country legends magazine july 2010

July 2010 Country Legends Magazine 1

Dan Stephenson

Here since the beginning

Collector IssueJuly 2010

$2.50

CountryLegendsCountryLegends

Rusty Manning - Temecula’s Balloon Meister

Jim Brooks - A Montana range cowboy in Perris

Bill Seltzer - The Golf Teacher

2 July 2010 Country Legends Magazine

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July 2010 Country Legends Magazine �

Johnny RobertsPublisher

To the left are pictures we took at the Riverside National Cemetery on Memorial Day.

Welcome to the July issue of Country Legends. July is here! July has always been my favorite month. 4th of July, summer, vacations, fam-ily reunions and lots of fun in the southern California sunshine.

The July issue is packed with great reading. I was honored to spend some time with Dan Stephenson and I will tell you he is as down-to-earth and open as anyone I have interviewed. I had interviewed him on News Makers several years ago and I knew there was a lot there. Once we were into the stories, I realized I was hearing the stories of the conception of the valley as we know it today. Once we got started it just kept continuing to come. We ended up with a long story but if you like inside stories it is worth the time.

Equestrian Country Review - Karen Bradford authored another great story for July. We asked her to go meet Cowboy Jim. I am sure with her classic style of writing and Jim’s fascinating story, you are sure to enjoy this tale of the unlikely cowboy.

Wine Country Review – What would the Temecula wine country be without balloons? Although there are wine regions with balloon rides available, they don’t host a nationally recognized balloon and wine festival. Other cities have balloon festivals, but they don’t have a flourishing wine region. The marriage of wine and balloons, (at least to this extent), is uniquely Temecula. So, we headed out for a 5:30 am rendezvous with Rusty Manning and three of his balloons. It was a fascinating morning and I hope you enjoy his story.

Outdoor Country Review – For July we chose golf as our outdoor activity feature. Temecula is filled with unique people and business-es. Bill Seltzer and his Temecula Golf School is certainly that. Since arriving in Temecula in 2002, Bill has made himself a large part of our community by giving of himself and his time. You will find in the story, that Bill feels like he is the one who has been blessed. Great read.

Country Style Review – Our goal with this section is to offer many different takes on what it means to live a country style. This month we went for healthy eating, with a raspberry.

Country Cooking – Keep sending in your best recipes, everyone loves them. We get a lot of comments about the recipes and enjoy giving you a chance to share them. We will give a one year subscrip-tion to Country Legends Magazine if we publish your recipe.

This magazine is made possible by the investment of our advertis-ers. They support our efforts to bring you the stories of your friends and neighbors. We hope that when you are in the market for the products and services they are offering that you will give them the opportunity to earn your business.

� July 2010 Country Legends Magazine

sections:

Scuttlebutt from Buckman Tavern .................. 16Authors of The Federalist Papers, Part 3By Jonas Parker

Country Style Healthy Eating ......................28A Raspberry to Your Health!

Main Street ...............................36Wishes for ChildrenCharlie Pate shares his love and skill for golf to help raise funds for needy temecula valley children.

features:

Dan Stephenson ....................6Here Since the Beginning

Outdoor Country Review ......... 18Bill Seltzer - The Golf Teacher

Equestrian Country Review .....22Cowboy Jim - A Montana Range Cowboy in PerrisBy Karen Bradford

Wine Country Review ..............30Rusty Manning–The Balloon Meister of Temecula

Mr. Roberts,

I really enjoyed reading your June story about Peg Moore and how Temecula became a real town. I’ve lived in the Tem-ecula Valley for only a few years and I didn’t know what the history was behind its beginning. I look forward to learning more about our beautiful valley next month.

Sara McCouglin - Temecula

Dear Country Legends,

Thank you for bringing such beautiful coverage to our area. We are enjoying the stories and the visual scenes your mag-azine brings. It’s a joy to sit down with it in the morning and drink my cup of coffee and see who is going to be in it this month. We have sent in for our personal subscription, so we won’t miss any copies.

Francis Greenley - La Cresta

Dear Johnny,

I rarely write to someone like this. But I sat at my hair salon last week and read the June issue almost cover to cover. I found your email address inside, so I thought I’d write and order a subscription for both my brother, who lives in Bear Creek, and me. I don’t get out to wine country as much as I should, but I think I will now visit Renzoni’s after reading the article. I found his family history very interesting. I will mail my check for the subscription.

Antonita Greco - Murrieta

Dear Editor,

Keep up the good work. Love the recipes. Last month I enjoyed the article about using plants in our yards that save money on water. I was motivated to go to the nursery and buy a couple of Agave plants for my front yard, which is mostly made up of lava rock. I live in Sun City and our yard needs to be easy to care for. Thank you for the ideas.

Gill Millen - Sun City

Hello, I heard you were accepting recipe ideas. Where do I send those?

Mike Harris

Hi Mike, we’d love to receive your recipe ideas with photos.

Send to [email protected]

Letters to the Publisher

Subscriptions:Don’t miss a single story!

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Publisher:John F. (Johnny) Roberts

Art Director:Jill Roberts

WritersJohnny RobertsJonas ParkerKaren BradfordMinnie Caroline

A special thank you to our editing team: Karen Harden, John Philipps, Minnie Caroline, and Karen Bradford.

Cover Photography by:

Rhonda Tavenner Mazurek, Timeless Portraits

Copyright 2010. Country Legends Magazine. All rights reserved. No portion of this magazine may be duplicated without prior written consent from the Publisher.

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cover story

Dan Stephenson-

Here Since the BeginningBy Johnny Roberts

“I have accomplished a lot working through

other people.”



duplex in Newport Beach, one year out of USC, and became an investment real estate owner.

“I had to borrow $300 from my mother to fix it up and

furnish it,” Dan explained.

“No, I mean $300 bought everything; paint, drapes, cookware, furniture– everything,” he laughed.

He lived in one side of the duplex and the following year he bought another.

“These were the cheapest duplexes in Newport Beach,” he admits. “I paid only $27,000 for the first one.”

In his third year, he leveraged all he had, and he bought his first piece of undevel-oped land: 12 acres in a rural area on a country road in the area of Anza.

“It is still undeveloped. I rode by it the other day on my Harley,” he remembers with a smile.

After three years with the bank, he got

Rancon was here when our entire valley looked like the hills around Lake

Skinner. It takes vision, passion and hard work to be a success-ful developer. Dan Stephenson, working under the name of Ran-con, is one of the nation’s leading developers.

“I have always been the one working in the back ground,” Dan said.

“I have accomplished a lot working through

other people.”

Many times when we set out to write a story on a highly visible, successful person, we find there is an event or a tipping point that set them on the path that results in their destination. That is not the case with local entrepreneur, Dan Stephenson. Dan’s success has been well orchestrated.

Dan grew up in the San Fernando Valley. His mother Ann owned the second largest employment agency in California and she drove to L.A. every day.

“She was very successful in her busi-ness,” Dan recalls. “She was so full of energy and active, and she still is.” She set an example for Dan that helped mold his career.

After high school, he went to USC and studied Finance and Real Estate.

“We had a Professor Olson who told our class, ‘Everyone in here can make as much money as you want to make if you concentrate between Los Angeles and San Diego, because in your lifetime, this will all be one big megalopolis,’” Dan recalls. He took that statement to heart and knew from the beginning what he wanted to do. After graduating from USC in 1966, he went to work for a bank.

“I went to work for Security Bank,” Dan said. (It later became Security Pacific National Bank). “The reason I went there was we were in a minor recession, and there were no jobs in real estate, which is really what I wanted to do. I took that job and spent three years working my way up through its management train-ing program.”

With that, Dan took his first step into real estate ownership when he then bought a

that job in real estate he was looking for.

“I went to work for Coldwell Banker as the finance director of a new corporation they had formed called ‘Butterfield Land,’” Dan said. Butter-field Land was formed to specialize in marketing large land projects. Its first project was the Ran-cho California Project.

“You know, we actually did draw the first logo on a bar napkin while having a beer,” Dan said. “We wanted to have the R and the C incorporated in a horse head to indicate our country area,” he con-tinues, “it is still the same logo you see today.” Dan kept the duplex proper-ties until 1972 when he sold them to help finance Rancon.

The story of La CrestaBoise Cascade was the original owner of the property now known as

La Cresta. Like so much of southwest Riverside County, it was an investment property for a corporate investor. (Most of these investments moved to mutual funds and other stock market activ-ity after tax laws were changed). After acquiring the land, the company broke it into parcels and sold it to approximately 300 buyers.

Being an investor and not a developer, Boise Cascade made little or no improve-ments, and there had never been any provisions for maintenance. It basically was still just wilderness; plus, no one had organized a home owners organiza-tion, so no maintenance was done.

“Several years after it was sold out, a gen-tleman named Clark Beaumont walked in my office and said, ‘I’m looking to buy all the properties (in La Cresta) that Boise Cascade took back in foreclosure,” Dan told us. “There was maybe 17 or 18 parcels.”

Beaumont was looking for a partner and a sales force. Dan put together an agree-ment with him, and they were able to secure the foreclosed properties for 40 cents on the dollar of the original selling

Dan and Bev make a great team. Together they drove the effort to bring a community to Old Town Temecula.


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price. One caveat in the agreement was that they had to be resold at the original asking price.

“So, it was quite a profitable venture,” Dan said. “But the other thing that was in the agreement was that we had to take any other properties that were taken back. I told them, ‘Okay, but you can’t give us more than four per month.’”

Dan had built a home near La Cresta. Boise Cascade’s failure to complete the development had left many parcels of land with no access. Dan got the proper-ty owners together to activate the home owners association.

“I told them, ‘Guys, we’ve got to start assessing ourselves, we gotta do some-thing; we’ve got to start doing road main-tenance so this community comes alive,’” Dan remembers.

“I contacted Ronald Reagan because he had 771 acres up there, and his attor-ney/accountant, William French Smith, owned another about 800 acres up there,” Dan said. “So, I set up a meeting and convinced them if they would join forces with me, we could convince Kaiser to come out there and do road improve-ments so we could we get that done.”

“I have to laugh when I tell this story,” Dan said, “because Reagan made the statement to William French Smith, while I’m making my sales pitch.

He looked over and he said, ‘You know I think we should just sue them (Kaiser). They promised me water; they promised me roads; they haven’t provided them; and I think we are better off to just file a suit against them.’” Dan said of Ronald Reagan.

“I looked at Reagan --- and I’m a 28- or 29-year- old kid --- and I said, ‘You know, Mr. Reagan, you could do that, but it seems difficult for a court to have any sympathy for you when they learn your property is worth $1200 an acre when you paid $400 an acre, and I can make it worth more if you help me accomplish what we need to accomplish.”

“I’ll never forget it,” Dan remembers, “his attorney, who eventually became the attorney general of the United States, William French Smith, looked over and said, ‘The kid’s got a point, Ronnie,’ and he, Reagan, looked over at me and said, ‘Okay, we are on your team,’” Dan said with a smile of admiration. “Kaiser end-ed up giving us $300,000 for roads and improvements.

During this time, Boise Cascade lost a class-action suit that affected all of its

“I contacted Ronald Reagan because he had 771 acres up there . . .”

Some of the many developments Dan has been involved in building.


investment properties across the coun-try. Included in this ruling was a pro-vision allowing any land buyers from Boise Cascade an immediate right of recession on their purchase contracts. The consequence of this was 4,000 can-celed contracts: two-thirds of the deals it had signed.

“In the meantime, we got the HOA start-ed, and La Cresta looked like a nice com-munity,” Dan explained.

“We went out and planted some vineyards and some

avocados, so it would look like we had something going.

“And then eventually, I ended up build-ing 23 spec homes out there.” (Specula-tive investment: built before having a buyer or with the confidence a buyer would be found following construction).

“They were 2,000-square-foot homes, what the area warranted at the time,

just to get things going,” he continued. Because of that, the value went from $2,000 an acre to $4,000 an acre, so it literally doubled, but we were still buy-ing at 40 percent of the original $2,000. So we were buying for $800 an acre and selling for $4,000 an acre, and we made a fortune, but because we only got four a month, it took us two or three years to sell it out.

“I wish I could take a lot of credit for all the quality homes that have been built up there, but I think that was just a natural change as the area took off,”

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were unable to agree on a price, so they bought 800 acres from the Atlantic Rich-field acreage on Clinton Keith. This rep-resented less than half of the Atlantic Richfield plot. “He wanted to build a really high-quality golf course where he could have PGA tournaments,” Dan said, “which was his dream.”

Jack Nicholas’ community in Dublin, Ohio is called Muirfield and hosts the PGA tournament “The Memorial.” The Memorial was traditionally held on Memorial Day weekend but was always plagued by spring rains. Organizers moved the tournament to later in the spring but still experience a lot of rain days. Jack wanted a tournament where he could be assured weather wouldn’t be an issue.

Dan was the original investor in the Nicholas project. The 35-member syndi-cate that put together to buy the prop-erty included President Gerald Ford and golf’s Eli Calloway.

“Originally, Jack was just going to sell the design,” Dan explained. He fell in love with it, and eventually bought out 85 percent of the project. He may have been a little ahead of his time as the first attempt to build the development

owned large parcels of land in the valley, Atlantic Richfield bought a large parcel of land just off Clinton Keith Road from Kaiser/Aetna. PGA championship golf-er Jack Nicholas, who had completed a planned community in his home town of Columbus, Ohio, and was a college class-mate of Rancon agent Bill Dixon, wanted to build a new West Coast operation: On Bill’s advice, he wanted to locate it in the valley.

“We were originally trying to sell him Walker’s Basin, which is about 800 acres in the De Luz area,” Dan recalled. They

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I’m just as proud as buttons at the way it turned out.”

(Yes, he really said proud as buttons).

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was a financial disaster and Jack even-tually sold his interest, took his losses and moved on. The Rancon team, led by Bill Dixon, saw the golf course through, then sold the property. The actual hous-ing portion of the development had been owned by the Bear Creek Partners Limit-ed of which Jack was the general partner, plus 34 other investors including names like Gerald Ford and Eli Callaway. After Jack sold his interest, the partnership finished the community we know today.

The golf course at Bear Creek, along with the name and logo are all Jack.

“And, yes… the course design and con-struction are the vision Jack had from the beginning,” Dan explained, “it is the PGA quality course he wanted; he was very pleased with the final outcome… of the golf course,” he quickly adds.

When asked how many developments Rancon has been responsible for, Dan looked in the air and said, “Gosh around a couple of hundred, which interpreted means I don’t have any idea!

“One of them that I am proud of, one that is a real big one, is Tri-City Cor-porate Center in San Bernardino at the intersection of Interstate 10 and Water-

man Avenue. It’s a 153-acre mixed-use commercial development. It is one of the prettiest mixed-use communities in all of the Inland Empire,” Dan recalled with a smile of satisfaction.

So, you’ve just read 1,500 words on the business of Dan Stephenson. However,

this is a story of balance: a story of a life lived with a plan of action, dedication and focus, but a life intentionally lived with balance: physical equilibrium; the ability to retain one’s balance; mental and emotional steadiness.

In our interview, Mr. Stephenson was

Dan and Beverly ride their Harley frequently.


prepared. It is obvious that he lives his life very well-thought out. He explained to us that he has four great passions in life, and to have your life this well orga-nized is talked about in every leadership seminar you can find. Dan Stephenson is the living example.

Here are the four areas of passion that Dan talks about to help him retain the balance we all seek.

Number one, and one we have just cov-ered, is his business. His business is, of course, his driving force, as it is what he prepared himself for and, more impor-tantly, his business makes the other three areas of passion possible.

Number two, he enjoys adventure. He spends time with family, friends and business partners exploring the world. “Rancon has always been a party,” his wife, Bev, said. “Dan really knows how to take care of people.”

And so he has. “I never thought it was only about taking care of the people in your company: I think it is about taking care of your suppliers, taking care of your investors, it’s about treating people the way you want to be treated,” Dan said. “It’s about treating people the way you want to be treated, a basic premise from the Bible. Treat thy neighbor the way you want to be treated. We live that way as a philosophy. I don’t care if it is the janitor, or the president of a company, they’re

Bev and Dan on one of their many outings.

July 2010 Country Legends Magazine 1�

a fun thing to do.’” He put that thought away in his mind until he attended a young professionals conference seven years ago.

“One of the guys said, ‘I just bought a new road bike.’ There were nine of us sit-ting there, and I spoke up and said, ‘No kidding, I have always wanted to ride a

treated special; that is very, very impor-tant to me.

Combine this philosophy with a per-sonal passion for adventure, and you have Rancon in a nutshell. From agent and broker incentive trips to investor trip and family adventures, Dan loves to travel and experience the world. He has enjoyed many experiences but he is a dedicated skier.

“I have accumulated over seven million vertical feet of back country helicopter

skiing. I’ve done that all over the world.”

He said, “I have skied in India, in Can-ada a number of times, all throughout the United States. I have skied in Europe and South America; but Zermatt is my favorite.”

“I have also done a lot of mountain climbing,” he continued. “I have climbed some of the highest mountains in the world; Kilimanjaro; I have tried the Mat-terhorn three times, each time getting weathered out,” he said. “This last time I made it 80 percent of the way to the top. I was scheduled to go back a year and a half ago, but I ended up getting cancer. I took it off my things to do list after that … until about three months ago; I said to myself, ‘bull----,’ I am going to put it back on the list, and I am going back next August, and I am going to get to the top of that sucker!”

Dan has raced in the Baja 1000 three times: once on a motorcycle and twice in a 1600 rail, (racing dune buggy). He fin-

ished on the motorcycle but broke down both times in the car.

“One of the silly things I have done hap-pened after I was listening to motiva-tional tapes when I was in my twenties. One of the speakers talked about riding a bicycle across the United States,” he explained. “I thought, ‘That sounds like

There are permanent cables for climbers where Dan climbed up the Switzerland side of the Matterhorn.

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bike across the United States.’ Well, one of the other guys said, ‘You old farts couldn’t make it across the United States if your life depended on it.’ I looked at my buddy and said,

‘It sounds like the beginning of a bet.’”

A three-to-one odds bet was set. Three of the observers each put up $15,000

and Dan and his friend put up a total of $15,000. They had three years to ride across the United States. If they made it, they would split $45,000; if they didn’t, they would each have to pay $7,500.

“We could go a ways and stop, come back to work for a month or so, and go back to the same spot to continue,” Dan explained. “A year went by, we had spent $6,000 on these bikes. We wanted to do it right, so in Rancon fashion, we made an

event out of it. We went to the Hotel Del (Coronado in San Diego) the night before, we took our wives, we partied at the Del in anticipation of this grand adventure, and the next day we got up and started out. I had never been on a bike with foot straps before, so I fell off the bike in the first mile,” he said, laughing at himself. “We went 40 miles that day with our wives following us. After the 40 miles, we loaded our bikes and went back to the Hotel Del for a second night of party-ing.”

On the second day, they rode 60 miles so they could say they had accomplished the first 100 miles before they returned home.

“We ended up doing about 600 miles. We made it about 80 miles past Phoenix, and my buddy looked at me and said, ‘I’m done,’ I looked at him and said ‘Whew.’”

It cost each of them $7,500 to ride to Phoe-nix.

“It was fun. We had a Web site called Stupid bet.com where we posted pictures as we went, and it was indeed a stupid bet.”

Dan’s third articulated passion is being a motivator and speaker.

“I enjoy teaching and mentoring,” Dan said.

“I am not a good manager. I am not good sitting with an agent and asking to see his itinerary. I am more of a coach than a boss.”

Dan conducts at least six company-wide sales meetings per year, but considers his goal-setting seminars one of the keys to the success of Rancon.

“I would like one day to write a book on goal-setting,” Dan admitted. “The prob-lem is it would be about five pages. I have a very simple formula for goal-setting. I encourage people to set a goal, then post a picture of them achieving that goal in a place they can see it all day, every day.”

Dan conducts goal-setting seminars for Rancon agents as well as other real estate companies who ask him to come in.

“I had a goal to make 50 other people millionaires,” Dan shared with us. “I surpassed that number several years ago. I am just not sure how many of them are still millionaires,” he said with an uncomfortable smile.

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Rancon’s culture has always incuded travel rewards for staff. Shown here with staff members, Dan enjoys a trip with them to Montana.


“But I stay in touch with many of them still today,” Dan said. My first partner, Tom, was very good at this. I was always working and felt like I didn’t have a lot of best friends. Tom had several people who considered him their best friend. I admired that about him. I told myself that I wanted to be that way. So, what I took from Tom is that I have worked hard to stay in touch with people and caring about their needs.”

Dan’s fourth passion is one he shares in with his wife, Beverly, and that is phi-lanthropy. There are very few nonprofit events that don’t include the Rancon name on them somewhere. From being a major sponsor of an economic forum, to being a program sponsor at a Friday night high school football game, Rancon is there.

“If you give every day, you will get more in return. It is a culture we believe in and

have always made it part of our business model.”

Dan stated. “We want our community to be the best it can be, and that takes all of us doing our part.”

Dan does not just talk. The names Dan and Beverly Stephenson are on dedica-tion plaques throughout the region for their personal support of causes such as the arts, education and kids.

“I have always been involved in youth sports. I helped with the sports park and also the performing arts,” he explained. “Through the years, I have been asked to be involved in many things like the hospitals and the Boys & Girls Club, but I can’t say I did those from personal passion. It is more a community leader responsibility.”

“I am passionate about youth sports and the theater.”

Dan and Beverly Stephenson were a large part of the driving force to get a new community theater built in Old Town Temecula. The Old Town Community Theater is a state of the art facility that every other community in the IE would like to have.

As a developer, Dan Stephenson has wanted this area to remain a country community. The fact is incorporated in many of the local developments we

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enjoy: walking, horseback riding and biking trails are from visions like Dan’s. We continue to add communities with a five-acre-lot minimum requirement. The equestrian and wine businesses of our region continue to thrive and grow.

The country culture we have here was as big a part of the plan for our region as the layouts of the communities and

services that the planners saw; at least in Dan Stephenson’s eyes.

Dan has built countless acres of avo-cado and citrus groves. He has added vineyards to many of his upper end developments and he has been chosen

Two members of Dan’s team died the day day they headed up the side of Mt. Everest.

Story continues on page 35.


The fire in the fireplace is warm and glow-ing, the frosty mugs of ale are drawn, and it is time for another scuttlebutt session around the old Green. We are sure that our look at James Madison last month gave you new insights into the Father of our Constitution. In May, we discussed Alexander Hamilton, our first Secretary of the Treasury; and, as we discussed, Madison lived a very accomplished life, including being the fourth President of the United States. This month, we will explore the life and times of John Jay.

John Jay was the third author of the Fed-eralist Papers. He was also the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He is the least known of the founders, perhaps because he refused to sign the Declara-tion of Independence. In fact, he resigned a seat in Congress to keep from being asked to sign it.

To understand the role of each these authors is to understand some of the struggles that the Founding Fathers endured on the road to ratification.

Although John Jay was not there to sign the Declaration of Independence, he was a member of the commission that nego-tiated the treaty with Great Britain that included the long awaited recognition of independence by the Brits and estab-lished their recognition to the boundar-ies that the colonies wanted. John Adams, Ben Franklin and John Jay signed the Treaty of Paris in Paris, in 1783.

By the early 1790s, it had become appar-ent to John Jay that violations of the Paris

Treaty by the Kingdom, as well as the Colonies, were going to lead to another war with Great Britain. As early as 1786, as Secretary of Foreign Affairs, John Jay warned, in an address to Congress, that with the constant violations of the Paris Treaty, the Colonies were certainly head-ed to a new military confrontation.

Complaints by the Colonies included the facts that the British continued to con-fiscate American merchant ships, they refused to remove their ships from the Great Lakes, and they were maintaining outpost forts in the Great Northwest.

The British complained that the Colonies had not repaid debts to their merchants, and they continued to confiscate prop-erties of Loyalists. Jay documented that the Colonies were the first to breach the treaty, but the British were using the violations to essentially ignore the more important aspects to the treaty.

It was during this period that Hamil-ton, Madison, and Jay began to secretly author the Federalist Papers. 1787 has been identified as the year they wrote the 85 essays. Following their publishing in several prominent New York newspa-pers from October 1787 to August 1786, the Federalist Papers were made an offi-cial public document when it was pub-lished as a book in 1788. It was eventually admitted into the Library of Congress.

This was an eclectic group of authors that came together to write the 85 essays, but to understand the time frame and what was going on at the time they were being

written is amazing. John Jay had many years of experience by this point. He had been involved in all levels of New York State and Federal Governments, serving as a delegate to the 1774 and the 1777 Con-tinental Congress (he presided as Presi-dent of the 1777 Continental Congress), a member of the New York Constitutional Congress, and as the first Chief Justice of the New York State Supreme Court.

As previously stated, this was an era when violations of the Paris Treaty were the daily news. Jefferson and Madison were breaking from Washington and Hamilton on very crucial issues, includ-ing the importance of a standing army and the tariffs to pay for it. Washington and Hamilton had started the Federal-ist Party and Madison and Jefferson had started the Democrat-Republican Party.

In 1788, President Washington appointed John Jay as the first Justice of the United States Supreme Court. This was less than two years after the Federalist Papers appeared in a series of New York news-papers.

Included in the list of services provided to the Colonies, John Jay was sent over seas as the Minister to Spain (1779) and as Secretary of Foreign Affairs (1784). His stature on the world stage rivaled that of Franklin. So, when deciding who would write the essays on the foreign relations, they turned to Jay to frame the debate.

Jay wrote the essays 2, 3, 4 and 5, all titled “Concerning Danger From Foreign Force and Influence.” He also authored

Scuttlebutt from Buckman TavernBy: Jonas ParkerAuthors of the Federalist Papers, part 3


essay number 64 which described the role of the new Senate. Number 64 was titled “The Power of the Senate.” Essay 62 and 63 titled “The Senate” are assumed to be written, in tandem with Madison and Alexander. Essay 65, like Jay’s 64, was titled “The Pow-er of the Senate” and was written by Hamilton.

In April of 1794, in a letter written by President Washington, Jay was asked to leave the Supreme Court and go to Great Britain to address the continued escalation of warlike acts on the Great Lakes, the open seas and the great northwest. His assignment was pri-marily to persuade the British Empire to live up to the Treaty of Paris.

Upon his return from this trip, he was criticized for the concessions he made with Great Britain, who at that time was pre-occupied with a war with France. But, the Congress ratified the Treaty in 1796 and today is known as the Jay Treaty and, is considered to be a monumental success.

The Jay Treaty was John Jay’s last assignment on the National level. In 1797, he was elected Governor of his beloved state of New York. He retired from that position in 1801.

This is our last look at the authors of the Federalists Papers. We have spent the past four months discussing these important essays that shaped the debate for ratification of our Constitu-tion. Our goal was to excite you about learning more about our heritage and this great American Experiment. We hope at least one reader has taken the time to Google the Federalists Papers and has spent the past few months reading and discussing them with family and friends about their pro-found significance in American his-tory.

Well, the embers in the fireplace are quickly turning a light grey. The ale mugs are empty, and it is time once again to close this session of scuttle-butt. We will continue to pursue thought-provoking topics, as our scut-tlebutt sessions are the highlight of our month. Next month, we will look at the life and times of another Found-ing Father. Until then, keep your pow-der dry and your musket near by.

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ANNOUNCEMENT

The Second Amendment In June, the Supreme Court of the United States rendered its decision on District

of Columbia v. Heller. The decision extended an earlier ruling that confirmed the Second Amendment and the premise

that citizens have the right to own a hand gun in their home for self-defense.

The latest ruling includes language that precludes city and state law makers from

trying to implement laws that are in conflict with our Second Amendment.

The second Amendment is only 27 words long, but in those 27 words, our framers

covered two extremely volatile topics; militias and guns. This ruling helps

separate the two into two separate debates.

This is a historic ruling that will receive a lot of attention in the next several

months. There are many ramifications from this ruling and we will explore those ramifications in our August

Scuttlebutt from Buckman Tavern.

Jonas Parker


Bill Seltzer

The Golf Teacher’s Journey in ParadiseBill Seltzer is our local golf teacher. He is living his dream and loving life at Journey. Although he has never had a PGA card or was a resident pro at a local country club, he is a teacher. He teaches golf from a very simple perspective. But, it is a perspective that has been devel-oped over a lifetime.

“One of the hardest things to do is to be a Monday Qualifier at a tournament,” Bill said in a recent interview under his pop-up canopy on the Driving Range at the new Pechanga Golf Course, Journey.

“In a tournament, there may be two or three spots available and there could be 40 or 50 players who show up Monday for the qualifying round. It is the most pressure I have ever had. You go to a city, you spend money to get there and be there; and it is all a waste if you don’t make it.”

“One time I qualified,” he continued, “I had a real nice round on that Monday and I waited around until Thursday; I was sleeping in my car the whole week. On Thursday I had a great round, I mean, it was great. I shot a 67, (five under); there were seven players who had shot between 65 (seven under) and 67, (five under). I felt great because I knew I was going to make the cut and that meant I would earn at least a little money.”

The next day,” he said with a sigh, “a different guy showed up. I shot an 82, (ten over). I missed the cut but it taught me something. You can’t just expect the same guy to show up,” he explained. “It made me realize that whenever you go

this simple understanding has driven his career since then and has helped him teach hundreds of people how to better play golf.

The fundamentals of a golf swing are second nature to Bill. He grew up in the North Shore area of Chicago, the oldest of three boys. His father had a passion for golf and enjoyed studying the funda-mentals of golf.

“My Dad was an avid golfer. He was not a great golfer, but he really understood the game,” Bill said; “especially to help a six year old kid get stared. He taught me a lot about it. He knew things; he knew the fundamentals quite well. He never could execute as well as he would have liked to but he sure taught me well.”

Bill started going with his father at age six. By the time he was 11 or 12, he was playing in junior tournaments.

“I improved a lot in high school because I started getting lessons from a local teaching pro,” he explained. “I played on the freshman and sophomore team, but it was when I was a junior I began to get really good. When I was a senior, I played as number one man on the team. We went to the state championship.”

Bill went to the University of Arizona and studied liberal arts and business administration. He played in a few tour-naments and continued to be a caddy, but he didn’t play competitively for the university team.

Bill thought many times about trying to go pro. His father discouraged it telling

to play for fun or for competition, you’re going to feel different… not necessarily bad, but you are going to feel different.”

“The weather might be a little different, or you may feel a little tired, or maybe you had too much coffee. The point is, you are not going to feel the same,” he continued. “So, this taught me, even though you played the day before, you’re not going to feel the same, so that feeling you had all that day was not necessarily going to be there.”

“What it taught me was to really know the

fundamentals; really have a good solid understanding

of the fundamentals.”

“And especially understand your own tendencies. We all feel different from day to day but the fundamentals don’t change.”

“We all have a set of components in our swing that we need to focus on based on our own tendencies. Before you even take a club out of the bag, you focus on those basic fundamentals; then when you do get ready to swing, it is not – ‘how do I feel today’? Because it doesn’t matter how I feel today. I am going to execute the fundamentals that I know. It made me be more serious about learning and understanding some things,” he con-cluded.

Bill was already a very accomplished golfer when he had this revelation. But

outdoor country review


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Bill it was a really tough life. Bill went back to Chicago to work in the family business. While there he started playing in more competitive tournaments. Bill spent the next ten years in Chicago, first working in his father’s jewelry manufac-turing business and then opening and operating two retail jewelry stores.

He sold the stores and moved to Aspen where he spent the next two years skiing all winter and playing golf all summer. When he left Colorado he came to Cali-fornia. He lived in northern California

where he was again in the jewelry busi-ness, this time as a distributor.

“I was working in sales and marketing and I just didn’t like it,” Bill admits. “It was no fun. I could have kept doing that, but I decided to make a plan. I made a plan to start a golf school. I wanted to teach average players techniques and understanding the game.”

“I started studying some of the greats. I studied Hogan and Nicholas. I read and studied everything I could find,”

Bill said. He continued to work and play golf… and prepare himself.

When the time was right he sold the business.

“I moved to Hawaii and I got really seri-ous about my golf game. When I turned fifty, I joined the Senior’s Tour,” he said. (Now known as the Champion’s Tour). He was finally a professional touring golfer on a national circuit.

“911 changed everything,” he explained. “I had written the business plan for my


golf school several years earlier and I said to myself, ‘if I don’t do it now, I’ll never do it.’”

He began scouting out the ideal location. He had narrowed his choices to two; the Carmel Valley or Temecula.

“It was the Temecula Creek Inn that cinched it for me,” Bill said.“

I really liked the property and the people.” In early 2002 Bill and his wife moved to Temecula and opened the Temecula Golf School.

His business includes not only individual lessons for local residents but is in large part a travel destination for serious or casual golfers who want to enjoy a golf holiday in Southern Cali-fornia.

He worked with the Temecula Creek Inn as his course and lodg-ing partner until 2008. He knew Journey was coming and he was determined to be part of it. He was giving lessons at the range before the clubhouse was built.

“I had already met with the tribe officials and the course management. I knew I was going to be part of this before it opened,” he said. The people here at Pechanga have been great to me,” he said.

“Scott Mallory is an old dear friend of mine,” he said, “so, when they announced they had hired him as head of golf operations, well - I just felt he was the perfect pick, he has the whole pack-age.

One of the first things Bill did when he moved to Temecula was join the Temecula Valley and the Murrieta Chambers of Com-merce. He has been very active in both. However, through the years, because his business is in Temecula, he became more involved in the Temecula Chamber.

“I started out not knowing anybody,” he remembered. “I got really involved in it. I was an Ambassador and did a lot in that capacity, and then in 2005, I was elected to their Board of Direc-tors.”

Bill will be termed out after this year. He will conclude two terms.

“I have to say that as far as learning about leadership and learn-ing about a lot of things in life, I have to give it to the Chamber. I feel they have a way. Alice Sullivan, the President/C.E.O. and the Board – the way it operates, our staff; some how the Cham-ber was able to bring out the best in me.”

“My passion is to teach, I love to teach, I love to deliver the information,” Bill said.

I love to help people understand, but the thing that is my big-gest passion is that people actually learn and get better. I have seen people who are athletes that are frustrated they can’t play; they don’t think they are good enough. Then to be able to see them understand it, that to me is what it is all about,” said the teacher.

•

Bill’s onsite equipment fils his student, Greg Gonzalez’s swing.

Bill can now show Greg a slow motion video of his swing to demonstrate where he needs to improve.

Greg now gets hands-on instruction on the fundamentals.


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Cowboy Jim a Montana Range Cowboy in PerrisBy Karen Bradford

equestrian country review


Who would have guessed that learning “to cowboy” would eventually be written in a book

where it could be studied, underlined, highlighted and savored at night before going to sleep in a nice, comfy bed—per-chance to dream of dusty days spent wrangling a herd of cattle to round-up?

Those who remember Billy Crystal and his friends in City Slickers know that little boys may grow up, but they do not forget their dreams of having a trusty horse for a pal, a bandana ‘round their necks and a lariat at the ready on their saddles.

Jim Brooks was one such little buckaroo, born in Georgia and brought up in Penn-sylvania: states that are about as differ-ent in setting, philosophy and culture as it gets from his beloved cowboy movies featuring John Wayne and Gene Autry. Oh, and one other thing: There were no role models of black cowboys to be found anywhere in the movies.

So where does a boy go to dream? For Jim, his vision of cattle drives on the open range under the big sky was cemented when reading the classic novel Smoky the Cow Horse by Will James. By the lovely power of imagination, Jim’s quick mind easily filled in his face as one of the wran-glers.

Those early dreams later turned into more than his imagination could have foretold: in addition to mastering the cowboy life, Jim Brooks has become a Renaissance Man, Western-style, as him-self an author of cowboy advice books, illustrator, lyricist, songwriter, teacher of the cowboy way, publisher, actor, rhythm guitarist and lead singer of Jim Brooks and His Ranch Hands!

“I admit, I never knew why, but ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to be a cowboy,” Brooks said.

“Fortunately, my folks never tried to dis-suade me.”

Once his goal of being a cowboy was set, Jim Brooks spent summers cowboying in the West until graduating from high school and college as he promised his parents. “Eventually, I’m going to get my skull cracked and need an education to fall back on,” so he earned a degree from Penn State. “That was it, end of story,” he said about graduation, “and I went out


It’s all in a day’s work for a cowboy, from Jim Brooks showing excellent form in “pegging out” a perfect ride to ropin’, tyin’, stayin’ on a bronc, saddle breakin’ a horse by first

covering its eyes and showing the tools of his trade: leather chaps (pronounced “shaps”)

to protect his legs, lariat and a plastic steer head to show how lassoin’ is done!


there”: there being Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska and the Dakotas.

He described how he felt as he traveled through the rolling plains of the Ameri-can Mid West that seemed to abruptly change in the town of Chamberlain, South Dakota, on the Missouri River. “The alfalfa and soy beans changed to Western-looking hills, bluffs and draws. As soon as I saw that, I felt like I was home, a place I’d been before. I knew that from the beginning.”

Jim was smart enough not to call him-self a cowboy just yet, though that was always in his head: “cowboy” needs to be earned. He spent the years of 1960 and ’61 as a ranch hand: putting up hay, fix-ing fences and the many other inglori-ous jobs that keep a ranch running and a man employed, even milking cows.

“Oh yes, I be a cow-milking fool!”

“It took about five years before anybody called me a cowboy,” Jim revealed. “Then I became a drifting cowboy: up north in summer, and after fall round-up, I head-ed my truck south to Texas, New Mexico and California to get out of the cold. I’d drift on — one month, two months, three

people might imagine based upon that character.

As his drifting life ceased and the now-married couple got into ranching with a small “cow-calf operation” of 200 head, Jim’s’ cow-boying just paid the bills.

“. . . but I began to think I’m pretty lucky, now how am I going to provide for this girl?”

When winter temperatures stayed at 35 degrees below zero and the wind blew down out of Canada, Jim continued thinking and found work as a “sugar-beet man” in the local mill: “Inside the plant was a nice 70 degrees, and I made $600 a month. I was comfortable, every-body was treatin’ me real well. I thought, ‘You’re doin’ really good, Jim!,’ but about three weeks into it, I got driftin’ fever. There was the

first pay day, then the second pay day, and I thought, ‘I can’t work here any-more.’ I went 30 miles south of town and got a job feedin’ cattle in 40-below. I was a lot happier than in a nice, comfy fac-tory!”

Since graduating from college, except for that very short career as a sugar-beet man, Jim Brooks has never done anything else but cowboyin’ and ranching.

One benefit of stormy weather that Cow-boy Jim soon learned, however, was how to make long winter nights pass: just like his author mentor Will James, he started to write down his own cowboy experi-ences of snorty broncs, bawling cattle, self-reliance and the satisfaction of living a man’s life by a job well done.

“It was cold and snowin’ in cow camp,” Jim said, recalling the bitter cold and flinching just a bit as remembered snow-flakes started to fall in his memory. “Snowin’ like a son of a gun.” He said that the story took a while to formulate as he started to write in longhand, so he regularly checked the herd to make sure the stock was alright.

Cowboy Jim had the good sense to do something with his writing, too: He soon became a published storyteller after mail-ing his work about a bucking horse to the famed Western Horseman magazine. “They sent me a check! The next thing you know, it’s in the magazine! After I

— until wild-horse round-ups when we’d catch ‘em and sell ‘em until we’d go rode-oing before the fall cattle round-up. Then the cold wind would start to blow, and I’d go south again.”

He didn’t take his own advice one year when he “was fixin’ to head out” and said yes when asked to winter-over, tending a cow camp with about 900 head of cattle in Montana. “The only problem was that I met Connie,” he said: the beau-tiful blonde daughter of a Norwegian rancher.

“That was the end of my lone driftin’.”

In 1969, Montana was noted as the most prejudiced American state regarding race. “We had to get special permission to get married,” said Jim , recalling the cynical judge who stroked his chin as he considered their request.

“There were no black people and espe-cially no black cowboys,” Jim said about the times and civil rights that were slow in coming to the northern states. “Older people there only remembered Stepin Fetchit,” (the stage name of a black American comedian and early film actor whose roles became associated with negative stereotypes of African Ameri-cans). Jim said he earnestly worked to set a dignified example of a black man rather than the tap-dancing minstrel that

Partners in marriage for 41 years now, Jim Brooks met and fell in love with Connie when he was cowboying on her father’s ranch in Montana.

A man and his rope


wrote the first one, everything was easy after that.”

To his surprise, the magazine’s pub-lisher, Dick Spencer, recognized Brooks’ name during a bucking-horse sale in Miles City, Montana, and approached him to continue writing. Their relationship of pub-lishing Jim Brooks’ authentic stories lasted for eight years.

Next for the couple came: “This ole boy who had a brother who had a ‘teepee ranch,’ a spread on a reservation where you could rent a ranch. I started run-ning wild horses and sellin’ ‘em. That kept us in grub. We’d raise oats and buck out the horses” (start to break the horses to saddle for riding).”

Not all days were “good days at the office” for cowboys as Jim recalled one wild horse who wanted to stay wild:

“He was a big ole bay stud who bucked me off. He

jumped the fence, took off with my saddle, and we

had to go catch him!”

But the good days outnumbered the rest for a while as Jim and Connie rented another place and received a government loan to buy heifers to breed and build up their herd. The location was above the historic area of Custer’s Battlefield in Montana, or “the Battle of Greasy Grass” as Jim was told by a Cheyenne elder who was an eyewitness to that day in 1875. “The Army’s later revenge was the end of their horse culture (the Indians), quite a deal. I appreciate it more now.” Jim said it wistfully, having seen the end of a people who loved and respected horses and the free life on the plains as much as he does.

At the same time as ranching, Jim con-tinued to rodeo, sometimes three times a week on their own ranch. Time went by until the fall of 1978 when a depression in beef prices started to record plum-meting sales and little profit as long-time ranchers began to sell out. The couple foresaw the inevitable outcome and pre-emptively sold their cattle, equipment and trucks while they could still pay off their government loan.

The long-ago habit of drifting south for the winter caused Jim and Connie to end up in California, first tending 125,000 head of cattle near Coalinga.

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In their work, Jim and Connie started meeting people who already were a legendary part of the American West-ern: Chuck Connors, Jimmy Stewart, Roy Rogers, Jane Russell (remember her famous role in the Western movie The Outlaw, financed by Howard Hughes?) and Gene Autry’s faithful horse Cham-

pion with his show bridle that featured a bit whose shanks were stylized pistols at the cheeks of the bit.

Drifting a little farther south took them to Julian in the backcountry of San Diego on the Spoke Ranch and ultimately to

Jim & Connie setting up for a roping class demonstration.


that await transcription and organiza-tion for publishing.

Jim also says he writes songs all the time. “I’ve got hundreds of them … It just comes to me, and I’m thankful to the Lord. I keep a pencil and I write them down.” His band, Jim Brooks and His Ranch Hands, featuring traditional and steel guitars, fiddle, bass and drums, are showcased performers at public and pri-vate-hire events. A recent fan letter from a member of the legendary Sons of the San Joaquin band gave Brooks an exhila-rating endorsement of his music.

A Lesson in Life

But as the consummate performers and role models that they are, Jim and Connie continue their roping demonstrations at fairs and other country life events to the delight of families and parents happy to show their children a part of the vanish-ing American West.

Part of what impressed Jim in the tale of Smoky the Cow Horse was the lesson that when horses are gentled and handled with respect and kindness, they grow into reliable, steady and willing partners; but “breaking” a horse into submission can break a horse’s spirit. Author Will James make the comparison that “break-ing a horse the way he’s broke on the range is about the same on the animal as schooling is to the human youngster.” Those treated roughly or abused turn out poorly. Just like the thoughtful gentling of a wild horse to learn the new lessons of saddle and bridle, Jim and Connie patiently and lovingly show the human young ‘uns how to coil a lariat, circle it and throw a loop over the horns of a plas-tic steer head mounted in a sawhorse.

The “teachable moment” is always in mind for Jim, and he continues his per-sonal standard — begun as his response to the ignorant stereotype of Stepin Fetchit’s black man as buffoon—to be that honorable person who is worthy of being called a cowboy, no matter the col-or of one’s skin.

Will James would be proud of Jim Brooks, cowboy.

Cowboy Jim continued to write his mem-oirs and cowboy advice in book format, as well as compose songs and perform with his band. He even composed and recorded Starlight and Roses, an entire CD of original love songs to Connie! Instead of singing to a horse as Gene Autry did, how’s that for keeping his wife in love with him?

What does the future hold?

He says he looks to spend more time with his writing and illustrating, show-ing folders and envelopes that bulge with manuscripts, photos and his drawings

As a role model to the next generation, Brooks teaches the time-honored cowboy skill of roping. With the reduced size of the lariats and sawhorse to be

roped, even the littlest wranglers could achieve a feeling of success!

Norco, which became their home for 16 years.

The people and feel of Norco’s “Horse-town USA” lifestyle and Southern Cali-fornia’s pleasant weather suited Jim and Connie as they settled into a happy life of creating a horse camp—horse train-ing, teaching the cowboy skills of ropin’ and rodeoin’ — traveling to state and county fairs to perform, acting in movies as card-carrying members of the Screen Actors Guild and instructing fellow actors Bruce Boxleitner, Ben Kingsley, Melissa Gilbert and singer Chris LeDoux in the Western lifestyle.

Jim Brooks and His Ranch Hands

“When you give a lesson in meanness to a critter or a person, don’t be

surprised if they learn their lesson”

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Gates open at noon; opening ceremonies at 12:45 p.m.

Watch Jim Brooks with his rope and loops demonstration during festivities in Norco!

George Ingalls Equestrian Event Center 3737 Crestview Avenue, Norco

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Admission is $5 per person; 10 & under, free.

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-Good advice and codes of the range

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•Alwayswaityourturn,whetherropingorfillingyourplatefromthechuckwagon.

•Nevercutinfrontofanotherrider’shorse.

•Alwaysremembertorollupyourbeddingandstanditonendtokeepsnakesandrodentsfromcrawlingupinit.

•Payattentiontoyourbossandridealittlebehindhim.

•Ifyourhorseblowsupandbucks,tryandtalktheoldponyoutofhisnotions,andifthatdoesn’twork,you’dbettertakeadeepseatandashortreinandjusthangonandrattle.

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country style- healthy eating

• The raspberry is a very delicate fruit, so you want to look for rasp-berries that are dry and firm. If the fruit is moist, it will be soft and pos-sibly contain levels of mildew. As soon as the fruit is home, refriger-ate or freeze it unless you plan to eat the fruit immediately. Do not wash it until the fruit will be eaten or used, again to avoid damage and mildew.

• The red raspberry originated from Asia, according to Roman records discovered dating to the 4th cen-tury AD. However, the black rasp-berry is now grown only in North

“Champagne!” “Pancakes” “Sorbet” “Tea” “Beret” “Margaritas!” “Wine (duh!)!”By Jill Roberts

T hese are some of the recent responses I received on Facebook regarding this luscious red fruit.

I myself remember in high school when The Artist Formerly Known As Prince --- when he was still called Prince --- sang the lyrics: “ She wore a raspberry beret, the kind you find in a second-hand store.”

I also remember that when one of my daughters was very much pregnant, someone suggested drinking herbal rasp-berry-leaf tea to induce labor and make contractions more productive. She drank the tea and did not go into labor … but it did occupy her mind for a couple of more days!

Raspberry sorbet is sometimes served between meal courses as a way to cleanse the palate before the next

A Raspberry to your Health!A Raspberry

offering. I remember the first time I was served sorbet before the main course at a beautiful restaurant: I hon-estly didn’t know its purpose until our host explained it.

Raspberry is also a way to describe a hot, brilliant red-dish-pink in color and looks very nice as lipstick, nail polish or silk blouses. “Blowing a raspberry,” however, AKA the “Bronx cheer,” is the noise made by sticking out the tongue between tight lips and blowing to signify derision or silliness.

Raspberries, as well as many fruits, are used in wine, champagne and even beer to give them a unique and sweetly fruity flavor.

America (where this fruit was not grown until the 19th century!).

• This fruit is low in calories: A cup has only 64 calories, 15 grams of carbohydrates and only one gram of fat. Raspberries also contain one gram of protein and eight grams of fiber.

• Considered a bramble fruit because it grows on a prickly shrub and belongs to the rose family, the rasp-berry has much to offer, including an abundance of health benefits.

• Approximately 200 different species of raspberries exist. While most

people are more familiar with red and black raspberries, the berries also come in purple and yellow.

• If you grow your own, the fruit should only be picked in the early morning when raspberries are cool and firm. Use both hands to pull gently on the raspberry from beneath the leaf, making sure to keep the stem and hulls attached. Be careful not to stack raspberries to avoid them becoming crushed and ruined.

• This fruit will only last for two to three days in the refrigerator.

Interested in more raspberry facts and tips? We got ‘em!


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• When freezing raspberries, you have two options. First, you could freeze the fruit without sugar, which would allow the raspber-ries to keep for about three months. However, if you were to add sugar and then freeze, raspberries will last in the freezer for a full year. Be sure to thaw them at room temper-ature.

Health benefits? We have those, too!• Being rich in antioxidants, raspber-

ries helps neutralize free radicals in the body and prevent damage to cell membranes.

• Raspberries can restrain prolifera-tion of cancer cells and even the for-mation of tumors in various parts of the body, including the colon.

• Daily consumption of three or more servings of raspberry may lower the risk of age-related macu-lar degeneration, a leading cause of vision loss in older adults.

• The anthocyanins present in rasp-berries have been found to reduce the risk of heart disease and also delay the effects of aging.

• The presence of salicylic acid in raspberries might slow down ath-erosclerosis (hardening of the arter-ies).

• Raspberry is a good source of quer-cetin, an antioxidant that dimin-ishes the release of histamines and thus minimizes allergic reactions.

• Manganese and vitamin C, two antioxidant nutrients in raspber-ries, help protect the body tissue from oxygen-related damage.

• Raspberries are one of the few fruits whose consumption would not have much effect on the body’s blood sugar levels.

• Research has shown that the regu-lar consumption of raspberries is good for those suffering from inflammation and pain.

3 EASY STEPS TO A RASPBERRY-

TOPPED CAKE

1Use a chocolate cake box mix. Follow directions to bake

two layers in 9” round pans.

2Between the two cake layers, spread half a container of

butter cream-flavored ready-made cake icing.

3Top cake with fresh raspberries just before serving. Add a light

dusting of powdered sugar to the cake.

�0 July 2010 Country Legends Magazine

wine country review

RusTy MAnnIng -

The Balloon Meister of Temecula Valley

When floating over it, the Tem-ecula wine country has a much different look at 6 a.m. than at

6 p.m., but for Rusty Manning, it is just another day at work.

“I fly every day,” he said with a smile, “seven days a week, but it isn’t so bad. I go up early, and my work day is over by mid-morning.”

Rusty and his company are a large part of the Temecula wine country. His “A Grape Escape” is not the only hot-air bal-loon company in Temecula, but no one has worked harder at making ballooning a part of the Temecula experience than has Rusty and his wife, Cherise.

Rusty grew up with a desire to fly planes: first in Albuquerque, New Mexico (itself with a huge balloon festival). Then he followed his father to Southern Califor-nia, and eventually settled in Temecula, where his father opened a machine shop.

“You know, I grew up working on cars and working in the machine shop,” Rusty said. “I just didn’t really take to it. I was actually a mechanic at a dealership at one point, and the machine shop bored me; I guess I was always looking for some-thing with adventure.”

His father’s machine shop was on the west side of I-15 when there was an airport at the base of the mountain near where Business Park Drive is now. “I would just hang around the hanger to see what I could learn,” he explained. “Eventually, I started taking flying lessons and worked toward my certification.” He earned his fixed-wing pilot’s license and enjoyed piloting pleasure flights, but his life-long goal of flying for a living was still many hours away.

At that time, Cherise worked at Dan’s Feed Store, seemingly the center of every-thing in the Temecula Valley. One day a man walked in and said he was looking for someone to work on his hot-air bal-loon crew. When she told him that Rusty was into airplanes and flying and may be interested, she was told to have him at Thornton Winery at six the next morn-ing; he was.

Rusty’s personality and passion for flying soon became known by balloon owners in other ballooning circles. After spend-ing the following two years on a balloon crew, Rusty was anxious to become the pilot.

“I would fly in the morning in Temecula and afternoons in Del Mar,” he said. “If I didn’t have a flight in Del Mar, I could pick one up in Palm Springs. I would almost always pilot two balloon flights a day. “

After two years of flying every day for someone else, Rusty bought his first bal-loon.

“I figured I was doing everything except owning the balloon,” he recalled. “The owner didn’t even need to show up, and he made more than me!” He added, “I bought a used one. A new balloon in those days was about $25,000 and good for 500 hours. I paid $10,000 for one with around 200 hours on it, so it was a good deal for my first balloon.”

Rusty had now become a businessman. Cherise, now working in Temecula as a teacher, wasn’t sure how he was going to

“I was always looking for something with adventure.”

make money owning a balloon, which seemed like a reasonable concern!

So how do you make money owning a balloon? You sell rides.

Selling rides is a retail operation, which means balloons and crew have to be available on a regularly scheduled basis. The only way to grow the business was to offer additional capacity, so Rusty flew twice a day with his own balloon. He also added billboards to his balloons, and successfully sold some highly visible advertising space, but his primary busi-ness is selling rides.

As the number of visitors to the wine country has grown, so has the balloon business: Rusty has added a complete new balloon rig every year and now owns and operates 10 balloons with trucks and all the equipment and crew for indepen-dently flying each.

Weather permitting, there is A Grape Escape balloon in the air over wine coun-try every morning.

“During the summer, we fly three or four balloons on regular weekdays, and we fly all eight balloons on weekends and holi-days,” Rusty explained. “We could fill more on the weekends if we had them.”

The success of A Grape Escape is Rusty and Cherise’s continual passion and enthusiasm for their business. Their goal is to ensure the visitors who come to our valley, from all over the world, have the best possible hot-air balloon experience. Rusty obviously enjoys his business and

his work. He flies over wine country every morning while the rest of us are just rising to think about our days.

Rusty and his crew are the face of Temecula to many of our out-of-town visitors, and they understand that responsibility. Rusty’s crews are made up of well-trained young people who tend to their work with enthusiasm, assisting each guest with a smile and greeting.

Cherise left her job and joined the company many years ago. “She runs the office and the business operations,” Rusty says. “She is really good at that, which allows me to continue flying and working with the pilots and crews.” Cherise has two staff mem-bers who assist her in the office, and Rusty has a staff of two or three full-time pilots with seasonal crew staff.

Although Rusty may be finished flying by mid-morning, he is far from being finished for the day. Both Rusty and Cherise are active in our community. Rusty served on the

July 2010 Country Legends Magazine �1

Rusty chooses the launch point each morning. They launch from Wilson Creek Winery whenever possible, but many

mornings fog or overcast sends them looking for another ideal spot. His morning is a choreography of routine which culminates

in a colorful and spectacular lift-off for each balloon.

�2 July 2010 Country Legends Magazine

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“I wasn’t there in the beginning, when the chamber of commerce was putting on the balloon and wine festival in town,” Rusty explained. “When I joined them, they had broken away from the chamber and formed their own non-profit. It was already going but it was small. I went in and offered to volunteer. Once I got there I discovered they were paying an outside

Temecula Valley Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and termed-off after six years of active leadership. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Temecula and is the club’s recent past president.

He is best known, however, as the “Bal-loon Meister” of the Temecula Valley Bal-loon & Wine Festival.

vendor to supply balloons. I convinced them that we could do it better and more cost efficient ourselves. I was able to con-vince them and we began to manage the balloon portion of the festival.”

Rusty and Cherise have been very involved in the festival ever since. Rusty is on the Board of Directors for the event

Working with his ground crew, Rusty lands the gondola directly onto the trailor!

In 1993, Rusty was the pilot of the famous Tony the Tiger balloon. Cherise was in a serious accident that year. Rusty

resigned that position to stay home and care for her.

July 2010 Country Legends Magazine ��

and a Past C.E.O. Cherise is a Committee Chairperson and they both volunteer at the event

It was this recognition, however, that got him in the movies. They received a call in the office from an assistant producer from a Hollywood production company that was shooting the movie, The Ugly Truth. They had been referred to A Grape Escape as the official ballooning compa-ny for the Balloon & Wine Festival by the festival office. One scene of the movie was to take place at a balloon festival.

They wanted to bring the production to the valley to do the isolated scenes in advance of the festival; then be on scene to gather additional footage of the launches during the festival. The shots made it into the movie and Rusty got credit as a stunt man at the end of the movie.

A Grape Escape, was featured in foot-age (but didn’t make the final cut) for the TV show “Tori and Dean Inn Love” with Tory (Spelling) and Dean McDermott, and an episode of the Real Housewives of Orange County. Also several pieces on Curiosity Quest and The Discovery Channel.

The 2010 Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival was Rusty’s 14th year of managing the balloons at the festival.

Cherise is a key part of everything Rusty does. She was also a founding member and Board member of the Temecula Visi-tor & Convention Bureau. She currently serves as the 2nd Vice Chair for the Executive Board of the Temecula Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Through the years Cherise has been involved in many causes in our commu-nity.

Her past involvements include:

Chair, Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure

Boys & Girls Club Our Kids Rock- Donation committee

Advisory Board, Commerce Bank of Temecula

Chair, Temecula Valley Chamber of Commerce Tourism Committee

Board Member, Our Nicholas Founda-tion for Autism

In 1993, they started their business work-ing from their home in Murrieta. As they added balloons and trucks to their busi-

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Cherise and Rusty wait to be called to action in the film “The Ugly Truth”.

Rusty was in pilot heaven this day in 2002, when he was invited to watch planes land and take off from the flight deck of the USS Nimitz.

�� July 2010 Country Legends Magazine

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ness, parking the equipment in front of their home became too crowded, and they rented a hangar at the airport.

“Five years ago, we decided to move out here near our partner winery Wilson Creek, where we could keep all of our equipment on our own property,” he said. “It has worked out well for us, and we like it here.”

Rusty and Cherise have two children, Kyle is 12 and Kayla is 9. Kyle has started to spend a little time working with Rusty. You can imagine he will be spending a lot more time as the years go by.

Rusty explains that he is finally start-ing to take some days off because he has some pilots he can trust. “You have to know they will do it the way you would; that really is the only way you can leave,” he says.

With the growth of his pilots’ skills and experience, Rusty can see himself slow-ing down a little. For the future of the Manning family and their business? Obviously, the sky is the limit.

•

Rusty and his balloon hit the silver screen! Rusty and the crew on the set of “The Ugly Truth”.


by Supervisor Jeff Stone, to sit on the 2020 commission for the Temecula Wine Country.

Dan’s current personal direction is in developing and building the wine coun-try. He is very invested in some of the new winery developments. He sees the wine country growing to include around 120 wineries total.

It is hard to imagine anyone who has been more right about this area to this point; so, while we had Mr. Stephen-son’s attention, we wanted to take the opportunity to get a look into the future through his eyes. As we began to explore this area with him, he took us to the real-ity of the present to begin.

“If you look at the industrial base that exists here in Southwest County, it is staggering,” he began. “So we already have a base there. There has always been a really good consolidated effort, origi-nally by Kaiser/Aetna, attracting indus-tries out here. Then when the cities began to form, Temecula and Murrieta, they have done a really good job with their economic developments and bringing industry out here. So, it is very impres-sive the base we have here; and now it will just feed on itself as time go on.”

When asked what he sees the industrial base looking like he responded: “They want to attract medical, and are doing a good job of that. They want to attract high-tech; they have done a reasonable job of that with companies like National Rectifier. I think you are going to see an explosion in education. I see a lot of effort by Temecula and Murrieta trying to get a major institution out here. I do believe they will do that.”

“There is a lot of effort going in, right now, to bringing a lot more hospitals out here. So, that will be a major play … Plus, the fact that California has grown because of small start-up companies … because the affordability of the land and the industrial buildings and the office rents out here … and the homes; it’s an ideal place.”

“A lot of companies locate here because the owner of the company is looking for a different quality of life. It is country out here, whether it is the avocado regions or the horse region or the wine region, there is a lot of really good quality of life out here.”

So, are there still opportunities in our area?

“Oh, the opportunities are staggering,” Dan quickly replied. “Still a lot of land. There is still a lot of opportunity out here. The master plan set for Rancho Califor-nia as a country community is carved in stone. I see more of the same coming here and I think the same is terrific.”

“I am part of the effort to make sure we put in stone these country uses and I really want to keep promoting to get these trails set in stone so we have walk-ing, hiking and horse trails scattered all around. I see Old Town Temecula, which is doing a magnificent job growing in the

Dan Stephenson continued from page 15.

old-western theme, and it’s maintain-ing that integrity which is going to be an icon for southwest county, the same thing with the wine country.”

“Up until eight years ago, Temecula was still out in the country,” Dan explained. “Since 2001, 2002, all of sudden we have got their attention, there is an oversup-ply right now, but I think the next go around we will be part of the southern California metro instead of being just the bedroom community we were until then,” Dan concluded. Sounds like Pro-fessor Olson was a good teacher.

•

After fifteen hours of climbing, Dan reached th top of Mont Blanc, the highest point in the alps at 15,782 feet.

Dan has raced the Baja 1000 three times. Once on a motorcross bike and once in a buggy. His only finish was on the bike.

Charles B. Pate III, was born and raised in Hamlet, North Carolina, 75 miles southeast of Charlotte. He graduated from Marlboro Academy in Bennetts-ville, South Carolina. An avid athlete, Charles received his Associates Degree in Biology at Wingate College, Wingate, NC in 1974. He also studied marine biol-ogy at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington.

Charlie spent 20 years in the US Navy, stationed at Damn Neck, VA, Orlando, FL, and San Diego. Most of his 20 years served was in combat systems in San Diego, with the exception of a few years in Yokosuka, Japan.

Charlie served in Desert Storm toward the later part of the 80’s, where he worked closely with different SEAL teams on special operations. He was always high-ly motivated and at the forefront with his career in the Navy. He completed his BS Degree at University New York State during this time. It has been an honor for him to serve and defend the Consti-tution of the United States.

In April of 2001, he retired with hon-ors from the US Navy then settled in Temecula in spring of 2002, with his wife Connie. Charlie and Connie were

without children. This was a missing element in their lives.

So Charlie began coaching baseball for the Murrieta COLT baseball league. He also became involved in the Temecula Creek Men’s Golf Club. After research-ing different ways he could help children and more specifically, the children of Temecula, he decided to bring his enthu-siasm for golf, and his passion for serv-ing together for the 1st Annual Wishes for Children Classic Golf Tournament.

When asked why he started the charity golf tournaments, he replied, “Well, I love golf and I’ve played in lots and lots of tournaments where money was raised, so I figured I could do that to raise mon-ey for needy children here.”

The funds raised during the first few tournaments were given to Make a Wish Foundation. However, Charlie was frus-trated with the fact that only a portion of those funds would actually benefit local children.

Therefore, after joining one of the local chambers and meeting more people, he established the Wishes for Children Foundation in 2004 for the sole purpose of raising funds for Temecula Valley children. The money this foundation

raises stays here. Charlie had found his purpose.

Now, as the founder, CEO, and President of Wishes for Children, Charlie pursues his passion to serve the Temecula Valley community, by helping children.

Charlie is an active member of the Tem-ecula Valley Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Murrieta Chamber of Commerce, and President of Temecula Creek Inn Men’s Golf Club. Charles works part time at Staples on Highway 79 South. One of Charlie’s goals is to work in conjunction with other charities.

“If one charity gets a call about a need they might not be able to fill, then they should be

able to call other charities in the area to look for additional resources. This will ultimately

make it easier to help the needy in our community.”

From Christmas gifts, school clothes and supplies, to specific event plans, Wishes for Children has never turned down a local child’s wish.

In June, Wishes for Children surprised 36 residents of Rancho Damacitas with a fully funded trip to Disneyland. Lim-ousines, catering, new backpacks filled with goodies, spending money and more, treated these special children for a great day. Rancho Damacitas, located in Temecula, consists of group homes pro-viding a safe, therapeutic environment for children who have been removed from their abusive domestic situation.

Wishes for Children has approximately 40 active volunteers and will always wel-come more. Charlie reveals, “There is a long list of children in our area who still need our help, so we are always open to sponsorships for wishes and ideas on how to raise funds.”

What is Charlie’s wish?

“I would like to have all non-profits in the

community working hand-in-hand to provide each

other with resources to help all the needy children of

the Temecula Valley.”

main street

N o one smiles ear to ear more than Charlie Pate of Temec-ula. What makes him smile the most? The happy grins of ill or desperate children whom his local foundation,

Wishes For Children, has helped in some small way.

Photo courtesy of Kat Ellis/El-Ey Promotional



WISHES FORCHILDREN

7th Annual Wishes For Children Golf Classic Friday, September 17, 2010

Journey at Pechanga • 11am Shotgun StartBenefits:Wishes for Children Foundation44752 Corte SanchezTemecula, CA 92592

Sponsorships and Golf Reservations due by Wednesday, September 1, 2010All sponsorships and donations are tax deductible Tax ID #83-0413524

For more information:Call Charlie Pate: 951-326-0618 or Kristi Reedy: 951-704-6896


“Monsters vs. Aliens” Under the Stars

2nd Annual Family Movie NightIN TEMECULA WINE COUNTRY

Friday, July 9th, 2010Doors open: 7:30 p.m.Movie begins: 8:15 p.m.

Ponte Family Estate Winery35053 Rancho California RoadTemecula, CA 92591

• Giant outdoor screen set amongst the vineyards

• Raise funds for Team Ponte, a team of employees and community members running August 15, in America’s Finest City Half Marathon and 5K in San Diego, to benefit Oak Grove Center in Murrieta, a 24-hour home for children recovering from abuse.

Benefits: Oak Grove Centerwww.oakgrovecenter.org

ADMISSION:Admission is complimentary,

but donations are encouraged.

Chairs will be provided; picnic blankets are recommended. Ponte kindly requests no outside food or beverages.

For Questions Regarding Event and Venue:Ragan Erickson, Ponte Winery 951-694-8855 x 250 www.pontewinery.com

Canine Support Teams, Inc.Post Office Box 891767

Temecula, CA 92589-1767

June 24, 2010

Dear Friend,

Canine Support Teams has been successfully plac-ing assistance dogs for 22 years to the disabled community. CST’s latest program is “PAWZ for Wounded Veterans.” Carol Roquemore, the CEO and founder of CST saw a great need to help the brave men and women that have served in the U.S. Military that had sustained disabling injuries or suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

With each dog valued around $15,000, it is important to continually seek funds so that we may keep our valuable programs in operation. Canine Support Teams does not charge our Wounded Veterans for their assistance dogs, they are given free of charge. It’s our way of saying “thank you.”

I am inviting you to help make a difference in the lives of these Veterans who have served our country courageously, but have returned injured and with physical disabilities. By partnering with a results driven organization and supporting our “Canine Support Teams 7th Annual Golf Classic” we can achieve the results desired.

Thank you your past support. We are requesting, once again, your support of this event by: Becoming a sponsor; sending a four-some; donating items for the T-bags, raffle or silent auction; or by supporting our program by sending a tax deductible donation.

The gift of your hard earned dollars or in-kind donation will provide independence and unconditional love and companionship that will last for many years to come to a well deserving soldier.

Please join us on October 22, 2010 at The Links at Summerly in Lake Elsinore, CA for a day of fun and fundraising.

Our non profit tax ID number is 33-0434821.

Gratefully,

Shannan BurkGolf Chair(951)966-9229

PAWZ FOR WOUNDED VETERANS7th Annual Golf Clasic

October 22, 2010 The Links at Summerly in

Lake Elsinore

Call (951)966-9229 to volun-teer, golf, sponsor, or donate items to the silent auction.

Thank you!

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country legends magazine july 2010

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