Sierra Club
Redwood Chapter Newsletter
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Napa Group Report Genji Schmeder | |
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Outings Our Outings Committee meets monthly to discuss, plan, approve and evaluate outings. We send a liaison to the ExCom meetings. From November 2002 through this October our committee hosted 17 outings with 157 participants. To expand our program, we are seeking people skilled at leading adolescents and those with water safety skills. This year we conducted a three part conservation series "Can Nature and Farming Coexist?". We visited three vineyards, two of which also have wineries. We observed wildlife on all visits. Two of the vineyards belong to stream stewardship groups. A third has a conservation agreement and donated land for farm worker housing. All three had open, unimproved land. The third vineyard sits on the McCormick ranch, land in one family for six generations. The early generations raised sheep and cattle, clearing trees to increase grazing acreage. The current generation is planting trees, has donated land as a sanctuary and has created an educational program, Acorn Soupe, whose mission is to raise the next generation of land stewards in Napa and Sonoma counties. |
Membership Events Our Membership and Events committee meetings are fun, always starting with a potluck. We are primarily a fundraising committee with the goal of creating annual events that are entertaining and will become traditions. In April, we honored community leader Ginny Simms with the Earl Thollander Environmental Award at our second annual tribute dinner cosponsored by Get A Grip On Growth. Our first tribute dinner celebrated grass roots organizer Harold Kelly. Next year the dinner will be held in April. In June, we had a Poolside Potluck and just held our third Fall Barbecue. For autumn 2004 we are planning an Organic Wine Competition in cooperation with Napa Valley Wine Train. |