The Cayucos Land Conservancy is immensely indebted to founding Board member Allyn Arnold and his wife Lee. Their generosity and community vision benefitted Cayucos open space for 25 years. Here's a little of their history:
Allyn and Lee retired as educators who served in the Los Angeles school district for many years. Allyn was the coordinator of gifted-student programs that oversaw approximately 40,000 K-12 students; Lee (Concettina) Arnold was the director of instruction for a group of junior high schools in downtown Los Angeles.
When it came time to retire, they chose the quiet beauty of Cayucos. In 2017, Allyn said “We lived in Hollywood, and we weren’t sure if we were small town people,” Allyn said. “We found out that we could enjoy it and we have been for the past 27 years.” And indeed they did:
Lee led the charge to build the Cayucos Pier restrooms and resurface the asphalt at the pier entrance, then steered the Pier Plaza Committee for the Pier’s dophin monument. She went on to help the Cayucos Art Association build its scholarship program for the Cayucos Elementary School.
Lee and Allyn co-founded Cayucos Beautiful, were major supporters of the Cayucos Friends of the Library, libraries county-wide, the Cayucos Educational Foundation and the Cayucos Art Association. Both worked at Cayucos School.
Allyn was a founding Director of the Cayucos Land Conservancy, a founding member of the Cayucos Historical Society, served on the Cayucos Advisory Council, was awarded Lion of the Year in 1992-93 by the Cayucos Lions Club and co-authored Cayucos by the Sea: A Pictorial History.
In addition to their civic work in Cayucos, the Arnolds generously supportered education and the arts in San Luis Obispo County, as well as the Homeless Shelter and the Food Bank Coalition.
In the midst of all their efforts, the Arnolds' commitment to the Cayucos Land Conservancy was unwavering. They are greatly appreciated, admired and missed by the Cayucos Land Conservancy Board, its members and the community of Cayucos.
