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Have a Seat (for $5K)

On November 30, Park and Recreation employee Jane Witzke informed me that its park-bench sponsorship program is "on moratorium" until a project manager can be found to administer it. When it reboots, you'll again be able to dedicate a park bench to a beloved parent, child, or hamster.

You may have noticed benches with square bronze plaques in memory of someone or something. How did they come to be? Money. For $5000, you can have a bench installed in the community park of your choice with a plaque bearing your message.

Sponsored
Sponsored

According to Witzke, "You would tell us what you would like to have on the plaque and then we would send it to the plaque manufacturer and they would send back a sample and you'd be able to review that again."

With her department, the manufacturer, and the sponsor each having a gander at the plaque before it's installed, a mistake would be impossible. Oops! Have you noticed the bench in Mission Bay Park at Mariners Way and Gleason Road? The word "glorious" is missing an "o."

And what about the bench at Ocean Front Walk and San Fernando Place? No plaque, but it has "John's Bench" embossed in huge letters all the way across the back. Who is, or was, John? Until Park & Rec searches its files, that bench is mine.

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On November 30, Park and Recreation employee Jane Witzke informed me that its park-bench sponsorship program is "on moratorium" until a project manager can be found to administer it. When it reboots, you'll again be able to dedicate a park bench to a beloved parent, child, or hamster.

You may have noticed benches with square bronze plaques in memory of someone or something. How did they come to be? Money. For $5000, you can have a bench installed in the community park of your choice with a plaque bearing your message.

Sponsored
Sponsored

According to Witzke, "You would tell us what you would like to have on the plaque and then we would send it to the plaque manufacturer and they would send back a sample and you'd be able to review that again."

With her department, the manufacturer, and the sponsor each having a gander at the plaque before it's installed, a mistake would be impossible. Oops! Have you noticed the bench in Mission Bay Park at Mariners Way and Gleason Road? The word "glorious" is missing an "o."

And what about the bench at Ocean Front Walk and San Fernando Place? No plaque, but it has "John's Bench" embossed in huge letters all the way across the back. Who is, or was, John? Until Park & Rec searches its files, that bench is mine.

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Sponsored

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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