INSIDE: JEAN LANDON’S INSPIRING LEGACY | GAZEBO SYMBOL OF COMMUNITY SPIRIT MICHELLE HEADFIRSTREFLECTSGILMOREONYEARASOFSCHOOLSFOUNDATION
Nearly 50 years ago, the community rallied to build the Spre ckels Park gazebo. We take a look at the history of the structure, which turned 40 this spring, and how it was championed by ser vice organization volunteers and funded almost entirely by private donations.Thegazebo is the bandstand for the Coronado Promenade Concerts’ sum mer series, which ends Labor Day weekend. The last concert, on Sept. 4, will include a 50th anniversary video produced by Jane Mitchell of One on One Produc tions (we featured Mitchell in our February issue). The short documentary will be shown at 4:30 p.m. and the concert starts at 5 p.m.
spiritCommunity C
SEPTEMBER 2022 » CORONADO 365 1
Cheers, Leslie & Martina IN BLOOM THIS MONTH: Dahlia
oronado is full of people who give their time and talent for the betterment of the community. Our stories this month celebrate this spirit of giving.
Cathy Brown, president of Coronado Promenade Concerts, wasn’t ready to divulge details of the season’s final show at press time. But word has it that it’s going to be a doozy. See you at Spreckels Park.
On our cover this month is Michelle Gilmore, who has just finished her first year as the head of Coronado Schools Foundation. We catch up with her (which isn’t that easy because, really, she’s a ball of energy!) as the school year starts to talk about the challenges of the past year, her vision for the foundation and her dedication to give kids the best education possible.
» FROM THE EDITORS
If you’re looking for inspiration, don’t miss the story on Jean Landon, a remarkable woman living with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Her strength and positive outlook on life — despite her debilitating illness — motivated her friends to establish a scholarship in her honor. The annual award goes to an inspirational teen girl graduating from Coronado High School.
FORAALYPHOTOFoundation.ofpresidentGilmore,andCEOCoronadoSchoolsBYBUCHOLZNEELY/PRODUCTIONS
Jean Landon’s positive attitude living with ALS inspires friends to create a lasting legacy in her honor 30 BIG DREAMS Elisha Babock and Hampton Story weren’t the only developers with visions of a grand hotel on the island
Submarine school near the ferry landing. 28 LOOKING BACK This month in Coronado history. 36 FROM THE GROUND UP Street trees contribute to urban forest. 40 RECIPE OF THE MONTH Beef steak tomato salad. 42 BEACHCOMBER Wavy turban snail 44 MILITARY Force-Con deploys last weekend in September 48 END NOTE A poem by Joe Kane. 2022
12422 Contents SEPTEMBER
COVER STORY
DEPARTMENTS 20 DID YOU KNOW?
22 GRATITUDE AND COURAGE
4 CHARTING A COURSE
At Coronado Schools Foundation, Michelle Gilmore is committed to improving educational opportunities. FEATURES 12 CITY CENTERPIECE Clubs, residents and local government harmonized to build the Spreckels Park gazebo.
ON THE COVER Michelle
2 Coronado365.com
SEPTEMBER 2022 » CORONADO 365 3 PUBLISHER Now and Then Publishing LLC EDITOR Leslie Crawford CREATIVE DIRECTOR/MANAGING EDITOR Martina Schimitschek COPY EDITOR Rose Wojnar CONTRIBUTORS Grace Cassidy, Michelle Delaney, Joe Kane, Nicole Sours Larson, Nancy Nygard, Gina Petrone, @coronadobeachcomber CORONADO 365 is a division of Now and Then Publishing LLC, 830 Orange Ave., Suite B, Coronado, CA 92118 Copyright ©2022 Now and Then Publishing LLC All rights reserved. Reproduction of any material in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. CONTACT editor@coronado365.com or (619) 435-0334 ADVERTISING To advertise, contact Leslie Crawford at leslie@Coronado365.com advertising@Coronado365.comor SEPTEMBER 2022 » VOLUME 1 » ISSUE 9 WHAT EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUTCORONADO 365 Visit us online Coronado365.comat Coronado 365 is available nationally. For subscriptions go to Coronado365.com or email subscriptions@coronado365.com
Michelle Gilmore provides fresh leadership at Coronado Schools Foundation Inspired by her “amazing” fifth grade teacher Bill Win ston, Michelle Gilmore knew she wanted to become a teacher from the time she was 10.
Following a 10-year career in East County’s Cajon Val ley Union School District, Gilmore took a break to raise her three sons. Recognizing that public schools need ed additional resources beyond those provided by tax
« Michelle Gilmore enjoys the day at the first Coronado Art & Wine Festival on May 21. The event, a fundraiser for Coronado Schools Foundation, was a collaboration with the Coronado Chamber of Commerce.
LESLIE CRAWFORD PHOTO ALY BUCHOLZ NEELY / FORA PRODUCTIONS
forChampioneducation
SEPTEMBER 2022 » CORONADO 365 5
By NICOLE SOURS LARSON
A self-described “Navy brat,” Gilmore and her fam ily eventually settled in San Diego’s East County after her father retired from the Navy and became an accountant. She also had the example of her mother, an artist who taught rhetoric and writing at San Diego State University and also administered the Freshman Success program. After graduating from Arizona State University, “I couldn’t wait to get my teaching credential and teach,” said Gilmore, now 54.
“I was known as the gala queen. I would go to neighboring schools and teach them how to organize galas,” Gilmore said.
That’s when her teaching career took an unexpected turn into fundraising for public school educational foundations. It’s proven to be both immensely fulfilling for her and beneficial to her community.
6 Coronado365.com
“I was known as the gala queen. I would go to neighboring schools and teach them how to organize galas.”
While she and Ted, her husband of 30 years and a mortgage broker, loved Del Cerro, their children weren’t thriving in the schools. In 2012, they decided to up root their family and move to Coronado, their planned retirement destination. “We literally moved here for the schools. I did research on the schools, their lead ership, the type of support for academics, arts and sciences, extracurricular ac tivities, especially athletics. We wanted improved educational opportunities for our kids,” she said. Their three sons benefited from the bet ter schools. They are now grown and all in the environmental sciences field, either pursuing careers or in college.
MICHELLE GILMORE
In 2014, Gilmore, impressed with what supplemental programming had done for her sons, joined Coronado Schools Foun dation as director of development, build ing on her previous volunteer experience. But after four years, she knew she’d have to leave to advance her professional skills. She joined the San Diego chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, a national nonprofit with a stellar reputation for so phisticated development programs. There she helped raise $1 million a year through seven annual events.
Gilmore returned to CSF in June 2021 after three years to become president and CEO. She’d expected to ease into a familiar organization but instead discovered that much had changed, with many new board members and new systems in place. “It was like starting from scratch,” she said, with additional challenges on top of pandemic-related issues. Beginning her new role in the midst of the pandemic, buffeted by the turbulence and drama
dollars and eager to enhance her children’s educational opportunities, she jumped into volunteer fundraising for the founda tion supporting their elementary school in San Diego’s Del Cerro neighborhood, where they lived. A determined go-get ter and problem solver, she wound up organizing 12 foundation galas and raising $60,000 to underwrite arts and music programs as well as the school computer lab during the boys’ time there.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF MICHELLE GILMORE
SEPTEMBER 2022 » CORONADO 365 7
Family is extremely important to Michelle Gilmore, who spends downtime (as well as fundraising time) with her husband, Ted, and their three sons, Tyler, Travis and Tucker, who are all Coronado High School graduates.
Kids take the stage on the set of “Million Dollar Quartet” at Lamb’s Players Theatre during CSF-hosted Summer Academy
at Coronado’s public schools that made headlines both locally and nationally, Gilmore has demonstrated a steady hand in her first year on the job.
“Leading a nonprofit over the last two years presented unique challenges. Throughout the pandemic, Michelle and her team continued to find creative ways to promote and support our district and engage not just Coronado residents, but the greater San Diego business community. Our staff and students have benefited from her leadership and dedication to CUSD,” said Karl Mueller, superintendent of Coronado Unified School District, who first met Gilmore as a Coronado High School parent when he was its principal.
OF CORONADO
8 Coronado365.com
“I wanted to build trust and transpar ency; parents had lost trust in the schools. I wanted to shine a light on the impact of CSF funding on the schools and com municate to parents what programs CSF funding provides,” Gilmore explained.
Key goals were to rebuild trust in CSF’s financial support program and turn around the pandemic-induced decline in fundraising.Sheaddressed these challenges by ap plying four key characteristics that friends and colleagues report as the hallmarks of her life and career: optimism, transparen cy, integrity and passion.
Receiving support are STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and Arts (both visual and performing)
PHOTOSclasses.COURTESY SCHOOLS FOUNDATION
MICHELLE GILMORE Innovation Pathway programs, as well as summer enrichment programs. She worked to reactivate prior volun teers who had dropped out and worked to show appreciation for stressed and disheartened teachers, for whom she arranged complimentary Padres tickets as part of a teacher appreciation initiative. For the annual CSF telethon, she recruited students from all four Corona do schools to tell the story of the impact CSF-funded educational programs have had on their lives, rather than have staff convey their message, she said. The tele thon also acknowledged CSF donors. As part of her enhanced communica tions efforts to build fundraising, Gilmore expanded explanations about why it’s needed: that, as a more affluent district, CUSD receives $1,700 less per pupil in public spending than low-income districts. Rebuilding trust is a slow and gradual process. A key element is complete trans parency about how money is used and distributed.“Thecommunity understands the value of supporting the schools,” Gilmore said. But it’s important to take that understand ing one step further. “I want to make sure to convey that we’re doing what we say we’re doing with donors’ money,” she said. Her efforts at transparency have paid off: this year, for the first time, Charity Navigator, the nonprofit charity rating agency, awarded CSF its highest platinum rating, up from its prior silver and gold ratings.Inthe 2020-2021 school year, individual and family donations dropped by 40 per OF MICHELLE GILMORE
SEPTEMBER 2022 » CORONADO 365 9
“I want to make sure to convey that we’re doing what we say we’re doing with donors’ money.”
COURTESY
While CSF’s goal is to encourage every Coronado family, if able, to contribute $365 or $1 per day per child per year to support supplemental school program ming, the reality is that 84 percent of in dividual giving comes from smaller gifts, Gilmore“Everysaid.donation counts,” she said, acknowledging that not every family can contribute at the suggested level. “The driving force behind our mission is pro viding increasing learning opportunities to Coronado kids. I want expansion of op portunities to send our kids out equipped to handle the future.” Her son Travis, now 22, is her “poster boy” CSF success story. He was in eighth grade when the family moved and had little interest in academics until he took a marine bi ology class funded by CSF. It caught his imagination, inspiring his passion for marine biology. He majored in fish biology and now works in fish genetics in SanCoronadoDiego. resident Heidi Iversen, a leadership mentor who’s worked with Gilmore on charitable events, is not surprised at her“Michelle’ssuccess. one of the most positive, authentic people I know, a huge cheerleader for our kids. She has no agenda other than to create the best possible experience for our kids. Everything she does is for the greater good, not for her own benefit,” Iversen said.Gilmore brings her passion for educa tional excellence and her community to her CSF efforts, said Darren Diess, a fund raiser/charity auctioneer who is Gilmore’s longtime friend and colleague. The two co-authored “Eventology,” a book about fundraising events. “She’s very driven when it’s something she cares about. She puts her heart in it and doesn’t leave anything on the table. It’s personal for her; it’s not just a job. She’s not a hired gun from out of state. She’s proud to work where she lives,” he said. ■ Nicole Sours Larson is a freelance writer. Gilmore and Darren Diess co-authored the 2019 book “Eventology” about fundraising.
10 Coronado365.com cent. But CSF still matched its 2019-2020 CUSD contri bution of $760,000 that year because of the foundation’s endowment.Whileindividual contri butions are gradually re covering, Gilmore has met her separate targeted goals for every event she’s staged since taking CSF’s helm. Those included a Hotel del Coronado gala that raised $408,000, the telethon and the Coronado Art and Wine Festival, a new collab oration with the Coronado Chamber of Commerce. Because of CSF’s fundraising successes, the foundation could increase the 2022-2023 contribution to the schools to $840,000.
SEPTEMBER 2022 » CORONADO 365 11
The Spreckels Park gazebo was dedicated in April 1982. The 26-foot-wide pavilion has a 44-foot-wide octagonal cement base and a 30-foot-high copper dome roof.BILL
CHIZEK
12 Coronado365.com
Community came together to raise funds for construction of Spreckels Park gazebo Summer is coming to an end and so is the Coronado Promenade Con certs’ summer series, which turns the Spreckels Park gazebo into a bandstand on Sunday afternoons. Over the years, countless bands have performed at the park’s centerpiece. The pavilion, which turned 40 this sum mer, is also where children play, picnickers find shady steps and marriage proposals areDedicatedmade. in 1982, the gazebo is a testa ment to the people of Coronado’s love for their“Thecommunity.spiritofvolunteerism was so alive,” said Cathy Brown, president of the Coro nado Promenade Concerts. “Volunteers for concerts in the park got together and decided they needed a gazebo, and they got it done privately. It’s amazing.” The idea for a bandstand started nearly 10 years before the structure was finished. In 1973, the Soroptimist Club of Coro nado decided to get a bandstand pavilion This year, Coronado Promenade Concerts staged 15 performances at the gazebo during its summer series, which started Memorial Day weekend and ends Labor Dayweekend.COURTESYOF PROMENADE CONCERTS
CORONADO
By LESLIE CRAWFORD
SEPTEMBER 2022 » CORONADO 365 13
In concert
14 Coronado365.com
The Soroptimist Club of Coronado paid for preliminary renderings, and the City Council approved a five-member committee to study the pavilion’s design, siting and cost. The committee consisted of Padway and a representative each from the city, Soroptimist Club, Coronado Flo ral Association and Coronado Beautiful, a civic organization, established in 1971. The project ended up being a much bigger undertaking than the Soroptimists were able to manage. So in 1977, Coro nado Beautiful took over as lead, with Hoppe from the Soroptimists joining the committee to help raise funds. For the next three years, the committee worked through the process of getting approvals from all the necessary entities, including the Coronado Floral Associ ation, Coronado City Council, the city’s Design Review Commission and Califor nia Coastal Commission. During those years, fundraising was in full swing and included a dance at Oakwood Garden Apartments and an art auction by the Coronado Art Association. At the Coronado Shores, resident Ruth Kessler went from building to building accompanied by the Coronado High School Pep Band and raised $3,700 while the band played. By 1980, a thousand people had do nated more than $40,000. The committee announced that donors of $1,000 or more would be memorialized on a permanent Volunteers for concerts in the park got together and decided they needed a gazebo, and they got it done privately. It’s amazing.”
CORONADO PROMENADE CONCERTS
and she became one of the key figures in seeing the project through to the end.
“This was something that was very dear to her. She wanted to see it constructed, and she thought it was a great idea early on,” said David Hoppe about how import ant the project was to his mother, who died in 2010. By February 1975, local philanthropist Barney Padway offered to give matching funds for the project, up to $6,000, in the hope that the project would pick up mo mentum. That prompted the city of Coro nado to offer the same amount. Padway was anxious for the project to start. He was 90 years old and said in a story in the Coronado Journal he wanted to see the project completed “while I’m still around.”
The summer concerts in Spreckels Park draw a crowd on Sunday afternoons. SERVICES
DURSON
INC.
Ed Wadsworth, a member of Coronado Beautiful and a semi-retired architect, donated his time to design the gazebo. The permit request was for the construction of an octagon-shaped, 26-foot-wide pavilion with a 44-foot-wide octagonal cement base and a 30-foot-high copper dome roof and cupola. It was agreed that 10 trees would be moved from the gazebo location to other areas in park. Four trees that were original ly slated to be moved would be left because they would not impede construction. By January 1981, more than $55,000
16 Coronado365.com plaque affixed to the pavilion. It was decided that the gazebo would be placed in the middle of the park, at the site of a big, three-tiered fountain built in 1964. The fountain had been nonfunc tional for years due to vandalism and by 1980, it was an eyesore. Plans also called to remove trees, something not everyone was happy Concernedabout.citizens raised doubts about the removal and relocation of some of the palm trees in the park. Michael Rutter, president of Coronado Beautiful, defend ed the project and on Nov. 7, 1980, the California Coastal Commission approved the plans for the bandstand.
SEPTEMBER 2022 » CORONADO 365 17 had been raised and the project was ready to go. But it was delayed until after the annual Coronado Flower Show in April, just in case it wasn’t finished by the opening of the show, which would have been “bad public relations,” according to Coronado Beautiful. Bids came in at $65,000, so the city kicked in the extra $10,000. Construction began in June 1981. By » Donors who gave $1,000 or more toward the construction of the gazebo are listed on a commemorative plaque, mounted on the structure’s north side. CANDICE HOOPER
The Coronado summer concert series usually has at least one military band in the lineup each year. The patriotic music is always a crowd favorite.
“We knew that we were working on something special, and this outpouring of support just reinforced that fact for us. I am sure all the members of Coronado Beautiful are proud of what we accom plished. I know I am,” Rutter stated when the gazebo turned 20.
Toni Hoppe was also pleased. She was “immensely proud of the what the com munity did, putting it all together,” her son said.And Padway, who died in 1986 at the age of 101, got to see the completed gazebo. ■
COURTESY
OF CORONADO PROMENADE CONCERTS
18 Coronado365.com
August, the copper roof was completed and Bud Bernhard, a local bricklayer, laid the cement for the base, donating his services. A time capsule with names of all the donors was placed in the foundation. Members of Coronado Beautiful are com memorated on a round plaque in the floor of the gazebo, which is also the cap of the time capsule. At 2 p.m. on April 3, 1982, the pavilion was dedicated, and Mayor Pat Callahan accepted the bandstand on behalf of the city of Coronado from Coronado Beautiful. The Mesa College Community Band performed, and it was announced that the pavilion would be available for concerts, weddings, plays and other cultural events.
SEPTEMBER 2022 » CORONADO 365 19
Did you know?
In 1910, the Grampus and Pike, two of the Navy’s earliest submarines, were docked at Coronado, south of the ferry landing piers (where Peohe’s restaurant is now). When the Navy began building four bigger and better submarines, the need for more trained personnel became critical. Cmdr. Louis Richardson, head of the Pacific Torpedo Flotilla, set up a submarine school north of the piers. He recruited 72 volunteers from Navy cruisers. Only cream-of-the crop sailors with impeccable credentials were asked to volunteer. According to the May 29, 1911, issue of the San Diego Union, because of their tents, the men named their school a camp, calling it Camp Richardson, “as a compliment to their Toleader.”learn more about the area’s submarine history, visit the Coronado Historical Association’s current exhibition, “A View from the Periscope.” ■
LESLIE CRAWFORD COLLECTION
SEPTEMBER 2022 » CORONADO 365 23
Jean Landon’s courage living with ALS inspires scholarship award for young women
COURTESY OF JEAN LANDON
ife does not have to be perfect to be wonderful.” That’s Jean Landon’sLandon,mantra.whowas diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease in 2015, is now no longer able to walk, stand or speak, but her attitude remains positive. That positive attitude, along with her strength and determination, has been an inspiration for the many people who know her — so much so that her friends decided to start a foundation in her name.
By GRACE CASSIDY and MARTINA SCHIMITSCHEK
‘L
« The Landon family gathers in front of their home. Front row: Jean with granddaughters Avery (left) and Harper. Back row from left: daughter-in-law, Mallory; son, Matthew; husband, Dave; and son John.
Setting anexample
The Jean Landon Inspiration Award was established in early 2020. The idea was to honor Landon by giving a scholarship to an inspirational young woman graduating from Coronado High School. According to Landon, the criteria are simple.“The award goes to a senior girl at Coronado High School who demonstrates excellence in community service, scholas tics and is an inspiration to others in both the community and at school,” she said via email.Agroup of Landon’s friends came up
The dinner gave people a chance to talk to Landon, and for Landon to thank peo ple, especially her family. Her husband, Dave, a former Navy captain, and son John are her primary caregivers.
The group got the scholarship up and running during the pandemic. Contri butions came in through the local P.E.O. chapter, an email campaign to Landon’s friends and other individual contribu tions. The turning point came in April with an in-person dinner in Landon’s hon or at the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post. That event raised more than half of the group’s goal of $50,000, the minimum endowment level at the Coronado Schools Foundation.“Whenwe started this effort, we wanted to make sure that we could raise enough funds to endow the award so that it could continue in perpetuity,” Carinder said.
24 Coronado365.com with the idea for the scholarship. The friends are all members of Coronado’s P.E.O. International chapter XI — a phil anthropic organization where women help women — and originally thought they would start the award through the P.E.O. chapter.Butafter exploring the possibilities, they decided to work with the Coronado Schools Foundation because they didn’t want the students to go through an ap plication process. They wanted all female students to be considered equally, said Connie Spitzer, Landon’s friend and one of driving forces behind the award.
“Wanting to honor Jean was a huge motivating factor for us to move forward. Watching her battle ALS, she has served as a real inspiration to all of us,” said Kate Carinder, another friend and one of the scholarship’s organizers. “We thought it would be great to establish the Jean Landon Inspiration Award to let her know how much we all love her. Establishing this scholarship just seemed fitting. No one can ever take away your education.”
The Landons settled in Coronado in 1988, raising their two sons, Matthew and John, here. Jean Landon’s father also served in the Navy, and while growing up, “I always had a strong faith that God can weave all things, even my ALS, into a pattern for good.”
JEAN LANDON
CSF invests the money and runs the scholarship. The teen girls are selected by a committee. The winner is announced at the annual senior awards ceremony in June. This has been the third year a $1,000 award has been given. “They have been so well selected,” Spitzer said of the recipients. “The girls have all been so deserving and so grateful.”
KATE CARINDER
SEPTEMBER 2022 » CORONADO 365 25
“I always had a strong faith that God can weave all things, even my ALS, into a pattern for good. This award is part of that good. We are able to help deserving young women financially achieve their educa tional goals,” Landon said. “I am truly honored and humbled that my friends Nina Pierce, the 2022 recipient of the Jean Landon Inspiration Award, poses with her parents, Nathaniel and Cristina Pierce, and Landon at Coronado High School.
Landon moved often, attending a dozen different schools. In Coronado, Landon at first worked as a pediatric nurse and then focused on her children. Later, she opened Spruce It Up, an interior decorating and organization business, which she had to close due to increasing symptoms. Symptoms started with weakness first in one leg, then the other in 2013. It wasn’t until two years later that doctors identified her symptoms as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. At the beginning of her diagnosis, the Landons spent time traveling. “They took a lot of cruises,” Spitzer said. “She was in a wheelchair, and when peo ple came up to her, she always let them know how blessed she is.” By the end of 2019, traveling became too difficult. Landon has broken 12 bones from falls since the onset of ALS. But still, she has defied the odds. The average life expectancy of individuals with ALS is two to five years after diagnosis. Landon, 67, is still going strong nine years after the onset of “She’ssymptoms.gotto be struggling, but she won’t let on,” Spitzer said. “To have ALS and never complain, she has just inspired so manyLandon’speople.”faith is her lodestar.
and P.E.O. sisters wanted to create this in my“Thehonor.most rewarding aspect of the scholarship is that for generations, we are able to acknowledge and encourage young women to be an inspiration in their own way. Young women can be an inspiration by being a mentor, by having a positive attitude in the face of difficulties, by step ping up when others don’t,” she said.
“I’ve been a perfectionist all my life, but ALS taught me that it’s OK if everything isn’t perfect. Life is still pretty darn won derful.”
“When I was diagnosed with ALS, the community sprang into action, bringing us dinner twice a week, driving me on outings, accommodating my wheelchair at meetings, sending me encouraging notes, praying for me, being patient with my speech struggles, and, of course, donating to the scholarship fund. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else in the world.
Jean Landon’s friends and family gather for a celebration and fundraiser at Coronado’s Veterans of Foreign Wars post on April 9, 2022. CARINDER
26 Coronado365.com
■ Grace Cassidy is a freelance writer.
For Landon, the Coronado community stepped up when she was in need.
The team name for her ALS fundraiser walks is “It Takes a Village.” “I’ve always believed in the saying,” Landon said.
KATE
President Richard Nixon hosts a state dinner at the Hotel del Coronado in honor of Mexico’s President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz on Sept. 3, 1970.
Sept. 2, 1916 Army aviators first guewithflyingliamcationairplane-to-airplanedemonstratedradiocommunioverNorthIslandwhenLt.WilRobertsonandCpl.AlbertSmith,inoneplane,radiotelegraphedaplaneflownbyLt.HerbertDarandCapt.ClarenceCulver.
LESLIE CRAWFORD COLLECTION
THIS MONTH IN CORONADO HISTORY
President Richard Nixon hosted a state dinner at the Hotel del Coro nado in honor of Mexico’s President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz. Guests included former President Lyndon B. Johnson and California Gov. Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy. Sept. 5, 1922 Dashing aviator Jimmy Doolittle, who enlisted at North Island’s Rockwell Field in October 1917, set a record for the first transcontinental flight. He flew 2,163 miles, leaving Neptune (Jacksonville), Florida, on Sept. 4 and landing at Rockwell Field 21 hours and 19 minutes later, on Sept. 5. Sept. 7, 1944 Fort Emory at the end of the Silver Strand was formally commissioned by the Army and immediately went into operation, providing primary training in amphibious warfare. Sept. 8, 1947 Sacred Heart Parish School, with grades from kindergarten through eight, opened with Mass at the church at 8 a.m. Early registration numbers were 236 children. Sister Mary Angela with a staff of five Benedictine sisters
Sept. 3, 1970
» LOOKING BACK
A notable feature was a mechanical replica of the Spirit of St. Louis, which circled the great banquet hall above the heads of the guests.
Sept. 10, 1923
In honor of Charles Lindbergh’s historic flight, Coronado joined San Diego in making Sept. 21 “Lindbergh Day.” Coronadans crossed the bay for a celebration at Balboa Stadium. Later, Lindbergh was greeted by Coronado Mayor Humphrey Stewart when he arrived by ferry. The Lind bergh procession passed hundreds of well-wishers on the way to the Hotel del Coronado where an elaborate fete, sponsored by the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, was held. The big dinner was a colorful affair.
Sept. 24, 1915
from Atchison, Kansas, taught classes along with three music teachers. The sisters’ home, just east of the church, was constructed during this time, too.
The Coronado Police Department’s lost-and-found section included one glass eye. It was found at the Village Theater the prior night. Police were unable to say whether it was a right or left eye, but it was blue. Its replace ment value was estimated at roughly $l00, but the eye was
Sept. 21, 1927
Coronado celebrated the total eclipse of the sun with “A Fete to the Sun.” Events included a flying circus and a pageant called “The First Born of the Sun,” a mythical story that cast hundreds of Coronado residents. The day finished with a Mardi Gras-style celebration. Reports of strange wind gusts, circus animals pacing and pros titutes going on their knees and vow ing to change their ways were circu lated but largely debunked. All agreed that the lighting was very strange when at the peak of the eclipse.
Motion liamPresidentincludedreceptionaAvenueandattheformallymundpioneerpictureSiegLubinopenedLubinStudioFirstStreetOrangewithmagnificentthatformerWilHowardTaft
Siegmund1913unclaimed.portraitofLubinWIKIMEDIACOMMONS
President Franklin D. Roosevelt ap proved the agreement between the Department of the Navy and De partment of War to transfer property between the Army and Navy, effec tively giving North Island over to the Navy. Sept. 27, 1956
and Marine Maj. Gen. Joseph Pendleton, who was a colonel at the time. After the party, “Retribu tion” — the first motion picture made by the studio — was shown to the at tendees. Lubin was expected to bring great actors and actresses to Coronado for his many projects. Sept. 26, 1935
A view of Point Loma overlooking North Island, shot from San Diego around 1899.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS / DETROIT PUBLISHING CO. COLLECTION
COURTESY OF HOTEL DEL CORONADO
In 1885, Elisha Babcock and Hampton Story bought San Diego Peninsula, the barren acreage that is now Coronado. They formed the Coronado Beach Co. and subdivided the land, offering lots for sale.
SanteeBeach?
By GINA PETRONE Babcock and Story weren’t first entrepreneurs with big plans for developing Coronado hen Gen. Stuart Stanley suggested the name Mira mar in January 1886 for a recently acquired penin sula, a mild insurrection occurred. There was talk about circulating a petition to keep the land from being named Miramar, which the appeal said had “an indistinct, flat and lifeless sound.” Miramar had been the leader in a naming contest for what had been called the San Diego Peninsula. Other entries included Hiawatha, The Lido, Shining Shore, El Cosoy and Ojo del Puerto. The new owners of the land eventually settled on the name of their company: Coronado Beach.Elisha Babcock Jr. and Hampton Story, who formed the Coronado Beach Co., had bought Coronado for $110,000 with grand visions. But they weren’t the first people interested in developing the shrub-cov ered land. In January 1885, Capt. John Heerandner had filed a petition to establish a toll ferry service between San Diego and Corona do, but the petition was postponed for unknownHowever,reasons.onJune 27, 1885, the San Diego Union and Daily Bee reported that a syndicate was trying to purchase the land for $105,000. “Ferries, hotels, cottages for campers, etc., are reported as among the visions of the Peninsula’s future,” the reportAmongsaid.the men in the syndicate
W
Stanley, who had a ranch in Escondido, served with Britain’s Royal Engineers in the Crimean war and opened a shortlived civil and military college in Old Town in September 1885. According to an August 1885 letter from Johnson to Stanley, “Everyone in the syndicate stood ready to double his subscription to put the necessary im provements, such as putting in a ferry, wharves, street railway, across to the beach; a first-class hotel and water to make it the most pleasant resort on the Pacific Coast.” The syndicate was ready to move forward, but there was a defect in the title regarding foreclosure of a mortgage. It contained so many errors that the men left San Diego, promising to return should the title be perfected.
In a 1934 San Diego Union interview with Isabella Babcock, she recalled an 1885 afternoon lunch with her husband,
A few weeks later, the San Diego Union reported that work to clear the title was underway and “the improvement of the Peninsula is likely to be realized in the not distant future” and will “cause the people of San Diego to smile with pleasure.”Byearly September 1885, the title had been cleared and “there are unmistak able indications that those engaged in reviving it mean business,” according to a story in the San Diego Union. There’s no mention of anyone in the syndicate returning to San Diego around this time nor does the article say who was “engaged in reviving” the matter. But on Sept. 19, 1885, it was reported that First National Bank had expand ed its board of directors from five to seven members. The two newly created seats were given to E. S. Babcock Jr. and Hampton Story. And on Nov. 22, 1885, the peninsula was sold for $110,000 to Jacob Gruendike, president of First National Bank, E.S. Babcock, Jr. and Hampton Story.
were Samuel R. Johnson and Lorenzo B. Williams of Omaha, Nebraska; brothers James and Thomas Evans from Council Bluffs, Iowa; William Evan from Chicago; and Thomas E. Metcalf, Edward P. Bos byshell, Levi N. Breed, Mr. McFadden, Maj. Fallon and Milton Santee of Los Angeles. Most were prominent business men, bankers or cattlemen — and with the railroad extending to San Diego, they knew the area’s potential. A contract was drawn and papers for the transfer were sent for signatures. The men came to San Diego, chartered a sloop and sailed to Coronado on July 4, 1885, to explore. But it was reported, the group, “not being sea faring men,” ne glected to note the tide and ran aground. After a night with few provisions and claims of discovering an oyster bed, the men returned to San Diego sunburned butInenthusiastic.aJuly8,1885, San Diego Union sto ry, Stanley claimed to have envisioned a development as early as December 1884. His plan included a steam ferry system, tramways, large hotel, small cottages and masts with electric light but, he said, “I got but little encouragement at the time.”
Gina Petrone is heritage manager at the Hotel del Coronado.
Babcock and Story were most likely not part of the original syndicate, but once the out-of-town investors hit a snag, they seized an opportunity. The two helped clear the title and kept the development “local.”They did have a connection with the original group of men. Santee moved to San Diego in 1886 and worked with Babcock on the San Diego Street Car Co. and other ventures, but occasionally the two faced off in court. Babcock’s letters, archived at the Hotel del Coronado, often reveal frustra tion with Santee. In 1890, Santee married Jennie Cowles, the widow of landowner George Cowles, for whom Cowlestown was named in East County. In 1893, Jennie San tee petitioned to change the name of Cowlestown to that of her new husband, Santee. The name stuck even though two years later, the couple moved to Los An geles, where Milton Santee died in 1901. What if the syndicate had purchased the peninsula in 1885?
A colorized postcard depicts Hotel del Coronado soon after it was completed in January 1888. But Hotel Del owners Elisha Babcock and Hampton Story weren’t the only entrepreneurs with plans to develop Coronado.
Elisha, and Story. She recounted the con versation as: “ ‘We’re too young to retire,’ he said to Story, who lay on a couch with his eyes closed, in the good old Mexi can custom of the afternoon siesta. ‘We ought to build a hotel, Story — the biggest wooden structure in the world, the smart est resort hostelry on any coast — on that spot across the bay where we sunburned yesterday.’ Story just sighed and said he would give his answer the next morning.”
A July 1887 historical sketch of Coro nado Beach in the Coronado Mercury claimed that Babcock and Story were part of that initial syndicate, though the two are never mentioned in connection with the peninsula until their purchase in November 1885.
It might have been named Estrella, Yal ta or Cork. But it also could have eventu ally been called Santee.
LESLIE CRAWFORD COLLECTION
The national Arbor Day Foundation has named Coronado a “Tree City USA” every year since 1984, one of 3,652 cities across the country recognized for their urbanLESLIEforests.CRAWFORD
36 Coronado365.com
» FROM THE GROUND UP
Coronado has been selected as a “Tree City USA” every year since 1984. The title is given by the national Arbor Day Foun dation signifying a city’s commitment to progressive urban forestry practices.
By NANCY NYGARD
Coronado’s first tree project was in 1886. Orange trees were planted in Orange Ave nue’s center median in an attempt to entice buyers to the barren new community. The prolific local jackrabbits welcomed the trees by eating them, and the remnants of Coronado’s first street trees were removed. More than a century later, ravenous jackrabbits are no longer a threat. Orange Avenue’s median is verdant, and parkway trees can now be found on every block. Why are street trees so important?
Residents can help Coronado’s urban forest grow by planting trees in parkways
streetsGreen
Coronado wasn’t always home to thousands of trees. Though once dotted with native scrub oak, sumac and willows, Crown City was completely cleared of its native vegetation in the 1880s after devel opers acquired the island.
According to the city’s 2016 Street Tree Master Plan, more than 9,000 trees encompassing 146 species grow on cityowned property, including parks, the mu nicipal golf course and, most prominently, the strips of land between sidewalks and streets known as parkways. (Some may refer to these areas as curbscapes, bou levards, greenways, verges or even hell strips, but this article will use the term parkways to mirror the city’s word choice.)
Though many visitors swoon over Coro nado’s wide beaches and expansive bay views, there’s another attribute that sets our city apart: the diverse urban forest.
Tree virtues include improved air quality, sound abatement, energy conservation and homes for wildlife. Parkway trees also create beauty by adding a ribbon of color and texture along streets, linking residents to the greater environment. Residents can add to the treescape. Fall is an excellent time to plant a tree in Coro nado as winter rains will help establish the roots prior to spring growth. But before planting parkway trees, homeowners need to review the city’s street tree web page now.wasthattreecleaner,maytainsseparateCoronado’ssuitability,theirspecies.cityplantingcityinlisttoproperty,street-tree-information).(coronado.ca.us/331/Becauseparkwaysarecity-ownedhomeownersmustfilearequestplantastreettreeandselectfromtheofapprovedspecies.Alltreesplantedtheparkwaymusteitherbeplantedbystaff,throughacitysponsoredtreeeventorbyacontractorwithatreeplantingpermit.Thecity’sapprovedstreettreelisthas21ThesetreeshavebeenselectedfornoninvasiverootsystemsandclimateaccordingtoArtValdivia,publicservicessupervisor.Aexperimentalstreettreelistconeightspecies,whichthecityarboristneedtoapprovebeforeplanting.Areyoureadytodoyourpartforaquieter,coolerCoronado?Plantaasalong-termcontributiontothecitywilllastbeyondyourlifetime.Remember,thebesttimetoplantatree20yearsago;thesecond-besttimeis■
Nancy Nygard is a freelance writer. The city’s parkways, strips of land between the street and the sidewalk, allow for planting trees, such as the gold medallion tree (top) and the red flowering gum (above).LESLIECRAWFORD PHOTOS
If you’re are thinking of adding to Coronado’s tree population, here are a few notable species from the city’s list worth considering: Strawberry tree (Arbutus ‘Marina’) • Medium-sized evergreen that resembles a madrone • Attractive sculptural branches with unusual, red-toned bark • Small fruits hang in clusters like dangly earrings • A slow grower, Arbutus ‘Marina’ also makes a great potted patio tree. Australian willow (Geijera parviflora) • Once established, an extremely drought-tolerant, low-care tree • Long, narrow medium-green leaves that respond to the slightest •breezeAnexcellent replacement for a California pepper tree, which has very invasive roots • Peppermint tree (Agonis flexuosa) is another nondeciduous tree with similar qualities. Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia) • A true Southern California native •treeThe only California oak that thrives in a coastal environment • Medium-growing, nondeciduous with holly-like leaves • Once established, needs no summer water • Added bonus: a food source for the distinctive California sister butterfly. Desert Museum palo verde (Parkinsonia) • If you’ve spent time in Arizona, you’ve seen these beauties • Excellent fast-growing choice for Spanish-style homes • Long thin, lime-green leaves divided into tiny leaflets • Lacy scrim-like canopy, no thorns, smooth green bark • Extended flowering season with two months of vibrant yellow blossoms Pink flowering tabebuia or pink trumpet tree (Tabebuia ‘Ipe’) • A traffic-stopping tree in the early spring when covered with — you guessed it — bright pink flowers (background photo) • A semi-evergreen native to South America, the tree drops its leaves as the flowers erupt, ensuring the tree is never bare • Unlike jacarandas, fallen tabebuia flowers are not sticky. • Fun fact: Tabebuias are the national tree of Paraguay. ■ — Nancy Nygard RECOMMENDED PLANTINGS
1. Mix burrata in a bowl with extra virgin olive oil, salt and black pepper.
4. Place sliced beefsteak tomatoes and halved Sungold tomatoes on top of the cheese.
6. Spoon fennel and olive vinaigrette over salad.
INGREDIENTS FOR FENNEL AND OLIVE VINAIGRETTE 1 oz. fennel, diced ¼ red onion, diced 1 ounce Castelvetrano olives, 3choppedtablespoons champagne vinegar 2 tablespoons blended oil 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil ½ teaspoon kosher salt ½ teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped ½ teaspoon garlic, chopped INGREDIENTS 2 farmers market beef steak 5tomatoesSungold cherry tomatoes cut in half 1 piece of burrata cheese Drizzle of Saba (a syrupy sweetener from Italy made from grapes) Extra virgin olive oil Fennel and olive vinaigrette (see recipe) Salt and pepper Sumac for garnish CHEF RONNIE SCHWANDT STAKE CHOPHOUSE BAR
7. Season to taste with salt and pepper, sprinkle with sumac.
5. Drizzle Saba and olive oil over the top of the tomatoes.
RECIPE
3. Spoon the seasoned burrata onto the bottom of a plate.
» RECIPE OF THE MONTH
&
2. Cut the beefsteak tomatoes into ½-inch-wide wedges.
Beef steak tomato salad
COURTESY OF BLUE BRIDGE HOSPITALITY » For a complete list of local restaurants, visit coronado365.com/restaurants
BEACHCOMBER
The shell is conical, up to 6 inches tall and is heavy with a flat bottom. The snail protects itself from predators by closing the operculum, a smooth “trapdoor” that covers the entire opening. The operculum is hard, thick and flat and seals the snail into its housing; the seal also helps to keep the snail wet when the tide goes out.
IN JULY, HUNDREDS OF WAVY TURBAN SNAILS were scattered on Coronado’s beaches. While it’s not uncommon to find these snails tucked in jetty rocks, it’s rare to see so many on the beach.
Native to the Pacific coast from Point Conception to Baja California, the wavy turban snail, or Megastraea undosa, lives in intertidal rocky shores down to depths of 250 feet.
A brownish-to-red layer called periostracum covers the shell. The rough outer layer is an ideal growing surface for algae, which offers a good camouflage in the tidal areas. Underneath the layer of periostracum is a beautiful pearly shell, sometimes used to make Primarilybuttons.
herbivores, wavy turban snails bottom feed on algae and kelp. Their natural predators are octopus, fish, sea stars and other snails. They are commercially fished in Mexico. ■ Class: Gastropoda Order: Trochida Family: Turbinidae Genus: Megastraea Species: M. undosa »
Wavy turban snail
Coronado’s shoreline changes with the weather, tides and time of year. Coronadobeachcomber explores our shores daily on the beach or at the bay, paying attention to the interesting animals, shells and sea life. Follow @coronadobeachcomber on CORONADOBEACHCOMBERInstagram.
44 Coronado365.com
Force-Con.CJMACHADO
Tom Crosby was a prisoner of war in the Philippines during World War II as a child. As an adult, Crosby joined the Navy. He will be among the veterans at
SEPTEMBER 2022 » CORONADO 365 45 » MILITARY
By MICHELLE DELANEY
Films, flyovers and community art part of convention honoring veterans
Force-Con 2022, scheduled from Sept. 23 to 25, will involve action/adventure, animation, films, comics and literary works. The inaugural event, held in partnership with Army Week San Diego, will feature artists, authors, gamers and filmmakers — as well as paratroopers and aviators.
W
The first Force-Con is scheduled for three days in September. The convention was organized by producer CJ Machado as a way to honor veterans.
hile the pop-culture phenomenon San Diego Comic-Con has the title of San Diego’s largest convention and the country’s largest comic book convention, this month San Diego and Coronado will host what organiz ers hope will become the largest “superhero” military convention in the United States to honor the heroism of veterans.
The convention is the brainchild of producer CJ Machado, who wrote the POW/MIA historical fiction screenplay “Purple Foxes United,” a story of heroines that join forces to save their brothers in arms. Many of the characters are based on real-life heroes and Honor Flight San Diego veterans. Machado got the inspiration for a convention from writing the screenplay. “The story was created to ignite a surge of patri otism, a duty of remembrance and the revival of the American spirit that would inspire curiosity
A new ‘force’
COURTESY OF FORCE-CON
46 Coronado365.com among our youth and instill a sense of deep gratitude and amazement toward our real-life superheroes and their service to our country,” Machado said. Many of these military heroes will be on hand to participate and be honored for their contributions. Coronado home town hero World War II paratrooper Tom Rice, now 101 years old, is one such honoree. Rice was a “Screaming Eagle,” a paratrooper in the Army’s 101st Airborne Division and part of the D-Day invasion of northern France. As the war continued, Rice completed more missions, including the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium, the German’s last major offensive in De cember 1944. He has returned to France numerous times to jump in commemo ration of those who didn’t make it home. In August 2021, Rice parachuted over Coronado on his 100th birthday. Another hero is Tom Crosby, who along with his mother and brother, became a prisoner of war in the Philippines during World War II when he was 8 years old. The family was living in Manila when Pearl Harbor was attacked. After 37 months of internment, the 1st Cavalry res cued the Crosby family and other prison ers, who had been sentenced to death by the Japanese. Tom Crosby later served in the Korean War for the Navy in gratitude for his “Manyfreedom.oftheveterans taking part in and being honored at Force-Con 2022 are re ally the predecessors to today’s ‘Top Gun.’ They are legends of aviation, they have shaped history, and they have secured our freedoms as Americans. Force-Con 2022 is our collective effort for the greatest generation — to honor these veterans for their service to our great nation,” Macha doEventssaid. kick off Sept. 23 at the Air and Miss Virginia is one of the restored C-47s of the D-Day Squadron. The squadron will be flying over Coronado and dropping parachuters onto the beach.
SEPTEMBER 2022 » CORONADO 365 47 Space Museum in Balboa Park. The red-carpet event celebrating legends of aviation will feature a presentation of “Into Flight Once More,” a documentary about the D-Day Squadron. The squad ron in 2019 flew 15 restored World War II C-47s and DC-3 variants across the Atlantic to Normandy, France, to com memorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Film trailers and a filmmaker panel are alsoOnscheduled.Sept.24,the Hotel del Coronado will host a flyover of vintage DC-3s, which will drop parachutists, including veterans who are able to participate, onto theThebeach.event’s art festival, at Liberty Station on Sept. 25, includes interactive community art. Navy Chief Petty Officer Joe Pisano will unveil one panel of “The Art of Immortalizing Heroes.” The art work is a series of panels re-creating me morials to wars Americans have fought in — from World War I to the Global War on Terrorism and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, according to published reports. Pisano’s work has been previous ly featured at the USS Midway during the 20th anniversary memorial event of 9/11. Attendees at Force-Con will also have the chance to meet veterans, artists, au thors and Proceedsfilmmakers.fromForce-Con will benefit veteran organizations, including Hon or Flight San Diego to fund flights for veterans to Washington, D.C., to visit memorials. ■ . Michelle Delaney is a freelance writer.
Where: San Diego Air & Space Museum, Coronado, Liberty Station When: Sept. 23-25
COURTESY OF USA GOLDEN KNIGHTS
What: Force-Con 22
Cost: Opening night, $250; threeday VIP pass, $500; Force-Con and Coronado Film Festival (scheduled for November) combo pass, $550. Coronado and Liberty Station events are free. Information: force-con.com
World War II paratrooper Vincent J. Speranza lands in a tandem jump. The 97-year-old is planning to parachute during Force-Con.
POEM TO THE SETTING SUN Meet me where the sun dives Beyond the curving line, Where wind and sea and whispered Aredreamswhisked away… whispered. Where light drifts down to a melted Grey-brown,orange, ink blue, black, ’Til the moon rises… glowing the wave Andtips,quickening the eye of lovers On the sand. Take me to that place I’ll promise not to leave I’ll let it heal my wounded heart, Let it fill my sobbed out chest. But, why speak of pain? Let Beauty have its way, As she does here, In this place. At the end of every day. — Joe Kane Coronado artist, author,Junemusician14,2022
» END NOTE 48 Coronado365.com
coronado365.com WHAT EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT
