Others present at the event were: City of Menifee Councilman John Denver who also presented Darci with a gift from the City of Menifee, he said “Darci the City of Menifee is very proud of you, everyone that knows you will miss you”.    Also present were; Linda Denver Menifee Rotary President & Treasurer of the Menifee Arts Council, Dorothy Wolons, CEO of the Menifee Valley Chamber of Commerce with her Assistant Ebony Richards,  Shellie Stoval from 24/7 on line newspaper and yours truly Robbie Motter representing  Nafe and the Menifee Buzz.

In 1994, Darci felt a desire to serve her Country and enlisted in the United States Navy Reserve. In 2007, she was promoted to Chief Petty Officer, one of her proudest achievements.  She is currently assigned to Navy Cargo Handling Battalion 14, Delta Company, as the Senior Enlisted Leader for 31 Sailors.

Our community will miss her greatly as she has been very active over the years. She has served as Chairwoman (twice) of the Menifee Valley Chamber of Commerce; President of the Menifee Valley Community Cupboard; Treasure, Menifee Action Group; and served on the General Plan Advisory Council.  This past year Darci serves as an ambassador for goodwill as Ms. Menifee Valley Chamber of Commerce.

This year Darci received the phone call reservists are always on the ready for, the call to Active Duty. On March 7th, she will be deploying with 115 members of her battalion, to provide logistics support to Special Operations Forces stationed at Bagram Army Air Base, in Bagram, Afghanistan.

Lets learn a little more about this dynamic woman who we know will do an outstanding job for the Navy, see what she has already done in her life.

Darci Castillejos was born Dec 6, 1960 in Oxnard, CA where her father Dennis was stationed at Pt. Magu Naval Air Station.  As a military “brat” she grew up in places like the Philippines and Japan, before her parents settled in Jacksonville, Florida, where Darci graduated from N.B. Forrest High School, in 1979, as a member of the National Honor Society.   After spending the summer back-packing through Europe, Darci decided to seek her fortunes in California.  She spent fifteen years with Bank of America, rising from an entry level employee to Branch Manager and then District Business Officer.  While at BofA, Darci met and married her amazing husband Mike.  They celebrated their 30th anniversary this past August.  Darci decided in 1995 to take a break from corporate America and spent a couple of years working part-time and spending more time with her children, Nicole and Richard.  While her children were growing up, Darci was a Girl Scout troop leader for six years, also was active in the PTSA for many years, eventually serving as President of the Menifee Valley Middle School PTSA.  She also served on her homeowner’s association board for almost twenty years, five as President.

In 1996, Darci caught the entrepreneur bug and opened SunBean’s Coffee and Brewing Company.  While a modest success initially, road construction on the Newport road overpass made it challenging to attract customers from Menifee Lakes.  So in 2001, Darci converted the coffee house to a small sports bar, feeling that would be a better fit for the community.  She sold the bar the next year, and it remains today as a thriving business, The Pitstop Pub and Grill, on Newport and Bradley in Menifee.  During that time, Darci was approached by the Riverside County Economic Development Agency to build and operate a restaurant in vacant space located in the terminal building at the French Valley Airport.  After seeing the location, located mid field, right along the runway, she decided it was a great opportunity, and opened the French Valley Café in June 2000, and continues to operate the business today.

Until she leaves more individuals in the community wanted to honor her, a USO Party at the Menifee Lakes Country Club was held were Darci  was presented a special commendation by California State Assembly Republican Member Melissa Melendez who  represents the 67th Assembly District, and the hundreds who attended the event to wish her well on her deployment.  This USO Show was totally dedicated to Darci and was put together by Steve & Kat Sanders of Unstoppable Entertainment. Both Darci and Mike will take a little vacation before she leaves.

Darci Castillejos is a dynamic woman and we in Menifee will totally miss her, and we thank her for her dedication to serve her country. We wish Darci a safe journey and a safe return.