Hello fellow Avilones. Here we are another month into summer and things in Avila are really heating up. Before I share with you some of the not-so-good happenings, let me first announce that the Foundation’s grant application is now available online at www.avilabeachfoundation.org. If you represent a non-profit organization either located in or serving Avila Beach, or if you are part of a group seeking funds to help launch or support a special community project, log onto the website and click on the Grant Info tab. Applications are due by September 18th. Also, I am pleased to report that things are progressing on the Foundation’s Avila Beach Promenade public art project. Our committee has held its first meeting, and we are establishing a partnership with Arts Obispo to lend us their expertise in such matters. On top of that is the good news that our friends at Chevron have stepped up with a $5,000 grant, which added to the $10,000 set aside by the Foundation means we now have $15,000 for the commission of a public art project. I will keep you informed as the project moves forward.
Now for the “not-so-good” happenings I mentioned earlier. Those of us who live in Avila have, for the most part, always felt safe and somewhat insulated from the type of mayhem and crime that other areas of SLO County and certainly other parts of the state endure. Well, this summer seems to have brought with it a social change – one that is not for the better. While the customary record numbers of visitors to Avila ebbs and flows with a consistency to which we have become accustomed, an unusual wave of crime and social disturbance has recently entered the picture. While it is likely that the general populace of Avila Beach and Valley does not follow the statistical logs provided by local law enforcement, those of us who regularly attend meetings of the Avila Valley Advisory Council hear monthly reports from the Sheriff’s Department, CHP, Harbor Patrol and Cal Fire. At the July AVAC meeting, the mood in the room became quite somber when we were given the report from the Sheriff’s Dep’t. For the period between June 9 and July 12, calls for service in Avila nearly doubled (from 103 to 203 calls). While a good many of those were for traffic or minor violations, most alarming was learning that there were also eight calls for disturbing the peace, five calls reporting thefts, four burglaries to locked vehicles, one call of battery against a person, one sexual assault call and one for attempted kidnapping.
I don’t include the above unnerving news in my column this month for any other purpose than to urge everyone to be more careful and vigilant – both in your neighborhood and at the beach. I hope that what occurred between mid-June and mid-July was just an aberration and not the new normal for Avila – as I’m sure so do you. Please remember to not take for granted how fortunate we are to live where we do, to welcome others who respectfully enjoy the fruits of our town, and do what you can to help preserve what we have come to know as the Avila Beach lifestyle by being an involved citizen. We are, after all, fellow Avilones.
And speaking of fellow Avilones – that was a name I bestowed upon all Avila residents way back in the early days of my association with the Foundation. I was looking for a way to address everyone, tossed out some possibilities up for a vote, and Avilones was the chosen moniker. I still chuckle when someone comes up to me and uses the term Avilone because it is, after all, a pretty silly name. Lately I’ve been wondering just what the caricature of an Avilone might look like. Not being an artist of any sort myself, I thought it would be fun to toss the ball to our friends and neighbors who can actually draw, and see if any can come up with a rendering that befits an Avilone. Whaddya say? Let’s have some fun with this and see where it goes. Tee-shirts, caps, decals, note cards? Come on – put pencil, charcoal or brush to paper and send me your creative works. Fame, if not fortune, awaits!
Last but not least, it’s time to bid a sad farewell to my valued Foundation colleague Penny Burciaga – our Project Specialist for the past six years. Penny has contributed immensely to the success of the Foundation, and has also become a cherished friend. We wish her well in her new career path, and at the same time we welcome Paula Dempsey as our new Project Specialist. You will come to know Paula in the ensuing months as she helps to expand the Foundation’s reach into the community. Time marches on for all of us, and we do our best to make a difference and contribute to the welfare of our community and surroundings. That’s it for now, fellow Avilones. I’ll see you at the beach!
Now for the “not-so-good” happenings I mentioned earlier. Those of us who live in Avila have, for the most part, always felt safe and somewhat insulated from the type of mayhem and crime that other areas of SLO County and certainly other parts of the state endure. Well, this summer seems to have brought with it a social change – one that is not for the better. While the customary record numbers of visitors to Avila ebbs and flows with a consistency to which we have become accustomed, an unusual wave of crime and social disturbance has recently entered the picture. While it is likely that the general populace of Avila Beach and Valley does not follow the statistical logs provided by local law enforcement, those of us who regularly attend meetings of the Avila Valley Advisory Council hear monthly reports from the Sheriff’s Department, CHP, Harbor Patrol and Cal Fire. At the July AVAC meeting, the mood in the room became quite somber when we were given the report from the Sheriff’s Dep’t. For the period between June 9 and July 12, calls for service in Avila nearly doubled (from 103 to 203 calls). While a good many of those were for traffic or minor violations, most alarming was learning that there were also eight calls for disturbing the peace, five calls reporting thefts, four burglaries to locked vehicles, one call of battery against a person, one sexual assault call and one for attempted kidnapping.
I don’t include the above unnerving news in my column this month for any other purpose than to urge everyone to be more careful and vigilant – both in your neighborhood and at the beach. I hope that what occurred between mid-June and mid-July was just an aberration and not the new normal for Avila – as I’m sure so do you. Please remember to not take for granted how fortunate we are to live where we do, to welcome others who respectfully enjoy the fruits of our town, and do what you can to help preserve what we have come to know as the Avila Beach lifestyle by being an involved citizen. We are, after all, fellow Avilones.
And speaking of fellow Avilones – that was a name I bestowed upon all Avila residents way back in the early days of my association with the Foundation. I was looking for a way to address everyone, tossed out some possibilities up for a vote, and Avilones was the chosen moniker. I still chuckle when someone comes up to me and uses the term Avilone because it is, after all, a pretty silly name. Lately I’ve been wondering just what the caricature of an Avilone might look like. Not being an artist of any sort myself, I thought it would be fun to toss the ball to our friends and neighbors who can actually draw, and see if any can come up with a rendering that befits an Avilone. Whaddya say? Let’s have some fun with this and see where it goes. Tee-shirts, caps, decals, note cards? Come on – put pencil, charcoal or brush to paper and send me your creative works. Fame, if not fortune, awaits!
Last but not least, it’s time to bid a sad farewell to my valued Foundation colleague Penny Burciaga – our Project Specialist for the past six years. Penny has contributed immensely to the success of the Foundation, and has also become a cherished friend. We wish her well in her new career path, and at the same time we welcome Paula Dempsey as our new Project Specialist. You will come to know Paula in the ensuing months as she helps to expand the Foundation’s reach into the community. Time marches on for all of us, and we do our best to make a difference and contribute to the welfare of our community and surroundings. That’s it for now, fellow Avilones. I’ll see you at the beach!
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