SaddleBrooke's season has a clear start and finish, and residents organize both. It starts at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14, with the warm-up for SaddleBrooke Community Outreach's Walk for Kids. It ends on the evening of Tuesday, Dec. 15, when nearly 100 decorated golf carts finish their loop at Road Runner Grill.
Most of the month between them is easy to plan. Two stretches are harder. On Nov. 14, a morning fundraiser and an evening concert fall on the same day. Dec. 11 through 13 is busier. A Christmas dance production at DesertView, a star party at Catalina State Park and the Tucson Marathon all land on one weekend, and the marathon runs down Highway 77 past the community.
Nov. 14 runs from morning into evening
The 28th annual SBCO Walk for Kids is SaddleBrooke Community Outreach's signature event. It raises money for SBCO's food, clothing, enrichment and education programs for young people along a corridor of more than 100 miles, running from Catalina to the San Carlos Indian Reservation. Online registration at SBCO.org is $35 per adult and $15 per child ages 6 to 18. The SBCO office takes registrations in person weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Friday, Nov. 13, and the walk also accepts registration on the day. The deadline to guarantee a T-shirt in your size passed on Oct. 15, so late registrants should expect whatever sizes are left.
That evening, the Symphonic Kaleidoscope series presents "Epic & Lyric" at DesertView Performing Arts Center from 7 to 9 p.m. The program is the Rosamunde Overture, a concertino for English horn and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5. If you walk in the morning, the concert gives you a full afternoon to rest before the next outing.
The next few days stay on the SaddleBrooke TWO calendar. Senior Village hosts a Deborah Gryniewicz music matinee on Sunday, Nov. 15, from 2 to 4 p.m. at DesertView. It's free for SaddleBrooke residents and their guests. On Monday, Nov. 16, Randy Riggle brings his Nostalgic Christmas Show to the MountainView Ballroom. Tickets are $25 and include one draft beer, glass of house wine or nonalcoholic drink. Check the start time on the HOA calendar before you go. "Revisiting The Orbison Years" plays DesertView on Wednesday, Nov. 18, from 7 to 9 p.m.
Thanksgiving week is about reservations
Thursday, Nov. 26, offers two clubhouse meals at different times of day, and both require reservations. If family is flying in, book well before the holiday.
| MVBG | The Preserve | |
|---|---|---|
| Hours | 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. | 1 to 4 p.m. |
| Format | Buffet with a seafood display, pasta station, and turkey and prime rib carving stations | Plated dinner with turkey, a vegetarian risotto option and pie |
| Price | $54.99 per person plus tax and 18% gratuity | $65 per person plus tax and gratuity |
| Extras | Dan the Piano Man, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. |
The two meals cover different parts of the day. MVBG ends before The Preserve's last seating, so a household could pick one by when it wants to eat. Both are listed on the SaddleBrooke TWO Thanksgiving page.
Grandchildren's Days fill the weekend after Thanksgiving
Families with visiting grandchildren have a planned weekend. The Fitness, Wellness, and Recreation Committee of SaddleBrooke TWO has set four activities, each run by a resident club:
- Pickleball, Friday, Nov. 27, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., Ridgeview Pickleball Courts, hosted by the SaddleBrooke Pickleball Association. Parents, grandparents and grandchildren ages six and up can play.
- Cornhole, Friday, Nov. 27, 1 to 2:30 p.m., on the courts behind DesertView Theatre, hosted by the SaddleBrooke Cornhole Club. Open to all ages.
- Putting contest, Friday, Nov. 27, 3 to 4:30 p.m., MountainView Putting Green, hosted by the SaddleBrooke Men's Putters Club. Children must be at least six.
- Ceramics, Saturday, Nov. 28, 9 to 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the Arts and Crafts Center by the SaddleBrooke TWO Administrative Offices, hosted by the SaddleBrooke Ceramics Club. For ages 3 to 12 with an adult, and limited to 28 children in all.
To sign up, email [email protected] with names, ages, event choices and any equipment you need, by noon on Tuesday, Nov. 24. The ceramics cap is the tightest limit on the list, so send that request first. If the grandchildren stay into the next week, the Robson Pickleball Center holds resident drop-in play every day at 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Courts 7 and 8.
Early December sets up the busy weekend
On Saturday, Dec. 5, Symphonic Kaleidoscope returns to DesertView with "Midwinter Lights," 7 to 9 p.m., a program of music for Chanukah, Christmas and Diwali. Catalina State Park has three guided Catalina Nights walks on the calendar. These one-mile evening hikes cover the park's wildlife and constellations, and you need to register. The Dec. 4 and Dec. 18 walks start at 5:45 p.m., and the Nov. 20 walk starts at 6 p.m.
Arizona State Parks closed Catalina State Park on Nov. 1 because the Cañada del Oro wash flooded across the main entrance road. Construction on a wash crossing started the week of Oct. 19 and is expected to finish in May 2027. The park says activities will continue, with construction vehicles, noise and workers on the main road. Check the Catalina State Park events page before you drive down Oracle Road for any evening program.
Dec. 11 to 13 is the crowded stretch
Three schedules overlap over these three days.
- Friday, Dec. 11, 6 to 8 p.m. The Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association sets up telescopes at Catalina State Park's Ringtail Group Area. It's free with park admission. The park suggests a jacket, warm drinks and a red light if you have one. The park's October star party was canceled for weather, so this is the first chance of the season.
- Friday, Dec. 11, 7 p.m. Tucson Dance Academy opens "The Spirit of Christmas" at DesertView Performing Arts Center. The star party and the dance performance overlap, so on Friday you'll have to pick one.
- Saturday, Dec. 12, 2:30 p.m. The second performance of "The Spirit of Christmas" is an afternoon matinee.
- Sunday, Dec. 13, 7:15 a.m. The Tucson Marathon starts at Biosphere 2.
- Sunday, Dec. 13, 2:30 p.m. The final performance of "The Spirit of Christmas" is another matinee. It starts well after the morning race has moved south.
The marathon is the event that reaches the community. Aravaipa Running's race page says the full marathon, 50K and relay leave Biosphere 2, 32540 S. Biosphere Road in Oracle, and turn onto Highway AZ-77 at mile 2.8. Runners then head downhill past Catalina and leave the highway at mile 18 for the Cañada del Oro River Park bike path, then finish at Pima Community College's Northwest Campus. The race page says Biosphere Road closes from 6:30 to 8 a.m. The first relay exchange is at mile 8.4 at Oracle Junction, 35480 AZ-77, across from Lupe's Restaurant. The half marathon starts at Golder Ranch Fire Administration in Catalina. Runners have to take the bus there, and the start is closed to spectators and drop-offs.
Last year's 2025 runner guide gives an idea of how race morning may go. It allowed no spectator parking or access along the course north of Oracle Junction, where Highway 77 meets Highway 79. It suggested public parking on either side of Highway 77 between Eagle Crest Ranch Boulevard and Golder Ranch Drive, plus a dirt lot near Lupe's. It also asked spectators not to park along the highway or block traffic. The 2026 race may handle things differently, so watch for this year's notices if you'll be on the highway Sunday morning.
SaddleBrooke has supported this race before. A SaddleBrooke Progress piece from 2015 described the CycleMasters cycling club's 16th year of running a water stop and a bicycle patrol along the course. The volunteers arrived at 6 a.m. in 32-degree weather to fill more than 1,000 cups.
Dec. 15 closes the season on residential streets
The Christmas Cart Parade on Tuesday, Dec. 15, needs the least planning of the season. You don't have to register to enter a decorated cart. Carts gather at the SaddleBrooke One Clubhouse driving range starting at 4:30 p.m., which the organizers call the best place to see every cart up close. The parade leaves around 5:45 p.m. and finishes at Road Runner Grill around 6:30 p.m.
The organizers expect nearly 100 carts, which they say makes it one of the largest Christmas cart parades in Arizona. The route will follow last year's, and the final version comes out about a week ahead. The Progress announcement asks that no vehicles park on route streets that evening. Spectators should leave undecorated carts and cars in the upper automobile lot and walk down to the driving range. Winners of Best Decorated Golf Cart and Best Decorated Home are announced at Road Runner Grill, with prizes donated by The Battery Guy and Kartz Fore Kidz. The home contest covers the whole community, not just houses on the route. Organizer Pete Giljohann is looking for volunteers to help with traffic and parking.
If family is staying for Grandchildren's Days, the marathon weekend or the parade, the Tierney Lococo Team is glad to share our notes on SaddleBrooke and the active adult communities along Highway 77. You can also join our newsletter to get the next season's dates as they're announced.