August 2010 Issue | Download the Full Issue

Have you ever been to a circus and dreamt about being one of the graceful trapeze artists?
Well dream no more—thanks to a local circus school in Escondido, called Circus Fund, people of all ages have the chance to experience the high flying trapeze.
Imagine yourself soaring through the air whirling and twirling into the chalky hands of a highly-trained professional only to be swung back around to your perch on the other side with a flip or two in-between. Sound like fun?
While it may sound like fun, it’s definitely not easy. The flying trapeze takes a lot of concentration and can make for some seriously sore muscles. The trick to a flawless (and painless) flight is timing. Timing is the key to saving your arms and stomach from being overworked, and it’s also essential for staying safe.
When you first jump off the trapeze pedestal, you are completely weightless. When you are in the middle of your pendulum swing, you are at your heaviest. You weigh about 190% of your actual weight.
As you continue to the opposite side of the swing, you are once again weightless. It makes perfect sense that you should time your moves and make them when you are weightless as opposed to when you weigh nearly double your body weight.
Of course, for those new to the trapeze, it is difficult to get the timing just right. This is where your instructors really come into play. In addition to teaching the ins and outs of trapeze, your instructors call out the steps you should be doing at the precise time you should be doing them.
They will tell you exactly when to swing your feet, when to pull your legs to the bar, when to hang by your knees, when to drop your arms, when to look up and when to release.
Following these instructions is extremely important. Although the school uses harnesses and safety ropes for additional guidance, listening to your instructors won’t only save your body from sprains and strains, but will assure you land safely on the net.
Circus Fund’s flying trapeze class has five levels. While some first-timers find they have a passion for the experience and attend circus school for advanced training, most participants simply take the introductory course. Some do it for fun; some do it to say they’ve tried it. Some do it to face their fears. Some do it as a group outing such as a bachelorette party.
Others do it because they got roped into it (pun intended). This is exactly how my husband Scott recently found himself attending circus school. While the trapeze was definitely not something he ever thought he would do, he said he’s glad he tried it.
“The last thing I ever thought I’d be doing on a Sunday afternoon in Escondido is taking trapeze lessons,” he said. “Only my wife could come up with that…but we had a great time.”
Circus Fund is actually a non-profit circus school and has been around since 2008. The organization offers classes in everything from the tightrope, to the trapeze, to silks. For more information on the various classes and schedules, visit www.circusfund.org or call 760-274-3651. Class takes place at 3333 Bear Valley Parkway in Escondido.

CCAE Exhibit Allows Art Lovers A Hands-On Experience

For those who avoid art museums because of snooty people who insist that you must “look but don’t touch” there is the interactive exhibit that opens in August 14 at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido.
At this exhibit, Leveled: An Interactive Experiment in Art, labels will abound that say: “please touch here,” words that you don’t often find in an art museum. The idea is to ENCOURAGE interaction between the museum and patrons.
Four artists—Wes Bruce, Ingram Ober, Marisol Rendon and Doris Bittar (in collaboration with poet Diane Gage and musician Jonathan Glasier) will create large-scale interactive installations based on different connotations of the word green.
From Aug. 15–Nov. 7 patrons can do the unthinkable...touch, alter, add and subtract from the current installation. The artists will return in November to react to the patrons’ changes.
Tara Smith, curator for the exhibit, says “The basic idea is to shift the expected boundaries and typical rules between artist, patron and curator.
“Our goal is to give each patron a wider relationship with the practice of art. To experience something they have never experienced before within the iteration of the artwork.”
The artists are “installation-based artists,” as opposed to a painter or sculptor who hangs something on a wall.
The artists will come into the gallery and do a makeover, including the floors and walls. Everything about the room and its atmosphere will be changed and made part of the artwork.
The idea is NOT to create a precious, untouchable artwork, but to open up a dream world of a different nature than reality. The patron literally walks into and becomes part of the artwork and is transported somewhere else.
“It’s an environment for the visitor to experience,” says Smith. “It can be just visual, but two of the artists we are dealing with will use sound as well.
“One is working with a local composer to compose two beautiful pieces. You will hear one musical piece and in a different section of the same artwork, hear a different composed piece,” says Smith.
In Doris Bittar’s work, music will be created by the patrons. When they move and shift panels of the work, they will create sounds from dulcimars and guitar strings. They will hear the sounds of Arab, Chinese and Aztec cultures when exploring Bittar’s world of pattern.
“We are trying to break these traditional boundaries. One point of ‘Leveled’ is to allow patrons to touch, change and interact,” says Smith.
In artist Ingram Ober’s exhibit, patrons will ride a tricycle and release green dye onto a canvass on the floor. The paintings will then be hoisted on the ceiling as tapestries.
Artist Marisol Rendon will create a 16-foot diameter carpeted green “plate.” Patrons will be able to crawl onto the plate and sit. All around the plate will be gigantic furry felt sculptures of fruit and vegetables, including peas that you can sit on and huge broccolis hanging from the ceiling.
Artist Wes Bruce will create a fort-like installation, like those that children build, except that his “forts” are beautifully delicate, reference abandoned home structures, and include a heavy element of nostalgia.
“I like to describe them as wood quilts,” says Smith. “Bruce uses a lot of distressed wood and used materials.” Patrons will enter this gigantic fort, visit its many rooms, walk up stairs and crawl under a cubbyhole. The fort is inspired by a woman named Augustine Green, the wife of Mr. Green in the board game, Clue.
“The fort describes this woman’s personality and psychological state. It is almost a portrait of her psychological state and emotions through architecture,” says Smith.
Inside the fort will be collages of photos describing her life. Guests will be able to sit at old-fashioned typewriters and tape recorders and leave messages or type requests on how the fort could be made better and how it could change and evolve or things about Green’s personality that they want to know more about.
The interactive period will be from Aug. 14 to Nov. 7.
From Nov. 9-14 the artists will be in residence to respond to all of the interactions by patrons. They will work during open hours and recreate their artworks to reflect the patrons’ requests.
For example, Wes Bruce will make an additional fort in the space utilizing the suggestions.
“You can leave a note saying ‘I would love to see a silhouette of her in her rocking chair’ and come back and see if that is chosen and how he does it,” says Smith.
After Nov. 14, the curatorial staff will respond to the patrons and artists and rewrite all of the text to discuss the interaction.
The idea of the exhibition and the artists in residence was Smith’s concept. This is her first curatorship at CCAE, where she has worked for two years.
You can get a sneak preview of the exhibition and meet the artists on Aug. 14, 6-7 p.m. followed from 7-9 p.m. with a general public opening.
Purchase tickets to any performance at the Center from the box office and add a general museum admissions ticket for $2.
The museum is located at 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido. For information, call 760-839-4120.

Accretive Development: For The Developer and His Opponents, It’s Personal

Recently the San Diego County Planning Commission did something almost unheard of: it took a “field trip” to personally visit the site where Randy Goodson, CEO of the Accretive Group, wants to build what he calls the Valley Center Sustainable Community.
Accretive requests a PAA (plan amendment application) for a 1,746 unit project in a delta-shaped area bounded west by Old Hwy 395, north by West Lilac Road and south by Circle R Drive, near I-15 on 38 parcels totaling 416 acres.
Three parcels front Old 395. The rest are not easily accessible from the freeway except by a circuitous route through side roads.
With the hoopla over developments such as Merriam Mountains, this project along The Boulevard might have escaped your notice. However, it is growing in the public’s radar since, if approved, it would dramatically change the existing General Plan and the General Plan Update (GPU) that the Board of Supervisors will vote on this fall. It would do this by changing land currently zoned A-70 (4 acre min.) into high density residential.
Besides meeting on a tennis court where commissioners and a few hundred audience members could from a distance see the property in question, they also visited a cactus nursery that would be bisected—and the owners claim ruined financially—by a proposed road needed to serve the Accretive project. They ended their field trip in Valley Center’s “downtown,” “Villages,” from which Accretive proposes to move density to the western part of Valley Center, near I-15 and Old Hwy 395.
Amendment requests to the General Plan are not unprecedented, although highly unusual so close to a GPU being adopted by the Board of Supervisors.
This prompts opponents, which includes the entire Valley Center Planning Group, to accuse Accretive of trying to vault over developers who have in some cases pursued their visions for decades.
“The property owners in our villages have been working with the County for a decade through the GPU (General Plan Update) process. For Randy to come in at the eleventh hour and ask to start over is self-serving and unfair to our community,” declared Sandy Smith—an avowed opponent of Accretive—at a recent planning meeting.
One planner told Goodson, in his words, “to go away and not come back for five years.”
Relations have been cold since the group made it clear that it not only intended to say “no” but “hell, no!” This personal level of opposition to a project by a planning group is unusual. But so is Goodson’s aggressive in-your-face challenge to them. Developers usually maintain a level of affected respect for planners, despite personal opinions.
What sets off opponents is that the project would build in the middle of nowhere. Well, technically it is somewhere, but it doesn’t yet have access to sewer for that density and has a lax road network. Water availability continues as an issue in the region.
Valley Center planning members have vehemently opposed it since it surfaced two years ago as connected to Road 3A (popularly called “the road to nowhere”), a proposed road (later justified for a fire evacuation road) that could never happen without a large development to pay for it.
At that time few in the area had heard of Accretive, or Randy Goodson. They later learned that he had given $5,000 to a series of mailers that supported Supervisor Bill Horn’s 2006 reelection bid. The same year Road 3A appeared on county maps and Goodson began buying up property in the area.
Accretive’s past developments include the well-regarded San Elijo Hills, Otay Ranch and Ellicott Town Center. Goodson was also involved with Paradise Valley and the Harbor Club. Project designer Peter Calthorpe of Berkeley-based Calthorpe & Associates designed San Elijo Hills. Goodson invites comparisons with San Elijo. “Calthorpe is thought of as the best land planner in the world,” he says. Newsweek named him one of 25 “innovators on the cutting edge.”
Accretive’s PAA request was rejected by the planning group (Nov. 30, 2009) and by county Dept. of Planning & Land Use Director Eric Gibson, who wrote: “The proposed project would locate an area of higher density residential development out of the Valley Center village area within a rural, agricultural area… The proposed project would not be consistent with the General Plan Update.”
That put the PAA in the commission’s court (pun intended). Goodson wasn’t surprised. “… this was expected as DPLU has an unofficial policy of denying any PAA that doesn’t conform with the General Plan Update,” he said. He definitely hopes for a different vote from the commission.
Goodson says his project would save the Villages from traffic gridlock: “Our studies have shown that the current plans to transfer density from the areas between Valley Center and freeway into downtown will cause tremendous unmitigatable traffic failures for traditional Valley Center.”
He adds, “Valley Center current and future residents will benefit in many ways. Including by directing future growth over towards the I-15 corridor, Valley Center proper will be less subject to future growing pains, including traffic congestion and school boundary realignments and general construction disruptions…”
He also says, “Existing residents in the immediate area [of I-15] will also have many benefits, including improved public services, better and safer roads and reduced exposure to fires.”
Indeed, providing a new fire evacuation road is one of Goodson’s central tenets, and won him adherents in Valley Center—making the opposition there far from monolithic.
A PAA, as Goodson notes, merely gives Accretive the opportunity to develop a plan. He recently said, “… the Planning Commission will be deciding whether Accretive’s general concept of a sustainable community… is interesting enough to study. They’re not approving anything, they’re just agreeing to let us work with the community, county, state, and feds on a plan for future consideration.”
Goodson, as the very public face of Accretive, is passionate about his proposal. He has said, “What frustrates me is that there still seems to be a lot of misinformation, though we’re completely transparent. I don’t know if it’s because people don’t have the facts or don’t want to accept the facts. For our part, we’re doing everything we can to make sure people have the facts.”
The planning group would dispute that statement. Recently they took the unusual step of releasing a document that refuted point by point contentions Goodson had made in ads.
Goodson recently publically retracted a statement made in an ad that claimed that during the wildfires of 2007 “several fatalities” occurred on Old Castle Road and Valley Center Road due to inadequate road infrastructure. He wrote a mea culpa letter to the editor that said, “This ad incorrectly stated that there were fatalities in 2007 due to inadequate road infrastructure.”
The Accretive saga may come to a head in August when the Planning Commission votes. Veteran commission watchers are making no predictions.
If the commission rules against him, Goodson has promised to appeal to the Board of Supervisors. What happens there is anyone’s guess.
* * *
The San Diego County Planning Commission hearing on the Accretive PAA request is scheduled for Aug. 6 at 9 a.m. at the Planning Commission Board Room at DPLU in Kearney Mesa (5201 Ruffin Rd., Suite B, San Diego Ca 92123).

Fallbrook Pony Club

According to the United States Pony Club, its mission is “to provide a program for youth that teaches riding, mounted sports, and the care of horses and ponies, thereby developing responsibility, moral judgment, leadership and self-confidence.”
That’s also the mission of the Fallbrook Pony Club, according to its president, Scott DeWald.
Pony Club is one of the leading junior equestrian organizations in the world. The Fallbrook club is one of 600 individual clubs in the United States. That national club is based in Kentucky and is descended from the original Pony Club that started in England many years ago.
While many Pony Club members have gone on to national, international, and Olympic competitions, most members join because of their love of horses, desire to become a better rider, and a drive to achieve their best as an individual.
The Pony Club offers programs in dressage, eventing, show jumping, mounted games, tetrathlon, quiz, vaulting, foxhunting, and polocrosse, i.e. all activities related to English riding. They ride all horse breeds.
A child can join at a minimum of 6 years old, but is considered to have “graduated” by age 25.
The club currently has about a dozen young members, but it is always looking for new ones.
According to DeWald, “Parents do a lot of the support. We get them there and support them in that regard, but one thing I really like about it is that Pony Club really teaches independence.”
Many people who are into horses show up and take lessons. Whereas the philosophy in Pony Club is that you are 100% responsible for the preparation and the maintenance of the horse.
Once the parents get their kids to rallies, they become spectators only. They don’t help them do anything in terms of the competition.
Children are taught all aspects of horse management. They learn how to tack their horse and groom it. They learn the horse’s anatomy and health issues. And while children are not required to own a horse, they are required to have access to one, and one that is appropriate for their age. The club suggests that the combined age of rider and horse be at least 25 years. That means you want an experienced horse for an inexperienced child.
According to DeWald, “We often do combined training events, like dressage and jumping. We try to get a sizeable field. Combined training events are all fund-raisers, not open to the public, and we charge a participant entry fee in order to raise money for the club. We are a non-profit organization and have fund-raisers a couple of times a year.”
The Fallbrook club is part of the Southern California Region, which runs up to Norco.
The national club provides rules for all of the competitions that the local clubs participate in and provide lesson plans for the instructors. All of the club’s instructors are approved by a regional coordinator.
Safety is a primary concern, says DeWald. Students are rated according to ability. When a child first joins the club, the instructors observe him or her, and when they are comfortable, they will increase their skill level.
Beginners start at D level and advance to A. At “A” levels, the riders are potentially riding at near Olympic level competition.
“We have an overarching kind of event focus,” notes DeWald. It is based on three day events that include dressage one day, stadium jumping another day and cross country jumping the next. That doesn’t mean that they do three day events, but they do condensed format events in preparation for three-day competitions.
So, for example, the club will have a dressage rally and then a jumping rally and occasionally eventing rallies that combine several formats.
The rallies are team competitions that sometimes include individual competitions. There are four riders on a team and a stable manager who is in charge of keeping the stable area maintained and the equipment clean.
The Fallbrook Riders Field, a private club, where they meet is a ten acre facility that is also the home of the Fallbrook Silver Spurs.
“We are very much a self-supporting group of people who do weed whacking and other things to keep the place up. We are a pretty committed group,” says DeWald.
The Fallbrook Pony Club meets at the Fallbrook Riders Field located at 1621 South Stagecoach Lane, between Reche Road and South Mission Road. All Pony Club members must also become a member of Fallbrook Riders Field, which costs $125 annually.
DeWald concedes that English riding is not a “cheap” sport to be involved in. “And with the economy being what it is, it is a discretionary thing.”
Having said that, however, the skills taught and the experience in leadership, independence and self-sufficiency are priceless and provide an excellence preparation for adulthood.
For more information about the club, visit the Web site: www.fallbrookponyclub.com or call 760-473-6181 and 760-519-0405.

Get Wet & Beat The Heat!

You don’t have to travel far to find water to cool off from our seasonable summer heat. With the numerous beaches, pools, lakes and water parks, you’re just a splash away from some summer fun.
Water Parks
One of the biggest destinations this summer is Carlsbad’s Legoland California Resort, which is now home to the world’s first and only Legoland Water Park.
The park features a Build-A-Raft River where kids can customize their own raft out of Lego bricks and then float down the river. Then there is the Orange Rush family raft slide which is 11-feet wide and more than 300-feet long. Add in family cabanas, enclosed tube slides, lazy rivers, a zoo-themed water play area, and an interactive water play zone and you’ve got the ultimate water park experience.
Call 760-918-LEGO for more information or visit www.california.legoland.com.
If you can’t make it to Legoland’s new water park, why not check out The Wave Waterpark in Vista? This park is equally as fascinating in the number of slides, rides, rivers and water fun. There’s the 35 foot Salsa Twist slide, El Rio Loco, The Flow Rider and Riptide Slide, Rippety’s Rainforest, a swimming pool and more!
The Wave Waterpark also features swimming lessons, aquatics, CPR classes and even aqua camps. More information can be gathered at www.thewavewaterpark.com or by calling 760-940-WAVE.
City Pools
Of course, you don’t have to pay admission to a water park to get wet this summer. There are plenty of public swimming pools and splash parks along The Boulevard. Below is a quick list.
I recommend calling to find out the price and the hours of operation. Fallbrook High School, for example, is open to the public from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The cost is $3 for adults and $2 for children ages 17 and under.
Temecula - Temecula Swimming Pool: 951-694-6492
Fallbrook - Fallbrook High School: 760-723-6300
Valley Center - Adams Community Park Pool: 760-749-1304
Escondido – James A. Stone Municipal Swimming Pool: 760-839-4691
San Marcos – Cerro De Las Posas Aquatic Facility: 760-599-9783 or Woodland Park Aquatic Facility: 760-744-9000
Oceanside – Brooks Street Swim Center: 760-435-5225 or Marshall Street Swim Center: 435-5535
Carlsbad – Monroe Street Pool: 760-602-4685
Life’s a Beach
It’s safe to say that the number one place to get wet this summer is at one of the glorious San Diego beaches. With more than 70 miles of coastline, San Diego has a collection of amazing beaches—many of which are right here in North County. From Oceanside’s Harbor and Pier beaches, to Carlsbad’s State, South Ponto, San Elijo and Tamarack beaches, you’re bound to find some open sand. Keep busy between sessions of dipping in the ocean with volleyball, horseshoes, Bocce ball, reading or building a sandcastle.
Harbor Beach is one of North County’s largest beaches and features grills, fire pits, showers, and free parking. A more popular beach, however, is Pier View South which is just next to the Oceanside Pier. This is where you can watch surfing competitions throughout the summer or maybe even take in an event at the Oceanside Amphitheater located right above the Pier entrance.
Further south near Cardiff State Beach, you’ll find a nice tide pool area by the bluffs, which is always fun to explore. You really can’t go wrong with any of the beaches along Hwy 101 in North County. If you see a parking spot and beach access—take it and go!
Hang Ten
What is a summer in Southern California without surfing? Whether you want to rent a surf board or take a class, or if you have your own board, there is nothing quite like getting out on the big, blue ocean amidst fellow surfers and the occasional dolphin or sea lion. If you have never surfed before, there are several local companies that can teach you such as Surfin Fire, Kahuna Bob’s, Team Wahine, and Surf Camps USA. And you don’t need to limit it to surfing – body boarding, skim boarding and stand-up paddle boarding are as popular as ever. Give it a try!
Water Sports
While downtown’s Mission Bay is renowned for water sports such as skiing, wakeboarding and other fun—if you prefer to stay closer to home check out the Carlsbad Lagoon. Carlsbad Lagoon is a paradise of water sport activities with its open, calm and un-crowded waters. Plus, you can rent nearly any type of watercraft on-site like wave runners, jet skis, wakeboards, water skis, kayaks, stand-up paddle boards, canoes, peddle boats, aqua cycles and motorboats.
They even offer water sport lessons that include a boat, a driver, an instructor and equipment. Oceanside Harbor is also a Mecca for water sport activities and rentals. Visitors can rent all types of boats, kayaks, wave runners and more meanwhile experiencing beautiful, calm, undisturbed waters.
Swimming Lakes
While San Diego has many recreational lakes for fishing and boating, due to health and safety concerns, swimming, wading, and diving are prohibited in nearly all of them. However, while you can’t swim in most San Diego County city lakes, a short drive up I-15 to Lake Elsinore or Lake Perris will let you dive in and get wet from head to toe. Lake Skinner near Temecula also has an off-reservoir swimming area for taking a nice dip.
Be your own guide
Keep in mind that these are just a few suggestions of ways to get wet this summer. San Diego County has tons to offer from snorkeling and scuba diving, to bumper boats at Boomers, to sailing expeditions and harbor cruises (for those who want to be near water without getting in). The important thing is to find a place to relax, kick back, stay cool, have fun and beat the heat any way you can. Enjoy!

Pops Symphony Concert On The Green Celebrates 25th Anniversary

As darkness falls, the pops concert begins at Fallbrook’s iconic Grand Tradition, with the orchestra on one side of the lake, reflected in the water, and the audience on the other side. The moon rises on a magical moment.
This is the Fallbrook Music Society’s 25th anniversary Symphony Pops on the Green concert, although the society has been bringing quality performances to the community for 32 years.
The annual pops concert will be held Thursday, August 19. Gates open two hours before the concert begins, at 7: 30 p.m. About 1,300 people of all ages are expected to attend.
According to Brenda Montiel, president of the society, this year’s concert will highlight music of the movies.
Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel (the mermaid) in the Disney film The Little Mermaid, and whose performance of Part of Your World helped the film to win an Academy Award in 1990, will be accompanied by conductor Matthew Garbutt and the San Diego Symphony Orchestra.
Since her voice’s starring role in the classic animated film, Benson’s career has taken off and she now appears regularly on Broadway and singing around the country.
Songs will include selections from The Wizard of Oz, Fantasia, Pocahontas, plus a mixture of light classical.
The concert will also include a very special salute to the U.S. military, with the Color Guard from H&S Battalion, MCB Camp Pendleton.
Conductor Matthew Garbutt has earned critical acclaim in the U.S., Canada and the Far East where he has done innovative programming and conducting. He conducts a wide range of music from symphonies to pop music.
In fact, the Los Angeles native, Garbutt has been the resident “pops” conductor of the San Diego symphony for several summers and has conducted in Fallbrook once before.
If you’d like to dine before the concert, there’s a pre-reserved barbecue with a choice of pulled pork sandwich or beef brisket, plus accompaniments such as baked beans, cole slaw, brownies, soft drink or water.
You are also welcome to bring your own picnic.
Coffee will be served at intermission.
About 100 special reserve tables are available. Otherwise audience members can bring short lawn chairs. If you have higher backed chairs there is a special section off to the side reserved for you.
Mrs. Montiel recently talked with us about the music society’s origins. “It started out as a very small venue, with popular groups like the Ink Spots and the Mardels. Then, because our mission is to bring symphonic music to Fallbrook, which doesn’t have a symphony orchestra, we thought it would be wonderful to have a symphony pops concert and so seven years ago we initiated the the symphonic pops concert.
“People have really enjoyed it, and for four years, we have been able to bring the San Diego Symphony. It’s a wonderful evening under the stars at a remarkable Fallbrook venue!” she added.
The Grand Tradition Estate is indeed a one-of-a-kind venue, and the sound is great.
“We have a large sound system to carry the music across the lake, says Mrs. Montiel.
“People who are old timers here reserve tables, decorate them with flowers and bring their special picnic diner. You look out over the venue and see these tables. It’s a big deal for many, many people.
“The new people who come are amazed at the beauty of the evening, which is very elegant, with wonderful music. We try to schedule it close to the full moon, which rises usually in the second half of the concert, usually right over the orchestra!”
During the rest of the year the society schedules seven other concerts, including three with the Redlands Symphony Orchestra, one international symphony orchestra and one chamber orchestra. Most concerts are at the Bob Burton Center for the Performing Arts in Fallbrook.
Cost is $25 for adults, $5 for children 12 and younger. Reserved tables for four are $35, $50 for tables for six and $75 for tables for ten, in addition to the cost of the tickets.
For tickets call the music society office at 760-451-8644, buy them at Major Market or on the web site at www.fallbrookmusicsociety.org.
Parking is free and easy in front of the Grand Tradition Estate, with overflow parking close by. The address is 1600 South Mission Rd.

Oceanside Yacht Club Sets Sail For Elizabeth Hospice Charity Regatta

The Oceanside Yacht Club is preparing to host the 8th annual Elizabeth Hospice Charity Regatta August 14 & 15 in the Oceanside Harbor with all proceeds going to the Elizabeth Hospice Agency.
Festivities over the two days include a series of sailboat races, spectator boat rides and a post-race party in the parking lot that you won’t want to miss.
“We have a lot of fun planned at the post-race party,” said Mike Borer, OYC Treasurer and event organizer. “There will be plenty of food and beverages along with live bands and entertainment, silent auctions and a drawing for a seven-day cruise on Holland America.”
The cruise is for two people with destinations such as the Caribbean, Mexico or Canada/New England.
The regatta runs from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday and from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday. It consists of three windward/leeward races on Saturday and one random leg race on Sunday. Borer said they usually have around 20 boats and more than 100 sailors participating, with a great turnout of fans in the crowd to cheer them on.
If you’d like to be one of the fans, you are encouraged to park in the public parking spaces at the Oceanside Yacht Club which is located at 1950 Harbor Drive North in Oceanside. The event will be in the parking lot in front of the club and the post-party will be in a fenced off area within the parking lot as well.
All Hands on Deck
It takes a lot of hard work to make the annual Elizabeth Hospice Charity Regatta a success. In addition to the Oceanside Yacht Club members and volunteers from Elizabeth Hospice, dozens of other contributors from the surrounding communities offer helping hands to make sure the event runs smoothly.
The charity regatta also requires the support of generous sponsors. Borer said that Supervisor Bill Horn has been an ongoing sponsor of the event since some of its earliest years. Other top sponsors include Southwest Airlines, Oceanside Mortuary, Famulare Jewelers, Morley Construction Company, and Bradford George Optometrist Visionworks.
Sailing for a Cause
The Elizabeth Hospice is a local, non-profit organization that has been helping North San Diego County communities for more than 32 years. The organization provides support to terminally-ill patients offering professional, quality care and compassion during some of the most difficult times of families’ lives.
The Oceanside Yacht Club is aiming to reach $25,000 this year. You can help them reach their goal! There are many ways to contribute. If you attend the races, you can purchase items from vendors at the post-race party. You can buy drawing tickets, participate in the silent auctions or make a contribution to ride along as a spectator on one of the sailboats. And, of course, you can always simply make a direct donation to Elizabeth Hospice.
Any and all donations are encouraged and appreciated. For more information, contact the Oceanside Yacht Club at 760 722-5751, or visit the web site at www.oceansideyc.com. Additional information on Elizabeth Hospice can be found at www.elizabethhospice.org.

Taste of Fallbrook Offers Lots of Restaurants For One Ticket

Want to find out what some of the best restaurants in the Fallbrook area offer without spending the money to visit them all?
Then the Taste of Fallbrook, which happens as part of Fallbrook’s Hot Summer Nites, is for you!
For the cost of $15, you can sample delicacies from between 15 and 20 eateries in town.
According to organizer Sandra Buckingham of Fallbrook Connections Networking, which puts on the event, Taste of Fallbrook is the most popular part of Hot Summer Nites, and usually brings out at least 2,000 people.
“It’s our best attended event and helps us to break even for all the other events,” she says.
“It’s a wonderful way to connect the restaurants with all of the people of Fallbrook and the surrounding areas who may not have had the opportunity to go into their restaurants. We have people who come from Orange County and Temecula for this. “It’s a great way to showcase our restaurants and just a lot of fun! And with up to twenty restaurants participating, you get quite a bit of food for your ticket.”
Add to that the free music provided by the popular local band Aunt Kizzy’z Boyz, and the vintage and classic cars that are always part of the event, and we’re talking about one hot night!
Definites for the night include:
Chalet Deli: They won last year’s event’s Judges Choice award for deli sandwich and salad.
Fallbrook Coffee Company will be doing a chicken salad and some smoothies.
Da Giorgio Ristorante Italiano will offer penne al forne.
Fallbrook Hospital, chef Stephen Spencer, will serve a seafood salad del mar.
Trupiano’s Italian Bistro will serve tortellini with shrimp and tarragon sauce.
The Fresco Grill will serve penne ala vodka with salmon.
La Caseta Fine Mexican Food, will serve chicken enchilada casero and coconut flan.
Others who will probably participate include Oop a Doop Cupcakes, Sweet Sicilian Bakery, Holy Guacamole, Rio Rico, Regency Fallbrook, a senior living facility, Santa Margarita Inn, X fos Pizza and Peking Wok.
Everybody has a favorite. You’ll be able to vote for yours as part of the Peoples’ Choice Award.
The prize of a food photography session by Carl Kravats, Delicious Photographer, will be awarded to the winner.
Prizes for best, second and third will also be awarded by this year’s celebrity judges, Little Tommy Sablan and Laura Cain, of the Jeff and Jer Showgram.
Last year’s winner for Peoples Choice was the Sweet Sicilian Bakery. Last year’s Judge’s Award went to Chalet Deli for its sandwich. This was a bit of a shocker with all of the exotic foreign delicacies to be sampled, so there is no telling what will happen this year.
Besides food, there will also be a beer and wine garden. The beer is from both Palm Brewery and Stone Brewing Company. Bill and Shirley Oakley will be pulling wine from Mad Housewife Cellars.
The cost to attend is $15, and tickets are available on the night and at the Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce, A Few of Our Favorite Things and Oak Tree Suites.
For more information, contact Manny Gratz, President, at 760-723-2232 or email him at mgratz@earthlink.net.

Tasting On The Town In Temecula

Some wineries are too new to have tasting rooms yet. Some are too small.
Yet boutique wineries are often little gems waiting to be discovered, with tastes that will stimulate the mind and the soul.
That was the idea behind visiting some of the storefront boutique wineries in Old Town Temecula.
There is another facet to tasting in Temecula: the night life. Most tasting rooms close at 5 p.m., when things are just getting started in downtown Temecula. Most tasting rooms there stay open until 9 p.m. (some until midnight on weekends).
Combining the fun of visiting Old Town with an afternoon of wine tastings and a visit to a place where you can taste wine and olive oils, produced a perfect Friday.
My first stop was the Temecula Olive Oil Company, which also carries some wine, although olive growing is the primary concern of the two families who own it.
According to manager Alexa Hokanson, olive oil tasting is “innovative to America,” although it is quite common in Europe.
The 26 acre ranch, where they grow olives and grapes, recently produced its first wine, a white table wine that Hokanson described as being like a Sauvignon Blanc. They are also working on a red that they will introduce at their tasting room soon.
The tasting room, at 28653 Old Town Front St., is a seduction of the senses, combining the scents of olive oil soaps, the pungency of spice collections with the piquancy of gourmet vinegars.
“We combine traditional unflavored fresh oils with oils flavored with basil, citrus, roasted garlic and seasonal flavors, such as picante pepper,” says Hokanson.
They also sell a dipping sauce called Just Dip It and a salad mixture called Just Dress It (white wine vinegar combined with olive oil and sundried tomatoes). Besides being a dressing, you can use it as a marinade or to saute shrimp.
Their balsamic vinegars are aged for two years, in both reds and whites. Some are flavored with vanilla or fig and some are made from pomegranate juice.
Their most popular oil is roasted garlic, which cooks love! The pomegranate is probably their most popular vinegar.
“We have a very interactive store. You can taste the oils and vinegars, taste the sea salts and sniff the herbs,” says Hokanson. “We’re here to help you explore our store.”
Just across the street, next to the Mercantile Theater, is the Lorimar Winery and Tasting Room (42031 Main St., Suite # C), where owner Mark Mansfield pours Lorimar Duet, 2005 Cabernet - Mourvedre, an award-winning ruby red with flavors that recall wild blackberries.
Lorimar’s Meritage 2005 is 63% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot and Cabernet Franc—to produce a Bordeaux blend that brings to the palate a combination of blackberry, currant and tobacco.
Another signature wine is the Vigniet Chenin Blanc, with a smell that makes you think sweet wine—but a taste that is actually dry and fruity like a grapefruit.
In two months, Lorimar will introduce a Syrah, which I also tasted. Its smokey taste combined with a jam aftertaste is just perfect for barbecue.
The winery has 11 vintages, but certainly one that will appeal to your taste—with another three wines coming soon.
Mansfield talked about the exciting Temecula nightlife.
“It’s very exciting how people are rediscovering Temecula,” he says. Often those who have been touring the “rancho” wineries finish their daytime tours at one of the wine shops in Temecula.
Lorimar hosts live music every other Saturday. “Music and wine have a lot in common,” says Mansfield. “That’s why we have the note symbol on our bottles!”
Wineries and restaurants have a symbiotic relationship too since some fine dining establishments, such as Texas Lil’s, will let patrons bring their own wine without charging a corking fee.
Lorimar is not really a boutique winery since it has 3,000 acres of grapes. But until it opens its Tuscan style winery in a year, the storefront is where you will be able to sample its wares.
Next on the tour, a few blocks down Front Street was Tesoro’s Winery, the original winery in Old Town, open since 2008. Located at 28475 Old Town Front & Sixth Avenue.
Owners Kimberly and Buzz Olson are known for their wine and meal pairings, usually in conjunction with Soro’s Mediterranean Grill across the street.
“We have been open for two years,” Buzz told me. “We have twenty-two acres in Rancho California with our winery in the industrial area of Temecula and our tasting room here. We hope to open our winery in 2011.”
According to Buzz, the most popular vintages right now are the Sangiovese, the Viognier and the Riesling.
“We have a reputation for premium wine and it’s a tribute to our winemaker, Etienne Cowper, a superb winemaker,” he said.
The keys to the winery’s success, he says, are “great wines and great hospitality. It’s not just a taste and run. It’s an education.”
My walking tour finished up at The Collective, where, as manager Jonathan Feidner says, “You can taste five different wineries in the same spot, which you can’t do anywhere else!”
The Collective is located at 28544 Front St., Ste. 101 and 201.
He was happy to recommend five top wines, one from each winery.
From Atwood Estate, he recommended the 2004 Syrah, a wine with an Old World style.
From Fazeli Cellars, he suggested the 2006 Yalda, whose soft tannins compliment aromas and flavors of rich cherry and blackberry with hints of smoke, black licorice and tobacco.
Middle Ridge Winery contributed a 2006 Miritage Temecula Valley, rich and elegant with a bouquet of black currant, black cherry and hints of tobacco, spice and mocha.
Vitagliano Vineyards and Winery’s 2006 Primitivo has rich, lush flavor, bursting with ripe blackberry, black pepper, cinnamon, apricot and peach!
Finally Woodworth Vineyards Pinot Noir finished up my afternoon. This is one of the finest Pinot noirs to actually come from the Temecula Valley.
“We are definitely part of the nightlife here,” explained Feidner. The tasting room stays open until midnight on the weekends. “But we are also very busy in the daytime!”
So whether you are a night person or you wake with the dawn, Old Town Temecula is a great place to sample the fruit of the vine.

 

The Boulevard Magazine
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