Westside Story Newspaper – Online The News of The Empire – Sharing the Quest for Excellence
By Brian Whitehead
SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- The playground at Vermont Elementary School is much greener these days thanks to five brothers who donated a new soccer field to the Muscoy school and greater community where they got their start.
Well before the McGuire brothers built their successful bail bonds company, Cesar, Danny, Gabriel, Gilbert and Marco lived down the street from Vermont Elementary and played football, tag, baseball and every other outdoor sport on the grass field and blacktop at the rear of the school.
The siblings returned Friday, April 14, to unveil their $250,000 gift to the place they called home.
“For some,” youngest brother Cesar McGuire said to those gathered, “this may just be another playground in a neighborhood. But for others, like myself, my brothers and the people of this community, it’s hope. Hope that the kids who play on this field will be inspired, inspired to become athletes, teachers, entrepreneurs, community leaders or anything else that helps contribute to our society.
“Even if the new field inspires just one kid,” McGuire continued, “it was worth it.”
At 2 acres, the McGuire Family Community Soccer Field is plenty big for hundreds of Vermont students to run around freely.
Avagrow, a Holland-based hydroponics grow shop, installed the grass over three months with an eye toward creating strong root development and retaining water.
Six trees on the perimeter of the field represent the five McGuire brothers and their sister.
The natural and healthy grass is as lush as it is green, a perfect playing surface with “a tremendous number of benefits to the environment and community,” McGuire said. “What we do today will set an example for generations to come.”
Serving a high-poverty, low-income community, Vermont has a majority Latino, Hispanic, Mexican student population, Perez said. No matter the challenges, she added, “it’s also one of the most beautiful communities I’ve ever had the pleasure of serving because it is one of unity, love and support.”
Kayden Bejarano, a Vermont student, spoke to those in attendance Friday of the benefits the new field will provide.
“Soccer can be a chance for kids who don’t know how to play soccer to learn how to play,” he said. “A soccer team can make kids get off their phones and work to be good at sports they like. A soccer team can be an influence for kids to learn that when you lose, it can be a good thing because you learn you need more practice to win.”
A gift that will last a lifetime, Perez called the field.
“This is a way for us, the McGuire family, as a whole, to say thank you for allowing the McGuires to leave their mark on a place that we called home almost 40 years ago today,” McGuire said.
“Muscoy.”
