May 2, 2007 - Top Stories
The 2007 Rodeo Queen line-up will have three Senior Rodeo Queen and nine Junior Rodeo Queen contestants.
Saturday May 12 at VC Community Center, “Compe-tition Day” will begin at 5 p.m.
On Sunday May 13 the public will get to see these cowgirls show off their horsemanship skills and riding skills.
Tickets for the competition on May 12 may be purchased from any one of the contestants.
Senior Queens
Rebecca Trammel
Rebecca is 16 years old and attends San Pasqual High School. She is a member of FFA and serves as the club’s secretary. She belongs to a gymkhana club in San Marcos called the V-Spurs. She wants to attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and major in animal science. Upon completion of her studies she wants to become a horse breeder, trainer, and riding instructor. She decided to run for Rodeo Queen to become more involved with the community and to be able to make a difference in our town.
Jessica Simonsen
Jessica, 16, attends Valley High School in Escondido. Her goal is to attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and to become a large animal veterinarian. She ran for rodeo queen for the experience, to enrich her resume, and to be a positive role model.
Stephanie Sorge
Stephanie, 17, is a senior at VCHS. She will attend Cal State San Marcos in the fall where she will be enrolled in the nursing program. She rides a 16-year old AQHA gelding named Cash. She ran for rodeo queen to be able to give back to the community that has given her so much.
Junior Queens
Jackie Bishop
Jackie, 14, has ridden since she was 8. She rides Kassim, a 13-year old Arabian. She wants to attend Cal Poly Pomona and join the equestrian drill team and Rodeo Club. She also plans to volunteer with the National Handicapped Riding Assn. at R.E.I.N.S. in Fallbrook. She is running because she has always loved rodeos and has aspired to be a rodeo queen since she watched them as a young girl.
Megan Glennie
Megan, 14, attends VCHS. Her horse is a 15-year old AQHA mare. Megan enjoys cattle drives, horse shows, Dream Team Drill Team, Vaqueros, and trail riding. Her goal is to attend either Cal Poly Pomona or Moore Park and to eventually work with equine reproduction. She ran for Junior Queen to have something fun that she and her horse could enjoy together and to give something back to the community.
Aubrey Leader
Aubrey, 14, attends VC Middle School. Her horses are an 8 year old sorrel Arabian named Buckwheat and a 12-year old AQHA mare named Princess. Sara wants to become a veterinarian and to be involved in Olympic 3-day event. She likes jumping, gymkhana, pleasure, reining and cutting. She especially loves to sit in the pasture and bond with her horses. Sara ran for junior queen so that she could have fun with her friends who were competing.
Sara Maguire
Sara is a 14-year old VCMS student. She is very involved with the Drama Department. Her horse is an 18-year old Arabian gelding named Zerd. She loves to participate in horse shows. She plans to attend Cal Poly Pomona. She anticipates the competition and feels that it will be fun and a great experience and opportunity for growth.
Stephanie McCarley
Stephanie, 12, attends Calvin Christian School in Escondido. Her horse is a 5-year-old bay AQHA mare, Fancy, that she has owned for 2 years. She ran for junior queen for the experience and to meet new friends.
Shelby North
Shelby, 14, is a VCHS freshman. She rides an AQHA gelding named Swingin’ Soul. She wants to attend a college with an equestrian team. Her career goal is to become an elementary school teacher.
Samantha Peters
Samantha, 13, attends the Classical Academy in Escondido. She plays club volleyball and rides on an equestrian drill team. She is also a member of a horses and ponies 4-H club. She has 2 Polish Arabians; Pasha and Scooter. Her goal is to attend Cal Poly Pomona and become a trainer or an equine reproduction veterinarian.
Jennifer Stathattos
Jennifer, 13, is in 7th grade. She rides Jessica, a wild mustang. Jennifer’s activities include 4-H, gymkhana, and rodeo. She ran for unior queen because she loves rodeo and enjoys competing and making friends.
Samantha Wheeler
Samantha, 14, attends VCMS. She loves flag football. She has discovered a real bond with horses. Goals include becoming an all-around horse trainer who also rehabilitates abused and problem horses and finds them good homes. Samantha is competing for the experience, the fun of it, and because there are so many friends competing, she will actually know the person who wins!
Valley Center's annual Western Days parade is set to kick off on May 26 at 10 a.m. and promises to be another great time for the community, despite the challenges posed by the road widening on VC Road.
Taking part in the parade this year is Supervisor Bill Horn, who will be joined by the yearly staple of floats, booths, local businesses, fire engines and horses. Judges along the route will be tallying up their points to hand out trophies at the event's conclusion.
"We have about twenty-five to fifty helpers this year," parade organizer Tom Bumgardner says. “We'll have prizes; trophies for each category, and a grand marshall, but we don't know who that is just yet. It should be a lot of fun.”
Joining the Western Days festivities will be live music and a “Wild West Shootout,” thanks in part to donations from Valley View Casino and Harrah’s Rincon Casino.
“We should have anywhere from two to five bands, and we're able to give them around two thousand dollars because of the donations,” Bumgardner adds. "And the Wild West Shootout will be great. They’ll be breaking bottles over each other’s heads and getting thrown through windows. They'll even be ‘holding up’ the bank and other businesses in town throughout the weekend."
Valley View contributed $20,000 to Western Days, while Harrah’s added another $10,000 to help with the Wild West Shootout performance.
A concern with this year's parade is the ongoing construction on Valley Center road, but Bumgardner says the festivities will be as enjoyable as ever.
“We’ve worked with the County to make sure there are no big holes to fall in or anything like that,” he says. “And we've got the Lions Club putting the signs up, from down in Escondido at the bottom of the grade all the way over into Rincon. Plus, we'll have more parking than before with the dirt on both sides of the street."
Even though the parade starts at 10 a.m., spectators usually begin arriving as early as 7 a.m. before the road officially closes at 8:30 a.m..
To be a part of the parade, pick up an application at The Roadrunner office or at the California Bank & Trust office on Valley Center Road, and turn it in before May 11. Applications received after May 11 will be charged a $25 late fee.
For more information, contact the Valley Center Chamber of Commerce at 749-8472 or by e-mail at info@vcchamber.com.
This week Kelly Crews announced that the fireworks fund-raising effort has reached $32,000, which was the goal.
In addition, efforts are beginning to create a non-profit incorporated organization to handle fund-raising in the future, with a board of directors to oversee future fireworks shows. They are looking to find an attorney to do the incorporation.
They are also looking at possibly creating a foundation that can help other clubs and other groups.
“Oh, it’s incredible that so many people would be excited about it. I had no idea the impact the event had on the community and now that the money has come in and we’re able to go forward it’s wonderful and awesome,” Mrs. Crews told The Roadrunner.
She added, “We are still asking people to continue to donate to get a head start on next year. And to help us incorporate and get a board of directors.”
VC resident Lynn Lackey of Lesco Electric has been recruited as superintendent for the show.
Eric de Jong of Diamond Environmental in San Marcos will donate the portable toilets.
“We’re waiting to hear back from some of the clubs and organizations,” said Mrs. Crews. “Rotary has said they will volunteer to be the greeters. We need clean-up crews and more people to help organize the games.”
She added, “George Lucia [fire marshal] at the fire department has been extremely supportive.”
Fred Downey, a VC resident who owns a Subway franchise, has pledged the $2,500 that put the fund-raising effort over the edge.
Wells Fargo Bank of Inland North County (Bruce Gordon) has donated $1,500.
EDCO will take care of the trash and provide lines.
Aggregate Supply will provide sand for the fireworks.
Mrs. Crews praised George Weir and Angelo Damante, who each donated $10,000, “for helping this effort to be tremendously successful!”
The fireworks show still needs a community group to step forward to step forward to manage the games, the inflatable Moon Jump and the climbing wall.
The popular local band Hot Pursuit, which has played several times in the past at the show, has been hired to play again this year.
The VC Lions Club will cook and sell bratwurst, chicken breast sandwiches, hamburgers and cheeseburgers.
Mail donations to: Bank of Escondido, 200 W. Grand, Escondido, CA, 92025.
For more information visit the fireworks Web site at fireworksforvalleycenter.org. Or call 760-670-7062.
Donors
So far, donors include: $10,000 from Cindy & George Weir, $10,000 from Angelo Daman-te, $1,000 from Martha & Kevin Grangetto, $1,000 from the Price Family, $1,000 from Jack Bose, $1,000 from VC Rotary Club, $1,000 from Mike Peters of the Bank of Escondido, $1,000 from Dale & Shirley Good, $500 from Sam McCuskey, $500 from Mark Miller, $500 from Brad Becker, $200 from Tim & Allison Bell, $100 from Captain Ken Baldry, $250 from Charlie & Lynn Smith of Country Kettle Corn, $200 from Tim & Allison Bell and Sean Sutton donated $121 raised from a donation can placed in Pauma Store and Tavern.
At the Pauma Assn’s annual dinner April 23, about 70 valley residents heard about the future park and playground, amended bylaws, elected new board members and heard a presentation by Teacher of the Year, Jon Goodman.
Assn. Pres. Sue Stockton in her annual address noted “This year we have had goals to meet and we have met them! We have added donation plaques. The larger board is for $1,000 donations and the individual plaques are $2,500 or more. You, too, can be up there.”
She spoke about last August’s festival, held at the Pauma Community Assn. grounds. “What a day! It was hot, but all the same, the children had a great time with games, pony rides, a petting zoo, moon bounce, popcorn, Mexican food, hamburgers, hot dogs and plenty of cold drinks.”
The association received a $15,000 grant from the County “with ‘sports’ written all over it,” she said. “We had started the fencing around the baseball field last year and we were really hoping that we could complete the job. Well, it happened sooner than we had expected.
“The grant has paid for completing the fence, additional grading on the field, and future equipment for the soccer team. We can now be proud of our field and the appearance of the property along the highway. There are two more grant requests in progress right now. One is to start our picnic area with tables and a drinking fountain.”
Mrs. Stockton also noted improvements to the community building’s patio roof which was accomplished with community donations. “It doubles the size of the useable area of the building,” she said.
She added, “The remodeling of the ladies room was also done with your donations. The work was all done by board member volunteers.”
The next big project, she said, will be a playground.
“We hinted about this last year. This is going to take time and money, but we like to dream big—I hope that you do, too!
“We see this project as a real possibility. A place for children to play safely and a spot for families to have a picnic or just sit and visit.”
Note: for a complete text of Mrs. Stockton’s speech, visit our Web site at www.valleycenter.com.
Board member Jack Hall gave the association’s financial report.
He noted that the association’s revenues last year were $49,474 which included the $15,000 grant from the County, rental revenues of $10,5000, and fund-raising revenues of $1,456.
The association spent $35,000 which included $10,700 for insurance and utilities and $22,000 for program services, mainly the baseball field improvements.
At Monday’s dinner the bylaws were amended to allow the annual meeting to be held within the first six months of the year.
The new board of directors elected are Nancy Barrett, Nancy Plascencia Castillo, Joyce Childs, Jack Hall, Tamara Kelich, Sue Stockton, Fritz Stumpges, Bob Wheelock and Fernando Serrato.
Re-elected were Nancy Barrett and Fritz Stumpges.
New to the board is Joyce Childs.
Dr Paul Ward has left the board. He has been responsible for doing grant writing that produced the new fencing at the baseball field and extension along the soccer field as well as the backstop and benches. There will be more to come from the grants according to Mrs. Stockton.
Goodman’s presentation consisted in a talk accompanied by two films made by high school students in his digital media class.
Goodman talked about his career and said that after 15 years as a teacher, “I still get excited every day. Every day is a new opportunity.
One film consisted of a film in which a student who had cancer talked about his experience.
“These are kids’ stories that they want to tell. It’s about the students telling their stories and I get to be a part of it,” he said.
Marianne Stone, the chairman of the civic beautification committee, along with the board of Dos Valles Garden Club, decided to create a new twist to this year’s competition.
Since Valley Center roads are undergoing a major makeover, civic beautification is on hold. Instead, businesses along the major corridor have had to continue operations with extreme challenges.
So, this year the garden club will ask businesses to submit a short narrative of their worst nightmares in trying to stay open and running during the disruption of road construction. The committee will judge the short stories and award three unique and distinctive awards to the businesses with the best stories.
Submit your story to Dos Valles Garden Club, Attn: Civic Beautification Committee, POB 123, Valley Center, CA 92082. The deadline is June 4.
Awards will be presented at the garden club’s year-end picnic at Adams Park on June 12.
Did you know that Cole Grade Road is named after a man who spelled his last name “Kohl”?
How about that the first cotton plantation in California was in Valley Center, along with the country’s largest turkey farm?
Or that Miller Road is named after the famed playwright Arthur Miller, who owned a dairy there?
How about that the woman who assayed the first gold nugget found in California and helped spark the Great California Gold Rush, is buried in Valley Center Cemetery? Her name is Jennie Wimmer and after many years of relative obscurity she has a plaque honoring her.
If you were riding in one of the buses that took 350 residents around VC while the likes of Bob Learner, Sarah Clayton and Petei McHenry shared their knowledge, then you DO know these things.
For the 750 people who were turned away, and everyone else, they will have to wait for another five years or so until the next tour.
Of course, you could also read Bob Lerner’s history column: History Happened Here, or join the Valley Center History Society and catch up on some intriguing item of local history that you might not know. You could also visit the museum, located next to the VC Library.
Those who took the tour also got to see the field on Cool Valley Road where Donald Gordon flew the first airplane flown west of the Mississippi a few years after the Wright Brothers.
Many Hollywood stars have lived in Valley Center, including John Wayne, Randolph Scott, June Allyson, Dick Powell, Fred Astaire, Irene Ryan (Granny of the Beverly Hillbillies).
The Prince of Wales, who later became Edward VIII and abdicated his throne for his American paramour Wallace Simpson, is said to have visited Melrose Ranch, off Guejito Road, in the 1930s.
Another interesting point along the tour was the home on Miller where “Betty Crocker,” aka Agnes White, lived and cooked. News of her life is one of the most requested bits of information at the museum, Lerner said.
The tour raised an estimated $6,000 for the VC History Museum, according to Lerner.
Valley Center Schools brought home SEVEN trophies from the weekend music competition, Music at the Park at Disneyland. See story, A9.
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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