A Big Thank You to Leadership Santa Maria Valley Class of 2020 Sponsors

Leadership Santa Maria Valley, Class of 2020, would like to thank all of our sponsors that have helped us reach this point in this year’s Legacy project. These projects, a mobile observatory, and bilingual children’s book will be remembered for years to come as having been completed during a pandemic.

We are now on the final stretch to finish the build of the mobile observatory. On Sept 19th, we were lucky enough to participate in an inaugural COVID-Safe stargazing event at Los Flores Ranch Park (LFRP). It was COVID-approved by local health officials and done exclusively using the LSMV telescope and camera system. This was the first physical stargazing event done on the Central Coast since March. It is expected that LFRP will host another COVID-Safe stargazing event in October, so keep a lookout!

We are also on the final stretch of the art contest for 4th-12th graders to illustrate the bilingual children’s book, Strawberry Moon Says, Goodnight. This contest is giving students an opportunity to create illustrations that will go into this book. The drawings depict local landmarks and things that make Santa Maria Valley and our surrounding areas memorable. The kids have a chance to win a $100 gift card, and one of the 20 artists selected to be in the book will win the Grand prize to win a Nintendo Switch.

Of course, none of this would be possible without the generosity of businesses and individuals in our community. Together, we have raised over $27,000 to fund the completion of these projects. Thank you all! Those sponsors are: Allan Hancock College, Carpenters Local 1800 Training Corp, SMV Community Foundation, RRM Design Group, Northern Santa Barbara County United Way, WAV Group, Mr. Alfred Borzall, Altrusa International of Santa Maria, Santa Maria Association of Realtors, R.W. Scott Construction, Toyota of Santa Maria, Honda, Premier Surgery Center of Santa Maria, CalPortland, Morris & Garritano Insurance, Diani Companies, Mrs. Diane Alleman-Stevens, Paul Blanco & Associates, McDermott & Apkarian, Community Bank of Santa Maria, SearchLight Properties, Santa Maria Kiwanis for Kids, CoastHills Credit Union, Mr. Jerry & Mrs. Anne Keely, and Rotary Club of Santa Maria Breakfast.

Our Leadership Santa Maria Valley Class would not have been able to bring our legacy projects from concept to reality without their support. Thank you!