OB resident tapped to manage landscape yard
Ocean Beach resident Jerry Letellier, who has more than 25 years of sales and management experience in the landscape and nursery industries, has been named manager of Benchmark Landscape Inc.’s recently opened South County yard and warehouse facility on Bancroft Drive in Spring Valley, according to John Mohns, president of Benchmark Landscape, Inc.
Mohns said Letellier, who joined Benchmark Landscape in October 2005, will oversee about 40 employees, including six work crews, a field supervisor and two account managers.
Mohns also said the company’s 1.3-acre South County facility will provide additional storage space for a variety of materials, supplies and equipment as well as a shorter commute for employees who live nearby and a quicker travel time for both installation, maintenance and irrigation service crews working at various jobsites in South Bay and East County areas. Benchmark Landscape has more than 300 employees.
Letellier is a native of Rapid City, S.D., He has lived in San Diego since October 2005. During his career, Letellier has managed landscape installation and maintenance firms and retail nursery operations in South Dakota and Minnesota. He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing from National American University and a master’s degree in landscape architecture from the University of Minnesota. In his spare time, he enjoys mountain biking and baseball.
Founded in 1984, Benchmark Landscape, Inc. is now in its 24th year of operation.
The company provides a comprehensive variety of award-winning landscape services to commercial and retail property owners, homeowner associations and new-home and master-planned community developers.
Historic chapel at Liberty Station to host tours
The historic Navy North Chapel at Liberty Station in Point Loma was recently restored and will be open for tours on Saturday, Dec. 1, 8, 15 and 29 from 9 to 11 a.m.
The chapel was built in 1942 and was restored by C.W. Clark, Inc.
It now features an updated sound system that is available for musical events, concerts, weddings, memorial services and other nondenominational events.
People who attend the tours will enjoy the sound of the original Rogers pipe organ and the sight of stained glass and hand-carved pews.
For more information, visit www.thenorthchapel.com or send an e-mail to [email protected].
Coastkeeper to host
Nov. 30 cleanup event
Residents will have another opportunity to tidy up the neighborhood on Friday, Nov. 30 as part of San Diego Coastkeeper’s planned “Good Excuse to Get Involved Campaign.”
Participants will converge in Ocean Beach at the Ocean Beach Park for an afternoon of work and entertainment.
The John Butler Trio (JBT) and Brett Dennen will perform for participants at 1 p.m., followed by the cleanup from 2 to 4 p.m., according to organizers.
The event is a partnership between JBT, CLIF Bar and MusicMatters through the CLIF Green Notes Program to provide education, tools and incentive for music fans and artists to reduce their environmental impact, adopt a more sustainable lifestyle and take a more positive environmental action.
The event takes place in the grassy area across from the parking lot from the beach. San Diego Coastkeeper will host an informational booth, along with the Surfrider Foundation.
Organizers said the event will also include a raffle, which will include a sustainable guitar and tickets for a JBT concert the same night in Downtown.
For more information, visit www.sdcoastkeeper.org or e-mail [email protected].
Wine-tasting fund-raiser set at Liberty Station
A wine-tasting fund-raising event will be held Thursday, Dec. 13 as a benefit for the NTC Foundation and the San Diego Food Bank.
The event coincides with the grand opening of Vons grocery store at Liberty Station Marketplace in Point Loma, 2495 Truxtun Road.
The event, which runs from 4 to 9 p.m., will feature entertainment, food and a range of wines from premiere vintners, according to organizers.
Tickets are currently available for a minimum $25 donation and can be purchased at Vons stores across San Diego County.
For more information about the event, call (619) 573-9269.
People’s Co-Op to host arts, crafts fair
The Ocean Beach People’s Organic Co-Op is organizing its annual Fall Arts and Crafts Fair for Saturday, Dec. 1.
The free event takes place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the co-op, 4765 Voltaire St. in Ocean Beach.
Organizers are encouraging residents to get a jump on their holiday shopping as co-op members and employees showcase and sell unique handmade wares that include jewelry, pottery, knit scarves and bags, trinkets, magnets, soaps, candles, stained glass and other items.
Booths will be set up in front of the store.
For more information, call (619) 224-1387.
Local author releases child-rearing booklet
Dr. James G. Crakes, a retired professor emeritus from Point Loma Nazarene University, is releasing a booklet titled “The Perfect Child: How to Make Your Kid Make You Look Good.”
According to Crakes, the publication is intended to point out that exceptional parenting is not an accident of genes or environment. Instead, he says, it is the result of daily intentional efforts to make positive changes in attitude and behavior.
The guide, which is published by AuthorHouse, is intended to be a tongue-in-cheek booklet to provide a prototype by which parents might help their children achieve their greatest potential as individuals and as family members in a democratic society.
“I have not provided you with theories, but practical applications of common-sense suggestions on how to accomplish small miracles on a daily basis,” Crakes said.
Crakes shares his experiences as a father, grandfather, teacher, coach and tutor with the purpose of providing the tenets of parenthood that have stood the test of time and which are directly applicable for parents and children of the 21st century, he said.
“Has there ever been a parent who hasn’t said, ‘Hey! Nobody ever taught me how to be a good parent’?” Crakes asks. “In respect to the social upheaval of our time, perhaps we have lost our way and need a correction in course.”
Crakes said “The Perfect Child: How to Make Your Kid Make You Look Good” is built on six gifts parents can give their children: presence, attention, encouragement, discipline, opportunity and values.
Crakes has spent his professional life teaching and coaching at the junior high school, high school and university levels.
For the last 10 years he has tutored at an elementary school and at a center for young children with learning difficulties.
Crakes is the father of three and grandfather of six. He lives with his wife of 50 years, Donna.
For more information about the guide, visit www.crakestimes.com.