On OurCatalina.com, everything is written by me, Diane Murphy, unless otherwise stated.  I've lived here in Catalina since 1991, and originate from a fishing town on the coast of Massachusetts.  My experience with community began here when my real estate agent asked me to serve on the Village Council.  One year in that position taught me that information IS power, and that powerful information seldom gets to the people who would be most affected by it.  Without any community newspaper, and with newspapers in neighboring areas focusing mainly on a more consumer-driven demographic, Catalina was literally "in the dark" concerning its own community news and information.

In the background , paying for the webhost, is Margarete deGaston who came to Catalina in 2000 from California farm country.  Before emigrating to the United States from Germany, Margarete experienced the hardships of a war-torn country and knows better than most of us the importance of freedom of speech and the gift of democracy.  Margarete is a strong proponent of the democratic process and community involvement.  

We do this because-- and here I borrow a Mission Statement that I wrote for Save Catalina a few years ago:

We support our residents' right to the lifestyle of their choosing. We expect development in our community to respect the environment, the current residents, and the constraints of the present infrastructure. We believe that communication is the cornerstone of a healthy community, and encourage the flow of all information necessary to make an informed decision.  We will be proactive in working toward creating a sense of community and a sense of place in Catalina.

So if there is a "slant" to what you read here, that would be it:  Because that is who we are.

The village of Catalina, in unincorporated Pima County, has grown organically over the last 50 years. Without the dividing walls of planned subdivisions, our sense of neighbor extends throughout the community, as does our sense of place. That sense of place isn't determined by a government, a tax base, or statistics, but by the land and the people who have chosen to live here. This place in the morning shadow of the mountains, and the people drawn to it, ARE Catalina.

For most of us who have chosen this as our home, I'd say freedom was the calling. Whether we felt it in the indomitable spirit of our mountains, in the natural cycling of plant life thru the seasons, or in the open space among our homes, we felt a promise of connection to this place, and freedom to grow and evolve as part of it.

That freedom of expression has created a community which seems to defy being labeled or categorized. Just as the desert that surrounds us might appear chaotic to people who thrive on order, Catalina might be viewed by some as without plan or definition.

Yet, we are defined. We are a community of people who believe we have the right to our personal choices of lifestyle and points of view. Regardless of how we choose to express ourselves, the freedom to do so is the glue that binds us together. Just as a patchwork quilt is defined by its variation of color and texture, Catalina is defined by its diversity.

We came here to get away from the sensory overload of city life and get closer to the land. We came to get away from the legislated lifestyle of homeowners' associations and live closer to our personal ideals. We were drawn by an intuitive understanding that "here I can plant myself, and here I can grow". To grow not in the security offered by sameness, but in an atmosphere of diversity that encourages personal and creative expression.

We've gathered here, a community of strong and capable individualists who have chosen the self-responsibility that comes with freedom of choice, rather than the safety-net of externally imposed ideals. As friend, Jenny, has said, "Perhaps Catalina was planned by an even higher authority."

May we all thrive where we are planted!

Diane Murphy