HISTORY OF THE BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF CARLSBAD

By Barbara Brill, Contributing Writer for Carlsbad Magazine

For more than a half century, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Carlsbad has been preparing young people for the future. Now the local organization is working to keep its own future alive by planning to build a new, state-of-the-art 18,000 square foot clubhouse. A clubhouse that will serve as a safe haven for 200 to 300 young people a day.

In 2003, Lennar Communities and Lehman Brothers, Inc. donated 1.17 acres of land in the heart of Bressi Ranch, the master-planned community at Palomar Airport Road and El Camino Real, for the Boys & Girls Clubs' dream project -- a centrally located clubhouse and headquarters to supplement the original club on Roosevelt Street that has been renovated five times over the years, and which now has 15,000 square feet. And it will replace the bursting-at-the-seams 1,440-square-foot mobile unit that has been in La Costa for 23 years. Groundbreaking is slated for 2007, and construction should be completed in 12 to 18 months.

Planned for the new facility are technology, learning and teen centers, a full-size basketball court, office space and music, dance, aerobics and multi-purpose rooms. And what is needed for construction costs, operating reserves and program enhancements is $6 million; one million more than originally anticipated when a capital campaign committee was formed in 2004.

To date, that committee, with Greg and Barbi Nelson as co-chairs and Mayor Bud Lewis as honorary chair, has raised $3.3 million during its major gifts campaign. Topping the list of contributors are: the City of Carlsbad, $500,000; the County, $250,000; an anonymous donor $100,000; and John Tworoger, a real estate developer, $100,000. And $1 million -- the largest donation ever received by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Carlsbad -- came from greg and Barbi Nelson, who during the past five years have given the club more than $1.2 million, as well as the use of their home for meetings and benefits, and countless hours of volunteer work.

"This truly is a chance of a lifetime to create a beautiful new club that will impact our city's youth for years to come. Today, more than ever before, so many of our kids need the positive influence of the Boys & Girls Clubs. More than 15,000 young people live in our city today, and that number will grow significantly by the year 2010," said Greg Nelson, pointing out that the theme for the campaign is: A Powerful Legacy, A Dynamic Future.

Nelson knows from personal experience how the club, which was known as the Carlsbad Boys Club when it opened its door in 1952 -- the same year Carlsbad became an incorporated city -- has helped young people. He was 10 years old in 1959 when his mother, Marcy, left him and his younger brother, Doug, at the club every day while she worked two jobs after her husband walked out on the family.

Greg spent hours at his home-away-from-home playing basketball, learning about responsibility and leadership and making life-long friends. But, most of all, he was inspired and given hope for his future.

In 1965, he was named Youth of the Year, and as time went by, he began working at the club, starting off as aquatics director and moving up the ladder to physical education director, program director, branch director, and executive director. He even served in 1989 as President of the Board of Directors, of which he is a lifetime member. "I had no idea the place that kept my brother and me off the streets would change my life," said Nelson, who was honored in 2001 when the club named its basketball court after him.

To date, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Carlsbad, with its open-door policy, has provided more than 50,000 children, ages 6 to 18, a safe place to learn, grow and dream. To learn right from wrong. To learn new skills. To feel useful and competent.

While membership is $25 a year, scholarships are available and many programs are offered to non-members as well. Some of the programs offered include athletics, computer training, tutoring, reading clubs, drama, arts and crafts projects, leadership training, job counseling and life skills that help kids resist the temptations of drugs and alcohol.

"We are there to inspire our young people and to point them in the right direction so they can reach their full potential," said Ron Sipiora, Chief Professional Officer, who understands the importance of all the programs that help kids become productive, responsible and caring citizens in an environment where they have ongoing relationships with caring adult professionals.

Last year, the award-winning Carlsbad club was selected as one of the 15 pilot sites around that nation for the Youth for Unity program that promotes and celebrates diversity, and combats and prevents prejudice and bigotry. It was also picked as a pilot site for a NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) basic music program this offered twice a week.

"We must continue to grow and stay fresh and vital," said Sipiora, pointing out that a community-wide campaign for the new club will kick off later this year, and that the father-son team of Irv and Mike Roston will head the in-kind committee to solicit building materials and labor.

Greg Nelson is just one of the many success stories of this organization with a heart for our community's children. Indeed, the future of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Carlsbad draws on a vision for the future intertwined with a rich history of experiences and lives changed for the better.

Melissa Uribe and Christopher Taylor at the future home of the La Costa Branch of Boys & Girls Clubs of Carlsbad.

AN EVENING OF MUSIC BENEFITS ALL

On January 13 at 7 p.m., there will be a fundraiser, "America on Parade," which will spotlight Steinway artist Kevin Cole, who has delighted audiences worldwide with a repertoire that includes the best of 20th Century American music. His performances, especially ihs interpretation of Gershwin, have prompted accolades from some of the foremost critics in American music, as well as from conductors, such as Ben Zander of the Boston Philharmonic, who has told his audiences many times: "You are about to hear the best Gershwin pianist in the world."

The program will also include the Carlsbad High School Wind Symphony under the direction of Ralph Ewell. This award-winning group played at New York's Carnegie Hal in 2004 and is scheduled to perform in April at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. (a small portion of the proceeds from the concert will go to the Wind Symphony).

The fundraiser will be held at Carlsbad Community Church. Tickets, at $25 for adults and $10 for students, are available at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Carlsbad, 3115 Roosevelt Street, (760) 729-0207. There is also a $100 VIP package that includes preferred seating and an invitation to a private champagne reception and a mini-concert by Cole at the home of Greg and Barbi Nelson on January 11.