On Monday, the Chamber of Commerce held its 23rd annual Chamber Challenge golf outing at the Vineyard Golf Course. We joined forces with the California Center for the Arts to create a unique experience combining art with golf. The Center brought out various framed art from its inventory and players had a chance to view them out on the course and bid to purchase. The funds raised from this event go to support the Escondido Police Athletic League in their mission to reach at risk youth in our community, and help guide them away from a life of gangs and despair. Al Owens who heads up this program has done a great job and this annual golf outing raising funds goes a long way to help this program.

Thank you to Jerry VanLeeuwen and his staff and volunteers for making this event a success. We also want to thank all of our sponsors, players and volunteers in making this a day of fun, golf and art. Particular thanks go to our title sponsor The San Pasqual Economic Development Council and Board chairman Michael Contreras along with CEO Wehay Quisquis for their full support.

And congratulations to the lowest scoring team of Eric Skaja, Tuan Nguyen, Todd Gimenez & Terry Magee as their names will be forever memorialized on the 1^st ever Escondido Challenge Cup Trophy. Additionally closest to the pin honors went to Eric Skaja, winning a trip for two to Las Vegas, and Pete Rena who took home the LG big screen television.

It was a Chamber of Commerce kind of weather day at the Vineyard, and we look forward to seeing you next year for this fun and growing annual community event.

As we move towards full opening of our local economy in the next couple of months it’s a good time to remind all of us to stop and consider what each of us can do to further this along. One way to help is to always consider buying local whenever you can. This can provide needed relief to our local merchants who have suffered mightily through these last 13+ months. Keeping your shopping local helps these businesses hire staff, expand services and generate local sales tax dollars which go right back into our local economy.

Congratulations and a welcome goes out to Sean McGlynn as he has been selected as the new Escondido City Manager. Sean will begin his transition from Santa Rosa to Escondido over the next several weeks and officially begin his duties in early May.

The Chamber looks forward to continuing to work with the City and this business community as we begin to transform from the shut-down to full reopening.

Speaking of reopening, the Chamber is planning now for our full reopening and so much more. Stay tuned as we inch closer to unveiling our stimulus plan centered around building on the rich heritage of Escondido and the vital role this region plays in shaping all of San Diego County.