October 2026
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Hello, Neighbor. Welcome to October!
October is the month Oro Valley gets its evenings back. The heat finally lets go, the patios fill up, and the Catalinas turn pink right around dinnertime. It’s a month for being outside with your neighbors, whether that’s Friday concerts at Steam Pump Ranch, movies on the lawn, or a Halloween that lands on a Saturday. It’s also a month to pay attention: early voting starts October 7, and Proposition 431 puts the Town’s next 10-year plan in your hands. In this issue, Founding Father Gouverneur Morris explains why he wrote “We the People,” Jack-o’-Lantern shares his rules for porch lights and javelinas, and our Featured Citizen is all of you. Grab something warm and settle in.
The Coyote Collection Lands at Sonoran Art
If you’ve ever caught a coyote eyeing you from the wash at dusk and wondered what it gets up to when no one’s watching, Tucson artist Theresa Poalucci has an answer, and it involves camp chairs, golf clubs, and Sunday football. Her Coyote Collection, a series of vibrant, personality-packed metal prints imagining coyotes living their best desert lives, is now available through Sonoran Art, joining the studio’s lineup of Sonoran Desert landscape prints.
It’s a pairing that makes more sense the longer you sit with it. Sonoran Art has always captured the place: Pusch Ridge, monsoon skies, and that golden-hour light we all take for granted until we don’t. Poalucci’s coyotes bring the personality. They’re the wildlife neighbors who make this stretch of desert feel lived-in and a little bit funny. Pieces like “Happy Campers,” “Paws for Par,” and “Sunday in the Sonoran” are printed on metal, so they’re bright, durable, and just as at home on a patio wall as a landscape print.
Be one of the first to add a Coyote to your collection.
Sonoran Art is a Featured Business Partner of ILoveOV.com.
View the Collection What's New in OV
OV Path Forward: Key Voting Dates
Proposition 431, the vote on OV’s Path Forward, is on the Tuesday, November 3 ballot. Early voting runs October 7 through October 30, and secure ballot drop boxes open October 7. Election Day voting runs 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Find locations and hours at Pima Vote.
Restaurant Review
A review by the D&D Diners: Caffe Torino
Chef-owner Daniela Borella brought her family’s recipes from Italy to Oro Valley in the late 1980s, back when the town didn’t have a single Italian restaurant. She’s been refining them ever since.
Highlights: Gamberi e Pancetta to start, then Rigatoni con Salsiccia in a pink tomato sauce you’ll want to drink, and a Pollo Taleggio that’s just as strong. Tiramisu made with brandy and amaretto finishes it off. The pizza is famous for a reason, so take one home for tomorrow.
Bottom line: an intimate spot for date night or a long lunch, with a patio that looks straight at the mountains.
Quick bite: 10325 N. La Cañada Dr. Open Tuesday through Sunday,
11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Closed Mondays.
Ongoing
Oro Valley Farmers Market at Steam Pump Ranch, Saturday mornings.
Second Saturday, one of Steam Pump Ranch’s favorite community events, returns each month from September through April. Stop by for tours of the Pusch House Museum, historic demonstrations, and the Farmers Market, featuring arts and crafts from local creatives. There’s live music too, plus activities for the kids. On October 10, it’s paired with The Ranch Comes Alive: museum finds, plein air painters, and a truck raffle.
Featured Citizen
Our Citizens: OV’s Path Forward and Proposition 431
Editor’s Note: This month’s Featured Citizen isn’t one person. It’s the residents who helped write OV’s Path Forward, the Town’s proposed 10-year General Plan. According to the Town, they submitted over 10,700 comments that shaped its vision statement, 14 guiding principles, and 286 actions, each assigned to a Town department. The plan now goes to voters as Proposition 431. The Town says it doesn’t create new taxes or set the budget, and if it fails, the current 2016 plan stays in effect. Principal Planner Milini Simms explains how the plan was developed and what it includes. Read the full plan and the “10 Things to Know” at OVPathForward.com, or find a display copy at the Library, the Community and Recreation Center, or Town Hall. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3.
Read More → Featured Business
Judi Rodman Built a Theater Company From a Phone Call. Ten Years Later, Oro Valley Can’t Get Enough.
Judi and Bill Rodman were driving home from Colorado when Judi decided Oro Valley needed a theater company. She called then-Mayor Satish Hiremath from the car, and he said yes. Ten years later, the Oro Valley Theater Company stages only Broadway book shows, pays its actors, and sells out so reliably that it added a sixth performance. For the anniversary season, Rodman is back in the director’s chair with the female version of “The Odd Couple,” the show OVTC staged in its first season. It opens in mid-November at the Gaslight Music Hall. Call the box office for the best seats.
Read More → Our Monthly Series: Conversations Across Centuries
Conversations Across Centuries: Founding Citizen #10, Gouverneur Morris
He spoke more than anyone at the Constitutional Convention, then cut twenty-three articles to seven in four days. Along the way, he wrote the line “We the People of the United States.” Morris is candid about his record. He was wrong about property and voting, right about slavery but signed anyway, and in 1787 he argued against admitting new western states, the kind Arizona would later become, as equals. On Prop 431, he takes no side, but he gives an editor’s advice: read the document itself, and watch the difference between “shall” and “should.”
Read More → Our Monthly Series: Mythical Figure
Mythical Figure: Keeping the Porch Light On with Jack-o’-Lantern
Stingy Jack has been wandering for centuries with one ember, and he’s found a favorite stop: a town that protects its dark skies, so a small light still means something. Sitting on a hay bale at Steam Pump Ranch, he covers Halloween safety for a Saturday night (flashlights, slow drivers, rattlesnakes), how to keep javelinas away from your pumpkins, and one real request: invite a neighbor who might be spending the night alone to hand out candy with you.
Read More → October Events Guide
October brings cooler evenings, outdoor concerts, and movies on the lawn.
📅 Recurring Events
- Farmers Market: Every Saturday, 8 am til 12 pm at Steam Pump Ranch
- Second Saturday: Held the second Saturday of each month, 8 am til 12 pm
- Town Council: October 7 and October 21
See Full Calendar
