SOHO celebrates 30th annual awards with ceremony held in Old Town

Por Antonio Rey | Editor SDUN

Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO) celebrated 30 years of preservation work by individuals and groups in the greater San Diego County at their annual People in Preservation Awards ceremony, held on May 31. The event was held at the Temple Beth Israel in Old Town.

“For three decades, the People in Preservation Awards have raised awareness of the important and essential role that San Diegans play in the preservation of our region’s heritage,” Bruce Coons, SOHO executive director, said in a press release. “Honoring those who have contributed so much to our collective history is something SOHO takes great pleasure in doing.”

Timed to end the National Historic Preservation month, television personality Larry Himmel presided over the ceremony that recognized award winners involved in nine different projects. Projects range from rescuing the Warner-Carrillo Ranch House and restoring a 1940s streetcar to establishing the Dryden Historic District in North Park.

Alana Coons, SOHO education and communications director, said it was a “very special” evening. “The winners were a stellar group, with projects stressing mass transportation using historic streetcars juxtaposed with the 1850s Butterfield stage station restoration that took over 15 years to realize,” she said.

“The event highlights the people that have made a tangible difference to San Diego’s physical and intrinsic character that defines our region,” Alana Coons said.

Among the 2012 People in Preservation Award winners are Vista Irrigation District and General Manager Roy Coox for the Preservationist of the Year-Public Stewardship award. Coox helped in preserving the Warner-Carrillo Ranch House, a 1847 national historic landmark along the Immigrant Trail.

San Diego Vintage Trolley Inc., a non-profit subsidiary of the Metropolitan Transit Service (MTS), along with the San Diego Electric Railway Association was awarded the MTS Makes History award. The two groups – represented by Harry Mathis, Paul Jablonski, E. Wayne Terry and Karen Landers from the nonprofit and Dave Slater and Chuck Bencik of the Railway Association – helped restore a 1946 President’s Conference Committee streetcar to service in Downtown after six years of volunteer preservation work.

Other winners and their awards were: the North Park Historical Society with the Neighborhood Preservation award; Christian Chaffee and San Diego Historic Streetcars with the On the Right Track award; Heidi and Deb Callahan with the Residential Resurrection award; Richard Crawford with the Preservation Achievement award; Carol Rea with the Outstanding Citizen award; and Allen Hazard with the Caped Crusader Award.

Of them, Hazard was presented with his award for bringing attention to the disappearance of bronze plaques from historic homes in Mission Hills. The thefts, which began in June 2011, ended with several arrests in September 2011.

The program also included a short-film tribute to the late Robert Miles Parker, SOHO’s founder. In 1969, Parker gained support to save a Victorian home, resulting in the recue and restoration of the Sherman-Gilbert house in Heritage Park. This marked the first SOHO preservation victory. Parker, who previously was awarded SOHO’s 2009 Lifetime Achievement award, died April 17 in New York City.

Councilmember Sherri Lightner attended the event to announce SOHO’s Most Endangered List of Historic Resources. Among the 11 threatened sites on the list were Balboa Park, the La Jolla Post Office, the Villa Montezuma in Sherman Heights and Rancho Guejito in Escondido.

For more information visit sohosandiego.org.