Dear Members and Friends of the Valley Women’s Club,

We hope this letter finds you well and looking forward to a brighter new year!

Thank you for being a Member of the Valley Women’s Club (VWC). Your membership support and participation help to create an influential, passionate voice for our Valley’s current and future well-being, as it has for the past forty-two years.

The VWC Board is incredibly pleased to present to you the 2020/2021 candidate slate, which consists of three Board Members seeking re-election and seven new candidates. Our Nomination Committee selected the candidates based on their outstanding community engagement and their desire to work on the mission of the VWC. These attributes alone qualify them to be excellent additions to the VWC Board. After reading their Bios, please mark and return your voted ballot in the enclosed envelope no later than January 3rd, 2021. When we count your vote, we recognize your interest in the future of the VWC.

As we are coming to the end of 2020, we look back at a year that brought us significant life-altering challenges and changes. Just when we learned the protocol for safe COVID-19 protection, we were struck by the monumental CZU Fire that raged through our beloved mountain forest, ravaging the San Lorenzo Valley (SLV). Three of our Board Members experienced together with other neighbors the devastating, heartbreaking loss of their precious homes that housed their lives’ treasures. The instant SLV community response was a colossal outpour of helping each other with whatever was needed. Once again, the SLV residents proved that their community base is strong, powerful, and solid.

It was an interesting and busy year for our Board and Committees Members as we navigated through the new life frontier. Although many of our usual activities were curtailed by the COVID-19 safety precautions, these accomplishments kept us occupied:

Women’s Issues Committee

Chair Sheila DeLany participated in the Annual Reproductive Rights Breakfast, attended a Suffrage Centennial Luncheon, reviewed and supported the Women’s Commission’s Health Care update of the Status of Women and Girls (SOWAG) Report, and viewed the Suffrage Centennial Timeline and poster exhibit on display at the County Building.

Committee Member, Roger Wapner, was the tireless lead for the Mask4SLV Program reports that the VWC supported making and distributing over 2500 free masks in the Valley, up until the fire. As our COVID outlook deteriorates, we are reorganizing following returning from evacuation and are getting ready to sew and distribute again.

The Environmental Committee 

Chair Nancy Macy and Committee members are working with various agencies to stop PG&E’s egregious SLV tree removals outside their Right of Way (ROW) without property owners’ consent. This situation is dangerous in the burn zones because tree removal exacerbates erosion 

for the potential of mud and debris-flows. They continue working to compel PG&E to improve its infrastructure to provide a safe and reliable electric system required to meet our needs. 

Julie Wuest and Nancy Macy helped organize the VWC and Supervisor Bruce McPherson Town Hall meeting, which was well received by the SLV residents. For further PG&E and Town Hall details, click here.

Reclamation and Recycling Committee

Roger Wapner led the VWC as it wrapped up business as the SLV RRC Reclamation and Recycling Center, disbursing assets, monitoring employment issues, and successfully advocating the County to reinstate CRV reimbursement for bottles and cans.

Native Habitat Restoration Program Committee

Chair, Linda Skeff, and her Committee Members are continuing to restore project sites that enhance the SLV native habitats. This was the 5^th and final year the VWC sponsored an AmeriCorps team.  The team continued restoration at the BC Library, SLV Museum, BCPRD Community Center, Camp Joy, SCM Art Center, BL Park, Highlands Park, Henry Cowell, and Roaring Camp.  Presently the committee is working with the SLV Water District, Friends of the Felton Library, Camp Harmon, and Renee’s Garden Seeds creating a meadow for native pollinators under the solar panels at the Felton Treatment Plant.

Membership/Legacy of Trees Committee

Chair, Alisan Andrews – Our membership has limped along this year and could use some love and attention to update your account. We have had several generous donations, which have helped keep the work going. We remind everyone of when this crisis is resolved, we will use your membership dues and donations to get back to “boots on the ground” and fulfilling the work of the various committees and projects. https://valleywomensclub.org/support/

Marketing Committee

Co-Chairs Laurie Becker & Alisan Andrews continually work on updating the Website and Facebook and are working on an exciting new and improved website for the coming year. An updated comprehensive VWC Brochure is coming together, along with plans for the General Meeting in March 2021, be it in person or on Zoom. 

We thrilled to share these 2021 news items with you:

• The VWC is starting the New Year with our own office & meeting room at the Highlands Park Senior Center. The room will give us easy access to our brochures and storyboards and a meeting place for VWC committees and projects. This office will be a first-time “home” for the VWC in the community.

• Both the Environmental Committee and SLV Habitat Committee will have comprehensive new websites in the coming year. 

• VWC is co-sponsoring the UCSC Ken Norris Center for Natural History exhibit “Sustaining & Expanding the Community of Naturalists in Santa Cruz County,” which plans to open at the San Lorenzo Valley Museum in January 2021. The exhibit highlights Fred McPherson, who was a dedicated SLV naturalist. Fred’s educational videos, classes, and books are instrumental in bringing awareness to the San Lorenzo River’s importance and the SLV environment.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Jane Mio, President Pro Tempore