Science/Engineering fair seeking volunteers
Officials at the 54th annual Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair are seeking judges, students and community volunteers. The fair will take place on Tuesday, April 1 through Sunday, April 6 at the Balboa Park Activity Center, 2145 Park Blvd. Judges, students and community volunteers will be needed for various times between Friday, March 28 and Monday, April 7.
This great volunteering opportunity offers flexible schedules. Volunteers can work as little or as much as they would like while fulfilling community service or internship hours. No science background is necessary.
For more information on the fair, visit www.gsdsef.org. Interested volunteers can send inquiries to [email protected] or visit the fair’s Web site above.
Downtown projects receive preservation award
The Office of Historic Preservation (OHP) presented the Governor’s Historic Preservation Awards to 16 groups throughout California on Nov. 16 in Sacramento.
The OHP has given out the award since 1986, when Gov. George Deukmejian established the Governor’s Historic Preservation Awards Program.
Since its inception, the awards fete has differed from other preservation award programs in two important respects: It emphasizes involvement by community groups and recognizes a broad array of preservation activities, from building rehabilitation to archaeology to interpretation to preservation planning.
Among this year’s recipients were the San Diego Padres for Western Metal Supply Company Rehabilitation. This historic 1909 warehouse building was fully incorporated into the recently completed Petco Field and made part of the left field seating. This combination of historic preservation and ballpark design is unique in California and highly unusual nationwide.
Also recognized was the San Diego Parks and Recreation Department for Spreckels Organ Pavilion lighting restoration in Balboa Park. The organ pavilion was built as part of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. Unique to the pavilion was exterior lighting integrated directly into the building’s “case-stone” ornamentation, but by 2004, more than a quarter of the 1,734 fixtures were no longer functioning.
San Diego’s restoration, which complied with Secretary of the Interior standards, was a spectacular project the public can enjoy for another 100 years.
The New Children’s Museum hosts toy rescue
While many families will be making room in their homes for an influx of new toys over the holidays, the New Children’s Museum has a plan to rescue broken or unwanted playthings and recycle them into a hands-on, kid-created art project. The toy collection begins immediately, and the first project will come together at the 10th annual San Diego Multicultural Festival on Jan. 19.
Kids and families can get involved by leaving old, broken or unwanted toys at one of the Museum’s designated collection boxes through Jan. 17 or coming to the Museum booth at the 10th annual Multicultural Festival on Jan. 19. The booth will be located in the children’s area on the Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The collected toys will be cleaned, taken apart, sorted into categories and placed in large plastic bins for children to rummage through. From this “pick your parts buffet,” children will select used toy parts to piece together a new toy using their imagination and creativity, along with glue guns, tape and some support from the museum studio arts team.
Once the new works are complete, kids will have the option of taking their creation home or leaving it behind to be displayed in the new museum, which opens on May 4. Selected photographs of the finished works will be posted to the Children’s Museum Web site, www.childrensmuseumsd.org.
Collection boxes for the toys are located at:
“¢ Children’s Museum San Diego
200 West Island Ave.
San Diego
“¢ Downtown Information Center (on Horton Square)
225 Broadway, Suite 160
San Diego
“¢ San Diego Public Library
Central Library, Children’s Area
820 E St.
San Diego
Other locations may be added, so check the Web site for more information. Please, no stuffed animals or oversize toys. Wood, plastic and other hard materials are preferred.
Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday celebration
The San Diego Museum of Man will celebrate the observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday with an event for local families. The annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Family Day is Monday, Jan. 21 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Balboa Park.
During Family Day, museum docents and educators will offer families special tours of all museum exhibitions and lead activities that encourage educational and artistic expression. A community canvas will be available where people can contribute a painting for public display. Special craft activities for children, such as rock art and beading, will also be available. Parents and kids can also test their knowledge with trivia about Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as enjoy storytelling. Cultural dance, food and music will also be featured.
Admission is free, with regular admission charges to the special Journey to the Copper Age exhibit. For more information, visit www.museumofman.org/html/calendar.html.
County seeking volunteers for presidential primary
The County of San Diego Registrar of Voters is asking the public to help staff voting sites throughout the county for the presidential primary election on Feb. 5, the earliest date California has scheduled its presidential primary in decades.
According to a press release, 6,500 registered voters are needed as volunteers, including the following bilingual staff: 994 who speak Spanish and English, 256 who speak Filipino and English and 157 who speak Vietnamese and English.
In addition to the presidential primary, poll workers are also needed for the direct primary on June 3 and general election on Nov. 4, which means the Registrar of Voters must fill almost 20,000 poll worker positions this year.
Poll workers receive a stipend of $75 to $150 depending on the assignment; bilingual workers get an additional $15.
All workers are provided training, including a new online component to reinforce lessons from the classroom manual.
For more information, visit www.sdcounty.ca.gov/voters/Eng/Eindex.html or contact the Registrar of Voters office Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at (858) 565-5800 or after hours at (858) 694-3480, or e-mail at [email protected].