Lisa Nguyen (from left), Diane Rider, Jan McGinn, Trevor Jones, Joan Reese, Victoria Mazelli and Nancy Assaf enjoy a moment near the fairy-lit courtyard at An Evening to Remember, a celebration on March 10 commemorating the Scripps Miramar Ranch Library’s 25th anniversary. (photo by Jim McGinn)
25th anniversary events and thanks
The Scripps Ranch Friends of the Library (SRFOL) have held several events to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Scripps Miramar Ranch Library, but one more big event remains:
The SRFOL will hold a Community Birthday Celebration at the library on March 24 from 1 to 4 p.m. This will be an all-ages event with birthday cake, city officials, city library personnel and recognition of the winners of the SRFOL Student Essay Contest and winners of the commemorative bookmark design contest for K-12th graders. The Scripps Miramar Ranch Library is at 10301 Scripps Lake Drive.
Highlighting the anniversary events so far was An Evening to Remember, a special celebration held the night of March 10. This event served as a fundraiser to pay for upgrades to the library’s outside courtyard.
Although SRFOL raised funds for the project, there is still a way to go with the fundraising efforts and the public still has the opportunity to become part of this project which will benefit the entire community, from students after school to all the community groups that depend on the library’s meeting spaces, including the courtyard.
In addition, the SRFOL would like to acknowledge the generosity of all the donors and sponsors. This includes the volunteer landscape designer, a Scripps Ranch resident, who created an innovative vision for the courtyard update, as well as some of the others who helped make the evening special, notably Dave Mason and the Scripps Ranch Rock-N-Blues band.
.jpg)
The following is a message from the SRFOL:
Scripps Ranch Library’s 25th Anniversary
When the Scripps Miramar Ranch Library first opened its doors 25 years ago — on March 13, 1993 — Scripps Ranch Friends of the Library was there, celebrating a community milestone, the culmination of more than two years of intensive planning and fundraising. On March 10, the Friends of the Library and community friends recently celebrated our fabulous library’s 25th birthday in style at the long-anticipated kickoff event for the month-long celebration.
The Friends would like to thank everybody who supported our “Celebrate25” fundraising party and hope those who attended truly enjoyed “An Evening to Remember.”
Spirits were not dampened in the least by the rainy weather, although the approximately 150 partygoers could only visually enjoy the magic of the library’s courtyard, decorated with hundreds of fairy lights. Guests enjoyed mingling with friends and fellow library supporters, tasty food, flowing libations, ambience-setting piano music and bidding on an array of enticing silent auction baskets. Additional highlights included historic tours of the library by volunteer docents as well as listening and dancing to the Scripps Ranch Rock-N-Blues Band — thanks you to Wally Wulfeck and band mates!
The evening was very capably emceed by Scripps Ranch resident Dave Mason, Sunny 98.1 radio host and on-camera pledge drive host for San Diego’s KPBS-TV and KOCE-PBS SoCal in Los Angeles. Thank you, Dave!
Kudos to the hardworking and creative Celebrate25 planning committee, comprised of Val Acciani, Barbara Thunder Barnes, Sandra Hoyt, Smita Kulkarni, Lisa Nguyen, Delane Pickel, Joan Reese, Diane Rider and committee chair Jan McGinn.
Thank you as well to Victoria Mazelli, our volunteer graphic designer, and Nancy Corbin Assaf, original library branch manager, for procuring and documenting additional Scripps and Meanley family photos which now hang in the library.
Thanks to our webmaster Richard Busch and treasurer Hilliard Harper and also to Library Branch Manager Trevor Jones, all of whom went above and beyond. The efforts of additional day of event volunteers are very much appreciated — these included spouses, friends, Friends’ Board members, Library Teen Council members, Boy Scouts from Troop 616 and RSVP volunteers.
Very special thanks go to our sponsoring donors and to the business and individual donors of silent auction items. They will be recognized in the next issue of the Friends of the Library newsletter, “The Folio.” Their generosity helped get us closer to our goal of raising $25,000 in honor of the 25th. Final figures are not yet in, however, we still have a way to go to meet this ambitious fundraising goal.
It’s not too late for you to become part of the planned exciting courtyard update project, which will make this an even more inviting space for library users and community groups! We’re looking at adding sustainable landscape features, a shade structure, lighting and additional seating for relaxation and reading. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to help make this a reality for all to enjoy. All donations will be matched by Scripps Ranch Friends of the Library, so your gift will go even further. You can see the design poster prepared by Scripps Ranch resident Debbie Gordon of Destination Landscape Designs at the library or visit our website (www.srfol.org) for more information or to make a donation online.