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GUEST OPINION | Moments in Time by Jan Siegel

ay is National Preservation Month. This year, the Cultural Heritage Commission is hosting a day on Los Rios Street to not only commemorate the preservation of the oldest residential street in California, but also a tribute to Ilse Byrnes, who nominated and placed the street on the National Registry of Historic places.

Ilse, who recently passed away at the age of 94, was the closest we had to a national treasure. A resident of San Juan Capistrano for more than 50 years, she was the town historian; an avid horsewoman; a member of many commissions, both locally and in Orange County; and active in the Fiesta Association, Historical Society, Blas Aguilar Foundation, and Montanez Adobe. Except for the Mission, Ilse was responsible for putting the other 13 structures in San Juan Capistrano on the National Registry.

The Walking Tour Guides and the Historical Society Docents will be giving tours throughout the day on Los Rios Street and at the Montanez Adobe. Presentations will also be given at the train depot on local history of the area. The Camino Real Players will be putting on a short play on the life of Ilse Byrnes at the Historical Society. As part of the celebration, local fourth-grade school children will participate in an essay competition on the history of San Juan Capistrano. Prizes will be awarded for the top three winners, and their essays will be read at the Historical Society.

Sponsors for the event include Zoomars at River Street Ranch, Regency Theatres, Mission San Juan Capistrano, Selma’s Chicago Pizzeria & Tap Room, 3:16 Bakery, Ricardo’s, the San Juan Capistrano Historical Society, the Walking Tour Guides, Camino Real Playhouse, the City of San Juan

Save the Date: May 7 on Los Rios Street M

MOMENTS IN TIME

BY JAN SIEGEL A family walks down Los Rios Street in San Juan Capistrano. Photo: Taylor Garrett Capistrano and the Cultural Heritage Commission. The event is open, free to the public, and will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. PLEASE NOTE: In an effort to provide our readers with a wide variety Donations will be accepted at the of opinions from our community, The Capistrano Dispatch provides Guest Opinion opportunities in which selected columnists’ opinions Historical Society and at the Montanez are shared. The opinions expressed in these columns are entirely Adobe to insure future preservation in those of the columnist alone and do not reflect those of The Capistrano Dispatch or Picket Fence Media. If you would like to respond to this our community. column, please email us at editorial@thecapistranodispatch.com.

You can spend a “Moment in Time” and learn about our local history and what the city and commissions do to support historical preservation. And you can also learn about how one person can make an incredible difference in their community.

Jan Siegel was a 33-year resident of San Juan Capistrano and now resides in the neighboring town of Rancho Mission Viejo. She served on the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission for 13 years, has been a volunteer guide for the San Juan Capistrano Friends of the Library’s architectural walking tour for 26 years and is currently the museum curator for the San Juan Capistrano Historical Society. She was named Woman of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce in 2005, Volunteer of the Year in 2011 and was inducted into the city’s Wall of Recognition in 2007. CD

Photo: Courtesy of David Avitia and OC Public Libraries.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

This photo depicts Chief Clarence Lobo and his wife, Bess, at an Acjachemen (Juaneño) tribal gathering in San Juan Capistrano in the 1950s.

Every issue, The Capistrano Dispatch will publish a historical photo. To submit your historical photo for consideration, provide information about the photo along with your name, date, location and a small description to cbreaux@picketfencemedia.com.

ADOPTABLE PET OF THE WEEK

JOPLIN

THE CAPISTRANO DISPATCH

Say hello to Joplin, a 3-month-old Belgian Malinois who just can’t wait to meet you. One of four pups, Joplin is a happy little guy who loves to spend his days playing with his brother and sisters. Like most Belgian Malinois, Joplin has lots of energy and would do best in a home where he can get lots of exercise and attention with an experienced owner. If you are interested in adopting Joplin, please visit petprojectfoundation.org/adoptions/ to download an adoption application form. Completed forms can be emailed to animalservices@scdpanimalshelter.org, and you will be contacted about making an interaction appointment.

Sudoku

BY MYLES MELLOR

SOLUTION: Each Sudoku puzzle consists of a 9x9 grid that has been subdivided into nine smaller grids of 3x3 squares. To solve the puzzle, each row, column and box must contain each of the numbers 1 to 9. Puzzles come in three grades: easy, medium and difficult. Level: Medium

SAN JUAN PREP SPORTS ROUNDUP

BY ZACH CAVANAGH, THE CAPISTRANO DISPATCH

For in-game updates, news and more for all of the San Juan Capistrano high school sports programs, follow us on Twitter @SouthOCSports. San Juan Hills Bounces Back in Ryan Lemmon Tournament

The final weeks of March were not kind to the San Juan Hills baseball program.

The Stallions suffered injuries to their No. 1 and No. 2 pitching arms in seniors Tanner Duke and Ryan Chadwick and opened the Sea View League with a 1-4 record. That difficult stretch continued into the first game of the Ryan Lemmon Tournament with a 10-0 loss to Woodbridge on Saturday, April 2.

San Juan Hills had lost five of six games and was outscored 35-5 in those contests. The Stallions had won seven of their previous nine games before that.

However, as the Ryan Lemmon Tournament continued at the Great Park in Irvine into spring break and the first full week of April, San Juan Hills found

San Juan Hills baseball rallied with three victories in the Ryan Lemmon Tournament to rebound from late March losses. The Stallions look to take their momentum back into the Sea View League. Photo: Zach Cavanagh

success in small ball on the way to a three-game winning streak.

The Stallions beat Bountiful of Utah, 8-4, on Monday, April 4, broke a late tie against Canyon, 7-5, on Tuesday, April 5, and closed out the tournament in big fashion with a decisive win over Irvine, 10-2, on Wednesday, April 6.

“(The injuries to Duke and Chadwick) took the wind out of our sails last week,” San Juan Hills coach Bret LeVier said, “so this tournament came at a perfect time for us to reset a little bit and see who’s going to fill those roles and step up. We brought a few guys up. We had a couple sophomores and a freshman playing. It’s been exciting to see them come in and have success this week.”

San Juan Hills (12-9, 1-4) excelled by embracing the bunt. The Stallions laid down three bunt singles against Bountiful and loaded the bases with bunt singles in a five-run inning against Canyon.

“We know that we’re going to have to play small ball as we go through each game,” LeVier said. “When we get the leadoff guy on, we’ve got to execute our bunts and move him along. We were successful yesterday, too, with three bunt base hits. A well-placed bunt is tough to defend at any level, especially high school baseball.”

San Juan Hills now looks to take this momentum gained over spring break back into Sea View League play.

The only victory the Stallions had in league play so far was a 2-1 win at San Clemente on March 25. San Juan Hills hosts the Tritons twice in a three-game set next week. The teams play at San Juan Hills on Monday, April 11, at San Clemente on Wednesday, April 13 and back at San Juan Hills on Friday, April 15.

Bringing the Fight

Capistrano Boxing Gym throwing punches in the fight against Parkinson’s

BY ZACH CAVANAGH, THE CAPISTRANO DISPATCH I t’s one thing to fight against a disease, but what if someone could literally use their own bare hands to punch and fight against their disease?

That opportunity is being offered for sufferers of Parkinson’s disease at the Capistrano Boxing Gym with its Ready to Fight Parkinson’s Specific boxing classes.

Capistrano Boxing Gym began offering the USA Boxing-endorsed and nurse-designed program in February and is looking to spread awareness for the program and the cause during Parkinson’s Awareness Month in April.

“We are pleased to be offering the Ready to Fight program at our gym,” Capistrano Boxing Gym owner Peter Carey said in a release. “Parkinson’s disease affects so many people in our community, and we believe these classes will help improve the health of those individuals, as well as the quality of life for them and their families and caregivers.”

Boxing and Parkinson’s disease—a chronic and progressive nervous system disorder that causes tremors, stiffness or slowing of movement—have an interesting relationship.

On one side is one of the most famous cases of Parkinson’s in the world: legendary heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali.

After retiring in 1981 from his boxing career as “The Greatest,” Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1984, and Ali dealt with his disease and raised awareness and funds for research until his death in 2016.

Some research suggests that head trauma, such as repeated instances in boxing, can increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s, but other research suggests there is no link. Overall, there is no known direct cause for Parkinson’s.

On the other side of the relationship, boxing is being used to help manage and fight off symptoms of Parkinson’s. Exercise is an important element to reducing the severity of Parkinson’s symptoms to help improve motor control, balance and fitness levels.

“For me, it’s a firsthand education,” said Rudy Garcia, the Capistrano Boxing Gym coach who runs the Ready to Fight Parkinson’s classes. “I get to talk to these folks on a one-on-one basis. It helps manage the symptoms. With medication and the right diet, they function just fine. They’re having a good response.”

Garcia said the hourlong classes begin with a stretching program to help with balance, flexibility and the shuffling of feet that can come with Parkinson’s. From there, members of the program move to the heavy bag for stamina and endurance, as well as work on focus mitts for punch combinations.

The classes also emphasize work on the speed bag for hand-eye coordination. The classes end with a cooldown to stretch out the muscles once more.

Garcia said the classes currently have eight members, but they would love to see more growth.

“The people that I have in the gym have shown great progress,” Garcia said. “If I can get 20 people that we can help, then that’s the right thing to do.”

The Ready to Fight Parkinson’s Specific classes are offered Monday through Friday from 10:30-11:30 a.m.

For more information on the Capistrano Boxing Gym or the Parkinson’s classes, go to capistranoboxinggym.com or call 949.276.7776. CD

Roundup

JSerra baseball has responded to a disastrous start in Trinity League play. The Lions opened 1-6 in league with a sweep loss to Santa Margarita, but since then, JSerra has won two out of three from St. John Bosco and swept Servite. JSerra (119, 6-6, No. 9 in Division 1) now locks up once again with No. 3 Harvard-Westlake on Monday, April 11, before gearing up to co-host the prestigious Boras Classic April 19-22.

St. Margaret’s (10-2, 4-0) and Capistrano Valley Christian (11-6, 4-0) clash for the top of the San Joaquin League in the first of three meetings on Saturday, April 9, at San Juan Sports Park. The Eagles and Tartans play again on April 26 and April 28. CD