MOREthanLunch speaker series kicks off at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club with Balboa Park expert

MOREthanLUNCH, Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club’s ladies luncheon speaker series, launched Aug. 19 with Darlene Davies speaking on “Haps and Mishaps of the Panama-California Exposition,” honoring Balboa Park’s founding and year-long centennial celebration of the 1915 Expo. The event was held at the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club.

An authority on all things Balboa Park, Davies has written and lectured widely on the park’s role in San Diego’s history. She is the official Old Globe historian, and has received mayoral appointments to the city of San Diego Parks and Recreation Board and the Balboa Park Committee, as well as the Commission for Arts & Culture. She served for 12 years on the Old Globe Theatre Board, and she co-produced and co-wrote 15 videos funded by the Akaloa and Cargill Foundations for the Mingei Museum. Her love of theater has resulted in a lifetime involvement with San Diego Junior Theatre, which awarded her honors in 2013 for Lifetime Achievement. She also chaired the County Commission on the Status of Women.

The Aug. 19 lecture, with digital visuals as well as real life items from Darlene’s memorabilia collection, was first crafted for the March 2015 Congress of History annual conference. The talk paid tribute to the women of the 1915 Expo.

Photos by McKenzie Images.