The Coast News, July 13, 2012

JULY 13, 2012
L E G E N D A R Y L O C A L S
ENCINITAS
Bob Cozens:
Personification
of public service
O F
Author Insight:
As a writer, I’ve had the
pleasure of meeting quite a
number of rock stars, actors and
(in)famous politicians, but I
don’t think I’ve ever felt so honored
as when Bob Cozens invited
me into his home last summer.
I was uncharacteristically
speechless to find myself in the
presence of a legendary local
with such a
palpable connection
to the
city’s past.
Here was
a man who,
as a baby,
had been
dandled on
the lap of
ALISON BURNS
A n n i e
Hammond
Cozens, one of the very first pioneers
to settle in Encinitas, and
a direct descendent of the family
that had doubled the town’s
population when they so courageously
stepped off the train at
the Encinitas whistle stop in
1883. Bob was just four years old
when he got his first job during
the summer of 1923 helping the
local farmers as they trundled
their horse-drawn hay balers
from farm to farm. By harvest’s
end he had earned the princely
sum of $3.
He ended his working days
as Director of the California
DMV – a fitting occupation for
a boy who got his first driver’s
license at the age of 14 driving
solo through the empty streets
of Encinitas while a motorcycle
patrol officer followed at a safe
distance.
Robert Charles Cozens died
on April 2 this year, which
made it all the more poignant
that I should have met him
when he was still full of tall
tales and sparkling wit. He has
been called a “superb representative
of the greatest generation”
and indeed we will not see
his like again.
When, during Bob’s final
months, Tom Cozens asked his
dad what he considered to have
been his proudest achievement,
Bob unhesitatingly replied:
“having been given the opportunity
to serve my family, my
community, my county, my
state and my country”. – Alison
Burns is president of the
Encinitas Historical Society
and author of Legendary
Locals of Encinitas
The Cozens family has a
long history of being active in
the community—and indeed
the country—from the arrival
in the early 1880s of Tom and
Jimmy Cozens to the present.
Bob Cozens (pictured during
his college football years) is
the great-grandson of E.G. and
Jane Hammond, whose house,
Sunset Ranch, was the indisputable
social hub of late-
19th-century Encinitas. Bob’s
grandmother, Annie, youngest
of the seven Hammond children
who emigrated from
England in 1883, was married
to Tom Cozens and known as a
force to be reckoned with. A
member of the board of
trustees at the one-room
Encinitas schoolhouse that
grandson Bob attended up to
eighth grade, Annie was also
the author of A Brief History
of Encinitas. Another major
influence in helping shape
Encinitas, Bob’s father, Bert,
owned a successful grading
business that was vital to the
development of Leucadia.
Bob Cozens first served
his country at the age of 23
when, as a B-17 bomber
squadron commander stationed
in England, he flew 25
missions that earned him several
medals including the
Distinguished Flying Cross.
Bert and Grace Cozens felt it
their patriotic duty to send
their sons, Bob,Tom, and Dick,
overseas as part of the Army
Air Forces, but the family paid
the ultimate sacrifice when
both Tom and Dick were killed
in action. Bob went on to
become the first county supervisor
to be selected from
Encinitas, a job he relinquished
only when Ronald
Reagan personally appointed
him head of the Department
of Motor Vehicles. Now in his
90s and long since retired, Bob
looks back proudly on a life of
public service—and far
beyond that, to a time when
he could still run barefoot
among his father’s horses and
cattle on what is now El
Camino Real. (Image
Courtesy of Cozens family.)
THE COAST NEWS
Dinghies get dolled up for annual parade
By Promise Yee
OCEANSIDE — Some
local boat owners celebrated
July 4th with the Yankee
Doodle Dinghy Parade. More
than a dozen decorated
dinghies, packed with family
and friends, motored around
the shoreline of Oceanside
Harbor.
Dinghies serve as tenders
for bigger boats to
transport passengers to shallow
shore areas.
The compact size of the
dinghies allows them to
maneuver in and out of
small spaces and gives spectators
on shore an up-close
view of the parade.
The tradition of the
Yankee Doodle Dinghy
Parade began about 10 years
ago. Two boaters, who happen
to be Vietnam War veterans,
wanted to show their
patriotism on July 4th and
organized the parade.
The theme of the
parade remains patriotism.
Individual boat owners
expanded on the theme and
dressed their dinghies as an
armed tall ship; a red, white
and blue submarine; and a
giant sea turtle being chased
by a shark.
This year parade participant
Bob Lockwood won
first place for his dinghy
dressed up with siding to
look like a tall ship with a
firing cannon on the bow.
Last year’s parade winner
was boat owner Jon
Lundgren. He won for his
fire truck design.
Boat decorations are
usually spontaneous and seldom
repeated.
This challenges competitors
to outdo their entry
from the previous year.
“We go with what we
have,” parade participant
Carleen Southard said. “It
depends what boxes we have
in the garage.”
The result for Southard
and her crew was a boat
designed to look like an
ocean food chain of sorts.
On the bow of the boat
was a leaping dolphin followed
by a giant sea turtle
on top of the thatched shade
shelter inside the dinghy.
Behind the boat was an
inflatable blue shark.
The spirit of the parade
is fun and camaraderie.
Participants Rick Matthews, Ruby Leslie and Gail Fourmanek wave to
spectators on the dock.
Over a dozen boaters and their crews showed their patriotism July 4 in
the Yankee Doodle Dinghy Parade. Parade participant Rob Lockwood in
the tall ship entry is this year’s winner. Photos by Promise Yee
858 793 8884
A7
Oceanside Yacht Club member
Jerry McArdle said he
has competed in the parade
for the past eight years and
taken home a winning trophy
five times.
“We do stuff like this all
the time,” McArdle said. “It’s
a long-time tradition.”
The Oceanside Yacht
Club was established in 1963
and will celebrate its 50-year
anniversary next year.
The club holds an annual
July 4th dinghy parade
and Christmas boat parade.
It has also held Easter
egg hunts in harbor waters.