It's the Berries

Northern Exposure

HORSIN’ AROUND: Termed-out state Senator Bill Morrow was seen limping around Pine Avenue Park in Carlsbad, watching his son play baseball. No more bruising political battles like the one he waged for Cunningham’s congressional seat——just a fall off a horse. “I’ve been riding all my life,” he says, “but maybe it’s time I stuck to trail horses.”

FALL-BROOK: The inland North County community of Fallbrook hasn’t had this much national press since white supremacist Tom Metzger owned a TV repair business in town. The cause célèbre: the death of a golfer when his cart plunged 75 feet off a cliff shortly after he teed off at the second hole of the Pala Mesa Resort golf course. The accident made headlines in newspapers and TV broadcasts around the globe and even spurred noted golf writer T.R. Massey to write a column on the dangers of golf courses for the TravelGolf.com Web site.

STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER: Four years ago, Carlsbad resident Russ Bruhn drove by his city’s famed strawberry fields and wondered why he never saw any Carlsbad-branded strawberry products. He resolved to remedy that and, in February 2004, contracted with a jam manufacturer to produce his first jars of Carlsbad Gourmet Strawberry Spread. He placed 120 jars at Legoland and in the Armstrong Garden Center at the Carlsbad Flower Fields; within six months he had expanded into more than two dozen stores and launched a strawberry candy line. Today, Carlsbad Gourmet has more than 26 products, from jams and spreads to strawberry barbecue sauce and strawberry-honey mustard salad dressing, with projected sales for 2007 of more than $1 million. Nine local Costcos just came on board, and Bruhn is now looking to go national.

FIRE & WATER: Firefighter Jon Peterson is celebrating his 21st year with the Encinitas Fire Department——and his seventh operating Surfin Fire, a unique summer surf camp run by other professional firefighters as well as lifeguards and surfers. The action’s taking place now off Ponto Beach in Carlsbad, Moonlight Beach in Encinitas and the Oceanside Pier, with everything from beginning classes and clinics to advanced coaching. Says Peterson: “It’s always been a passion of mine——one that lets me hang out with my two daughters, both of whom are now avid surfers. I grew up on the beach eating seaweed and drinking saltwater.”

MONEY LAUNDERED: Crime doesn’t pay in the western Colorado town of Grand Junction. The local paper reports three North County men——from Carlsbad, Oceanside and Vista—— were busted at the Two Rivers Inn after spending counterfeit $100 bills at a variety of local establishments. The three, along with a fourth culprit, were fingered after a motel manager entered their room, believing they had checked out, and found several containers holding a green liquid chemical with U.S. currency floating in it, according to the arrest affidavit. Police also found several printers and razor blades.

CRUISIN’: Coming up next month is the second annual Beach’n 101 Cruise, a car rally along historic Old Highway 101 from La Jolla to Oceanside. The event takes place September 9, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Awards will be given in 10 categories, including Cruiser Gidget Would Choose, Best Woodie and Best Open Cruiser, with others ranging from pre-1940s up to 1972. The entry fee is $25; check-in is at 8 a.m. at the Del Mar Racetrack’s Solana Gate.

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