Solana Beach Chamber of Commerce

Solana Beach Civic & Historical Society May Newsletter

May 03, 2023 - Solana Beach Civic and Historical Society - News & Updates

Looking Back on my Long Presidency . . . and our 70 - Strong Society Years

I feel a bit nostalgic as I write this message as my very long term as president
(seven years) is coming to an end in June.

What really got me thinking about my tenure was Katie Pelisek's fabulous beekeeping presentation at our April general meeting. It dawned on me then that Katie and I have known each other since her son, Drew, and my daughter, Selena, started kindergarten at Solana Vista. Now they are 30! But it was approximately 12 years ago that I wandered into my first SBC&HS meeting. Katie was there and (the details escape me) we somehow decided to start up the garden club -- the SeaWeeders -- as an arm of the SBC&HS. Katie agreed to be the president of the garden club and Carol Childs, who was the SBC&HS president at the time, asked if I would serve as the Civic Beautification Chair.

For our first SeaWeeder undertaking, Katie and I tackled the horribly rundown and ill-maintained landscaping of the Post Office. We applied for City and County grants. Katie (landscape designer by profession) came up with the plan and the rest is history (you read all about it in our February newsletter)! Thanks to our hard-working Post Office Posse volunteers, our current SeaWeeders President Kathleen Drummond and our members who actively participate and volunteer, we also have helped to develop several lovely pocket parks with possibly more to come. Volunteers also help maintain the beautiful Coastal Rail Trail. If you are one of these special people who volunteer and help keep our City beautiful, bless you. And if you're not, WE NEED YOU!

After a number of years of my active involvement with the SeaWeeders, then nominations chair, Mary Berend persuaded me to take the position President of SBC&HS. It has been a pleasure to serve you. I have learned so much about my community from this experience and gotten to know so many wonderful friends and neighbors.

I especially want to thank all those who have served as members of my board! What fantastic giving, loving women and men. Thank you for helping preserve and share our history as well as our many civic and beautification endeavors.

One of the projects that I am proud to have accomplished during my tenure is digitizing our historical archives -- we now can access our history with the push of a button. We put this access into action last month when our Living History field trips resumed after the required stop during Covid. Our visitors viewed a slide show of Solana Beach history --
from the Kumeyaay to Cityhood. The children and teachers were fascinated. Learn more about how we have updated the Living History program on the following pages. And huge thanks to Cindi Clemons, Lisa Montes and Kathleen Drummond, who have been instrumental in the digitization project.

Another passion of mine -- one I hope to have more time for now -- are the video interviews we have conducted with some of our long-time Society members. If you have an historical story to tell about Solana Beach we want to hear it. Likewise, if you have historical photos of Solana Beach, please share with us. We will digitize them, add them to our archives and return the originals to you. Interested? Email [email protected]. Watch our new slideshow and videos at https://youtube.com/ @solanabeachcivichistorical7985

We hope to see you at our May 19th General Meeting where City Manager Greg Wade will bring us up to date on the City of Solana Beach's many initiatives. We also will vote vote on our Executive Board. Join us and help keep our Society strong for another 70 years!