We are back into full swing with our summer break behinds us. We finished our spring programs with our scholarship BBQ where we again raised enough to present two $1,000 scholarships to Dana Point High School graduates. Our next program this month will feature Dan Stetson, CEO of the Ocean Institute. This is one you do not want to miss. We have received correspondence from one of our last scholarship recipients, Brennan Whitley (who was at our BBQ) from Cal Berkeley where she is currently taking four classes in history and two in anthropology. You go girl!
We have over ten projects that the board and various chairpersons are currently working on. They include historic preservation, historic designation, tourist historical maps, and curb stamps, not to mention our continuing efforts in saving Dana Point history. This category just got bigger. We have received 32 rolls of house plans from the Doheny home era. They are currently being scanned, inventoried, and archived. Hopefully we will be able to share their contents next month.
Home Tour! This is our major fundraiser for the Society. This helps us maintain our storage facilities and operating expenses and historical documents collection. But this year we have a special project to address: the “Old Wall” to Doheny State Park along Coast Highway. The DPHS is working with the Doheny State Park to raise money to repair and paint this original adobe wall, originally built in 1936. Since it is at the entrance to Dana Point and was recently added to with the new Pedestrian Bridge, this is an important cause for us to support, especially with the current financial status of the state. So if you find you cannot make this event, please consider a donation to help us achieve our goals.
I am very happy to inform the membership that we have three new directors on the board. I have appointed Layton Rawlins as Secretary, an officer of the Society; Ross Teasley, our Information Technology Director; and Bill Brough, Director at large. Each has already been significantly involved with the Society, and I welcome them to the Board.
If you are interested in volunteering at the board or committee level, please let me know, and I will find that right spot.
To all of those who shop at Ralphs, we get back a percentage of what you spend. It has been averaging about $30 a month. Ralphs has been changing their program several times since the first of the year. As a result, we have lost members’ contributions. To rectify this situation, Ralphs is requiring that everyone must re-register after September 1, 2009. To do this, please go to http://www.Ralphs.com. Our nonprofit organization number is 90334. If you are concerned about identity, please ask for an anonymous card.