Fran DeWilde has been riding since she was three. That’s nearly 80 years in the saddle.
So it’s entirely appropriate that Fran DeWilde, horsewoman, former parade chairman, one-time Citizen of the Year, a girl from the Sunflower State, will be leading this year’s Western Days parade as grand marshal.
The honor was announced this week by the Chamber of Commerce.
Riding from the time she was little she spent some time living on a farm. Twice a year from the time she was eight until she was in high school she helped her grandfather move cattle. So she was about as confident in the saddle as she was afoot.
But if you think Mrs. DeWilde is all about horses—you’re wrong. She is a woman of parts.
Born in southeastern Kansas, she attended a one room schoolhouse before moving first to Russell, Kansas and then to Wichita, where she graduated from high school and then obtained a degree in music and German—with minors in French and Math—from Friends University, a Quaker college.
She was chosen by the university to go with a group of music students to Salzburg, Austria in the summer of 1949, where, among other things, she lived in the home of a music student and played oboe under the baton of Wilhelm Furtwängler, one of the most celebrated conductors of the 20th century, where she was able to play several Mozart operas.
“I loved it!” she recalls.
Returning to the states she took on the job of teenage program director of the Kansas YWCA for four years.
Then she returned to Europe where she visited YWCAs all over the continent, shooting movies and gathering material for lectures for use in Y teams and summer camps for Y officers all over the states.
In 1953–55 she served as program director of the Army service clubs in Tokyo, Tokorozawa and Omiya, Japan.
She considered library science as a career and was librarian at the Camp Pendleton Marine Base until 1960. While there she had a chance to practice her musical skills, playing the organ at church services every Sunday for several years.
She was later hired as a social worker in San Diego County and in 1965 became became a social work supervisor until 1981 when she retired due to a spinal injury.
She had moved to Valley Center in 1967 and married her second husband, John (known to Valley Center residents for his beekeeping), in 1970. He adopted her daughter, Charlene, from a previous marriage.
She moved to Valley Center because of her friendship with Del Smith (who was a charter of the Vaqueros). So it is accurate to say that she moved to VC because its horse country and because the Vaqueros was a family horse club.
After retiring from social work Mrs. DeWilde managed a Western store in Oceanside and worked at Wallace Hardware for at time before securing a real estate license and joining Ruth Parsons Realty and finally Krueger Realty before formally retiring as an agent this past March.
During that time she has been very involved in local civic affairs. She was president of the Chamber of Commerce in 1987 and Citizen of the Year in 1994. She served as Western Days parade chairman for over 20 years.
During those two decades she brought in paraders from all over Southern California, including participants in the Rose Bowl Parade, as well as many floats and equestrian entries—bringing the average number of participants up to 130.
She has also served as president of the VC Vaqueros for two years and as a director for over 25 years. Mrs. DeWilde was elected director of the Parks & Rec board ten years ago. She has also been an Ag Booster and a charter member of the VC Promenaders square dance club.
She has taught dog obedience classes and bred and showed Dachshunds and Dobermans.
She continued to ride horses until about a year ago when pain from an old spinal injury—the same one that caused her to retire—forced her to stop. However, recent successes in pain management have given her optimism that maybe someday soon she will be back in the saddle.
Even though she no longer rides she keeps busy with the Vaqueros as show chairman, in charge of putting on fun shows and the Silver Buckle series of shows. She is also a licensed judge for the National Gymkhana Assn.
“Valley Center is the best place in the world to live,” she says. “I come from the country in Kansas. The only time I lived in the city was when I was in Tokyo and later in Salzburg. So I love country!”
NFL great Emmitt Smith met members of the Valley Center Jaguar Football team on Wednesday when he was at Jaguar Stadium to film a shoe commercial. The high school facility was rented and high school students were included in the commercial. See story B1.
The VC Fire Protection District is getting in line for federal stimulus money to build a third station—at district property on White Star Lane.
District staffers are working feverishly to get the grant application paperwork in order that would allow the station to be “shovel ready” in 120 days from the time the grant is awarded—if it is awarded.
The district will need to piggy-back onto a larger San Diego County Fire Authority application for stimulus money to pay for between 14–30 fire stations throughout the county.
This would utilize pre-existing architectural plans for fire stations, which means less time involved in permit approval. This process is known as “design-build” and was used by the local school district for one of its schools, the Lilac School.
Fire Board Pres. Dan Thornton is on the agenda of Monday night’s VC planning group meeting. He will ask the group’s support to get a waiver from permitting to allow work to begin on the station in four months.
That would be helpful in getting the project shovel ready, which is a requirement for federal stimulus money.
Thornton will ask the group to waive its normal review process in order to meet this requirement for the new building.
Thornton commented, “This is something that we will be in the ring with everyone else. I find it very exciting.”
If the district qualifies for the money to build on White Star Lane (which is off Cole Grade and near the high school) it will be able to use the money saved to add an administrative building at the same location.
“We are running out of administration room,” said Thornton.
The money would not come from TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program). It will be recovery funding disbursed to the Assistance to Firefighters Grant, which is administered through FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency).
The grant is given annually, but this is the first time that funding has been made available for facilities construction.
Fire District Administrator John Byrne told The Roadrunner, “When we found out about that prospect we asked if we could piggyback onto that process to get architectural drawings and plans and specifications.”
The district would have to write its own grant but it would use County resources to put it together. Equally importantly, the County has people trying to streamline the process through the Dept. of Planning & Land Use.
Using preselected drawings and specs would help lower the cost of a fire station from what it would otherwise be.
Byrne is unready to state at this time how much the fire station will cost.
“We are pushing forward at great speed so that when the window opens for applying for the funds we will be able to get in line immediately,” said Byrne.
Go “Nuts for the Cure” this weekend at Bates Nut Farm, Saturday, May 9, 7 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Susan G. Komen 3-Day walkers and Valley Center Women’s Club have pulled together a day of events for the whole family.
You can help support the fight against breast cancer by attending the the 5K, pancake breakfast, visiting craft and vendor booths and bidding in the silent and live auction.
Bring the kids for the pony rides, games and activities, People's Choice Car Show, barbecue cheeseburgers, live bands from 10:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. The Queen of Hearts will have their Motorcycle Poker Run too.
Penny Blazej, the VC
Rotary Club’s candidate, has as her slogan, “A drug-free Valley Center.”
Unlike other candidates, Blazej is not running a whimsical, humorous campaign. She has a serious message to get across to the people that she hopes will vote for her.
A licensed clinical social worker in private practice since 1996, about half of Blazej’s practice is with teens. “And the vast majority of them are into drugs. They are very prevalent here. The kids can get them for free practically. Not just the illegal drugs, but also the prescription drugs that the kids steal from their parents.
“When you deal with kids who are fourteen or fifteen and drug addicted they will have the addiction problems all their lives.”
For that reason she would like to see access to drugs in VC stopped, even if it means that parents have to lock up their prescription drugs.
“Drugs are available readily on campus and if they can’t get them on campus they can go somewhere in Escondido,” she says.
She always interviews kids at the end of the program. “They always say, ‘Get to us earlier!’ and ‘Everyone tells them that drugs are bad, when they are good!’ They see their parents openly popping Xanex and it’s modeling. I’m sure that the parents are not aware that they are modeling.”
Drugs are not the same as they were when those parents were teens. “They are not as pure. They are being cut with stuff that is horrific for the body and the doses vary hugely, so the kids don’t know what they are getting.”
Methamphetamine (“crystal meth”) is the most addictive drug out there and it’s manufactured locally. “It’s cheap. People have access to it and they are addicted before they even know it,” she says.
She puts alcohol under the same category. Teens drink a lot and the number one killer for kids between the ages of 16–18 is drunk driving.
She would like to see more programs for kids to discourage them from drinking and driving.
“Churches such as Ridgeview and St. Stephen have good programs that keep the kids busy doing things that the kids like to do.”
She would like to see non-church groups offering some of the same kinds of programs.
“Schools have a lot of activities during the week but it’s the weekend where the community can step in and do some cool things for kids. That’s a vision I’ve had for the community for a very long time since I opened my practice.”
Blazej’s views align well with the Rotary Club that she is representing in the Honorary Mayor’s race. “The Rotary is very strong in education, very strong in community service and that’s not just not here in Valley Center but worldwide. Rotary’s reach is incredible.”
Rotary has raised funds to install clean water systems in Africa and helped build schools and provide education worldwide. Currently the club is doing interviews for this year’s scholarships.
The club’s major fund-raiser is the Western Days pancake breakfast.
A VC resident for seven years, Blazej has an office in Valley Center and Escondido.
As the campaign progresses Blazej will put money jars around town to collect donations and she may also have an event or two.
If you want to contact the candidate, call her at 760-685-3403 or email her at pblazej@vcweb.org.
“Go, fight, win! Go Coach Jeanna!” is the slogan of Jeanna Slattery, representing Valley Center Pop Warner in the Honorary Mayor’s race.
Slattery is the cheer coordinator and head coach of the national championship cheer team the Midgets, who took first place in JAMZ Vegas last year. This is her ninth year of coaching and has been head coach since 2003.
Slattery has heard that other mayoral candidates are throwing out challenges, and she has one of her own: “I’m challenging the other three mayor’s candidates to a karaoke challenge!”
The karaoke challenge will be held May 13, 7 p.m. at Casa Reveles Mexican Restaurant.
The challenge works this way: People show up and vote for whoever they think has done the best job of singing. Whoever raises the most money wins the challenge. “Everybody knows that I hate singing with a passion, and I suck at it so bad, that this will be an entirely fair challenge!” she says.
Coach Jeanna’s campaign managers are Gina Mitchell and Lisa Scarpello.
They have come up with five promises that she will keep if she is elected mayor:
1) Coach Jeanna’s birthday, Sept. 13, will be designated a holiday, no school, no work and a street party with ice cream and apple pie.
2) My stimulus package. All VC students who make a 3.0 and above will get a $10,000 shopping spree.
3) The Charger cheerleaders will be at every opening VCPW football game for the next ten years.
4) The Charger football players will kick off every VCPW football game for the next ten years.
5) A free Jonas Brothers concert for all VC kids.
In her role as cheer coordinator for VCPW, Coach Jeanna leads her girls in six competitions a year.
The team has gone to Florida twice to the Pop Warner National tournament and in 2007 they were the regional champions for Wescon (which encompasses California, Arizona, New Mexico, Hawaii and Nevada).
The girls she coaches are in grades 7–10 and are aged 11–15. Many if not most of them go on to be high school cheerleaders. Last year the entire JV team consisted of former Pop Warner cheerleaders. Next year both the varsity and JV will be predominantly former Pop Warner cheerleaders.
There are three levels of competition for the girls. At the local level they compete against seven teams. If they win they go to the regionals and compete against 17 teams. If they make it to the nationals in Florida, they cheer against 17 other teams.
As well as they have done competing at the national levels, this is the first year that Pop Warner has “fielded” a mayor’s candidate.
“We decided it was a great opportunity for our league to do something more in the community, to raise some money for the kids,” says Slattery, who was asked by Pop Warner president Charla Papp to represent the club.
They like the idea that the money raised will go to local scholarships. Pop Warner is a scholastic based organization where team members have to maintain good grades.
Coach Jeanna and her supporters plan to be at the corner of Cole Grade & Valley Center roads with megaphones to collect donations on upcoming Friday evenings before the election.
They are also planning to do a bake sale and have baked items available at Gina’s Salon and Day Spa (where Coach Jeanna is a stylist) where you can donate towards the campaign.
The candidate will also have donation collection points around town where you can drop cash in a megaphone towards the campaign.
Donations can be dropped off at Gina’s, 28746 Valley Center Road, or mailed to POB 1212, Valley Center, CA 92082, c/o VCPW Mayor’s Race. You can find out more information at www.vcpopwarner.com or contact the campaign at compcheervc@yahoo.com.
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UPDATE: McCowan says he will answer the challenge! “I would rather eat then sing and sing rather than dance, but I will do almost anything to raise money for students,” he told The Roadrunner.
Quisquis also answered the challenge: “This karaoke challenge sounds like ‘dirty politics.’ If it is a fund raiser…votes to be split equally and the people's choice gets bragging rights, then, in the words of a highly elected official ‘BRING IT ON!’ ”
Honorary Mayor candidate Ron McCowan bills himself as “the unprincipled principal.” He represents the VC Kiwanis Club.
This is the second time McCowan has run for mayor. Last year he represented the Chamber! How is that for unprincipled?
“Since they didn’t win with me they dumped me and took Quisquis, I guess. So this is a grudge match!”
He added, “Not only can I be bought, I aim to win at any cost! So, if necessary, I’ll sell grades at the high school!”
And it didn’t escape the notice of some observers that with his moustache McCowan does resemble the classic villain Snidely Whiplash.
A member of the Kiwanis for 11 years, he has been principal of Valley Center High School for three years. In 2008 he was named Citizen of the Year.
He has worked in the VC-P school system since the high school opened 11 years ago.
He lives in Valley Center with his wife, Nell Rose and his three boys, Randy, Ryan and Ronnie in a house he and his wife designed and both helped build.
He always drive his ‘57 Chevy in the Western Days parade.
McCowan was quick to answer Quisquis’s challenge.
“I definitely would take up Quisquis’s challenge in any arena, although I’m trying to figure out what arena would be fair to him!
“I’m not opposed to any kind of eating contest. We could go to
Valley View and have an eating contest! Just line up the food and line me up to the table!”
McCowan recently told his dad that he was running for mayor a second time. “He asked me if the third time I would just be smart enough to say no!”
Patty Christopher, principal of the primary school, is McCowan’s campaign manager.
“She’s better known as the primary school’s Queen Bee,” says McCowan.
The candidate is putting donation jars all around town, including one at the high school, primary school and possibly at Armstrong Feed & Supply.
Fund-raising events will be announced.
“It is a short campaign season but it’ll be intense!” says McCowan. “I’ve been training for this my whole life!”
McCowan is inviting readers to send in suggestions for “unprincipled acts” to mccowan.ro@vcpusd.net.
“I think it’s a great thing to be able to raise funds for student scholarships to help the kids further their educational goals,” he says, adding, “I love my job. Valley Center is really a unique place and we have a lot of things going on at our high school.”
Proclamation by Marshal “Calico” Craig Ames
Hello good friends and residents of Valley Center.
As in the past years (so many we cannot count them any more), it is time for Western Days. As in the past, the Marshal’s Posse has dispatched with great speed these scum of the earth individuals who have tried to disrupt our event with swift justice thanks to Judge Elam and his always fine hanging rope.
This year me and my marshal’s posse have learned that the Oakwood Ground Hogs outlaw gang are going to attempt to once again try to disrupt our Western Days event.
As in the past we have been able to track them. But this year it is a little bit more difficult because as with everything going on with the economy even the outlaws are finding out how hard it is to keep their robbing and pillaging funded.
We have learned that they are going to give up or sell their horses to fund the operations.
In doing so they have had to find another way to enter town. That being said this office has found out that they are going to enter Valley Center disguised as first responders using old fire trucks.
They will be all over town starting on the 15th of May at Smokey's Lake Wohlford Cafe at about 6:30 p.m., on the 21st at Terry's Hay and Grain at 5 p.m. and working their way down to Fat Ivor’s.
On the 22nd they will be on the other side of town as to rob the bank at 5 p.m. and then work their way down the Valley Center Road and end up at the Community Center so as to disrupt the Mayor's Race at about 6:30 p.m.
So keep your eyes open because there will be plenty of shootouts during this time. Hope you have a safe and enjoyable Western Days.
By DAVID ROSS
This week—more or less—marks my 25th year at The Roadrunner, most of it as editor. I figure that’s something around 15,000 articles I’ve written for the paper. Some small, some large. Some good, a few really good, most of them adequate, some of them bloody awful.
When I was entering the journalistic profession (the old-fashioned way, without a degree), I thought that the best thing that could ever happen to me was that I would be the weekly editor of a community newspaper, reporting the heartbeat of a town in the heartland of America.
That’s more or less what has happened. Let me let you in on a little secret: writers become editors so that they can protect their work from being messed up. So the best of all worlds for me has always been one where I was editor and a major contributor.
I have seen 24 Western Days, and will soon see my 25th. I remember the first one I covered. It was so hot that after the parade I limped back to the office to wait for the traffic jam to unglue, and fell asleep on the floor! These days I have a cot.
I was hired by Roadrunner founder Van Quackenbush on a temporary basis after he had back surgery. But like the man who came to dinner, I was hard to get rid of. Later a consortium of five owners had the generosity to keep me on and Dale & Shirley Good have endured my idiosyncrasies for something like 16 years.
A journalist and editor couldn’t ask for better support. If it’s news, they insist that I cover it. The purpose of a paper, in their view, is to report the news, fairly and thoroughly.
It’s been quite a quarter century. As Dr. Seuss might put it, “Oh, the things I’ve seen!” I’ve watched many things happen in this town—seen it grow from perhaps 5,000 people to over 20,000.
I’ve seen it tear itself apart over sewers, and unite over bringing a high school to town. I’ve seen people behave in the most noble ways possible during and after fires—evacuating with a calmness that would have done the Brits proud during the Blitz, and helping fire survivors afterwards with wallets and hearts open.
Valley Center is a special place. It has been and continues to be my pleasure and my privilege to record its many voices, to reflect its many faces and to watch it grow.
And now, if you excuse me, I have a few thousand more articles to write.
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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