SaddleBrooke Ranch residents who attended the May 15 meeting of WOW joined Susie Morrell (holding envelope) in presenting SBCO Assistant Treasurer Camille Esterman (wearing orange blouse) with a donation.
Is Your House a Candidate for the SBCO Home Tour?
Nancy McCluskey-Moore
Each year SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) hosts a tour of remodeled homes designed to show SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch residents changes that may inspire their own home improvements.
This event helps SBCO inform both communities about its food, clothing, enrichment, and educational programs for children in nearby communities. It also helps SBCO raise funds and recruit the volunteers needed to make these programs work. Tour attendees can choose between a morning (9 a.m. to noon) or afternoon (1 to 4 p.m.) tour. The 2026 tour will be held on Saturday, March 21. During those three hours, attendees will be able to visit all six homes. In addition to viewing the latest interior designs, they’ll see smart bathroom and kitchen makeovers, casita additions, revised floor plans and renovated outdoor living spaces.
If you have recently remodeled your house—or purchased a remodeled house—and would like to have it included as a candidate for the 2026 SBCO Home Tour, please contact the Home Tour Committee Chair, Mary Hojnacki, at hojnackimary@gmail.com.
The Wacky Science Guy did science experiments with youngsters at the Miami Memorial Library as part of its Fall Science Program.
Miami Library Used SBCO Grants to Keep Kids Reading and Exploring
Nancy McCluskey-Moore
We all can recall the thrill that accompanied the last day of the school term–the anticipation of the freedom to play all day, watch TV, and generally “goof off.” But a hidden downside to the “lazy hazy days of summer” appeared when we returned to school. Students lose some of their hard-won reading skills when they are not used for three months, forcing students and their teachers to spend time reviewing to regain lost skills.
In 2024, to counteract the “summer slide,” the Miami Memorial Library requested a $10,200 grant from SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) to help fund their “Adventure Begins at Your Library” program. This program was designed to encourage students to read and attend educational events at their local library throughout the summer.
Using the theme “Adventure Begins at the Library” the students engaged in adventures in flight, nature, imagination, mystery, at the Olympics, and in the dark. A certified drone operator demonstrated “flight,” while the students made airplanes and dropped eggs. The students made solar ovens, nature picture frames, and learned from an expert about cooking with a dutch oven. Youngsters made cardboard castles and had a jigsaw puzzle challenge. They made light jars and played with “The Thing in the Cellar,” a whodunit mystery game. The library held its own Olympics—and, yes, gave out medals.
But SBCO—and the Miami Memorial Library—didn’t stop with summer. More grant funds were used to support the Fall Science Program. September started with Galactic Quest. The librarians used a 4H program and installed a portable Planetarium in the library. The kids learned about what the sky looks like at different times of the year. In October they looked into pumpkins, how they grow, and what to do with them when they are picked, eaten, or carved. The Wacky Science Guy did several experiments with the kids. Then came Dinovember, which involved learning about dinosaurs, their skeletons, and excavating for their bones. Dinosaur trainers even brought their “pets” to the park. In December, a geologist from the Forest Service taught the kids about spelunking. They were all certified junior rangers by the end of the session. Finally, there was winter science, which included all things gingerbread and learning about frost.
SaddleBrooke Community Outreach has proudly supported the Miami Memorial Library’s Summer Reading and Fall programs in 2023 and 2024 and has approved a grant for summer 2025. This summer’s program is “Color Our World” and will be the subject of a future article. Public libraries are a vital part of our communities, especially for youngsters living in economically depressed rural areas. Libraries preserve historical and cultural heritage, provide access to informational, educational, and recreational resources, and promote lifelong learning now and for future generations. Having visited libraries that have received SBCO grants, I am consistently impressed by the commitment and creativity of the local librarians who stretch every dollar and give the children wonderful experiences that inspire them to learn and explore beyond their local environment.
Students who receive school clothing from SBCO Kids’ Closet can choose handmade hats like these made by members of the Knit Wits.
Handmade Hats Donation
Kim (Prochnau) Whedbee
Each fall students from preschool through eighth grade who come to SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) Kids’ Closet receive a knitted hat as part of their fall school wardrobe. The students can choose from the handmade hats donated by two groups: Creative Giving in SaddleBrooke Ranch and the Knit Wits in SaddleBrooke.
Creative Giving is a Handicraft Club for SaddleBrooke Ranch Residents
This group of 68 volunteers supplied over 2,300 knitted, sewn, or crocheted handicrafts in 2024 to Saddlebrooke Ranch residents in need of medical support items and to eight different charities. They also make items for their own use or to sell to raise money for supplies. Co-chairs Linda Shannon-Hills and Dian Gowen lead the group which comes together to harness their skills, share laughter, and inspire one another.
While the group makes many items for traditional use, such as hats for babies and children, they also make special-purpose gifts such as baby blankets to be used in portraits of stillborn infants lost to grieving parents. The blankets are not only beautiful and one-of-a-kind but infused with the compassion and love of their neighbors.
Creative Giving serves the needs of SaddleBrooke Ranch residents by making handy items such as mastectomy pillows, bags that can be attached to walkers, and double-pocketed scarves to be worn by people who need to keep their hands free while using a cane. As the Club says: “Together we are making a difference, one handmade item at a time.”
Knit Wits is a fun knitting and crocheting club dedicated to socializing, learning the craft, and contributing to charity. Up to 65 SaddleBrooke members gather at the SaddleBrooke HOA One arts and crafts building every Wednesday at 9 a.m. to socialize and work on their knitting and/or crocheting projects designed for family, friends, or charities (or sometimes themselves!).
Although members are free to work on their own projects, the club also makes blankets, garments, and soft toys for Kids’ Closet, a local high school, and also AVIVA Tucson, an organization associated with Easter Seals that focuses on children in foster care. In 2024, Knit Wits donated 414 items, including blankets for babies, comforters for older children, hats, and scarves.
Lavetta Torke, a knitter since she was 10 years old, says she finds the group to be full of interesting women, such as 92-year-old Mary, who is a faithful attendee and avid knitter. Many of the members are experienced knitters and can demonstrate complicated stitches as well as teach beginning knitters.
Co-chairs Linda Hood and Matilda Moore preside over the monthly meetings; LaVetta Torke oversees the charitable giving. Classes are offered for beginners as well as for advanced crafters. Club members tend to shop at the two specialty knitting shops in Tucson for fancy and high-grade yarn and at the big box stores in Oro Valley for the more basic yarns and tools.
SBCO Scholarship Students Provide a Lesson in Humility
Anne Williams
When we reminisce about our high school days, we remember our classes, our teachers, our activities. Some of us graduated and went on to college; others to trade schools; others launched into careers or into family life. Most of us would probably say “I did well” … or … “I did well enough.”
Come forward in time and imagine this scenario, a TRUE story: A young high school senior at Superior High School (2025 senior class of 18 students) is graduating. Along with earning her high school diploma, she has achieved certification as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and a Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN)—two separate programs—at the age of 18, as she graduates from high school!
Meeting this young lady and five other seniors from Superior High School during interviews for scholarships through Saddlebrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) was more than inspirational—in a way, it was a life-changing event. Seeing what these young people have accomplished despite the challenges of living in a small, rural, low-income community is something that we will not forget. It encourages us all to do more!
The SBCO Scholarship Committee provides one of the many opportunities in SaddleBrooke to “give forward.” Committee members act as liaisons to individual students, following and assisting them through their four- or two-year scholarships. Members also have the privilege of interviewing potential scholarship candidates in various communities, reviewing, and grading scholarship applications, and/or presenting the scholarships at high school awards ceremonies. Individual committee members can take on as much or as little work as they feel they can accomplish. Anyone interested in participating on the SBCO Scholarship Committee can contact Committee Chair Mary Riemersma at mary.riemersma@community-outreach.com.
The 2025 SBCO Home Tour included the home of Dawn and Dave Buchanan. The kitchen’s pantry features antique doors from India. (Photography by Kenya Glenn/K.C. Creative Designs)
SaddleBrooke Ranch Women of Wine Donate to SBCO
Nancy McCluskey-Moore
Each month members of the SaddleBrooke Ranch Women of Wine (WOW) group gather to socialize, share their love of wine and sometimes learn about and contribute to local organizations. On May 15, WOW members contributed funds to support the programs of SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) to feed, clothe, enrich, and educate the kids living in the small towns that comprise the 100+ mile long “Copper Corridor.” Of the 22 schools served by SBCO, all are Title I Schools, meaning at least 50% of the students come from low-income families. In some Copper Corridor schools (from Catalina north to Globe), the figure is up to 98%. Academic achievement, as measured by subject proficiency and college readiness, is well below Arizona averages, putting students at a significant disadvantage for higher education and work opportunities.
We deeply appreciate donations from groups like WOW, and we are always seeking new members, volunteers, and business supporters. If you belong to an organization that would like to learn more about how SBCO’s programs provide local kids with opportunities to succeed, please contact SBCO president Laura Pauli at laura@community-outreach.org.