A new electric car has been loaned to the City by Ford Motors to be tried out by the RB Retired Senior Volunteer Patrol for one year. This car is street legal with no doors, is to be used for RSVP to patrol streets with a 25-30 miles per hour maximum speed limit. Sounds like fun.

RSVP has now been in business for over ten years. Tributes of all sorts have been paid to it and the good work it has done in Rancho Bernardo. Below is a list of those special people who have helped you by keeping watch on your homes while you’re away, visiting you or your loved ones’ homes on a daily or weekly basis, cruising retail and bank parking lots, driving by schools, playgrounds and parks at after-school hours, reporting handicapped parking violators, fingerprinting at NE, handling traffic detail when necessary and let’s not forget McGruff, the wise (old?) dog who knows and cares and talks to children about their safety.

All in all, over 210,000 hours of patrol and volunteer activity have been contributed to Rancho Bernardo since June 1992. Their statistics are posted every month on www.rbernardo.com/ We thank these 68 dedicated seniors:

Merv Adams, Marilyn Anderson, Jim Artherton, Barbara Athans, Jim Baker, Lola Bellinger, Bob Bertschy, Phil Bridgham, Garry Butterfield, Virgil Calhoon, Roy Christensen, Dan Conner, B.J. Curtiss, Bob DeFrenzy, John Dussault, Ben Dyas, Toni Edberg, Maury Eis, Ben Franchi, Norm Gillespie, Stan Gingold, Jerry Goldstein, Marty Goos, Marie Graver, Eileen Greco, Art Handell, Helen Harte, Clint Henderson, Mary Herman, Morris Herscovitz, Bob Hohberg, Dick Hooper, Don Jacobs, Frank Kneebone, Dick Kuhn, Jim Lampasso, Tom Loftis, Jack Loos, Frank MacLachlan, Dick Mears, Rose Marie Meyer, Terry Morrissey, Ralph Mulroy, Norm Murkoff, Bob Owens, Dick Perry, Adrienne Posterick, Jean Richmond, Ken Root, Pat Rucker, Richard Rycus, Jean Scott, Ben Secor, Bob Serrano, Fred Shaw, Bob Showalter, Al Singer, Bob Smith, Eileen Stanley, Hobart Steely, Bob Steinhauser, Dick Stukey, Bill Talcott, Bill Taylor, Frank Terschan, Toni Van Overmeiren, Richard Van Overmeiren and Larry Vastine.

At a recent monthly meeting, new nametags with "stars" (one star per year) were passed out: 9 stars to John Dussault, five stars to Vern Hudson and one star to Don Jacobs.

Super kudos to three members from the very first graduation class of June 15, 1992: Jim Artherton, Bob Smith and Frank Terschan – still hard at work! Accolades also go to the women of RSVP. They now account for 24% of the total Patrol force. Want to become a member? Are you 50, retired, and have a valid CA driver’s license? You are needed. A new RSVP Academy is scheduled for January, 2003. Plenty of time for you to apply now and get backgrounded. Call Bob Smith, administrator, at 538-8146. He’ll tell you all about it.

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Coming up – mark your calendars now! RB Top Cop Officer Paul Lennon will be the speaker at the Neighborhood Watch Seminar Thursday, November 14 at 9:00 a.m. in the Community Room – 2^nd floor library. Bring your questions about senior safety, home security and our RB crime statistics.