By Margie M. Palmer

The July installment of the Linda Vista 75th Anniversary celebration will hardly be your average event.

The Intergenerational Event will be a potluck-style celebration held on Tuesday, July 12 at the Bayside Community Center, located at 2202 Comstock St., from 4 — 6 p.m. Community members are invited to the free event.

The afternoon will focus on celebrating intergenerational diversity and the day’s activities are focused around pairing neighborhood youth with senior citizens.

The 75th Anniversary Committee is holding monthly events in Linda Vista through September of this year, to celebrate the community’s 75th year of existence, said Kim Heinle, community events advocate with the center.

The seven-month celebration started with a kick-off event in March, followed by special anniversary events at the Linda Vista Multi-Cultural Fair in April. On May 1, a special concert was held at the University of San Diego, and on June 6 the neighborhood honored 75 years of veterans at the Vintage Military Vehicles Show.

Following the Intergenerational Event, the Family Reunion will be held on Aug. 6 at the Linda Vista Recreation Center. On Sept. 17, the anniversary will wrap up with a Grand Celebration featuring dance and music and local representatives.

The intergenerational potluck is being jointly hosted by the Linda Vista 75th Anniversary Committee and the Bayside Community Center (BCC).

“Linda Vista is made up of so many ethnicities but we also have a diverse population in terms of age, which is why we wanted to host an intergeneration event in partnership with [this year’s] anniversary,” she said. “This is a great fit for the Bayside Community Center because this will be a celebration of the community and its history.”

The center is currently collecting narratives from community members, she said, adding that people of all age groups are being asked to share their earliest memory of Linda Vista.

“This will allow people to see the community through all generations and it includes everything from elementary school children to people who are in their 80s, who can talk about what Linda Vista was like during the World War II era.”

The event committee wanted to pair seniors with children, she said, because it allows to highlight the past while also focusing on where the community is today, while also celebrating tomorrow through today’s youth.

“We have about 45 minutes to an hour of activities that are set up that will intentionally pair seniors with youth, teenagers and young adults. This includes everything from people getting their hands dirty in the community garden by planting seeds to participating in music and song, and even dance,” Heinle said. “When people teach each other dance, their cultural identities really come out.”

San Diego City Councilmember Lorie Zapf, who will appear at the event, said she looks forward to seeing different generations brought together.

“Bringing the very young and older generations together to inspire cultural diversity makes for an amazing event,” she said. “I look forward to attending, listening and learning, while offering my generations perspective during the 75th Anniversary of one of San Diego’s most culturally rich and diverse communities”

Heinle agrees.

“This will be such a beautiful celebration of Linda Vista and it will really honor the different generations that make up our past, present and future. It helps us see where we are and where we are going with our youth. We are thrilled to be part of this.”

—Margie M. Palmer is a San Diego-based freelance writer who has been racking up bylines in a myriad of publications for more than a decade. You can write to her at [email protected].