You could be the cure! Smiling ladies in Balboa Park register potential bone marrow donors. And there are other ways that you can fight cancer, too!
During my walk today, I was reminded of an important fact. There’s a heroic decision that many of us can make to possibly save another person’s life.
I’m sure many of you have heard about how certain types of blood cancers can be successfully treated with a bone marrow transplant. And you’ve probably heard about the National Marrow Donor Program, a registry where cancer patients can be matched with an appropriate donor.
Have you thought about becoming a potential donor? You might save somebody’s life!
If you walk through Balboa Park and notice a sign concerning a Marrow Donor Registry Drive, take a moment to check it out! Or simply click the Be The Match website now to learn of several things you can do to help save a life!
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Baseball-loving kids converged today on PLAY BALL PARK in front of the Hilton San Diego Bayfront. They would enjoy a very special activity during Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game Week!
Do you want to know what baseball is all about? Take a look at these joyful photos!
The very first activity during Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game Week is a fun, multi-day event at PLAY BALL PARK. Today was the first day! Young baseball players get to swing the bat in a tiny baseball field which has been created in the public park between the Hilton Bayfront and the San Diego Convention Center.
This evening, after work, I headed down to see what I might see. Wow! Here are photos of the opening ceremony of the All-Star Youth Classic, and just lots of pics of kids having a blast playing softball. The entire event is meant to encourage physical outdoor activity. Playing with a real bat and ball on green mown grass is much more fun and invigorating than a mind-numbing video game! And it makes a kid happy and healthy!
Please read the photo captions where I provide a little more info…
A small baseball field has been created in the grassy park between the Hilton Bayfront and the San Diego Convention Center. Here kids from around the country and nearby Tijuana, Mexico will compete in the All-Star Youth Classic!Several representatives from USA Baseball were on hand to provide instruction to the youth teams selected to compete and have fun at PLAY BALL PARK!The teams had assembled on Thursday in the late afternoon, and the bleachers were full of enthusiastic players and fans!These guys are the Memphis Redbirds. Teams have come in from as far away as Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Rhode Island and Queens, NY. Several teams are from San Diego and two teams drove up from Tijuana, Mexico!The brief opening ceremony of the All-Star Youth Classic at PLAY BALL PARK included speeches by representatives from Major League Baseball and our own San Diego Padres.Organizations who helped make this fun activity a reality were recognized, including USA Baseball, USA Softball, The Positive Coaching Alliance, The Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation and the Boys and Girls Club of America.Each of the participating youth teams was recognized.One of the teams from Tijuana, Mexico salutes the crowd by removing their caps.The opening ceremony and introductions are over. Time for the teams to take the field and experience a short but fun baseball clinic!A great swing and a hit. Home runs were rare and received enthusiastic applause. Some powerful line drive homers were struck by both boys and girls.A wild convergence on the field as kids vie to catch a fly ball!Another fly ball! Having fun outdoors and being physically active is what this event is really all about.Just a whole lot of youthful energy in front of the Hilton Bayfront at PLAY BALL PARK!Teams were posing for photos all over the grassy park. These kids are on the San Diego Military team.A batting cage was also very active during the baseball clinic.Lots of whiffle balls have been hit past the pitcher in the batting cage!This kid nailed the strike zone with a great pitch. Everyone was having fun and simply enjoying good old baseball. It’s summer. It’s America’s Pastime. What else does anyone need?
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A San Diego Bike to Work Day pit stop in front of 550 West C Street early in the morning. Hello!
Today was Bike to Work Day in San Diego! There were over a hundred pit stops around the county, and I’ve learned that nearly ten thousand bicyclists participated!
This morning I started a bit earlier than usual so that I could walk past 5 pit stops downtown. (As followers of Cool San Diego Sights might know already, I happen to be a walk/trolley/bus to work person. Because I simply love walking and the outdoors, plus living downtown makes it very convenient.)
The city was still a bit sleepy as I headed west along B Street–about 6:30–and the morning light wasn’t ideal for photography when I passed two bicycle pits stops at The Donut Bar and the Wells Fargo building. I did manage to get some sharp pics once I arrived at Civic Center Plaza! Lots of people were smiling!
A couple of bicyclists pedal up Third Avenue near Civic Center Plaza during Bike to Work Day.This pit stop in Civic Center Plaza near City Hall was already seeing some incoming cyclists at this early hour. There is an active City of San Diego Bicycle Program.Bike maps, information and other goodies were given away to promote commuting by bicycle to work around San Diego.A huge Share The Road banner hung in Civic Center Plaza.Morning commuter on a bicycle waits alongside a bus for a traffic light on Broadway.On Harbor Drive at the Broadway Pier, a pit stop included a San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce table.These friendly guys representing engineering company CH2M Hill did the wave for me, but I liked this photo of them smiling better!Someone pedals past San Diego’s historic tall ship Star of India. Another beautiful day has begun.A bicyclist rolls down Pacific Highway on the morning of San Diego’s Bike to Work Day.
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The Coronado Bay Bridge has seen far too many tragic suicides.
Would you please consider signing a very important online petition? The Coronado San Diego Bridge Collaborative For Suicide Prevention has begun a petition to help prevent Coronado Bay Bridge suicides.
Tragically, in the past 47 years, about 370 souls have jumped from the bridge. Most of these people felt driven to end their own lives because of deep depression. All could have been helped. The petition, addressed to the California Department of Transportation, asks that a suicide barrier be installed on the San Diego–Coronado Bridge. It would be similar to a intelligently-designed device now being installed on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, which is a unique type of a net that is configured to safely catch jumpers and arrest them until help arrives.
If you’re lucky enough to be Irish, then you’re lucky enough.
St. Patrick’s Day is almost upon us! Here are a few warm and funny Irish pub signs that I’ve spotted while walking around downtown San Diego.
I can resist anything but temptation.Sláinte! A toast to good luck and good health. Whatever your beverage, be sure and raise a glass in toast to St. Patrick, to the Irish and to yourself.Here’s to a long life and a merry one. A quick death and an easy one. A pretty girl and an honest one. A cold beer and another one!Drink up! It makes other people more interesting. (I think I spotted this in front of an Irish pub. Or perhaps it was just an ordinary San Diego bar.)Lovely day for a Guinness. Especially if you’re a horse enjoying a nice leisurely ride.
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Do you like to read short pieces of thought-provoking fiction? Please visit Short Stories by Richard.
A U.S. military veteran creates art while watching folklorico dancing at a popular festival in San Diego’s South Bay.
Today I met Anthony A. LoBue for the second time. With a great big smile, he was manning his Arts For Veterans tent at the International Mariachi Festival and Competition in National City. (I chatted briefly with him once before at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, during a special concert raising funds for Operation Rebound.)
“Tony the Vet” helps other veterans heal through creative art. He’s the founder of Support Our Veterans Association and the Arts for Veterans Project. The latter organization’s purpose is to: Engage, Educate, Employ and Empower Veterans in the Creative Arts. He provides art classes for military veterans at the Veterans Museum in Balboa Park, Veterans Village, and other places where healing, hope, wholeness and art education are welcome.
He believes the healing power of art dramatically changes lives. It’s an enormous benefit for those returning from war with psychological trauma. Art provides connection, joy, self-empowerment. Art literally saves lives.
Tony has a huge positive vision. He wants to expand his Arts for Veterans program so that it might benefit as many people as possible.
Would you please visit his website and see it you can help in some way?
Art heals. Art provides joy, connection, hope. Art helps to give life meaning and purpose.
Brian Meyer was painting at the Arts For Veterans tent. I spoke to him. He’s a veteran of Desert Storm. He’s a super guy and deeply thoughtful. And his watercolors are amazing. That’s a glimpse of a work-in-progress above. He frequently paints the live musicians at Panama 66 next to the San Diego Museum of Art. Please check out his website!
Hand-drawn art cards with hearts and flags thank service members for their sacrifice.People at the International Mariachi Festival and Competition in National City were making special greeting cards for patients at the VA Hospital.Gifted watercolor painter Brian Meyer, and Anthony A. LoBue of Arts For Veterans.
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The Pegasus Rising Project, based in San Diego County, assists U.S. military personnel recovering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury.
Every year, Pegasus Rising works to heal around 1000 veterans suffering from trauma. The San Diego County-based organization uses horse therapy to help U.S. military personnel recover and return to civilian life after experiencing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or Traumatic Brain Injury.
Today, in Balboa Park, a fundraiser was held in conjunction with a special New Year’s Day concert at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. A good crowd turned out to learn about this very important organization.
Pegasus Rising’s small herd is comprised of Polish Arabians, who were themselves rescued. The descendants of champion horses, they had been found suffering from severe neglect. The full story can be read here. Amazingly, one of the horses “was a descendant of the great stallion Lotnik, who had been imported previously by General Patton.”
While everyone at Pegasus Rising is a volunteer, caring for and feeding horses requires money. Perhaps you or someone you know can help out. Please click on their website to donate, or learn more about their fascinating, inspiring story.
A special fundraiser for Pegasus Rising was held on New Year’s Day at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, during the afternoon concert. Jay the friendly horse was present.Please visit the Pegasus Rising website. You can find out how you can assist this worthy organization as it helps to heal a thousand veterans every year.An image of three Polish Arabian rescue horses in the herd at Pegasus Rising. Horse therapy greatly helps humans recover from trauma.Jay, the kindly Belgian draft horse ambassador, and a volunteer from Pegasus Rising, on a beautiful day in Balboa Park.
Chargers football players helping to raise money for kids today included Sean Lissemore, nose tackle, and Tyreek Burwell, tackle. Everyone was having a great time!
Today was Union-Tribune Kids’ News Day in San Diego! I can’t believe this is the third year I’ve blogged about the special day. Time flies!
Every October, smiling Chargers football players and cheerleaders, kids and volunteers station themselves at busy intersections around San Diego. Waving at folks in cars, they hold up special edition newspapers, printed just for this day, which motorists eagerly purchase. The proceeds go to help our local Rady Children’s Hospital.
In the morning I happen to walk through one of the key intersections while heading to work, so I had to take a few photos. This year I’d like to say thank you to the San Diego Chargers, Union Tribune and all the volunteers who make this possible. Over many years, millions of dollars have been raised by Kids’ News Day for Rady Children’s Hospital, helping to save thousands of young lives.
Do you want to donate? There’s no better cause. I urge you to click here!
A generous motorist at a Mission Valley intersection donates money for a special edition newspaper containing articles about kids, written by kids!Two cool volunteers raise money for Rady Children’s Hospital by selling special newspapers during Union-Tribune Kids’ News Day in San Diego.
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Volunteer at a Mission Valley intersection lifts a red shoe and gives a thumbs up! She was raising money for Ronald McDonald House today!
Today was Red Shoe Day in San Diego! Money was being plunked into red Ronald McDonald shoes by generous drivers at busy intersections, to help the Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego. Every year, about 1,500 families stay at Ronald McDonald House as resident guests, while a critically ill child is cared for at any local hospital, including the nearby Rady Children’s Hospital.
You can help keep families together as they go through a very difficult time by donating here!
This guy had two shoes, one in each hand! You, too, can help by clicking and donating online!
Team Love of Ben at the San Diego Brain Tumor Walk. We walk for you. We walk for love.
This morning I stumbled across a deeply touching event. As I was taking photos of something completely different, I noticed hundreds of people walking through the County of San Diego Waterfront Park holding signs. I had to check it out.
The San Diego Brain Tumor Walk had just begun! The event, hosted by the National Brain Tumor Society, was created to raise awareness and desperately needed funds for various important brain tumor programs, including medical research. Many brain cancers are super aggressive and deadly. 69,000 Americans will be diagnosed with brain tumors this year. No cure exists.
As you can see by the signs, this disease is personal, devastating, heart-wrenching. Can you help? Here’s the event page, where you can make a donation. Please do.
Laugh ‘n with Jen. Miss UR laugh Jen.Team Alex walks to fight brain tumors. Today funds were raised to help those affected by this devastating disease.Team Bri. Walking for my cousin. Fight on.Susie has a very rare form of brain tumor. But nothing can hold back Wonder Woman.I walk for my mom!Susie’s Superheroes are on the march! Join them!
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