Past Events

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WEEKLY 30-60 kids gather for various crazy events that they come up with on pretty much any given Wednesday night.  
CHECK OUT the Calendar!

EVENTS:

The Core Schralpfest:  2003-2011

70-100 competitors of all ages
300-500 spectators
Huge raffles with a cruiser from Family Cycling for the grand prize and goods from over 60 sponsors
Demo day for Santa Cruz Surfboards
DJ's = Jimmy B and Ricky of RXFX, and the Etch Brothers , and The Expendables, Del Rio, The Horrible Humans, and Viscous Cycle played a ripping sets for the HUGE crowds that gathered.

The Annual Core Run Swim Run: 2003-2011

55-120 competitors ages 11-65

An on the beach wharf to wharf race with 3 swims: one around the Harbor, one around Blacks, and one around Wind and Sea.

SC Sentinel coverage, smiles, volunteers from Firefighters Union 3605, Capitola and State Junior Lifeguard and Lifeguard agencies, parents, and Core diehard volunteers made each year's event a huge success

The On-Purpose Person Seminar:  About 10 of us went to "The On-Purpose Person" seminar in Morgan Hill.  We got introduced to the ideas in Kevin McCarthy's book "The On-Purpose Person".  He piqued our interest in finding out what our own, specific purpose is and how we can incorporate that in our day to day lives.  We had fun riding there together on the bus driven by my very awesome dad.  There was even a frog at the seminar!  He kept croaking when my dad was up front introducing the speaker.  Everyone was laughing and then my dad said, "Is that my daughter?"  Then everyone in the whole room looked at me and laughed even harder - oh what fun to laugh and be silly when it's time to be serious

On the bus ride home, everyone wrote down professions that they would like to shadow to get an accurate picture of what life would be like in the shoes of a professional in the field that they are interested in.  We are all going to go through "The On-Purpose Person" book and workbook together, as well as shadow the professionals that they want to.  We are going to get all of this done by sometime in the beginning of July and then we will all go out to a fancy dinner to celebrate our acheivements and steps towards a successful future (The Core will be footing the bill ).  This is our first step in instituting a "program" that will equip young adults with the tools they need to make educated decisions about their futures. 

Snow trips - February 26, 2005 and 2006

Our trip to Dodge Ridge was fantastic!  We packed on a bus with Santa Cruz Bible Church's High School Group "Inside Out".  14 of us "Coreians" went and shredded the slopes and had a "blast" with a whoppee cushion on the bus.  Epic airs and laughs abounded!

Home Building trip to Mexico -  December 29, 2005 - January 1, 2006

Oh ya, the trip to Mexico to build houses was RAD!!!  175 people went including Core representatives Jake, Kim, and Paula Clary, and Jason Ferrante.  We built 15 homes and had a blast interacting with the folks down there as well as everyone on the trip.  The food was incredible, the memories unforgettable, and the impact unshakeable.  New Year's Eve was a blast - sparkling apple cider toasts, the card game "Spoons" that got a little crazy, and some fantastic Mexican M80's to top off the night and scare the poop out of some of us   Plan on joining us next year!

Surf Video and Concert: August 16, 2003

"The Shafted" by Matt Hofman and live music from local bands Riff Raff and The Expendables. Kids and parents gathered at the Live Oak Grange Hall for this triple whammie event showcasing local cinematic and musical genius.

Tiger Martial Arts Tournament: October 1, 2003

They ran the tournament at their gym in Scotts Valley and gave all of the proceeds to The Core!

Crash Nationals at the Watsonville Speedway: October 4, 2003

A night full of racecar madness and crashes (we just watched)

House Music Dance Party: January 30, 2004, October 9, 2004, January 22, 2005, and November 3, 2006

120-240 kids danced their hearts out at Jade St. Community Center, The 418 Project, and The Community Room at Simpkins Swim Center

3 DJs - The Etch Brothers, The RxFx Crew, and DJ Beebo

$50 prize Dance Contest

Killer time had by everyone

Planned, advertised and put together by Core teens

Split SurfBout Surf Contest: April 18, 2004

Split ran the Pleasure Point contest with a portion of the proceeds going to The Core.

"Somewhere, Anywhere, Everywhere": May 14, 2004

Surf Video Premiere at the Capitola Theatre sponsored by Globe with ALL proceeds to The Core along with killer raffle prizes for pretty much everyone who bought a raffle ticket.

Sandman Triathlon: August 8, 2004

30+ volunteers came out to volunteer for the Sandman Triathlon in turn for cash going to The Core for their time. Great event, giving volunteers, and $ in the bank.

Wharf movie nights:

We watched "North Shore " (7/9/04), "Labyrinth" (8/13/04), "Goonies" (8/10/05), and "Princess Bride" (8/16/06) in the summers of '04, '05, and '06 while sitting in the sand looking up at a huge screen hanging from the Capitola Wharf

50-75 people each time

Weekly Events with The Core: June 22, 2005 - present

Here's the madness we have dreamt up and completed so far:

(6/22/05) Napoleon Dynamite Night :  About 35 people came to watch the movie on the big screen.  We laughed and snickered not only at the movie, but at all of the competitors of the tater-tot eating contest that followed the movie.  About 15 people competed - 40 tots and a 24 ounce Gatorade in the shortest amount of time took home some cash.  From the methodical ketchup dipping of Nick Greeneinger to the stuff your face method of Mike Schultz, we all had sore stomachs from either eating too much or laughing too hard.

(6/29/05) Planning Meeting :  We all met up at the Clary residence to strategize and plan our next slew of amazing activities.  We got some stuff done in between giggles, laughs, and histeria.  These meetings embody our unofficial motto, "By the youth and for the youth" because whatever they come up with to do, we do - as long as it's legal and at least some what realistic :)

(7/27/05) Game Night : We all met at Camp Santa Cruz to play BBall, Dance Dance Revolution, Don't Break the Ice, and much more.  It was a crazy night of fun and chillin' with our friends.

(8/10/05) Wharf Movie Night :  70+ people enjoyed "The Goonies" at the Capitola Wharf this past Wed. night. We had tons of kids, parents, and even some little ones join The Core that night - what fun! It was a cool and foggy night which set the mood nicely for this classic. Everyone posted up on blankets, chairs, or the good ol' sand to enjoy the movie and snacks with their friends.

(8/17/05) Roller Skating with a Halloween - in the middle of summer of course! :  Hilarious!!!  30-40 enthusiastic skaters showed up as panda bears, baked potatoes, Speed Racer, Barbie, disco kings and queens, and Santa Claus and rolled, slid, fell, raced, spun, limbo-ed and hokey-pokied their hearts out.  It was a blast and a half!  We will definitely do it again!

(8/24/05) Superstar :  "Superstar" was a hit - we ran around like crazy people every time the word superstar was said in the movie - no one was hurt thankfully, not badly anyway - what we won't do for a prize!

(8/31/05) Boardwalk Bonanza : WOW!!!  We forgot how much fun the Boardwalk is!!  16 of us ruled the almost empty Boardwalk last night!  What a cool first "school night"  for most of the kids that came.  We rode the roller coaster about 5 times, splashed each other on the log ride, ate too much junk food, screamed our lungs out on every ride (sometimes even before it started going) until people looked at us and laughed, ran around like crazy people, bashed into each other and sometimes unsuspecting strangers on the bumper cars, made the clowns nose light up at the ring toss on the carousel, laughed at the pictures taken of us on the roller coaster and the super crazy new ride the double shot, and just had a good 'ol time!!!

(9/28/05) Planning Meeting : If you missed the meeting for The Core on Wednesday, you missed the time of your life - no, I'm serious!  I've never been in a room with so much energy and excitement.  It's a wonder we got as much done as we did with the many comedic digressions ranging from Dylan spilling a full glass of milk on his lap, everyone telling the group their favorite slang word during introductions, me almost losing my marbles trying to get everyone focused and then digressing  with the rest of them as Tyler, Genki and I rambled off quotes from "Billy Madison".  Laughter filled the air the entire time - I still laugh when I think of the fun we had. 

Who was there you ask?  I'll tell you.  Leader types: Me, my husband Jake, Ramey White, and Ali Chapin.  High Schooler types:  Genki Watanabe, Crazy Barbara, Timmy Schell, Matt Ferrante, Kylee Heath, Gigi Gilmore, Nina B., Austin Smith-Chevy, Dylan McCarthy-Moon, Tyler Conroy (and his brother Caleb for a split second).
Anyway, what we did get done was the planning of our Wednesday night gatherings through December!!! 

(10/5/05) Disco Bowling : Disco Bowling was fantastic!!!  About 15 of us showed up decked out in Disco garb to bowl the night away.  Most of us sucked pretty bad, but who cares cuz it was stinking hilarious!!!  We had representatives from Soquel High, PCS, and a crew who have just recently graduated - It was a great group and we didn't get in too much trouble, but the attendant did have to come retrieve quite a few balls from the gutter when they go stuck there after someone threw 2 balls at once or their ball in the other lane.  The outfits were outrageous, but then again, so was everyone there!!!  A few in our group thought the whole bowling alley was going to be dressed Disco, so it was funny to watch their faces as they walked in as the only ones dressed like crazies!!  Many more fond memories for The Core!

(10/12/05) Billy Madison :   "Billy Madison" Night was pretty stinkin' funny.  We watched the movie on the big screen and every time someone in the movie said "O'Douol rules!" everyone threw their handmade paper airplanes at Tyler Conroy, Crazy Barbara, or Kylee Heath (they took turns being the bulls eye).  The first one to hit em' won a hat donated by SC Skate Shop or SC Skateboards!  After the movie we had a very competitive trivia game with questions about the movie.  The top 3 winners performed their favorite scene from the movie - it was pretty funny!  Then we all went nuts playing basketball and volleyball (really it was a game of spiking it as hard as you could at each other) and just being silly, crazy Core-heads!!!

(10/19/05) Super Hero Roller Skating Night :  What a blast!  Capes were flying and super heroes were falling hard on their booties (the capes weren't very functional I guess ).  We took over the roller rink with our costumed madness.  We don't care if other people stare - we like to dress up for pretty much EVERYTHING!!!

(10/26/05) Games Galore Night : What a chaotic blast!!!  Volleyballs were flying at the heads of the basketball players, Dance Dance Revolution brought the performer out of all of us, and the tournaments digressed into a free for all filled with much laughter.  20-30 enthusiastic players joined in the madness. We all left tuckered out but happy.  We played hard and enjoyed the camaraderie!

(11/2/05)  Belated Halloween : Very exciting !  We went Trick or Treating 2 days after Halloweed just because - and we even got all dressed up.  Most people laughed when they opened the door to a bunch of costumed trick or treaters and most people actually had some left over candy too.  We all got ambushed by some crazies with water balloons - I didn't plan it, I swear (wink, wink).

(11/9/05) Wallace and Grommit : The "Wallace and Gromit" movie was super funny (at least Austin, Dylan and I laughed a lot )  About 11 of us made it out to a relaxing night together at the movies. 

(11/16/05) Karoke Kraziness : WOW!!!  That's our word for last week's Karoke Kraziness with The Core at Michael's on Main. 16 of us showed up to strut our talent or what we thought was talent  From "Busta Move" to country, Salt 'N Peppa to Silverchair - we rocked the house. And then there was the older guy singing "Funky Cold Madina" and an awesome guy working the whole room screaming his rendition of "The Samashing Pumpkins" - WOW once again for the regulars who REALLY get into it - it was quite entertaining. We will definitely do this again!! 

(11/30/05) DODGEBALL!!! : Holy Dodgeball Batman!!! Last Wednesday night's Dodgeball tournament was an absolute hit!!  There were 8 teams of 6 plus about 10 - 15 active spectators - I'll do the math for you - that's about 60 people!!!  Pretty much every team came dressed in "uniform" - some with matching headgear, others with matching warpaint and some were just plain wacky. High-schoolers and ex-high schoolers came out for this one - but the high-schoolers reigned supreme beating out their elders in an excellent display of strength and dodge-ability.  The winning team was made up of the following superstars:  Adam Cohen, Kahlie Koehler, Tyler Conroy, Matt Rockwell, Kyle Jouras, and Brian Roach. We might have to play Dodgeball again - I kept hearing things like, "We should do this once a month",  "Ha Ha Ha Hee Hee Hee Hoooooooo (that's laughter ) "This is the greatest night of my life" (oh wait - I think I said that - but many would agree).

(12/7/05) Super Crazy Barbara Night :  Super Crazy Barbara Night was fantastic!! About 20 of us showed up for Crazy Barbara's ingenious obstacle course filled with boogie-skates, tennis balls, army crawls, and laughs. I'm still recovering from the madness.  Barbara Frota and Haley Silva planned, created, and ran the entire night all by themselves.  "By the youth and for the youth" in action yo!

(12/14/05) White Elephant Gift Exchange and Cookie Christmas Party : The Christmas party last week was a blast.  We ate lots of cookies, drank yummy home made apple cider crafted by my wonderful mom and dad, and then proceeded with a super silly white elephant gift exchange.  A few lucky people left with treasures like a happy birthday bowling pin, a bar of wax, CDs, a wiffle ball and bat, and a new hat.  It was really nice to just hang out together and enjoy our last event of the year.  It's been a great year packed with all kinds of crazy activities!

(1/18/06) Planning Meeting :  Whew!!!! What a meeting we had on Wednesday!  About 20 of us congregated for pizza, brainstorming, laughing, dreaming, idea sharing, and oh - did I say laughing?   Who was there, you ask?  Ramey, Jake, me, Kyle, Pearce and friend, Matt M., Matt F., Tighe, Austin, Sara, Dylan, Saskia, Tyler, Gigi, Kylee, Shane, and I think that's everyone.  

What did we do? 

1. We talked about the dances and the problems with drinking that we have had in the past.  We shared with everyone their that even though they weren't the ones that were a problem at the dance, they can help to be part of the solution by letting their friends know that the dances will continue indefinitely if everyone behaves responsibly.  At the next dance we will have an off-duty officer at the door to make sure that those entering are sober and aren't bringing any alcohol in.  Everyone was supportive of the idea and agreed that the mere presence of an officer would help to diminish possible problems.  Look for the next successful dance at Simpkins in late February or early March.

2. We got all silly and excited about future activities on Wednesday nights.  Everyone wants to keep having activities every week because they all look forward to them and have a blast.  We've got activities planned till the end of March so far.  Check out the calendar at http://www.thecoresc.org/synapse/calendar/calendar_public.cfm?website=thecoresc.org

3. Everyone was stoked on the idea of creating a "Shadowing a Professional" program.  What's that?  Well, what we will do is put teens in contact with real life people in the professions that they strive for.  If a teen wants to be a doctor, have them hang out with one to see if it is really what they want to do.  Most teens never spend time with the end result of their aspirations = an actual person with the job that they want.  We want to decrease the number of young adults that go to school for 4+ years only to discover that the profession they dreamt of and strove for really isn't the dream that they wanted after all.  We want to increase the number of young adults that realize a successful, purposeful, and enjoyable career and lifestyle.  The interested teen would have a 2 hour appointment with the selected professional. 1 hour for the "Interview" portion where the kids will ask questions of the professional and vice versa followed by 1-2 hours of "shadowing" where the teen will follow the professional through a portion of his or her daily routine.
        * We will also incorporate the book The On Purpose Person into this program.  It's an excellent book and workbook combo that helps the reader discover his or her purpose.  Knowing more about yourself and how you are wired helps tremendously in deciding what type of career to delve into. Blending this book with the "Shadowing a Professional" program will give teens the tools to create a fulfilling, joyful, and purpose-full future.

We all contributed to the list of professions we are interested in and even compiled a coinciding list of actual people in those professions that would be interested in being involved in this program.  We're excited to see where this goes.  IF YOU KNOW OF ANY PROFESSIONALS THAT WOULD LIKE TO BE A PART OF THIS (OR MAYBE YOU WOULD), PLEASE EMAIL ME THE INFO.

4. We wanna start a "Core Card" that rewards the teens involved with The Core.  We will create "qualifications" to get the card - like helping to plan a certain # of activities, planning a dance, participating in the "Shadowing a Professional" program, etc.  We wrote down different places that we would like discounts to - it ranged from Santa Cruz Surf Shop to Michael's on Main.  We need a leader to take this idea to the places we would like discounts to, get them involved, and turn it into a rewards program.  Let me know if you would like to help or if you know of any businesses that would be interested in being a part of this. 
        * We also need to find businesses or individuals that would reward good report cards (for example 3.0 and higher) with a gift certificate or cash.

5. I shared a vision of having a teen run sushi restaurant on the East Side.  Everyone has to eat.  Come to eat, stay and hang out.

Below are some of the ideas:
        
        *It will be totally staffed by teens/young adults.  This will provide them with essential job skills, people skills, and communication skills essential for their survival and success in the real world - and it will be tons of fun!
        
        *Create incentives/rewards for those working to make it more valuable than just a job
 
        *Make it training intensive (seminars, public speaking classes, confidence builders, selling incentives)

1.  

   1. Get the customers and servers to open up and talk by having the server ask the customer a silly question (i.e. "If you could fly, see at night, or breathe under water, which would you choose and why?" or, "What's one thing you want to be remembered for?").  This adds humor and brevity to both parties involved and fosters character building, confidence, people skills, and compassion in the server (high-schooler)

            Job placement and advancement = train kids to take over the professionals job (accountant, manager, executive chef, etc.)  or apply skills in other arenas

• Restaurant and... 

              1.  hang-out zone with computer(s), games, pool table, ping-pong, desks, Dance Dance Revolution

              2. Rooms for seminars and classes  

              3. Dances/bigger events at night

(1/25/06) Mini-Golf Madness :  What a night we had last Wednesday mini-golfing at Neptune's Kingdom!  About 20 of us showed up dressed to the "T" (hee hee) as golfers.  Plaid pants, knee socks, and dorky hats were a plenty.  No one was seriously injured in the strenuous game of mini-golf.  There were angry pirates and crazy sounding seagulls lurking about though.  Some of the die-hards stayed after for some very intense air-hockey (Rockwell I want a rematch ).  What a great way to start of the next round of crazy Wednesday night gatherings for the new year!

(2/1/06) 3 on 3 Basketball Tourney : Teams dressed alike to battle it out.  Some serious ballers were present showing off their skills.  Basketball is the coolest game ever!  Smiles and laughter abounded :)

(2/8/06) "A Night at the Roxbury" : We had a blast watching the super silly "A Night at the Roxbury" this past Wednesday.  Every time the two club-loving brothers did their trade-mark head bopping, everyone had a little run, dance, and pose of their own to do (Matt took a nice digger, but we think he's OK ).