CURRENT ISSUES AND RECENT EVENTS

Puente Hills Group Excom Meeting

Thursday, June 25, 2026

7– 8:30 PM

Online: If you are an SC member please feel free to attend as we discuss Group plans and activities.  

To get zoom link, please fill out this form (shouldn't take more than 3 to 4 minutes), and we'll send the link for the meeting.                           

Gardening for Wildlife:  Creating a Welcoming Habitat

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

6:30– 8:30 PM

Norman P. Murray Community Center, 

24932 Veterans Way, Mission Viejo                                        

Learn about how to attract, enjoy and conserve our wonderful butterflies, hummingbirds and other wildlife with native plants.

Ask our speaker, Laurie Menosky, of UC Master Gardeners of Orange County, who will show you how to create a welcoming habitat and discuss the best way to control any unwanted weeds, bugs and other pests. She has been actively involved as a speaker for the Master Gardener Program  and has logged over 100 presentations as either a speaker or a host.

“To Bee or Not to Bee.”  Our special guest Liberal Artists Professor Lola Madden will ask this question in a uniquely creative presentation . She has taught in New York City, Rome and Los Angeles and has been a gardener as well as an actress for over 50 years. Lola is happy to BEE here to share her observations on the life of bees in OC.

REFRESHMENTS AND DOOR PRIZES PROVIDED BY FARM FRESH TO YOU

Although our home garden patches don’t always thrive (or survive) it’s great having another source of farm-to-my-table fruits and vegetables! And, at least in my backyard vegetable garden, waiting for months while the cucumbers and peas sprout, flower, fruit and ripen teaches me to find other sources for our salad’s ingredients. If organic vegetable growing is not your passion, visit our table hosted by Farm Fresh to You, and taste their yummy organic treats. Then talk with Marcel about their local farm and how to get fresh produce delivered right to your door.   

General Meeting: July 24

Designing with Purpose: Creating and Loving Native Plant Gardens 

At our July Rio Hondo General meeting at 7pm on July 24, Travis Gramberg and Randi Gunder, California landscape architects and native plant experts, will present on how to successfully establish and maintain a native plant garden, which conserves water, protects wildlife habitat, reduces maintenance expenses, while also creating a beautiful area in your yard.

The Rio Hondo Group is proud to have participated in the successful Measure PH Campaign which enables the continued preservation of open lands in the Puente Hills area. 

California State University Fullerton Sierra Club Group

We are also proud to have taken part in initiating the CSUF Sierra Club Student Group at California State University Fullerton, thanks to a bequest provided by former excom member Shirley Gregg. The SC intern and first President of the student group is Anna Schiebeck.

EARTH DAY TABLING: 

On April 12, the Sierra Club Rio Hondo Group had a booth at the L.A. Sanitary District's Earth Day Festival in Whittier. It was a perfect day, and lots of fun, with a large number of people attending the event. Everyone appeared to be in good spirits. We had a significant number of people stop by to ask questions to get information about the club. Some wrote answers on our board to the question "What is the value of protecting Wild Lands" Our booth was next to the Audubon Society booth and they had crayons and coloring papers which we noticed were a tremendous hit among the younger visitors.  arts, crafts, food, and entertainment such as dance performances, magicians, live music, and more.

ALSO!! The new California State University Fullerton Sierra Club group has said they would be tabling at the TITAN EARTHDAY FESTIVITIES on Apr. 22, 10am - 2pm. Feel free to drop by and say hi!  

MEET AND GREET: 

The Rio Hondo Group sponsored a Meet and Greet on May 19, 2024  with Guest Speakers, refreshments, socializing, and catching up on where we are at. Guest speakers included Eric Johnson, Puente-Chino Hills Task Force Chairperson and Sierra Club Outings Leader, who discussed the Puente Hills situation and local Sierra Club  outings; Shana Charles, Fullerton City Council person, who discussed local government actions to deal with Climate Change; and Jose Castenada, former Buena Park City Council person, (making a heroic appearance with a fractured foot) to discuss La Habra's and North Orange County conservation efforts. 

GENERAL MEETING: THE CONTINUING ISSUES OF THE DIABLO CANYON NUCLEAR POWER PLANT:  

On March 28, Guest Speakers Jim Stewart (co-chair of the Sierra Club California Energy-Climate Committee) and Linda Seeley of the San Luis Obispo Mothers For Peace, discussed the current situation with the nuclear plant, the safety concerns and unnecessary risks, and what can be done. The Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant situation has long been a matter of concern for the California Sierra Club, which gave it high priority in last Decembers Capitol Voice publication. 

GENERAL MEETING - CLIMATE CHANGE: FINDING COMMON GROUND

On September 28, we had our first General Meeting in quite a while, on zoom!! It was both fun and informative. The topic was: 

Leaders of various other Southern California groups active on Climate Change, including Citizens' Climate Lobby, Climate Reality, and Reform and Sustain, joined us to discuss efforts, goals, and opportunities for action and collaboration in our area in the face of the growing threat of Global Climate Change. Check out the Climate-Collective Calendar for climate related events in Orange County.

CLIMATE CHANGE:  The Puente Hills Group voted to have a group focus on the issue of Climate Change. If you're also fed up with the dangerous direction our global climate has been taking, with extreme heat waves, unprecedented wildfires, 100 degree ocean waters, and the risks associated with rising sea levels, please contact and join us in efforts to move the needle on what is becoming more and more a crisis situation.     Extraordinary Photos of Extreme Weather