The National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s San Diego-based Pacific South Coast Chapter has announced that Leo Hamel Fine Jewelers, with a store at 9461 Grossmont Summit Dr. in La Mesa, has been named a sponsor of the 25th annual MS Dinner Auction to be held on Saturday evening, Nov. 19, at Loews Coronado Bay Resort in Coronado. Leo Hamel Fine Jewelers operates seven locations throughout San Diego County. The annual MS Dinner Auction, a black-tie event regularly attended by more than 600 people who bid on more than 700 silent and live auction items, is considered one of San Diego’s largest annual charity auctions. The fundraiser, traditionally held on the Saturday before the week of Thanksgiving as a jump-start to holiday shopping, typically raises at least $450,000 for multiple sclerosis research and programs for people with MS, a chronic, unpredictable and disabling disease of the central nervous system with no known cause, cure or prevention. Pacific Wealth Management of San Diego is the title sponsor. For more information, including a list of auction items, visit www.MSdinnerAuction.com.

Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS), the largest U.S.-based full-line sporting goods retailer, has opened its El Cajon store at the Westfield Parkway shopping mall, 565 Fletcher Parkway. It is the publicly traded chain’s 19th store in California and its 463rd nationwide.

“Dick’s Sporting Goods is excited to become a member of the El Cajon community with the opening of our newest location,” said Lauren Hobart, Dick’s Sporting Goods Chief Marketing Officer. “Unsurpassed customer service and the best products in the industry are the hallmarks of our stores and we’re excited to bring these traditions to El Cajon. We look forward to becoming an integrated member of the El Cajon community.”

Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. offers a broad assortment of brand name sporting goods equipment, apparel and footwear in a specialty store environment. The company also owns and operates Golf Galaxy, LLC, a golf specialty retailer. As of October 3, 2011, the company operated 459 Dick’s Sporting Goods stores in 42 states, 81 Golf Galaxy stores in 30 states and e-commerce web sites and catalog operations for both Dick’s Sporting Goods and Golf Galaxy.

San Diego County Credit Union (SDCCU), San Diego’s largest locally-owned financial institution has announced that free shredding services will be available from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Oct. 22, at its El Cajon branch located at 312 West Main St. The public is invited to bring a maximum of two boxes containing personal and confidential information to be shredded on the spot at no charge in the parking lot of the SDCCU branch. Boxes must be no larger than approximately 10-by-12-by-15 inches.

Since 2007, when SDCCU began hosting its free Shred Day events, more than 305,000 pounds of confidential, sensitive documents have been shredded on the spot and recycled at no charge, saving approximately 2,790 trees (every 120 pounds shredded represents one saved tree).

“SDCCU is happy to provide this shred day service to our local communities as part of our 2011 Member Appreciation Week activities and ongoing commitment to promote identity theft awareness,” said Teresa Halleck, president/CEO of San Diego County Credit Union. “We are proud to be able to help consumers protect themselves from identity theft. The first rule in preventing identity theft is: if you don’t need it, shred it, and we are here to make that happen. Moving to our online services is a great way to minimize the amount of confidential information you have at home and reduce waste.”

The San Diego Better Business Bureau (BBB) is inviting all 11th and 12th graders to write and submit up to a 400-word essay on the importance of marketplace ethics and receive up to a $1,500 scholarship from the BBB. The presenting sponsor of the BBB’s scholarship program is Sycuan Casino in El Cajon. Last year’s winners included two high school students from East County high schools.

All high school juniors or seniors (graduating classes of 2012 or 2013) who attend an accredited high school in San Diego or Imperial counties, and who reside in San Diego or Imperial counties, are eligible to submit an essay. The essays should include viewpoints and examples, including how marketplace ethics involves integrity, honesty and civility in our community. An independent panel of judges will evaluate the essays based on: (#1) inclusion of personal viewpoints and/or examples (5 points); (#2) relevance to the theme (5 points); (#3) readability and clarity (5 points); and, (#4) spelling and grammar (5 points).

There is no cost to submit an essay. Deadline for essays is 5 p.m., Monday, Oct. 24, 2011. Essays can be submitted via mail, fax or e-mail. An application form and more details are available at http://sandiego.bbb.org/scholarship-program. For additional questions, contact Andrea McNelis at the BBB offices, (858) 637-6199, or via e-mail at amcnelis@sandiego.bbb.org.

Five students will be awarded with cash scholarships of $1,500, $1,250, $1,000, $750 and $500 at the BBB’s 2011 Torch Awards for Marketplace Ethics presentation luncheon on Tuesday, Dec. 13. The BBB’s scholarship program is part of its 2011 Torch Awards program, which honors businesses and non-profit organizations for demonstrating ethical business practices.

Last year, a total of 238 essays from students attending 74 different high schools were evaluated by the judges. Last year’s scholarship recipients included Thomas “Andy” Keller from Granite Hills High School in El Cajon and Brett Huff from Christian High School in El Cajon, along with students from San Marcos High School, San Dieguito Academy High School in Encinitas and Morse High School in San Diego.

Sycuan Casino in El Cajon’s Dehesa Valley has become a sponsor of the fifth annual Holes for Heroes golf fundraiser to be held this Friday, Oct. 14 at the Lomas Santa Fe Country Club in Solana Beach. The golf event is open to the public. Registration fee to play golf begins at $250 per player. Holes for Heroes has raised more than $285,000 benefitting wounded military heroes recovering at military hospitals from war injuries. The golf event also will raise funds for military-related nonprofit organizations, including Homefront San Diego, Guide On, Camp Pendleton Armed Services YMCA, Veterans Village of San Diego, Service for Humanity Foundation and the Balboa Hospital Armed Services YMCA. For more information about the tournament, visit www.holesforheroes.org, or contact co-chair Dave Ferguson at (619)787-6280 or dave@holesforheroes.org.

The Grossmont Healthcare District, a public agency that supports many non-profit, health-related community programs and services in San Diego’s East County region, is a sponsor of the Home of Guiding Hands’ 29th annual golf classic fundraiser starting at 8 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 14, at Sycuan Resort, 3007 Dehesa Road in El Cajon. Donation to play golf begins at $300 per player. The event will include breakfast buffet, putting contest, opportunity drawing, auction items, course contests, buffet dinner and awards. For more event information, contact Rachel Wood, events coordinator at (619) 938-2854 or rachel@guidinghands.org. Home of Guiding Hands provides quality services, training and advocacy for people with developmental disabilities, their families.

The San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce will present its 9th annual Women in Leadership Luncheon (WILL) from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Friday October 28, at the Doubletree Hotel San Diego in Mission Valley, 7450 Hazard Center Dr., San Diego. More than 400 people are expected to attend the luncheon that will showcase the professional accomplishments of some of San Diego’s most prestigious women in six different categories, including art/media & culture, business, education, government, healthcare and non-profits. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Mary Lyons, president of the University of San Diego. She will lend her rich personal narrative, including living throughout the U.S. and East Africa in her youth, as well as on the attributes, themes and skills necessary for women of all ages to succeed in today’s workforce. The emcee will be Carol LeBeau, retired news anchor. Dress for Success has been selected as this year’s beneficiary. Tickets are priced at $60 per person before Oct. 14, and $75 per person after Oct. 14. For more information, visit www.eastcountychamber.org. The annual event demonstrates the Chamber’s commitment to ensuring that a strong, diverse and empowered local workforce, said Chamber officials.

The Lakeside Chamber of Commerce will host its October mixer starting at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 20, at J.P. Witherow Roofing Co., 10176 Riverford Road. The evening of Halloween-themed fun will include Octoberfest brew, wine and food. Bring your business cards to exchange with other attendees and for a chance at a raffle prize. For more information, visit www.lakesideca.com or call (619) 561-1031.

The East County  Economic Development Council (ECEDC) will host its annual bus tour showcasing economic business development opportunities in the East County on Wednesday, Oct. 26. The tour will begin at 7:30 a.m. with continental breakfast at Hooley’s Irish Pub and Grill, 2955 Jamacha Road in El Cajon. The bus tour will depart at 8:15 a.m. and end at approximately 12:30 p.m. A break at 10:15 a.m. is scheduled at Allen Airways Flying Museum in El Cajon. Organizers say the East County offers a wide range of industrial, office and retail opportunities. Developers, brokers, elected officials and economic development leaders are invited to attend. Cost to attend is $20 per person for ECEDC members and $30 per person for non members. For more information, visit www.eastcountyedc.org or contact Gladys Selfridge at (619) 258-3670. Founded in 1984, the ECEDC is an alliance of key representatives from business, government, and education working together to promote successful business activity in the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa, Lemon Grove and Santee, and in the unincorporated communities of Alpine, Lakeside and Spring Valley.

October 6, 2011

(Rancho San Diego, CA)—The Water Conservation Garden’s Executive Director, Marty Eberhardt, has announced her retirement, effective February 1, 2012, after 7 ½ years of service to the non-profit organization.  Eberhardt has been the Executive Director of The Garden since August 2004.

During her tenure as The Garden’s first executive director, the organization’s programs and exhibits and its acclaim both locally and nationally have grown tremendously.  Educational offerings were increased from just one class per month to over 60 offerings annually, and the Ms. Smarty-Plants K-8 education program grew to serve over 28,000 students in the last year.  Twelve of the 20 current Garden exhibits were either completely remodeled or added under her direction, the staff grew from 3.5 full-time equivalents to 7.0 full-time equivalents, and a cadre of 90 active volunteers blossomed from an original group of 15.  The American Public Gardens Association recognized The Garden as one of eight public gardens in North America to be a model for public outreach, and in 2009, Sunset Magazine declared The Water Conservation Garden as one of the “Top Ten Gardens in the West”–a truly extraordinary achievement given the number and diversity of much larger Gardens in the region.

Marty’s vision for The Garden led her to create its first two strategic plans, which were completed with input from staff members, the board of directors, and affiliated water agencies.  On January 1 of this year, Eberhardt saw The Garden through a successful transition from governance by a Joint Powers Authority to governance by a non-profit organization.  When asked about her tenure at The Garden, Eberhardt said, “It has been a privilege to work with some wonderful people- board, staff, and docents- on an issue of such importance to the future of San Diego and the greater southwest- conserving precious water resources.”

Friends of the Water Conservation Garden Board President, Richard Wright, said, “Under Marty’s leadership the Garden‘s programs and public profile have dramatically increased.   Without question, her retirement is a huge setback in The Garden’s efforts to advance the cause of water conservation in the San Diego region.  A search for a new director will begin immediately, but Marty has knowledge, experience and expertise that will be difficult to replace.“  An official search for a new Executive Director will begin by mid-October.

Ms. Eberhardt holds a Masters in Education in Biology from the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona. Her long career in nonprofit management included fifteen years at the Tucson Botanical Gardens, including twelve as Executive Director. She will spend the first six months of her retirement on sabbatical with her professor husband, and then plans to find new ways to contribute to the San Diego community.

About the Water Conservation Garden;

Opened in 1999, The Garden is dedicated to promoting water conservation in the southern California landscape through excellent exhibits and programs that educate and inspire the public.  The Garden is supported by memberships, donations, grants, and water agency support.  For more information, please visit www.thegarden.org or call 619-660-0614×10.