It's Baaacccckkk! Best Run~Best Trick-College Park Style!

Lompoc Parks and Rec Annual Skateboard Competition is a community event and fun for all ages!   We have been partnering with Lompoc Parks and Rec since 2000 on this competition featuring Best Run (skate jam format) and Best Trick in five different age groups.  Registration starts at 10AM with competition to begin shortly afterward by age group, youngest to oldest.  Prizes will be awarded for first through third place in all categories and there will also be opportunities to win some great raffle prizes throughout the competition.  Lompoc Foursquare Church will be joining the fun again with snacks and water!  

We are so very thankful and grateful for everyone that makes this competition possible each year including the skateboarders and the spectators, Lompoc Parks & Rec staff, Lompoc Foursquare Church Elevate Youth Group, Robby-our emcee and our judges.  Without all of these wonderful people, this great event wouldn’t be possible.  

So bring your skate, helmet and pads, or perhaps your lawn chair and some sunscreen Saturday, August 28th, and we’ll see you at College Park for some fun!

Together We Can Restore Our Earth-Make Every Day Earth Day

The first Earth Day was celebrated 50 years ago on April 22, 1970. It was founded by Gaylord Nelson, a US Senator from Wisconsin, after he witnessed the impact of a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California.  At that time it was the largest oil spill in US history and still ranks at number 3, behind only the Deepwater Horizon and Exxon Valdez oil spills.  It was Mr. Gaylord’s vision to have a “national teach-in on the environment” and energize the public to protect the environment by addressing water and air pollution concerns.  Over 20 million Americans participated in that first Earth Day celebration uniting many in a common cause that had been previously fragmented over several specific environmental concerns.  

This year, Earth Day celebrations will focus on restoring our Earth and the steps needed to continue on a new path.  As we are returning back to activities put on hold with the pandemic, it is imperative that we explore and acknowledge how we have impacted this planet we live on.  It is time to reflect and think about how we want the world we live in to look and to function.  It is time to discuss ideas of how change might look for everyone and how it can happen, even if only one step at a time.   It is time we come together in cooperation. 

Some of these discussions may be challenging, some of the choices difficult but it is necessary to make the time, to have the discussions, to become educated and make the choices.  The reality is, we have been blessed to live in this world we have been gifted, with its many natural wonders and incredible resources.  With that gift, we have also been given a responsibility.  The responsibility to take care of it so that our grandchildren’s great-grandchildren will have a place to call home.  No matter where you are we ask you to join us in this effort because you can make a difference with your choices and together we can save our beautiful home we call Earth.

There are three days of virtual events planned to begin these discussions and explore some of the issues beginning on 4/20/21 at EarthDay.org and sbearthday.org.  Locally, the Lompoc-Vandenberg chapter of AAUW is hosting a panel discussion of the impacts of climate on our valley on 4/22 via Zoom at 6:30PM.  We invite you to attend at least one of these many opportunities via the links below, to learn more about how you can make a difference for Mother Earth because together we can.  

Sources-

https://www.earthday.org

https://sbearthday.org

https://lompocvandenberg-ca.aauw.net

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwrc-igrzooG92GTZo5trXMbyc4hhLtLeEH

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_Santa_Barbara_oil_spill

Still Dreaming Big Lompoc!

Dreams.  Cotton candy fluff or a concrete reality?  For Lompoc skate park, aka College Park, it is a dream that became literally a concrete reality over 20 years ago.  A dream first dreamt in the late 1970’s (and perhaps before then) but discarded as impossible, became more probable with the advent of SB994.  

Today, while virtually unchanged from when it first opened to the casual observer, the park is beginning to reveal its age.  Many of the edges are showing the wear and tear of daily use and the concrete in some places is crumbling.  The skateboarding community has talked of having lights added to the park for many years and when the park was built there was discussion and hope that it would be enlarged in the future, offering more recreational opportunities.

We now have the opportunity to make those long ago and not so long ago wishes come true.  But we need your help.  The City of Lompoc is currently seeking a grant to rebuild the skate park, to expand its usage, possibly add lighting and other amenities.  Now is the opportunity to dream as your input is sought.  How would you like to see the skatepark?  What changes or additions would you like to see at College Park?  Two possible renditions have been put together based on input from the community to date but the City is still looking for additional input before submitting the final grant proposal.  Currently, the concrete part of the park is approx. 9500 square feet and both of these renditions increase the footprint of the skateable part to 14,000 square feet as well as adding additional features. 

There are two Zoom meetings to discuss these plans, the first one this week Wednesday, 12/2, at 6PM.   The next meeting will be on Thursday, January 14, at 6PM.  A link for more information including a link for the next Zoom meeting and survey is below.

Thank you to everyone that has been a part of this process so far but we are still dreaming!

An Act of Hope-Voting

Voting.  The election is now less than a week away.  If you have already voted. THANK YOU!  If you are planning to vote THANK YOU!  Below is some information you may find helpful for our local polling places and ballot drop boxes.  If you are able to vote but not planning to, I ask you to reconsider.  

Voting is a privilege and a responsibility in a democratic country.   It is how our preferences and choices are communicated to our leaders.  It is a way for our individual voices to be heard amongst the noise of the world.  It is a way to make change in policy that we don’t agree with and keep policy that serves us. It is a way to help shape the world you live in to reflect how you want it to be.  It is a way to have power when we feel powerless because it is only in staying silent that we relinquish our rights.  

Ultimately, voting is an act of hope.  Hope that no matter how dire things may be or how grand we may think they are, we believe we can still make this a better world through our voices.  So join me as I keep hope alive, casting my ballot by making choices based on research and conversations with others that I believe will reflect the kind of world I wish to live in.  Let us all use our voices and vote not just because it is our duty but because it is an act of hope.  

Options for voting in our community~

At Home With Ballot~

Complete your ballot.  Secure inside the return envelope sent with the ballot.

Sign and date.  Make sure the signature on your ballot envelope matches the one on your CA driver’s license/state ID or the one you provided when registering to vote.

Ballots may be returned by mail but must be postmarked by November 3rd, 2020.  No stamp is needed.

Ballots may be dropped at a Secure Ballot Drop Box available 24 hours a day.  These are the following locations in our community-

Lompoc City Hall - 100 Civic Center Plaza

Lompoc Public Library - 501 East North Ave

SB County Dept. of Social Services - 1100 West Laurel Ave

Vandenberg Village Library - 3755 Constellation Rd

Ballots may also be dropped in person at a polling place by 8PM on November 3rd.  

Sign up and Track My Ballot at http://wheresmyballot.sos.ca.gov or call the Elections Office at  805-568-2200 or 800-722-8683.

Voting at the Polls~

Your assigned Polling Place is printed on the back cover of your County Voter Information Guide which was mailed to you or may be located  by calling 800-722-8683 or visiting www.sbcvote.com. 

Physical distancing and masks will be required if voting in person and bring your own ballpoint pen to sign in and use while voting.  Polls are open 10/31 and 11/1 9AM-5PM, 11/2 9AM-6PM and 11/3 7AM-8PM.  The Polling Places in Lompoc are-

Dick DeWees Community Center-Banquet Room - 

1120 West Ocean Ave

Events Mission Valley - 

138 North B Street

Lompoc Hilton Garden Inn-Hennessy Ballroom - 

1201 North H St

Thank you for voting!

Dream Big Lompoc!

Dreams.  Cotton candy fluff and ethereal or a concrete reality?  For Lompoc skate park, aka College Park, it is a dream that became literally a concrete reality over 20 years ago.  A dream first dreamt in the late 1970’s (and perhaps before then) but discarded as impossible, became more probable with the advent of SB994. 

Working together, the Youth Commission, Lompoc Parks & Rec and Surf Connection rallied the skateboarding community and raised monies as a good faith testament to the need.  A piece of property was acquired through an agreement with Santa Barbara County and the Lompoc City Council agreed to fund the project through the City Budget.  Several meetings with an experienced professional skate park designer and the skateboarding community resulted in the current design of the park.  With the design in hand, the project was put out to bid, a builder selected and ground was broken.  Soon a simple dirt field became a concrete playground for skateboarders of all ages and levels of ability to enjoy.  

Today, while virtually unchanged from when it first opened to the casual observer, the park is beginning to reveal its age.  Many of the edges are showing the wear and tear of daily use and the concrete in some places is crumbling.  The skateboarding community has talked of having lights added to the park for many years and when the park was built there was discussion and hope that it would be enlarged in the future, offering more recreational opportunities.

We now have the opportunity to make those long ago and not so long ago wishes come true.  But we need your help.  The City of Lompoc is currently is seeking a grant to rebuild the skate park, to expand its usage, possibly add lighting and other amenities depending on the requests of the community and the viability of the features.  Now is the opportunity to dream as the your input is sought.  How would you like to see the skatepark?  What changes or additions would you like to see at College Park?  Lompoc Parks and Recreation has put together a packet to help you design the park of your dreams which may be picked up at Parks & Rec, Lompoc Aquatic Center or Surf Connection.  Once you have built your ideal park on paper it may be returned to either of the three locations to indicate support for the grant request as well as input as to how the final park will look.  There will also be public meetings on Zoom for input as listed below.

This is a wonderful opportunity to let your voice be heard and to help make a difference.  So dream big and speak loud because isn’t that what dreams are for, becoming concrete?

Zoom Meetings

Wednesday 10/14 6PM  - Zoom ID is 820-7474-3686

Saturday 10/17 10AM

Thursday 10/22 7PM