Sunrise on the bayfront reminds mayor of how much he loves his city. Photo by Casey Tanaka
From now until December, Coronado will be abuzz with activities and projects saluting Coronado on its 125th birthday. One such project, recently hatched by Coronado Historical Association (CHA), may turn out to be the best yet. It asks people to share of memory of life in Coronado and post them to a website MyCoronadoMemory.com (which will go live on July 4th).
“This gets down to real people,” said Bruce Linder, the CHA’s executive-director. “Everyone who lives here no matter how long, can be a part of this,” he said. You can have been here for few days or for several decades. Memories from visitors and summer residents are also welcome. Even former residents are encouraged to contribute.
My Coronado Memories is second of three Coronado-birthday related activities the CHA launched this year. The first was the organization’s annual Mother’s Day Home Tour, which featured classic architectural styles – craftsman to midcentury modern – that represented the city’s 125-year history. And in December, the CHA will issue the Fourth Edition of Coronado: The Enchanted Island by Katherine Eitzen Carlin and Ray Brandes. “We’ve added new research and new narratives,” Linden said. (As an aside: The project is still ongoing. People who know of events or individuals that didn’t make it into earlier editions are encouraged to contact the CHA at coronadohistory.org.)
For My Coronado Memories, stories should be fairly short (not more than 500 words) and must include a photo. The inclusion of a photo is a key component in the opinion of Mayor Casey Tanaka, who thinks photos are a “terrific idea. A picture can easily explain one’s love affair with Coronado in a fairly instantaneous way.”
Mayor Tanaka’s own memory was of walking his dog along the bayfront early one morning and seeing the the bicycle sculpture by Amos Robinson “juxtaposed against the sun rising. It was reminder that our possibilities are limitless [and] an immediate reminder of how luck I am to be here in Coronado,” he wrote in his narrative.
Tanaka’s photo, shown above, illustrates actual event. However, organizers point out that the photo and narratives don’t have to match exactly. The photo could simply represent the event. For example, if you remember mucking out one of the stalls at the Coronado stables, but don’t have to have a photo of you actually doing it. And yes, Coronado had stables at one time. Kids could ride a horse for free by cleaning out its stall before hand. Of course, you don’t have to be old enough to remember the stables to contribute a memory. Riding a ferry, shopping a CoraMart, or attending your first day of school all count.
For some long-time residents, nailing down a single event may be difficult. Native-born Susan Keith, who loves the idea, had so many memories that it was hard for her to choose just one. So she’s working on uploading several favorite memories. All of Keith’s memories include other Coronado locals, people that readers are likely to know, and convey a sense of community.
One such memory was working on the wildflower exhibit at the Coronado Flower Show in the 1980s. “We had the best time. We’d gossip and giggle, tell stories and have a libation at the end,” she said. “We had to be careful with the last one. Drinking in the park was — and still is — illegal except for Concert in the Park.”
My Coronado Memory is more than just a public remembrance of days gone by — it’s also a contest (and a fundraiser — more on that later). Once you post your photo and narrative, tell your friends and family to vote for you. Each vote moves you up in the standing. The top three memories will win yet-to-be-determined prizes from a local business.
The contest begins on the Fourth of July and runs through Halloween. Once it’s over and the prizes are awarded, the memories will be archived for future generations.
As for the fundraising side of the equation: there is a $10 fee to enter a photo and memory into the contest, and each vote cost one dollar. The money raised will go to fund the historical museum as well as educational and community programs. Donations are tax deductible.
“You can vote as many times as you want,” said Kate Carinder, who organized a similar project for this year for Balboa Parks Centennial called My Balboa Park Wedding. The idea for this and My Coronado Memories came from past projects Carinder had worked on. One was in Maquoketa, Iowa. People there were asked to write about their library memories to community awareness of and raise fund for the library. “The pictures and stories ran in the local newspaper. “There were some really neat stories and some historical facts people didn’t know,” Carinder said.
Carinder also drew inspiration from a service program at a church that raises funds to provide service dogs for veterans by posting pictures of dogs online and charging people to vote for their favorite.
For my Balboa Park Wedding and My Coronado Weddings, Carinder knitted together the concepts behind the library and service dog projects. She also recommended that the CHA hire web the design team at GoGo Photo Contest, a company that specializes in running and marketing photo contest fundraisers.
For many, the prospect of instantaneously sharing memories, even more than the prospect of winning a prize, is the best part. “I’m excited to see Coronado through the eyes of so many other people that I admire and respect,” said Tanaka.
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Gloria Tierney
Staff Writer
eCoronado.com
