Community news from around the region

Bonsall Woman’s Club awards scholarships

Bonsall Woman’s Club, over 100 members strong, supports the community in many ways, according to publicity chairwoman Gail Golden.

One of the club’s objectives is to encourage and help our youth through financial aid. Scholarships fulfill that purpose with monies going to graduating seniors from Fallbrook High School and Mission Vista High School residing in the Bonsall/Fallbrook area.

The graduating seniors complete an application form obtained from the Guidance Counselor at each school which is submitted for evaluation by a committee comprised of five Bonsall Woman’s Club members. Selected applicants are invited to be interviewed by the committee members who then choose the recipients based on established criteria.

To those receiving the scholarships, letters of announcement and instructions for obtaining the awarded scholarship monies are presented at each school’s Awards Ceremonies event. This year a total of $32,000 was distributed to graduating seniors to assist them in reaching their educational goals.

Dos Valles Garden Club awards local ‘stars’

Accolades and awards were the main business at the recent last-of-season Dos Valles Garden Club meeting.

Carol Curcio helps sister of essay award winner read the winning poem .

Awards of Appreciation were presented to Carol Curcio and Connie Lee for their hard—and effective— work throughout the year.

Curcio was chairperson of the Flower Show, as well as the Smokey Bear/Woodsy Owl Poster contest, essay contest and the St. Stephen Food and Toy Drives. She has been a DVGC member for 11 years.

Membership Chair Lee has been with the club since 2008. She also handled distribution of funds for financial awards and, with Leida Van Zoest, arranged monthly member tours of local gardens and nurseries.

Local Awards:

Valley Center Librarian Laura Zuckerman.

A Community Appreciation award went to Valley Center Librarian Laura Zuckerman for her assistance, especially with the recent Flower Show, and her interest in club activities. The CAL FIRE Fire Station received a Community Beautification award for their landscaping work on the Vesper Road fire station. And special recognition—plus their own DVGC nametags—went to Trysten Loefke, Aedyn Loefke and Devyn Loefk for their constant and able assistance with club plant sales and other such activities.

Scholarship Chair Helen Borchelt introducing Harrison Bauer.

Scholarship Chair Helen Borchelt introduced Harrison Bauer, one of the five students awarded $1,000 scholarships by DVGC. He was awarded the Joan Patten Ag Scholarship, created in memory of a much-admired club member who passed away last year. Like the other winners, Bauer is pursuing a career in agriculture. He is currently a Valley Center High School student and will attend Cal Poly, Pomona, majoring in Agricultural Science. Kory Kratz, also a Valley Center High School student, will attend Palomar College and focus on diesel mechanics.

The three remaining scholarships were awarded to VCHS alumni transferring to or already attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo – Victoria Laird, Bresa Martin and Sullivan Shimer.

Laird’s major is Agriculture Business and she is on a path to graduate in three years.  She will be in Australia and New Zealand early next year studying world food problems and marketing.

Cindy Bathgate recognizes volunteers Aedyn Loefke, Devyn Loefke and Trysten Loefke.

Martin, a senior, intends to manage orchards or own an organic commercial farm. She has already studied in Santiago, Chile, where she visited an avocado orchard and learned its owner faces the same challenges as our local grove owners.

Shimer is to attend Cal Poly by way of Palomar JC.  He has been accepted into the College of Agriculture with an emphasis in forestry and natural resources.  He intends to pursue a career in wildland firefighting, thus helping to conserve our forest and open spaces.

The funding for the scholarships come from the community’s support of Dos Valles plant sales and the generous donations from members, families and friends of the club.

Representatives of Valley Center schools thanked the club for its support of the Valley Center Teacher Parent Collection Ag Day, Valley Center Middle School’s Thunderhawk Farms, the Regional Occupational Floraculture Programs at Valley Center High School and Oak Glen High School. The Friends of the Valley Center Library were equally grateful for support from the garden club.

Dos Valles Garden Club Summer Blowout in action.

In other Garden Club news, its “Summer Blowout” was deemed “a big success.”

Valley Center gardeners descended on the Dos Valles Garden Club Rummage Sale and Summer Blowout Plant Sale recently, hoping to find garden treasures — and they did.

In addition to buying dozens of two- and three-foot-tall tomato plants and other healthy, local growing greens, they found garden tools and kitchen treasures at the loaded rummage table.

Treasurer Bob Nobel was pleased with the day’s results, which will be used to finance scholarships for local students interested in pursuing agricultural related studies, as well as beautification projects for the whole community.

Oceanside Yacht Club hosts 14th Annual Elizabeth Hospice Charity Regatta Aug. 6-7

14th annual Charity Regatta benefits The Elizabeth Hospice.

The Oceanside Yacht Club (OYC) is hosting the 14th annual Charity Regatta to benefit The Elizabeth Hospice on Saturday, August 6 and Sunday August 7, 2016 at OYC located at 1950 Harbor Drive North, Oceanside.  Entry Fee to race in the two-day Regatta is $50 and daily Post-Race Parties are open to the public free of charge beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6 and 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 7.

The 2-day event commences with sailboat races starting at noon on August 6 and August 7. Food and drink are available for purchase both days starting at 4 p.m. along with a silent auction and raffle taking place both days. The Grand Prize Raffle Drawing includes a 7-day Holland America Cruise for 2 to the Caribbean, Mexico or Canada/New England or Alaska. The cruise drawing is $20 per ticket. The public can join the fun “on the water” and board a luxury powerboat for a $100 per person donation to The Elizabeth Hospice.

Enjoy live music by local bands. Schedule as follows:

Saturday, August 6

Bull Twist: 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Misplaced Priorities: 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Sunday, August 7

Superware: 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

John Bowe: 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

To register for the race or learn more about the weekend activities visit www.oceansideyc.net or contact OYC at (760) 722-5751. Contact Korie Duke at Korie.Duke@ehospice.org or call (760) 796-3722 regarding sponsorships, spectator boat, and cruise raffle tickets.

The Elizabeth Hospice at http://elizabethhospice.org is the region’s oldest and largest nonprofit hospice provider of medical, emotional and spiritual support to the seriously ill and their families in San Diego and Inland Empire. Since 1978, The Elizabeth Hospice has touched the lives of more than 90,000 patients and families in the communities it serves. To learn more, call (800) 797-2050 or visit  www.elizabethhospice.org.

Valley Center History Museum exhibits Olympics mementos

Wagon-Ho for VC Museum officers.

As the world prepares to celebrate the Olympic Games in Rio, the Valley Center History Museum is preparing an exhibition honoring two local athletes with historic Olympics credentials.

The show, opening July 8, will feature memorabilia, photos and mementos — including a Gold Medal — that spotlight the international accomplishments of diver Bernie Wrightson and runner Ray Malott.

Wrightson, a Valley Center resident, set an Olympics record to win the Gold Medal in Springboard Diving at the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico City.  In 1967, he won a Gold Medal at the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg.  From 1964 to 1948, he captured eight U.S. AAU Open titles in diving.

Malott, who died last year, was one of the world’s best runners.  Sidelined by measles at the controversial 1936 Olympics, he returned victorious to Berlin Stadium two years later as captain and star of the U.S. Track & Field Team, running before 100,000 spectators.  During 1937-38, he won 61 of 65 races throughout Europe.

The exhibition is scheduled to run through August, but could be extended.  The History Museum at 29200 Cole Grade Road is open Tuesday through Saturday from 12 noon to 4 p.m.  Admission is free.

Concurrent with the Olympics show, the museum is debuting a companion display featuring eight professional football players who live or have lived in Valley Center, and who collectively have played for more than 20 pro teams.  The athletes include Fred Biletnikoff, Kevin Craft, Billy Cundiff, Gary Garrison, Trevor Reilly, Sean Salisbury and Todd Seabaugh.

Record 7th term for Valley Center History Museum officers

For the seventh consecutive year, all four officers who head the Valley Center History Museum Board of Directors have been re-elected to another one-year term.

Led by president Earl Brown, the team includes vice-president William Boyett, treasurer Nicky Lovejoy, and secretary Lynne Boyett. The officers head a 12-member Board that operates the museum and oversees the Historical Society.

In recommending the unprecedented re-election of the officers, a Nominating Committee pointed out that under current leadership the museum has enjoyed success in attracting visitors, in fund-raising, and in community acceptance.  Since its opening in 2003, the museum has welcomed an estimated 34,000 visitors from every U.S. state and from more than 40 foreign countries.

The museum at 29200 Cole Grade Road is open Tuesday through Saturday from 12 noon to 4 p.m.  Admission is free.  For more information, visit vchistory.org or call (760) 749-2993.