{"id":235868,"date":"2012-10-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-19T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/exploring-balboa-park-october\/"},"modified":"2012-10-19T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-10-19T07:00:00","slug":"exploring-balboa-park-october","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/exploring-balboa-park-october\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring Balboa Park: October"},"content":{"rendered":"

Johnny McDonald | Downtown News<\/strong><\/p>\n

Aerospace experience sought<\/strong><\/p>\n

Impressions of historic flight, whether by an eight- or 58-year-old visitor, is vastly important to members of the Air and Space Museum.<\/p>\n

\"Volunteers<\/a>
A retired aerospace engineer works on an old jet engine. (Photo courtesy SD Air-Space Museum)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From the numbers of astute floor docents and archivists in its expanding digitized library to skilled restoration workers in the basement, the museum can call upon Balboa Park\u2019s largest community of volunteers to help educate the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur intent is to permit a customizing of the guest experience and, hopefully define it,\u201d said President-CEO Jim Kidrick. \u00a0\u201cOur dedicated volunteers are like family and have told me their participation has extended their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said it\u2019s an ongoing recruitment program for docents, many of whom are retirees from the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe make (recruiting) presentations to several companies in town,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re particularly looking for those with some space knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kidrick, who spent 21 years as a Navy fighter pilot, expressed the importance of keeping exhibits up-to-date, and explained why they added the Blue Angel F-18 Hornet as well as the Red Baron\u2019s Blue Max.<\/p>\n

\"Exploring<\/a>
Retired aerospace employees offer their skills to the museum. (Photo courtesy SD Air-Space Museum)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He said the museum fits heavily into science technology, engineering mathematics and innovations \u2013 practical applications of the great explorers and pioneers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat would cause a Charles Lindbergh to climb into a small airplane cockpit and say, \u2018next stop, Paris\u2019?\u201d Kidrick asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre people as excited about flight as they were in the 1930s? \u00a0Probably not, because it\u2019s so much more common. The average 15-year-old in the 1920s probably had never seen an airplane. \u00a0Now, they may have taken flight on an airliner or have gone to an air show.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember the Mercury, Gemini or Apollo missions were all over the news. [It\u2019s now] semi-routine with the shuttle launches.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said restorations can be a long procedure.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt depends on what we\u2019re restoring from plans. \u00a0In 16 months we put two planes on the floor: the racing GB and the Boeing fighter P-26 Pea Shooter. Now we\u2019re building the Hughes Racer and the Bell X1, a replica that broke the sound barrier in 1947 with pilot Chuck Yeager.<\/p>\n

Off-road legend forgoes Baja<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once the terror on Baja terrain and over quirky stadium obstacle courses, off-road race champion Ironman Ivan Stewart has slowed his pace to electric bicycles and speaking appearances.<\/p>\n

\"Exploring<\/a>
Ivan Stewart poses with his electric bicycle. (Photo courtesy Stewart family)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now, the 65-year old might be found occasionally at The Ivan Stewart Electric Bike Center at 2021 India Street, a modest location measuring about 700 square feet and run by his son, Gary.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the bikes are from China with names like Ezee, Hebb, Pebigo,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cPrice tags range from $2,000 to $2,700 for six different models.\u201d He plans to show them at car and boat shows, letting people ride them.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, drivers and motorcycle riders will be rolling away from Ensenada Nov. 15 for the start of the 45th annual Baja 1,000, heading for LaPaz. \u00a0And, Ivan, who has made that trip 30 times, won\u2019t be among them.<\/p>\n

Stewart insists he hasn\u2019t retired, \u201cJust awaiting an opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The legendary driver\u2019s 84 victories and 10 driver’s championships were credentials enough for him to be inducted into Balboa Park\u2019s Hall of Champions\u2019 Hall of Fame. \u00a0He has been nominated, too, for the national motorsports hall of fame in Michigan.<\/p>\n

Stewart is known as the Ironman because of his many solo runs without a co-driver. He sold his off-road truck business, leasing that building in El Cajon so he could explore this new two-wheel venture.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve slowed down a bit, but I keep busy with Ivan Stewart Enterprises and my contractual arrangement with Toyota,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Toyota still regards the off-road champion as a valuable representative on the vast automotive front.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve done more with Toyota this year than the last two or three, going to Detroit, New York City, the L.A. Auto Show, a drag race or two and even NASCAR,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He has also been selected for television voiceovers. \u00a0Pretty good for a once shy atlas fence worker who had enrolled in a Dale Carnegie speech training course.<\/p>\n

While his Ivan Stewart Enterprises keeps him on tour, you might even find the smiling guy riding an electric bicycle around town. And, he\u2019s not far away from the business because he lives in a nearby high rise condo with a full view of the waterfront.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve simplified my life and changed to something more suited to what I want,\u201d he said. \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m just downsizing. Time to turn it over to someone else to run with the ball…maybe one of the 53 owners who purchased pro trucks from us.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he and his wife, Linda, want to travel.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd what better place to live,\u201d he continued. \u201cThe train depot is a stone\u2019s throw away, there\u2019s the cruise ships down there and the airport is about a mile away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this year they spent a month in Paris.<\/p>\n

Hall of Champions exception<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the groundswell attention given to Chargers standout linebacker Junior Seau, the San Diego Hall of Champions Board of Directors voted unanimously to forego the normal voting process and induct him into the Breitbard Hall of Fame at the Salute to Champions on Feb. 25.<\/p>\n

Normally, he wouldn\u2019t have been eligible until late 2013.<\/p>\n

Seau, a multi-sport athlete at Oceanside High, became an All American at the University of Southern California before joining the Chargers, for whom he played 13 years. \u00a0Tragically, he took his life earlier this year at age 43.<\/p>\n

Seau was inducted into the Chargers\u2019 Hall of Fame last year and his No. 55 jersey was recently retired during the Chargers-Titans game at the beginning of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people think of the San Diego Chargers, especially the defense, the first name that comes to mind is Junior Seau,\u201d said San Diego Hall of Champions President Denise Cooper. \u201cHe is one of the Chargers legends. We are proud to have Junior Seau join San Diego Hall of Famers like Ted Williams, Bill Walton and Maureen Connolly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Known as an emotional leader, Seau helped guide the Chargers into the 1994 Super Bowl against the San Francisco 49ers.<\/p>\n

Trevor Hoffman, the reliever who answered the sound of \u201cHells Bells\u201d to save many games for the San Diego Padres, has been elected to the Breitbard Hall of Fame, class of 2013.<\/p>\n

Also named were San Diego Sockers legend Brian Quinn and multi-talented wrestler-football star Stephen Neal. The trio will join Seau for his posthumously induction a year early.<\/p>\n

All four will be honored at the Salute to the Champions banquet on Feb. 25 at the Town and Country Hotel in Mission Valley.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe couldn\u2019t be more excited about this year\u2019s inductees into the Breitbard Hall of Fame,\u201d said Denise Cooper, president, San Diego Hall of Champions. \u201cAs the community knows, the San Diego Hall of Champions is all about celebrating and recognizing excellence in sports at all levels, and these four gentlemen are truly world class athletes and community members.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoffman, a converted shortstop, was the first player in Major League Baseball history to achieve 600 saves in his 18-year career. He was a seven-time All Star selection and twice a runner-up for the Cy Young Award.<\/p>\n

Quinn was one of the most popular members of the highly successful San Diego Sockers indoor soccer team as a player from 1983-1991 and as its coach from 2001-2004.<\/p>\n

A native of Ireland, Quinn became a U.S. citizen and played for the national team from 1991-1994. He is currently an assistant coach at the University of San Diego and a director of the San Diego Soccer Club.<\/p>\n

Neal was a dominant wrestler and football player at San Diego High before going to Cal State Bakersfield where he compiled a 151-10 record, winning NCAA titles his junior and senior years.
\nAfter an award winning, 38-year sports-writing career with the San Diego Union and authoring three books, Johnny McDonald now considers writing a hobby. He enjoys covering aspects of the port district, convention center, Balboa Park, zoo, and stories with a historical bent. You can reach him at johnny23@cox.net. <\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

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Johnny McDonald | Downtown News Aerospace experience sought Impressions of historic flight, whether by an eight- or 58-year-old visitor, is vastly important to members of the Air and Space Museum. From the numbers of astute floor docents and archivists in its expanding digitized library to skilled restoration workers in the basement, the museum can call […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":235869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"Exploring Balboa Park: October","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11600],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-235868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-sdnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}