February Column

Hello Amazing Neighbors! 

Happy February and Valentine’s Day. I’d like to encourage you to continue masking, social distancing, and washing hands. Vaccines are around the corner and according to Dr Charles Fenzi, Executor Director of the Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics, Santa Barbarians should all be vaccinated by summer’s end (for those who want vaccines). A word of caution, however, - Dr Fenzi advises that even after being vaccinated, you need to continue post CoVid-19 practices of masking, social distancing, and handwashing because we don’t have any precise data yet, and post CoVid strategies can only help!  

January 8th – Jon Gathercole Heroes Island Groundbreaking!

I’m excited to share that January 8th we had our groundbreaking ceremony of the Jon Gathercole Heroes Island….In honor of our Mesa heroes who helped us through these unprecedented times – firefighters, doctors, nurses, grocery store workers, workers at CVS and Rite Aid, our restaurant essential workers, postal carriers and farm workers. 

To show our gratitude to ALL the Mesa essential workers who risked their health and came to work every day keeping neighbors safe and supplied with the necessities of life at a time when “sheltering in place” orders were intact, we dedicate The Jon Gathercole Heroes Island in their honor. 

Thank you to Mesa Architects for designing the beautiful plans and being our conduit with the City (especially Mesa Architects Dennis Thompson, Laurel Perez, Derrik Eichelberger, John Kelley)

I’d also like to thank our Mesa neighbors and the entire Santa Barbara community for helping us raise our goal of $35,000 in only two months. When it first appeared in The Mesa Paper in August that OMNI and Mesa Architects had succeeded in getting all the required permits after two years, the donations rained in – literally. And we raised over $8,000 that first month. Then the Mesa Business Association kindly offered to match funds up to $2,500 in October. From there, neighbor Claude Raffin saw Mesa Architect John Kelley’s column saying that the highest donor can name the Island, so Claude donated $15,000 to honor his long time partner Jon Gathercole.

However, we were still short our goal about $6,200. $6,200 does not seem like a lot when compared to $35,000, but when you’re a grassroots organization that amount can take a long time to fund raise. Our Treasurer, Dennis Johns, sent out an email asking for donations, and I received a call from relatively new neighbors, Mindy and David Tennen (2 years on the Mesa), asking about the Island. They said how much they enjoy our community and would like to help. So I told them about our Mesa Gateway and the Island. They said that giving back to the community is important to them and wrote OMNI a check for $6,200 that day to complete our $35,000 goal.

Lastly, I’d like to thank our #1 Mesa Hero Alice Andres-Calleja who was the initial inspiration for Heroes island. When I joined the OMNI Board of Directors 5 years ago, Alice told me this was her dream – to have a self-sustaining garden here. Alice weeded and gardened the island with her own two hands for the last 14 years. To honor Alice, Mike Richardson a staunch supporter of OMNI and Alice, wrote a beautiful note in her honor. Alice is a “behind the scenes” kind of gal and was uncomfortable being the center of attention, but I think she was touched.

The Jon Gathercole Heroes Island planting should be completed in a few weeks by Organics Greens (Ramon Jimenez – Owner). But then we still have to design and implement the plaques – the title plaque as well as the plaques of those who donated $1,000 or more where your name will be on the plaque in perpetuity in the island.

We are still welcoming donations of any amount. So don’t worry if you haven’t gotten around to it yet. This is an ongoing project because we need to pay for the ongoing maintenance of the island and the plaque designs.

Again, I’d like to offer my sincere gratitude for all your support in helping to make the Mesa a great neighborhood to live, study, work, or just hang out. Our Mesa neighborhood welcomes all! 

Stay Strong! Teri

Dr Teri Jory

President, Our Mesa Neighborhood Inc (OMNI)

Website: www.ourmesaneighborhoodinc.org

Facebook: www.facebook.com/OurMesaNeighborhood

Contact Info: OurMesaNeighborhoodInc@gmail.com

(805) 586-0606