Police report subdued
3-day holiday weekend
Police announced Memorial Day weekend celebrations went without any major incidents as slightly smaller crowds than those in previous years gathered at Pacific Beach, Mission Beach and Ocean Beach to bask and enjoy the three-day weekend.
The damp, chilly weather, combined with the majority of people simply obeying the law, seemed to bring less litter typically found scattered along the beach after past Memorial Day weekends, Northern Division Capt. Shelly Zimmerman said.
Beach teams and mounted officers stepped up saturation patrols at city beaches from Saturday, May 24, through Monday, May 26, with little incident, she said.
"We wrote about 50 or so citations on each day for alcohol. The majority of people (cited) said they were aware of the ban and took a chance," Zimmerman said.
She added that the weather and the ban on alcohol consumption at the city’s beaches and bays had an effect on the crowds, which she said were calm.
Zimmerman also noted that there seemed to be fewer people at the beach over Memorial Day weekend than over previous weekends earlier in May.
Police also reported a relatively calm weekend in Ocean Beach and along Sunset Cliffs.
"We still had people violating the law down there but there wasn’t anything heinous," said Western Division Lt. John Leas.
He said police are still compiling more detailed statistics.
Though there were no DUI checkpoints in the beach areas over the Memorial Day weekend, police will be setting up checkpoints on Fourth of July weekend.
Applications available for June 28 OB Chili Cook-Off
The Ocean Beach MainStreet Association is currently accepting applications for entries in the 29th annual Ocean Beach Street Fair and Amateur Chili Cook-Off, slated for June 28.
There is a $20 application fee, and forms are available at the MainStreet Association office, 1868 Bacon St., or online at www.oceanbeach-sandiego.com.
Proceeds benefit the Ocean Beach Fourth of July festivities.
Entrants are expected to generate 10 gallons of their best chili and will be provided a 10-foot-by-10-foot stall to cook in and decorate.
Tasting will take place that day from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., or whenever the chili runs out, according to organizers.
For more information, call (619) 224-4906.

Kid’s water conservation art exhibit slated
The City of San Diego Water Department is making a splash with the San Diego Watercolor Society in honoring the winners of the 2008 Children’s Water Conservation Poster Contest ” including winners from Silver Gate and La Jolla elementary schools.
The winning posters will be on exhibit alongside original watercolor paintings reflecting the “Little Drops of Water” theme at the Watercolor Society’s gallery in NTC Promenade at Point Loma’s Liberty Station, 2825 Dewey Road, Suite 105, from Monday, June 2 through Monday, June 30.
A special reception will be held on Friday, June 6 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Watercolor Society’s gallery. The event will honor the 18 winners out of the thousands of students who submitted posters to the 2008 contest. Admission is free.
During the reception, student artists and member artists will be recognized during an awards ceremony.
Among the winners in the 2008 contest, themed “Water Wins!,” were first-place contestant Olivia Teague and second-place contestant Piper Wade, both 1st-graders at Silver Gate Elementary School.
Also a winner was second-place contestant Audrey Tsai, a 2nd-grader at La Jolla Elementary School.
For more information about the water conservation poster contest, call (619) 533-4203, or visit www.sandiego.gov/water.
Peninsula Singers, Sun Harbor Chorus to perform
Two local community chorus groups will perform in concert at 7 p.m. Friday, May 30 at the North Chapel at Liberty Station.
Featuring the Peninsula Singers and the Sun Harbor Chorus, the event will be the first public concert to be held in the recently renovated historic structure at 2881 Roosevelt Road ” part of the former Naval Training Center ” on the corner of Truxtun Road at Liberty Station.
General admission is $7; admission for children, military and seniors is $5.
For more information, contact Bridget Wear at (619) 335-0221, or visit www.thenorthchapel.com.
Free e-waste recycling event slated Saturday
Recycle San Diego and the Heritage Escrow will host a free e-waste disposal event Saturday, May 31 in the parking lot of the Vons store, 2535 Truxtun Road, Bldg. 29, at Liberty Station in Point Loma.
Residents are being encouraged to drop off unlimited amounts of such items as computers, monitors, televisions, stereos, phones, fax machines, copiers and other items.
Proceeds from the collection will be donated to I Love a Clean San Diego.
For more information, call (858) 569-1807, or visit www.recycle-sd.com.
Cub Scouts to host
recruitment drive
Ocean Beach Cub Scout Pack 588 will host a recruitment drive Sunday, June 8 at NTC Park at Liberty Station in Point Loma.
Boys in first through fifth grades and their families are invited to attend the Cub Scout Field Day and Recruiting Drive between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Boys and their families will have an opportunity to participate in shooting water rockets, building model boats and cars, running an obstacle course and sampling outdoor cooking, among other activities.
Cub Scouting combines outdoor activities, sports and academics with characteristics like honesty, good citizenship and respect.
For more information, call (619) 806-8593.
Water Awareness Month event planned Saturday
The city of San Diego Water Department’s Water Resource Management Program will round out May as Water Awareness Month by hosting a free event Saturday, May 31.
Residents are invited to attend a an educational water conservation clinic, beginning at 10 a.m., at the Home Depot, 3555 Sports Arena Blvd.
The event embraces water-wise behaviors and is designed to help show San Diegans how to make conservation a way of life.
Following California’s last major drought from 1987 to 1992, May has been designated Water Awareness Month in order to promote water conservation as a way to meet current and future needs.
For more information, call (619) 515-3500, or visit www.sandiego.-gov/water/conservation.org.
Makua hosts Wild, Wild West charity for children
This Saturday promises a two-fold boon for anyone attending Makua’s Wild, Wild West event at Point Loma’s Liberty Station. While proceeds go toward the Voices for Children program, gatherers can choose to sport either black-tie or western-themed fashion.
“This is different than other fundraisers,” said Maria Herman, of Makua. “We have a tradition of dressing up.”
The San Diego-based women’s organization Makua is hosting the event, which begins Saturday, May 30 at 5:30 p.m., to raise funds for Voices for Children.
According to Herman, for more than 50 years, the Makua women hosted annual fundraisers, wearing themed costumes.
Makua was formed in 1953 by a group of women who worked to promote the Children’s Home Society.
Now, the group works with Voices for Children, a nonprofit organization that strives to ensure that abused, neglected and abandoned children thrown into the court system will have safe and permanent homes.
Makua is the fundraising auxiliary for Voices for Children, providing financial support. But most important, it trains a court-appointed special advocate (CASA), Herman said.
“We train volunteer adults to be the voice of children in the foster system,” Herman said
Herman said a CASA is different than a social worker because the volunteer works with one child throughout their time inside the foster system.
“The CASA stays with that one child and they really get to know that child. They get the special touch from one person,” Herman said. “When a child doesn’t have a parent, the CASA does a lot of things that the social worker doesn’t have the time to do.”
Herman said Voices for Children’s cost to train one CASA is $2,000. Last year, Makua raised $132,000 dollars from their annual event.
“The CASA’s [role is] to help children get their voices heard in court,” Herman said. “A lot of these foster kids turn eighteen and they are not going to succeed.”
Because of the singular attention Voices for Children delivers, the organization believes that being a central person in a child’s life can make a difference.
Co-directors Maria Herman, Kris Barry and Heidi Grady said they have set a goal to raise $130,000 for Voices for Children this year.
“We’re putting the fun back into fundraiser,” Herman said.
Lacy Younger, a San Diego songwriter will play at the event. The menu will consist of “avante garde Western gourmet meets San Diego fresh and fabulous,” said organizers.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. at McMillin Events Center, Liberty Station, Point Loma, with Calamity Jane’s Happy Hour; Sundown Silent Auction; Wild Bill’s Picture Shooting Gallery.
For more information about the group and its activities, visit www.voices4children.com/makua.
For donations or tickets, call (619) 222-2075.