Sean Green celebrates celebrating and thanking the multitude of good intentions and efforts offered by Morro Bay nonprofits to produce positive outcomes for the community.
Does it feel like everyone is working harder yet still getting further behind? We certainly appreciate the abundant rain, but might our personal mood swings depend on more coastal sunshine? Or could it be the barrage of negative messages we are hearing about our world, our country, and our communities?
At a retreat planning session that I attended for the Morro Bay Chamber of Commerce over a year ago, past president of the board, Ray Riordan, passed out a match-box sized paper with a different kind of message, “IYAD WYAD YAG WYAG.” Translated it means, “If you always do, what you always do, you’ll always get, what you always get.”
Today’s column is a shout-out to Morro Bay’s Sean Green for taking a chance on doing something different for the sole purpose of celebrating and thanking the multitude of good intentions and efforts offered by Morro Bay nonprofits to produce positive outcomes for our community.
Calendar Monday, April 8 and let’s all go to the movies together for the sole purpose of finding out what’s going on in Morro Bay that we might consider supporting in the next few months. After Sean introduces representatives of the participating nonprofits, we’ll enjoy tons, tons, tons, and tons of laughs watching the 1963 epic comedy “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” directed by Stanley Kramer. Sean worked out a buy-out night with the historic Bay Theater to sell the 300 movie seats with 100% of the $15 purchase price benefiting the participating organizations.
“Though we may be nearing theatre capacity soon,” Sean advised, “additional Morro Bay 501c3 groups interested in participating may reach out to mbcelebratesgenerations@gmail.com to check the availability of group ticket bundles. Individual members of participating organizations can reach out directly to their leadership to buy a ticket for the event.”
Each group was offered a limited number of tickets to sell. Sean then offered to create a new website to promote the purpose of the group and the activities the group planned for the near future. Additionally, if the group would offer attendees a silent auction item to create more revenue, the auction would happen at the event and on the interactive website www.celebrategenerations.com.
Since it was a new concept, Sean first reached out to groups he was already involved with to see if it would be of interest. Instantly the answer was “We’ll do it.” Ticket bundles were created and to date are available from members of the following nonprofit organizations: Morro Bay Open Space Alliance, Historical Society of Morro Bay, the Morro Bay Maritime Museum, Morro Bay Chamber of Commerce, Morro Bay in Bloom, Morro Bay Youth Sailing Foundation, Morro Bay Lions Club, Morro Bay Rotary Club, Morro Bay Active Adults, and Friends of the Morro Bay Harbor Department.
This columnist wondered if our world’s current madness was Sean’s inspiration to create the purpose-driven evening of pure enjoyment. And why this retro-movie? To my surprise Sean was remembering time spent with his father. “Whenever I go home to Salinas my dad is watching an old movie,” he said. “He’s 73 now and it reminded me of all the good times we had going to movies together as a family when I was younger. When I told him what I was doing (for the Morro Bay nonprofits) he told me a story I never would have known if I hadn’t been working on this project. His parents took him to see Mad Mad World in November 1964, the first ever film shown at San Jose’s brand-new Century 21 dome theatre.”
In 2014 the theater closed as a movie theater and the city deemed it historically valuable enough for preservation status. Leadership had high hopes to repurpose it, thus inspiring a blending of the old and the new within the surrounding neighborhood as future economic development opportunities were created.
Sean Green bridges the generations as one of our resident young adults who chose to move to Morro Bay. He had vacationed with family here, but specifically moved to teach English Studies, particularly writing courses, at Cal Poly. At first, he enjoyed the two years he lived in San Luis Obispo, however, in 2016 when timing and circumstance allowed him to purchase in Morro Bay, he made the leap and is happy he did it when he did. “I’m a Morro Bay homeowner and I live near downtown. I can walk everywhere.”
He, like many of us, recognizes there is something special happening in downtown – a new energy of business activities. And like many of us that have relocated to the Estero Bay, Sean became involved in numerous organizations to connect with his new neighbors and community. He currently serves on the Morro Bay Harbor Advisory Board and actively supports and/or supports several other organizations. “In Morro Bay it is the many nonprofits that make things happen. They are the engines that add valuable expertise and volunteer hours to do things beyond what our city budget can afford.
Sean also noticed, however, that the groups don’t always know what the other is doing. This became Sean’s “why.” He intends to celebrate each group by bringing several of its members and supporters together to meet-up and share what they are doing. It’s that simple!
Got your ticket, but want to help more? Anticipated silent auction items will be available on the website soon, but note the following that have been offered for the event by EBN’s deadline: Four guests will experience a 60-minute ride on the Harbor Department’s Rescue Boat; Youth Sailing Training for a future sailor; Pick the Concert at the Siren & a Table for 4 will be reserved is offered by the Morro Bay Chamber of Commerce’s Foundation for Scholarships; MBOSA is putting together a guided tour of Toro Creek Preserve with a picnic lunch; MBIB offers an “I Love Morro Bay” merchandise package; the Historical Society offers a uniquely framed photograph of resident Gladys Walton, a 1920s silent film star; and the Morro Bay Maritime Museum is offering a gift basket including Kelsey See Canyon wine showcasing an Abalone Diver, an Abalone shell gifted by The Shell Shop, two tickets to the May 20 re-airing of the locally produced film “Morro Bay “Once” The Abalone Capital of the World and special guest speakers, a MBMM t-shirt and a maritime book from the museum store.
So now with a ticket-sales buzz out and about, other businesses are finding ways to collaborate. For example, since the Bay Theater doors open at 4:45 Sean suggests, “Ticket holders may wish to grab a pre-matinee dinner. D’Stacio’s Italian Ristorante is opening early at 3:30 p.m. and Scout Coffee is planning an afternoon bake-off of cookies and baker’s choice croissants.” And, of course, there is buttered popcorn as only the Bay Theater can pop it!
