Inauguration bash a glitzy success

By Christy Scott
The Alpine Sun

     ALPINE — Guests were serenaded to the sounds of karaoke and video games at the Alpine Community Center on Saturday night, at the Honorary Mayor inauguration and grand prix dinner.
     Nearly 100 people came out to the Alpine Chamber of Commerce event, which raised money for the ACOC Education Committee. It also served as an inauguration celebration for newly “elected” Honorary Mayor of Alpine, Michael James.
     James won the honorary dignitary position through his efforts in the honorary mayor race held last fall. He campaigned against other candidates, Jerry Turro and David Stall for the seat.
     Voting by Alpine residents was done in the form of contributions of money to one of the candidates. The contest in total raised more than $13,500 for Alpine schools.
     The money raised goes towards fulfilling the items on a “wish-list” for AUSD schools. The chamber presented the money to AUSD schools at a board meeting in February.
     Saturday’s dinner raised even more money for the cause. Most of the cash raised came out of the karaoke game that was in place for the evening. The rules were simple: if you want to sing — $5; if you want someone else to sing — $5; if someone wants you to sing, but you don’t want to — $5 to get out of it.
     Other games on hand included a dart board and a large projection screen at the back of the room, where dinner guests could sit and play quad and ATV motocross video games on a Play Station 2.
     There was also wine and beer tasting available for guests before sitting down to a dinner of baby back ribs, salad, beans, cornbread, and dessert, deliciously catered by El Rancho Grande restaurant.
     Right off the bat, two anonymous guests paid to see the honorary mayor sing, but James quickly went up and paid his way out of it. Several others dodged the microphone before and after dinner, until George Wood stepped up and broke the ice, singing a love song to a cheering crowd.
     As Honorary Mayor, James will support many activities around town. His duties are not especially demanding, being invited to appear in parades and represent the town in special events, usually accompanied by a trio of pretty girls, the Misses Alpine.
     James is a California native, having grown up in Imperial Valley and graduated from San Diego State. He owns the Michael James Insurance Agency, which handles a lot of business and commercial insurance, as well as personal policies, that keep him traveling around California a good deal.
     But just as important to him as work is his hobby of off-road racing. The big rig sometimes seen in the building’s parking lot marked Outlaw Racing is the tip-off. James is a racing driver, who specializes in Class1 unlimited cars. He’s been doing this for about 13 years and loves every minute of it.
     James has lived in Japatul for the past 25 years. He and his wife Sandy have two grown children, Michael and Jeremy.
     The ACOC Education Committee is a group of local business people who are dedicated to developing programs that allow the business community to take an active role in the education of local children. They contribute to special programs, special equipment, the arts, theaters and sports programs. 

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