2013 Clairemont Garden Tour & Expo: We Need Volunteers!

Clairemont Town Council is preparing for the 2013 Garden Tour and we need you to help make it a success.

We have the structure outlined and now we need you to add your touch and make the Tour truly a reflection of the 'Village within the City'.  The Garden Tour Committee is seeking volunteers for the following areas:

Garden Exhibitors:  Locate and select the best gardens available, ensure the garden exhibitors are informed and tended to with the utmost of care and serve as the point person for the exhibitors and sellers in the gardens.

Marketing-Print:  Generate the print marketing such as emails, newspaper and journal articles, fliers and posters and distribute as appropriate.

Marketing-Banners and Signs: Maintain and post banners and signs as appropriate.

Marketing-Web/TV/Radio:  Host the school competitions, confirm media outlets to post electronic media generated by the schools.

Marketing-Day of Event Signage: Post and remove signage on the day of the Tour.

Tickets:  Generate and sell tickets, ensuring that all monies and tickets are accounted for.

Volunteers:  Solicit, schedule, and take care of the volunteers throughout the Tour.

Sponsors:  Solicit sponsors and ensure that all agreements are met per each sponsorship package.

Expo:  Manage the Expo, including location, participants, food, set up and clean up.

Preview Tour:  Manage the Preview Tour, including the invitations, bus confirmation, refreshments, and schedule.

If you'd like to volunteer, feature your garden, be a sponsor, or want to inquire further about this year's Garden Tour & Expo, contact GardenTour@ClairemontOnline.com, or you can also contact me personally.

Below is a video that Janett Lewis produced of last year's Garden Tour & Expo. Janett helped sponsor last year's tour.

Speaking from personal experience, working on the Garden Tour is a very fulfilling way to impact the community.  The tasks are clearly defined and we know what needs to get done when. With each new committee member's influence, the Tour grows a bit more, just like the gardens it highlights.

I met some unforgettably amazing people and am excited to lead the effort again this year.  I hope you'll join us!

Sincerely,

Dana Sortwell

Chair, 2013 Garden Tour & Expo

Clairemont Town Council

Clairemont Chat: Elizabeth Ballard

“A Little School Where Big Things Happen” – Principal Elizabeth Ballard

By Simone Henriques, Director-At-Large

Do you know who Charles Wakefield Cadman was? Elizabeth Ballard and her staff want to make sure you do and that the community knows that Cadman was destined to be a fine arts school because of its namesake.

Ballard became Principal of Cadman Elementary School in April of 2011. After meeting with each staff member, it was clear to Ballard that Cadman needed to be a fine arts school, so the focus of the school was changed and the arts were incorporated. She was surprised to learn that the students did not know who Mr. Cadman was, so Brian McDonald, a staff member did a presentation to the student body on this great man and his music.

Cadman (1888-1946) was an American composer and his music was highly influenced by American Indian music. His most well-known songs are “From the Land of the Sky-Blue Water” (which was actually featured in a Hamms beer commercial) and “At Dawning.”

Commentary: I DO NOT Support Balboa Mesa

Commentary by Steve Innis, Director-At-Large

Dear San Diego Planning Commission and the Honorable Lorie Zapf,

It is with great urgency that I request that IN’ N OUT Burger NOT be allowed permits to occupy the Balboa Mesa shopping center until complete and exhaustive environmental impact reports, quality of life reports, traffic studies are conducted, and traffic mitigation standards have been established. It is imperative that the people who live, work, go to school, and play in Clairemont have the full and complete protection of the City of San Diego against the horrendous safety and traffic impact that this restaurant will bring into our community. I believe that through proper planning this restaurant can co-exist without causing major problems in our community, but until adequate measures of protection are in place I stand firmly against the project.

Congestion on northbound Genesee, just south of Balboa Avenue is already so busy that many cars are already turning eastbound on Mt Alifan into a residential neighborhood in order to avoid the traffic on northbound Genesee. They turn onto Mt Alifan in order to make their way eastbound to the 805 Freeway and to the many large and successful businesses in Clairemont and Kearny Mesa. Due to the already increased traffic on Mt Alifan the City of San Diego made Mt. Alifan a single lane road in order to better serve the safety of the residents and pedestrians on Mt. Alifan who live in the condominiums and low income housing, as well as the school children who go to Horizon.  

President's Letter: We Love Clairemont... And Our History

One of our projects this year is to research our organization's history, so we can compile and celebrate that information with you and the community. We want to know: Where did we first meet? Who served on our board? When did they serve? What issues have we supported and endorsed? All great questions, but with few obvious answers given our 60 years worth of history. To help compile this "timeline of service," we've appointed Director-at-Large Simone Henriques to be our Council's "Historian."

At our next meeting, we will officially celebrate and honor the James Madison High School Warhawks football team and their first-ever state championship. We will hear a few words from Head Coach and Madison Athletic Director, Rick Jackson.

Also, we will hear from Regency Centers who own the Balboa Mesa Shopping Center (where Vons and Kohls are located). They will present their plans to update and remodel that location.

We look forward to seeing you at 7:00pm on Thursday, February 7^th, in the Cadman Elementary cafeteria.

Working for you, Clairemont!

Ryan Trabuco
CTC President