| Continuing
the Dream [Speech delivered by Ted Rhodes at the celebration and official marker unveiling at the Carpinteria Bluffs on May 25, 2002]  |
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On behalf of the Citizens for the Carpinteria Bluffs and the Land Trust for Santa Barbara county, welcome back to the Bluffs -- your Bluffs! Remember that sign we posted out here a little over three years ago? Not the "No trespassing" one, the other one? SMALL TOWN, BIG DREAM? Well, how about that dream? What do you think?
Some of you here today have been waiting for this moment for over thirty years. Some of you have been working on protecting the Bluffs for that long a time. We couldn't have done this without you. I'm not going to thank people by name this morning, because I don't want to leave anyone out. If I mentioned one person, I would have to mention over 3000 individuals, organizations and businesses and we want everyone to have time to enjoy the Bluffs today before the sun goes down. So instead, I will take about ten minutes to thank everyone as best I can in a few broad brushstrokes... First, let me just say, that the Citizens for the Carpinteria Bluffs was most fortunate in having a seasoned organization like the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County with all its expertise join us as partners in this amazing grassroots efforts. It was the Land Trust who negotiated the purchase deal, and of course, none of this would have been possible without the former landowners giving us the opportunity in the first place to purchase this land. As you all remember, we kicked off this acquisition campaign in August of 1998 with the seemingly-impossible task of trying to raise 4 1/2 million dollars by the end of that year. For four months we were faced with the unbelievable prospect of having to raise $35,000 a day to save the Bluffs. We never could have met that deadline without the tremendous support of so many people from the Carpinteria and South Coast communities. The cross section of people who contributed is phenomenal. You will see shortly an indication of that cross section when you read the names on the marker behind you. That is a marker that we promised to place on the property to acknowledge all contributions of $1000 or more. Remember all those honorary deeds? The $1569 deed bought you 100 square yards of the Bluffs.
Our major donors the more than 50 individuals, private foundations and public agencies who gave at level beginning at $10,000 bought 41 of the 52 acres. Their names are on the marker, for without any them, we could not have done this. But there are other names on the marker too, for it took our entire community to save the Bluffs. Many of our major donors might never have contributed what they did if they hadn't seen that so many other people from all walks of life coming forward to contribute whatever money they could. And these little donations of $5 and $10 and $25 added up, as did all those $174 honorary deeds for a 100 square feet of land. In fact, all these little gifts added up to almost $900,000. That paid for the other 11 acres of the Bluffs and completed the campaign. Yes, without this grassroots effort, we couldn't have done this either! Who are we talking about in this grassroots effort? We are talking about:
And let's not forget a group of real unsung heroes, the hardworking core of Board members who have stayed on the case all this time. They continue to work tirelessly on behalf of preserving this special place, whether it be drafting a legal Conservation Easement to protect the property, creating a Management Plan, overseeing the Endowment Fund, or manning our Bluffs table each week at the Farmer's Market. Heck, it was some of these same Board members who even designed and sculpted the marker you will see shortly, not to mention, moved those boulders up here and planted that sage. We could not have done this without you. Nor could we have done any of this without the support of the Carpinteria City Council and City Staff. As you well know, the history has been long and often tumultuous as numerous development proposals for the Bluffs came before Planning Commission and Council and almost became reality. Our final success at saving the Carpinteria Bluffs occurred during a very cynical time for politics in this country... ...When the Monica Lewinsky scandal locked Capitol Hill into a bipartisan gridlock that sidetracked an entire nation. For those of us here in Carpinteria, it was therefore extremely empowering to realize that we were swimming against a current of national cynicism to prove that, yes, if you work hard enough at the local level on something that you believe in it, and if you are passionate enough about it, you really can make a difference. Not only did we save the Bluffs, but we were able to turn it over to a group of elected representatives each who had run for public office ten years earlier on a campaign promise to pursue the public acquisition of the Carpinteria Bluffs. What could be more rewarding than that? But the Bluffs story doesn't stop here. There are other stories too, woven into the fabric of Saving the Bluffs, that you will find on the marker over there today, if you look closely enough:
Sadly, these special people are no longer with us, but happily and proudly we have cast their names permanently on our marker that the spirit of their lives might be remembered forever here at the Bluffs. And we couldn't have done this without them either. Many whose names are on the marker luckily are still very much with us and are here today. Others could not be here in person but sent their greetings with the promise to visit soon.
One of our supporters, and perhaps my own biggest personal supporter and advisor, broke his hip and suffered a massive stroke just 4 months ago before his 90th birthday. I didn't think he would be here today, but he is one determined man. He's right over there in that wheelchair. He came up from Pasadena this morning with one of my brothers to help us celebrate this day as did my sister, coming all the way from Boston... Another of our generous supporters, in fact one of our founders, former board members, and key fundraisers, was also seriously ill earlier this year, but she too is a very determined person and I am most glad that she is here today to share in the glory. Indeed, this is a great moment of celebration and of a dream realized. It is also a moment of continuing inspiration, for our success has inspired other small communities from around the state to pursue small and large dreams of their own communities like Grass Valley and Malibu and Sierra Madre. Another group who sought our advise was from up north along the Sacramento River. Guess what name they had chosen to call themselves? Citizens for the Bluffs. In our celebration today, let's not forget that there still is much work to do right here at the Carpinteria Bluffs and on many other important environmental causes such as preserving the San Marcos Foothills, Ellwood Shores and the entire Gaviota Coast to name a few...and lets not forget about Healing the Ocean either. Think if we really could heal the ocean! Or what about that really impossible dream, a world of social justice a world for our children in which all people might someday live in peace with one another? Whatever you choose to do from this day forward, I encourage everyone here to stay involved, to keep dreaming, and to continue working to make this a better world... Now, without further delay, we unveil our Recognition Marker. We tried to figure out who we should ask to do the official unveiling. Then it came to us that all the kids here should be the ones to do it, because it was really for them, our children, and the generations that follow them that the Bluffs were saved. And so now officially, friends, as all the kids here grab onto the rope... We assert that This treasure, For
the opening remarks delivered by Arturo Tello, Vice-President
of Citizens for the Carpinteria Bluffs, Click
Here
Visit
Bill Hepp's web site to see more photos of the May 25, 2002 celebration
http://www.pbase.com/billtoo/bluffdedication |
