• Eagle Scout Project at Marna O'Brien Park

Addisun Rice, of Boy Scout Troop 90 and a senior at Elsinore High School, put the finishing touches on his Eagle Scout project this week.

The project dealt with installing shade structures on the two dugouts on the near ball field at Marna O'Brien park.

He started this project, at the concept level, back in May of this year and has spent about 150 hours on it so far. 

He estimates that more than 300 man hours have gone into this when you add in the time from the 30 plus volunteers that have helped him so far.

A look at the third base dugout after the taller fence posts were installed.

The volunteers came from his church, from the boy scouts, from the city, and the community.

Volunteers helping hoist the chainlink up to it's new home above the third base dugout.

The new structure on the first base dugout.

He raised about $2500 to complete this project. He told me that he's learned leadership, patience and how to plan a project out during this Eagle Scout project.

What the new shade structure looks like from shallow right field.

Addisun is due to go in front of the Eagle Board of Review around the 25th of November, that's when Eagle Scout status is officially conferred.

Key players on this project include Brad Evans (City of Wildomar), Addisun Rice, and Daniel Torres (City of Wildomar).

Thanks again to the hard work and diligence of the local scouts. 

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Diligence is the mother of good luck.

— Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790

Wildomar Rap eschews luck of all stripes while warmly embracing serendipity and her sisters fluke and chance.

• Wildomar Little League: Opening Day Ceremonies 2016

An overcast Saturday morning greeted Wildomar Little League's opening day ceremonies. As a long time baseball player, I can tell you that those are ideal game conditions, and also good for taking photos... and it was picture day too!

The teams assembled in the outfield grass as they listened to the national anthem, then recited the pledge of allegiance and then the Little League Pledge.

The Super Tee Angels during The Pledge of Allegiance.

Wildomar parks man extraordinaire, Daniel Torres, was tasked to throw out the ceremonial first pitch by mayor Bridgette Moore. 

Not an easy task when when all eyes are on your and you haven't had a chance to warm up, but he hit his mark like a pro. 

(check the video below to verify it for yourself.)

Be sure to watch the video to get a better feel for the morning.

All the teams then paraded down the third base side of the field as they then exited to a mini-fair area on the lower field. There were many fund raising booths set up. With plenty of activities for the kids.

A look at the Super Tee Orioles as they made their way down the left field line to home plate.

I had some of E's Tacos and a hamburger from the Rockies team booth. Hard to beat a cheeseburger for $2, or four tacos for $5. 

One thing I really liked were the uniforms. All the jerseys were in bright colors, but instead of being a Major League replica, that usually comes with a blindingly high price tag, they all said Wildomar. The only thing I wish was that the jerseys were available to the public too. ☺

Here's to wishing all the teams a good season, and to remember that all baseball players strike out. Don't let it get you down when you swing and miss... you'll get another at bat soon enough

•        •        •

Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.

— Babe Ruth

Wildomar Rap reminds you: As a runner, the most exciting play is taking the extra base, sliding in just ahead of the tag. As a fielder, it's tagging out a runner that guessed wrong about his speed and the arm of the fielder that just threw him out.

• Daniel Torres to the Rescue!

Daniel Torres is Wildomar's go to parks guy, and once alerted to the deteriorated condition of the recently installed bulletin boards at Windsong and Heritage Parks, he put them on his to do list, and hammered them out in no time flat.

Here's an image I sent to Mayor Pro-Tem Bridgette Moore just a few days ago,
showing the condition of the cork squares used for pinning announcements.

Here's is a look at the before and after once Daniel was on the job.

Looks a million times better now.

The bulletin board over at Regency Heritage Park was also in need of repair.

The bulletin boards were part of an Eagle Project. Initially the scout opted for several cork squares instead of one piece. Now we can see that between the pins, the Sun and the the moisture, this cork will probably need replacing at least every other year.

They sure look sharp now. If you have a community message you want to share... a garage sale perhaps, remember to use the bulletin boards, that's what they're there for.

So remember, if you see something that is amiss at one of the parks or other place that the city has jurisdiction over, instead of complaining about it, report it. This is OUR city, and the more sets of eyes we have out there, the better we can keep on top of things. The city employees, or City Council members for that matter, aren't mind readers. ☺

Thanks Daniel, job well done!

•      •      • 

Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment. ― Will Rogers

Wildomar Rap thinks three legged races are best left to those born with three legs..

• Camp Out Night In The Park 2015

A great turn out for the 2015 Camp Out in the Park at Marna O'Brien Park.

The community enjoying a balmy Summer's evening before the show.  Photo courtesy of  Bridgette Moore. 

105 campers checked in, and it was estimated that 200 were in attendance for the movie, which was Penguins of Madagascar.

You can see the camper's tents in the background. Photo courtesy of  Bridgette Moore. 

Before the movie, the kids were entertained with various games by The Game Master, a popular part of many Wildomar events. Among the favorite games is the egg toss and the tug of war.

Can you see the egg that is midair in the picture above? 

The snack bar had two special treats.

In the evening, slices of Pie Nation's Pepperoni and BBQ Chicken pizza were being sold for $2 each (and they were pretty good size too).

The next morning, breakfast burritos from El Comal were had for $5 apiece. We got one of each, an egg and chorizo and an egg and potato. Both were great, especially with the salsa!

Mrs. Wildomar Rap, Grace Morabito, chowing down on an El Comal BB (Breakfast Burrito).

The snack bar was run by Wildomar Chamber of Commerce.

Our city officials were out in force as usual for this event. For the movie I saw City Council Member Tim Walker, Mayor Pro-Tem Bridgette Moore, and Mayor Ben Benoit. Also Planning Commissioners Bobby Swann and Stan Smith. Also there was EVMWD board member George Cambero, City Manager Gary Nordquist, City Analyst (I think that's her title) Janet Morales and parks man extraordinaire Daniel Torres.

Of those, Bridgette Moore, Janet Morales and Gary Nordquist all slept at the park... in separate tents of course. ☺

Thanks again to all those that made this event a success. The people of Wildomar appreciate your valiant efforts.

•      •      • 

Camping is nature's way of promoting the motel business.
― Dave Barry

Wildomar Rap was the master at building forts from couch cushions, pillows, blankets and end tables.

• Movie Night at Windsong Park: Home

Max Capacity at Windsong Park to see the Dream Works picture "Home"

This was easily the largest crowd to attend a Wildomar movie since the parks reopening last year... even larger than any at Marna O'Brien Park. The estimates were 250 to 300 people. 

There were so many families in attendance. It was great to see so many kids at play in the peaceful setting of Windsong Park. Running around in the grassy area, playing on the playground equipment, using the basketball courts and one family playing a net-less volleyball game.

I'm thinking that next year's movie at Windsong might want to have a concessionaire too. ☺

The pictures don't make it seem as crowded as it was, but it was wall to wall people. Click the pics to see more detail.

A look from the screen towards the play area.

I was chatting with Bob and Margie Amos under one of the pagodas about a children's book she's written (spoiler alert: That'll be a topic for a future blog) and my back was to the screen. When our conversation was over I turned around and couldn't believe all the people I was seeing. I was asking city staffer Janet Morales, parks man Daniel Torres and sound guy Doug Gates how many people they thought were there and the consensus was close to 250.

Looking from the street.

Before I left I saw city council member Tim Walker and I asked him for his guess and he scanned the crowd for about ten seconds and put his guess at 250 also. Then he looked at the play area and revised it up to as much as 300. When I reminded him that the movie license was for 250 people, he smiled and said, "Well, we can't count kids under eight," with that patented Tim Walker laugh punctuating it.

Reminder that the next movie in the park is at Marna O'Brien Park on June 27th. The movie will be Penguins of Madagascar. It'll also be Camp Out at the Park Night too.

•      •      • 

When people ask me if I went to film school I tell them, 'no, I went to films.' — Quentin Tarantino

Wildomar Rap is neither a lender nor a borrower nor Laertes nor Hamlet .

• Wildomar Blessed With Another Eagle Scout Project

Jake Moore, long time scout member of Troop 332, completed his Eagle Project of installing shelving in the Marna O'Brien Park storage room. Take a look at the pics to get a glimpse of it.

This is the "before" look of the storage room. Jake Moore is in the middle of a Fibber McGee's closet style mess.

○

Here is a list of the work that needed to be done day of

• Removing all the contents of the room.
• Sweeping the dirt out.
• Choosing the location of the shelves, keeping electrical and plumbing in mind.
• Drilling holes in the cement blocks to anchor the shelves to the wall.
• Attaching the shelves.
• Bringing in the items and organizing it all.

Below is a montage of the work process.

Below is a picture of the storage room after the project was completed.

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What would this city be without the tireless hard work of so many people?

From Left to right: Bridgette Moore, Stewart Moore, Vic Ramos, Jake Moore, Cat Lara, Brandon Benline, Riley Olson, Lori Olson, Amber Mayes, Nate Coddington. 

A big thank you goes out to those that helped make this happen, and nice job Jake... I'm betting that Wildomar Parks Manager, Daniel Torres [also the photographer for the above picture] will be loving the new look.

☺

•      •      • 

A boy is supremely confident of his own power, and
dislikes being treated as a child.
― Robert Baden-Powell

If Wildomar Rap had been in scouting, most badges earned would have been for finding artful ways to break things by accident.

• Wildomar In Action

Here's a quick story about our how our city can work as a community and get something done quickly.

Once upon a time, some guy name Joseph was walking his dogs in the recently reopened park in his neighborhood. He noticed what looked like a hazard near the playground, that might cause injury, but was too busy talking to his grown up daughter, as they went on their way, to make more than a mental note of it.

Several days later, while out walking the same dogs, in the same park, he noticed that the cones were now being used as toys, and the hazard, was just waiting to trip someone —or worse. So out came the flip phone (yes, I still have one of those and I ain't never getting a smart phone... but I digress) and I... I mean "he" snapped a picture.

The next morning, around 8:30AM, the picture was uploaded to the Wildomar FaceBook Group, tagged in it were Council Member Bridgette Moore and Mayor Pro-Tem Ben Benoit, along with an explanation of what the concern was.

Here is the original text of the group post:

***HEADS UP PARK GOERS***
I've noticed some very dangerous hazards at Windsong park. In the image you can see uncovered studs that are for anchoring benches. There are four sets of these right next to the kiddie area. They are spray painted orange, and there are cones, but the cones are often used as toys and moved. Even at that there are only two cones. I seriously suggest the city remedy this or lock the park up so as to not risk injury to a park user. They are not easy to see and someone is going to rip up their foot on them or trip while running. I'm guessing that new benches are slated to be installed there, but it would be far more prudent to cut those off and drill new holes than allow those to remain for another hour.

I thought it best to post this in this group, which has good traffic, than to try and figure out the best department to send this to. Between Bridgette Moore, and Ben J. Benoit I'm thinking they'll know best how to get this corrected before someone gets hurt.

By 9:30AM Benoit posted this.  

Ok found the equipment was being stored offsite and the City was working to get it back somehow there was a bit of a communication breakdown and it was taking a bit longer than needed. So Daniel (Torres) and myself are on the way to pick everything up. We may have benches by the end of the day.

Within a short period of time, Ben followed up with this post and picture on the ever growing thread.

Man these things are heavy!!! Ok now that staff has them we should be up and running today.

By noon, the benches had been trucked from where they were being stored, and reinstalled.

Loaded up and ready to roll.

Hazard gone, and places to sit just waiting for park goers.

—☺—

The moral of the story is to get involved

We are all members of the community, and the city of Wildomar isn't some big bad wolf that looking to blow your house down, or some Wizard in a far off Emerald City. Our city runs better when there are more that take an active role. So if you see something that needs attention, don't just keep it to yourself. Contact the city and report it.

 http://cityofwildomar.org/  or  951-677-775.

Again, a  hearty thanks to those that are working to make this city, this community, a better place for all of us. Especially Ben Benoit and Daniel Torres.

Windsong Park was getting its first haircut today.  She's sure looking purdy... now time to take that fence down!

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Yeah, so have the rest of us so go there and like Wildomar Rap.