LV Multi-Cultural Fair and Parade this Saturday
Plus: Upcoming Community Events; Bayside Grow Bag Giveaway; Carson Elementary STEAM Night, 26 Trees Planted at LV Park, and Vet Office Opens in Civita
What are you doing this weekend?
“I’m going to be at the 37th annual Linda Vista Multi-Cultural Fair and Parade this Saturday” is the only acceptable answer to that question. After all, the popular Fair and Parade happens to be Linda Vista’s favorite community event, and Linda Vista residents, as well as those of neighboring communities, are more than ready to make up for lost time by attending this year’s festivities.
After a two-year COVID imposed hiatus, the Fair will begin at 10:00 am this Saturday, April 23. Fair activities will be conducted on Linda Vista Road, between the Linda Vista Plaza Shopping Center and John Baca Park. The Parade will begin at 11:00 am and travel down Linda Vista Road from near the intersection of Genesee Avenue.
The theme of this year’s fair is Come Out and Play.
The Fair will have its usual eclectic mix of food venues, booths representing various businesses and civic organizations, and amusement rides for kids. A variety of performers/groups will entertain guests while reflecting the rich diversity of the Linda Vista community. The Parade will include numerous bands, performance groups, local organizations, and several local dignitaries.
We are proud to announce that my wife and I, co-editors of the Linda Vista Update, will be serving as Grand Marshals for the parade. The Linda Vista Update will also have a booth at the fair. Please stop by and say hello to us and our Carnivore Sidekick. We are eager to meet all of our wonderful readers! We have a special promotional prize for the first 50 readers who visit our booth and say the following words…”I like reading the Linda Vista Update!”
Upcoming Community Events
—San Diego Wave FC: The SD Wave, San Diego’s new entry in the National Women’s Soccer Team, plays its next home game (at USD’s Torero Stadium) on April 23 at 7:00 pm. Check out ticket information here.
—Kelly Street Park Outreach Meeting: On April 26, District 7 Councilmember Raul Campillo will host a community outreach meeting to collect resident feedback on possible improvements needed for Kelly Street Park. Don’t miss this opportunity to let Councilmember Campillo know what you’re thinking. Please see the below poster for further details.
—Community Clean-up: The next monthly LV Community Clean-up, sponsored by the Bayside Community Center, will be held on Sunday May 1 at 10:00 am. Volunteers meet in the Linda Vista Library parking lot.
—USD Baseball: The University of San Diego Torero baseball team plays a three game series against conference competitor Santa Clara University at Fowler Park on April 29 (6:00 pm), April 30 (5:00 pm), and May 1 (1:00 pm). The Toreros are currently tied for second place in the West Coast Conference.
Grow Bag Giveaway Inspires Food Sustainability
The Bayside Community Center was the site of much activity yesterday morning as residents lined up to receive free Grow Bags for growing their own vegetables and herbs. The Grow Bags were distributed as part of the Center’s popular Tiny Gardens Program.
The Grow Bags included soil as well as seeds and starter plants and accessories like tomato cages, watering cans, and plastic water drip pans. The Grow Bags also came with detailed instructions for growing plants in the bags, and a QR code that can be used for accessing an internet “How to” video.
Assisting in the giveaway was County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher who helped load the Grow Bags and starter plants into residents’ car trunks and backseats. Supervisor Fletcher discussed the significance of the Grow Bag giveaway, commenting on how a bag with seeds can impact lives by facilitating access to fresh vegetables. “I think it’s great that local residents are growing stuff right where they live, changing our mindset about growing locally,” he said. “A program like this addresses the issue of food sustainability and food insecurity. It’s important because some communities don’t have access to fresh fruit and vegetables.” Fletcher added, “In addition to growing your own produce, there is a positive environmental impact because food doesn’t have to be trucked across the country,” thus decreasing gas emissions.
During his visit, Supervisor Fletcher was also briefed by Bayside Environmental Learning Center (BELC) Program Manager Amy Zink on plans for the proposed Bayside Community Garden (to be located at the Linda Vista Park and Recreation Center) and was given the opportunity to review the Tiny Gardens Recipe Book (which was featured in a previous issue of this newsletter) and meet the book’s authors.
Also assisting in the giveaway were students from High Tech High in Clairemont, who helped shovel the soil into the bags.
The Tiny Gardens program involves local families (parents and school age children) learning how to grow produce from seed to harvest, finding creative ways to cook the produce, and discovering the importance of healthy eating. It is part of the Center’s BELC program. If you want to learn more about the Tiny Gardens program you can contact Amy Zink at azink@baysidecc.org.
Carson Elementary Families Celebrate Birthday and STEAM instruction
Long after the final bell of yesterday’s school day, Carson Elementary proved to be one of the busiest places in Linda Vista, as the STEAM Magnet school enthusiastically celebrated its 80th birthday with a Family STEAM Night.
The event, which began at 5:00 pm, was enthusiastically attended by students, family members, and local residents who appeared eager to see what kind of STEAM activities the students had been engaging with as part of their quest to be better problem solvers. (STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics). Attendance was so impressive that families were actually lined up around the corner of the school to eagerly enter the event.
Once inside, attendees spent time visiting different tables that featured activities to show how students are trained to employ innovative solutions and design thinking to real world problems. Attendees were invited to try their hand at engaging with the activities which involved the application of physics, chemistry, biology and math and went by names such as “Aluminum Foil Boats,” “Bath Bombs,” “Mathigami Tubes,” “Blubber Gloves,” “Skeletal Octahedron Puzzle,” and "Earthquake Proof Marshmallow Tower,” to name just a few.
Assisting the elementary school students with the activities were students from the University of San Diego’s Mortar Board Honor Society, and the STEAM Outreach Club, as well as other USD physics and chemistry major students.
In addition to checking out all the STEAM activities, attendees also had the opportunity to enjoy food and snacks during the early evening birthday celebration.
Happy Birthday to Carson Elementary, and congratulations to Principal Lucille Ciudad Real and her staff for organizing such a wonderful event.
LV Park and Rec Center Recipient of 26 New Trees
The San Diego Parks Foundation and the Village Garden Club of La Jolla, along with the City of San Diego recently teamed up to plant a total of 26 trees at the Linda Vista Park and Recreation Center. On Saturday April 16, a ceremony that included representatives from all three organizations as well as the Linda Vista Recreation Advisory Council and San Diego Gas and Electric (see photo above), was conducted to celebrate the planting of the trees and the handing over of a donation check from the Village Garden Club of La Jolla to the San Diego Parks Foundation. The 26 trees were subsequently planted by City employees along the perimeter of the Recreation Center’s athletic fields, and adjacent to the popular Linda Vista Skateboard Park. The planting also included the installation of an accompanying irrigation system.
The planting of trees in the City of San Diego parks is part of an on-going program “to ensure a safe, inviting, and sustainable urban forest within these parks and align with the City’s Climate Action Plan.”
As indicated on the Foundation’s web site, “The Climate Action Plan (CAP) calls for an increase in the City of San Diego’s canopy cover to a total of 35% by 2035. Right now, in our City’s parks, we are averaging about 23% so it is critical we plant trees now so they can grow and achieve a large canopy by the year 2035.”
The Foundation also recognizes research that shows increased tree canopy cover can play a role in decreasing crime in several categories and helps to decrease stress and anxiety for residents who play, learn, and socialize in parks.
The Linda Vista Park and Recreation Center has been “adopted” by the San Diego Parks Foundation to support its improvement and revitalization, hoping to make the entire park as vibrant as the skatepark and the local community.
As outlined in the Foundation’s website, and as discussed by Ms. Martha Phillips (San Diego Parks Foundation board member) at Saturday’s ceremony, plans for future park upgrades and improvements include the following:
Renovation of the athletic fields to improve safety, playability, and the ability to generate revenue from league rentals to invest in the center’s ongoing programming and facility needs.
Resurfacing of the basketball and tennis courts.
Installation of enhanced landscaping and a community garden in collaboration with the Bayside Community Center
Refurbishment of the playground to make it universally accessible to all children and the addition of adult fitness equipment to support healthy and active lifestyle for parents and caretakers.
The Linda Vista Park and Recreation Center was featured in a recent post of the Linda Vista Update, which detailed all the extensive activities going on at the Center on a typical weeknight.
First Retail Business Opens in Mission Valley’s Civita
On Friday April 22, Southpaw Vet, a full-service veterinary practice will be celebrating its grand opening in Mission Valley’s Civita development at 7995 Civita Blvd, Suite 3. Southpaw Vet is the first retail business to open in Civita.
The veterinary practice is a family-owned, independent clinic, operated by veterinarian Joshua Yonas, DVM, and Matt Worthey, hospital manager. The clinic, which features a fully equipped surgical suite, will provide a wide range of services from annual exams and preventative care to advanced surgical procedures by a board-certified surgeon and complete dental care.
Catering exclusively to dogs and cats, Southpaw Vet is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“The opening of Southpaw is the culmination of a lifetime of hard work and dedication to animals and their owners, and we’re proud to be the newest addition to the neighborhood,” said Dr. Yonas. “We look forward to serving residents of Civita and the surrounding communities,” he said.
Other local businesses expected to open soon in Civita include El Tianguis Rolled Taquitos and LA Fitness. Plans call for a total of 480,000 square feet of retailers, dining venues, and entertainment.
Subscribe to the Linda Vista Update
We invite everyone to subscribe to the Linda Vista Update. It’s free. Just click on the below “Subscribe now” button. Once you do so, you will be on automatic distribution for all future posts.
The Linda Vista Update is a weekly digital newsletter that publishes informative, interesting and fun news about Linda Vista and its neighboring communities.