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The Coast News
INLAND EDITION
.com
VISTA, SAN MARCOS, ESCONDIDO
VOL. 13, N0. 28
OCT. 6, 2017
Vista honors fire, EMS By Christina Macone-Greene
GRAPE DAY 5K HEADED THIS WAY
The 7th annual Grape Day 5K run-walk-stroll through downtown Escondido is Oct. 7, with proceeds benefiting the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s San Diego-based Pacific South Coast Chapter as well as Escondido Sunrise Rotary Club programs. Event registration is still available; runners and walkers of all ages and abilities are welcomed. For more information, visit GrapeDay5K.com. Courtesy photo
VISTA — Fire Chief Jeff Hahn joined Mayor Judy Ritter at the podium to collect two proclamations during the Sept. 12 City Council meeting. The first proclamation honored the Vista Fire Department’s 90th anniversary, while the other celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Vista Paramedic Program. Ritter explained how the Vista Fire Department is the only accredited civilian fire department in San Diego County. In the state of California, there are 17 with this accreditation and there are 239 accredited agencies of this class in the world, she said. Ritter congratulated both departments and encouraged the community to commemorate those milestones. After reading the proclamations, Ritter shared that her grandson was in the final stages of becoming a paramedic and she hoped that one day he would work in Vista. Ritter then asked Hahn to say a few words. He started by TURN TO VISTA FIRE ON 9
Congregation says farewell to longtime pastor
Eagle Scout makes local history come alive online
By Julie Gallant
SAN MARCOS — Prominent figures in society, businessmen and ordinary citizens who have helped shape San Marcos’ history over the years won’t be forgotten in a dusty archive since Eagle Scout Olivier Jamois infused them with new life online. The 18-year-old San Marcos resident and member of Boy Scouts of America Troop 709 in Vista recently earned his way to Eagle Scout by taking charge of creating a database for the San Marcos Historical Society’s website. Now researchers, families, historians, educators, genealogists and other North County residents can quickly search an alphabetical database to access historical obituaries, biographies and other articles and get copies for a fee. Dedicated to Boy Scouts for the past seven years, but a combined 12 years including his stint in Cub Scouts, Jamois said he was drawn to the Boy Scouts’ opportunities to develop communication skills, leadership skills and outdoor activities. His favorite experience with the Scouts happened three
By Julie Gallant
ESCONDIDO — Like reaching the end of a treasured family photo album, the time has arrived for Jim Rauch’s reflective closure as he ends 21 years of pastoral service at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Escondido. He said his tearful goodbyes at his last worship service held on Aug. 13 at the sanctuary he helped install through fundraising more than a decade ago. Rauch, 57, says he’s long surpassed the average length of a pastor’s term, which is generally about seven or eight years, and after talking with his pastoral peer group, family members and other in his inner circle he felt he was getting a clear message from God that he should be investing more time in his family for a season. “There was a sense in which I did feel God letting me know that work at this church was coming to a conclusion,” said Rauch, who earned a Master of Divinity from the Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey in 1986. “Beyond the supernatural elements, I feel I need time to invest in my extended family.” His decision was partly spurred by the death of his father-in-law, Jim Costanza, in late 2015 due to cancer, followed by the passing of his mother, Barbara Rauch, in April 2017 due to complications from Parkinson’s disease. He says he wants to Pastor Jim Rauch is leaving his post as pastor of be more available to the surviving spouses Westminster Presbyterian Church, at 1500 S. Juas well as to his medically fragile grand- niper St., near 15th and Idaho avenues in EsconTURN TO PASTOR ON 7
dido. He is shown in front of the sanctuary. Photo by Julie Gallant
Olivier Jamois, 18, earned his Eagle Scout rank by transferring San Marcos Historical Society photos and data from a collection of binders to the historical society’s website. Photo by Julie Gallant
years ago when he took a train to New Mexico and spent two weeks backpacking the backcountry at the Philmont Scout Ranch. But it was Jamois’ interest in computers that led him to choose the Genealogy Records project for his Eagle Scout designation. Jamois said he had completed three computer science classes at San Marcos High, including two courses offered through a
dual enrollment program in partnership with Palomar College, before he graduated in June 2017. Currently he intends to major in computer science at the University of California San Diego, which he began attending Sept. 28. His Eagle Scout project began to crystallize in the summer of 2016 when his junior year U.S. History teacher Jan Wright, who happens to be secretary of the San Marcos Historical Society, put Jamois in touch with a fellow historical society board member, President Tanis Brown. Together, Brown and Jamois narrowed Jamois’ Eagle Scout options down to three possible projects: renovating a deteriorating gazebo previously created by another Eagle Scout; creating a rainwater collection apparatus for the historical society campus; or organizing the historical society’s collection of records in an online space. “She (Brown) was really concerned that I would have one project I really liked and would enjoy doTURN TO EAGLE SCOUT ON 14