional workspace for our growing staff and field operations, upon which our entire organization is built.
Moving is also bittersweet. Much like when you sell a home, there will be height measurements that we will paint over in a rush to get it ready before we had a chance to photograph it. There will be familiar handwriting on post-its of the past that catch our sight as we box up, and memories triggered as we pull things off of walls.
Although there are nine of us are moving into our new building, the echo of the back door clanging reminds me of all the staff that have entered and left the alliance, and have shaped the organization such that we can shove off on this new journey. We didn’t remember to get their heights measured and marked, or photos snapped before they left the building for the last time. But the memories of those people will not be destroyed by the perils of the sea because we packed them up and took them with us. Those people are: Matt Skroch, Roseann Hanson, David Hodges, Trevor Hare, Janice Przybyl, Cory Jones, Acasia Berry, Jennifer Wolfsong, Rachel Kondor, Leonardo Alvarado, Aaron Hall, Camille Kershner, Bob Van Deven, Mike Quigley, Sky Jacobs, Sergio Avila, Nicole Urban-Lopez, Jennifer Shopland, Julie St. John, Moniqua Lane, Lahsha Brown, Sarah Williams, Melanie Emerson, Tom Van Devender, Mark Trinks, Jenny Neeley, Rod Mondt, Caroline Patrick, Andrew Bennett, Keri Dixon, and Nick Deyo. Thank you, and we await your first visits, and we look forward to what lies ahead.
Raising our glasses! Welcome to Sky Island Alliance’s new home at 406 S. 4th Avenue, Tucson, AZ. Right to left: Maggie, Jan, Allison (intern), Christopher, Carianne, Jefferson (volunteer), Louise, Bryon, Jessica and Mirna.