Community Kudos: The 110th anniversary edition

It’s a big week for two Valley communities, as both Calexico and El Centro celebrate their 110th anniversaries. It’s still a bit early in the festivities to sort out where to hand out the kudos, but at first blush they certainly seem to be in order for the City of Calexico and its Community Services Department for the strong emphasis they’ve placed on encouraging and spotlighting the community’s local artists.

The festivities kicked off Tuesday with the restoration of a building mural that paid homage to one of the city’s border murals. The city has continued paying tribute to the arts through an exhibit of 110 art pieces from the community.

Pablo Picasso, who was known to doodle a bit himself, once said, “Art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life.”

Dust, as it turns out, was one of the concerns addressed at last week’s binational public health forum held in Imperial. The panel discussion, moderated by State Sen. Ben Hueso and Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia, highlighted a range of cross-border public health issues that could potentially be assuaged through joint efforts between this state and Baja California.

Key among those issues is the condition of the New River, which even with efforts to stem the flow of waste from Mexico, is little more than an open sewage ditch pouring through the county.

“If that threat is not addressed with a sense of urgency by our federal government, things are just going to get worse, and we stand to lose the hardfought water quality gains we’ve made,” Executive Officer of the Colorado River Regional Water Quality Control Board Jose Angel said. “If we don’t continue to assist Mexico to address the problem, the New River water quality could go back to the 1990s, and pose a serious threat to anyone that comes in contact, directly or indirectly, with that water.”

So what does any of this have to do with kudos? Only this: We appreciate there is a dialogue underway and an effort to keep the public informed. Nothing happens in a vacuum, so we’re going to keep cheering both sides on.

We’re also cheering for the Southwest High School’s HOSA team. HOSA stands for Health Occupations Students of America, and students belonging to the organization at Southwest performed exceptionally well at the 2018 CAL-HOSA State Leadership Conference in Anaheim.

Southwest students specializing in Dental Science swept the top three spots at the event. The team also produced finalists in the categories of Nutrition, Nursing Assistant and Forensic Medicine. Central Union High School District Superintendent Renato Montaño reported on Facebook that students have earned the right to represent Southwest at the HOSA International Leadership Conference this June in Dallas.

Another recent event that caught our attention this past week was the third annual Superhero 5K held Saturday morning at Sunbeam Lake in Seeley. Certainly it’s true we’re suckers for cute kids dressed in superhero costumes, but we’re also fond of a good cause. More than 800 persons signed up for the event, which will help families with an autistic child defray costs of applied behavior analysis therapy. Kudos to the Children’s Foundation of Imperial Valley for organizing the event.

Likewise, kudos to Jane Mata for her sustained commitment to raising scholarship money for Calipatria student athletes. Mata started a tri-tip barbecue fundraiser 25 years ago in memory of her son, Nate, who died in a car accident in December 1993. The event has grown to a point that it was able to award $1,000 scholarships to 14 student-athletes last year.

Mata’s accomplishments in growing this event are evidence true love never really dies, but rather, it expands.