ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERs
We will be doing weeding at the The Farm Park in Soquel, a project for the restoration of Native Plants. The park is up from Soquel Drive (near Fairway). Go north on Harden, then to the right on Tee. It will be Saturday November 3 at 9:00 AM. This will replace our usual beach clean-up.
Today the club was welcomed at the Seaside company where Wes Walker gave us a presentation about the Seaside company and the security division and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
The company was established in 1907. It is a family business owned by the Canfield family. They are on their fourth generation and Carl Rice is the current president. They have 3-4 million visitors a year. Most people who visits come from a 90 square mile area, including the Bay Area.
The security dept was established in 1971. Today they have 70 staff. They have a very robust program with both uniformed and plain clothes employees. Half of them work year round. “Shoulder seasons” (spring and fall) are getting shorter now that they have winter wonderland and holiday skating. “Holiday Ice” will be on the weekends in November and December. Some rides and the arcade will be open.
They do extensive training. They watch a transformation from the young kids to trained adults. All of the officers carry pepper spray and batons and some are armed. The focus is on customer service.
They have over 400 cameras on property. They do not allow people who seem to be gang members on their property. They are very good at ‘talking people down’ and have never had to use their guns.
The talk was followed by a tour. Especially interesting was the basement area underneath the boardwalk itself which few people get to see!