By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – It was only a week ago, wasn’t it, that I was rhapsodizing about the yellow wildflowers that had graced our back yard lawn? https://www.sdjewishworld.com/?p=16574 Our gardener evidently didn’t read my column. On Saturday, he mowed the lawn, transporting every single one of the wild flowers into his lawn mower sack, and leaving only a green shadow of what had been there before.
I do not blame him for the wildflowers’ demise. Keeping the lawn trim is his job, and he does it well. On Sunday morning, when I realized the flowers’ disappearance, however, I had mixed emotions. First came a sense of sorrow that their season in the sun had been so brief. Next came a feeling of satisfaction that at least I had been able to appreciate the wildflowers in their time.
I looked around the yard, and noted that although the ice plant had been trimmed, its purple blooms remained intact. So, now, instead of the yellow wildflowers, I shall admire those flowers with purple circumferences and yellow interiors that are brightening my hillside.
To everything there is a season, it says in Ecclesiastes and in Byrds’ song.
As important as it is to remember the accomplishments of the past generations on whose shoulders we stand, it also is appropriate and worthwhile to notice and positively comment upon those living persons who work hard to make our communities better places. I don’t think we praise other people nearly enough, even though I’m sure they would prefer to hear their accomplishments appreciated while they are alive, rather than to know that they will be the subject of multiple eulogies after they are dead. Yet, how stinting are so many of us with our praise.
Last month, in connection with the project dedicating Louis Rose Point at the junction of Womble Road and the Boat Channel at the old Naval Training Center, I dealt with a number of people whose efforts I both appreciate and admire.
Deserving praise were various speakers at the event, including former San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy, who was kind enough during his administration to approve the city site honoring Louis Rose; City Councilman Kevin Faulconer, who voted for the site when he was a member of the city’s Park and Recreation Board and followed through as a City Councilman, and County Supervisor Greg Cox, who believed so strongly in the need to recognize contributions to the county’s history that he designated $1,500 in his office’s discretionary funds to be used for the purchase of the monument and plaque honoring Rose.
Representatives of the Jewish community stepped up to make the March 24 event a success, particularly Steven Morris, the president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of San Diego, whose presence provided the site with the Jewish community’s official imprimatur, and Tifereth Israel Synagogue’s Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal, whose benediction including the shehekiyanu prayer recognized gains we have made as a global community in our respect for one another.
Another who deserved praise was Dr. Stephan Hollmann, the honorary consul in San Diego for the Federal Republic of Germany, who recognized immediately the benefits of establishing a sister school relationship between the K-4 Grundschule in Rose’s hometown of Neuhaus-an-der-Oste, Germany, and Cabrillo Elementary School.
This sister-school relationship is based upon Rose’s founding in 1869 of the Roseville town site in Point Loma and his daughter Henrietta’s appointment in 1894 as the first school teacher at Roseville Elementary School, the forerunner of Cabrillo Elementary School.
Praiseworthy as well are Nestor Suarez, principal of Cabrillo Elementary School, and Doris Henningson, principal of the Neuhaus school. In accepting the sister-school idea, the two principals, heavy though their workloads may be, committed themselves to the development of a cross-cultural program to benefit students at both their schools.
Various government employees helped to make the event possible, and should not be overlooked. Tom Wood, the district supervisor for the City of San Diego’s Park and Recreation Department, helped the Louis Rose Society navigate the various forms and permits that are required to gain access to a city park and to erect a monument within it. In carrying out his job, he was unfailingly courteous and never failed to make helpful suggestions. This was also true of other government employees, among them Matt Awbrey and Michael Patton of City Councilman Kevin Faulconer’s office; Greg Murphy of the office of Supervisor Greg Cox; Ellen Tiffany, Patricia Wilson and Anita Molina of the San Diego Unified School District, and Renate Schnabel, a teacher at the Neuhaus school.
Jewish communal workers provided a variety of services necessary to the event, ranging from bookkeeping to invitations to publicity to administration. Praise be upon you Linda Feldman, Marjory Kaplan, Josh Namm, Charlene Seidle, Dave Sigal, Michael Sonduck, and Jan Tuttleman. Likewise to Louis Rose Society Steering Committee members Lawrence Baron, Janet Esser, Gerald Greber, Dan Schaffer, Arlette Smith, and JoEllyn Zeiden and to German consular support staff members Julia Neblich and Armina Kranz.
So many volunteers from the private sector were involved in one capacity or another, it is impossible to thank them all. Brigitte Ajagu, Laura Hillman and Nadine Martin all provided critical English-German translation services; Bill Tall of City Farmers Nursery taught Cabrillo Elementary School students how to plant rose bushes; Cabrillo student leaders Ranya Salem and Tai’Von Jackson led the flag salute at the outdoor ceremony; and videographer Edward Zeiden and photographer Alon David chipped in with their considerable talents.
I have been saving some final mentions for people I am lucky enough to see on a continuous basis. My wife, Nancy, shopped for the refreshments—hamantaschen — in recognition that Louis Rose was born on Purim in 1807. Norman and Bobby Greene, dear friends, continue to be instrumental to the project. Norman is president of the Louis Rose Society and eloquently emceed the March 24 event. Bobby, who has retired from teaching after a 37-year-career at Montgomery High School, has volunteered to be a liaison between the Louis Rose Society and Cabrillo Elementary School as the latter builds its sister school program with the Neuhaus Grundschule.
It occurs to me that there are so many, many people who bring beauty and goodwill into the world, and whose efforts often go unacknowledged. How fortunate I am that I have a column in which I can give voice. now and again, to my gratitude.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted at www.sdjewishworld.com