June 11, 2010
On the Internet at www.MISSIONTIMESCOURIER.com
Donations Needed For July 4th Music Fest and Fireworks
Wish Granted To Patrick Henry Student
Photos Credit: Bill Resto, Pixel Elegance
By John Pilch, Event Committee Member We still need your financial help to hold the Lake Murray July 4th Music Fest and fireworks event this year! On behalf of the Music Fest Committee (Don Brennan, Jay Wilson and John Pilch), this message is being sent to the Navajo Community residents who enjoy the July 4th event at Lake Murray. With the economy still in a mess, we are earnestly attempting to raise the funds now to cover our $45,000 budget to allow the event to proceed rather than making a plea at a later date. As this article was sent to the Mission Times Courier, we needed $11,000+ to meet our goal. The featured band this year is Siren's Crush Show Band, a high-energy group that will have you up and dancing. They will be preceded from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. by "Mobility", the U.S. Air Force band from Travis AFB near Sacramento. Their appearance at the 2010 SpringFest event in Allied Gardens was a hit. The Air Force group will be preceded by Oudeilia, a Latin Jazz ensemble that was such a crowd-pleaser in 2009 that we invited them back to play in the 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. time slot. Please note that the music begins at noon, with a band to be announced for the 12:00-1:00 p.m. time slot. continued on page 10
'Race For The Playground' Nets Nearly $9K The Lake Murray Playground Project also unveiled its pursuit of a $50,000 Pepsi Refresh grant during the fun run. By amassing online votes during the month of May, the playground project got as close as 37th place in the rankings before ending the month in 71st place. Considering the stiff competition - 1,314 Jack ideas from across the McSweeney, 5K nation were in the run- Child winner. ning - the Lake Murray Playground Project had a tremendous volcontinued on page 11
Del Cerro Resident Recognized For Efforts To Open National Cemetery at MCAS Miramar Council Proclaims May 25th Brigadier General (Ret.) Robert Cardenas Day Famous for pioneering aviation, including the X-1 Supersonic program, Del Cerro resident Retired Air Force Brigadier General Robert Cardenas was honored by the City of San Diego for his drive to open a National Cemetery at MCAS Miramar. The City Council proclaimed May 25th Brigadier General (Ret.) Robert Cardenas Day. General Cardenas' family,
friends, and several members of the military filled the council chambers for the presentation. For the past several years, Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery on Point Loma has been forced to limit burials because they've run out of room. The new cemetery at Miramar will allow military families to continue to bury their loved continued on page 10
Councilmember Marti Emerald joins Brigadier General (Ret.) Robert Cardenas along with his family and friends to honor his efforts to open a national cemetery.
Photos credit: Joshua Aull
Community takes active role in fundraising for new Lake Murray playground The "Race for the Playground" fun run on May 2nd drew 415 participants, raising nearly $9,000 toward the construction of a new playground at Lake Murray Community Park. Special guests who helped kick off the race included Assemblymember Marty Block and City Councilmember Marti Emerald, along with Meghan Rickey and Cheyne Whitney of "The Amazing Race." While the race was all about fun and fundraising, some came ready to compete. Winners in each category were: 5K, Male: Ryan Kurtz, 5K, Female (tie): Emily O'Sullivan, Kathryn Kurtz, Camille Jorgenson, 5K, Child: Jack McSweeney and 1 mile, Child: Henry Williams
Volume XVI – Number V
Cancer Patient Surprises Classmates With Generous Wish By Jeff Barnes A Patrick Henry High School student battling cancer got his wish. Darren Shanks didn't want to meet anyone, get anything, go anywhere, or be anyone in particular for a day. He wanted to surprise his football teammates with new home and away uniforms. On June 7th, the Make-A-Wish Foundation teamed up with Nike and the San Diego Chargers to grant Darren's wish in front of the whole school. The 14-year-old freshman played on the freshman football team last year as an offensive lineman. Darren was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphona in January and was referred to the Make-AWish FoundationÂŽ of San Diego, a nonprofit organization that grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions. Darren said despite his difficult battle, it was an easy choice to wish for a Todd Melrose of Nike presents Darren gift to his school. Shanks with a new football jersey. "The team helped me, the coaches helped me the entire time I've been going through this," Darren said. "I felt like I could help them - their support has been phenomenal." Darren's family knew about the wish, but they had no idea how it would become a reality. They knew something was going on when a limousine picked up Darren and his family from their San Carlos home and transported them to school with an escort of six San Diego Police officers on motorcycles. When Darren opened the door of the limo, he was surprised to see 2,000 fellow classmates cheering him on in a spectacular welcome. Darren walked through a tunnel of teammates and Chargers cheerleaders to the stage where he was presented with a new football jersey. When it was announced that not one team but all three teams would be getting new jerseys and pants, the students cheered in excitement. The Chargers cheerleaders presented Darren with a bag full of merchandise and a field pass to next season's home opener. After the assembly, Darren and his family were treated to lunch at Seau's Restaurant where former Charger Junior Seau greeted Darren and posed for pictures. The Make-A-Wish Foundation said Darren's wish was extra special because it's just the second "wish to give" in San Diego/Imperial counties in 25 years. "Usually the kids want to do something for themselves," said Jon Husby, Darren's Wish continued on page 16
Jeff Barnes Named Editor The Mission Times Courier is pleased to welcome Jeff Barnes as its new Editor. The San Carlos resident has lived in the area for more than 27 years and has always had an interest in serving as Editor of a community newspaper. After more than 15 years of Jeff Barnes, Editor serving as Editor and Co-publisher, Sally Ortega Madaffer has retired from the paper. "We extend a big thank you to Sally for her dedication to the community and 15+ years of service to the paper," said publisher Jim Madaffer. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Barnes and his family moved to San Diego when he was 5. Barnes grew up in Fletcher Hills and attended Fletcher Hills Elementary, Parkway Middle and Grossmont High schools. Today, Barnes is proud to call San Carlos home, just a 10-minute drive from where he grew up.
Barnes knew at a really young age that he wanted to pursue a career in journalism as he always kept a close eye on current events. At Parkway Middle School, he wrote for the Eye On Parkway and earned the "Outstanding Journalist of the Year" award in 8th grade. In high school, Barnes continued to pursue his interest in journalism and served on The Foothill Echoes staff as news editor and business manager. During Barnes' junior year, he attended the Washington Journalism Conference in Washington, D.C. In high school, Barnes decided he wanted to attend University of Missouri-Columbia and pursue a Bachelor's degree in journalism. The Mizzou School of Journalism was a perfect fit for Barnes. It's the only journalism school in the world that owns and operates an affiliate TV station and a daily newspaper. Barnes worked as a TV news producer, reporter, photographer, assignment desk editor and webmaster for KOMUTV, the NBC affiliate station in Columbia. On the print side, Barnes worked as a cops/ courts reporter, copy editor and webmaster for the Columbia Missourian, Columbia's morning newspaper. After Barnes' sophomore year, he was a summer intern at KNSD-TV, NBC 7/39 continued on page 12