por Jay Wilson
The 2014 Art in the Park fundraiser and month-long art exhibition is over. Our third annual Art in the Park fundraiser held on Saturday, Oct. 11 was successful, and I want to specifically thank our local craft breweries in Grantville, Groundswell and Benchmark, for their donation of craft beers, as well as Rita’s Italian Ice in Del Cerro for their donation of samples for everyone and everyone’s support of our event. And a special thank you to Sara Smith and her students from the culinary arts department at Morse High School for their incredible hors d’oeuvres. They did an outstanding job.
On Veterans Day, 11 members from AmeriCorps began working with Park Rangers to provide erosion control for the 95 acres that burned on Kwaay Paay this past summer. This is the first of two groups from AmeriCorps. The first group is working in the park through the middle of December. The second group will arrive in January for another six weeks.
Visitor Center& Kumeyaay Lake Campground Update
There are now two virtual tours of Mission Trails Regional Park (MTRP). You can go to googlemaps.com and enter “Mission Trails Regional Park Visitor Center” or “Kumeyaay Lake Campground” or visit mtrp.org and under “More News,” scroll down to virtual tours. Louis Nava with Google Maps took over 1,100 photos of the campground and, using Google software, stitched the photographs together to generate the seamless virtual tour. You can view each of the 46 campsites.
“Every Now and Zen” is the new art exhibition on display in the Visitor Center gallery through Dec. 5. It features two award-winning photographers: Janine Free and Beverly LaRock.
About the artists
Janine Free is a French artist with a camera who abstracts urban landscapes. She travels widely to catch mannequins in store windows, and then composes her pictures to include the reflection off the glass, producing a surreal effect. She is starting a new mixed media series of very large photographs she took in the streets of Europe and the United States, using spray paint, magazines and paint.
Rocks, shells, and seaweed are washed up by the surf on Moonlight Beach and create myriad patterns. Beverly LaRock merges these elements together in this series of black and white images. They capture both the beauty and quietude of the beach as well as its constant motion. These composites showcase Beverly’s creative vision of nature and people drawn from her extensive travels around the world. Her photographs are seen extensively in San Diego County and published in “Black & White” magazine.
Linda Hawley’s “Nature Adventures!” for children 4 and up will meet at 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 2 and 3 in the Visitor Center. “Herbivores: Deer, Squirrels & Rabbits” is the topic. Factual information is introduced about San Diego’s wild animals using songs, puppets, real pelts, replicated skulls, scats, tracks, and taxidermy specimens. The lesson is followed by an easy trail walk and a return to the classroom, where children make a related, take-home craft. Children may attend one class per month; adult attendance is required. Individual class fees are as follows: $10 per child, per class; $8 per child per class for 3 – 9 classes; and $8 per child, per class with families of 3 or more paying children. Parents and siblings under 4 attend free. MTRP reserves the right to cancel a class 72 hours in advance. You can go to mtrp.org under “More News” for more information and a registration form; you may also pick up a form at the Visitor Center.
Nora’s Children’s Art Classes, ages 5 – 12, are scheduled to resume on most Saturdays, beginning Jan. 3, in the MTRP Visitor Center. Each Saturday will be a different topic and children may take home their art project each week. All art supplies are included. The cost will be $20 per class with discounts offered for multiple classes. The topics for January will be “Stopping by the Woods” on Jan. 3, “Optical Illusions” on Jan. 10, Gustav Klimt’s “Tree of Life” on Jan. 17, “Charlie Brown Transfer Drawing” on Jan. 24, and “Aboriginal Dot Painting” on Jan. 31. Check our home page, mtrp.org, under “More News” for a complete listing of all the dates, topics, and a registration form.
Concerts: There will be two concerts in December: Dec. 14, “Many Strings,” with Chris & Jamie Burns, and on Dec. 21, “Panamerican Shanties II” will be presented by Jeff Pekarek with Fred Benedetti.
Every day is a great day for an adventure in Mission Trails.
—Jay Wilson is executive director of the Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation.
