ib local news | vol. 1 no. 2

I.B. Local News - May 1 2014 - 1

May 1, 2014Vol. 1 No. 2 Highlighting our Community and Businesses for Imperial Beach

Nick Gaspard started out in the fitness in-dustry right out of college. He worked forthe company that developed the AnytimeFitness Franchises and worked in smallhealth clubs all over the country; helpingthem develop their brand and member base.He has also worked for some large GoldsGyms all over the country. He said he likesmeeting new people and helping them reachtheir fitness goals Nick invested in his firstgym is Las Vegas, Nevada, six years ago. Hemoved to Imperial Beach and bought IB Fit-ness in April to be closer to his eight year olddaughter that lives in Orange County, CA.

Nick says he plans on upgrading the equip-ment and eventually going to 24/7 access.He says they are adding Free Zumba classeson Tuesday evenings at 7:45 p.m. You donthave to be a member to try them out.

IB Fitness is an 8,000-square-foot facilitythat offers a running a zero enrollment spe-cial in the month of May. If you mention youread about IB Fitness in The Imperial BeachLocal News, you will win a free three-daypass to try out the gym! For more informa-tion call or go see Nick Gaspard at (619) 423-9022 , or stop by to check out the Gym. Andtell Nick you saw his ad in the I B Local News.

I B FITNESS

INSIDE THIS EDITION

Every second Friday of the month from 9-10am, the IB United Methodist Churchlocated at 455 Palm Avenue distributesfood commodities to the community. Ev-ery month, the food given is different. Inthe past, the box of food has included fro-zen chicken, bread, fresh vegetables, spa-ghetti, canned vegetables and frozen blue-berries. The church has given out food inone month to as many as three hundredfamilies. The food is provided by the SanDiego Food Bank and is designated forpeople living in Imperial Beach. To receivefood, people come as early as 6:30am toget in line. The church has limited parkingand most are encouraged to park on thesurrounding streets.

The Churchs commitment to addressingthe issue of hunger in the community alsoextends to its weekly Broken Loaf FoodPantry program. This program is availableon Tuesday and Thursday from 9-11am inthe churchs fellowship hall. This pro-vides emergency food assistance to indi-viduals in Imperial Beach every 90 days.In addition to food, clothing is also avail-able. This food is provided through do-nations to the church.

IB United Methodist Tackles the Issue of Hunger in CityAnd on Saturdays from 6-9am, the churchoffers free hot breakfast, showers and cloth-ing to the community. On occasions, a per-son from the church provides free haircuts.While this Saturday program primary servesthe homeless population, everyone is wel-come to come. Typically, up to fifty people fromthe community come for food and showers.

The IB United Methodist Church works toaddress the issue of hunger in this city. Pas-tor Griffin is currently working with the Impe-rial Beach Collaborative to bring together allorganizations and individuals in the city whoare helping with hunger in IB. He hopes tofoster communication between the variousefforts and provide a space to brainstorm howto better address the need of hunger in IB.Those interested in being part of this groupneed to contact Pastor Griffin.

Additionally, the church welcomes donationsfor its programs of non-perishable cannedfood and financial support as well as encour-ages community members to volunteer withany of these programs. To make a donation orserve as a volunteer, contact Pastor John Grif-fin at 619.424.5181 or email him [email protected].

Local CalendarCity Agenda

Letters to EditorQuonset Plaza

& more....

Local Advocates Celebrate the Ratification of an agreement with the Boys and Girls Clubto manage the Sports Park at a recent City Council Meeting. This ends for now the battleover who will manage the

Sports Park Complex. Local Advocates were pleased that the City and the YMCA finallygave in to their proposals for management of Sports Park Programs and Facilities.

2 - I.B. Local News - May 1 2014

IB LOCAL CALENDAR

May 2Farmers MarketEVERY FRIDAY from noon to 7:30 p.m. ImperialBeach CERTIFIED FARMERS MARKET spon-sored by IB BEAUTIFUL INC. Contact KimberlyParis (619) 397-1917 imperialbeach-

farmersmarket.org

May 3IB Homefront Cleanup EventSee Ad below

May 3Womens ClubWestern Day Luncheon

May 7City Council Meeting

May 9Farmers MarketEVERY FRIDAY from noon to 7:30 p.m. ImperialBeach CERTIFIED FARMERS MARKET spon-sored by IB BEAUTIFUL INC. Contact KimberlyParis (619) 397-1917 imperialbeach-

farmersmarket.org

May 11Mothers Day

May 14IBCOC MeetingImperial Beach Chamber of Commerce Board ofDirectors meetings are held second Wednesdayof each month from 5-6 pm. Mtgs are held at ChaseBank at 1100 Palm Ave. All Chamber members areencouraged to attend. For more info., please call(619)424-3151

At Boys & Girls Club of Imperial Beach, young boys and girlscan play in sports leagues, get help with their homework, joinafter-school programs, camps or other programs to enrich theirlives. Flag football begins on October 16 with a total 14 teamsfrom local elementary schools and Boys & Girls Club ImperialBeach and Chula Vista. Basketball sign-up begins in Decem-ber while soccer begins in March and April. Sign-up for avolleyball league for boys and girls up to 14 years old willbegin for the first time this year in November. The Boys &Girls Club also has games, arts and crafts, computers and agraphic design program. Contact the Boys & Girls Club di-rectly to sign up for activities. In addition, Bingo is held everyMonday and Thursday in Webb gymnasium.

The Boys and Girls Club is taking over the management ofImperial Beach Sports Park including the Baseball Fields, SkatePark and Teen Center.

Visit Boys & Girls Clubof Imperial Beach

We the people are looking forward to having some REAL NEWSreported. I would like to nominate YOU as a person who gaveof yourself unselfishly to the City. It seems sometimes that noone appreciates what you do; however that is not true. I haveheard several people say Wow that is one stand up guy to lookout for the people that make up this community! Thanks againfor what youve done to make Imperial Beach a better placeand a more transparent City Hall.

Penny Boyd

Good luck to the new rag. Please recycle it, too.

Tom Summers

I am just one person in the group that puts this newspaper to-gether. This is not SAVEIB.com if anyone is wondering. Weare pro-business and pro-community and want to provide aservice to all in the community who want to know more orwant to share what their group is doing with the rest of thecommunity. Thank you for your kind words however, everyoneinvolved in this new venture has given of themselves. It has notbeen without its own growing pains and challenges. There hasbeen quite a learning curve as we discover just how difficult itis to launch a new business venture in California. We hopeothers in the community will come forward and participate inthis new forum and make it truly represent the entire commu-nity. Send your stories and letters to [email protected]

Ed Kravitz ( Interim Acting Editor)

Letters to theEditor

May 16Farmers MarketEVERY FRIDAY from noon to 7:30 p.m. ImperialBeach CERTIFIED FARMERS MARKET spon-sored by IB BEAUTIFUL INC. Contact KimberlyParis (619) 397-1917 imperialbeach-farmersmarket.org

May 18Public MeetingCommunity Workshop for I.B. Local News at PierPlaza @ 1 pm.. How you, your business or groupcan get involved and help support our continuedefforts at providing a grass roots local news sourcefor Imperial Beach.

May 21City Council Meeting

May 22Chamber Networking BreakfastChamber Networking Breakfast is held on thefourth Thursday each month at 7:15 am at theDempsey Holder Center, 905 Ocean Lane. Mem-bers $10 / Non-Members $15



One thing that helps to make a communityprosper is civic participation. The I.B. Lo-cal News helps to bring our community to-gether by publishing Local news, events andrelevant stories that are unique to our littlebeach community. This invaluable resourceis now available to the residents of ImperialBeach, and we have our residents and thebusiness community to thank for it. We areno longer left in the dark about importantissues that affect our small community.Everyone in Imperial Beach can now pickup their local newspaper and find out whatis going on in their town. Visitors to ourlittle town now have a place to see wherethey can get local goods and services theyneed. Our business community benefits bythe advertisements placed in the only Im-perial Beach specific newspaper.

For the first time in the history of ImperialBeach, the City Councils agenda items arenow being published in a local newspaper

(The I.B. News). The City Council has con-tinually refused to publish the agendas items inthe paper. A few of our residents decided tostart this grass roots community newspaperthat is just about Imperial Beach. It took start-ing this newspaper to make this happen, butmany of us want to know what is going aroundtown and at city hall.

Support for I.B. Local News comes from sell-ing advertising. If you own a local business orwant to showcase your business to this com-munity, the I.B. Local News is a perfect venueto reach the residents of Imperial Beach. TheI.B. Local News is the only newspaper that issolely dedicated to the residents of ImperialBeach. The residents support local businessesby buying their products and services. Localbusinesses must support our towns newspa-per if this resource is to stay.

I.B. Local News Promoting Our Community

Rob Sarnie


CRIME STATS(APRIL)

MURDERS0

ARMEDROBBERY

0RAPE

1AGGRIVATED

ASSULT9

RESIDENTIALBURGLERY

5NON-RESIDENTIAL

BURGLARY4

THEFTOVER $400

6THEFT

UNDER $4008

MOTOR VEHICLETHEFTS

10

PACIFIC SOUTHWEST RAILWAY MUSEUMat Campo,CA

The Golden State departs from the Campo DepotSaturdays & Sundays this May.

Departure Times: 11:00AM & 2:30PM

Fares: adults $15 seniors $12

children 6-12 $5 children under 6 free

Departing the Campo Depot on Sat-urdays and Sundays throughout mostof the year, the Golden State Limitedtransports Museum guests back intime aboard antique locomotives andpassenger cars, traveling the historicSan Diego & Arizona Railway. Builtby developer, entrepreneur and sugarheir, John D Spreckels, passengersenjoy the rugged back country scen-ery of San Diego County as the train

travels toward the Mexican border,crosses the Campo Creek Viaduct andenters into International Tunnel #4. Thetrain then returns to Campo where youcan visit the Museums collection ofsteam & diesel locomotives, passengerand freight railroad cars, and other dis-plays. You can also visit the Museumsgift shop in the exquisitely restoredCampo depot. A great family outing fora budget price.

The National City Depot

The San Diego Electric Railway Association

The San Diego Electric Railway Association operates the historicNational City Depot as a museum that is open Thursday to Sundayfrom 9 am to 5 pm.

This lovely Santa Fe station (California Southern Railway when itwas first constructed) was the first terminus of transcontinental railtravel in the San Diego area. It is the oldest railroad-related struc-ture still standing in San Diego County, and it is in its original loca-tion.

The city of National City restored the structure to the way it waswhen it was built in 1882 - restored in 1998. The woodwork andother details of the interior are especially impressive.

The Depot is located at the corner of Bay Marina Drive and Ma-rina Way in National City. Take Interstate 5 about 10 miles south ofdowntown San Diego, exit at Bay Marina Drive and go west 1block and turn right on Cleveland Ave. Turn left one block lateronto West 23rd St. The Depot is straight in at the end of the street.

A collection of vintage trolley is available for public viewing outsidethe depot.

John Carrs Local Motion Moving

5 Star Movers

From here to Anywhere !

Licensed, Bonded and Insured

619-435-8124

Little League FundraiserBig Success

By Erika Lowery

It was standing room only April 28th when the Imperial BeachLittle League had their annual fundraiser and raffle drawing atBoll Weevils on Saturn to a record crowd. Boll Weevil addedtables and chairs out front to accomdate the overflow crowds.20% was donated to little League. Raffle prizes included a X-Box One, PS4,46 TV, signed jerseys and numerous team bas-kets.

I.B. Little League recently retained control of the ballpark fieldswith the Council Decision April 16th to ratify a Sports ParkManagement Agreement.


IB Local News is published by IB Local News Corpof 757 Emory St., P.O. Box 174

Imperial Beach, CA 91932Temporary Interim Editor Ed Kravitz

Sales Manager Mike HamelTechnical and Web Support/Graphics Daugherty Group

Final Layout Editor Stacey R. LongPrinting Advance Web Offset Printing

Please call our newsdesk at (619) 354-0860,if you feel there is a story we should cover.

E-mails are welcome at [email protected] you have an item for the calendar, please put

CALENDAR in the subject line.Likewise, mark a letter for the Editor LETTERS.

Send Ad copy to [email protected].

Leon Mart and Liquor Special deals on imported and draft bears, high end and bundle

cigars! Come see us and save some money for your wallet!

Thank you for your business185 Palm Avenue (619) 429 0263

Proposed changes to lane configurations on Palm Avenueinclude a bike lane/local access lane separated from the

traffic lanes. Whether this will enhance traffic or choke itremains to be seen.

Seashells, IB T-shirts,Wind Chimes, Shark Teeth, Fossils,

Wood Carvings, Rock Coral903 Seacoast DrAcross the streetfrom the IB Pier

423 5133


Advertise in IB Local [email protected]

PromoteYour Business

BRYANTSAUTO REGISTRATION

(619) 424- 6888

1235 Palm AvenueImperial Beach, CA 91932

DMV Paperwork Consultant

Quonset PlazaBusiness Showcase

In December 2012 City Councilwas presented a project transform-ing the adult only RV Park into 216two to three story townhouse stylehomes by INTEGRAL COMMU-NITIES. April 22nd the public hada chance to hear changes to theproposed plan.

The actual design of the units isvery similar to the initial presenta-tion. California Beach Colony Ar-chitecture. The project will be

Bernardo Shores Parks Transforming the North Entrance To I.B.By Ericka Lowery

gated from the public and the resi-dents will have access to a mainrecreational center with a pool andspa. Integral Communities will ex-tend the Bayshore Bikeway aroundthe project.

Some public comments showedconcerns about parking availability,increased traffic flows and the im-pacts on local schools. Price Rangesexpected in the mid $300,000.


City Wide Investments& Managment

Private Money investor Programswith 8-10% Returns!!

If you are tired of managingyour own property,

we are here to help!!We also help with Short Sales,

Forclosures or Rentals.We are looking for Vacant

Houses, house needs repair,making 2 payments, relocation.

Moving -Behind in payments-Problem tenants-Estate Settle-ment-Little or no Equity-Divorce-Out of town Owners- Multi Unitapartments or just want to sell

fast or want out fast! We can HelpCall 619-420-2587. Cash forhouses in any condition or

situation / Ask for Don Bickel

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Why Art Is So Essential To a Community A Guest Editorial By Howard Woodward

People have often asked me why I invest so much in, "The ArtKids of San Diego County?" Going on 11 years I have had theprivilege to watch young people grow and create beautiful worksof art. They not only create these wonderful pieces but, they alsogrow from within and they themselves become masterpieces. Theincredible beauty of a child or young adult turning their life intosomething that makes the world a more beautiful place is indeed aprivilege.

An example of this is a 12 year old artist in our group who attendsChula Vista Middle School. Her name is Lily Alfred and she isconsidered the best artist in her entire school. She is the onlyseventh grader allowed to be working on the yearbook and hercover design will be used for this year's edition. She has her ownbusiness and at 12 is doing rather well. She is at her age a profes-sional artist and her main source of income comes from face paint-ing. She charges $100.00 for each of the parties she works at andhas earned over $1,000.00 so far. She only works two to threehours and averages about $33.00 per hour. Not bad for a 12 yearold and it is because of her artistic ability that she can accomplishthis.

Art is a door to a great future and when opened it allows theperson to become part of a family. A family of fellow artists andfriends. It shows the artist that they are not alone but they are partof a special group of people who are most of the time shy andquiet. But, in their pencils and paint brushes, exists a world ofcreativity. One can see the results of their creativity by just walk-ing down Seacoast Dr. in Imperial Beach, CA. Bibbey's Shell Shopis a result of their work and is responsible for bringing attention toa business that most thought at one time was closed. The muralspainted on the building gave life to the business and it now attractsmany tourists and locals. 1000's of photos have been taken infront of its shark and each year people stand in front of the muralsand take photos of themselves to take back to their homes. Manyof the utility boxes were first painted by, "The Art Kids." Sadly, theB.I.D. no longer uses the Art Kids but, they pay one artist to do theboxes.

People do not realize the importance of art. One cannot go any-where without seeing some form of art displaying itself. Graphicarts, commercial art, visual art is all around use and without it theworld would be dull and cold. I have worked with many youngpeople and seen the influence that art has on them. One of mypresent students is autistic and when he came to the class hehardly talked to me and did not liked being touched but now wetalk, he allows me to hug him and he paints extremely well andeven has sold some of his work. He also won money for a postercompetition with the Lion's Club International. That produced somefantastic changes in him. He wasn't autistic anymore, he was nowan artist and a member of a very talented group of people.

We havent been operating in Imperial Beach for a while becausewe felt that the City no longer supported us. After nine years ofhelping the community; most of the time the kids did it for free.Fines were placed on us because we accidently spilled some paintand they prohibited us from using the parks because of a falsecomplaint. These were kids that were not hurting anyone but,bringing beauty and joy to the community. We painted windowsfor the local businesses for free with Christmas comes to I.Bhelped in almost every community When we were invited to moveto Chula Vista and welcomed with open arms by the City; theirMayor and City Council , we accepted the invitation.

We continue work with groups of people that need art in theirlives. We help those who need help and it is the kids who arehelping kids through art. We presently are hand painting the Demo-lition Derby car for the Imperial Beach Fire Department, who willbe running their car at this year's county fair. The proceeds will begoing to the San Diego Burn Institute and the Art Kids are nowworking with the Burn Institute to help the survivors of burnsrecover through art. We are also making ourselves available to theFoster Kid program to provide art to those kids that need an outletfor their creativity. We still work with the Women's Club of Impe-rial Beach, the Fire Department and just helped with the EasterEgg hunt.

One of my instructors started with me when he was 17 years old.He was doing his community service with me and also his proba-tion. He was a graffitist but, through the art program he is now aninstructor and one of the most incredible up and coming artists inthe San Diego area. His paintings sell for $2,500.00 to $5,000.00.He is a true credit to the community and the people love both himand his art. If he did not have this opportunity, he probably wouldbe in trouble. Instead he is creating some fantastic art.

So when people ask me why? I just smile and think of all thewonderful young people I have had the privilege to help and teachthem art. I wish the City would welcome the Art Kids back andmake them feel a welcomed part of the community again.

ib local news | vol. 1 no. 2

Documents

box of food

food inone month

ib fitness

emergency food assistance

sandiego food bank

addressingthe issue

community alsoextends

need of hunger