• Upcoming Events Final Quarter 2017

So many times I've heard people say, "Oh my, I only wish I'd have known about (insert name of event here), I'd have loved to have gone."

Well, here's your chance to put several events on your calendar, before they happen this go round. ☺

First up is the State of the City event. 

I've been to several of these, and though they are generally filled will fluffy happy talk, it's still good to get an assessment of where the city leaders think we stand. 

Tickets are free, but you need to get them ahead of time.

Here's the link to get tickets.

 City of Wildomar's 2017 State of the City 

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Next up on the calendar is the inaugural showing of the Scary Dairy. It's a fundraising event from the Wildomar Rotary Club. 

This will be happening on Friday and Saturday evening, October 21st and 22nd.

It'll be at Wildomar's famous DeJong's Dairy. See the flyer for more details. 

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Sunday October 22nd there will be a spaghetti dinner fundraiser for shooting victim Chelsea Romo at the Elks Lodge in Wildomar. 

There is a big window from 3pm to 8pm to come out to be part of this fundraiser. Leave the cooking and cleaning to others as you help out a local family in need.

Spaghetti is the the international food of friendship. ☺

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On Saturday October 28th, at Marna O'Brien park will be the site of Wildomar's 4th annual Trunk or Treat event. This event has really grown into a terrific community event. 

Plan on coming before dark and visiting all the candy-passer-outers. Come dressed in an original or clever costume and enter one of the contests and you might go home with a prize.

If you'd like to be one of the official "vendors" see the flyer below for details. There is no cost to sign up. It's a great way for your business or organization to meet a large swath of the community. Bring a lot of candy with you, and think of a clever way to decorate your vehicle too.

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Community Clean Up Day

Not as much fun as the other things mentioned, but for some maybe just what they've been waiting for. If you've got junk, then bring it to one of the two designated areas. 

This will be happening on Saturday morning, November 4th.

Be sure to check the conditions in the flyer before heading out... you don't really want to dress your truck up like that of the Beverly Hillbillies just to learn you showed up at the wrong location... or to mistakenly bring things on the contraband list.

Also, you'll be needing to unload your own junk, so bring a crew with you.

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Other things to consider include:

• Twin events, potluck at the VFW and a crafts fair the Elks Lodge on November 11th. The craft fair is starts at 10am and goes to about 2pm, whereas the potluck kicks off at 1pm. 

• The annual Christmas Tree Lane held at the Elks Lodge, Saturday December 2nd. 

• The annual Breakfast with Santa event that is held at Fire Station 61, on Gruwell St. 

There is no flyer made yet, but it's not too early for you to block out part of that morning to be part of one of Wildomar's most endearing and anticipated happenings.

• CERT reunion dinner, Thursday December 28th (other details to follow as we get nearer). There are many CERT alumni, but probably have lost contact after our classes were completed. 

As we've seen repeatedly this year, emergencies happen all the time, and seldom with much notice. If you've taken the CERT classes, it would be a good chance to reconnect over dinner... no cribbing on the menu. ☺

Come on out to one —or all of— these events and get a sampling of the Wildomar community in action. See you there.

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We know what we are, but know not what we may be.
– William Shakespeare

To Wildomar Rap or not to Wildomar Rap, that is the question. Nobility of suffering in the mind notwithstanding.

• City Council Meeting October 2017

All meetings should be like this one was. 

Substance without shenanigans. 

As fun and delightful as Miss Miller (and the rest of team Cantankerotti) can be, her absence allowed for an entire productive meeting to start and finish within an hour. That and no front loaded presentations that often take up to 45 minutes. ☺

There was much gone over in the meeting and I'll share the parts that I found most pertinent. 

Public Comments on non agenda items

• Maureen Kennedy told the council about her concerns concerning crime in her area (near Gafford).

I'm going to post the video of her comment to show you what you can expect when you go to a city council meeting looking to give a public comment. It's just good people seeking to help other good people. 

2.1 Allocation of Community Development Block Grant (CDGB) Funds
This is where local non profits come and state their case as to why the city should give them money. The money is given to the city by the feds (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to be specific), to then apply to projects that will help areas of need within the city.

Click link to read more

The bulk of the money ($127K) that the city had to deal with this cycle, is going to a capital improvement project: The Sedco/Mission Trail Sidewalk Construction Project.

The rest of the money (a whopping $20,677 to be exact) was bid upon by four local non profit organizations.

• Assistance League of Temecula Valley asked for $15,000
• HOPE asked for $25,000
• Merit Housing asked for $10,750
• Rancho Damacitas asked for $10,000

In the end, the Assistance League and HOPE each got $9,000, with the remaining $2,677 going to Rancho Damacitas.

Based on the stats, that the Assistance League had helped clothe 123 kids from Wildomar, at $125 per student, has to be the best bargain going. 

Basic arithmetic tells you that the AL spent about $15,000 on Wildomar kids this year as part of their "Operation School Bell" project.

The odd man out — again, was Merit Housing. They are the people behind the Wildomar Senior Assisted Living off of South Pasadena St. 

I was glad to see Councilmember Marsha Swanson lay out why she wasn't in favor of including Merit Housing among the groups getting Wildomar CDBG monies.

"Merit Housing, that runs Merit Housing over there, they're a non profit, but that's not who owns it. That project is owned by a huge company, Merit Housing, I believe, that's what the tax rolls say. Everybody that lives there pays rent. We've asked them over and over to open as a cooling zone for our residents during the Summer —they have to have the air on for their people and they have the room, and we can never seem to get any cooperation, and they don't come here [to ask for the CDBG in person]. To give them money to raise someone's salary, doesn't make a lot of sense to me."

— Councilmember Marsha Swanson

The video of the 25 minute agenda item is below.
 3.1 Professional Services Agreement Re: 27 Acre Park

Suffice to say it's exciting to see the 27 acre future park getting closer to opening... at least in part. 

There will be three community workshops in the coming weeks and months that were billed as being "fun and interactive". 

• November 16 was mentioned as the likely date for the first workshop, but it wasn't set in stone. If you watch the video, you'll hear a bit of wavering about it. If you're signed up for city emails, just keep an eye opened for the official announcement.

• Something termed a "popup workshop" was mentioned, to be held at the yearly Breakfast With Santa event. This year it's slated for 

It's always dicey when city staffers try and give details of future projects. Many times things outside of their control come into play and cause unwanted delays. 

Still, Assistant City Manager Dan York talked about the first likely development for the new park.

"The input that we heard, at least up to this point in time, the community would like to have some amenity right off the bat. Whether it's walking trails, or the like. Our first phase [...] we'll try to get something opened to the public sooner than later; hopefully within the next year or so."

—Assistant City Manager, Dan York

The video below is just seven and a half minutes. If you're interested in the future park site, it's well worth your attention.

3.3 New Planning Commissioner Appointment

As most of the regular readers of Wildomar Rap know, long time Wildomar resident and planning commissioner, Stan Smith died in August. Which left an opening on the Wildomar Planning Commission.

How delightful it was to read in the agenda packet the name, Mason Ballard. He was chosen to finish the term that runs concurrent with Mayor Pro-Tem Ben Benoit.

He's a relative new comer to the area, but he and his family have already laid down roots in the W. They are active in the community and it's good to see such alacrity when it comes to public service. 

Watch the video below of him thanking the City Council for partnering with Wildomar Little League, for the past season's TOC that was held at Marna O'Brien park, to get a taste of his enthusiasm.
The city manager report had a ton of great info in it.
First was a reminder about the State of the City event, which will be next week, October 19th. All are welcomed, but you need to get your FREE tickets ahead of time.

 City of Wildomar's 2017 State of the City 

Below is a graphic from the report that details the beginning and ending dates for three projects that have been in the pipeline for quite awhile.

Watch the video (below) for more details.

• Malaga Park is located on the southeast corner of Mission Trail and Malaga at the city line between Wildomar and Lake Elsinore.

Let's hope that this fence will be coming down when the new Malaga Park is done.

UPDATE: VIDEO NOW INCLUDED

Info about the Bundy Canyon project

begins at the 3:00 mark of the video.

Also mentioned at the meeting were: 

• An Elks Lodge spaghetti dinner fundraiser for shooting victim Chelsea Romo. It'll be October 22nd. Use this link for more information.

• Trunk or Treat at Marna O'Brien park Saturday, October 28th. If you'd like to be one of the "vendors" that pass out candy, contact the city for more information. There is no cost, other than the candy you pass out.

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Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.

– Albert Einstein

Wildomar Rap values success, but has a very different definition of it than most 21st century denizens.

• Chelsea Romo Returns Home

Unseasonably high October temperatures didn't keep away a crowd of nearly 200 that welcomed Chelsea Romo back home to Wildomar in the mid afternoon. 

For those that don't know, less than a week ago she was among the many people that were forever changed when a psychotic gunman let loose a deadly barrage of gunfire, in the direction of a country music festival, from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas. 

She was hit by what was described as "shrapnel" in the eyes. She lost the left eye entirely, and her right eye is severely damaged.

KTLA and NBC both had camera crews on the scene,
in addition to several other local media outlets.

It was a tight squeeze onto the small cul-de-sac in the Windsong Valley area of Wildomar. The minor inconveniences were no match for the spirit of cooperation among those in attendance.

Well wishers were getting into position when she was about 10 minutes away.

At 3:30pm the hired car carrying Chelsea arrived at Akwo Circle to throngs of neighbors, friends, family and media.

People lined both sides of the street as Chelsea Romo's car approached.

She did wave to the people lining the streets from her car window, but after hugging her children she went directly into her home. 

Chelsea was in the front seat with the window down.

Here are two of the many signs that were made for Chelsea's homecoming.

Many people sought out bits of shade as they waited for Chelsea to arrive.
There were periodic updates of where she was on the route.

After Chelsea went into the house, her father came out and I asked if the family was going to issue any statements. He told me that there wasn't going to be any formal statements beyond what they'd already told the crowd. 

The father of Chelsea Romo talking with an NBC reporter.
Gotta love the multitasking; how she's her own cameraman.☺

"Frank" from Anthology Church offered a prayer with many of those gathered having formed a circle, holding hands. 

A hearty "AMEN" was heard throughout the cul-de-sac upon the conclusion of the prayer.

Many family members spoke on camera.

Here is where the real hard part hits as the reality of day to day life sinks in. There is a GoFundMe page that has raised an impressive $89,000 in five days. Such community spirit, but we all know that amount of money will go very fast when addressing the needs that Chelsea will be dealing with.

Click this link to visit the page to contact the family, donate money or get updates.

I've heard that there is a "meal train" that is pledged until the end of November. (I'm guessing that a "meal train" is a list of people that have volunteered to prepare meals for the family). The best way to contact the family to offer any assistance would be through the GoFundMe page.

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Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.
– Lyndon B. Johnson

Wildomar Rap respects the past, but knows that it can't be changed or expunged. From this point forward, it's all about how one approaches today and tomorrow.

• Wildomar Resident Among Those Wounded in Las Vegas

It was just learned that a resident of Wildomar (the Windsong Valley area to be more specific) was among the many people that were shot during the recent Las Vegas massacre. 

Below is a link to a GoFundMe page and the text that accompanies it. 

Click image to go to page

Please help my Cousin, Chelsea Romo. 

She was seriously injured the evening of October 1st, while attending the Route 91 Country Music Festival in Las Vegas. She suffered multiple gunshot wounds and is currently in a Las Vegas hospital. She may have a long road to recovery ahead of her and also has two young children to care for. 

I'm not entirely sure how much additional funds she will need during the recovery, I just want to be able to provide as much as we can. Maybe it covers medical costs, dinners or just gas in her car. Hopefully we can help reduce the burden of any additional cost that are incurred due to this tragic event.

If you cant provide financial help, maybe there is a favorite recipe you could make and provide so that they have one less thing to worry about once they return home. Or maybe even just prayer. 

Thank you all!!

One bit of specifics was gleaned through a friend's facebook post.

****UPDATE****

If prayer is your custom, now would be a great time to keep this family in mind.

**** Further UPDATE 12:55pm****

Total funds raised as of 3:45pm PST (October 2nd)

GoFundMe Link

The best way to keep up with any new details is through the GoFundMe page.

LINK