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GLORIA’S GLEANINGS

Good News! You can now donate to ROWIA on line. We are one of the  organizations  in  San  Bernardino   County’s 

 Give   Big   campaign. The big  day is October  30th, but you  can contribute any time  in the next year by going to

https://www.mightycause.com/organization/ Rim-Of-The-World-Interpretive-Association/settings. We thank you for your support, financial and otherwise.

 

The spring and fall plant sales were successful.   As usual, we sold out of dogwoods at the Spring plant sale and took orders for more of them.

 

If you’ve been to the Arboretum lately, you might have noticed the big- gest change that we’ve had staffing the information booth six days

a week instead of just on weekends. Many thanks to Tim Wilcox  for meeting and greeting visitors from Tuesday through Friday. (See Tim’s article for details.)

 

If you’ve looked at our web site lately, you will notice some changes on our home page. We are now advertising that we are open from

dawn until dusk instead of 24/7. (Thanks, Tim, for that idea.)  We’ve had lots of daytime visitors this summer and early fall,

 including  a  Girl  Scout troop from Orange County that were there in June. A new troop from Crestline visited in September

and were led on a guided tour by Tim Barany.  Gina Richmond led a tour for homeschoolers in early October.

 

We have had the loop trail at Switzer Park re-paved, which should make it an easier walk.

 

Thanks to Christine Smiley for giving out information on the Arboretum at the Running Springs Farmer’s Market on a couple of Saturdays this summer.

Many thanks, too, to Ken Witte for all his efforts to maintain the trail and take care of all the things that need to be done at the Ar-

boretum. Thank you to Ellie Maitre and Michelle Belangar for all their work to make the garden area look so good.

 

 

 

Your donation will go directly to help main- tain   and   improve   HEAP’S   PEAK   ARBORE- TUM, a natural treasure high in the San Ber-

nardino  Mountains.    Visitors  to  this  unique National  Forest  destination  will  benefit  from your generosity.

Donations to the Rim of the World Interpret Association benefit the approximately 120 vis per day through increased

opportunities to interact with the environment and learn to appreciate the value

of the forest ecology.   Your donation will help develop STEM projects for students to meet school science outcomes.

 

 

 

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE ARBORETUM

 

 

This is the terminus of the drinking fountain dated 1965. It has been now cleaned out and has water in it.

The drain is connected and there is evidence that wildlife is again using the waterer.

  

 

 

 

 

 

These were planted after the OLD fire in ‘03 and are located at the

very north end near the Fire Interpretive Sign 

 

Erosion control measures. The railroad ties were an  Eagle Scout project with

Arron Scullin’s friend. As you can see the water has bypassed the treatment.

We have laid branches and may backfill with rock to slow down the erosion.

This site is upstream from the Sequoia Grove.

 

 

Why do they call this area the Rim? Because we are on the rim of the largest watershed in Southern California.

Traversing down the middle of Highway 18 into the Arboretum and then between the cedars on the west

of the Sequoia trail is the obvious natural crest of the north basin of the Mojave drainage and the south basin

of the Santa Ana River. SAWPA (Santa Ana Water Project Associa- tion) are giving these signs away.

Furthermore, they have a selfie contest in to take a picture in front of all the 36 signs in the watershed.

Hint: one of them is in front of Hortentia’s Cliff Hanger.

OUR INFORMATION BOOTH

 

For visitors to the Arboretum, such as the Àbrego family from Redlands,

the information booth is a helpful starting point.

 

An arboretum is all about trees, shrubs, flowers and other plants.

It’s about wildlife as well. Of course, it’s also about people.

 

With that last category in mind, members of the ROWIA Board of Di-

rectors took action at their June 4 meeting to expand and enhance the hos-

pitality offered to people visiting Heaps Peak Arboretum. Specifically,

they voted to staff the arboretum’s information booth six days a week rather

than the usual two. Through mid-October, the booth was open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Tuesday through Sunday and not just on weekends.

Tim Wilcox, who was in the booth on weekdays, reports that average daily attendance

from early June on was about 70. The Fourth of July and Labor Day saw well over

100 guests. According to Wilcox, visitor counts were taken during booth hours, and

the arboretum is actually open dawn to dusk.

 

“Most visitors were pleasantly surprised to find the booth open on a

weekday,” Wilcox says. “They were happy to be able to buy Forest Service

Adventure passes and other items on site and to have their questions an-

swered.” He adds that “ROWIA believes it was an important public service,

a courtesy we extended to as many arboretum visitors as possible during

another busy summer in the mountains.”

Currant or Gooseberry Family

GROSSULARIACEAE

Sierra Gooseberry

Ribes roezlii

 

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT

Ron Esposito has been help- ing the Arboretum for over 7 years. A graduate from Rim High

and a Vietnam veteran who has fought cancer twice and won, he started with repairing fences,

and then worked on the switch back that the public was short cutting. He then helped Ellie

and Michele pull weeds and Ron cleared the weeds all the way to the west of the bathroom.

You will rarely see Ron during the day, but late in the afternoon or even early night you might

see the light that he wears on his head working removing rocks in the trail

or working on his current project the west Garden. Early this spring he used a wildflower

seed mix and some seeds of left over from our plant sale to reseed that garden. As the picture attests,

he has done a fine job. We congratulate him on how beautiful it looks. It will take much work since the

Wild Rose also likes to drink with the flowers.

He says that he loves giving back for the enjoyment the Arboretum has given him and his brother for many years.                                                               5

 

Michelle Belangar & Ellie Maitre

 

 

Students volunteering at the Arboretum on Earth Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

             www.heapspeakarboretum.com

 

We Need your help!

 

Volunteering begins with membership in ROWIA. Your annual dues help fund the efforts

at the Arboretum. Your membership entitles you to our special events and our newsletters. Our annu-

al events include our Spring Plant Sale held on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and our

Fall Plant Sale held on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend.

 

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer even if  you can only give four hours

once a month, please contact Elaine Shaw at 909.867.7187, or [email protected]

Volunteer opportunities include:

Information Booth Host

Greets and fields questions from the public, sells Adventure Passes and mer-

chandise and informs visitors of our self-guided and guided tours. Also directs

visitors to other natural sights in the forest. The Information Booth is open most

Saturdays & Sundays from 11:00 am – 3:00 pm, weather permitting.

 

Interpretive Trail Guide

Conducts guided tours of the Arboretum’s Sequoia Trail highlighting the trees, plants, animals,

ecosystems and the history of the San Bernardino Mountains.

 

Trail Maintenance/Patrol

Patrols and maintains the Sequoia by removing litter, making repairs, servic-

ing check dams and bathroom facilities. Also keeps watch

for vandalism and answers visitors’ questions.

 

Demonstration  Gardens

Introduces new plants, maintains existing plants and flowers and helps with planning future additions to the gardens.

 

Please visit www.heapspeakarboretum and click on Volunteer Opportunities and let us know what your interests are.

Do you have a hobby or particular skill/talent you would like to use in this program? If so, please let us know.

 

Training is provided for all positions

 

ROWIA News Editor, Sandra Koos                      7

 

www.heapspeakarboretum.com

 

 

 

 

Rim of the World Interpretive Association

PO Box 1958, Lake Arrowhead, CA 92352

PLEASE JOIN US
ROWIA News Editor, Sandra Koos
ROWIA News
Rim of the World Interpretive Association
PO Box 1958, Lake Arrowhead, CA 92352
www.heapspeakarboretum.com

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