Full Name Cordelia Scott Name Cordelia Mendoza Spouse Bob Mendoza | Nationality American Role Author Parents James Melvin Scott | |
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Occupation Volunteer, antique store owner Known for In 1963, she was given awards for undergoing heart surgery People also search for Eileen Rose Busby, Cathy Scott, James Melvin Scott, J. Michael Scott, Esther Rose | ||
Cordelia (Scott) Mendoza (born in San Diego, California) is an American volunteer, antiques store owner, and author. Her volunteerism began at age 13 when she and her twin sister, Cathleen Scott, were named and represented the San Diego County Heart Association for a year as the Heart Fund Twins, after Mendoza successfully underwent repair of a congenital heart defect, a surgery that at the time was rare. Mendoza, with her sister, was awarded a Key to the City by then-Mayor Charles Dail.
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Early life and education
Mendoza grew up in La Mesa in San Diego County, where she attended Helix High School. While in high school, she participated in an exchange student program with a family in Mazatlan, Mexico. She attended Grossmont College and the University of California, San Diego.
Mendoza is the daughter of the late author Eileen Rose Busby, also an antiques expert, and the late James (Jim) Scott, a Senior Olympian who helped pioneer and develop the game of racquetball. She is the granddaughter of California artist Esther Rose, the sister of scientist and author J. Michael Scott, sister of true crime author Cathy Scott, and the niece of the late Russian Orthodox Hieromonk Seraphim Rose.
Career
Since 1988, she and her husband have owned and operated antiques stores in the San Diego coastal community of Ocean Beach, including the first antique collective on the town's main street, Newport Avenue, which has been referred to as the Ocean Beach Antique District and called a "beachside Antique Row" by San Diego Magazine. A year after opening Ocean Beach Antique Mall, San Diego Woman featured Mendoza in its magazine. Mendoza's store, Cottage Antiques, has been written about in Antiques & Collectibles, The Collector, San Diego Metropolitan Magazine, San Diego Union-Tribune, Beach & Bay Press and San Diego Beacon.
She consults and evaluates in estate liquidation and home decorating. In July 2014, The San Diego Union-Tribune did a question-and-answer article with Mendoza about antique buying, titled the "Highs and Lows of Antiques."
In 2007, Mendoza's comments were included in an article about antiques in the Christian Science Monitor, which was reprinted in the Chicago Daily Herald. In 1999, she was featured as a collector on HGTV's Appraise It! show, taped at the Butterfield auction house in Los Angeles
The Mendozas' remodeled kitchen in a restored 1936 San Diego home in the Loma Portal community was recognized with a feature article in the Summer 2008 Better Homes and Gardens magazine.
Mendoza co-authored the book Chintz and Pastel Ware with her mother, the late Eileen Rose Busby, scheduled for publication by Schiffer Publishing in 2011. She was a contributing writer for her mother's book, Cottage Ware: Ceramic Tableware Shaped As Buildings. Also, Mendoza and her mother were speakers, about chintz china, at the Riverside Art Museum's fifth annual spring fundraiser in 1999. Mendoza was a contributing author (a chapter titled "Something Old, Something New") for The Big Book of Social Media: Case Studies, Stories, Perspectives, released November 1, 2010, and edited by Robert Fine.
Today's Vintage online magazine republished a column of Mendoza's about decorating with architectural objects. And the "Home China Improvement" site re-ran her blog post on the history of white ironstone Staffordshire china.
Volunteerism
Mendoza's nonprofit participation with the San Diego County Heart Association continued into adulthood when she ran the 1983 Heart of San Diego 10K run. The San Diego Evening Tribune wrote about Mendoza's participation, along with two other runners who were also mended heart patients.
In 2006, as event coordinator, Mendoza was featured in a Peninsula Beacon article about the fifth annual Point Loma Garden Walk that raised funds for the Craniofacial Unit of Children's Hospital and Health Center. In a 2008 article about the annual fundraising event, it too featured Mendoza, as co-president at the time of the volunteer auxiliary that organizes the event. And she was one of three featured in a news story about thinking outside the box when it comes to volunteering for nonprofits. In 2009, the news blog, 32 Degrees North, wrote about Mendoza's volunteer work, including the Point Loma Garden Walk, describing it as the "biggest fundraiser of the year" for the San Diego Children's Hospital Auxiliary.
Also in 2009, Mendoza coordinated the Point Loma Holiday Home tour, a fixture in San Diego for 58 years, that benefitted Best Friends Animal Society, a national animal welfare organization. In 2008, Mendoza’s home was included on the tour, which for 57 years benefited the All Soul’s Episcopal Church. When the church retired the event, Mendoza chaired it for the 2009 event, this time benefiting animals.
She has sat on the executive boards, as well as chairing committees, of Rady Children's Hospital Auxiliary Board and the Ocean Beach Main Street Association executive board of directors. Each year she helps coordinate Rady Children's Hospital Auxiliary's annual benefit Garden Walk and is the volunteer social media coordinator and webmaster for its site.
In July 2009, Mendoza was a speaker at the Cool Twitter Conference in San Diego. Then, in November 2009, she was the Cool Twitter Conference social media promoter at its Orange County conference, as part of its national tour.
Awards
In 2012, Mendoza was given the Mabel G. Jessop Spirit Award by Rady Children's Hospital.
In 2010, for the fourth year in a row, Cottage Antiques made KGTV-10’s county-wide “A-List," in the top 5, for Best Antiques, placing first in 2010. In 2009, the store received the Readers' Choice Award from the Peninsula Beacon. Also, her store has been recognized for its holiday window displays, including in 2009 for "Most Traditional."
In October 2010, the Ocean Beach Merchant's Association at its annual awards ceremony presented Mendoza, one of three recipients, a Special Award for her "innovative marketing and promotion ideas" for the Ocean Beach business community.
Also in 2010, she was voted number 15 in "Best Social Media in Business" by Influence Awards in San Diego.
In 2006, the City of San Diego presented Mendoza with a Business Improvement District award. At the time, The Daily Transcript described Mendoza as "a pioneer in establishing the antiques district in Ocean Beach" with a "strong presence and visibility in Ocean Beach since 1988" who "takes a leadership role. ... Cottage Antiques has strong involvement with several non-profit groups... ."
In October 2007, the California State Legislature recognized her community service with an award presented by State Sen. Christine Kehoe for "commitment to strengthening the community through dedicated service with the Ocean Beach Main Street Association." Over the years, she has been interviewed by and quoted in periodicals and newspapers about antiques, including San Diego Magazine and the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The Small Business Administration, San Diego named her store Outstanding Neighborhood Business of the Year in 2006.
Personal life
She lives with her husband, Bob Mendoza, in the Loma Portal neighborhood of Point Loma in San Diego.