Saturday, nearly a year after their home burned to the ground, the Roach family moved into the new house that has risen in the ashes of the old.
It was a bittersweet homecoming. It was mixed with memories of the death of Ashleigh, the 16 year-old sister of Allyson and Jason and daughter of John & Lori Roach. She didn’t make it out in the predawn when the family tried to evacuate Oct. 26 in the wake of the devastating Paradise fire which had begun hours before.
Allyson was burned over 85% of her body, and her brother, Jason, 23, suffered minor burns.
But Saturday’s homecoming was also a joyous occasion, as the Roaches moved into what John described as “our dream house.”
For 25 years they looked at old Victorian houses and dreamed of having one. They never had the opportunity before now.
The house was paid for 100% by the insurance company, unlike many houses in Valley Center. Roach, who is in the construction business, knows what it costs to rebuild a house. He observes, “People need to know what kind of insurance they have and whether or not it is adequate.”
The Roach house is one of the first to be rebuilt after the fire, which destroyed hundreds of houses in the Valley. There have been others replaced, but mostly they have been prefabricated.
During the ten month interregnum in their lives, the Roaches lived in Escondido, with a house provided by North County Interfaith.
Just as you enter the new house, just past the winding staircase, you see a grand piano. Resting on the bench is a large blow-up photo of Ashleigh, who played it.
She remains a vivid, living presence to the family and they are frequently reminded of her.
Moving into the new house has provided “a little bit of closure,” says John.
Meanwhile Allyson continues to undergo surgical treatments to deal with the 85% of her body that were burned.
She is scheduled to undergo more skin grafts later in the month. These will allow her more use of her arm and do reconstruction on her nose.
There are still issues remaining unsettled. They still have lawsuits pending against both the Rincon tribe and Harrah’s Entertainment.
Harrah’s has filed a motion to dismiss with Superior Court Judge Whalen. He will rule on the motion Sept. 20.
County Dept. of Planning & Land Use Saturday will hold the first of several town center workshops that will deal with Valley Center’s “Villages” Sept. 18, 9 a.m. - noon. at VC middle school multi-purpose room.
County General Plan 2020 staff will conduct a Town Center Planning Workshop for Valley Center’s northern and southern nodes (Country Towns).
The workshop’s purpose is to formulate a vision for each town center and to discuss ideas such as size, types of land uses, and the type and amount of housing that each center would have.
The update includes developing land use plans for the two Town Center areas in Valley Center. Defined as “Villages” in GP2020 and “Country Towns” in the current General Plan, large portions of these areas remain undeveloped.
Villages subcommittee meetings have been going on since last fall, with Lael Montgomery as chairman. The work the subcommittee has done will be incorporated into planning that has been assumed by DPLU.
Over the next six months the DPLU staff to create concept plans for these two areas.
According to Dr. Montgomery, “The Purpose of Workshop #1 on September 18th is to formulate a vision for each town center area and to discuss ideas involving character, scale, primary circulation, population ranges, and the types of commercial uses. The purpose of Workshop #2 on Nov. 6 is to refine the concepts from the first workshop and develop a more detailed concept plan for each town center area.”
She added, “I encourage anyone who wants to have a hand in guiding Valley Center's future to attend these workshops! The size, scale, style and feeling of Valley Center's Town Center areas are still remarkably fluid right now. Your input can make a difference.”
Bates Nut Farm is gearing up for the 40th Anniversary celebration.
Mark your calendar for Saturday, Sept. 25 from 2 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
Managers Sherrie & Tom Ness have prepared an event to bring in the fall festivities and celebrate generations of a long tradition.
The pumpkin patch is at its prime and ready for picking. The rural scenic fields set in the lovely Woods Valley are as inviting as the Indian summer season that unfolds in Valley Center.
A “Nuts for You” tour will be held with lots of Bates history explaining the beginning of the business of nuts and how this farm began in 1964, following the business to the present. It will include the educational “Life of a Pumpkin.”
The pumpkin-filled furrows are any kid’s delight and an opportunity to the photography enthusiast.
Surrounding horse ranches and barns, friendly goats, ducks, peacocks & chickens create an ambiance for a “Hoe Down.”
A catered barbecue dinner will be hosted by the professional catering business, “What’s Cook’in.” They are preparing a barbecue sauce on chicken quarters, a gourmet green salad, country style bean dish, all for $9. Reservations suggested for tickets. Call 749-3333.
Scarecrow-making will be going on all day. Don’t forget to bring specialty items to indulge in this lost art or bring a finished scarecrow to help decorate the fields.
Bates Nut Farm is looking to replenish ones lost in the Paradise fire.
There will be the Scarecrow Contest on Oct. 9 with several prizes. Of course, the traditional pony and hay-rides will be ongoing.
Bring a blanket or chairs to enjoy the Bluegrass Music Festival throughout the day and into the night.
The Ash Street Ramblers will set the stage from 2-5 p.m. Comprised of a few local boys who have been jamming for quite some time, and holding their practices on Ash Street, thus the name.
Gary Pay, Director of Grounds and Maintenance at VC schools, is one of Valley Center’s well-known pickers. He plays not only guitar but also a heck of a mandolin.
The evening performance is with a group called The Brombies formed by Jo Ellen and George Doering. Not only in love with BlueGrass music, they fell in love with each other, after meeting at a recording session almost 20 years ago, and married.
Some original tunes and traditional favorites will be the highlights, taking turns at lead vocals and harmony. Jo Ellen is on acoustic guitar and George plays mandolin. Pete Harris is their upright bass player and Doug Livingston on Dobro.
This quartet has many years on stage performing across the nation and internationally.
Doering has performed with Elvis Costello, Greg Allman, Gladys Knight, Pointer Sisters, Ricky Martin, Janet Jackson, Vince Gill, Randy Travis, George Strait, and Willie Nelson. He’s played background scores for the movies Seabiscuit, Finding Nemo, Alex & Emma, and Shanghai Knights to name a few. He flashed his guitar sounds at the Hollywood Bowl with Sir George Martin conducting a tribute to the Beatles.
Ellen blossomed in Los Angeles in places like the Troubadour and the Ice House. She has opened for James Taylor, Neil Diamond, Loggins & Messina, Doc Watson and Cheech & Chong. She was on the road with Rick Nelson, played in Hoyt Axton’s band, learned to flat pick with Doug Dillard, and was a backup guitarist for the Smothers Brothers.
Call for information and tickets at 749-3333 or visit their web site www.batesnutfarm.biz.
This is part of a series of profiles of candidates for the November election. This week we profile the two candidates for Div. 4 of the VC Municipal Water District.
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Doug Ohara is vice president of cultural operations for Sierra Pacific Farms, which owns and manages or leases 600-700 acres in Valley Center. The company grows mainly avocados, but also citrus.
He and his wife, Betty, and their two children, have lived in Valley Center for nine years.
Ohara says he is running for the fourth division seat because, “since I’m one of the largest if not the largest water user in VC, I thought it was important to get on the board and look at the issues regarding the cost and availability of water.”
Ohara’s main concern, he says, is “keeping the costs of water down and keeping the infrastructure current and trying to keep costs down.”
He also wants to keep informed about what’s coming up in the future and relay that to his constituents and ratepayers.
Ohara feels that communication of this kind is somewhat lacking.
“In general the district does a fine job but I don’t believe we are as informed as we should be on issues.
Recently he attended a meeting where the subject was the need for local growers to learn to conserve more water.
“Obviously agriculture has to use water and obviously we have to be a little more informed. They don’t tell you anything unless you go to the meetings.”
For Ohara the main issue of the election is keeping the water flowing to agriculture and residential users.
“The main issue is where are we getting our water from? Obviously we are in the middle of a few years of drought. I’m also interested in the growth of Valley Center, and how that affects our water supply. Population is increasing, there’s more landscaping being put in. We want to be able to get water to everybody and to have enough of it.”
He would do that by keeping the infrastructure up-to-date and keeping residents informed on water issues. “We want to look far enough ahead so that we don’t have any surprises,” he says. “We need to be educated on the issues.”
Ohara doesn’t have any specific criticisms of the incumbent, but feels that its important for people in the ag industry to be involved in water issues.
“With me being with one of the largest ag companies, it is in my best interests to be more involved, to know these issues. I can relay this to every residential and agricultural owner.
This is part of a series of profiles of candidates for the November election. This week we profile the two candidates for Div. 4 of the VC Municipal Water District.
* * *
Chuck Stone is running for reelection to his seat on the VC water board.
He has served on the board since February of 2000 when he was appointed to fill a vacancy. He won the position on his own the following November.
He lives north of the Circle R area. He is a protea grower and is president of the California Protea Assn.
The Roadrunner asked Stone why he is running again.
“ I feel very strongly that people need to serve when they have the opportunity to perform public service. It turns out that the water board, at least from my perspective, gives me the opportunity to use some talents and previous experience.”
That experience includes an engineering background with a business degree and a 28-year career in the U.S. Navy, from which he retired as a captain. His last assignment was as commander of the naval supply center in San Diego.
“These are areas where I can bring my experience to bear. The key point is that you should find a place where you could serve and then do so., It’s hard to complain about the way things are if you don’t participate.”
Stone has found that serving on the board is “a lot of fun. They are a very professional group and it’s very interesting to participate with the group.”
From Stone’s perspective, the district is run very well. He says he’s unaware of any “issues” in the election. “But I’m open to discussing any issues that the public wants to. We’ve made some real progress in some difficult times, in a coastal desert where all water essentially is imported. We’ve maintained our water costs among the lowest rates among local agencies, delivering it reliably, and continued to get high grades from our customers.”
Asked what goals he has for a second full term, Stone said, “You’ve heard us talk about some of them at the board meetings. We have a capital improvement program and when things are broke we fix em, but we also have a long-term master plan. One of my goals would be to implement the long-term capital improvement program at a rate that is affordable and maintains infrastructure in a reliable and safe way.
“The other would be to maintain the rates as low as possible under pressure that we know is coming from the Metropolitan Water District and the San Diego County Water Authority.”
Stone believes that the district should be an active participant in current discussions about desalination (creating drinking water from seawater). “Even though we won’t directly participate in that, it’s a major advance. It’s been dragging and I hope to get the district involved.”
Agriculture, Stone observes, is very dependent upon keeping a low rate for the sale of water. The character of the community depends on maintaining ag.
“To maintain the rural and ag character of our community we need to maintain low water rates.”
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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