The College Area Community Council (CACC) has had a productive first quarter of the year. The 2023 Board of Directors has been confirmed by vote:

Jim Jennings – President (College Area Triangle)

BJ Nystrom – Vice President (El Cerrito)

Julie Hamilton – Secretary (At Large)

Jim Schneider – Treasurer (College Area Business District)

Karen Austin (Alvarado Estates)

Troy Murphree (Mesa Colony)

Ja’Mar Montgomery (At Large)

Robert Montana (At Large)

Gabriel Luansing (SDSU Associated Students)

Diane Lara (SDSU Administration)

Of course, the big College Area news is the incredible SDSU men’s basketball season.

The CACC board members and College Area community members would like to congratulate the team on reaching the championship game of the NCAA playoffs. Truly outstanding. Our congratulations to the players, the coaches, and everyone who was involved in providing support to the team to make this historic achievement possible. GO AZTECS!

In other news, the College Area neighborhood representatives took turns staffing a CACC information booth at the Rolando Street Fair on March 19.

The event had a terrific turnout and was a lot of fun! It was a great way to learn about community organizations, like the CACC, to shop for some really great artisan creations and other items, hear live music and try specialty cuisines from the food vendors.

ALVARADO ESTATES

By KAREN AUSTIN

As Alvarado Estates celebrates its 75th Anniversary (1948-2023), we are reminded of our wonderful historic as well as present day connections with SDSU. It was actually the vision and efforts of a group of university professors who helped plan and develop our neighborhood in the late 1940s and 1950s. Alvarado Estates has always been the home of current and retired SDSU professors and staff members, as well as current students and SDSU graduates. So, it’s no wonder that we were cheering on the men’s basketball team throughout the season and during March Madness. Neighbors held “watch parties” together to watch the team’s historic run all the way to the NCAA championship game. A big congratulations from all of us. In May, Alvarado Estates will hold its annual Homeowners Association meeting. In recognition of Earth Day, we will have a special presentation by EDCO (our trash hauler), about the new organics recycling program. Kitchen caddies will be available for residents to help them collect and dispose of their food waste responsibly. Thank you EDCO. 

COLLEGE VIEW ESTATES

By JEAN HOEGER

The many College View Estates residents who are Aztec alumni, former and current SDSU staff/professors and season ticket holders would like to congratulate Coach Dutcher and the Aztecs basketball team on their amazing trip to the NCAA Finals. It was a wild ride and we can’t wait for the next season. The College View Estates Association is always looking for ways to bring the community together and our newest venture is the CVEA Gardening Group. Neighbors meet at a neighbor’s home in the community to share their love of gardening with each other by sharing knowledge, tips, supplies, seeds and starters.

MESA COLONY

By SUSAN GRANT

April 1st “fooled us all” with fantastic weather for our Community Yard Sale. The sun was up and shining by 6:30 a.m. and more than 20 directional signs were posted all around the neighborhood. As usual, the cars of interested shoppers were already searching for the homes with open garages where residents were starting to display their wares. By 8 a.m., the streets were buzzing with activity and driveways were full of shoppers. The day’s weather finished at a beautiful 73 degrees. After one of the coldest months of March in San Diego history, we took a chance and won. It seems that there was a lot of pent-up energy amongst “garage-salers.” People came from all over San Diego County and beyond, even from Campo and Tijuana, to see what our homes had to offer.

Once again, Mesa Colony did not disappoint. We sold electronics, workout equipment, tons of household items, lots of clothing and shoes, toys, games, gaming equipment, gardening tools, tables and chairs, ceramics and glassware, LP’s, CD’s, DVD’s and so much more.  We even had some beautiful vintage dresses. A few remain to be sold. If interested, please inquire at our private area facebook page, Rolando/Mesa Colony/SDSU Neighborhood Activities and Information. Perhaps the best part of the yard sale was the fun of chatting with our friends and neighbors after a long, wet winter, just sharing stories and laughing together about what we had accumulated throughout the year. It turns out that a community yard sale was the perfect way to celebrate April Fools’ Day! A big thanks to Christine Marooney, organizer, and to all of the families which participated in our 2023 Mesa Colony Community Yard Sale. 

Mesa Colony Earth Day celebration clean-up event followed by a library garden swap is scheduled for Saturday, April 22. The clean-up starts at 8 a.m.at the patio entrance of the College-Rolando Library and covering the perimeter and parking lot of the library as well as both sides of Reservoir Drive, finishing up at the library. The garden swap is from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Mesa Colony will hold a dining out event on Thursday, April 20 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Camitas Urupan, 7149 El Cajon Blvd. Finally, the Mesa Colony meeting will be held Monday, April 24, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at College-Rolando Library.