East County News Service

January 30, 2016 (La Mesa) – the La Mesa Sunrise Rotary Club invites you to a Spring Tea fundraiser honoring four distinguished San Diego women. The honorees are Kathi Anderson, director of Survivors of Torture International, Bobbi Brink, founder of Lions, Tigers and Bears, Mimi Pollack, a writer for East County Magazine, and Estela de los Rios, executive director of CSA of San Diego County.  The tea will be held on Saturday, March 5 from 2 to 4 p.m. at Noah Homes, 12526 Campo Road in Spring Valley.

Former Campo artist now creating film on cofounder of Rancho La Puerta

By Mimi Pollack

On July 24^th, 2014, my good friend Vivian Blackstone will celebrate her 86th birthday. A woman in excellent health, she has lived an unconventional life with an artistic, bohemian and spiritual bent. That artistic side still continues as she is working on a film about Edmond Szekely [aka the professor], who along with Deborah Szekely, created and developed the world famous spa and resort in Tecate, Mexico, called Rancho La Puerta. This film is important to Vivian as the professor was an influential person in her life and she hopes this film will honor him and the influence he had on her.

By Mimi Pollack

July 1, 2014 (Tecate)--There are only 70 to 80 people left in Baja California who speak Kumeyaay, according to Michael Wilken Robertson, an anthropologist who also specializes in ethno-botany. When Wilken-Robertson first started his journey studying the indigenous people of Baja California, he was told there were no indigenous cultures there.  

He believed something had to be done to preserve these ancient cultures and traditions before they were lost, especially those of the Kumeyaay [Kumiai] people. The Kumiai are the indigenous people on both sides of the border, starting from Carlsbad on the United States side, down to the Santo Tomas Valley in Baja California, Mexico.

The Museo Communitario de Tecate [Tecate Community Museum] and the Kumiai wing is a good first step towards documenting the life and history of these people. It is part of the Centro Cultural [Cultural Center] in Tecate, Baja California.