Valley Women’s Club 2017 Highlights
By Laurie Becker
The Redemption/Recycling Centers are seeing a healthy recovery from the severe slump of the plastics and metal markets.
The SLV Habitat Restoration Program, brought an AmeriCorps team of 11 young people to the Valley for nine weeks last winter. The team worked on local environmental projects at sites including Quail Hollow Ranch, Mountain Community Resources, Garrahan Park, Junction Park, and the Estuary Re-vegetation Project.
Our 39th Annual General Meeting at Highlands Park Senior Center was very well attended. Assembly Member Mark Stone, State Senator Bill Monning, 5th District Supervisor Bruce McPherson, and Congresswoman Anna Eshoo’s aide, Fabiola Martinez, reported on local, regional and state issues that affect us directly. There were reports from the VWC Committees, and the introduction of the Legacy of Trees Donation Program!
The Education Committee had the happy task of giving Ready for School Bags to the Valley’s incoming kindergarten and TK kids at SLE and BCE. Three scholarships were awarded to SLV students going on to Cabrillo, as well as the Deborah Ann Albright STEM Scholarship, and the biennial Alice Earl Wilder Scholarship.
An incredible group of about 60 VWC volunteers gave their all at the Redwood Mountain Faire — and we can’t thank them enough! The hours the volunteers worked are highly valued and key to many of our club’s success stories and our financial strength.
Social events included a VWC marching contingent in the Boulder Creek 4th of July Parade, an Ice Cream Social at Highlands Park, and our third Isadora Duncan Dance Workshop at Park Hall.
Causes: The Felton Meadow Project. We are pleased that Mt. Hermon withdrew their application for developing the Felton Meadow into the proposed Adventure/Bike Velocity Park. The Meadow is such a precious area of woodlands and wetlands, and provides an amazing view shed for the entrance to our beautiful Valley.
September’s 31st Annual River & Road Cleanup drew 101 volunteers of all ages! Three tons of trash, including 20 large zip-lock bags packed with hundreds of cigarette butts and 850 pounds of recyclable metals and glass were removed from our roads and river!
The 18th Annual Scholarship Rummage Sale brought in almost $1000 for Cabrillo-bound SLV scholarships.
Jacqueline Sommers’ The Air Around Us event at Ben Lomond Park was co-sponsored by the VWC with the Monterey Bay Air Resources Board, to benefit Valley Churches United’s program to provide clean, dry cords of firewood to those who cannot afford them and might have to use environmentally unsafe combustibles to fuel their stoves. $1000 was raised toward the program.
In October, the Environmental Committee Town Hall in Felton with Assembly Member Mark Stone brought people together to hear about environmental issues at the State level that are directly impacting us in the SLV and the county. An excited and engaged audience asked dozens of hard-hitting questions and sought information from the resource table.
The Hammer-Marcum Award event in October celebrated two of our community’s outstanding volunteers: Eric Hammer and Kevin Foster. Speeches and proclamations abounded as we honored Kevin, who among many other accomplishments, started the Boulder Creek Family Network; and Eric, who has given so very much support to the Valley and to the Faire, and is our first multi-generational awardee!
The VWC received a “Be the Difference” Award from the Santa Cruz Volunteer Center.
The VWC’s Caregivers Support Group continues to meet regularly at the Highlands Senior Center.
A large number of VWC volunteers were Halloween Crossing Guards for the Boulder Creek Downtown Trick-or-Treat, helping keep the kids safe and reveling in all the amazing costumes!
On December 7, the VWC sponsored local author, Dyane Harwood’s discussion on her book, Birth of a New Brain –Healing from Postpartum Bipolar Disorder.
We look forward in 2018 to our 40th Anniversary, to a larger Board, more activities, and to more involvement with our Valley community! Learn more about our organization and join us: www.ValleyWomensClub.org