L-R: Brian Tsu ’00, Allison Shepstone ’06, Wendy Fai Roos ’85 P’16, Mary-Lou Kiley MSW’77, Robin Janak Marantette ’02, Anne Kornahrens ’11, Lissa Herrick Tsu ’00, Michael Carpenter ’01, Erin Holmes Carpenter ’02, Stephen Marantette ’99, Natalie Crutchfield ’11, Zeynab Barakat ’99, Leslie Tsai ’99, Zeke Oliwa ’14, Kevin Smosky ’00, Bill McDonald ’68, Sandee Thomas, Jim Trahon ’75, Pierre Godefroy ’56, George Washington x’75 (Dylan and Ella Carpenter help out with our banner in the very front)

Twenty San Diego Eagles gathered for the chapter’s first “Always an Eagle” event Sunday at the Green Dragon Tavern & Museum, Carlsbad, Calif. BCSD was one of 31 alumni chapters nationally to hold this event sponsored by the University.

BC sponsors such events around the country to welcome new graduates into local chapter areas. San Diego County generally gets 12-15 new graduates each year, returning home or coming to this area for the first time. While two members of the Class of 2016 registered for the event, they were unable to attend.

Bill McDonald ’68 presents a certificate to Pierre Godefroy ’56 recognizing him as a “Golden State Golden Eagle.” At right is Lissa Herrick Tsu ’00, chapter leader.

BCSD thought it would be fitting, as well, to acknowledge our senior alumni, the Golden Eagles, alumni who graduated 50 or more years ago. Pierre Godefroy ’56 attended yesterday and we presented him with a “Golden State Golden Eagle” certificate.

The Green Dragon Tavern & Museum (6115 Paseo Del Norte, Carlsbad) is a replica of the original Revolutionary War-era tavern in Boston. In expanded spaces, it is also a museum offering artifacts from the American Revolution time period, and it provides meeting rooms and more. Besides the Boston connection between BCSD and Green Dragon, Bruce Bartlett, president of the Green Dragon and history buff who conceived and executed the project, is a BC parent, father of Brooke Bartlett Rodriguez ’00.

Members of BC Alumni San Diego and friends attended the chapter’s third annual Mass and reception Sunday. The events were held on the campus of Cathedral Catholic High School, San Diego.

Here is a brief video of the event.

Celebrant of the Mass was Peter Gyves, S.J., ’73, ’94, ’08, associate pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the only Jesuit parish in the San Diego area. Hosting the chapter were Kevin Calkins ’00, principal of Cathedral Catholic, and his wife, Beth Calkins ’03.

BC alumni and friends at Eagle Rock, Warner Springs. L-R: Mike Ross ’09, Marissa Robles, Rebecca Scease Reid ’96, Lissa Herrick Tsu ’00, Brian Tsu ’00, Margot Tsu, Ray Berube ’78, Mary Farrell Berube ’80, Janet Rodriguez, Kevin Smosky ’00, Bill McDonald ’68.

There is a natural rock formation in Warner Springs, about 90 miles northeast of downtown San Diego, that looks a little like an eagle. Actually, as you can see above, the rather large natural rock formation looks like nothing else than a big eagle.

On Saturday, 10 alumni and friends (and a young daughter) made the trek to Eagle Rock, which is located on the Pacific Crest Trail. In a pretty weird connection, we accessed the area where Eagle Rock is located from Camino San Ignacio in Warner Springs. That’s “St. Ignatius Road.” !?

And a few miles down the road on State Route 79 is a street with another Jesuit-related name (see photo at right). Anyone know about any Jesuit presence in northeast San Diego County?

We also went further initially than Warner Springs, over the mountainsides to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Desert flowers are somewhat past peak (earlier and briefer than expected in this El Niño year), but there is still some color not seen the rest of the year.

Our flower guide was Christina St. John from the Anza-Borrego Foundation. About to pursue a master’s degree in botany, Christina was an invaluable guide to the desert flora, as well as a friendly companion. With her guidance, we visited Glorietta Canyon, one of the most accessible areas of the Park (though over a couple of miles of dirt road) and location of many flowering plants in the spring.

It was pretty much a day-long excursion, also including lunch in Borrego Springs, and a visit to a rather unusual piece of “public art.” Below is a short (<5 minutes) video of the day, including the desert flowers, etc. You’ll see that we were able to visit Eagle Rock and park our cars inside the gate that warns “No Trespassing.” That’s because we had received official permission from the Vista Irrigation District to do so, after filling out various waivers, and were on the property for only about a half-hour. We had some unexpected companions on our visit to Eagle Rock, examples of the “wildlife” in the area . . . but that’s for you to see. (Click on “BCSD @ Eagle Rock” at upper left of graphic below to watch on YouTube. Much better viewing.)