By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO–We have one sad and one happy follow-up to stories that we previously ran on San Diego Jewish World.
We’re sorry to have to report the death of Dennis Avery, the heir to the Avery Label fortune, who made acres and acres of his land available for public art, in particular for the larger-than-life sculptures of prehistoric animals by Ricardo Breceda. We wrote about their collaboration in an article published last February.
On Tuesday, July 24, Linda Haddock, executive director of the Borrego Springs Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau, sent out a message:
“With deepest sadness I am informing you that Dennis Avery, a much loved member and champion of our community, has died.
“He passed away yesterday evening surrounded by his loved ones. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers.”
We certainly will, Linda.
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Our email also brought happy, excited news from Sunita V. Cooke, the president of Grossmont College.
We wrote in April about an effort during the celebration of Grossmont College’s 50th anniversary to establish a world record for the most signatures on a birthday card.
Here’s a link to the story.
On Tuesday, Cooke sent out this missive:
“It’s official — Grossmont College has a huge victory from London even before the Olympics start!
“Early Monday morning {July 23}, officials at Guinness World Records in London confirmed that Grossmont College did indeed set a World Record! We successfully obtained the most signatures on a birthday card in a single day. The record was set at our recent 50th Anniversary Open House Celebration on April 14, when a total of 1,821 people signed the four-foot-tall card, including 174 well-wishers who submitted their greetings on Grossmont College’s Facebook page. The previous record was 1,468 signatures.
“Thanks to our team of 25 volunteers who helped with registration and served as witnesses as they followed meticulous procedures laid out by Guinness World Records. They also kept tabs of the greetings posted on Facebook. The signatures had to be posted during the five hours of our 50th Open House, held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“Setting the record is like icing on the birthday cake of our yearlong 50th anniversary celebration. My thanks for everyone’s support throughout the year and for helping us set the record. We could not have achieved this without the support of our Open House Planning Committee and all our employees, and the many friends of Grossmont College near and far. Here’s to the next half-century of excellence in serving our community…”
Congratulations to Grossmont College. May it set many world records in a variety of fields in the years to come!
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com