All LAVGC meetings, events and activities except allowed activities shown in the Calendar Events section to the left are CANCELLED until further notice following Alameda County Health Care Services guidance on Mar 12, 2020.

Allowed Calendar Events will follow ACHCS and CDC Guidance. Click to see ACHCS Guidance. Check with Activity Contacts for the status of other scheduled activities shown in the Calendar Events to the left.

Monthly Meeting on Zoom
*** Thursday, Oct 14, 2021 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm *** on Zoom

Please note the earlier start time for this meeting only.

Speaker: Lew Feldman, Director of the UC Botanical Garden and a Professor of Plant Biology at UC Berkeley..- "Berkeley’s unexplored treasure; the UC Botanical Garden ".

October's speaker will take us on a virtual tour of the UC Botanical Garden, discussing its history, the background on the Garden’s special collection, the Garden’s mission (which includes education, conservation and research) and future directions and goals for the Garden.

Professor Feldman is a graduate of UC Davis and received his Ph.D. from Harvard. Subsequently, he joined the faculty of the UC Berkeley Department of Botany (now the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology) where he has spent his entire academic career as a Professor of Plant Biology. He is a plant developmental biologist and his research has focused on root development. His main thrust as Director of the UC Botanical Garden is to ensure that the plant collection is curated and well managed, which involves raising funds to maintain and update the facilities for caring for the plants. Additionally, as Director, he works to promote Garden activities in Conservation, Education and Research.

Any questions about the meeting, please contact Barbara Stott.

We look forward to you joining us for our next Zoom meeting. We will be sending a notice prior to the meeting, but you also have the information in our recent newsletter.

If you cannot join the Zoom meeting, recordings of the monthly programs, speaker permitting, are available on this site thanks to the efforts of our Zoommasters: Grahamn Stott and Nile Runge and Web Master Len Smith.

LAVGC is inviting Members to our Monthly Meeting on Zoom

Topic: LAVGC Monthly Meeting
Time: Thursday, October 14,2021, 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Members only will receive an email close to the meeting with meeting join details.

Members can join the meeting starting at 6:15. When you join the meeting, you will be in the "waiting room" until the host lets you into the meeting. When you are let into the meeting, your microphone will be muted. Please use the "chat" feature if you want to ask a question.

See LAVGC Zoom Instructions for tips for those new to Zoom. See LAVGC Zoom Participation Tips for tips for participating in Zoom meetings.

Members having difficulty connecting to the meeting or have technical questions, please contact Zoommasters Nile Runge or Graham Stott. See the LAVGC Yearbook for their individual contact information.

If you have any trouble getting on the meeting as it starts, call Nile Runge, 925-443-2237 for help.

If you are not a member and would like to join Zoom meetings, please complete the New Member Application Form. Members receive the monthly newsletter, annual Yearbook, access to the Members Only section of this site and Zoom meeting details each month. If you are not a member and would like to attend a specific Zoom meeting, please contact Jeri Stark, President to request Zoom meeting details.

Visitors Are Welcome!

Please join us at the monthly meeting or contact us at the Membership link below. Please take a moment to fill out the Membership Application Form for Membership Year July, 2021 through June, 2022. New members joining after Jan. 31 of the Membership Year will owe one-half of the regular dues. New members joining at or after the April Spring Plant Sale will pay dues for the following Membership Year and be complimented for the remainder of the existing Membership Year (May/June).

For more information about membership or dues, please email Wanda Finn.

PDF requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

LAVGC Yearbook

Good news! The 2021-2022 LAVGC Yearbook and an updated LAVGC Roster are now available to view and print in the Members Only section.

LAVGC Roster

Beginning October, 2020, we are providing a complete list of all current LAVGC members and their contact information. The Roster includes information for all members and includes membership changes, such as, addition of new members and changes to current member contact information, since the Yearbook was published. The Roster is in Yearbook format so it can be printed and inserted in your physical Yearbook. The Yearbook Addendum has been replaced by the LAVGC Roster.

Member Alert: if you have changes to your contact information, please email Molly Fisher. See the LAVGC Yearbook for Molly's additional contact information.

Members Only section

Check out the Members Only section. Click on the 'Members Only' menu selection on any page, enter the Id and password. The Members Only section contains the club Yearbook, speaker video links, club forms, newsletter archives, meeting minutes and more. Members may email Jeri Stark, President to obtain the Id and password.

Thanks, thanks and more thanks

Thanks to all who participate in the club workshops, work parties and providing meeting refreshments. > > More

Garden Club Want Ads **** Updated May, 2021 ****

...garden related wants, needs, offers, for sale

This column is for any garden related items that you have that you want to get rid of - either selling or giving away, just to get them out of your place and it's too long to wait for the Plant Sale. You can also list needs or even if you need help in the garden and wish to hire someone for a few hours a week. Or if you'd like to hire out to help someone in their garden a few hours a week. Let's share with other gardeners in the club!! Click to see Garden Club Want Ads.

Talks on Video

If you missed our meeting speakers' informative talk, you can see the video of the talk on the club website Members Only section. Most of our recent club meeting talks are on view there. Select videos are also available to the public. See LAVGC Speakers: past and future.

California Native Plant Society - Santa Clara Valley Chapter presentations

LAVGC member Bill McCormack writes: I am sharing California Native Plant Society - Santa Clara Valley (CNPS-SCV) presentations on topics that have been popular in past LAVGC meetings (pollinators, native bees).

CNPS-SCV is a chapter of the California Native Plant Society. The CNPS-SCV meets Wednesdays at 7:30 pm. The meetings and the chapter Youtube channel are open to anyone (not just native plant society members). Past meetings have had attendees from all over the state and the Western US. .

Penny Pines for Gift Giving

With the National Forest offices closed, we are not able to get certificates for plantations quickly. However, if you wish to give a gift of a Penny Pines plantation to a loved one, you can complete the form found here Penny Pines form.

Mail the form to Jeri Stark with a check for $68, made out to LAVGC. Jeri will prepare a certificate for you to give to your recipient. Our forests need our help more than ever and this is a wonderful gift.

Please contact Jeri Stark, Penny Pines for her address or see the LAVGC Yearbook for Jeri's contact information.

Click Penny Pines to learn more about the activity.

Alameda County Fair Volunteer Opportunities

The Alameda County Fair runs from October 22-31, 2021 and needs volunteers. The Fair will be open Mon-Fri 3pm-10pm and Sat/Sun 10am-10pm; with morning, afternoon and evening volunteer shifts available in many different areas.

It’s time to sign up as a volunteer at the 2021 Alameda County Fair to represent LAVGC. This year LAVGC will receive $7 for every hour that our members work, so this is a good fund raiser for us. Volunteers will receive a t-shirt, and a parking pass and free admission for the days they work. They will also receive 2 free admission tickets to attend the fair on another day.

Contact Karen Furst for more details and to ask any questions. To sign up go to Alameda County Fair Volunteer Program.

The Fair uses an all online volunteer sign up system. Instructions are below. You can use any computer or device connected to the internet to complete the application and choose when you would like to volunteer. If you don’t have access to sign up online— we will have limited number of paper applications available. Contact your group’s coordinator or the volunteer program to get the paper application. We are looking forward to a successful year! Thank you for your interest! Questions? or for the paper application please contact: Kristen Dean (925) 426-7610 kdean@alamedacountyfair.com Volunteer Program Coordinator

ONLINE REGISTRATION Instructions:

Go to Alameda County Fair —click on the bar across the top--Take me to the 2021 Alameda County Fair Website Under the JOIN tab—CHOOSE: Fair Volunteer Program CLICK on the button that says: “VOLUNTEER” • Fill in an application: Under... “I am new to MyVolunteerPage.com”. Choose a username that you will remember, enter a current email address that you check regularly, agree to the policies you read and click save and continue. You are now ready to begin! Fill out the questions on the application. If there is a “flag” next to the box, then you are required to input that information before moving on. The more information you give us, the better matched you will be for the volunteer opportunities. Once you complete the application, if you are matched with volunteer opportunities you can click on the prompt and you will be re-directed to the sign-in page. Simply enter the username and password you have chosen for www.myvolunteerpage.com and go to the Opportunities tab and begin scheduling!

State Garden Clubs newest project September 2021

CGCI: What do garden clubs do for the community? Our member organizations offer a wide range of educational programs and speakers on the latest gardening techniques, conservation, environmental issues, and the study of pollinators. Sharing the Love of Gardening with California Youth. In addition, garden clubs develop and participate in a variety of local, state (reforestation of burned areas), regional and national projects and floral design.

The newest CGCI State Project is proposed by Shane Looper, Chairman.  Upon conclusion of Project Mission Blue with Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy that raised $23,000+ from 2011-2021, a new five-year project was approved by the State Board of Directors, Black Point Historic Gardens. It is approximately one-acre in size overlooking Aquatic Park, strategically located near Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco's tourist district where 10-12 million people from all over the world visit. The gardens have been neglected since 1972 but are an important site for public enjoyment as well as environmental and social education through community engagement.

It is an ideal place to demonstrate/showcase a garden that encourages urban wildlife including birds, pollinators, and small mammals in addition to the visibility of California Garden Clubs, Inc. involvement with signage and presence. CGCI has adopted this project to raise funds to:

• Plant plants keeping with the historical aspect of Black Point to recreate a strolling garden and to design crucial urban wildlife corridors,
• Acquire Garden tools and compost to assist in the restoration of the gardens,
• In exchange, CGCI’s logo will appear on acrylic plant signs in the garden and be promoted on GGNPC’s social media.

Local CGCI clubs can also participate by growing plants for the garden, and/or adopting an area of the garden, Maintain Black Point Historic Gardens, within its historical context, as a site for public enjoyment, horticultural, environmental, and social education, community engagement as well as for the arts.

CGCI is excited to have the opportunity to raise money for this newest project in partnership with Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. Donations of any amount are welcome. Please make checks payable to CGCI and mail to this chairman at 213 Carmelo Lane, So. San Francisco, CA 94080-2204. We appreciate your support.

Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour Events

Please join us on Wednesday, October 6, 2021 from 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm for a free Zoom presentation, “Dreaming of air conditioning, replacing a furnace, or remodeling?” that will feature several homes that have replaced gas furnaces with heat pumps for heating and cooling air.  Coordinator Kathy Kramer says: “As a result of replacing our gas furnace with a heat pump, Mike and I have gotten air conditioning for free, and, as we also installed solar panels that generate the clean energy that runs our heat pump, we no longer pay a PG&E bill.”  Register for this free event here.

Native Plant Extravaganza

Please join us on Saturday, October 16, 2021 from 10:00am - 4:00 pm. Fall is the time to plant natives!  Shop in-person at East Bay Wilds (28^th and Foothill in Oakland) or the Watershed Nursery (601 Canal Street in Point Richmond) on Saturday, October 16 from 10:00-4:00, or place your orders on-line through Green Thumb Works on either Saturday or Sunday, October 16 and 17, and a percentage of the sales will go to support the Tour.

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Spring 2022 Bring Back the Native Tour Schedule:

Sat. & Sun. April 9 & 10, 2022— Virtual East Bay Green Home Tour
Sat. & Sun. April 16 & 17, 2022—Virtual Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour
Sat. April 30, 2022 & Sun. May 1, 2022—In-person garden tour Bayside gardens will be open.