Editorial: Credit volunteers for successful events
THUMBS UP to the dozens of dedicated volunteers who worked behind the scenes to put on the Sept. 12 Poway Days Parade and the Sept. 25-26 Poway Rodeo. The parade, in its 51st year, harkens back to the days when Poway prided itself as a small town with an Old West kind of heritage. Poway’s bigger now, and some of that pride has clearly dimmed, but those participating in this year’s parade, and the spectators who braved warm temperatures seemed to have a good time. The 41st annual rodeo, on the other hand, is clearly thriving, with a sell-out crowd on Saturday and a near-sellout on Friday night. Its future seems to be a little brighter than that of the parade.
THUMBS DOWN to the Haggen grocery chain, which has announced plans to close all of its stores in the Southwest, including Poway, Rancho Bernardo and Rancho Penasquitos, after filing for bankruptcy. The small Washington state chain surprised many by taking over 146 Albertsons, Vons and Safeway stores earlier this year. Local shoppers soon discovered that items in the rebranded stores were expensive and failed to be won over. Communities will soon be left with large, empty buildings that will be tough to fill, along with many unemployed workers. A real shame.
THUMBS DOWN to the owners of the Waterbridge condominiums in Rancho Bernardo for not being good neighbors to the Westwood community. Nine years ago, when the parking overflow problem it created for single-family homes across the street arose, Waterbridge officials managed to stop efforts to implement parking restrictions in Westwood by asking for more time to fix the problem. Nine years later nothing has been done and Westwood residents are understandably fed up and are mobilizing to force Waterbridge to resolve the problem.
THUMBS UP to Dr. David Tam, who has left Palomar Health after seven successful years. He was hired as Pomerado Hospital’s chief administrative officer and also served as CAO of the Palomar Health Downtown Campus. He also oversaw the construction and opening of the $957 million Palomar Medical Center in Escondido. We thank him for his service to our community and wish him well in his new job as CAP of a hospital in Santa Monica.
THUMBS (and bottoms) UP to the Rancho Bernardo Sunrise Rotary Club for again hosting the Rancho BEERnardo Festival and Tasting from 2 to 5 p.m. this Saturday at the Sikes Adobe Historic Farmstead, near the Westfield North County mall in Escondido. This is the fourth annual event and is the region’s only India Pale Ale festival. Tickets are $45 at the gate and participants get a generous 15 tastes. All money raised goes back into the community.
