• Community Spirit: Nate's Pantry

When Elsinore High Schooler, Nate Belliveau, was a student at David A. Brown Middle School he had the idea of opening a "store", so to speak, where students, of modest means, would be able to get gently used clothing.

As seen on the school's marquee.

Though it didn't materialize until he was in high school, Marisa Couron and Abraham Esquer made his aspirations a reality and called it Nate's Pantry, in his honor.

Nate's first taste of extracurricular input came last year when he wanted to have a game room available on campus. He started by circulating a petition among the students and teachers, easy enough, but when he heard that the superintendent was coming to the school, he brought the petition to him... and he not only signed it, but they had a game room two days later. 

The idea for Nate's Pantry came about towards the end of last school year when he was speaking with Marisa, his teacher, and he had another petition for her to sign. She asked for some more details, and he explained that he'd like to see a store at the school, where kids that don't have much money, could come shopping for free, for things like clothes and school supplies. 

Link to Valley News version of this story

Marisa told him that it was too bad he was going off to high school or they could take on the project together.  Even without Nate being there the idea still took root. The first round of donations came after putting the word out at some of the local Wildomar Facebook pages.

The store is opened after school, Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 2:00pm to 3:00pm. They generally have more than thirty students come in each of those days. For those that ride the bus, they can come in on Wednesdays at lunch. 

They have what they call Super Saturdays, the first Saturday of the month, the October event had over 100 kids stop by. The next one will be on Saturday, November 2nd, between 8:00am and 12:00pm. At this point in time, Nate's Pantry is only offered to the students of David A. Brown Middle School.

Abraham added, "Our school, one Saturday a month, we get a whole bunch of teachers together and we have fun activities for the kids, with hand crafts, tie died shirts, making pancakes and having hot dogs." 

A good selection is available.

If you have gently used clothes or shoes, that aren't outdated, please reach out to Marisa Couron through her email or Nate's Pantry Facebook Group. 

Mrs. Couron is a teacher in the Special Needs Class Mild/Moderate. Mr. Esquer is a Paraeducator and coach, they’ve been working together for the last three years.

Nate's Pantry Facebook Group

Email Marisa Couron

•                •                •

You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely.

– Ogden Nash



Wildomar Rap vehemently pleads the 5th in regards to the above.

This blog was produced for viewing on a desktop or a laptop. Though it's been optimized for smartphones, the formatting can look odd on a smartphone or if you get this delivered through email (such as missing video links). Link to proper format.

• Lights On Afterschool/THINK Together 2018

Lights On Afterschool is national day to raise awareness for the importance of afterschool programs like THINK Together.

Miss April reads to the kids.

David A Brown middle school was the site where three THINK Together programs met for a couple of hours of fun and learning.

Students decorate the mural.

The program began at 4pm and lasted until 6pm. It started off with Miss April reading a book to the 250 kids, and at designated times some students would come up and decorate a mural. 

The finished work of art.

After the story was finished, William Collier Elementary was pitted against Wildomar Elementary in a Socratic Conversation (which members of a group think carefully, slowly, and deliberately).

Link to further definition of Socratic Conversation/Dialog.

The topic of debate was: Are mermaids real or fiction?

Wildomar Elementary had the con side of the argument and made solid arguments why mermaids aren't real.

Wildomar Elementary takes to "no" on mermaids stance.

Collier Elementary had the task of proving that mermaids were true, and they also presented solid arguments.

William Collier Elementary takes to "oh yes they are real" side.

Each side had opening remarks, then rebuttals.

Wildomar Elementary.

Collier Elementary.

Wildomar Elementary.

Collier Elementary.

One of the middle school students had the honor of telling the crowd the verdict:
Mermaids do exist.

After all the testimony was presented, it was found that mermaids are indeed REAL! (Take that science guy ☺)

•                •                •

The second topic, which was argued both for and against by DABMS students was: Is animal testing necessary or not?

Con side.

Pro side.

Con side.

Pro side.

Con side.

Both sides spoke eloquently, but in the end, the judges found that animal testing is necessary. (considering their first decision, I'm not sure that I'd get overly concerned about this one... either which way. ☺)

THINK Together is a terrific program that some of Wildomar's schools have access too. There was a petition being passed around to the adults present that alerted policy makers as to how important such programs are. 

•                •                •

I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.

– Socrates

Wildomar Rap cannot teach anybody anything, and only rarely manages to make them think. 

This blog was produced for viewing on a desktop or a laptop. Though it's been optimized for smartphones, the formatting can look odd on a smartphone or if you get this delivered through email (such as missing video links). Link to proper format.

• Chinese New Year in Wildomar

It was Chinese New Year at Sycamore Academy and David A. Brown Middle School.

At Sycamore (Also known as SASCA for Sycamore Academy of Science and Cultural Arts), where they have been hosting about 60 foreign exchange students (and 8 teachers) from Beijing for the week prior. They stayed with host families.

The assembled crowd listens as the program begins.

The hour long presentation included many performances, beginning with an example of how a typical Chinese school week would start. 

Their routine includes a choreographed dance.

There were recitals of poems, one student played guitar and and sang, while another played a Chinese flute.

This instrument had a sound that was like a traditional flute, but with a little added flair.

This student gave a jump rope performance. 

These girls were reciting an ancient poem, while wearing traditional robes.

•                •                •

THINK Together, a popular after school program at some of the local schools, had their own Chinese New Year celebration

The kids from Wildomar Elementary paraded to David A. Brown Middle School to join a larger assembly at that campus.

 Members of WE's THINK Together as they parade towards the middle school. 
Photo courtesy of Selena Andrews

Once there, they had a performance of their own, and then watched as several teams of middle schoolers paraded around "the pit" in full dragon regalia.

Wildomar Elementary students perform with ribbons.

A triumphant expression beams from this delightful performer as she holds her up dragon mask.

Sunny Watkins pauses a moment to smile at the camera.
Photo courtesy of Selena Andrews

This team had a dragon tamer and marched to the beat of drums.

The various "Dragons" demonstrated the students creativity. 

Some dragons had more legs than others. ☺

The Red Dragon was one of the more popular.

Confetti was shot out of a ersatz fire cracker at the end of the performances. 

I called this one, Double Dragon (since there were two of them). There were also two flutists.
In the end, the dragons ended up devouring the dragon-tamers.

The finale had the audience cheer for their favorite dragon team. It took three votes because it was almost too close to call between the Red Dragon and the Double Dragons. The Double Dragons were the ones with the loudest applause before it was all over.

•                •                •

恭喜发财 (gōng xǐ fā cái) “Wish you wealth and prosperity.”


Wildomar Rap reminds you that if you've already failed in your 2018 New Year's resolutions, it's not too late for a Mulligan with a few 4715 -year of the dog- New Year's resolutions.

• City Council Meeting September 2016

This meeting was frontloaded with several presentations. 

It started with the flag salute led by the Sea Scouts.

Video Link Below.

The first presentation was of David A Brown middle school choir singing. It was such a large group that they assembled in the parking lot. They sang three songs and I captured the first one, Put On A Happy Face, on video.

Video Link Below.

  They did an outstanding job and brought many smiles to audience member's faces.

It was tough getting a complete photo of the group.
Thankfully Photoshop can stitch two photos into one.

Girl Scout Troop 90 was recognized for their Silver Award work at Donald Graham Elementary.

Girl Scout Troop 90 along with Mayor Bridgette Moore.

Boy Scout Troop 2011 was recognized for their bravery in putting out a fire while on a campout. No, not a campfire, but something that took a bucket brigade to extinguish. 

The entire troop came in, which made picture taking a challenge that even Annie Leibovitz would have failed... All kidding aside, nice job fellas.

The next presentation was recognition of Matthew Wolfslau getting his Sea Scout Quartermaster Project (akin to an BSA Eagle Scout Project). 

Mayor Bridgette Moore, from Congressman Ken Calvert's office Brenda Dennstedt, Sea Scout Matthew Wolfslau.

The Sea Scouts (SSS Integrity) along with Wildomar City Council.

The 4-H Club spoke about their club and upcoming fairs where they will be taking their animals to show.

Left to Right: Cindy Stinson community leader, Wade Walker  member and treasurer, Bryanna Stinson member and vice president, Aspen Walker member, Liddy Walker community leader and Mayor Bridgette Moore.

☺

The members of Elsinore Valley 4H will be auctioning their projects  at the Southern California Fair on October 8 at 10 am and would greatly appreciate the support of their community not only for their club, but for other 4H and FFA clubs in Riverside County. If you have any questions please feel free to go to socalfair.com or call Cindy  Stinson at 714-624-4148.

Click this link for video of EV 4H at the meeting.

Still on the agenda at this point were the Library Update, a proclamation about Constitution Week, and National Stepfamily Day (September 16), but this was almost an hour in at this point and I couldn't see straight anymore. 

Never fear, there was an impromptu presentation where Wildomar Police Chief, Captain Leonard Hollingsworth, pointed out one of his deputies that had been honored by MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving).

Chief Hollingsworth pointing to a pin that this deputy received from MADD.

From here, the rest of the agenda started. 

Funny thing about that. There wasn't really anything on the agenda to speak of, and that's why the meeting was frontloaded with so many presentations.

Public Comments on non agenda items
• Kenny Mayes brought up municipal codes and Bingo, plus that many city events go under promoted.
• Miss Miller urged a vote for Linda Gonzales over "Mr. Riggs" (as she called Dustin Nigg) in the "5th district" (also wrong - it's district 2). Then she got on an anti-American rant and blasted US History, as if it was being done today. Had to love her blast against 12 term congressman Ken Calvert when she said he was "part of the Washington gangster machine." 
(I thought Hillary was head of that) ZING!

Item 2.1 was one of these things that I think is a waste of time, but has to be dealt with in an open meeting. It was about a small area of land being "annexed to community facilities district." 

There was no opposition from any of the concerned parties, but that didn't stop Miss Miller from using three minutes to discuss chemtrails and other such nonsense.

3.1 Tiny House Village Meeting
This was brought to the council so that they could approve a meeting that is to be held Thursday September 22 from 4:30-7:30pm in the council chambers.

Kenny Mayes spoke about how the meeting hadn't been well established, though it's been talked about since July. Also that the timing isn't good "even for retired people because that would interfere with chores and dinner".

(He has a point there, I wonder if it would be prudent to bring along a brown bag?)

He went on to conject about how the costs for the meeting were going to be paid. City Manager Gary Nordquist said the costs for the meeting would be $89 from the general fund.

At that point, Councilmember Ben Benoit pledged to pay the $89 out of his campaign funds, which put the issue to bed.

(There will be time for opinions about Tiny House Villages after the meeting is held.)

3.2 City Council Salary Ordinance
Wildomar city council members receive $300 a month. That's dictated by state law for General Law cities with populations under 35,000 (as opposed to Charter Cities). 

Earlier this year Wildomar hit 35,000 residents and that entitled the council members a hundred dollar a month increase.

I know that it's common to want to cut, cut, cut when it comes to government spending, but their current $300 monthly stipend doesn't come close to covering the out of pocket expenses our council members incur (at least most of them) while working for us.

They voted to amend the ordinance so that it doesn't take effect until the next fiscal year (July 1, 2017) instead of the first of the year.

Their next raise won't be until Wildomar hits a pop of 50,000. Our build out is somewhere around 55,000, and at current rates that would be between 15 and 20 years.

Below is the video of Item 3.2. In total, it's under five minutes long.

City Manager's Report 
We were reminded to join the letter writing campaign, urging Governor Brown to sign SB 817, that will return nearly two million dollars a year to Wildomar. 

Link to blog with sample letter and the address

City Attorney Report
We learned that a new law requires that anytime a head of department gets a raise, it can't just be mentioned in the agenda. It now also has to be mentioned verbally before a vote can be taken. 

Seems fair enough.

•          •          •

Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how it's done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves.

— Brendan Behan , 1923-1964

Wildomar Rap has never been near a harem, much less worked in one.

• Slow Down at Brown

Today speed radar signs were installed at David A Brown Middle School. 

Savvy drivers [read: ego inflated jerks] will know that this is not a 'Red Light Camera' style sign with penalties attached, and will ignore them from the get go. Let's hope the number in that group is a small one.

Installation of the sign on the northbound side of Grand approaching the school.

◄                                                        ►

While out snapping some pics I bumped into Wildomar Public Works Superintendent Les Chapman. His concern is safety for the students.

As he was telling me, "If it isn't safe enough for my kids, it's not safe enough for anyone else." 

Les Chapman speaking with one of the installers about the fine tuning.

.-- .. .-.. -.. --- -- .- .-. / .-. .- .--. / .-. ..- .-.. . ...

We first heard about these signs when Council Member Bridgette Moore brought it up at the February city council meeting. Initially it seemed that the signs were dead in the water when the rest of the council didn't embrace the thought of adding anything to the budget. Then in March we received a PARSAC grant [Public Agency Risk Sharing Authority of California] thanks to diligent work by our City Clerk Debbie Lee. So we got these signs without adding to the budget.

Read the blog on it from March by clicking this link.

This driver thinks 44 is the new 25.

While out taking these pictures I found that every single car was more than 10 MPH over the speed limit. Some were traveling in excess of 50 MPH.

I did notice that the speeds decreased from the first radar reading until the last per car. So, if a car first registered at 44 MPH, it was likely that they'd slowed to 30ish by the time they past the sign. However, one guy only dropped from 50 to 49. Hey, he had places to be and speed laws (stop signs included) are just suggestions... right?

When I was there, school was in session and there were no students present. Two of my three children went to this school and I remember how congested it would get during drop off and pick up.

Les was telling me about a time when school was being let out, he saw cars lined all the way up both sides of the street, with teenagers everywhere and some arrogant driver drove over the double yellow line to pass up a few cars before the crossing guard got to the middle with the stop sign. Come on people, would you like others driving that way when your kids are about to cross the street? (wait, don't answer that...)

I asked Les about getting a more visible crosswalk in front of the school on Grand, and there is one slated to go in. I don't think it's the lighted one, but one that has the large stripes in the direction that traffic flows, instead of the two narrower ones that cross the street. Let's hope that makes a difference.

I believe this is the style that Les was talking about.

▼

Now what we need are unannounced visits from the local sheriff's deputies, ticket book in hand and pen clicked, about every other week to keep the scofflaws in check.

▼

I want to thank Kenny Mayes for tipping me off about this installation. Though he and I have our differences, we both want the best for our community. He also writes a blog, and it can be found at this link: http://www.wildomarconnected.com/wildomar

§ § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § §

Click it or ticket!

Wow, Wildomar Rap has 145 likes at FaceBook, and I haven't even done any shameless begging yet. Help make the meaningless number get even bigger by following this link and clicking the thumbs up.