Standley offers winter recreation for youngsters
Standley Recreation Center will offer children’s winter programs beginning Monday, Jan. 8, 207. Registration must be done in person at the center, rather than over the phone or online.
Classes are offered for ages 3 to 14 and teenagers age 15 and up, and include dance and hula lessons, martial arts, gymnastics, arts and crafts class, as well as soccer and volleyball leagues.
The center is located at 3585 Governor Dr. For a complete listing of days, times and fees for each class, visit www.sandiego.gov/reccenters or call the center, (858) 552-1652.
Kids’ programs at Doyle Recreation Center, 8175 Regents Rd., will also begin the week of Jan. 8 and run for 10 weeks.
Winter class registration for new students will be held at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 15.
Classes are offered for ages 3 through 12, and include arts and crafts, drawing and painting classes, basketball and soccer camps, as well as ballet, tap and belly dancing classes.
For more information about class dates, times and fees, visit www.sandiego.gov/reccenters or call the center, (858) 581-7170.

UC business provides Hope for the Holidays
More than ten years ago in Sacramento, a single mother of two reached out to the community for additional resources to provide her 3-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter with Christmas gifts.
Local resident Kathleen DeSpain got involved and was so moved by the family’s story that she founded “Hope for the Holidays,” an organization that gathers gifts for families with limited resources. In 1995, the program was mobilized in San Diego and this year it has partnered with University City’s BCS Real Estate Services.
“This is something we hadn’t done before, and I was excited about it and wanted to just turn in a full box of toys,” said Tamara Swanson, BCS co-founder and office manager. “It’s a statewide program and it’s just getting bigger and bigger. I liked it because they do things year-round and not just at Christmas.”
Swanson was contacted by the organization through the Golden Triangle Chamber of Commerce and decided to make BCS a collection site for gifts this year. BCS is working in partnership with San Diego Children’s Hospital and St. Vincent de Paul to provide gifts for needy children at the facilities.
A box covered in Christmas wrapping paper in the BCS lobby serves as a drop box for new, unwrapped toys or other practical gift donations.
BCS hopes to become more involved in the program in years to come, acting as a sponsor as well as a drop-off site. BCS Real Estate Services is located at 5075 Shoreham Place, Suite 100, off Governor Drive.
The last day to make a donation is Wednesday, Dec. 20.
For more information, contact Swanson, (858) 638-7000. To learn more about Hope for the Holidays, visit www.holidaymiracles.org

UC doctors restore patients’ vision for free
Just in time for the holidays, three San Diegans will receive one of the most useful presents of all time: restored vision.
University City’s Gordon Binder and Weiss Vision Institute, 8910 University Centre Lane, unveiled its “Gift of Sight” program in early November. Prior to that, the company worked with local optometrists for months to secure recommendations for patients who needed corrective surgery but did not have the resources.
“We wanted to give back to the community,” said Mindy Schwartz, the company’s marketing coordinator. “The doctors here have been really lucky to have such a wonderful practice, and they wanted to give back to the people who needed eye surgery and couldn’t afford it. This is something we could all pitch in to do and we were really excited to do it.”
In mid-November, the company performed a cataract surgery for one patient, lens exchange surgery for another and LASIK surgery for the third person. During LASIK surgery, a small incision is made in the eye to remove a cataract and a lens is implanted. The patient receiving cataract surgery will return to Gordon Binder and Weiss for the second part of the procedure at the end of this month, according to Schwartz.
The company’s entire staff, including doctors and technicians, as well as the national lens manufacturers and a local anesthesiologist, all donated their time to the project, according to Schwartz.
Local optometrists who helped recommend the patients have also donated their facility’s post-operative care for the surgeries.
“It’s definitely been a big effort on everyone’s part and the patients are very happy,” Schwartz said. “This is something we are planning to do every year.”
For more information about Gordon Binder and Weiss Vision Institute, call (858) 455-6800 or visit www.gbwvision.com.

Holiday shoe drive benefits cancer victims
Addie’s Studio One is working to help cancer victims back by collecting new and slightly used athletic shoes for its holiday shoe drive. The shoes are given to cancer victims along with a pair of new socks to help keep their feet warm and protected during the chilly holiday season.
The third annual shoe drive will benefit the American Cancer Society. Last year, more than 40 pairs of shoes were donated to those in need.
Shoes can be dropped off at Addie’s new University City location, 8935 Towne Center Drive, Suite 105.
For information, call (858) 483-2711.

Fourth District Court reverses Oct. decision
California’s Fourth District Court of Appeal decided Thursday, Nov. 30, to reverse its October finding that Proposition A on the July 2006 ballot, which asked voters if they wanted to donate the land encompassing Mt. Soledad Memorial, violated the state’s constitution.
About 80 percent of voters had endorsed Prop A in July, but the court’s October decision cancelled out that vote, according to San Diego City Attorney Michael Aguirre’s office.
Aguirre called Thursday’s court ruling a victory for San Diego citizens who voted to donate the memorial to the federal government.
“This most recent chapter in the long history of the Constitutional issues before the courts may be the final chapter,” Aguirre said in a prepared statement. “It clears the path for the transfer of the property to the federal government, and in my opinion may render any further federal appeals moot.”
A legal battle over the memorial’s status has been bogged down in court proceedings since Phillip Paulson, an atheist and Vietnam Veteran, filed a lawsuit in 1989 against the city claiming that having a cross on public property violates a provision of California’s constitution that prohibits showing preference to any one religion.
In May, United States Court of Appeals Federal Justice Gordon Thompson Sr. ordered city officials to remove the Mt. Soledad cross from the land or face a $5,000-per-day fine.
Aguirre filed a motion in July to suspend Thompson’s ruling and put a hold on the fines until all appeals were processed.
The following month, the U.S. Congress created federal legislation to designate the symbol and land as a national memorial and shortly thereafter, President George W. Bush signed the Mt. Soledad Veterans War Memorial Act into law.
Legal objections to the transfer of the memorial land were filed by Paulson before his recent death and by another national Jewish veterans group, as well as several local citizens.
Those cases were combined and will be heard in the near future before U.S. District Court Justice Ted Moskowitz.