Chapter volunteers who made a difference in 2014

Each year Angeles Chapter Sierra Club gives out awards to volunteers who have shown outstanding commitment and leadership to the club. Below are award winners for 2014. Join us at the Chapter's Annual Awards Banquet on May 3 to salute their good work.

Mary Morales is honored with the Phil Bernays Service Award. Mary has served for six years as an at-large member of the Chapter Executive Committee. Over the past 15 years, she also has served on numerous Chapter committees as chair and/or member, including chair of the Awards Committee and has assisted with many Chapter Newcomer Events. She has served as Chair of the Sierra Singles Section for more than 10 years in addition to being an active outings trip leader for Sierra Singles and Chapter Travel Adventure trips. Mary serves too asa long time overseer of the Harwood Lodge weekends.

Ron Campbell is honored with the Chester Versteeg Outings Award. Ron is currently the Angeles Chapter Safety Chair and was previously the Safety Committee Vice Chair serving as the accident and incident reviewer. Ron has led scores of outings since receiving his I rating in 1991 and M rating in 1992. Ron was the First Wilderness Travel Course management committee chair (after John Horton, WTC leadership) and was a longtime WTC group leader in Orange County. He was the Leadership Training vice chair for approximately 10 years and continues to serve the committee in other ways as wilderness navigation examiner and Advanced Mountaineering Program instructor. Ron brings all of his years of experience to serve on the Outings Management Committee and has contributed significantly to the Angeles Chapter outings program.

Dan Richter is honored with the Lifelong Service Award. Dan has served as the chair of both the Desert Peaks Section and Sierra Peaks Section and is an E rated leader. Dan is an active member of the Leadership Training Committee and has mplemented and  been the guiding light of the Sierra Club's Advanced Mountaineering Program.The program has undoubtedly saved lives and almost 200 people have graduated from the class.

Howard Strauss is honored with the Political Service Award. Howard has been chair of the Los Angeles County Political Committee of the Angeles Chapter for at least the last four years. He also has served as Chair of the Sierra Club California Political Committee, heads the state local candidate review committee and serves as compliance officer for the Angeles Chapter. In addition, Howard is Southern California Vice-Chair of the California-Nevada Regional Conservation Committee. He has guided the L.A. political committee through the process in identifying and endorsing candidates for public office in general elections as well as numerous special elections.

Angeles Chapter Staff  is honored with the Linda Hoyer Chapter Staff Award. George Watland, Jennifer Robinson, Jane MacFarlane, and Mary Forgione performed extraordinary service after the departure of our previous Senior Chapter Director and the loss of one staff position. They stepped up as a team to bring new fundraising ideas to the Chapter, bring clarity to our budget process, improve our communications with members, bring in and train new volunteers to fill gaps in staffing, and keep the office running smoothly. At a time of uncertainty, they maintained positive attitudes and provided exceptional service to the Angeles Chapter.

John Lajeuness is honored with the Donna Specht Fundraising Award. John is the father of Angeles Chapter Fundraising Outings known more commonly as Travel Adventures. Starting in 1995, John organized Catalina Island camping trips, summer bus trips to Mammoth, car camps and once filled three buses for a trip to Laughlin, Nevada. Since the 1990s, John served on various Chapter Fundraising committees and still serves on the Fundraising Outings Committee and Budget and Finance Committee. John branched out using his extensive fundraising skills to leading international trips to Costa Rica, Peru and Bolivia, Bali, China, Nicaragua and Vietnam. He led cruises to Alaska, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. Under John’s direction, the Chapter Fundraising Outings Committee/ Adventure Travel trips have contributed greatly to the Chapter. John is quick to provide assistance and is willing to share his leadership, knowledge, experience, skills and guidance for the benefit of all leaders.

Congresswoman Judy Chu  is honored with the Special Public Policy Award. Judy Chu has an unmatched record of public service. She began as a member of the Garvey School Board, followed by her election to the Monterey Park City Council and then the California State Assembly. During her tenure in the State Legislature, Judy authored legislation protecting women through her Sexual Assault Survivors' DNA Bill of Rights. She authored a landmark bill to provide standards of protection from the heat for all outdoor workers. She authored  measures to protect immigrants from victimization by fraudulent immigration consultants. In July, 2009, Judy was elected  to the U.S. House of Representatives and, after years of work and outreach, Chu introduced legislation to create a San Gabriel Mountains National Recreation Area In 2014 President Obama followed Chu's call for permanent protection and declared much of the area the nation's newest national monument last year. 

Stag Brown, Bob Thompson, and Joe Young  are honored with the Extraordinary Achievement Award. For 32 years starting in 1981, Sierra Club leaders Stag Brown, Bob “Cat” Thompson and Joe Young led an overnight hike through Skid Row of downtown Los Angeles every Christmas. Called the Annual Midnight Hike to Help the Homeless, it was truly an urban hike as participants put on their backpacks and hiking boots to help those less fortunate. The route was about 6 miles round trip, as hikers sought out citizens in need and spent all night on an urban hike of good will.. 

Environmental Priorities Network is honored with a Special Award for Conservation work by a non-Sierra Club group. The Environmental Priorities Network (EPN) is an interfaith conservation organization active in the South Bay and Palos Verdes areas. Since 2002, they have organized a series of forums on various environmental issues, inviting speakers and hosting tabling by environmental groups and related vendors. At the very first global warming forum they held, they saw the Cool Cities booklet at the Sierra Club table. Inspired by that booklet, they lobbied the various cities of the South Bay and Palos Verdes areas and got them to sign up as Cool Cities. These cities pledged to inventory their municipal greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce their emissions to be equivalent to what would have been reduced under the Kyoto Treaty. Environmental Priorities Network has also sponsored a Solar and Green Homes Tour every spring since 2006.

Membership & Fundraising Service Certificates

For the past three years, these entities have been tops in recruiting new Sierra Club members:

1. 2030’s Section

2. Orange County Sierra Singles Section

3. Palos Verdes South Bay Group

4. Wilderness Training Committee

5. West Los Angeles Group

Conservation Service Certificates

Elaine Trogman became very active with the Water Committee during the Water Conservation Scorecard Project a few years ago that ranked cities by their water-saving programs. She has been a steadfast member who never fails to be an active participant in meetings. Elaine never fails to advertise the Water Committee meetings and agendas in the newsletter and encourages others to get involved.

David Campbell  is a member of the Water Committee and has been since its revitalization in 2008. Davids was instrumental in 2014 in providing comments on the LA River Revitalization Plan and continues to advocate for a tiered water rate system for Los Angeles.

Kathleen Norma Smith stepped into the void created by her brother's loss to cancer while working with the Water Committee on the Water Conservation Measures Scorecard in 2010. Her brother was Gordon Smith an avid Sierra Club member who gave his last months to the Water Committee. Kathleen joined the Water Committee to continue his legacy and has in fact now created her own, with her steadfast loyalty, astute observations and commitment to the Water Committee and the Angeles Chapter. 

Eva Cicoria has been an elected member of the Palos Verdes-South Bay Regional Group since 2008,  a member of the group's Conservation Committee since 2009 and its chair since 2009. Eva has been concerned about issues of natural open space, especially local overuse/abuse of nature preserve lands of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Under her leadership, the group Conservation Committee areas of interest have broadened to include issues of local, regional, and national importance, including oil drilling in residential neighborhoods. Eva has been the editor of the Palos Verdes-South Bay group newsletter, The Foggy View, since 2011.

Outings Service Award Certificates

Ann Pedreschi Shields became an O-rated leader in 2002, joined the staff of the Wilderness Training Committee in 2004, and became an I-rated leader in 2005. Ann has held a variety of positions in the West Los Angeles Area of WTC. She is now the Area Chair and the Group Leader in WLA Group 1. Ann is an accomplished leader who spends much of her time training new Sierra Club leaders. She is a navigation examiner for the Leadership Training Committee and attends numerous navigation outings every year. She has a love of the outdoors and of sharing her knowledge and experience with others.

Christian Latunos is a leader for the 20s & 30s Section who has led numerous outings, including 39 activities in 2013. These outings range from monthly full moon hikes in the local mountains to ascents of  Mt. Wilson and San Jacinto. Last year, Christian co-led a successful Summer Peaks Series, a weekly series of hikes up local peaks increasing in elevation culminating with an ascent of Mt. Baldy. In other years, he also helped lead an End of Summer Peaks Challenge up some of  Southern California's more challenging peaks. Christian has co-led camping and lodge trips to Joshua Tree, Yosemite and Idyllwild and has assisted with the Chapter's annual Catalina Island trip. Christian's positive attitude and great sense of humor encourages new and inexperienced hikers to love the outdoors and challenge themselves to achieve their goals.

Jason Hashimoto is the Party People Leader for the 20s & 30s Section. For more than eight8 years, Jason has led a wide range of outings, from assisting with the annual Catalina Island Trip to bus trips to Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and Mammoth. He has organized trips to the Grand Canyon, Zion, Pinnacles National Park, and Havasu Canyon. Jason has also organized various social events such as beach cleanups, beach volleyball, whale watching and comedy nights. Not only are Jason's outings a lot of fun, but he has raised money for Inner City Outings, the Forest Committee, and the Sierra Club in the process. This year, Jason was the main organizer for the first ICO trip to Catalina Island on Memorial Day weekend. He also has served as an assistant outings leader with ICO since 2009.

Patricia Barnes. As a leader and member of Banning Ranch Task Force since 2004, Patricia has led special Banning Ranch Conservation Hikes along the Santa Ana River for the Orange County Group's Urban Conservation Hike Series. She also has regularly led a highly popular “museum tour” hike featuring the history of the City of Seal Beach. Patti’s earliest adventures as an outings leader for the Orange County Group included hikes in the Santa Ana Mountains, car camps and hikes in the Black Rock Canyon area of the Joshua Tree National Park and several hikes for the Group's Wednesday Hikes program. Since becoming a leader, Patti has led hikes for the Orange County Group's series featuring endangered ecosystems within Orange County. She began serving as chair of the Orange County Group since 2008, and continues to serve in that capacity.

Scott Closson. Since 2008, Scott has been one of the two primary leaders for the twice-monthly Sunday Orange County Sierra Singles 20s30s40s hikes at five major Orange County Parks. These hikes are the backbone of the OCSS 20s30s40s Committee, regularly bringing in 40 or more attendees and creating a strong core of loyal regulars. His hikes provide a great combination scenic moderate hiking, fun, and social interaction. Scott has consistently hosted the OCSS  20s30s40s monthly newcomer movie and dinner nights as well as several adventures to June Lake, Hawaii, Tennessee and Colorado. Scott has also served on the OCSS management committee for two terms  and plans to keep serving. He regularly assists with Chapter Newcomer Events several times a year.

Stephanie Gross earned her O leadership rating in the mid 1990s and since then she has tirelessly co-led numerous domestic and international fundraising outings for Crescenta Valley Group, Backpacking Committee and Angeles Chapter alongside her husband Fred Dong. Their outings have raised thousands of dollars for the Angeles Chapter and the Crescenta Valley Group over the last two decades.

Sylvia Stevenson has been an outings leader for at least 15 years. She is well known for her bicycle outings, kayaking and rafting, as well as many day hikes and special events. She has also been a leader on Angeles Chapter Travel Adventure trips.

Ed Lubin has represented the Sierra Club by leading hikes in the Santa Monica Mountains and beyond for over 35 years. He tirelessly leads a very popular evening hike every Friday night, sometimes drawing as many as 70 participants.

Sid and Joyce Alpert. Beginning with a Sierra Club family wilderness trip, Sid and Joyce have been members since 1965. In 1967 they attended the national Nature Knowledge Workshop and in 1969 organized the Angeles Chapter Nature Knowledge Workshop. They became leaders and continued to conduct this annual workshop for 12 years before turning it over to the Natural Science Section. For 30 years, Sid and Joyce conducted a Wilderness Threshold teen-age family trip to Canyon de Chelly for the National Sierra Club Outings program as well as the Angeles and San Diego Chapters. Through the 1970’s ,Sid and Joyce led many local hikes, backpacks, mule packs. Sid also served as chair of the San Fernando Valley Group. Since 2001, Sid and Joyce have led Orange County Group Wednesday hikes from the mountains to the coast. 

Priscilla “Pixie” Klemic has coordinated  the weekly Tuesday Moderate Easy Pace outings since 2007. She has coordinated, assisted or led all 50 Tuesday outings every year, around 350 outings to date.  She essentially acts as an Assistant Outings Chair for Wilderness Adventures by coordinating all of the Tuesday morning outings, including matching leaders to outings, recruiting and evaluating new leaders, scouting new and existing trails to keep the write-ups current.

Special Service Award Certificates

Jim Ulmer has served as an office volunteer since October 2000. He is responsible for the Chapter calendar sales program, recycling program, reception area coverage and many other tasks. He does an outstanding job and we are very grateful for his service to the Angeles Chapter. 

Al Sattler  has held several positions within the Angeles Chapter over the years from Outings Leader to Conservation and Political Committee Chair and Chapter ExCom member. Today we honor his role as a member of the Water Committee from its inception in 2008. Al has been the voice of reason when controversial matters come up and has generously provided his expertise for comment on several projects and environmental impact reports.

Carole Scurlock has performed outstanding service in creating and maintaining the Pasadena Group website, creating and editing our monthly eNewsletter Arroyo View, for actively participating in and supporting our efforts to get outings published on our MeetUp site, for participating in many outings, and for contributing many outstanding photographs for our website, newsletter, and outing reports. Carole has also served as layout and graphics editor, and photograph contributor, for other Angeles Chapter entities, including the Camera Committee, of which she is a long time member; the Wilderness Adventures Section; and the Natural Science Section.

Evelyn Alexander has been on the Verdugo Hills ExComm serving as Programs Chair and Publicity Chair. Evelyn's ability to bring interesting programs has helped to keep meeting attendance high. Evelyn is also a member of our Conservation Round Table and is an active outings leader, specializing in unique garden walks and museum visits.

Grant Rigby  is an active member of the Sierra Club since 1973, and an outings leader since 1975. Grant has been the outings chair for the West LA Group and Camera Committee for the past 14 years. He is motivated by the fact that most people are attracted to the Club by our outings.

Joel Ortmann & Marty Kluck for many years maintained the Chapter's Keller Hut and through their assiduous attention it remains a great place for the enjoyment of all. They schedule regular work days at the hut every month, sometimes spending a week or more hard at work. There is always something that needs to be fixed. The water system is one example of the heroic maintenance work they perform.  One of the challenges in maintaining the property is the Forest Service mandate that such properties stay within their old footprint and not be upgraded. Joel and Marty are both long time Sierra Club members and leaders who assist with the regular Tuesday night Fullerton Beginners Hike as well as other outings.

Karen Buehler leads backpack trips with the Backpacking Committee, Crescenta Valley Group, Little Hikers and also leads many day hikes.  She is a mentor for new leader candidates. Much of her contributions have been with trail work in the San Gabriels and in her beloved Deukmejian Park. She has become a volunteer for the park and has spent many weekends coordinating a team of volunteers to build a new trail in the park.

Nancy Le joined the Sierra Club as a teacher, working with Inner City Outings to provide hikes for her school. In 2010, she became an Angeles Chapter rated leader for LA ICO. Nancy volunteered for ICO as the Facebook Coordinator and has increased the social media presence and is also the Webmaster for ICO.  In 2014, she became the ICO Vice Chair and will move into the Chair position in 2016.  Nancy Le is taking LA ICO in new directions on the web, in mentoring new teachers and new leaders and with her ambitious trips to Catalina Islandand rafting down the Kern River. In the summer of 2014, she and three students participated in a week long service project in Aspen, Colo., as part of a national Sierra Club outreach program.

Penny Elia  is a long time leader of the Chapter’s Hobo Aliso Task Force and is a staunch advocate of the Club’s policies. She testifies and appears before the Coastal Commission, traveling through the state to attend hearings and to further the goals of the Club through that agency. In addition, she finds time to offer her services regularly as a volunteer with the Orange County Political Committee and lends her expertise (particularly on water issues) to meetings of local water boards, the Regional Water Quality Board and other public agencies. Her advocacy efforts have contributed to the Angeles Chapter having a voice with local agencies in Orange County Environmental issues.

Tom Politeo two years ago roposed a solution to prepare a printed copy of the Schedule of Activities directly from the OARS listings online. His solution included many popular features found in the old Schedule distributed prior to the switch to OARS such as Repeating Activities, List of Leaders, and Sponsoring Entities. That solution was fully implemented in 2014 to produce the Schedule of Activities  included in the quarterly print edition of the Southern Sierran. In August, a monthly Schedule was included as a PDF file for download in the monthly e-edition of the Southern Sierran and has quickly become the most popular feature in each issue. Tom continues as a volunteer to design the layout of the quarterly print editions of the Southern Sierran.  He has led hundreds of hikes in Griffith Park and for the Camera  Committee.

Wayne Norman joined the Sierra Club in 1984, and over the past thirty years, he has led and assisted hundreds Sierra Club outings, completed the Basic Mountaineering Training Course (BMTC) and served on the Sierra Peaks Section management committee at various times as secretary, vice chair and newsletter editor. For the Desert Peaks Section, Wayne has served as chair and programs chair.  Wayne has assisted on the Angeles Chapter Nominating Committee, written many articles and letters for the Southern Sierran, and has put together hiking and climbing slide show presentations for groups and sections spotlighting the Club’s great outings program. Wayne became an advisor for the Lower Peaks Committee and was appointed chair, serving in that capacity for many years and still remains active as an advisor, helping to revise the bylaws, setting up an email subscription service and starting a Facebook page. Wayne agreed to serve the Lower Peaks as Mountain Records Chair and continues in this position. Wayne keeps the Lower Peak guides current, sending them out upon request. For all this and more, Wayne recently received a Certificate of Appreciation, signed by Michael Brune, from the Board of Directors of the Sierra Club.

Margee Hills has made a significant and positive impact on the Rio Hondo Group, serving as treasurer, outings chair, newsletter editor and many other duties. She is the Rio Hondo Group’s Regional Representative to the Angeles Chapter Executive Committee. For the Rio Hondo Group, she organized their first ever multiday fundraising outing to Pinnacles National Park. She just completed chairing the Chapter nominating committee for the 2015 Executive Committee election and worked tirelessly recruiting and interviewing candidates and writing thorough reports. As a member of the OC Political Committee, she interviewed candidates running for political local offices and submitted reports. Margee is also a member of Orange County Sierra Singles and is one of the leaders for their Fullerton Weekly Beginners Hike.

David Hyman has been involved in the 20s & 30s Section for over 30 years. During this time, he has taken a lead role raising awareness of the 20s & 30s Section in the political campaigns of the Sierra Club. On many of his trips and hikes, he will discuss the latest causes of the Angeles Chapter Political Action Committee as well as the nominees for local, statewide, and federal office endorsed by the Sierra Club. David's activities over the past few years included involvement in the PAC where he has held many functions including that of Treasurer. He brings to the attention of the 20s & 30s leadership and members many of the activities of the PAC and often persuades the Section to sponsor those events. In the past he has co-led fundraising events for the Sierra Club's political causes. Outside of his PAC involvement, David has been an active leader and volunteer for the 20s & 30s Section, He has been leading his popular Death Valley camping trips annually since 1986. For over twenty years David has served on the 20s & 30s Section's election committee.