Editorial: Job fair, football great for our area Jobs and football

Job fair an exciting prospect
The first San Lorenzo Valley Chamber of Commerce job fair comes at the right time. As unemployment figures have fluctuated between 10 and 15 percent in Santa Cruz County since 2009, it seems more people than ever are without steady work.
The idea of a job fair in the San Lorenzo Valley sounds like an innovative way to unite local businesses by networking in a face-to-face environment.
For some job seekers, the Internet is a great place to find work. For others, it is a black abyss without a handhold.
The same goes for local employers: It’s difficult to determine the best place to advertise for a job. If the owners of a boutique in Felton or Boulder Creek is looking for half-time help that can show up at a moment’s notice, they don’t want applicants from Watsonville or Capitola as the Internet surely brings. They want a local person, who is trustworthy and has the skill set they desire.
That is where a local job fair can really help. We hope that this job fair catches on in the valley and becomes a valuable resource that the chamber offers. After all, if more people have jobs, more money will be spent locally, and our valley will flourish.
Valley rivalry turns another page
The friendly rivalry between the Scotts Valley and San Lorenzo Valley high school football teams is great for our area. Over the past several years, the teams have dominated the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League by trading league championships — and tying for the league title one year. Scotts Valley won this year’s version of the valley battle in a high-scoring game that featured three long touchdowns by one player that were called back for penalties.
Head coaches Doug Morris and Louie Walters have both built fine programs that, year after year, produce quality athletes who challenge for the league title.
We know football is not as important to the people of our area as in, say, the heart of Texas. However, if you want to see school spirit at its best, going to the annual rivalry game between the Cougars and the Falcons is a must.
The only problem? No one has come up with a great name for the rivalry. Battle for the Valley? Eh. Valley Forge version 2.0 — no way. If you have a great name for the annual rivalry game, we’d love to hear it. You can e-mail sports writer Nathan Beck at

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with your ideas, and we might publish them in an upcoming issue of the Press-Banner.