November 2009
Dear City Beautiful Members:
The members of the City Beautiful Board voted earlier this
year to relinquish our status as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and close
down. Rather than just cease to exist,
we worked diligently to find another organization to take over our non-profit
designation. During the process we found
that both the Friends of Balboa Park (FOBP) and the Friends of Kate Sessions
Park (FOKSP) were interested in assuming different parts of City Beautiful.
The Friends of Balboa Park were interested in our projects
related to Balboa Park. Specifically,
they wished to assume responsibility for the annual Poinsettia Display and for
the Botanical Building Museum Accreditation Project (MAP). To that end we have signed a Memorandum of
Understanding that transfers those projects to them, together with associated
funding.
The bank account we held for the Botanical Bldg. MAP project
is being transferred to FOBP, and we have added a donation to that account from
our general fund. The Board also voted
to donate the major portion of our general fund to the Rodger and May Lindsay
Poinsettia Display Endowment Fund at the San Diego Foundation.
The Friends of Kate Sessions Park wanted to assume our
non-profit designation, which will allow them to continue their projects in
Kate Sessions Park in Pacific Beach.
City Beautiful has been acting as their financial agent, maintaining a
dedicated bank account for their funds.
That account will be transferred to them upon completion of the change
over. They will be using the City
Beautiful name until they can submit new Articles of Incorporation for
approval.
By the end of 2009 City Beautiful will cease to exist in its
present form. It will live on within a
committee of the Friends of Balboa Park as the City Beautiful Horticulture
Committee. That committee will oversee
the continuance of the annual Poinsettia Display, the MAP project, Arbor Day in
the Park, and similar activities. The
Friends of Kate Sessions Park is an appropriate organization to assume our
non-profit designation given that the founding of Kate Sessions Park was the
project around which City Beautiful was originally established in 1954.
Over
Through the generosity of FOBP, you will benefit from these
changes. As a current City Beautiful of San Diego, Inc. member, your membership
will be converted to a Friends of Balboa Park membership through the next year,
2010. You are invited to participate actively by attending the FOBP activities
and meetings and in the City Beautiful Horticulture Committee. We hope that you will take full
advantage of this membership and the activities it makes possible.
We are saddened by and deeply regret our closing. Nevertheless, we leave heartened by the 54
years of dedicated service that City Beautiful has given to the beautification
of San Diego. During its lifetime, City Beautiful has planted
over 10,000 trees in our great city, many of
them in Balboa Park. Among our many
credits and projects is our giving the Kate Sessions statue to the City for
placement in Balboa Park and advocating for the establishment of Kate Sessions
Park in Pacific Beach. There are many
more, too numerous to mention here, and we close knowing we have made many
lasting contributions to the beauty of our City and County.
We wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and hope that we will see
you at the December 3 opening of the Poinsettia Display.
Yours truly,
Kathy Puplava, President
Ky/sy
NOTE: Should you need
to contact any of the organizations mentioned in the letter, their addresses
are:
Friends of
Balboa Park Friends
of Kate Session Park
2125 Park Boulevard c/o
Michelle Youngers
San Diego, CA 92101 5220
Soledad Rd.
Ph: 619.232.2282; Fax: 619.232.2281 San Diego, CA 92109
Email: info@friendsofbalboapark.org Ph: 858.273.1518
email: mayoungers@yahoo.com
The San
Diego Foundation
Roger
& Mary Lindsay Poinsettia Fund
2508 Historic Decator Road, Suite 200
San Diego, CA 92106
Ph: 619.235.2300;
Fax: 619.239.1710
Email: info@sdfoundation.org
