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Angeles Chapter 20s & 30s Section

Winter 2023 Newsletter

Hello, 20s & 30s Section members!

Welcome to the long-awaited Winter 2023 edition of our quarterly newsletter. Even though the COVID-19 pandemic started close to three years ago, if feels like we’re still catching our collective breaths from dealing with the aftermath. While Sierra Club outings are still operating under some COVID-related restrictions, we’re expecting to hear about the future of COVID-related restrictions by the end of the month. No doubt your lives have probably changed quite a bit since the beginning of 2020, and the lives of our leaders and volunteers have gone through a lot of changes at the same time. Nevertheless, we all hope that 2023 will give us the opportunity to return to something approaching a sense of normalcy, and it’s our goal for 2023 to return the section to a regular schedule of in-person, outdoor events. Thanks for sticking with us, and we hope this finds you well.

Recent Events

Craft Beers, Crafting, and More—Nov. 8, 2022

On November 8^th, the 20s & 30s Section sponsored a crafting-centered social event at the Common Space Brewery and Tasting Room in Hawthorne, in conjunction with the Wilderness Training section. Leader Pete Garcia walked participants through the steps to craft a braided paracord bracelet, useful both as a fashion accessory and a resource for a wilderness emergency. Attendees got to know each other over beverages purchased from the brewery and snacks provided by the section, and went home with a free paracord bracelet to boot. Special thanks to Pete for putting together this social event for us, and to Common Space for providing the space.

News and Announcements

Amendment to the bylaws—thanks for voting!

At the end of December, 20s & 30s Section membership unanimously approved an amendment to the section’s bylaws. Under the amended bylaws, the section’s Management Committee elections will be moved from the fourth quarter of the year to the first quarter of the year. This should relieve us of the crunch to get our elections organized and completed while also dealing with the extra demands of the winter holidays. Thanks to everyone who voted to allow us to make the change. Speaking of which…

Management Committee elections 2023

Our 2023 elections for the section’s Management Committee are coming up this quarter. We’ll be organizing a Nominating Committee to put forward a slate of candidates in the coming weeks. Candidates can be selected by the Nominating Committee or nominated by petition. Petition details are available in the section’s bylaws (see above for link). You don’t have to be an outings leader to run for the Management Committee—any active member of the Sierra Club and the section can run. If you’d like to be considered by the Nominating Committee, or if you’d like to volunteer for the Nominating Committee or the Elections Committee, please reach out to us at sc2030socal@gmail.com. Joining the Management Committee is a great way to get to know the ins and outs of running the section, and take part in a vital function that allows us to perform all of our other activities.

We have a new website

 If you’ve been to our website, www.sc2030.org, recently, you’ve probably noticed some pretty significant changes. After a lengthy discussion period, we’ve retired our old site and moved to the same host as the Angeles Chapter. As much affection as all of us has for the old site, it was starting to show its age in terms of design and functionality. The new site, among other benefits, gives us better reliability and security, improved performance on mobile devices, and a design that’s better integrated with the chapter’s web presence. We’ve also fully integrated our outings listings and registration with the system provided by the national club, which you should already be familiar with if you’ve ever been to the chapter’s schedule of activities. There’s too many people to thank who’ve offered support during this process, but we’d like to offer special thanks to Ann Zumwinkle and Peter Kosenko, who were integral in getting the new site up and running. Thanks as well to Trent Nguyen, who designed our old site and managed it as a volunteer for over two decades. We sincerely hope the new site will serve your needs as well as, or better than, the old site. As a side note, if you’re an outings leader and aren’t familiar with the national outings listing system, please reach out and we’ll get you up to speed.

We need new volunteers!

There’s no shame in admitting that during the pandemic it’s been very difficult to meet the needs of our current roster of outings leaders and keep them engaged. Several of our outings leaders have found themselves dealing with life changes and challenges that have affected their ability to continue to lead outings. As much as we love all our current volunteers, and want to provide them with all the support they need, we could very much use some new blood to keep the section going. If you’ve ever considered joining the section as an outings leader, 2023 is a great year to make that happen. The Leadership Training Committee has all the information you need to learn about how to be an outings leader in the Angeles Chapter, and one of the first steps in that process is to participate in the chapter’s Leadership Training Seminar. It’s a great learning experience, and a great way to meet and mingle with other Sierra Club volunteers who want to get involved with leading outings. The next seminar will be held virtually on Saturday, Apr. 1, 2023 (no fooling). To sign up, search for “LTC” on the chapter’s Schedule of Activities (link below), or visit the above link for the Leader Training Committee’s list of events. Also, be sure to check out the “How to Become an Outings Leader” section of the 20s & 30s Section’s website for more details on what 20s & 30s can do for you to help you become a leader. And if you’re one of our existing volunteers and want to get active again, please reach out and let us know what we can do for you.

Upcoming Events

You can sign up for these events, and see all of our events, at the Outings and Events page on our website. Or, you can visit the Angeles Chapter Schedule of Activities and set the “What” (Sponsoring Entity) filter to “Angeles Chp 20s & 30s Section.”

Death Valley Presidents Day Weekend Car Camp—Feb. 18-20, 2023

Limited number of spots still available! This is no ordinary desert! Death Valley Nat'l Park has more than 3.3 million acres of spectacular desert scenery, interesting and rare desert wildlife, complex geology, undisturbed wilderness and sites of historical and cultural interest. Bounded on the west by 11,049' Telescope Pk and on the east by 5475' Dante's View, Badwater is the lowest point (-282' below sea level) in the western hemisphere. Hikes to Zabriske Pt, sand dunes, Scotty's Castle, valley tour, and ghost towns, assuming the roads will have been repaired from the recent floods. Meals provided.

Memorial Day Car Camp to the High Sierra—May 26-29, 2023

Join us for a long weekend of camping in the High Sierra at Onion Valley near Mt. Whitney. We'll camp at 9200', hike higher to see alpine lakes, and enjoy the scenery. Perhaps we'll see patches of snow along the trail at higher elevations. Anticipate cold nights and cool, possibly windy days. The campground has pit toilets and only stream water. Plan on bringing camping gear, food prep gear, your own food and drinks (including water), and hiking gear. You will be required to complete a medical form listing allergies, medications, and general medical information. If you are feeling unwell, please do not participate. Your camping fees include a spot for you at the campsite.  This trip will NOT make a profit.  In the event that the trip has money left over, all left-over money will be refunded to participants. Children who are strong hikers allowed: This outing is co-sponsored by the little hikers committee.

Thanks for Reading!

Please send your questions, comments, or requests to be removed from the newsletter list to sc2030socal@gmail.com. To sign up for the newsletter and become a member of the section (membership is free), please fill out our newsletter signup form.

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