Flapjacks for Backpacks – Boys & Girls Club of San Marcos

Celebrate the new school year at the Boys & Girls Club of San Marcos’ very first Flapjacks for Backpacks event on Saturday, Aug. 14 from 7-11 a.m.! A twist on the annual pancake breakfast, the event will feature a Back-to-School Resource Fair topped off with an all-you-can-eat breakfast of pancakes, bacon, eggs, orange juice and coffee, opportunity drawings, and more!

Free health screenings will be available in partnership with TrueCare, and vision screenings will be available in partnership with the San Marcos Lions Club!

All proceeds will benefit the Boys & Girls Club of San Marcos – ensuring that program costs remain affordable to families and establishing an after school program scholarship fund for the 2021-22 school year.

Sponsorship opportunities are available! Contact Justin Buhagiar at justin@boysgirlsclubsm.org or (760) 471-2490 ext. 302 to learn more.

View the calendar entry for directions and more information.

Moose Lodge hosts Lions Club’s Eagle Scout ceremony

Four Eagle Scouts were installed into the highest rank of the Boy Scouts of America at a noon ceremony on Oct. 11 at the Escondido Moose Lodge (#1874). Troop 651, sponsored by the Lions Club of San Marcos, welcomed the Troop’s four latest Eagles.

The ceremony at the Moose was the result of a January breakfast between the Moose, the Lions and the Lake San Marcos Kiwanis Club on ways to coordinate their service to youth through their Scouting units. As the Lions Club and Kiwanis do not have their own lodges, the Moose has made its campus available for those clubs’ Scouting units alongside its own unit.

The Moose Lodge charters Cub Scout Pack 640, while the Kiwanis charters Pack 662. All three units – plus others – pitched in at two recent volunteer workdays at the Moose, helping clear brush along the creekbed to lessen this year’s fire danger.

Sunday’s ceremony was held under the County’s health order; only immediate family were present in person – while the ceremony was livestreamed via Zoom to the rest of the troop, the Lions Club, and extended friends and family. Those who attended wore masks, and practiced social distancing.

Boys & Girls Club of San Marcos gets new CEO

 Following a nationwide search, the Board of Directors for the Boys & Girls Club of San Marcos has selected a communications and fundraising veteran with over 35 years’ experience, Cathy Baur, as its new President and Chief Executive Officer. Baur began her new role at the Boys & Girls Club of San Marcos on September 1.

Baur joins the Club from California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) where she worked for nearly 12 years; serving four years as Vice President for University Advancement and prior to that as Associate Vice President for Communications. She also served as Executive Director of the CSUSM Foundation Board, a group of community leaders and philanthropists who cultivate and encourage charitable investment in the university. Under her leadership, the University completed its first comprehensive fundraising campaign exceeding its fundraising goal of $50 million with more than $55 million raised when it concluded in 2019.

“We are pleased to have Cathy join the Boys & Girls Club,” said Paul Malone, Boys & Girls Club Board Chair. “Her experience in fundraising and communication will be an excellent complement to our current staff and their expertise in delivering high quality programing to our members.”

In the new role, Baur will have oversight of a staff of 80 and be responsible for all aspects of the Club including strategic vision and growth as well as undertaking a $1 million capital campaign to build out a new site that will serve as the Club’s community resource center.

“The Boys & Girls Club of San Marcos plays such a critical role in our community during the best of times and even more so today as our families struggle in dealing with COVID-19,” said Baur, “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to join this amazing team and lead the Boys & Girls Club of San Marcos as we start this next chapter.”

In addition to her tenure at CSUSM, Baur served as Vice President of Marketing & Sales Support for JPMorgan Chase and also held executive positions at the San Diego Workforce Partnership and Poway Unified School District.

Baur replaces Tish Murry who retired earlier this year after serving more than six years as Boys & Girls Club of San Marcos President & CEO and whose career with the Boys & Girls Club movement was over 30 years.

Boys & Girls Club of San Marcos (BGCSM) is a non-profit youth development organization whose mission is to inspire and enable all young people to become productive, responsible and caring citizens. The organization, which first opened its doors in 1979 at Woodland Park, now serves over 4,000 members ages 6 to 18 at its standalone branch and 12 extension sites at school campuses and affordable housing communities throughout San Marcos and neighboring communities. As part of a nationwide movement of Boys & Girls Clubs of America, BGCSM offers youth programs, developed and run by trained youth development professionals, that emphasize three priority outcome areas: academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles.  To learn more or support the Club, please visit www.boysgirlsclubsm.org.

Scouts help clean up Escondido Moose Lodge

More than two dozen Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and parent volunteers gathered at 8 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 12 to work in den and patrol groups to help the Escondido Moose Lodge (#1874) clean up brush and complete tree removal. The volunteer clean-up day was in response to the Deer Springs Fire Prevention District’s ongoing abatement program to try to lower the fire danger in the region.

Cub Scout Pack 662 (Lake San Marcos Kiwanis Club) joined the Moose Lodge’s own Pack 640. Also participating were Boy Scout Troop 651 (San Marcos Lion’s Club), Escondido Troop 659, and Troop 760 from the Vista Boys & Girls Club.

More than a ton of greens debris was loaded into two large stake bed trailers and taken to the Escondido recycling yard to be converted into mulch.

Lions Club, Boy Scouts pitch in at Escondido Moose

Boy Scout Troop 651 (San Marcos Lions Club) showed up Saturday, September 5, at the Escondido Moose Lodge to assist with fire abatement efforts. Working with Moose members, the Scouts helped clear away brush, gathered palm fronds being cut down, and stacked firewood.

5th Annual Double Peak Challenge goes virtual

Friends of San Marcos Parks & Recreation is thrilled to announce that the 5th Annual Double Peak Challenge is back! This year is special in that the race is going virtual which means that anyone can participate from wherever they want! Participants can run/walk the official DPC course, or they can participate from any location of their choosing.

Race proceeds will benefit the San Marcos community through two important non-profit organizations: Friends of San Marcos Parks & Recreation and The San Marcos Promise.

Learn more on the Knights of Buena Creek Calendar.

Lake San Marcos Kiwanian elected District Governor-elect

Lake San Marcos Kiwanis announced that member Margo Dutton was elected Governor-elect of the Cal-Nev-Ha District for the 2020-2021 term.

The California-Nevada-Hawaii District of Kiwanis International is composed of 40 divisions spread across three states, with dozens of individual clubs. In turn, those clubs sponsor dozens of Circle K (colleges and universities), Key Clubs (high schools), Builders Club (middle school), K-Kids (elementary school, and Aktion Clubs (special needs adults). In addition, Kiwanis Clubs charter dozens of Boy Scout troops, Cub Scout packs, Venturing crews, Sea Scout ships, and Exploring posts. Other youth service organizations sponsored by or receiving financial support from Kiwanis Clubs include 4-H clubs, Future Farmers of America, JR ROTC detachments, and more.