The City of San Diego has purchased the lot on the NW corner of Jackson Drive and Golfcrest Drive.

On Saturday, Aug. 5, a special Navajo Area Community meeting was held, with Congresswoman Sara Jacobs, Mayor Todd Gloria, and City Councilmember Raul Campillo among the dignitaries. Our very own, and favorite Branch Librarian, David Ege, was the MC.

This was the second Navajo Area Community meeting that the San Carlos Branch Library has held, and the purpose, other than to announce that we BOUGHT THE LOT, is to let you know about the many groups in our area and how you can be more involved in your community e.g. SCAC, Kiwanis, NCPI, Allied-Gardens, Grantville Community Council, San Carlos Community Garden, to name a few.

At our July SCAC meeting, our guest speaker was Shanti Hofshi.

Hofshi is a member of the Executive Board of the House of Pacific Relations (HPR) in Balboa Park (BP) and is President of the House of Ireland one of the International Cottages and Houses within BP.

Hofshi entertained us with his wit and his soft manner in describing how HPR was devised during the gloomy days leading up to WWII as a means to promote pacific (meaning “peaceful” in character or intent) relations among many fracture ethnic groups in the 1930s.

As the spirit of peaceful mission captured in its name, the HPR is a place to invite nations “to live together and play together in the spirit of good fellowship that can knit them together more closely than societies that use the form of debate to provoke disagreements. Cohabiting in a small corner of the park, volunteering side by side, the HPR members shared their cultures – music, dance, art, and food – with each other and the community as a whole while cultivating tolerance, mutual trust, and solidarity in and outside the organization. The HPR cottages have been an integral part of BP since 1935.

The HPR International Cottages in Balboa Park represents 31 countries and cultures. For a complete list of the countries and cultures please go to the website (listed below)

The Cottages are open nearly every Saturday and Sunday during the year and often some of the Cottages are open on the 4th Tuesday of the month – especially for school field trips and the general public

Cottages offer programs on selected Saturdays and Sundays throughout the year, featuring food, music, dance and other entertainment from the host cultures.

On a Sunday in May each year, the cottages showcase popular food from their cultures. Keep an eye on our web site for the 2024 date. This is called the Ethnic Food Fair.

As part of Balboa Park’s December Nights, the cottages will be serving foods from their respective cultures and hosting an International Spirit Garden with drinks from around the world. December Nights is the first Friday/Saturday in December. Special Activities – Some cottages also offer activities such as art projects and language classes and sponsor special events such as concerts throughout the year.

To quote Mr. Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the U. S. “This organization must never be allowed to die, and must be perpetuated” in hope to continually preserve its non-partisan/political, non-dissident mission of the HPR.

The latest info on our cottages and programs can be found on our web site (sdhpr.org), Facebook(facebook.com/internationalcottages) Instagram (instagram.com/hprinternationalcottages.sd).

The speaker for our September meeting will be the State Assemblyman for District 78, Christopher Ward. More about the Assemblyman in our September article.

We are still looking for a few folks to help put out the American flags along Navajo Rd. this is an endeavor that the SCAC has performed for many years. The flags are displayed from morning to evening, on the various days of special attention.

Please join us as we hear updates from our representatives from the offices of the Mayor of San Diego, our City Councilman, Congresswoman Sara Jacobs; State Assembly District 78 Christopher Ward; County Supervisor, Joel Anderson; SDUSD Trustee, Shana Hazan; the Fire and Police departments when possible and our “wonderful” Librarian, David Ege.

The next meeting of the SCAC will be held Sept. 20 at the San Carlos Branch Library, 6:30 to 8 p.m. 7265 Jackson Drive.

My contact information is: [email protected].

Photo credit: sandiego.gov