Teal Is The New Orange

As we get closer and closer to the day so many ghosts and ghouls are waiting for, we begin to see decrations going up. One new decoration you may see this year on many doorsteps is a teal pumpkin.

The Teal Pumpkin Project™ is an initiative by the Food Allergy that began in 2014. The project is a national campaign designed to raise awareness of food allergies and promote inclusion of all trick-or-treaters throughout the Halloween season.

According t their website, "Last year, households from 50 states and 7 countries participated in the Teal Pumpkin Project™. This year, you can be part of an even bigger movement by joining 100,000 households pledging to participate in the Teal Pumpkin Project™!" They encourage everyone to take the pledge by clicking this link. After that just paint a pumpkin teal and place it outside and provide non-food treats (glow sticks, bracelets, stickers, etc.) for trick-or-treaters with food allergies.

I signed it, how about you?

Making A Difference: Cub Scouts from Pack 374 Help Feed Local Shelter Dogs

Contributing Author: Jenn Hagman

From One Pack to Another

Menifee, CA

Denise Boring, a Webelos Den Leader with Cub Scout Pack 374, and her den were looking for a community service project when they saw a need for food and other treats at Retrievers and Friends of Southern California, Inc. (RFSC), a local animal shelter.. The boys collected these items at meetings during the summer.  

On Tuesday, October 13, fourteen cub scouts (Hadden R., Taylor C., Levi B., Benjamin R., Dacota J., Kane V., Dylan L., Jonah B., Nijrell J., Evan S., Aden D., Jeffrey H., Anthony H., and Louis R.) helped unload over 600 pounds of food they had collected for the animals. The majority of the food collected was dog food, but also collected was cat food, rabbit food, treats, collars, and leashes. Liz and Nancy, who run and operate RFSC, gave the scouts, leaders, and parents a tour of the facility and taught the boys about their rescue and the importance of caring for animals.

The Webelos den worked very hard on this community service project and RFSC were overwhelmed with the amount of food donated.

Boys from Menifee Cub Scout Pack 374 with the food they collected for RFSC.

 

The boys learn how a trap was used to capture a stray dog left in a field. Evan S. wanted to make sure she was still able to eat the piece of chicken used to entrap her.

Anthony H. holds an adoption-ready puppy at RFSC.

About Pack 374: Cub Scout Pack 374 is the largest and most active Cub Scout pack in Menifee. Cub Scouts is for boys in 1st through 5th grade. We are chartered by VFW Post 1956 in Menifee and part of the Three Peaks District of the California Inland Empire Council, Boy Scouts of America. Learn more at http://www.Pack374.org .

About Retrievers & Friends of Southern California, Inc.: RFSC is an amazing local animal shelter nestled in the Menifee Valley. They are an all-volunteer, non-profit organization devoted to finding homes for Golden Retrievers and Labrador Retrievers, as well as other breeds of dogs as space allows. They are a full-service rescue, with dogs coming to them from all over Southern California. RFSC not only provides care for dogs while they are waiting for adoption, but they provide follow-up assistance for the life of the dog. RFSC offers short term and long term care for many animals. More information at http://www.retrieversandfriends.com .

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Predator Or Prankster? Riverside County Man Uses Social Media to Harass Women

Caution - NSFW Language - You Have Been Warned

Normally when I see "Facebook Beware" warnings I turn a blind eye but this one caught my attention so I looked into it. According to a few separate sources there is a man trolling social media message boards asking women to go with him on a retreat, or meet him alone, under a few various pretenses. In one post he pretends to be a Walmart manager in Perris, CA. wanting to hire two women for a sales associate position and asking them to meet him alone at a location of his choosing, where he will "give u a test to see if your qualified"

In another post he brazenly claims to be the Priest of St. James Catholic Church, and he is looking for women to go on a weekend retreat with him. In the post he asks women for their address so he can pick them up at their home, telling them that he will instruct them on what to wear to the retreat. In one message conversation with a women he instructs her that she may not wear any clothing other than lingerie and tells her that she must spend one hour with him in one on one counseling. She of course tells him where to stick it with some very colorful language.

According to some, these posts have appeared before, but they stopped for a period of time. In most of the posts he calls himself Martin Chalino Alvarez, and has an instagram handle of @monsterguy2011. When I searched Instagram for the account I found that it had been removed or never existed, and I could not verify his identity in any other way.

So far I haven't found any reports of any victims, and his posts are so full of obvious red flags that I find it difficult to believe any woman would fall for them. My best guess is that this is one of two things. Either this guy is a disturbed predator trying to lure young women for some unknown purpose and he is just really bad at it, or he is an internet troll with a severely warped sense of humor that enjoys getting a reaction out of people. I have attached some screen shots of his posts and conversations. You be the judge.

His relationship to Mayra's Tacos is unknown but probably bad for business.

Caution - NSFW Language - You Have Been Warned

Thanks to my friends in the What's Up Riverside County? Facebook Group for helping gather some of this information.

***Update 9am 10-15-15: As of now at least three victims have come forward with similar stories of harassment. One victim reported that when she spurned this predators advances she received threatening messages and pictures for 2 months. Pictures taken of her and her child, pictures of guns, and she was forced to eventually change her number. Police reports have been filed.

***Update 11am: The suspect in this case is apparently an employee of TE Connectivity in Hemet. TE Connectivity could not be reached for comment.

Kitchens Are For Girls: Raising A Boy In The New Millennium

My youngest boy is now three and a half years old. About a year and a half ago he started to figure out that a lot of his older sisters toys were pink, whereas most of the toys he and his brother had were blue.

When he started refusing to play with "girl toys" that presented us with a little conundrum because a few of the toys that he played with were some of his sisters hand-me-downs. There was a pink Barbie flip phone, a red VW Bug with a flower on the side and several pink and pastel kitchen items. 

We had a decision to make on how to handle it. Do we force him to play? Try and reason with a toddler? Been there done that, no thank you. Do we want to reinforce gender stereotypes and raise him to think that way? How will that thought process serve him in the world today? Not a very appealing option either. So we did the only thing we could do: nothing. 

We didn't dignify the problem with a response. We told him, "Oh you don't want to play with that toy? Should we take it away?" For most parents they already know the answer. It should come as no surprise that he said "No!" 

Eventually, by reacting that way we taught him that the color of the toy didn't matter. It was his decision to play with it or not. He got over it. Now our little chef loves to play in the kitchen and then go drive his trucks. 

Sport Chalet in Menifee: Business As Usual - For Now

A few days ago an announcement from the City of Menifee caused quite the commotion on Facebook, much to the surprise of Sport Chalet employees. The store was flooded with calls from patrons asking about the store's reported closure. Even the district managers were taken by surprise. There was a meeting at the store this morning to clarify the situation for employees.

Apparently in 2009 Sport Chalet corporate renegotionated a less expensive lease with Countryside Marketplace, but there was a clause that if another tenant approached with an offer to pay more, then the lease would be terminated. As it would seem Home Goods / Forever 21 have made the offer and it has been accepted by property management, although to date Sport Chalet has not received any legal termination notice. Store management is operating on a tentative closure date of January 31, 2016 until more information becomes available. Until then, it will be business as usual. There may be some items discounted when that date comes closer, but until then the store is not hanging out the "Everything Must Go" signs just yet.

According to Sport Chalet management the Menifee store is among the top producing stores in the company, and they may open another store in Menifee in the future, although right now it is too early in the process to tell. They want to remind their loyal customers that the company will still honor purchases and agreements made and that they have a store in Temecula for their convenience. For their scuba customers the closest store with a pool will be Redlands or Mira Loma and they will continue to offer classes there.

October is Adopt-A-Shelter Dog Month

Most people are well aware of the traditional association between breast cancer awareness and October. There are plenty of ways to support it out there. What most people are not aware of is that there are other causes that ask for support as well. One of those causes is Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog month.

I've always been a proponent of the "adopt, don't shop" philosophy. There are so many good dogs in shelters that need homes. The first dog we ever had as a family was adopted. We got her when my daughter who is now 14 years old was only about 15 months old. There was an adoption event in June of 2002 near where we were living at the time and we took our kids to see what the shelters and rescues had to offer. Nala, a golden retriever mix, had been rescued by a Labrador and Retriever rescue. When they found her, she was so matted they had to shave her from her collar to the tip of the tail, although they left a little tuft at the end like a lion.

It was love at first sight. She was very submissive to my kids, they said she was potty trained and even knew some basic commands. We filled out the paperwork and took her home right away. We stopped at a booth that was engraving dog tags (which turned out to be a smart move, aparently she was a jumper) and took her home. When my daughter woke up from her nap I brought her downstairs. Before she even saw her, my daughter heard the jingle of her tags on her collar and her face lit up. "Dog? Dog? Dog?", she said. That's when I knew without any doubt that we made the right decision.

Nala was a member of our family for the next decade. In her later years she went to live with my mother-in-law who needed the companionship of a low energy dog. She passed away a few years ago but she filled many needs in our family. She was a stress reliever, she was a playmate, she cleaned underneath the high chair very well, she was a companion to my family. She was a foster mom to a puppy we adopted from my old boss, whose lifestyle would not allow for a puppy (a story for another time). She was family and she made our lives better. 

I thought for a while about how I can help the cause and bring awareness. It is in loving memory of Nala and all shelter dogs like her that I am pleased to annouce a limited edition T-Shirt and Hoodie through teespring. The shirt reads "Dogs represent everything that is good in Man" which I believe is a fitting sentiment. In addition to sentiment and awareness, 20% of all purchases will go to help a local dogs in need.