Arthur Pack Regional Park

The holiday lights at Tohono Chul Park will continue this Friday and Saturday night from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The park opens its doors at night to a winter wonderland decorated with 750,000 holiday lights. Performers will include Way Out West, Gabriel Ayala, and the Southern Arizona Women’s Chorus. Tickets are $10 for members, and $15 for non-members. Children 12 and under are $2.

Oro Valley’s Cañada Del Oro Riverfront Park, 551 W. Lambert Lane, was transformed last weekend into a bit of the Montmatre in Paris, Montreux jazz festival and a kid-friendly amusement park as area residents flocked there March 18-20 for the Arts in the Park Fine Art & Jazz Festival.

Next week, the 2011 World Golf Championships – Accenture Match Play Championship will return to Marana, and that means thousands of golf fans will be driving to see their favorite pros compete in the weeklong event.

photos by J.D. Fitzgerald, Special to the Explorer

George Meschke of Oro Valley checked out the colorful sculptured flowers created by Desert Scene Sculptures.

Next to a pair of small playgrounds in Marana, the town’s most ambitious park construction project soon will begin.

Tohono Chul Park netted about $50,000 from the 2008 Sonoran Spring Celebration, its April 6 fund-raising event at the Paseo del Norte grounds.

Catalina State Park

From a nesting owl inside one of Catalina State Park’s many Saguaro cactus, to the majestic and colorful views of the mountains from the park’s hiking trails, there is plenty to see in the popular state park.

“42” is far from the first movie to explore racial tensions in sports. We’ve seen this subject depicted in other good films like “Remember the Titans” and “Glory Road.” There are plenty of recognizable figures on display here, such as the underdog nobody believed in, the one man willing to take a chance on that underdog, and the ignorant antagonists that wish to see that underdog fail. Familiarity aside, though, “42” executes just about everything wonderfully. This is a good-hearted picture, carried by sincere performances and passionate direction. Not only is it an inspiring story about overcoming prejudice, but an all around rousing baseball movie too.