Year In Review —
We remember 2010

It’s in one year and out the other as 2011 replaces 2010! While it may not have been the worst of times, we doubt that many of us would list the past twelve months as being the best year of our lives.

It was a year that began with rains “of Biblical proportions,” and is going out in much the same way.

JANUARY

As the year began, the new president of the VC Parks & Rec District, Tom Litchfield, began his term by talking about how cash strapped the district was going to be and how one of its greatest challenges was to find a home for the Vaqueros horse club.
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As is now traditional for election years, Supervisor Bill Horn got himself in trouble with a verbal faux pas that made many people think that he had had an ex parte communication with the proponents of a project that he was hearing: Merriam Mountains.
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Diane Conaway was honored as Citizen of the Year for her activities in raising money for worthy causes and for being an active member of the Valley Center Music Boosters and North San Diego County Assn. of Realtors.
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One of Valley Center’s giants, Glen Bell, founder of a massive restaurant chain, but beloved locally for Bell Gardens, which he lovingly maintained for a decade, died at the age of 86.
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During this month, especially in the second half, a man’s best friend was his sandbag and authorities warned residents to stock up on food and water for possibly a week. Some chose to disregard warnings, and several foolhardy motorists were caught trying to cross some of the raging waters that closed some roads in town.
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Appropriately enough, given the hazardous times, a new organization devoted to rescuing animals from disasters formed: Large Animal Safety Team. The group began gathering facts from local animal owners to form a database so they could know where the animals were in case of an emergency.

FEBRUARY
Former Hidden Meadows resident, author of 16 books, and former Roadrunner columnist Caryl Krueger died at the age of 80.
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The home of Chris “the woodcutter” Marszalek, local artist, on Palomar Mountain, began to rise out of the ashes more than two years after it burned down.
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Jags Grill and Spirits was sold to Kale & Cheryll Evans of 4S Ranch.
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The San Pasqual Band of Indians sued the State of California in federal court for $115 million, money that it claimed it lost when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was enforcing his interpretation of a ceiling on the total number of slot machines in the state.
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The Rincon tribe and the Catholic Church consecrated the St. Bartholomew Chapel that had burned in the 2007 wildfires, but which rose triumphantly from the ashes.
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Valley Center’s first 24-hour business in many years—the United Oil gas station and convenience store— held a grand opening. The festivities included a ribbon cutting coordinated by the Valley Center Chamber of Commerce.

MARCH
The ‘Year of Accretive’ began in earnest when the Planning Commission began holding hearings on the controversial development proposal for Valley Center’s west side. Also on the Planning Commission’s plate was the Orchard Run development. The commissioners voted to postpone action for 60 days in order to take a “field trip” out to Valley Center to take in the lay of the land as it related to the Accretive proposal.
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The Chamber of Commerce announced that the Stampede Rodeo and Western Days would be back together after several years of being run by different organizations.
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The VC Municipal Water District approached the State to petition for a low interest loan that would make a small sewer possible that could serve a proposed Major Market. The loan would come from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) and would help fund the Woods Valley Ranch Water Reclamation Facility Phase II.
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Palomar Mountain held a grand opening to celebrate the completion of its Community Center, which had been overseen for many months by the dedicated Earl Walls.
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The Valley Center History Museum began planning an expansion, complete with blueprints.
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Kelsey Schwarz was named Miss Valley Center 2010 and Brittney Usher became Junior Miss Valley Center 2010.
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The Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians dedicated a 1 Megawatt solar plant that provides enough power to run about 90% of the Rincon casino property’s heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system and reduces grid consumption.
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Max C. Mazzetti, former Rincon tribal chairman, and the man who many called “The Senator,” died March 25 at the age of 88.
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The Board of Supervisors voted 4–1 (Horn voting no) to cut the supervisors’ Neighborhood Reinvestment Fund for each supervisor from $2 million per year to $1 million.
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Third grade instructor Karen Bassett was named Teacher of the Year by the Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District.
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After nearly 30 years of equestrian shows and family fun at Aerie Park, the Valley Center Vaqueros officially began their move next to the community center on Lilac Road. This was seen as only a temporary move, and the Vaqueros were to find that the County was standing in their way to prevent them from holding any shows at that location without paying for a prohibitively expensive major use permit.
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The Planning Commission endorsed the draft documents of the General Plan Update that included the Valley Center Community Plan.
The VC Planning Group’s proposed downsizing of the Villages was mostly approved. This is a reduction of the amount of up-zoning in the villages that the County Dept. of Planning & Land Use (DPLU) originally proposed—and which the group successfully fought.
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Valley Center High School sent three of its grads to top military academies. ASB President Kord Roberts was selected to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, while Lance Bell and CSF President David Macfarlane were selected to attend the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.

Part II

MAY
The Marshal’s Posse, a longtime participant in Western Days, announced that it wouldn’t be participating this year. The group had creative differences with the Western Days committee.
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Matt Helfrich and his wife, Danielle, arrived to pastor the Light of the Valley Lutheran Church.
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“More bribes means more money for Valley Center to build an overhead horse trail from VC Road to Escondido,” declared Jack Bose, the reluctant candidate that the Valley Center Rotary Club threw into into the Honorary Mayor’s race.
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The San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians applied to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to put about nine acres on the corner of Valley Center Road and N. Lake Wohlford Road into federal trust to make it part of the reservation.
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As Western Days roared into town, the Chamber announced that Marcia Townsend would lead the parade on Saturday. Later in the week Jack Bose won the Honorary Mayor’s contest.

JUNE
As the deadline approached when the VC fireworks show organizers had to nail down permits and make commitments, it was $7,000 short, according to Kelly Crews, who headed the community fireworks show each year.
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Young Cora Lindberg and the man whose life she saved—her father, Art Lindberg—were recognized by the Burn Institute.
The VC teen was lauded, both for bravely facing the terror of her father being suddenly torched by flames, and for her resourcefulness in extinguishing the fire when the traditional “stop, drop and roll” failed to quench it.
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Valley Center remembered its longtime librarian, Joyce Conway Rooney, who died at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, due to pulmonary complications.
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The organizers of VC’s fireworks show announced that the funding had come through from Valley View Casino just in time to save the show.
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The County began work planting the median in the middle of Valley Center Road.
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Over the weekend Harrah’s Rincon Casino reopened its buffet which it has dubbed “Modern Food Theater.”
The refurbished and rethought buffet lets guests watch chefs prepare food on the buffet line in what is known as “action stations,” but which the casino is marketing as “modern food theater.”
Jim Courter of VC was awarded Volunteer of the Year from the Fire Safe Council of San Diego County. Courter was given the award for his work in co-founding Valley Center’s Fire Safe Council, and helping to launch VC CERT (Community Emergency Response Team).
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The Indian Health Council celebrated its 40th anniversary of providing medical services to Native Americans with an event that was open to the public.
Hundreds attended the event. The ceremony began with a formal color guard of Indian veterans carrying the U.S. and California flags as well as the flags of the nine tribes that support the IHC.
The festive open house featured health screenings, prize giveaways, tours of the facility, and a Fun Zone for children.
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Both of the school district’s unions agreed to a 1/2% cut in salaries for the upcoming year.
At the June meeting the Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District board announced the agreement between the teachers’ union, classified union and administrators to all reduce the school year by one day, which amounts to a 1/2% cut in pay.
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The County began work on the 2 1/2-mile-long Heritage Trail along Valley Center Road.
The contractor had 90 days to complete the work and then have a 275 day plant establishment period followed by two full years of maintenance of the landscaping and irrigation.
The Heritage Trail is 2 1/2 miles from Woods Valley to Cole Grade.
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Lots of people were scrutinizing Supervisor Bill Horn’s garage’s roof since a report last week that speculated that the VC resident did an addition to his West Lilac property without permits.
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The director of the Dept. of Planning & Land Use (DPLU), Eric Gibson offered for DPLU staff to meet with members of the VC Planning Group and the group’s Equine Zoning Subcommittee over the issue of requirements put on horse owners who want to board horses on their property.

JULY
About 2,000 attendees turned out for the July 4 fireworks show at the community ballfields.
“Everybody loved it and it was a terrific show,” enthused fireworks organizer Kelly Crews, who reported that she was “soaking my hand,” from cleaning up the ballfields where the show was viewed from.
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The VC Planning Group wants the southern entrance into town to remind motorists less of a jumbo jet runway and more like a village.
The group night threw its support behind a proposal to install textured brick colored medians at two intersections in the South Village to calm traffic.
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The 2.34 acres on White Star Lane that the fire district has relied on for years as a future site for its third firehouse and an administrative facility—is no longer useful.
Valley Center Fire Protection District board members heard about the problem at the July meeting from district administrator John Byrne.
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San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) revealed that it installed about 80 wind measurement devices throughout the Backcountry, including an undisclosed number in Valley Center.
These devices will complement the existing National Weather Service weather stations that are already in place.
It will assist the power company in determining which areas to shut down power to in high winds.
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To newly installed Valley Center History Museum board president Earl Brown, the museum’s mission is simple, “preserving the future of Valley Center’s past.”
Brown recently replaced longtime board president Bill Hutchings, who had to step down due to illness.

AUGUST
The 150th anniversary—the sesquicentennial—of the first settlement in Valley Center is months away, in 2012, but planning had already started on what promises to be a major, community-wide celebration.
Under the auspices of the Valley Center Historical Society, the anniversary fete will span a five-month period from January through May 2012.
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Pauma Valley resident Donald P. Shiley once described himself as “a man who tinkers.”
The medical world described him as an engineering genius whose tinkering saved hundreds of thousands of lives. Along with his beloved wife Darlene, he was also a world renowned philanthropist.
Mr. Shiley died quietly on July 31 at the age of 89.
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Joe Chisholm, the visionary Pauma Valley resident who led the Pala-Pauma Sponsor Group for 18 years, announced that he was leaving the area to care for his aging mother in Carlsbad.
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Valley Center Parks & Rec. District this week began renovating Adams Park to include a new arbor, dance floor gazebo, and covered patio areas as well as the new ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act compliant) bathrooms, walkways, lighting, and parking.
The county Planning Commission Friday kicked the can of the Accretive Group’s PAA (plan amendment application) request for its Valley Center Sustainable Community down the road at least six months.
At the end of a long day during which 40 speakers testified for the project and 45 spoke against, the commission voted 4-1 to postpone a decision until after the Board of Supervisors adopts the General Plan Update (GPU)—expected to be sometime this fall or early winter.
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All Tribes Charter School learned that Michelle Parada, the co-developer of the charter school, had been chosen “Educator of the Year” by the National Indian Educators Association, NIEA.
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Six Light Brown Apple Moths found in San Diego were considered likely to trigger a county-wide ag quarantine soon.
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Valley Center-Pauma school board voted to offer boys lacrosse next spring at the high school.
The program was contingent upon the Valley Center Lacrosse Foundation providing 100% funding by Oct. 1.
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Citrus and avocado rancher Bill Hutchings, an exemplar of the business man, the family man and the community man, who served on every local board there was to serve on, including nearly 30 years on the hospital board, died Aug. 12 after a battle with brain cancer. He was 81.
With his trademark buzz cut white hair, silver Western belt buckle, bolo tie and rangy Western quality, Hutchings had hardly changed in the last quarter century. He seemed ageless. But he was also, “a man who never met a stranger.”

Part III

SEPTEMBER
Principal Ron McCowan led reopening ceremonies at the high school by “riding” into the gym on a surf board borne by burly students!
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Mike Schanze took over as principal of Oak Glen and Valley Center Prep (K–12) just before the opening of school.
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One of VC’s oldest businesses, Wallace Lumber and Hardware Inc. announced it would be closing its doors. Owner Erwin Jones would be retiring at age 70.
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Armed men posing as DEA agents invaded two homes on Keys Creek Road near the Lavender Fields.
Such an incident is extremely rare in Valley Center, and Sgt. Bob Bishop wasn’t happy that it happened in his town.
“We don’t need this kind of crud happening in Valley Center!” said Bishop.
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The County identified $50,000 to develop community evacuation route studies for the communities of Jamul/Dulzura and Valley Center.
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Repeatedly interrupted by applause, Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District Asst. Supt. Mary Gorsuch revealed API (Academic Performance Index) and AYP (Average Yearly Progress) results for 2010, which included the fact that four of the district’s schools were expected to exceed the State’s goals of 800 for this year.
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Mercy Medical Transportation Inc., which provides local ambulance services, gave a used ambulance to Palomar Mountain Volunteer Fire Dept. Pal Fire.
Richard Roesch, president of Mercy, heard that the volunteers needed a used ambulance type vehicle. He found a 2002 F-350 Ford ambulance with about 100,000 miles on it and donated it tobe used as a “fire rescue” and “command post” (incident radio command).
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Bo Mazzetti, chairman of the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians, and Anthony Brandenburg, chief Judge of the Intertribal Court of Southern California were among those honored at the 43rd annual Native American Day, at the state capitol in Sacramento Sept. 23.

OCTOBER
About half of the farmers in the region had so far not joined a group to monitor water run-off. They faced thousands of dollars in fines if they don’t act by the end of the year. That included about half of the 1,500 farmers in Valley Center.
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A true pioneer of the American space program, Robert Truax, died on Sept. 17 at the age of 93 at his home in Valley Center.
Truax was at the birth of the American space program and worked with Robert Goddard, the father of American rocketry as well as helping to design many advanced missiles during the Cold War.
He was also a man with an enormous sense of fun and a sense of the possibilities of space flight. In recalling his adventures in the dawn of rocketry he would talk about rockets he built as a boy out of balsa wood that exploded upon ignition or other mishaps and would add, “that was good fun!”
He became almost as well known in retirement for his schemes to put a private rocket ship into orbit and for building a rocket ship for daredevil Evel Knevel to attempt (unsuccessfully) to fly across the Snake River Canyon.
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Homer “Skip” Skillion, a familiar figure around Valley Center and Escondido for 20 years, died with family by his side on Monday, Oct. 4. He was 108 years old.
The local press has been covering most of his birthdays, each one an event in itself, since 2002 when he turned 100.
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The 12-year process of the General Plan Update (GPU), once optimistically called GP 2020, was drawing to a conclusion as the Board of Supervisors begin reviewing the enormous document.
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Valley Center Municipal Water District’s (VCMWD) agricultural, residential and commercial rates are among the lowest in the county, according to a report released this week by the district.
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The Homecoming celebration may have been shrouded in a fog, but a large, enthusiastic Valley Center crowd was on hand to see Valley Center High School seniors Nico Carrasco and Andreina Gervasio crowned king and queen.
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San Diego Gas & Electric Co. told the Valley Center Fire Protection District (VCFPD) that it doesn’t have the security clearance necessary to find out what measures the power company has taken to protect residents from accidents to its natural gas pipeline that crosses the west side of town.

NOVEMBER
The Valley Center-Pauma school district and the County of San Diego sent letters to the Bureau of Indian Affairs protesting its finding that the San Pasqual tribal application to put 9.08 acres next to the middle school into federal trust does not require an environmental impact statement (EIS).
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Valley View Casino celebrated the grand opening of its new $72 million 108 room, seven story hotel with spectacular views of the surrounding mountains and canyons. The event was attended by officials of the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians and VIPs from the area
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The VC Planning Group voted to ask the County provide solar powered radar activated speed signs for Valley Center Road to remind motorists how fast they should be driving, and show them how fast they are actually driving.
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Donald Schloat, who worked for Walt Disney Studios as an artist for the animated feature Cinderella, who spent three and a half years during WWII as a POW of the Japanese, and for much of his artistic life created works that honored soldiers from that war, died on Oct. 31 at the age of 89.

DECEMBER
The Pinks wore pink as they celebrated the grand opening of their world famous hot dog outlet at Harrah’s Rincon Casino.
And just as people line up to buy the famous dogs at its Hollywood and Las Vegas outlets, so too were people lined up at Harrah’s.
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The Valley Center Stampede Rodeo started to plan the 10th annual event, which will happen in conjunction with Western Days on Memorial Day weekend.
“This year, there will be a few changes, improvements and definite surprises for everyone, starting with a few new faces,” reported rodeo chairman, Joyce Holmes.
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Valley Center got its first pawn shop in about a dozen years and possibly its first sign spinner ever as Casino Gold opened its doors.
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Valley Center’s varsity football team played its hearts out all season, but the Jaguars couldn’t stop the aerial attack of the Madison Warhawks in the CIF Division IV final, losing 40–14 at Qualcomm Stadium.
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Planning Commission voted 4–2 (with one commissioner abstaining) to approve the PAA (Planning Amendment Authorization) for the Accretive Group’s proposal for a 1,746 unit development on Valley Center’s west side.
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A landscaped 2.5-mile trail along Valley Center Road dedicated to pedestrians, cyclists and equestrians was officially opened on Dec. 16.
The opening was celebrated with a ceremony that included a trailhead plaque dedication to the late Brendan McNabb, a county Public Works project manager who played a key role in the trail’s development.
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Phil Bell, a personal finance adviser, former Vista fire captain and former Palomar College Fire Academy faculty instructor, was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Valley Center Fire Protection District board.
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The longest serving employee of the Valley Center Municipal Water District (VCMWD), Kathy Stetson, retired after 33 eventful years.
Mrs. Stetson had served as executive assistant to the general manager and board secretary during most of her tenure at the district.
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That’s all folks—until next year!

Some people pointed out to us that we left out important items in the final installment of the year in review. So here they are:

NOVEMBER
Although a revolution was brewing in the rest of the country, most local elections were low-key, with few surprising results.
Fifth District Supervisor Bill Horn was reelected to an unprecedented fifth term, garnering 53.37% of the vote to 46.63% for his challenger Steve Gronke. This feat will never be repeated by another other supervisor, unless the voters repeal the term limits law passed earlier this year.
On the Valley Center Municipal Water District board, Gary Broomell kept his seat, winning 67.69% of the vote compared to his challenger Al Sherr, with 32.31%.
Longtime VC Parks & Rec board member Eric Jockinsen was defeated for reelection, replaced by Marcia Townsend. Also elected were Tom Bumgardner and Fran DeWilde.
On the VC Planning Group, the winners were: Steve Hutchison, Larry Glavinic, Victoria Cloutier, Jonathan Vick, Lavonne Norwood-Johnson, Mark Jackson and Bob Davis.
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Karen Burstein, who ran unopposed for the VC-Pauma Unified School District board will take office at the December meeting.
She tells The Roadrunner: “I don’t really have an agenda at all. I just want to support the schools and I really want to help kids.
* * *
Water rate payers learned that the their bills would be going up in the new year by between 12–17%, depending on whether they were domestic or ag purchasers.