76.1 F
Scotts Valley
September 12, 2025

The Mountain Gardener: Perennials for summer’s end

In case you haven't been keeping track, summer is winding down. True, we will be enjoying great weather for months to come, but nature uses daylight hours to mark its calendar. And even though I'm busy visiting readers’ gardens, camping, hiking and painting, there are some tasks I need to do in my own garden.

The Heartbeat of Life

I was talking with a neighbor the other day, and I asked him how life was going. He replied, ‘Oh, you know, it’s like an EKG graph; up and down.”  This got me thinking about the heartbeat of life. It does consist of up and down phases. With Covid-19, social justice issues, and politics, this has been a challenging year. These stressors are on top of the other difficulties we are already experiencing in our own personal lives. Then came the fires, which pushed most all of us over the edge into emotional exhaustion. In the heartbeat of life, we are definitely experiencing a down phase on that EKG graph!

Spotlight: Bigfoot conference in Felton

The Bigfoot Discovery Museum in Felton will host its third annual conference Saturday, Oct. 17.

Santa Cruz Trains: Tales of Gold Gulch and Forest Lakes

Contrary to popular belief, the California Gold Rush was not a two-year affair and was not localized to the Sierra foothills; the lust for gold spread to every corner of the state including the slopes of Ben Lomond Mountain.

Club roundup

Kiwanis of the Valleys Recent club activities included participation in Scotts Valley’s 4th of July festivities at Skypark. The club teamed with Boy Scout troop 623 to run the carnival game concession, and also joined in the parade down Scotts Valley Dr.The club was proud to award the $2,500 Mike Smith Scholarship to Connor Lydon, an outstanding student who will soon be graduating from San Lorenzo Valley High School.The 7th season of the Kiwanis produced Music at Skypark summer concert series kicked off on July 26th. The first show was a rousing success. Sponsorship support for Music at Skypark has reached an all time high this year, and the best is yet to come with Extra Large and The Joint Chiefs set to play the next show on August 30th.The concerts are free. Sponsorship donations and net proceeds from our onsite vendors benefit the music programs in our local schools. Concert day volunteers are needed. If you can help, please contact us at http://www.kiwanisofthevalleys.org/Kiwanis meets 7:00am every Wednesday morning at Bruno’s BBQ. The second Wednesday of each month is an evening meeting at Bruno’s at 6:30 pm. We invite you to join us. Rotary Club of San Lorenzo Valley On July 29, the Rotary Club of San Lorenzo Valley will be celebratingthe 75th wedding anniversary of Charter Member, Gil Gunn, and hiswife, Marge. Gil has been a Rotarian since 1951.Rotarians are volunteering during Thomas the Train's visit to RoaringCamp Railroad in July and August. Proceeds from these events support severallocal youth projects including scholarships, a speech contest andleadership camps.This summer, the Rotary Club of SLV is meeting every Wednesday at  7:15 amat 9465 Highway 9, Ben Lomond, the future site of the Ben LomondBistro. Meetings are open to the public. If you are interested injoining a service organization, Rotarians always welcome new members.Additional information can be found on our website slvrotaryclub.org<http://slvrrotaryclub.org/.The Valley Women’s ClubOn Saturday, August 29th, Isadora Duncan will come alive as a person and dancer in a performance by Duncan specialist Lois Flood, in a 7 p.m. performance at Park Hall in Ben Lomond. Isadora Duncan was an iconic dancer and inspirational symbol of women’s independence, both in her style of dance, in the schools she established in the US and Europe, and in her rejection of the social strictures of the beginning on the twentieth century. The Valley Women’s Club’s Women’s Issues Committee is bringing Ms Flood back by popular demand, after a sell-out performance and a dance workshop presented locally last year.In May and June, several hundred “Ready for School” bags were distributed by the VWC’s Education Committee to incoming kindergarten and pre-kindergarten youngsters, as they came to enroll at San Lorenzo Valley Elementary and Boulder Creek Elementary Schools. The bags, supported by donations, offer a book, school and learning supplies, and information to help parents prepare their youngsters for the experience of going to school. The inspiration of Dusty Gipson, Boulder Creek Mom and past VWC Board Member, the bags have helped many hundreds of 4 and 5 year-olds gain needed skills as they ready for school.The Environmental Committee was granted funds by the County’s Environmental Health Department (from our taxes designated to help assure functioning septic systems) to print and mail an informative brochure entitled, “Save Our Septics,” to every SLV resident. Filled with information, and entertaining to read, the brochures were designed by VWC member, Nina Moore, printed (at the discount) by Community Printers. We are grateful to Environmental Health for enabling it to be sent to every SLV resident.Plan to help with the 29th Annual River & Road Clean-up, coming to Boulder Creek, Ben Lomond and Felton on Saturday, September 19th, from 9 to 3. The VWC, in conjunction with Save Our Shores, is counting on volunteers to come help remove trash and recyclables from the River and Creeks, and from the roads along the River - before the rains come and wash the debris down the creeks and River to the Bay and Ocean. Volunteers of all ages are needed. check out the VWC website for information, www.valleywomensclub.org, or call  Nancy at 338-6578.The Exchange Club of Scotts ValleyThe Exchange Club of Scotts Valley is currently partnering The SVPD with the D.A.R.E. Golf tournament Friday August 21st. D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) is a curriculum that is taught to 5th grade students in the Scotts Valley School District. D.A.R.E. has a common objective of teaching students life lessons that they can use every day. These lessons include building self-esteem, learning assertiveness, managing stress, and reducing violence. D.A.R.E. lessons also include saying yes to positive alternatives and making decisions about behaviors, as well as resisting drugs, alcohol, gangs and other negative situations.Community support of D.A.R.E. through our golf tournament is greatly appreciated and helps make Scotts Valley a safer place for our youth. Proceeds from this event also support our other juvenile programs such as Red Ribbon Week, the Junior Police Academy, etc.  The Exchange Club is in the planning stages of a trip to Estonia led by our favorite Exchange Club spouse and Estonian Piret Harmon!  The club meets the 4th Wednesday of the month at 5:30 at Bruno'sAll are welcome. For information on any of these events please call Chris at 462-3293

Wine Lover: Pinot noir, terroir in the Santa Cruz Region

If I asked you to find a Santa Cruz winery that didn’t produce a pinot noir, you would be hard pressed. Almost every winery in our region is not only producing pinot noir, but also growing or buying the pinot grapes locally.

Let’s Go Fishin’: Bad behavior leads to more fishing restrictions in Santa Cruz Harbor

The return of the Chinook salmon may sound like the theme of a festival, parade or other means of a celebration — not in the Santa Cruz Harbor.

Let’s Go Fishin’: Salmon season closes in the ocean

After a consistent run of salmon in Monterey Bay, the season came to an end Monday, Sept. 6. When one door closes, another opens, and salmon fishing will be available in the Sacramento, Klamath and Trinity rivers.

Let’s Go Fishin’: Salmon season starts on the right fin

The salmon season started April 5 with great anticipation. Anglers were not sure what to expect with rumors of fish and baitfish in the bay, but no positive reports.

Mountain Gardener: Breathe deeper with the help of house plants

As summer comes to a close, all of us are spending more time indoors. That means it’s time to spruce up our homes with houseplants.

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News Briefs

News Briefs | Published Sept. 12, 2025

Fun run, emergency preparedness fair set for Saturday On Saturday, Sept. 13, the City of Santa Cruz will be hosting Race the Wave, a 3K...