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Background. The Southern Arizona Guides Association (SAGA) was founded in 1988 to improve the knowledge, experience, and professionalism of tour guides serving metropolitan Tucson and Southern Arizona.
Membership. Membership is open to all full and part time tour guides and an associate membership category is available for those in allied fields who wish to participate in our programs and/or keep current with SAGA activities. For a detailed description of benefits, click on this link. A membership application is also available for downloading and may be mailed or brought to one of our monthly meetings. The form reflects the current dues and membership categories.
Meetings. Meetings are held monthly from (September through April) and generally held on the third Tuesday of the month at the Tucson Racquet Club (4001 North Country Club) starting at 6:15 pm (for networking) with programs beginning at 7:00 pm. Consult our Events link for program details. Unless otherwise noted, meetings are free and open to the public. Door prizes.
Newsletter. Footprints is the periodic SAGA newsletter designed to keep members informed of upcoming activities. Newsletters are supplemented by more frequent e-bulletins, thus an email address would be extremely beneficial to prospective members.
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History. The Southern Arizona Guides Association came into being in April 1988 under the direction of Bev Kasbeer and Lee Thompson. Meeting at the offices of the Fort Lowell Recreation Center, the original purpose of SAGA was to unite all practicing tour guides under an association to promote continuing education and networking. For the next several months, the organizational policies were discussed at open forums. In September 1988, with the constitution finally in place, the charter officers were voted into office. The officers were: Bev Kasbeer, President; Mark Severson, Vice President, Betty Leavengood, Secretary; Mary Lou Sandrock, Treasurer; and Bob Mhyre, Member-at-Large. An installation was held on the second Wednesday night of October 1988 to swear in the officers and officially welcome all charter members. During the first year, the monthly newspaper was born and named “Footprints.” In 1990, under the leadership of the second association president, Bob Mhyre, the first annual “Focus on Tucson Seminar” was held at the Ramada Hotel Downtown. Over the years, SAGA has enjoyed and benefited from monthly educational meetings, day and over-night field trips, very successful seminars, parties and picnics. SAGA has effectively kept the ideals of the charter in education and networking, thus providing Southern Arizona with capable, professional and successful guides and field staff.
The original SAGA Founding Members were: Pepsi Fike, Ron Hunter, Bev Kasbeer, Bob Mhyre, Nini Phillips, Gary Price, Mary Lou Sandrock, Bill Sott, Mark Severson, and Lee Thompson. |
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