Saluting Our Community

by Councilman Scott Peters
December 13, 2001

In the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, I have heard that there is a new interest in community service across the country. This past weekend, I was certainly proud of the community service I saw at work in La Jolla. Our community showed some wonderful things that can be produced with civic spirit and volunteer power.

On Saturday, La Jolla Youth, Inc. staged the "Pizza Bowl," the annual youth soccer tournament that concludes the fall season. More than 1200 children participate in the recreational soccer leagues organized and supervised by La Jolla Youth, and more than 2600 families participate in all of the La Jolla Youth sports offerings. This Pizza Bowl was a tough one for my son's under-eight Blue Angels, who were eliminated early. My daughter's under-twelve Blue Ice Angels showed well, but were eliminated shortly before dusk. At the end of the tournament, my kids and every other player received a most outstanding player trophy and a slice or two of pizza, and the volunteer coaches and parents received a well-deserved round of grateful applause.

Apart from enjoying the season's last soccer games, the highlight of the day for me was the dedication of five new sports fields at Torrey Pines Elementary School. A year ago, the area behind the school was a dirt lot, a much too dusty and unbecoming venue for tee ball or softball. Beginning in January, La Jolla Youth raised and then donated $300,000 to design and construct 80,000 square feet of turf for soccer, softball and baseball. We cut the ribbon on those fields on December 1. La Jolla Youth will maintain the fields at an annual cost of $30,000 under an innovative partnership with the City of San Diego and the San Diego Unified School District. I am so pleased to be able to use the terms "City of San Diego" and "School District" in the same sentence as "innovative," and the staffs of both organizations are to be commended. And we have to commend our donors and community volunteers. This is a project that would not have happened without the creative and generous efforts of our own friends and neighbors, and it has been my pleasure to support it.

On Sunday, the La Jolla Town Council staged the 44th annual La Jolla Christmas Parade and Food Faire, with the theme "Season of Enchantment." Our grand marshal was Mayor Dick Murphy, followed by dozens of floats and bands and marchers. I got to ride with my family behind the high-spirited Windansea Surf Club, whose wild-turning vehicles kept threatening to crash into mine. It was fun.

And the amount of community support was amazing, from the United States Marines, the Rotary Club of La Jolla, the Sunrise Rotary Club of La Jolla, the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, the La Jolla YMCA, the Friends of the La Jolla Library, Children's Hospital La Jolla Auxiliary, the Key Club of La Jolla High, Friends of County Animal Shelters and dozens of other community organizations and businesses. There were floats from five of our elementary schools: All Hallows, Children's School, Explorer Elementary, La Jolla Elementary and Stella Maris Academy. And chair person Gail Forbes was assisted by hundreds of volunteers whose names she gave me but are too numerous to name in this space. Thanks to everyone!

Your community needs and invites your support as well. La Jolla Youth can use volunteers, including coaches. The Town Council can use help on a variety of issues, including the parade, community cleanups and other civic issues. It's inexpensive to join and well worth the investment. If, like most of us, time is a constraint, these organizations can also use money donations of just about any amount. Contact La Jolla Youth at (858) 677-9779 or the La Jolla Town Council at (858) 454-1444.