May 23, 2007 - Top Stories
Although Valley Center Road is broken up, it’s not expected to do much to dampen the fun as VC’s big weekend of fun, Western Days, takes off this Memorial Day weekend.
This community-wide event is galloping our way, with three days of fun planned.
For a complete schedule of events, be sure to look in your mailbox for the summer edition of the Valley Center Magazine, with official programs for Western Days and the VC Stampede Rodeo (see article, this page).
You’ll also sniff gunpowder in the air in the days leading to the event as the VC Posse starts having shoot-outs around town. The posse also has special events planned over the weekend in a fake Western town that was created to stage realistic-looking brawls.
Friday
Opening Day at VC Community Center begins Friday at 5:30 p.m. with the Honorary Mayor’s Race election and the Marshal’s Posse Showdown.
The carnival, which opens at 5 p.m. will have rides for all ages.
There are four announced mayor’s candidates: Bill Laird of the VC Lions, Doug Dechairo of the Optimists, Carol Mohrbacher of the VC Chamber and Jan Imonti of the VC Women’s Club.
The mechanical bull ride is set to go. Gates will open to the beer garden and live music & dancing set the evening in full swing.
The crowd will dance to the Tumblin’ Dice Band well into the night.
The new Honorary Mayor will be announced at 9 p.m.
Saturday
Saturday morning begins bright and early with the Rotary Club Pancake breakfast held in the Towne Center parking lot (corner of Valley Center & Cole Grade Roads).
After breakfast everyone stakes out a spot along Valley Center Road to await the start of the parade.
The Parade
The parade runs from about 10 a.m. - noon., with Brett Helms in the position of honor.
The grand marshal of the parade is David Ross, editor of The Roadrunner.
The main body of the parade the parade this year includes county supervisor Bill Horn, Miss Valley Center Brittany Byler and her court, who will be joined by the yearly staple of floats, booths, clubs, 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.
Suggested detours:
Northbound – Woods Valley east (right) from Valley Center Road to Lake Wohlford. Then north (left) on Lake Wohlford to Valley Center Road. West (left) on Valley Center Road to Mac Tan. Mac Tan north (right) to Fruitvale. Fruitvale west (left) to Cole Grade, north (right) on Cole Grade which will connect with Highway 76 in Pauma Valley.
Southbound – Cole Grade to Fruitvale, east (left) on Fruitvale to Mac Tan. Mac Tan south (right) to Valley Center Road. Valley Center Road east (left) to Lake Wohlford. Lake Wohlford south (right) to Woods Valley. Woods Valley right (right) to Valley Center Road or continue down Lake Wohlford past the Lake to the intersection of Valley Center Road at the bottom of the grade.
Vendors, exhibits, demos
At the conclusion of the parade, the festivities will shift to VC Community Center where there will be vendors, food booths, exhibits, demonstrations, a mechanical bull ride, a carnival with rides for all ages and live music/dancing.
The SIC Riders motorcycle stunt show will perform at various times during the day.
While you’re there you may be tempted by the savory odors of the Homesteaders 4-H barbe-cue. The dinner will be held Saturday from 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.
This sit down dinner includes slow cooked pit barbecue beef and pork served with beans & fixin’s prepared and cooked by 4-H members and parents.
Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for children. They are available from Homesteader 4-H Club members and will be sold at the door. Proceeds go to help support 4-H projects and events.
Remember, entry into the Community Center on Saturday is $3 for ages 11 & up or FREE if you are wearing a 2006 Western Days T-shirt.
Parking will be across from the Community Center. Cost is $2. This service is provided by the VC Lacrosse team.
A parade Ribbon & Trophy Ceremony will be at 1:30 p.m. and a Marshal’s Posse showdown will be at 2:30 p.m. Two more shows will follow the ceremony.
The Beer Garden, of course, will be open and ready.
Live music on Saturday will feature the Workin’ Cowboy Band will perform during the day and Nitro Express, which will perform Saturday night.
Sunday
Sunday is “Community Day” and it opens with the Lion’s Club Pancake breakfast from 7–10 a.m.
Food and vendor booths will continue starting at 10 a.m. The carnival will open at noon. This year the mechanical bull will still be there for those who didn’t get enough on Friday or Saturday.
The Beer Garden will open at 10:30 a.m.
The SIC Riders will perform at 11:30 a.m., and at 2 & 4 p.m.
Nitro Express will play from 2-4 p.m.
If it’s the Memorial Day weekend, it must be rodeo time! The VC Stampede Rodeo will come a whoopin’ and a hollerin’ to Bates Nut Farm this Friday and Saturday, with special events on Sunday.
This year, the rodeo is set to take place on Friday and Saturday, with the gates opening at 3 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday.
The great rodeo action will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday and at 4 p.m. on Saturday, with Saturday's event schedule also including a pie-baking contest at 2:30 p.m. and a VIP dinner at 3 p.m. Tickets cost $10 in advance and $12 at the gate, while VIP tickets are $30.
Newly crowned 2007 Rodeo Queen Jessica Simonsen will open the event with a flag ceremony, then the rodeo will feature action in the Broncs, Open Rodeo, Mutton Bustin', Team Roping, Calf Roping, Women's Breakaway and Bull Riding divisions.
New to the rodeo this year is Sunday's Barrel Race, presented by the Southern California Barrel Association and Co-Sanctioned by the Women's Professional Rodeo Assoc.
The exhibition race will take place at 9 a.m. and the Barrel Race will run at noon. Admission to both the exhibition and the Barrel Race will be free for spectators.
As usual, the rodeo will feature some great music, provided by the Hillbilly Noise Band on Friday and the Working Cowboy Band on Saturday. Dance tickets are free on Friday and $5 on Saturday.
Once again, the Valley Center Optimist Club and the VC Stampede Rodeo Committee are proud to present the event, which is sponsored by Creekside Veterinary Service, Valley Center Propane, Jag's Grill & Spirits, Hawthorne Machinery, Jack Powell Chrysler & Dodge, Bates Nut Farm, KSON -FM 97.3, Bud Light and others.
Tickets can be purchased at Escondido Hawthorne Country Store & Cowgirlz, Terry's Hay & Grain, the Valley Center Pharmacy, Bear Valley Feed, Ramona Elston Hay & Grain and Oceanside Boot Barn.
Volunteers are still needed for the rodeo. Contact Joyce Holmes by e-mail at joyce@shoemakerrealty.com as soon as possible to volunteer.
For more information, visit the Web site at www.valleycenterrodeo.com or e-mail harmonyrch@aol.com.
The July 4 fireworks show, which had been in a holding pattern because of liability issues, is now free to fly high because the Chamber of Commerce has stepped forward to provide its insurance.
Various service clubs are stepping forward to be vendors at the community event at Jaguar Stadium.
The VC Women’s Club will do games and and a bake sale. VC Lions Club will sell food. Country Kettle Corn will be on site. The Hot Pursuit Band will play,
A rock wall, slide and obstacle course will be available with a $1.00 charge associated with a release of liability that must be signed by parent.
Portable toilets will be donated by Diamond Environmental.
EDCO will donate trash and recycling services. Aggregate Supply will give sand and Arie DeJong will cover the difference between what is pledged and what is received or needed.
Kelly Crews, who is spearheading this effort told The Roadrunner, “We need to create signage now! If we could receive this at any kind of a discount it would be beneficial to everyone. Signage needs to start going up in about ten days.”
A logo contest is in the works where you will be able to go onto The Roadrunner website (www.valleycenter.com) and vote for your favorite logo.
Newell Cummings has offered to donate $300 towards incorporation for a non-profit. The fee to incorporate is about $850. That will need to be donated by someone.
One of the biggest donors, Angelo Damante of Mercedes Benz of Escondido, offered this comment for why he came up with $10,000 for the event.
“It’s become a tradition up there and you hate to see a tradtion disappear. I’ve always tried to help when I can. Valley Center has been good to me and my children. I hope that they will be able get a new program started that will make it happen every year. I think it’s great about how the community got together and were able to put it behind them. He added, “It must be important or else all these people wouldn’t have contributed.”
There are still people who have pledged money and haven’t turned it in.
“We need to collect all the money that has been pledged and receive any and all new donations to help cover unexpected costs and the incorporation fee,” Mrs. Crews told The Roadrunner.
Mail checks to Bank of Escondido, 200 W. Grand Ave, Escondido, CA 92025 with a “pay to the order of Valley Center Chamber of Commerce or Fireworks for Valley Center.
To stay up to speed on the event's progress log onto www.fireworksforvalleycenter.org/
Bill Laird, of pancake breakfast fame is the VC Lions Club's choice for Honorary Mayor.
Laird the Lion, promises a pancake on every plate.
Laird the Lion comes from hearty Scotch stock (and it is rumored he has a hearty stock of scotch)
His career as pancake chef began when covered wagons crossed the plains. Early settlers would find Laird the Lion and his pride of Lions ready to supply them with a full breakfast before starting out on each day's journey.
Miraculously, as the sun rose, the call of “breakfast” rang out to the encircled prairie schooners and the aroma of hot coffee and fresh juice wafted over the camp (Where DID they find those oranges?).
Laird the Lion promises the only pork barrel in his term will be bacon and sausage.
“Don't be caught with egg on your face. Vote for Laird the Lion!” say Laird’s supporters.
Lions International originally formed to preserve sight and help those with vision problems; offering free eye exams, glasses and other visual aids to those in need.
The local club has branched out to include those who need hearing-enabling-devices
Their fund-raising also goes to VC schools, helping with grad night, Most Improved Middle School Student Award, 8th grade DC trip, scholarships, local teacher parent clubs, youth sports and other community needs.
For those who might express disbelief at some of the claims of the candidate’s supporters, they retort: “If you don't believe his history, remember we are Lion!”
Valley Center Planning Group members at their May meeting got a look at what the median for Valley Center Road will look like.
Timothy M. Henderson, ASLA Associate with KTU+A Landscape Architecture and Planning out of San Diego, the firm working with the County, presented the revised design to the planners.
He met with the Design Review Board previously.
He told the planners that the median will be planted with xeriscape (drought-resistant) plants that should be able to get on without watering after four years of irrigation.
The median will include a meandering stream bed (but no stream), cobble stones, accent rocks and trees in a random manner.
They will include plants such as bare grass sage and redbud trees. There are 13 different medians along the stretch of road that extends 9,000 feet from Woods Valley Road to Cole Grade Road.
Tuesday about 9:30 a.m. an older sedan turning on to VC Road (westbound) at Cole Grade Road was hit by a new (paper plates) Infiniti SUV. As the sedan crossed into oncoming traffic a new Chevy Suburban (paper plates) driving eastbound, lost control and impacted a semi-trailer heading westbound. The driver of the Suburban had to be extracted from her vehicle and then transported to the hospital. See story inside.
Valley Center High School’s top ten graduating seniors for 2007 were announced this week they are (not in order in the photo) Marisol Cortes—Valedictorian (4.48), Caleb Oakes—Salutatorian (4.34), Amanda Grovom, Matthew Bishop, Rachel Halligan, Ryan Harris,
Kenny Vexler, Michael Magnani, Michael Aviles and Richard Russell.
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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