By Miriam Raftery, East County Magazine

February 9, 2018 (Alpine) -- The Viejas band of the Kumeyaay Nation celebrated the grand opening of  The Willows Hotel and Spa on January 31st with this dazzling pyrotechnics fireworks display.

December 21, 2017 (San Diego's East County)-- Local songwriter Paul Nichols noticed Santa and elves "running rampant" at shopping malls, but no mention of Jesus. So he wrote "Blues for Jesus' as his tribute to the reason for the sesaon. 

 By Miriam Raftery

Photos by Mark and Miriam Raftery

October 15, 2017 (Santa Ysabel) – The Laguna Mountain Rendezvous in Santa Ysabel continues this week through October 22nd, offering fascinating glimpses into the rugged skills of mountain men, frontiersmen and Revolutionary War era militia members. 

Video: Teams compete at the 2017 Ramona Grape Stomp Competition

By Miriam Raftery

September 10, 2017 (Ramona) – To the strains of songs like “Mountain Dew”,  teams of competitors vied to see who could crush the most grapes in two minutes and emerge champion at the first-ever Ramona Grape Stomp this weekend.

Teams chose names such as the “Juicy Lucys” or the “Toe Jammers.”  One team member stomped the ripe purple grapes, the other filled a cup with juice spurting out of a spigot on a wine barrel.

A Grape Stomp princess was also on hand to help officiate as contestants hopped in feet first, demonstrating their stomping skills on stage as the audience cheered them on with gusto.

Source: San Diego Sheriff

June 30, 2017 (Cleveland National Forest) -- The San Diego County Sheriff's Department is partnering with CAL FIRE and the U.S. Forest Service for a public safety video about hiking in the East County.  To watch the video, click https://vimeo.com/223528992.

By Miriam Raftery

Video, above: Open fiddling competition 2016 champion Shira Ellison in her winning performance

May 2, 2017 (Julian) -- Each year,  the town of Julian comes alive with the sounds  of music—fiddle music, along with banjos, guitars, mandolins and mountain dulcimers at the annual Julian Fiddle and Pickin’ Contest. 

This year’s event will be held on Saturday, May 20^th at the Julian Town Hall, plus on Friday night a Texas-style fiddle workshop will be led by two-time national grand fiddle champion Matthew Hartz.  (For details and a schedule visit www.SanDiegoFiddler.org)

Recently we’re seeing a revival of interest in the art of fiddling and more broadly, a Renaissance in traditional music both regionally and nationally.

Video, photo and story by Billy Lakeside Ortiz

View video of coyote hunting and howling:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rj55X4oHj40

January 17, 2017 (Lakeside) -- Not all coyotes are a nuisance, in fact where there is open land they can thrive without ever setting paw in your yard. If a habitat has all the right elements--grasses, mice, gopher, rabbits and a few other rodent types--the coyote has all it needs to live long and bear young.

By Miriam Raftery

Photos by Kristin Kjaero and Miriam Rraftery

September 4,2016 The 46^th annual Barona Powwow continues today at the Barona sports park, located on the Barona reservation in Lakeside.

View our video (top left) of Saturday night’s grand entry procession featuring NativeAmerican dancers in full regalia from tribes across the nation, and a second video (below) of a victory song honoring all warriors including our military and veterans.

July 27, 2016 (San Diego) --It has gone viral and taken social media worldwide by storm: people busting out their best dance moves for the "Running Man Challenge."

The San Diego Police Department recently challenged the San Diego County Sheriff's Department to join in the fun. Challenge accepted. To watch Sheriff's employees showcase their dancing chops, click the image above or view video here in larger frame: https://goo.gl/ltZs1q.

East County News Service

View the video: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10201644595153046&id=1724097629

June 12, 2016 (Lakeside) - Billy Ortiz has created a beautiful and moving video of El Monte Valley in Lakeside, which is threatened by a proposed sand mining project. 

East County News Service

February 20, 2016 (Pine Valley) -- Pine Valley is celebrating the grand opening of a multi-use field for baseball and soccer events.

November 9, 2015 (Alpine) -- Supervisor Dianne Jacob launched the ceremonial first pumpkin off a catapult at the 2nd annual Alpine Pumpkin Chunkin' contest in Alpine on Sunday, November 8th -- all for a good cause. This innovative event raised $4,500 to benefit the Alpine Education Association.

East County News Service

July 21, 2015 (San Diego's East County) -- After we published a reader's video showing a Monarch butterfly caterpillar creating a chrysalis, we received a second video from Honor Wall of Lakeside showing Monarch butterflies emerging from chrysalises to spread their wings. Enjoy this miracle of nature video!

November 15, 2014 (El Cajon)--Rob Tade at the El Cajon American Legion post sent in this video by David Miyashiro, CVUSD Superintendent, of  El Cajon’s 2014  Veterans Day commemoration held earlier this week to honor our nation's veterans.

By Miriam Raftery

November 3, 2014 (Jamul) – Pirates, wenches and other costumed guests jumped into action at the Fair Oaks Vineyard Grape Stomp last month.  Stephanie Young brought her crew from the Manor Vineyard to savor the festivities, as this video from the grape stomping competition shows.