2ND ANNUAL ANGELA AUGUST 'FUN-RAISER' INCLUDED ENTERTAINMENT, BOOTHS, AND PETTING ZOO

By Janis Russell

May 3, 2014 (Alpine)- Last Saturday, April 27, a crowd came out to support Dawn August, her husband and their sons, Daniel and Nathan, at the second annual Angela August ‘Fun-raiser’ (For the Love of Angela) at Alpine Town Hall. This fundraising event for Mothers Against Drunk Drivers was held to honor the memory of 25 year old Angela August, who was killed by a drunk driver on June 11, 2012--just five days before she was going to walk and graduate summa cum laude with her graduating class at UC San Diego.

Everything that Angela loved and participated in was included at this event. The month of April was not only Alcohol Awareness month; it is also the month Angela was born.

This year, there was entertainment from comedy to dancing to singing, there was a petting zoo from Lakeside 4H, opportunity drawings, a silent auction, dunk tank with local school principals, and California Highway Patrol drunk  driving demonstration. This fundraiser was benefitting MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving.  

There were booths for tickets for the drawings, a massage therapist, Jewels by Park Lane, aprons, Tree of Life soaps, Kid’s art/activities including a ring toss and Krazy Kans, crafts for sale, Renee’s Uptown Salon, facials and makeup, pet adoptions, and the Alpine outlaws with jail. MADD, which Angela’s parents have been a part of since Angela died, had a booth set up with information about their program. MADD has a walk on Saturday October 18 at NTC Park in San Diego.

There was also a memory table with pictures of when Angela used to model, play tennis and participate in track and field, and her oil paintings were on display as well. Angela was a model, rock singer/songwriter, actress, and artist. She loved dancing, singing, acting, and was passionate about animals and rescue.

The emcee was Marc Bailey, Channel 6 news anchor.

In the town hall, Miss San Diego 2010 gave a performance. Other beauty pageant queens were in attendance as well. Some girls from Dianne’s School of Dance (now called Alpine Dance Academy) performed a couple numbers.

Nathan August performed a few songs that he wrote himself on his guitar. His first song, “Creek”, meant a lot to him. Another song, “Darkest Days”, was in memory of Angela. He told the viewers, “Thank you for letting me share that with you. This is the first time I’ve performed it in front of a live audience.” He mentioned about another song, “October Rain”, “My family really loves it. I hope people are able to connect with it.” At the end, before he played “Creek” again, he said, “I gotta thank my family [and] my friend Pablo for helping keep me on track. I’m so thankful that everyone’s here.”

After Nathan was done, Kevin Pearlstein, Public Information Officer for the California Highway Patrol in El Cajon, listed some facts about drunk driving and what the CHP has done. He mentioned that in El Cajon, “Once every 5 days, we have a collision involving fatalities, teens ages 15-19 [and] alcohol.”

He then mentioned some recent dramatic stories of drunk driving fatalities. The CHP also has done several programs to raise awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving.

“We do several educational programs [like] Smart Start and Every 15 Minutes.. It’s very impactful,” he said.  “We actually go to middle schools now.” As for adults, “we do several safety presentations [at] SDG & E and Helix Water District” among others.  He added, “We’re very fortunate that Dawn has come to Every 15 Minutes and talking about Angela.. it really affects the female students. She asked me to come today and show DUI goggles” which were at 0.10—an alcohol content that would send a person could go to jail.

Loretta, a teenage girl, was his volunteer for the demonstration. There were two tests without the goggles, and two tests with the goggles. For the first test, Loretta was supposed to put out her left foot in front of her and count by 1000’s until Officer Pearlstein told her to stop. The second test involved Loretta walking in a straight line heel to toe and walking nine steps one way and nine steps back. She did a good demonstration without the goggles. However, she struggled when she used the goggles, using her arms to keep her balance and not walking in a straight line.

Pearlstein told the group that there were three things the highway patrol focuses on: 1) “watching for speeders.. tickets save lives. Last year, there were 172,000 traffic stops in El Cajon. 2) seatbelts, and 3) texting. The biggest thing we’re doing now is texting” since it is drunk drivers awareness month this month.

A parent of a Steele Canyon High student praised Pearlstein for how he handled the death of former Steele Canyon student Julian Fraiser on TV. Pearlstein responded, “My daughter’s a freshman at Steele. It really hit home for me.”

The Steele Canyon High School dance team and show choir performed three numbers each, all of which were in preparation for their spring concert they have every year, which was that week. Dance team coach, Natalie Gilbert, introduced herself and dance/show choir teacher Joan Gerner.

Gerner told the audience, “Nathan and Angela were part of our performing arts department. It’s touched our school deeply.”

The El Cajon clogging group, that Dawn and Angela, were a part of, performed as well.

ECM also got a chance to interview Dawn.

Asked how Angela was as a person, Dawn said, “Angela always wanted to make a difference. She was an animal lover, an artist, did modeling and oil painting” etc.

To learn more about Angela, visit her website: http://angelaaugust.com/.

To read more about the dramatic story of Angela’s death, read a post by Dawn at: http://www.alpinecommunitynetwork.com/2013/06/in-memory-of-my-daughter-angela-who-died-exactly-one-year-ago-today-by-dawn-august-6-11-13/.

For an updated newsstory about the drunk driver who killed August and another victim, visit: http://www.10news.com/news/sentencing-today-for-woman-who-killed-2-in-drunk-driving-crash-030314.

For more information about MADD, visit: http://www.madd.org/.

To visit the MADD San Diego page, go to: http://www.madd.org/local-offices/ca/san-diego/.

To be apart of the MADD walk this year, visit: http://support.madd.org/site/TR?fr_id=3570&pg=entry, where you can sign up, make a donation, and be part of the fun virtually or in person.