Man About Menifee: A Dad's View of Life in This Town

By David Baker

When I found out about this opportunity to write for Menifee 24/7, my first reaction was a lot like running into an old friend from your past and picking up right where you left off, as if no time had passed at all.

I wrote for my high school paper and was on the yearbook staff. One of the things I enjoyed most was not the writing itself, but the chance to explore and participate in areas that I might not have otherwise been able to do. Since then, I haven’t had many similar opportunities -- until now.

My name is David Baker and I am a 33-year-old married father of four. My oldest son, Nikk, is 18 and a senior at Santa Rosa Academy. My daughter, Alexandra, is 12 years old and a 6th grader at Menifee Valley Middle School. Jeremiah is 9 years old and in the 4th grade at Ridgemoor Elementary, and Joshuah is 11 months old and a very happy and healthy baby.

I work in sales for a Kitchen and Bath Design Showroom in San Diego. I am a founding member of and a leader in Cub Scout Pack 374, based out of Ridgemoor Elementary here in Menifee. I enjoy hiking, camping, bicycle riding, and recently have become very involved in geocaching, which I've found is a wonderful way to explore Menifee.

I first moved to Menifee from San Diego in February 2010, when my work transferred me to the Murrieta office. I looked into a number of houses for rent in Perris and Menifee. I knew I was home one Sunday afternoon when I walked through a Menifee house into the back yard and heard the dulcet tones of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" coming over the fence. All it needed was a pickup truck and Pabst Blue Ribbon to complete the experience (for those who don’t get the reference, watch this video and fast forward to about the 3:00 mark. For those who do get it, watch anyway. It’s still hilarious.

Over the summer, I began looking for a local Cub Scout Pack for Jeremiah to join. He even got to march with another Pack in the Independence Day parade. We had almost joined that Pack when I was approached by the local District Executive for Menifee, who asked if I would be interested in helping start a NEW Cub Scout Pack. At the time, there was only one Pack to service eight elementary schools.

I had to admit, I was intrigued, and I had never started anything like this from scratch. Through the efforts of myself, my wife and a few motivated parents, Cub Scout Pack 374 began meeting in the fall of 2010. We are now up to 35+ boys and still growing. I am very thankful to the Boy Scouts of America because it has given me opportunities to do things with my family that I may not have done by myself, such as trips to Ocotillo Wells and Anza Borrego.

In January of 2011, I was hired by a company back in San Diego. Rather than uproot the children, my wife and I decided that I would make that long commute to San Diego. It's a price well worth having my kids grow up in Menifee. Shortly after that, I took up geocaching. For those who don't know, geocaching is a high tech treasure hunt using a GPS device or mobile phone, where the geocachers find "caches" or containers hidden by other geocachers. There are already a number of them that I have found in Menifee.

The last three years have been awesome. I have been to parades, 5K runs, Father's Day Campouts and hiked up countless trails in the surrounding area. My time has been full of fun and adventure with my family as we learn more about the areas in and around Menifee.

If you have any feedback or know of something that might make for an interesting column topic, I invite you to send me an email at manaboutmenifee@gmail.com.

David Baker, our Man About Menifee, will write about his adventures in and around town every Friday in this space.