The Miss Valley Center Pageant will be this Saturday, March 6, 7 p.m., at the VC Middle School.
Malinda Lasley, Miss Valley Center 2003, has had a year to be proud of.
She has attended numerous functions throughout the year. For the last eight weeks she has worked with all the new contestants to prepare them for the pageant.
Her successor will be chosen on Saturday.
The doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for seating and the curtain will open at 7 p.m.
This year’s theme is “La Noche Bella.” Tickets are available for $10 from the contestants and the members or by calling Karen Greene at 749-1863. Tickets the night of the pageant cost $15. Buy early as seating is limited.
Here are some excerpts from Malinda Lasley’s upcoming farewell speech: “What does it mean to be crowned a queen and wear a crown? It means you have the opportunity to reach out and touch people, make a difference in somebody’s life, bring a smile to someone’s face, meet new people, visit other communities, bring people together for a common cause and so much more. . .
“One year, a lifetime of memories. Like a good book, I don’t want it to end and yet I’m ready to turn the page and begin a new story, one that’s all my own. So tonight, when I remove my crown, I will reflect on the past year and think of those people that mean so much to me, those who have had an influence on my life and those who will forever remain in my heart. . . .
“Being Miss Valley Center has opened doors and introduced me to so many places and people in San Diego that I would not have had the chance to know before. We have volunteered and assisted at so many charitable events that support so many worthwhile causes and touch so many lives that I know random acts of kindness do make a difference.”
The pageant is sponsored by the VC Pageant Assn .and the VC Chamber of Commerce with the use of Community Enhancement Grant Funds.
If you are interested in becoming a member of the Valley Center Pageant Assn. call them at 749-1863 or email vcpagassoc@valleycenterinternet.com. Membership is open to anyone 18 years and older.
When Fat Ivor’s burned down over a year ago, a loyal customer left a sign near the ruins that said: “Rebuild it and we will come.”
Now, Georgine Thomas, the widow of restaurateur Tommy Thomas, has finally gotten the permits to “build it so they will come.”
“We have the permits!” Mrs. Thomas gleefully told The Roadrunner this week. “We’re breaking up the ground and getting the plumbing in and when that happens we can start putting the walls up.”
She recalled that on the night that the restaurant burned that she promised her late husband that she would rebuild. “I came to tears a couple of times, but it’s going to happen.”
She described the hoops that the County made her jump through in order to rebuild as “slower than the seven year itch!” and noted that at one point “they lost the plans for a month!” But she seemed elated that the wait is finally over.
Mrs. Thomas is looking at June or July for reopening the restaurant, which was a major feature in Valley Center for two decades.
The eatery will look pretty much as it did. “The outside will look a little different. There will be one roof over the entire building, unlike the burned building, which had several. “But the bar will be where the bar was.”
The menu will be the same, carrying Fat Ivor’s famous signature ribs and broasted chicken specialties.
“I’m going to try and run it just like Tommy did,” she told The Roadrunner.
Insurance paid everything that it was supposed to, she said, but she still had to raise up to $150,000 additional money.
During the interim since Fat Ivor’s burned, Mrs. Thomas sold the other Fat Ivor’s in Oceanside.
“It wasn’t paying the rent and they doubled the rent on us,” she said. “We closed it and saved all the equipment to put in Fat Ivor’s here.”
Most of the old employees of the restaurant will be working there when it reopens.
Old timers will recall that the Fat Ivor’s has always been decorated with patriotic artwork, Western memorabilia, and lots of photos and paintings of John Wayne. It will again when it reopens.
Mrs. Thomas has collected a lot of artwork, but would still love to get other pieces.
Mrs. Thomas noted the “tremendous support” that she has enjoyed from the community. “The whole valley, everybody, says the same thing. ‘When are you going to reopen?’ I even get hugs when I tell them that I have the permits.”
Fat Ivor’s first opened in VC in July of 1981. It celebrated its 20th anniversary in ‘01, Mr. Thomas died in ‘02 and the fire happened in ‘03.
Mrs. Thomas says she hopes to have a groundbreaking party, with hamburgers and hot dogs, sometime in the next couple of weeks. The exact time will be announced.
By DAVID ROSS
Three months into its paramedic contract with Valley Center Fire Protection District, Mercy Ambulance has been hit by unexpected charges from CDF that threatens to bust its budget.
Richard Roesch, CEO of Mercy Ambulance, told the fire board Feb. 19 that California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection has more than doubled its charges to dispatch units to accidents.
These changes will increase Mercy’s costs for dispatching from $34,000 to $123,000 annually, Roesch told the board.
That combined with the reduction of responses in the last two months has made a “big difference” in estimated costs, he said.
Roesch asked for a board subcommittee to be appointed to go over the figures with him.
Director Mel Schuler questioned the need for a subcommittee since, he said, the district can’t do anything about the increased costs.
Director Stan Johnson asked if the district could provide its own dispatch.
Chief Kevin O’Leary said it could, but no one knows what the cost would be.
“How long has the contract been in existence, only three months?” asked Schuler.
CDF only just presented this change in costs. “I certainly didn’t expect the cost to go from $34,000 to a $123,000" said Roesch. The previous ambulance service in VC, Sycuan Ambulance, was charged $34,000 last year.
Director Mike Pacheco came to the defense of Mercy, “They are not looking at getting out of the contract, they are just looking at ways to cut those costs,” he said.
Audience member Mike McDonald added, “You can’t expect a private contractor to eat these things when it’s totally unexpected.”
Board Pres. Patrick Garcia told Roesch, “We are sensitive to your needs. We are just shocked that something like this would happen.”
He asked the chief to double check on the costs.
Doubling as Firefighters
The board also discussed a previously introduced proposal, that Mercy Ambulance medics be equipped with fire turn-out gear so that they can be first reponsders if they arrive at an incident before the regular firefighters.
The cost to VC to make this change would be $9,000 over several years, which is the additional cost to buy extra turn-out gear and cover the medics by workers compensation.
There are also problems with CDF in getting the proposal past the state firefighters union.
Director Stan Johnson and Chief Kevin O’Leary had been asked to look into the idea, and to discuss it with the Deer Springs Fire Protection District, which is participating with VC in the paramedic program.
Deer Springs’ board is interested in participating, said Johnson.
“I feel that if we can resolve the financial issues which are at this time, big, that we should move forward on this program,” said Johnson.
O’Leary said that the medics could have been extremely useful during the Paradise fire.
Schuler protested that they shouldn’t talk about the costs before they knew whether they want to go forward with the program.
He was also concerned about liability of the medics responding to emergencies outside of the district. The paramedic contract provides medical services to an area much larger than VCFPD, and includes Pauma, Palomar Mountain and Lake Henshaw.
“It would seem to me that while this large area would benefit, that Deer Springs and Valley Center would be paying for the entire county,” he said.
O’Leary said the medics wouldn’t supplement fire agencies besides VC and Deer Springs.
The board instructed district administrator Joy Justis to get an opinion in writing from County Counsel about the district’s liability if the medics don fire gear.
Under the proposal Mercy employees would be reserve firefighters and would have to meet all of the reserve criteria.
Pacheco commented, “It’s not just the fire districts that that would be bearing the costs, it’s these fellows (Mercy) who are stepping up to the plate.”
Declining Accidents
In his administrative report, Chief Kevin O’Leary noted that the district has seen a decline in the number of medical calls.
In 2003 there were 1058 accident calls, seven fewer than 2002 and 65 fewer than 2001.
The biggest decline was in medical aids, which made up 44% of the total calls for 2003, compared to 54% the year before.
O’Leary said the location of the incidents is a concern. Most traffic accidents are occurring at intersections that have been identified as needing signal lights, he said.
Another concern is that response time has declined from seven minutes in 2002 to nine minutes in 2003.
To obtain the response time figure, the chief looked closely at 20 incidents. To see if this is truly a trend, he wants to study all of last year’s incidents.
“We know that the traffic on the roadway is worse than in previous years,” he said. “It’s a critical factor to consider for the future.
The rationale for locating a future station may not be the number of incidents in that area, but response time, he said.
“There’s a big pile of roadwork material sitting in the County road station. You can see it from your Roadrunner office. All we’re asking is access to some of it,” says Henry Frahmaum, a resident of Yellow Brick Road.
Since the rains began Yellow Brick Road has begun to look more and more like the Grand Canyon in the early stages of its creation.
The Frahmaums and some of their neighbors along Yellow Brick Road would like to get the ruts filled in their road.
They also want to form a road maintenance association or county service area, to pay for the maintenance of the road.
They’d like the County to kick in with some blacktop materials. Judging from the mountain of such material that rises from the road yards at the corner of Cole Grade & Valley Center Roads, it has plenty.
But, because Yellow Brick Road is not a County-maintained road, it doesn’t seem like they will get their hands on it anytime soon.
The Yellow Brick Road residents first approached Fifth District Supervisor Bill Horn’s office.
He referred them to John Synder, Director of Public works.
On Feb. 11, Snyder wrote Frahmaum: “Our records indicate that the entire length of Yellow Brick Road . . . is a non-maintained public road. State law prohibits us from spending public gas tax funds for maintenance or improvement on roads that are not in the County-Maintained Road System.
The school district and the teachers’ union are discussing calendar proposals that could lead to school starting before Labor Day this fall, perhaps as much as three weeks before.
Kathy Frinchaboy, the negotiation chairman for the teachers’ union, told The Roadrunner Monday that “We’ve been given a proposal by Supt. Karen Jobe to see if there is an interest in changing the calendar.”
They are looking at a change that would allow more time in the spring to prepare students for the STAR tests and the advanced placement tests that some AP classes give where students earn college credits.
One proposal would have school starting three weeks before Labor Day.
They are also looking at several other proposals where school would start two weeks or one week before the traditional end of summer. School would start earlier but would also have more breaks.
Also on the table is keeping the current calendar just the way it is.
A calendar that starts sooner would allow the first semester at the high school to end before the holidays, so that students don’t have to study for finals during winter break.
While many see the change as being positive for the high school, Mrs. Frinchaboy commented, “I don’t know if it would be beneficial for the elementary students.”
Supt. Karen Jobe commented, “I’m not sure that it’s better or worse for elementary students, although it has obvious advantages for secondary students.”
Mrs. Frinchaboy added, “I see a general interest in changing our calendar from the traditional calendar that starts at Labor Day.”
Some neighboring school districts have moved to calendars that begin before Labor Day.
Escondido High School District has such a schedule, although its elementary district does not.
The proposed changes could be made as early as the fall of 2004, although Mrs. Frinchaboy said she thought it would probably be implemented over several years.
“It depends on whether we have a consensus to try something that’s a little bit different,” she said. “We want very much to hear from the parents and community on this issue.”
The proposal will be brought to the school site council later in March.
Because it’s such a considerable change over the current calendar, the decision may be pushed back to May. It’s traditionally been decided by April.
Mrs. Jobe told The Roadrunner, “We would like to make certain that whatever we do with calendars best meets the academic needs for students, which also means fitting parents’ schedules because we want students in school.”
The Valley Roadrunner
P.O.B. 1529, Valley Center, CA 92082
Tel. 760.749.1112 Fax 760.749.1688
Website: www.valleycenter.com
Email: editor@valleycenter.com
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