Foothills Branch Library

Thursday, March 18th, 7 PM
Bruce Aiken: The Grand Canyon National Park Water System. Renowned landscape artist Bruce Aiken will describe his years living at Roaring Springs and discuss the evolution of Grand Canyon National Park’s water system. Aiken will discuss everything from the 1928 development of the North Rim by the Union Pacific Railroad to the construction of the 1979 pump house/residence complex at the confluence of Bright Angel and Roaring Springs canyons to the current facilities operating there today. He will also touch on the 1966 flood and the destruction of the trans-canyon pipeline from Roaring Springs to Phantom Ranch, as well as the 1995 flood and similar infrastructure devastation. Aiken has spent more than 30 years of living and painting at the bottom on the Grand Canyon.

Thursday, April 15th, 7 PM
Astronomy in the Ancestral Puebloan Cultures.
For ages, humans have gazed skyward in an attempt to determine the patterns and movement of the skies. Now, through on-site research back-up by ethnographic interviews and surveys of previously recorded information, we are able to put together how several of the different ancestral cultures used astronomy to help them survive through using clues from nature and how astronomy influenced their ceremonial lives. Researcher Bryan Bates has spent much of the past twenty years researching the astronomy of cultures across the Colorado Plateau. Learn how the Native peoples developed their own science and then wove it into their cultures. A professor of environmental studies at Coconino Community College, Bates is also an instructor of ancient astronomy at Northern Arizona University and recently chaired the Oxford International Conference on Archaeoastronomy.        

Thursday, May 20th, 7 PM
Salt and Soap: Canine Friendship and Adventure at Grand Canyon.
Park ranger and author Lori Rome will tell the true story of two stray puppies who wandered into the Grand Canyon and experienced great adventures—multiple rim-to-river hikes, a river trip and a helicopter ride—while ultimately snuggling their way into park rangers’ hearts. Rome is currently a park ranger at Grand Canyon and has worked for the National Park Service from Alaska to Florida. Join Rome, the park ranger who adopted Salt and Soap, as she shares their unique and inspirational story. A book signing will follow the program.

Thursday, June 17th, 7 PM
Call of the Canyon: Moulty Fulmer’s 1950s Grand Canyon River Trips.
Join Flagstaff author Tom Martin for a fun, visual presentation on the origins of the “GEM,” Grand Canyon’s first dory. This type of boat incorporated self-bailing through the use of scuppers, had side boxes in the boatman’s footwell, and a fifteen-inch rocker, something never before seen on Grand Canyon watercraft. The GEM, built in 1953 in Muncie, Indiana, by Stephen Moulton Babcock Fulmer, is now in the fleet of Grand Canyon historic boats at the park.

For more information about any of these programs at Foothills Branch Library, call 623-930-3844.

The lecture series will be repeated in Flagstaff and Prescott. To find out about the out-of-town programs, call the Grand Canyon Association at 928-638-7033 or visit their web site at www.grandcanyon.org.