Serving the Marines

Article and photos by Kip Isbell

Saturday, April 8 was Marine Lake Day hosted by the Mission Viejo Marine and Sailors Adoption Committee. This is a yearly event to provide a funfilled day for Camp Pendleton Marines and their families to enjoy a day at beautiful Lake Mission Viejo with all the trimmings. There was music playing, games held, a bull-riding ring for anyone brave enough to try, pontoon boat rides, a bounce house, and a Thomas the Train kiddie train offering rides from end to end. All these items made this sunny day special for our wonderful service men and women and their children. Oh yes, and lots of food, as well as toys for the tots.

The Casta del Sol Military Veterans Club supported this event with seven members cooking burgers and hot dogs and serving drinks throughout the day. Casta’s servers were Bill Burfeind, Steve Vallely, Randy Smith, Carol Ann Carol, Bob Casillas, and Kip and Elaine Isbell. We are grateful for being able to honor these service men and women in some small way.

A busy high school schedule led to her dropping out of this program, but she continued to take classes in ballet, modern, jazz, tap, and Israeli dancing throughout her adult life. From her 20s on, she continued to perform in small companies and at community colleges in various styles. Her most renowned performances were at Carnegie Hall in New York and on the Mike Douglas Show, hosted in Philadelphia.

As a young adult, she enjoyed various arts and crafts including needlepoint and later making simple two-dimensional mosaics with her sister. About ten years ago, when visiting the Festival of the Arts in Laguna Beach, she saw the more complicated mosaics by Carolyn Machado. Debra contacted the artist and took several of her workshops. These are the Asian themed mosaics currently displayed.

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