Beth Apodaca, director of the Dorothy Visser Senior Center and tireless volunteer, received official recognition for her decades of service from the City of San Clemente on March 19, when the City Council approved her nomination as the 2023 Wall of Recognition honoree.
Apodaca became the 45th person to be added to the city’s Wall of Recognition, located in the San Clemente Community Center lobby, since the annual tradition was created in 1994. The honor is intended to highlight San Clemente residents who “have gone the extra mile” to make the city a better place.
After nominations are collected at the end of each February, past recipients and representatives from the council, the Beaches, Parks, and Recreation Commission, and the Human Affairs Committee gather to select a recipient.
“For the last – going on 40 years…we’ve done what we’ve had to do, done what needed to be done, and it’s great to be honored for it,” Apodaca said at the meeting.
The San Clemente Exchange Club and San Clemente Ocean Festival organizations both submitted nominations of Apodaca to the city, Apodaca told the San Clemente Times.
Ocean Festival President Jolinda Marquez highlighted Apodaca’s involvement with the Cabrillo Playhouse, HeartChase, Kiwanis Club, the Ocean Institute’s fundraising arm Sand Dollars, both the city’s Rotary Clubs, San Clemente Dons, as well as the Exchange Club and the Ocean Festival. Apodaca became the first woman to serve as the Exchange Club President in 2023.
“She has organized, volunteered, and assisted with major fundraising activities directly benefiting our youth, seniors and families through the many organizations she has been affiliated with in San Clemente throughout the years,” Marquez wrote in a letter to the city. “Beth has also raised the bar as the Director for the Dorothy Visser Senior Center by providing a safe, fun and welcoming atmosphere filled with services, educational programs, entertainment and activities for our seniors to enjoy.”
Apodaca started volunteering around San Clemente roughly 40 years ago after graduating from Cal Poly Pomona. She has a tendency to be active, she said, and her involvement only grew as she started a business in town, joined the San Clemente Chamber of Commerce, and jumped up to fill needs as they appeared.
There are a multitude of ways to help San Clemente retain its small-town atmosphere, according to Apodaca, and with an innate desire to help her community, she’s motivated to step up whether she’s officially part of a group.
Apodaca was a part of the group that started the San Juan Capistrano chapter of Laura’s House, an organization that assists victims of domestic violence with housing and other services. From there, she took on the responsibility of organizing the HeartChase fundraiser after the death of Tony Carbonara in January 2013, who himself was posthumously added to the Wall of Recognition.
“We always say give a busy person something to do and it’ll get done, because we’re so time-focused and (have) so many things going on,” said Apodaca.
She added that since she’s active in so many areas, she’s always on the go and finds it hard to sit still.
The reason she was added to the Wall for 2023 was because someone finally realized all she’s done over the past four decades, Apodaca joked.
“That’s why everybody keeps saying, ‘It’s about time,’ ‘Should’ve been a long time ago,’ ” she said. “But I’ve never been one for—I do not like recognition like this at all. Everyone knows that it’s not my thing.”
Still, she enjoyed having a large group of friends and supporters in the audience at the City Council meeting in which she was recognized, adding that many of those people volunteer around the city, which is how they all came to meet each other.
“We all know each other (through the) so many different things we do,” said Apodaca. “That’s how we all cross over and help each other with different events and everything that we always get involved in.”
There’s a consensus among the older crowd of San Clemente activists that the time is now for the next generation to kick up their involvement, she continued. As the older group ages out, the younger group will need to fill the gap, which is something she hasn’t seen to date.
However, she said the Young Innovators Network’s presence at a recent Coffee Chat was encouraging, as it allowed older adults to learn about the organization and offer their advice to the YIN, which is composed of entrepreneurs between 21 and 39 years old.
The knowledge of older adults, whose experiences and accomplishments paved the way for current generations, is important and a sentiment Apodaca often shares with people.
“That’s why the innovators are so important; it’s aiming for that segment we’re missing,” she said. “I think it’s great that the (Chamber of Commerce) is putting that on, I really do, because there’s such a need for that age.”
As for Apodaca, she has no plans of slowing her involvement anytime soon. There’ll always be a new challenge to take on, she said.
“You’re trying to make this place a great place, but we want to keep it (great) for our kids, because most of our kids will be inheriting our homes,” Apodaca said. “They’ll be living here, they’ll be the next generation coming in, and so you want to make (the city great) for the future.”