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T he R ancho S anta F e News
JULY 10, 2015
Del Mar local helps Indian schools Stormtrooper walks to San Diego in memory of late wife By Bianca Kaplanek
DEL MAR — When Kyle Joyner decided it was time to gain some cross cultural experience — he had never really been outside Southern California — he sought a summer internship in India. To do so the 20-year-old Del Mar native had to fulfill two requirements: fill out an application and convince his parents he would be safe. Having successfully completed both Joyner, who will enter his senior year at the University of California Berkeley this fall, is about halfway through the program, in which he is helping to conduct a feasibility study on incorporating renewable energy into rural schools. “The goal is to find
schools that are underserved when it comes to having electricity,” Joyner said, adding that while most do have power, it is often turned off during work hours. “So the children basically have no lights, no fans, no sort of extra media,” he said. “They’re learning with a chalkboard, the teacher talking to them and using textbooks. They don’t have any other resources. “The idea behind this program is to see if something like a solar panel or a water-powered plant or a wind turbine could potentially provide them with their own source of electricity,” he added. “It’s also sort of a learning laboratory for the students as well because the can learn about the environment and ener-
By Tony Cagala
As in intern in India, Del Mar resident Kyle Joyner, right, helps students plant a tree at their school in celebration of the high scores they earned on their secondary school board exams. Courtesy photo
life lessons through sports. “One example is they At one site visit, Joyner also learned about a pro- had the kids play dodge gram called Magic Bus, ball,” he said. “They told which he said teaches stuTURN TO SCHOOLS ON 18 dents in rural communities gy.”
Del Mar Thoroughbred Club talks old Hollywood By Christina Macone-Greene
RANCHO SANTA FE — At a recent “Get Smart” series at the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club, those in attendance had the opportunity to hear Joe Harper, CEO of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, speak about the upcoming racing season. He also spoke about the Hollywood-era of the Del Mar Racetrack. And Harper knows a thing or two about old Hollywood. Legendary American filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille was his grandfather and his uncle was actor, writer and painter Anthony Quinn. “Del Mar got its start in Hollywood,” Harper said. “It has an interesting history.” The history began with Bing Crosby who had an estate in Rancho Santa Fe. An avid golfer, he also had horses and raised them. According to Harper,
Joe Harper, CEO of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club talks about the Hollywood-era of Del Mar and the upcoming racing season at a recent event in Rancho Santa Fe. Photo by Christina Macone-Greene
Crosby along with some big Hollywood producers and actors all got on board to create the construction of the Del Mar Racetrack. While Crosby was a pretty good singer, Harper said, he was also a great marketing person.
Back in those Crosby days, the only opportunity people had to see celebrities was on the silver screen. “There was no place where people could go to see the stars,” he said. “So to actually see one, you came to Del Mar.” Common faces were Cary Grant, Randolph Scott, Jimmy Durante, and Bob Hope. And the powerhouse who made that happen was Crosby. Harper went on to say that Crosby was an influential man in Hollywood. “He was one of the few guys in Hollywood that managed to get out from under the studio’s control. Most of the stars in that time were under the contract of the studios,” he said. “Bing had some power.” And when Crosby wanted his Hollywood friends at
the track on a certain day, they were there. They never disappointed. Harper then shared another yesteryear story. There were very few restaurants in Del Mar at the time and there was a particular patio area where everyone congregated. Hope was down in Del Mar for the day and joined in. With music playing in the background, Hope and Crosby started telling jokes and had everyone laughing. “They really had the crowd going,” he said. The men looked at each other, Harper said, and the idea spurred to do some road pictures. A handful of films were made including Road to Bali, Road to Rio, Road to Morocco, and more. “The Hollywood thing and Del Mar made sense because of the people who came here,” Harper said.
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CARLSBAD — He can still hear the inflection of his late wife’s voice when she would say to him, “You’re such a dork.” When Kevin Doyle hears that now it brings a smile to him. But not long after his wife Eileen passed away from pancreatic cancer in November of 2012, it would bring tears. “Eileen has passed, but her memory does not,” Doyle said, all the while dressed in full Stormtrooper armor. On Monday, Doyle was walking along a stretch of Coast Highway 101, part of a roughly 645 mile trek that he began back in Petaluma — all in honor of Eileen. “Doing the walk down the West Coast in armor was really the only choice I had,” said Doyle. They were both “Star Wars” fans, he explained. She was a self-proclaimed geek and he was dork and they were OK with that. He left the Rancho Obi-Wan, a “Star Wars” museum on June 6 and anticipates arriving in downtown San Diego just in time for Comic-Con July 9. Since he started his walk Doyle has been greeted by joggers, other walkers, bicyclists and motorists all stopping at the sight of this Stormtrooper walking his way down the state. Apart from honoring his wife, Doyle is also raising awareness and fundraising for the charity he created called Eileen’s Little Angels, donating blankets, bandanas, coloring books and plush toys featuring his wife’s artwork to children battling cancer. Doyle, a former photojournalist in the ‘90s and a sketch card artist at Topps for the past 8 years, stopped briefly at the South Carlsbad State Beach campground mull-
Kevin Doyle is walking from Petaluma to San Diego to honor his wife Eileen, who passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2014. Photo by Tony Cagala
ing over renting a campsite for the night. That’s how he’d spend nights during his walk, camping or staying at hostels or even just keeping on walking. But he wouldn’t have to camp. Friends from the local 501st Legion, an all-volunteer organization for costume enthusiasts, offered him a place to stay. He’s kept up a pace of about 20 miles a day, though at times he would end up doing as much as 45 miles a day. And walking in the full armor was comfortable, he said, adding that he’s been fortunate with his feet and no pinching from the costume. He pushes along a dog-jogger with him filled with gear: A cot, a chair, a tarp (sometimes what he’s been sleeping under), extra clothes and some other provisions. Now, that he’s made it to the North County, he can “coast it” a little bit some 25 miles away from downtown. He said he can spend some quality time with the people he meets along the way. And he’s been blown away by the response he’s received. “I get people that come up to me who are fighting cancer or are cancer surviTURN TO STORMTROOPER ON 18
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