A Hard-to-Beat Retreat <a class=nav1 >

Outgoing ExComm Chair Mike Sappingfield addresses Angeles Chapter members at Eaton Canyon Nature Center in Pasadena.
Photo credit: Paul Cooley

One day to recover from New Year festivities, then it was time to dust off the name tag and retreat with other Angeles Chapter Sierra Club members to the Nature Center in Eaton Canyon. There we discussed chapter goals for 2009, elected Executive Committee officers, appointed committee chairs, adopted a budget and considered Los Angeles Political Committee endorsement requests.

The weather was brisk, and beautiful Eaton Canyonâ€'a 190-acre nature reserve situated at the base of the San Gabriel Mountainsâ€'peeked through the windows, beckoning me to go outside and play. However, the lively discussions bade me stay inside. Saturday workshops dealt with such issues as: Is the regional group structure relevant? How can it be improved? How is the Angeles Chapter meaningful to the community and to our members? Everyone present at the retreat took part in the attempts to answer these questions. Lunchtime announced itself when a savory fragrance wafted through the Nature Center auditorium. This belonged to a hearty homemade stew, its warmth especially welcome on a chilly day. This treat was flanked by homemade hummus, salad, veggies, cold cuts and homebaked goodies provided by Sandra Cattell, Joe Young and Paul Cooley. Donna Specht and Mary Morales planned, prepared and served the feast. Kudos to them and to all their helpers.

Joe Young consults with incoming ExComm Vice Chair Hersh Kelley.
Photo credit: Paul Cooley


Joan Holtz teaches Daniel Verna about the Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conference.
Photo credit: Paul Cooley

After lunch I gobbled two squares of gingerbread to keep up my strength while I decided which workshop to attend. We could choose from three tracks: conservation and politics, groups and sections, and the chapter as a whole. Topics included relating outings to conservation issues, recruiting new members, communication with the public, how chapter conservation priorities relate to national priorities, developing next year’s management team, and communication within the chapter. Late in the afternoon we gathered in the main meeting room to report on the workshops and to share our ideas.

Sunday saw many of us back at the Nature Center for an Angeles Chapter Executive Committee Meeting. We elected new officers. They are: Darrell Clarke, Chair; Hersh Kelley, Vice-Chair; Mike Sappingfield, Secretary; Kent Schwitkis, Treasurer; Henry Schultz and Darrell Clarke, Delegates to the Council of Club Leaders. Congratulations to the officers and to the committee chairs, both old and new.

Incoming ExComm Chair Darrell Clarke led several roundtable discussions at the retreat.
Photo credit: Paul Cooley

As debate about Los Angeles Political Committee endorsements continued, I glanced at my watch. Obviously, the meeting would last longer than predicted, but I realized that discussion is good. This was democracy in action. The purpose of the Sierra Club is to explore, enjoy and protect the wild places of the earth and the human environment as well. To accomplish this we need to be an organization based on grassroots democracy, on the fullest participation possible of all our members. Nobel Prize winner, Desmond Tutu, insists that all of his sermons and speeches contain one fundamental messageâ€'the importance of community and respect for others. Getting together with other Sierra Club activists at the retreat, I felt the truth of Archbishop Tutu’s message that we “are made for a delicate network of relationships, of interdependence,” not only with other human beings but with all creatures and all aspects of the natural world.

Robin and Lori Ives at the ExComm meeting on January 4, 2009.
Photo credit: Elizabeth Saas

A goal often stated in the Saturday workshops was to make our websites and publications more interactive. So, dear readers, tell us: What can the Sierra Club do for you? How can the regional groups better serve you? Write or e-mail the Southern Sierran with your ideas. We want to hear from you.