by Kristi Hawthorne, Oceanside Living Magazine
 
Born in 1967 in Vietnam Nhung “Mary” Nguyen was the 7th of 11 children born to her parents.  Her father was a professional musician who worked for the United States government. Her mother made chow mein from home and sold it throughout the town of Bien Hoa Dong Nai.  Although crowded, their life was an overall happy one, but in 1975 when the communist party took over, life as they knew it changed forever.

Mary’s father was imprisoned for three years because of his association with the US. The children were not allowed to continue their schooling and Mary’s formal education stopped at the sixth grade level.

Congratulations to Chamber member Villa Storia on the approval of their development project by a 4 to 1 vote at the September 16th Oceanside City Council meeting!  Villa Storia is a new neighborhood project at Highway 76 and Mission Avenue near the San Luis Rey Mission. 

The development is located in the City’s Historic zone on 35 acres adjacent to the San Luis Rey Parish.  It includes detached single family residences, townhomes and 38 affordable housing units.  Villa Storia features bicycle and pedestrian connectivity and public open space which includes community gathering areas. 

by Kierstin Hill (Published in Oceanside Living Magazine)

It all started with a sword.  Shirley Indegno gave her husband, Alessio, a sword for a Valentine’s Day present one year and he hung it on their living room wall.  Alessio decided to add more decoration to the sword and asked his wife if he could paint a lion’s head above it.   

“You can paint anything but a lion’s head,” is what she responded with before leaving for the afternoon.  She returned home a few hours later to find a 10 foot tall castle painted in her living room next to the sword.  The extreme renovations had begun.  

by Marva Bledsoe, Business and Community Political Action Committee (BACPAC)

The junction at Interstate 5 and Highway (SR) 78 is a frequent cause of frustration for those who must make the transition from one of these major highways to the other.  Traffic signals, dangerous transitions from city streets to a freeway and challenging merges from one highway to another are all part of the nightmare of this interchange.  Commuters, residents and visitors alike are eager for a solution to this problem.  But where are we in getting relief to the bottleneck.

Caltrans acknowledges that the lack of a direct freeway-to-freeway connection presents a problem at the interchange.   On its website, Caltrans reports they are evaluating concepts to improve the situation.  Included are:

by Emily Crisman

If you are looking for a way to give back to the community this season then I have just the right organization for you to partner with. Spirit of Sharing has been serving our local military families since 2001 by providing families Holiday assistance during Thanksgiving and Christmas. Such as gifting families with toys at Christmas who may not be able to afford presents for their kids.  They have helped over 1,000 military children and 410 military families over the years, as well as aided in emergency relief year round to families facing a tragedy or emergency situation. The organization is volunteer run, allowing 100% of the proceeds to be given to those in need. 

by Melinda DiPerna

The world is full of great advice for homebuyers and just tuning into HGTV will have you watching hours of “reality” house hunters…but…sometimes it’s better to hear what NOT to do.  Here’s my short list of what NOT to do when you are expecting to buy a home in the Oceanside area.

1.    After you’ve been pre-approved for a mortgage don’t make any major purchases OR pay off any current debt without first speaking with a loan officer. Your credit score is a complex algorithm that looks at not only your total debt, and payment history, but also your utilization of debt. This is not the time to buy all the furniture for your new home either, as lenders require “reserves” in the bank.

By Emily Crisman

There were lots of great ideas going around at the Chamber’s last Military Affair Committee Meeting. If you are not aware, the committee meets the second Thursday of month at 7:30 AM to discuss ways to build a community that ties together Oceanside and Camp Pendleton. As well as hear an update on what is happening in the Marine Corps from Colonel Craft or another military representative. 

This past week Colonel Craft had a prior commitment to attend a Commanders Conference, however attending in his place was Lieutenant Colonel Souders as our liaison for Camp Pendleton. Lieutenant Colonel Souders presented a brief update on numbers of troops deployed, retention rate, and the current state of operations. More-so she was an incredible source of knowledge for the chamber members to ask questions and share ideas for how the chamber can be a resource for the Marines and sailors in the area.

Gotta love this simple food! Eggs, have been eaten since the dawn of human time.  And what a gem of a find! When the first person ate that perfect protein filled egg, they stumbled upon one perfect food.  Eggs, once considered the cholesterol-raising villain, have finally been seen for the wonderful food they are. Even the egg yolk is getting some love! 90% of an egg’s calcium and iron are found in the yolk, and the white of an egg is almost all protein. It really is the perfect snack.

Protein is the super-star nutrient in an egg. But we have to give props to Vitamin K and the mineral Selenium both found in our oval friend.  Vitamin K is an element vital in the bone building processes and selenium is essential for healthy thyroid function. Also showcasing in eggs is Lutein, an antioxidant that helps prevent free radical damage in the eyes.