Steve Hall ABR, CDPE, GREEN, SFR

The Grand Summer Festival in San Marcos will be held August 31 from 9 am to 5 pm on Via Vera Cruz, near Old California Restaurant Row. Once again, the Classic Car show will be sponsored by Dalton's Road House, which is located near the 78 and Nordahl. In addition to the two stages of live music, there will be a beer garden and hundreds of vendors! A fun filled day for the whole family! The admission cost is FREE!!

There will be two stages of live entertainment to include the acts listed below:

Salt Creek, Country Rock Band: 12-2 pm

Backwater Blues Band, Blues/Rock and Roll: 2:30-5 pm

The Moondawgs, 50s, 60s Rock and Roll: 10 am-12 pm

Cover2Cover, playing all types of music from the 50s to current: 1 pm-5 pm

Old California Restaurant Row began as a Fruit stand in the early seventies by Los Angeles transplants Jim and Vera Eubank. The first full service restaurant. Gentleman's Choice, was built in 1978 by Jim Eubank. Soon after the success of the restaurant and because of the central location of San Marcos, which is between the City of Escondido and the Coast, many more restaurants followed. Today there is no shortage of variety at Old California Restaurant Row in San Marcos with almost every type of cuisine represented.

Dining aficionados throughout San Diego and North County will have an unprecedented opportunity to experience nine nights of delectable dining at 16 restaurants, when Old California Restaurant Row holds its first-ever Restaurant Week from September 20 to September 28. Celebrating its 30th anniversary. Participating restaurants in Old California Restaurant Week will offer a special three-course meals from $10 to $30 per person (including appetizer, entrée and dessert) - up to three options for each course. For a list of participating restaurants please check their website.

While we have great hiking trails, tasty restaurants, and enjoyable festivals, we are very close to the World renowned San Diego Wild Animal Park. The Wild Animal Park is the sister park to the famous San Diego Zoo but the layout is completely different. The animal enclosures at the Wild animal Park are many acres in size, which allows the animals to be seen in a habitat that is much closer to their natural surroundings.

I highly recommend a season pass, which allows unlimited access to the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Wild Animal Park.

As you can see by the photos below the animals are a great attraction but the landscape can be equally as beautiful.

There is no way that you can get out of the park without marveling at the size and presence of the gorillas!

There will be two initiatives on the November ballot that are specific to the City of San Marcos. While the two initiatives are very important, one could have detrimental long term effects for the citizens of San Marcos.
Proposition "O", if approved would take away your representative government as it relates to city planning. The decisions made to make amendments to the general plan are not taken lightly. Your elected city government spends a great deal of time and energy when making a determination on amending the City's general plan and to ask each voter to be this diligent in reviewing mountains of documents and reports to make their decision is ridiculous.
An independent analysis by Seifel Consulting suggests that this proposition could result in significant legal cost in addition to added costs to local elections. According to the Seifel report, this proposition could significantly slow the economic growth of the City of San Marcos.
Another major issue, should Proposition O pass, is the fact that it could easily add 24 to 30 months to the amendment process.
No on "O"
No on "O"

I belong to the Kiwanis Club of San Marcosand at our weekly meeting this morning Melissa Chaty from the Alzheimer's Association presented some very helpful information.

Among other items, Melissa provided us with a list of "10 Warning signs of Alzheimer's disease"

1) Memory Loss (more than occasionally forgetting a name or an apointment)

2) Difficulty performing familiar tasks

3) Problems with language

4) Disorientation to time and place

5) Poor or decreased judgment

6) Problems with abstract thinking

7) Misplacing things (Putting your watch away in the freezer)

8) Changes in mood or behavior

9) Changes in personality

10) Loss of initiative

To find out more about the warning signs including what is normal and what is NOT, visit the ALZHEIMER'S web site

Because our population is getting older, there will be an increase in the number of people with Alzheimers and more of us will have to deal with family and friends that have been afflicted.

You can also sign up for the the San Diego area Memory Walk at www.sanalz.org to show support.