• Scary Dairy 2017

All I can say about the inaugural Scary Dairy event is WOW!

Once through this portal, you wandered through a dark maze filled with strobe lights, fog, unsettling music, and ghouls around nearly every corner.

Sometimes the doubting Thomas in me sees the glass as bone dry, and after opening night was cancelled, I really thought this wasn't going to happen.

However, many hundreds of people showed up en masse and proved me wrong.

Even though the event on Friday was canceled several hours before it was to kick off, it was estimated that nearly 300 people still showed up at the dairy for the opening night of the two evening event.

There were two mazes, one a tame one for the wee tykes, and the other geared to the older kids and adults that could handle a good fright.

If you guessed that this delightful creature was in the "scarier" maze... you'd have guessed wrong. He was around one of the first corners of the kiddie maze.

Originally both mazes were going to be outdoors, but winds made it impossible for the structures to stand up. In my view, that was a blessing in disguise because it had to be moved into the feed barn and that turned out to be the key to it all.

The crowd of people was very thick and to alleviate traffic the back gate of the dairy was opened and for a brief time Bundy Canyon and Mission Trail went from a three way intersection to a four way intersection.

Once inside, there were sturdy walls that maze could be attached to, so no worrying about the wind. 

This was one of the corridors that greeted the brave of heart that dared enter.

Not to mention that it allowed for great echos where howls, shrieks, and screams were continuously heard over the spine chilling organ music.

What a couple of the lines looked like at about 8:30pm. The line to the children's maze went quickly, but was always dozens deep until about 9:00pm.

This event was a fundraiser for the Wildomar Rotary club, and couldn't have happened without the hard work of Dana DeJong and Jon Favillo... and of course there were many others that pitched in long hours too, but no need to name them all like this is an Oscar's award speech. ☺

Members of the Rotary Club are shown serving the guests... where earlier in the day they'd spent all afternoon getting the mazes ready for the night's hootin' and hollerin'.

Let's not forget another key to the success of the event; hats off to Herman DeJong for being so generous with the community and having the event at his family dairy. He was on hand the entire evening.

To all of us it's the place to get milk, eat a fudgsicle while reading a book at the Little Free Library, or take the kids to look at the animals, but to the DeJong family, this is their livelihood. 

Thinking to next year, with more time for event leaders to plan out the event, I suggest that everyone mark their 2018 calendars now. It's going to be even better. ☺

Remember that Trunk or Treat is coming up next Saturday evening. This will be the 4th running of the event and each year it has gotten larger and more entertaining. Hope to see you there.

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Just because I cannot see it, doesn't mean I can't believe it.
– Jack Skellington.

If, Wildomar Rap were a Halloween confection, it would have the texture of a tamale, taste like a brownie and have a kick like an IPA.

• State of the City 2017

People began arriving a little after 5pm for the State of the City address. This was the third consecutive year that the event was held at the council chambers. This year the entrance area was all gussied up western style.

The front of the council chambers all decked out for the occasion.

The guests were fed by Da Big Show BBQ, and the Wildomar Rotary Club served beer and wine. I recommend the pulled pork sandwiches and the mac n cheese.

Around 6pm a reminder that the event was about to start came over the PA system and people went in and found their seats. 

Mayor Pro-Tem Ben Benoit greeted the crowd and introduced Joseph Franco who gave the opening prayer. 

Ben Benoit, all cowboyed up.

Boy Scout Troop 332 lead the group in the pledge of allegiance, followed by the National Anthem sung by Samantha Aguiar.

Samantha Aguiar sings as Troop 332 looks on.

After the local dignitaries were recognized, a cutesy video called A Day With The Mayor was played. 

It showed Mayor Tim Walker at city hall with his grandsons, then at the high school, DeJong's, Round Up loading bales of hay, Jolie Day Spa, rushing to get to the city hall on time with stops at Barons, Dunkin Donuts and Ace Hardware before finally arriving at city hall where one of the local Little League teams was there to great him before his grand entrance.

Mayor Walker enters wearing his signature smile.

Like most State of the City occasions, it was mostly a recap of things already known or heard in the past. The theme was, The Past Makes Our Future.

No breaking news... though it did sound like there might finally be some movement with the long promised Walmart next year, and not long after that the Wildomar MSJC campus. 

Walmart was referred to the elephant in the room since we're all wondering when the first shovel will hit the ground. Hopefully sooner than later.

Mayor Walker started off with the history of Wildomar, discussed the various commercial projects that are in the works, the various residential projects coming to town and finished up with "I love this valley, I love this town. Thank you for coming tonight."

A collage of the Mayor... it appears that he favors the left side of the room here. ☺

One of the videos featured the late great Stan Smith at his July birthday party at the VFW, and again in front of the camera speaking of his time in Wildomar. It was a touching moment when he came on the screen.

Stan being honored at his birthday party by his son Kevin as seen in the video.

I didn't shoot any video for this, it was already covered by more than one entity, but I will add a link to the live streaming done by Councilmember Bridgette Moore below. 

It's a Facebook video, so I'm not certain if it is or isn't visible to non Facebook users, or to people that have managed to get on her bad side... you have to be pretty diligent at being an ass to find her bad side... most of us didn't even know that such a thing existed.

One thing I took away from the Mayor's words dealt with the new city council districts.

"You can call any [of the five city council members], because we're [of] one mind. We're five people, and we love our districts, but we're about Wildomar, we're not about districts. [...] We're going to do it as a collective. We share. We do it all the fair way because Wildomar is one family. Not five different families all living in the same house."

Mayor Tim Walker, State of the City 2017

Though my guess is that if you're just an unremitting jackwagon (you know who you are) you're going to be told to hit up the council member from your own district if you go too far off the rails.

It was a great evening, and again no revelations in it. However, if one listened closely enough, it sounded like Councilmember Dustin Nigg will get the Mayor Pro-Tem job for 2018, which would line him up to be Mayor in 2019. 

Also, I was able to glean from the Mayor's words that he'll be running for his third term next year. I have to wonder if there will be any challengers in District 3 or not... time will tell.

Wildomar Rap Opinion Time

Great evening, great theme and decorations, great message and great delivery. It was both informative and entertaining. There were many laugh lines and I thoroughly enjoyed the Mayor's delivery of them.

My concern would be that, for people that don't know the Mayor, they might take some of his joking around seriously.Think about it, it's 2017 and Social Justice Warriors are always looking to be angry over some blown out of proportion issue or another.

I thought about culling out my favorite lines of the evening, but there were too many, and when in print could easily be misunderstood. 

Without quoting him verbatim, I did love his lines about BBQ and the Animal Shelter, and his thoughts on guns and self protection.

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Other than that, if I had a complaint it was that it ran too long and... and he didn't give even one update on the Dodger blowout over the Cubs. What up wit' dat?☺

At the outset Mayor Walker talked about how his last time at the State of the City mic had him speaking (often off topic) for 45 minutes and he'd left out many things. 

In hopes of avoiding a repeat, this time a script was prepared.

Alas, as the revered Scottish poet Robert Burns noted in his poem "To a Mouse".

If you prefer it in the original Scottish brogue.
The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men, Gang aft agley.

He shattered his previous high water mark with an indomitable performance, where his speech eclipsed the one hour and fifteen minute mark. Oh, doctor! You can hang a star on that one!

Thing is, he was in his element, and was enjoying the moment. That and, if any successive Wildomar mayor wants to break his record, they'll really have to work at it. ☺

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The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.
– Helen Keller

Wildomar Rap would like to add that being up close and personal with someone that has a raging case of halitosis runs a close second.

• Car Crashes Into Wildomar Business

A little before 1pm a black Honda crashed into Multiservicios Latinos. A business that is nestled between Circle K to the south and Domino's Pizza to the north, on the corner of Bundy Canyon and Mission Trail.

After the car was put on the tow truck.

Photo courtesy of Ben Benoit.

Wildomar Building and Safety inspector Martin Haeberle looks at the damage.
Photo courtesy of Ben Benoit.

In the lower left hand corner you see the hands of Mayor Pro-Tem Ben Benoit as he is taking a video of the damage and as the first responder pulls out the broken glass. 

A screen capture from Ben's video.

Mayor Pro-Tem Ben Benoit was on the scene within a matter of moments after the incident occurred, after he was tipped off by Councilmember Bridgette Moore that is. ☺

I was told that the car had hit a parked truck before hitting the building, and that the building inspector was going to red tag that unit of the building; temporarily closing it. As is routine, the driver was transported to the ER.

Also on the scene was Wildomar's CSO Roxanne Jouglard and was told that there were no injuries.

There was no word as to when the business will be able to reopen.

A look at the scene from the pumps at the Circle K gas station.

A close up look of the damage.

Another angle of the scene.

Another angle that shows the damage to the door frame.

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Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.
― Anton Chekhov

Fine Anton, Wildomar Rap won't tell you the moon is shinning... being that it's the middle of the day and the only light glinting off the broken glass here is from the Sun.

• 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.