Valley Center

2nd Annual Kuk Gung Festival beats the Korean traditional archery drum loudly

North County San Diego might be known for avocados, awesome weather and lots of fun, but who knew it was the center for Traditional Korean Archery in the U.S.? You do, now. You can thanks Heon K. Kim, high volume succulent dealer by day, award-winning master of long-bow and very long target traditional Korean archery by skill and enthusiasm. That’s what brought the center of…


Local Briefs from Palomar Country to the Lake Hodges Dam

Escondido Public Library and KPBS Present “An Evening with Jimmy Gownley” Escondido Public Library and KPBS will host “An Evening with Jimmy Gownley,” at 6 p..m. Wednesday, Oct, 21 in the Turrentine Room. Jimmy Gownley is the author of The Dumbest Idea Ever!, selected as the 2015 One Book, One San Diego teen read. Gownley will talk about his graphic novel, as well as the…


Little Barn Bakery is hidden pleasure

The answer is — drum roll, please — Little Barn Bakery. The question on a special edition North County “Jeopardy hosted by Alex Trebek: What is Valley Center’s best-kept secret. It’s a humble and healthy combination of Valley Center resident Diana Sourbeer’s Diana’s Granola and Valley Center’s Belen artisan breads at 29277C Valley Center Road. “We want to provide the community with  healthier food that…


Mountain Bike Park appears stuck in the mud

A funny thing happened to the Valley Center, first-of-its-kind in San Diego County, mountain bike park. Well, maybe not, but the bike park promised for the start of the year continues to languish for lack of funds and available volunteer time. Steve Ford along with many of the Gravity Cycling Pirates bike team have contributed a lot of time and energy to getting the project…



A good egg is a little harder to find due to new state chicken cage law

Egg-laying chickens at Armstrong Egg Farms off N. Lake Wohlford Road “have less friends in their cage,” said a wry Ryan Armstrong this week, and egg prices have doubled since California’s Proposition 2 went into effect on January 1. That proposition approved by state voters in 2008 calls for 25 percent more room in chicken cages, effectively cutting the number of hens per cage in…


Valley Center Symphony performs for fun and cultural profit

Somewhere between surprising and unique, the small-town, all-volunteer Valley Center symphony orchestra seems to strike the right note. A culturally uplifting — shhh… — community secret, the local concoction of musicians ranging from first-time practitioners to seasoned professionals seems as dedicated as it is diverse. “Few communities can say that they have their own orchestra,” said Ed Labrado, a master of understatement as well as…


VCHS Class of 2015 says goodbye to all that

“It’s a Beautiful Day,” the song and the event, rang out across Jaguar Stadium Thursday, June 11 as the Valley Center High School Class of 2015 commenced its Commencement Exercises. Some 2,500 to 3,000 friends, families and supporters overflowed the stadium’s bleachers, lined the newly installed field turf in white chairs and otherwise took in the 15th Valley Center High School Commencement ceremonies. They would…