Five Big Fish In Del Mar
by Ingrid Hoffmeister

The character and taste of Del Mar is the result of a blend of ingredients all equally essential. Like grandma’s recipe, it has changed over generations with each new individual and family bringing a pinch of this and a sprinkle of that. These five Del Mar residents, who share with us their personal vital additive, make up a fascinating and intrinsic portion of the whole.

Linda Katz — Women & Philanthropy
Out of the dry San Diego soil Linda Katz has flowered a healthy reputation for major fundraising and growing women’s philanthropy. “Did you know that San Diego was the only major city in the nation that didn’t have a women’s foundation?” she asks earnestly. “Women have the capacity to engage in significant philanthropy because women are growing in business three times the rate as men.” Katz makes it clear that in 1999, as founding president of the San Diego Women’s Foundation, she did not stand alone but stood “shoulder to shoulder with 99 other founding members.” She goes on to describe the experience, saying, “We researched many major cities to look for a foundation model we wanted to follow. My favorite was Seattle because they believed every issue was a woman’s issue.”

Katz has also co-chaired major special events, including the 90th Anniversary of Children’s Hospital, the Junior League New Year Symphony Gala, and this year, the 30th anniversary of The San Diego Foundation, which will be an 18-month celebration of events culminating in October 2005.

“My career has found me,” laughs Katz, who believes her career matches her personal skills for community building. In 1977, she and husband, Mel, with best friends, Catherine and Phil Blair, moved to San Diego to buy the San Diego Manpower franchise. Today, it is the largest staffing agency in San Diego. Still best friends, business partners, and active members of the community, the foursome moved to Del Mar after the Blair’s Scripps Ranch house burned down in the fires. “I have the luxury of working with like-minded people,” says Katz. “We care.”

Ivan Gayler — Nature & Culture
The Del Mar Plaza is the place where Europe meets America to form a happy alliance. The thoughtfully designed shops and services are carefully located to leave well-appointed open spaces for the public to linger, chat, and build community. The atmosphere has a continental flavor resting against the natural allure of the great California outdoors. For 15 years, business partners Ivan Gayler and David Winkler nurtured and developed the project, built to last a minimum of 100 years.

Gayler’s attention toward the delicate balance between nature and culture has culminated in a personal philosophy actively lived at both the local and global levels. Currently, he chairs the building committee for the new 50,000-square-foot La Jolla Playhouse (LIP) Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center, which will become the centerpiece of a permanent year-round theatre village.

Since moving to Del Mar in 1958, Gayler has evolved into a man who avails himself, to as great a degree as possible, to making an active difference in the world. He describes his personal philosophy as “the most precious thing in life is life itself” and views life in its highest expression as a complex web of interaction. Culture and the bounty of nature are organisms dependent on one another. With this in mind, he founded the nonprofit organization Nature & Culture International (NCI) in 1997, which provides scientific research and education activities. The organization initially purchased and preserved 2,500 acres of virgin cloud rainforest and pursued for purchase 30,000 acres of biologically valuable lands in South America. “Nature and culture must be kept alive,” Gayler expounds with passion. “We should not be threatening our ecosystems by acts of separation.”

Gayler admits his philosophy structures his entire worldview. “I believe every individual has the capacity to make a difference in this world if they take time and responsibility for the environment. Our generation and our children’s are the last to be able to protect and save the variety of life.”

The Romeros — Music & Family
The Romeros are three generations of virtuosos playing the same instrument — the classical guitar. All live or have lived in the family’s Del Mar home for over 35 years. This rare and unique talent for playing in the classic style manifested from the genes and influence of Celedonio Romero, guitarist, composer, and poet, born in 1913 in Cienfuegos, Cuba. Today’s high regard for the classical guitar can be attributed to the lifework of Celedonio, whose compositions for classical guitar number over 100, including ten concertos. Today, the Celedonio Romero method for classical guitar is taught in master’s and doctoral programs in North American and European universities.

From his Del Mar home, grandson Celino, who joined the quartet in 1990 taking the place of his uncle, Angel, speaks with great pride about his grandfather. “My grandfather was self taught in the classic style and played throughout Spain until 1957, when for political reasons, he immigrated to Southern California with my grandmother, Angelita, my father, Celin, and his brothers, Pepe and Angel.” There, he formed the Romero guitar quartet with his three sons.

Their unique talent quickly reached a New York Times critic, who wrote, “Collectively, they are the only classical guitar quartet of real stature in the world today. In fact, they virtually invented the format.” After the quartet’s first tour of the U.S. in 1961, they immediately went on to perform on The Ed Sullivan Show Carnegie Hall, and the Hollywood Bowl.

Celino is happy to recall the past. “I remember my father, Celin, telling me how they played in Carnegie Hall the same night as the Beatles made their debut at Radio City. I also have such fond memories of the Del Mar house, with everyone playing grandfather’s compositions. We all grew up with his music in our ears, and in 1996 my cousin Lito (son of Angel) joined the quartet — the year grandfather died.” Today, the quartet is composed of Celin, Pepe, Celino, and Lito.

At the Powerhouse Community Center in July, these local lads thrilled a Del Mar audience, which included one of their teachers from Torrey Pines High School and Lito’s first grade teacher. Whether performing with a symphony orchestra or as a quartet, duo, or soloists in recital, the Romeros prevail as champions in the realm of classical guitar.

Their upcoming performance at the Salk Institute will be the sixth event in the Symphony at Salk summer concert series, and will be a partial benefit to the institute as well. The sunset performance commences in the Institute’s Gildred Courtyard on August 21 at 7:30pm, 858/453-4100.

Barbara Harper — Leisure & Community
According to friends and colleagues, Barbara Harper is shy and reserved — but only when you ask her to talk about herself. Harper is a master in the art of deflection, a great shot putter in a tiny and petite frame who tosses credit to everyone else. For the past 15 years, she has been actively involved in the Del Mar community and San Dieguito Boys & Girls Club.

Harper deserves credit tossed her way for spearheading the founding of a nonprofit organization, Friends of the Powerhouse, whose mission is to assist the City of Del Mar with the ongoing renovation and preservation of the Powerhouse and other related projects. Harper formed the organization after the city agreed to renovate the old Powerhouse providing the community raised sufficient funds to support the project. Under Harper’s leadership, Friends of the Powerhouse raised the money and the new Powerhouse Community Center officially opened in 1999. In 2002, they assisted in funding the new Tot Lot, a children’s playground in Powerhouse Park. Today, both residents and visitors enjoy the pleasure of these new amenities.

Recalling the past, Harper laughs, “When I asked a man at the racetrack to donate money toward the Powerhouse renovation, he scoffed and replied, ‘Oh Barbara, when the fundraising fails, I have a group of men who will buy up the property and put in a restaurant.’ I was truly mad and told Joe (husband and president of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club) who said, ‘Well, I guess it means you’ll get it done.’ ”

This year she co-chairs the fundraising committee for the San Dieguito Boys and Girls Club with a goal of $5.5 million to build a new campus. Now, don’t anyone scoff and tell her it can’t be done — or perhaps you should.

Rosanne Holliday — Parents & Children
Demeter is the Greek goddess of grain, a nurturer and mother who presided over bountiful harvests. She is the maternal archetype whose powerful role dictates the course of her life. Looking over Rosanne Holliday’s 64 years, it is hard to ignore the compelling Demeter force that has paved her personal and professional pathways. Children, family, and community are always her focus, even as a key figure working in various organizations. She has been professor of development psychology at Southwestern College, vice chair of the Board of Directors at the San Diego Psychoanalytic Institute, vice chair of the Board of Directors of Planned Parenthood of San Diego and Riverside, founding member of San Diego Women’s Foundation, and past president of the Del Mar Foundation.

Holliday has always valued the role of mother and strongly supports many women’s issues.

She and her husband, Joel, moved to Del Mar in 1968, the same year Joel founded Spin Physics Co. and she took a job as professor of development psychology. Together they entered Del Mar politics and were instrumental in convincing local voters to ask the city to purchase the land for Powerhouse Park. Today, families can play, picnic, and enjoy summer concerts overlooking the ocean because of the efforts of residents like the Hollidays. Her present passion is to give back Stratford Court to kids on bikes and mothers pushing strollers. “Many new young families are moving back into Del Mar,” she says, “but the street is dangerous for children because of heavy traffic.”

Children play an important role in the life of Holliday. In 1971, her daughter, Katherine, was born and she recalls how happy she felt driving her Volkswagen Bug to work with her baby nestled in the back. As a child development teacher, Holliday understood the benefits of breastfeeding and took her baby to work so she could feed her between classes. But Holliday was told she’d be fired if she continued to bring her baby to work. She defied the college so they placed her on suspension. Later, a state hearing officer ruled that her conduct was professional and she earned herself a place in local history and became involved in Planned Parenthood of San Diego and Riverside.

Two years ago, she returned to the board as vice chair of development and to chair the $14 million capital campaign. Holliday, who has pledged $1 million says, “I wish we had more money to help produce healthy children. That is my greatest focus.”