An Inauguration letter from the Historic Highway 80 Corporation's new President

My name is Cliff Steimle and I was recently elected President of Historic Highway 80 Corporation. I have the dubious task of succeeding Dan Conaway, Founding President, who has served for the past three years. We all are indebted to him for his tireless efforts and example. A heartfelt thanks, Dan!

I'm the parts manager at El Cajon Harley-Davidson which coincidently is on the Old Highway on El Cajon Blvd. Like many of you, I am a bit nostalgic and prefer to live in the past. I feel that we are very fortunate in this country and especially here in Southern California in that we have choices. I mean when we're in a hurry, we have the interstate and the chain store businesses, but when we want to slow down and enjoy the country we are traveling through, we have the option of taking the old roads with their local mom-and-pop-type of establishments. And in most cases, they are only a short detour off the freeway.

I hope we can all enjoy working together to spread the awareness and enthusiasm of this most fun and historic of early highways. Thanks in advance for all of your efforts and support.


Historic Highway 80 Corporation's 2009 Board of Directors

Cliff Steimle, President
El Cajon Harley-Davidson

Greg Long, Vice President
Automobile Club of Southern California

Bob Hattrup, Treasurer
Olaf Wieghorst Museum Foundation

Jeanette Perez, Secretary
San Diego East Visitors Bureau

Dan Conaway, Immediate Past President
Mediator, Retired Attorney at Law

Eric Lund, Ex Officio Director
San Diego East Visitors Bureau

Lori Cartmill
El Cajon Community Development Center

Herb Cawthorne
Viejas Enterprises

Jim Finnerty

Cheryl Minshew
Rancho San Diego/Spring Valley Rotary Club

Patty O'Reilly
La Mesa Arts Alliance

Dan Regan
JPI Printing

Bob Schlotter
Car Club Council of Great San Diego County

Tom Stephens

Bob Swanson

Bud Swartwood

Ralph & Alicia Vargas
SunRunners Car Club of Imperial Valley

Steven Varner
AmericanRoads.us


Alpine Woman's Club
Contributed by the Alpine Woman's Club

Here I stand in the heart of Alpine, on Historic Highway 80 with a century of history and memories held within my stately walls. Built in 1899 with money raised by a group of benevolent townspeople and matched by Mr. Benjamin Arnold, I have witnessed more than most living beings.

I've heard the clip clop of horses and stagecoach teams…the rattle of "Tin Lizzies" and Model T's…and later the roar of 1940's mufflers and motorcycles…the sounds of delivery wagons and shoppers at the general store and busy citizens hurrying for their mail at the post office just across the road…sounds always changing, always increasing as the town around me grew.

I have watched my village grow from one of dusty or muddy roads…of small stores, gas stations…vineyards and all sorts of fruit orchards…beehives and flocks of sheep and horsesmany horses for work or transportation or even just for fun! All these changing to paved roads and traffic lights, ever expanding businesses and always a growing population.

To learn more about the Alpine Woman's Club, click here.


HH80 Corporation Supports the Lafayette Hotel
The Lafayette Hotel was originally built as an exclusive hideaway for Hollywood's finest? From the arrival of its first guest, Mr. Bob Hope, on July 1, 1946, to-date the hotel has had the pleasure of serving numerous celebrities, group meetings, and organizations over the years. Betty Grable and Harry James slept here. So did Ava Gardner. HH80 recently wrote a letter supporting the Lafayette's request for City of San Diego Redevelopment funding. Here's the support letter in its entirety:

ATTN: CHAIR AND MEMBERS OF THE BOARD

Dear Members of the Redevelopment Agency:

The Historic Highway 80 Corporation seeks to steadily improve awareness of and visitation to US Historic Highway Route 80 through strong marketing and promotional branding campaigns. The ultimate goal is to preserve the rich history of Historic Highway Route 80's contribution to the development and quality of life for communities all along the State Historic Route 80. We hope to enhance the connections to our proud past and foster growing tourism to the region.

It is in this spirit that the Historic Highway 80 Corporation is a strong supporter of the Lafayette Hotel, a beautiful, historic asset which needs to be enhanced and preserved for future generations. We are quick to applaud the current ownership for its visionary commitment to rehabilitate and revitalize the Lafayette Hotel to its former luster. However, clearly, local and national economic circumstances have placed additional burdens on numerous economic enterprises throughout the community, including the plans for the Hotel, which have been affected by the downturn in the travel market. To achieve its admirable goal of renovating and operating this grand jewel of San Diego's history, the ownership has sought and received the support for financial assistance from the North Park

Redevelopment Project Area Committee. The North Park Redevelopment PAC has forwarded its positive recommendation on the City's Redevelopment Agency. The Board of Directors of the Historic Highway 80 Corporation unanimously approved a resolution to support this request at its February 18th meeting.

The Historic Highway 80 Corporation believes that redevelopment funds should be used to benefit the entire community by removing blight and preserve the historic beauty and resources of the areas. Nothing could be more appropriate in the use of these funds than to assist in the renovation of the Lafayette Hotel. Therefore, we enthusiastically support the request for financial assistance from the Redevelopment Agency for the rehabilitation of the Lafayette Hotel.

Sincerely,

Cliff Steimle, President
Historic Highway 80 Corporation


HH80 Membership
We invite you to join our organization. Your financial assistance will help to preserve, enhance and resurrect an irreplaceable community resource that almost literally lies under our feet - Historic Highway 80 ~ The first dedicated intercontinental highway in the year 1926. Please call 619.445.0180 for membership information. Ask for Bob or Jeanette.

HH80 Corporation welcomes our newest members