Sept. 11, 2001: California ironworker Paul Pursley spent 10 weeks at 'Ground Zero'

Sept. 11, 2001: California ironworker Paul Pursley spent 10 weeks at 'Ground Zero'

"Ironworkers worked every day," Pursley said. "We went on 12-hour shifts starting at 6 (a.m.) or 7 (a.m.) The more iron we cut up, the more firemen we could find. But we only found parts; a hand, a leg, a torso, never a complete body. We found parts from 650 people. You thought you would find somebody alive at first, but we never did...

"...I never cut so much steel in my entire life. I hope I never have to again."

Ground zero.

That's where San Marcos, Calif. ironworker Paul Pursley found himself Sept. 17 on a first-ever visit to New York.

For the next 10 weeks, in a city reeling with shock, Pursley helped cut away the massive wreckage of the World Trade Center, allowing relief workers to recover some of the 2,992 people killed on Sept. 11.

Pursley flew home on Dec. 6. Later, sitting in his quiet San Marcos kitchen, he told of the horror of body parts, the sad daily trek through crowds of people anxiously searching for missing loved ones, the kindness of Salvation Army workers and of being able to touch President Bush.

"You never found a whole piece, whole people," said Pursley, who worked as part of an ironworkers' union contingent attached to a Yonkers, N.Y., wreckage excavation crew. Twenty men worked the day shift and 20 worked the night shift, he said.

"The first few weeks there was nothing really stationary to walk on," Pursley said. "There was so much energy in the pile that stuff would get catapulted 200 to 300 feet in the air. We were cutting through 50-ton pieces of iron. Stuff was all over the place. But the more iron you could cut, the faster firemen could get part of somebody out.

"I've never seen anything like that in my life," Pursley said. "The ground was so hot I went through three pairs of boots in the 2-1/2 months I was there."

But the heat, the dirt, the smoke, even the horribly acrid smell and danger of ground zero were nothing compared to the emotional toll, Pursley said.

"I was working one day and we found a fireman and a civilian trapped in Tower Two," Pursley continued. "They survived the plane crash, made it down to the lobby but they couldn't get out. That was hard.

"It was hard seeing the little kids in town," Pursley said. "Hundreds of people used to line the gates at night when we got off work. They asked: 'Did you see my daddy?' They all were holding pictures.

"There was nothing you could tell them," Pursley said. "That was the hardest part. What do you tell them?"

 Marine to ironworker

A 41-year-old Allentown, Pa., native and former Camp Pendleton Marine, Pursley said he was "fascinated" with walking on steel beams as a child. So after receiving an honorable discharge from the Marines with the rank of sergeant he became an ironworker in 1985. He lived in Oceanside before moving to San Marcos in 1998.

Pursley's odyssey to ground zero began in Hartford, Conn.

A member of San Diego Ironworkers Local 229, Pursley was on a job for Lewis Equipment of Grand Prairie, Texas. The crew was finishing installing beams with tower cranes for the huge Mohegan Sun Casino around Hartford "the day it happened," he said.

"We had a rented van and another job to go to in Washington, D.C.," continued Pursley, a strapping man with a soft voice. "We saw both buildings smoking as we were going by New York on the way. We were in D.C. a day-and-a-half finishing up a job at the convention center. They didn't need our help at the Pentagon but when we finished we asked Kyle Lewis, the owner of Lewis Construction, if we could go to New York and he said, 'Sure, you guys can volunteer there.'

"I had never been to New York," Pursley said. "My partner, Rusty Henry from Stillwater, Okla., and myself went there on the (Sept.) 17th, right down to the job site. As long as you were an ironworker you had carte' blanche.

Worked non-stop the first day

"It was pretty much disorganized with guys everywhere trying to volunteer in the chaos. We went to the union hall the next day," he said.

While plenty of police and fire personnel swarmed across the dust-filled, chaotic scene, they couldn't do much without help from skilled ironworkers who cut through the mangled iron and steel with cranes, torches, and big tools, not to mention sweat and desire.

Pursley said he and Henry were the only two out-of-town ironworkers at the scene. For 10 long weeks, the steel burners cut up towering beams and iron.

"Ironworkers worked every day," Pursley said. "We went on 12-hour shifts starting at 6 (a.m.) or 7 (a.m.) The more iron we cut up, the more firemen we could find. But we only found parts; a hand, a leg, a torso, never a complete body. We found parts from 650 people. You thought you would find somebody alive at first, but we never did."

Pursley added: "With all that debris and elevator cables pulling the pile, guys were getting fingers and hands smashed. Lots of accidents. Lots of guys hurt. I thought we were going to be there for a year."

Pursley said he and his partner were paid through the union but ended up renting a hotel room in lower Manhattan, then a motel room in Secaucus, N.J., that cost them $6,000 to $8,000. Salvation Army workers brought them food at the site.

At the end of a grueling day's shift, the ironworkers would hike a mile to get beyond the crime scene, maybe grab a snack, head out through the Port Authority Terminal on a bus to New Jersey, finally collapsing from exhaustion into motel beds.

"People would sit by you on the bus and you were so filthy," Pursley said. "Not even like being dirty, such a weird odor. I'd wash my clothes three times and still they were dirty."

Several close calls

One of Pursley's closest calls came on Oct. 23, according to a notification filed with construction contractors.

Police believed they had cleared out some of the estimated 1.7 million .38 caliber rounds from a destroyed U.S. Customs arsenal at the World Trade Center and directed Pursley to burn iron at one of the swept areas. A loud pop and painful burning of his cheek later, he found himself taken to St. Vincent's Hospital emergency room for treatment. He still has the scar on his face.

Alert and in good spirits, Pursley returned to the scene the next day and kept on working. On Nov. 13, a large excavator swung across a debris pile near where Pursley was burning through steel. The pile collapsed and Pursley fell down the 25-foot pile, injuring his left wrist. Medical workers had to use 18 stitches to close the wound, according to an accident report filed with city of New York Department of Design and Construction.

When celebrities descended on ground zero to lend support, Pursley took pictures with a disposable camera he bought. He has a picture with actress Susan Sarandon[Unlink] and with Jason Alexander [Unlink], who played George in "Seinfeld."

And President Bush. Pursley said he went up to the President when he toured ground zero and "pulled on his shirt sleeve."

"I told him, 'I didn't vote for you, but I'm going to touch you.' " He then took a picture of the surprised president.

Thank you letters meant a lot

Pursley said he got a lift from schoolchildren's thank you letters forwarded by Salvation Army workers. He said he planned to answer all of the dozen or so letters he brought back to San Marcos. A lot of them shared sentiments like those expressed by Ryan Moran, a sixth grader at Pearson Elementary of Poulsbo, Wash.

Addressed to Iron Workers, Ground Zero, N.Y., N.Y., Moran's letter began, "Dear Savers of Helpless Citizens," and continued: "You guys are really brave and your heroic actions during the tragedy will remain in our hearts forever. We know we can count on heroes like you. You've changed everyone's lives."

Salvation Army workers also gave Pursley a red-white-and-blue hard-hat signed by many of them with inspirational sayings as a parting gift. "It's our house ---- never forget," one aid worker said.

But in the end, the experience was a once-in-a-lifetime, and a fulfilling one, Pursley said.

"All the people I met there were fantastic to me," Pursley said. "It was incredible. It was weird leaving and coming home. Hopefully there is closure for the victims and their families."

Despite local contractors wanting him to resume work as a foreman, Pursley said he wants to relax for a month.

"I have never seen so much iron in my life. I never cut so much steel in my entire life. I hope I never have to again," he said.

-------------------------------------------------

Well-known New York photographer Joel Meyerowitz [Unlink] took seminal images at Ground Zero, many of which were displayed at a groundbreaking exhibit titled "Echoes of Ground Zero" in 2003.

Lawrence Weschler in conversation with photographer Joel Meyerowitz in the living room of the latter’s New York City home, 7 April 2003 is available at the pdf file posted here.

This portion of the interview dealt with Pursley, and his iconic image that Meyerowitz displayed next to another iconic...c. 1650 image by the Spanish painter Velazquez.

LW: Well, this.

JM: Amazing. What a guy. He was a welder, commonly called a burner down there. His job was to go through the site and as each level was exposed, he would walk through with a torch and burn all the small standing steel so that men could walk through and do their search.

LW: Do you know his name?

JM: I do know his name . . . Paul Pursley.

LW: What is fascinating to me here is that we’re playing off the Velázquez of Mars[Unlink] with his tool and his helmet and his mustache. I don’t want to suggest or insist that you had this specific thing in your head, but you too are treating this worker as a kind of god or a personage of great nobility.

JM: I was just going to say that he was noble. The reason I saw him as noble was that he came up the road bend here, and I saw him, and we had just heard a bugler playing Taps, and there were eight of us standing around and we were all in tears and as he came to me I saw this little glint of a tear in his eye – you can see it in the photograph, he’s slightly dewy-eyed. And as he came forward, I just felt the power of this man and his nobility, and I stepped in front of him and just made a photograph. We didn’t have much of an interaction. He really didn’t even pose for me, he just stopped walking. And then I asked him something and he laughed and he said, “I was just wounded today. I was burning the steel and I exploded some ammunition that was buried.” He said, “A piece of bullet shell hit me in the face and I got five stitches under here.” He laughed. He laughed. And then he just stood there and I made this picture and I realized he is heroic.

LW: One of the things that’s amazing about Velázquez is how when he chooses to do a god, for perhaps one of the first times in history the god is just some mill worker. I mean, this is clearly some guy who worked as some smithy or something, who knows who he is. This is some guy who is a working-class guy, patently not a nobleman, you don’t think?

JM: No, not a nobleman.

LW: And yet a god. So, that’s kind of interesting.

Soap opera continues at Whispering Palms, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. now playing in EIR form at San Dieguito Planning Group on June 9.

Whispering Palms soap opera continues due to play out, or act out depending on one's viewpoint -- This time before the San Dieguito Planning Group following an appearance at Vista Superior Court...

 It is the neighborhood controversy that will not die. Whispering Palms once again goes center stage at yet another agency as local planners consider Richard Cavanaugh's long-standing plan to build something, anything, at the giant vacant lot at his luxury development. However, his demeanor, past history of conflict with homeowners, and controversial plans to put in condos, rental units and even continuing care facilities has raised hackles, lawsuits and the usual suspicions.

The latest: Cavanaugh's environmental impact report for the project, attached here in pdf form. Interested parties have until June 15 to tell planners what the heck they think.

"If you have any interest in the environmental consequences of the proposed project, you should follow up with the county.  I anticipate this matter will be on the planning group’s agenda at our next meeting on June 9

^th, although input directly to the county will be more valuable than providing us the information at that meeting."

Paul Daniel Marks

Attorney at Law

Certified Specialist, Family Law

www.divorceandmediation.com 

The Wild Wild West of Deadwood and Dodge City had nothing on Whispering Palms.

Perhaps a Joseph Heller screenplay with a splash of Thomas Pynchon novel tossed in the mix could do the place justice.

Move over Peyton Place, Pine Valley and Port Charles. Whispering Palms is in da house. And this time, there’s no Erica Kane on a forklift to clear the way.

In the latest chapter of 'As Whispering Palms Burns,' Vista Superior Court Judge Earl H. Maas III ruled controversial Whispering Palms developer Richard Cavanaugh's long-desired mixed-use project at the vacant 4.3-acre lot at the community's entrance had to go back to ye olde drawing board.

Prompted by a 2007 lawsuit from Whispering Palms residents at odds with Cavanaugh, Maas ruled the project lacked a full environmental impact report, despite the project's approval by San Diego County Supervisors. Maas found the traffic impact section of the report to be inadequate.

Cavanaugh's attorney Wayne Bechtel said the developer would prepare that report although the previous report was done properly.

Cavanaugh’s proposal to develop the final 4.3-acre open space parcel at the community’s only entrance/exit includes a mixed-use commercial center featuring 9,600-square-feet of retail space, 19,500-square-feet of office space and 54 apartments, each 900-square-feet.

Before the mixed-use proposal, Cavanaugh sought to build an assisted living facility at the vacant lot raising the community's wrath and opposition. County officials rejected this concept.

The property as now constituted represents a prominent eyesore dating back to the inception of the development in the mid-1960s.

The parcel has been zoned commercial for quite a while. All Cavanaugh lacks is that environmental report which will allow him to secure a grading permit before he can proceed.

Well, a grading permit and the cooperation of Whispering Palms residents who threaten noisy opposition and litigation should he proceed with plans.

Not that residents oppose development of that hallowed piece of empty ground. Indeed, they want it to become something useful and attractive in the worst way.

There’s just this Cavanaugh thing. Residents say he promised a smaller commercial development at Palma de la Reina with fewer, larger homeowner-owned condominiums rather than his proposed rental apartments. Cavanaugh says whatever he proposes will be opposed by residents because they hate him.

Although the judge focused on traffic impacts in his ruling, Brechtel said the environmental impact report will have to address all aspects of the project, along with public comments. That draft report was submitted to the San Dieguito Planning Group and will be considered June 9, 2011.

RANCHO SANTA FE WIKILEAKS: County allegedly stiffs local planning group, fire dept. CONTINUED....

Look below for last week's e-mail chain and issue backstory. Or visit http://tiny.cc/9mkqb

I just received a call from Vince Nicoletti from the contracts section at DPLU.  He was very apologetic about the e-mail to which I responded, and he’s agreed to find a solution.

He recognizes that I shouldn’t be signing a contract with the fire department, for example, that I agree to indemnify it for any riots that break out, and he assured me that a minor charge per meeting is not a big deal to them, they just need to figure out a way to structure any arrangement.

In the meantime, we may need to continue to explore other venues, as the 911 people will ultimately be taking over the space, as he understands it.

He also agreed that planning groups serve a valuable purpose, saving the county huge amounts of staff time gathering input.

Another squeaky wheel gets greased.

Paul Daniel Marks

Attorney at Law

Certified Specialist, Family Law

www.divorceandmediation.com

RANCHO SANTA FE WIKILEAKS: County allegedly stiffs local San Dieguito Planning Group and Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District. At issue? Some $25 per month to rent a fire agency conference room for regular monthly volunteer planning group meetings.

(Editor's Note: This is the actual e-mail trail regarding a somewhat mind-blowing bit of penny-pinching on the part of San Diego County government. Keep in mind that the San Diego Watchdog Institute found San Diego County paid more than $100,000 in annual salaries to 1,016 employees in 2009.

"County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Pam Slater-Price said many of the employees making over $100,000 are well educated and highly skilled. She called a $100,000 salary 'pretty cheap' for an attorney, for example, and said the proportion of county workers making that salary is smaller than in some local governments. She also cited the influence of labor unions whose contracts drive the raises."

The San Dieguito Planning Group is a volunteer position advising county planners on local planning applications and issues. Many members have served for many years devoting much personal time to investigating, and analyzing, local public land use issues.

This e-mail exchange between Paul Marks, the planning group chairman, and county officials involves the county not paying the $25 per meeting rental fee to the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection Department at whose offices planning group meetings take place.

Your county government in action -- follow this edition of RANCHO SANTA FE WIKILEAKS!!!)

Time stopped at Santana High School, Santee, Calif. on March 5, 2001 - Student Andy Williams, 15, kills 2, wounds 13...

North County Times photographer Waldo Nilo was driving me around San Marcos looking for stories when we heard news breaking on the radio. A gunman was on the loose at Santana High School, no details available.

We immediately called the North County Times newsroom, saying we wanted to head down there to cover the shooting.

Ever wondered why the North County Times is about one shade better than a middle school newspaper, maybe, on the NCT's best day? Listen to this, then.

Executive editor Kent Davey --  still Peter Principle-ing away there, paradigm of news judgment -- and Teresa then-Hineline, ditto, told us this was a bad idea. Incredulous, we broke off our mission seeking "wild art" and bee-lined to the Escondido newsroom.

Upon returning, we pleaded our case with a sense of urgency knowing this was a story of national significance. Davey and Hineline, though, continued to hold us back, arguing it was a bad idea because Santee wasn't in the North County Times coverage area. They absolutely didn't want us to go.

We persisted until it almost became physical. To his credit, then-business editor John Van Doorn -- who had been a New York Times employee for several years -- interceded. Davey was shaking his head, but finally relented.

That drive south was faster than a speeding bullet. We knew we hadn't a moment to waste.

We hit the ground running at the outdoor shopping mall across the street from Santana High. It was a scene straight out of Libya today. Students, parents, shopkeepers, later police, were strewn across that asphalt parking lot in madcap frenzy.

Amazingly, despite Davey-Hineline's delaying tactics, we were the first San Diego-based journalists on the ground. A reporter from the Los Angeles Times and a CNN crew had made it there as well. That was it.

The 10-year anniversary of San Diego's personal brush with school murder is this Saturday, March 5. It's been controversial as well. Santee Mayor Randy Voepel this week criticized a private memorial at the school scheduled to commemorate the ghastly event.

Grossmount Union High School District, nevertheless, will close the school on Friday for its private memorial. Voepel plans to hold a public service at noon, Saturday at the concrete Santana High School sign fronting the school entrance at North Magnolia Avenue.

For the record, this is my coverage of the incident along with a video interview this week with the San Diego County Sheriff's deputy who took down the shooter, Andy Williams; a video made real-time behind the scenes at ABC News as Peter Jennings and ABC News covered the breaking event; as well as Williams, in his own words, last year.

For the Record, Part II, Davey continued to criticize the newspaper covering an event outside its alleged coverage area and had to be persuaded vigorously, and vehemently, the next day to allow us to return to Santana for the follow-up story.

Of course, I've won more statewide press association awards for local news coverage since leaving that newspaper than the entire staff of the North County Times combined.

And Ah-Ha RSF News has greater web traffic than the North County Times, a 75,000-circulation daily newspaper distributed from Del Mar to Riverside.

But we digress. Shooter Charles Andrew "Andy" Williams turned 25-years-old last month and is serving a 50-years-to-life sentence for the murder of Bryan Zuckor, then-14 years old, and Randy Gordon, 17. Williams also wounded 13 people in the worst school shooting incident since Columbine High School in 1999.

Believe it (or not) Williams has an advocacy website here called "Andy Speaks.".We'll show you a bit more of that distasteful exercise at the end of the story package.

In any event, we take you live and direct back, back, back to a moment frozen in memory and time: Santana High School, March 5, 2001.

-- Dan Weisman 

Santee students describe a scene of fear and disbelief

DAN WEISMAN

Staff Writer

SANTEE ---- Time stopped at 9:22 a.m. Monday at Santana High School.

That's when the alleged gunman, a 15-year-old freshman identified by San Diego County District Attorney Paul Pfingst as Charles Andrew Williams, began randomly shooting students and adults with a .22-caliber revolver.

John Schardt, a junior, stood about 10 yards from Williams, who allegedly was peppering a nearby bathroom with bullets.

"I didn't think about myself," Schardt said. "I didn't think about anything. It was surreal. That's why I had no fear."

Schardt was in a photography class and picked up a video camera as soon as he heard shots ring out in what quickly became a bloody quadrangle just beyond the classroom's glass panes.

"I said it must be fake, ran and grabbed my camera," Schardt said as he stood in the Albertson's Shopping Center parking lot across the street from the high school, a couple of hours after the shootings. "You saw people running, trying to get away from the shooting. I saw one person in a fetal position in the quad who was shot. I viewed the rest through the windows of a classroom."

Tiffany Lynch, a 14-year-old freshman, said she had just emerged from a first-period math class around 9:15 a.m., a class also attended by the alleged shooter.

"He liked to joke around a lot," Lynch said of Williams. "He never seemed serious. He had been talking about having a gun. His friends told him he would never use it and to stop talking about that.

"Pretty soon he started getting serious. They started patting him down (for weapons) every day (at school). They did it today and didn't feel anything."

But, as first period yielded to second period and Lynch, along with Williams, went into the hall, the world turned topsy-turvy along a hallway leading to a bathroom by the small quad.

"I heard the gunshots and people started running over," Lynch said. "I thought it was a joke. Then I saw people running toward the parking lot area."

Zina Ravin, a senior in a nearby classroom, said she heard three gunshots that "sounded like fireworks, and all of a sudden I was scared. I knew Travis Tate (Gallegos) was shot in the head. Everybody started running 100 miles an hour.

"A person was laying in a room near where my brother Allen was," Ravin said. "My dad called and said, 'Find your brother as soon as you can. Stay put and follow instructions.'"

Senior Lori Zarza "saw a couple of kids fall, and after that everybody was going. A kid was running with blood from his mouth. I was hiding behind a lunch cart. I wasn't really scared."

Zarza probably saved her life by moving away from the cart, because at that point, Schardt said, the alleged gunman was "smiling, shooting in a southward direction."

"He was wearing a blue sweat shirt," Schardt said. "He went into and out of a bathroom, fired a couple more shots and started pointing the gun at somebody else. He wasn't aiming at one particular person. He was blind-aiming at people and shot out the lunch cart at the wall. I was 30 feet away, parallel to him."

Students milled around the school parking lot comforting one another hours after the incident. San Diego County sheriff's deputies and a host of chaplains and counselors counseled them between hugs and sobs. An impromptu private counseling area was set aside by authorities inside a nearby Round Table Pizza parlor. No media members were allowed inside.

For most, expressions of grief mixed with disbelief. Schardt said he had "a sick, sick feeling inside when I heard about the people who died. It hits you differently when it is your school."

And for Debbie Howie, it was a hectic, and unexpected, morning interruption from her job at a nearby Kmart as daughter Lori Mason ran away from school down a long, and fearful, block home to call.

"I'm still shook," Howie said. "You don't know what will happen next. The families are picking up the pieces."

Mason cast a wan look at Santana High School's yellow sign proclaiming "G Ball 6 p.m. at Cox Arena; Thur G soccer."

The sign stood amid a chaotic scene of armed authorities and wandering students, parents and school officials.

And in Mason's hand: a small bouquet of yellow flowers.

"These are Santana's color," Mason said quietly. "I'm going to put them by the front sign for the people who died from our school."

Santana High School Shooting 2001

Michael Motorcycle | Myspace Video

 On March 5, 2001, fifteen-year-old Santana High student Charles Andrew Williams began shooting, killing two, and wounding thirteen. Bryan Zuckor, a fellow student, was the first killed, as he and another student were shot in the bathroom where Williams began. Williams then exited the bathroom and headed for the Santana High School quad, where he opened fire on surrounding students and faculty. There, he fatally shot another student, Randy Gordon, and wounded twelve others (ten students and two staff). Williams then returned to the bathroom where he later surrendered to the police.

Personal accounts of the events relate the initial confusion during the incident, describing the sound of the shots as "like firecrackers". Panic followed as people began to realize what was happening. Witnesses also describe Williams as "smiling" during the shooting. Referring to the chaos after the shooting, one parent remarked, "They just don't have a system to handle this." Students and faculty were evacuated to a nearby shopping center, and local businesses and churches helped to handle students and parents. Others also said that they heard him saying, weeks before the shootings, that he was "going to pull a Columbine."

-- Wikipedia

Believe it or not, some people look at Williams in a positive light. A website devoted to him here appears to have kept current through May 2010. This is a sample...

 May 2010

All,

Hey everyone, I know I know, it's been quite a while since I've written the site but I think it's more I've been busy than it's slipped my mind because it does weigh on my mind, the infrequent letters on my part, and I aplologize. All has been well with me. I don't remember when exactly I last wrote but a little under a year ago I transferred prisons again. Happy to be back in Southern California, the trek up to the northern part of the state was definately not a productive one for me. I've learned that we get strength from struggle. So I'm definately stronger for it. I'm a year away from my A.A. degree which seems like I've worked on, off and on, mostly off thruth be told for 7 years. Then onto the next degree I suppose. I'm currently a cook in the prison main kitchen, I consider it a good day if I don't get a steam burn or any type of cuts. I'm hanging in there and truly do appreciate those of you who have hung with me the last 9 + years. Thank you.

Andy

San Diego Botanic Garden: March 19-20 - Herb Festival, Spring Plant Sale, and Tomatomania®

Back by popular demand is Tomatomania®, part of the world's largest tomato seedling sale, with lectures on culture and care and plenty of tomato seedlings.

Susan Belsinger is our honored guest at this year’s Herb Festival. Susan is a culinary herbalist, educator, food writer, and photographer whose articles and photographs have been widely published. She has co-authored several best-selling, award-winning cookbooks.

Susan will give a program each day at 1 pm. On Saturday, she will discuss Getting to Know the Mediterranean Herbs. She takes you on a hike across a hillside in Syros, Greece, which helps “herbies” and gardeners see how these native herbs grow in hot arid climates, tenaciously hanging on rocky cliffs. She will discuss how to keep the grey and green Mediterranean herbs happy in our own gardens. On Sunday Susan presents a cooking demonstration featuring these hardy, flavorful... (more)

Valentine’s Day & Win Your Wedding at San Diego Botanic Garden, Encinitas, Calif.

San Diego Botanic Garden is offering a one-of-a-kind romantic evening on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2011.  From 5 – 7 pm, couples will enjoy a sunset stroll through the Garden, complete with special touches including champagne, heavy hors d’oeuvres, cake, chocolate, music, a professional photo and rose for each couple, photo booth and more. Couples will also have the chance to win a special all-inclusive wedding at the Garden.

 The highlight of the evening, one lucky couple will win the wedding of their dreams, valued at over $15,000 courtesy of San Diego Botanic Garden and several wedding vendor partners.   The wedding package includes:

• Use of the SDBG Lawn House Garden for a Wedding/Reception for up to 50 guests with tables and chairs
• A full hot catered lunch provided by The Abbey Catering & Event Design
• Photography provided...

San Diego Botanic Garden Classes For Winter, 2011: From Hummingbirds to Cooking to Art...

From Hummingbirds and Sustainable Landscaping to Garden Photography, Art and Cooking, There’s Something for Everyone...

Tamale Making 101

Saturday, January 15
1:00 – 4:30 pm

Explore the Latin American tradition of making tamales! You will learn a brief history of the tamale, then dive right into preparing masa, corn husks, and fillings to create two types of tamales, one with and one without meat. You will also learn to make a delicious Hibiscus iced tea. Each student will eat in class, and take home recipes and 1 dozen tamales to steam at home. Ingredients in this class include meat broths and a variety of herbs and spices. Class size is limited, so please sign up early.

Members $55, non-members $65.
Please register by January 12.

Harvesting Rainwater for Your Garden

Saturday, January 22
10:00 am – 12 noon

Learn how to save water and money by harvesting and using rainwater in your garden. Find out about simple earthworks to store rainwater for trees and larger shrubs, and how to include graywater in your irrigation plan. System design based on roof area and plant material will be discussed, with example projects to illustrate the possibilities. Taught by Rosalind Haselbeck and Rich Alianelli of Building Green Futures, a local company specializing in the design and installation of rainwater harvesting systems, vegetated (green) roofs, and graywater recycling.

Members $25, non-members $30.
Please register by January 19.

Free Composting Workshop

Saturday, January 22
10:00 am – 12 noon

Learn how to compost your food scraps and yard trimmings. Workshop also covers vermicomposting (worms). Compost bins and worm bins for sale afterward. Taught by Solana Center Master Composters. Meet at the Compost Demonstration Site by the Seeds of Wonder Children’s Garden. To register contact the Solana Center at www.solanacenter.org or 760/ 436-7986.

What’s Wrong with My Plant?

Saturday, January 29, 2011
10:00 am – 12:00 noon

Dealing with a sick plant is one of the most frustrating situations a gardener or houseplant owner can face. Fortunately, help is at hand. This class enables you to recognize what’s plaguing your plant and then implement an appropriate cure—without resorting to toxic chemicals. Based on the book of the same name, students use a unique, illustrated diagnostic system to discover the cause of any plant problem. You will learn solutions and non-toxic remedies that will fix the problem and you don’t even need to know the plant’s name. This popular class is extremely useful for anyone who diagnoses plant problems, including Master Gardeners and Garden personnel. Taught by David Deardorff and Kathryn Wadsworth.

Members $10, non-members $12.
Pre-registration required by January 26, 2011. 

Now That’s Italian

Saturday, January 29
1:30 – 4:00 pm

Learn how to prepare Tuscan Stuffed Chicken Breast, Arugula and Pear Salad, and Manicotti in tomato wine sauce from scratch. Easy and delicious! Recipes and tastings offered of each dish. Taught by Chef Elizabeth, the Opera Singing Chef.

Members $25, non-members $30.
Register by January 26.

Botanical Watercolor Monotype Pastel Combo Helen Shafer Garcia with Helen Shafer Garcia

Sunday, January 30
9:30 am – 4:00 pm

Discover innovative techniques to build micro view botanical compositions uniting watercolor monotype and pastel. Monotype is an expressive printing method which creates intriguing textured color shapes. Spend the day printing and painting in watercolor exploring wet into wet approaches. We will add pastel layers to exaggerate color intensity and build luminous layers to create a unified and harmonious affect. This workshop is for all skill levels.

Members $65, non-members $75.
Pre-registration required by January 26.

Desert to Rainforest Garden Photography Workshop

Saturday, February 12
8:30 am – 1:30 pm

Acclaimed Flower and Garden photographer Bob Bretell will take you on a photo nature safari that will explore two amazing yet very different worlds within the garden. We begin our adventure in the New World desert where Bob will show how to creatively modify sunlight by using mirrors, reflectors and filters. From there we venture into the rainforest where Bob demonstrates his new “Wall of Light” technique. Learn how to simplify your composition for maximum impact, how to use fill flash in a new creative way—even how to enhance your composition in the garden using an ordinary flash light! This workshop is for all levels regardless of whether you are using a point and shoot, or an expensive single lens reflex. Photos will be projected and critiqued by the group and the instructor. Students must bring a digital camera and may want to bring a bag lunch.

Members $75, non-members $85.
Please register by February 9. 

Jewels of Nature: Hummingbirds in Your Garden
Saturday, February 26
10:00 – 11:00 am

Monique Rea will introduce you to a variety of ways to attract hummingbirds to your garden. Having worked with and rehabilitated these wonders of nature for the past 14 years, she will also share tips on what to do when you find a lost hummingbird. There will be plant lists, book and DVD recommendations, samples of their nests, a hummingbird legend, and much more.

Members $10, non-members $12.
Please register by February 23. 

From Terra’s Table Cooking Demo and Book Signing

Saturday, February 26
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Jeff Rossman, author of the much acclaimed From Terra’s Table, will do a cooking demo and book signing. Jeff will show you how to make pumpkin bisque and caramelized fennel salad, recipes from his new book. Through his Terra Restaurant in Hillcrest, Jeff has built long-standing relationships with area farmers and purveyors and is dedicated to featuring the best local, organic produce that these farms can provide. His commitment to the community is extensive and includes the Farm to School pilot program.

Members $10, non-members $12.
Please register by February 23. 

Photo Botanics: Botanical Photography Then and Now

February 26, 2:30 pm at Oceanside Museum of Art

February 27, 12:30 pm at San Diego Botanic Garden 

Explore the history, trends, and techniques of botanical photography at a special two-part program presented by Canon USA and Oceanside Photo and Telescope (OPT), and hosted by Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA) and San Diego Botanic Garden. On Saturday, February 26, visit OMA for a lecture by Michel Tcherevkoff, Canon Explorer of Light, on conceptual and macro photography techniques (free to the public), followed by a special private tour of the exhibition, Botanicals: The Photography of Imogen Cunningham. On Sunday, February 27, visit San Diego Botanic Garden for a special hands-on opportunity to try out Canon’s renowned cameras and lenses to create your own botanical photography masterpieces. Canon and OPT specialists will be on hand to guide and assist participants.

$50 (Fee for exhibition tour and photography workshop).
To register contact Lacey Linek at OPT, cameras@optcorp.com or 800/ 483–6287.

Tired of Corn Beef and Cabbage? Learn to Make Mulligatawny Stew Instead

Saturday, March 5
1:30 – 4:00 pm

Try this wonderful Indian inspired, but Irish in origin, Mulligatawny Stew for a change in your St. Patrick’s Day menu. Learn the tradition behind Colcannon and Irish Farmer’s Bread “Barm Brack.” Recipes and tastings offered of each dish. Taught by Chef Elizabeth, the Opera Singing Chef.

Members $25, non-members $30.
Register by March 2. 

Sustainable Landscaping

A Free Class for San Diego Botanic Garden Members Only – Join Today and You Can Take It, Too!

Thursday, March 10
10:00 am – 12 noon

Styles are always changing. From fashion to hairstyles to music and food choices nothing stays the same. Landscaping is no different. What works in one part of the country is not always the best choice for Southern California. As part of a statewide effort by the Master Gardener Association, the San Diego Chapter has put together a comprehensive presentation focusing on sustainable practices for the Southern California garden. Topics will include water management, soil improvement, plant selection and maintenance, pest control, saving energy, and encouraging beneficial wildlife. The beauty of the Mediterranean and its adaptability to our climate will be featured.

Free for Members Only. Join Today and You Can Take It, Too!
Please register by March 7.

E-mail info@SDBGarden.org or call 760/ 436-3036 x206

Waterwise Gardening From the Ground Up: Soils, Plants, Design, Irrigation and Mulches 

Saturday, March 12
9:00 am – 4:00 pm

Learn to create a waterwise garden from the ground up using an integrated approach: soil organics, appropriate plants, water harvesting, garden design, efficient irrigation, and mulch. This workshop includes:

• The use of compost and soil microbes to capture, store, and transport water through the soil to plant roots
• Ways to harvest gray water and rainwater to use in the garden
• Highlights of our enormous waterwise plant palette, including low water edibles
• The basics of waterwise garden design for year-round color and interest
• An inspiring walking tour of the waterwise gardens at San Diego Botanic Garden
• An update on low water irrigation technologies including the basics to retrofit existing irrigation, install new irrigation, and manage irrigation in a waterwise garden
• Mulches that hold water in the ground while feeding the soil and the plants

Instructors: Sharon May, Director of Sales and Marketing at Agri-Service and designer, and Nan Sterman, botanist, garden designer, low water plant expert and author of the books California Gardener’s Guide VII and Water-Wise Plants for the Southwest.

Members $80, non-members $100 (includes lunch).
Pre-registration required by March 8.

Build Your Own Hydroponic Spring Garden

Saturday, March 26
9:00 am – 12 noon

During this dynamic hands-on workshop, you will learn the principles of the hydroponic wick method--a fun and easy sustainable gardening technique. You will then build your own sustainable garden to take home, filled with spring veggies. Produced by Ag Pals. Fee includes materials.

Members $70, non-members $90.
Register by March 23.

Make Your Own Succulent Container Arrangement
Saturday, April 2
10:00 am – 1:00 pm

Containers add color and interest to our gardens, decks, balconies, pool areas, and patios. Unfortunately, most plants in containers need frequent watering. A popular alternative is to use succulents. Besides needing very little water, succulents can add color, texture, and architectural interest to a great variety of containers. Design your own unique succulent garden with docent Bette Childs. Bette will demonstrate how to use succulents in containers and help students design and plant an arrangement. Succulent propagator John Becker will discuss varieties of succulents available to students. Fee includes all materials.

Members $55, non-members $65
Please register by March 30.

Ecovation: Plants for Southern California 

April 9, 2011
10:00 am – 12:00 noon

Learn about Ecovation, a new line of plants that combines the notions of environmental ethics with water wise gardening. These “plants that drink responsibly” were developed by EuroAmerican Propagators, a leader in the industry and creator of the Proven Winners line. Rich Ouellet, director of sales and marketing, will show you some examples in the Ecovation line, which continues to expand with plants from regions around the world that have similar climates to San Diego. An avid gardener and horticulturist, Rich tests the plants in his own garden several years before adding them to the line. Plants will be available for purchase after the presentation.

Members $10, non-members $12.
Pre-registration required by April 6.

Gourd & Basket Weekend In the Garden

April 30 & May 1, 2011

Throughout the weekend, over 30 basket and gourd art workshops taught by well-known artists from across the nation, artists exhibits, supply vendor booths, a teachers’ market and self-guided basket-makers’ tour. Take this unique opportunity to learn contemporary and traditional basketry techniques as well as gourd art. Class offerings include combining natural materials and gourds, furniture caning, gourd carving, as well as a wide variety of basketry techniques including coiling, twining and twilling using both traditional and modern materials. Examples of some of the classes being offered: willow basket, pine needles on gourds, woven beads and brooches, wire mesh jewelry, beading on gourds, mini wire basket, and a variety of sculptural pieces.

View the catalog of class descriptions and availability and print out a registration form from www.baskets-gourds.com. Although pre-registration is highly recommended, walk-in registrations will be welcome for unfilled classes between 8:00a.m. and 8:45a.m. on both days. 

Snow will be falling at San Diego Botanic Garden 

Sunday, December 26 at 2 pm, there is a 100% chance of snow at San Diego Botanic Garden.

Some 7,000 tons of snow will be created in the Garden’s Eucalyptus Grove, for the sledding enjoyment for the young and young-at-heart.

The addition of snow helps wrap up the festivities for Garden of Lights, which continues from now through December 30 (except for December 24-25), 5 to 9 p.m.

During the Garden of Lights, San Diego Botanic Garden is transformed into a dazzling winter wonderland with over 100,000 sparkling lights illuminating the Garden for a magical holiday experience. Leave the hustle and bustle of the malls behind and enjoy a relaxing evening strolling through the lighted Garden. Adding to the sparkle is the “Poinsettia Garden,” festively decorated with many varieties of poinsettias.

Live music fills the air nightly from 6 to 8 p.m. Featured on Dec, 18 are the lively Mariachi Imperial de San Diego and Ballet Folklórico by Herencia Mexicana.

A team of big Blond Belgian draft horses provides enjoyable wagon rides through the lower area of the Garden, the only way to see the lights in this part of the Garden at night.

Huddle around the Lawn Garden Campfire to roast marshmallows or to make S’Mores.

Of course Santa will greet young and old alike each night before Christmas from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m, in the brightly lit Gazebo, providing a terrific photo opportunity.

To keep you warm, there will be hot mulled wine in the Poinsettia Garden, and The Coffee Hut will be open offering hot coffee and cocoa. El Pollo Loco provides healthy Mexican fare each night.

And finally, children can create a variety of special holiday crafts to take home.

Holiday Tales and Tunes
December 15, 16, and 17 at 6:30 p.m.
Young children and their parents are invited to a special Holiday Tales and Tunes. Join us for music, puppets, and stories in the Ecke Building. No additional cost. Program lasts about 30 minutes. 

MUSIC 6-8 P.M.

• Tuesday • December 14 • The Mellow Guitar and Vocal Sounds of John "JJ" Jenkins
• Wednesday • December 15 • Tom Gates: “Jungle Bells”- A Calypso Christmas
• Thursday • December 16 • THE CAST KIDS wishing you Happy Holidays
• Friday • December 17 • David Patrone - “First Frost”
• Saturday • December 18 • Mariachi Imperial de San Diego and Ballet Folklórico by Herencia Mexicana
• Sunday • December 19 • Peninsula Singers
• Monday • December 20 • Rockin’ Cranberries
• Tuesday • December 21 • Raggle Taggle - A Celtic Christmas
• Wednesday • December 22 • A Latin Holiday with Con Alma
• Thursday • December 23 • Raggle Taggle
• Sunday • December 26 • Klezmer Holiday Celebration
• Monday • December 27 • The Mellow Guitar and Vocal Sounds of John "JJ" Jenkins
• Tuesday • December 28 • Cuban Holidays
• Wednesday • December 29 • Dave Scott Trio - Jazzy Holidays
• Thursday • December 30 • Len Rainey - Bluesey Holidays

Admission:
Members, $6
Non-members: Adults $12; Seniors, Military & Students $8
All Children 3-12 $4
Children 2 and under FREE
Parking FREE
There will be additional fees for some activities.

The Garden is located at 230 Quail Gardens Dr., Encinitas, 92024

For more information, visit www.SDBGarden.org

Remember back in 2003 when there were reports of Paul McCartney performing at a private party? Well, all details are revealed in the new book, “Producer: Lessons Shared from 30 Years in Television“, by Wendy Walker. Turns out, the woman who Paul McCartney was singing “Birthday” to for her 50th birthday is Wendy Walker, the senior executive producer of CNN’s Larry King Live.

At the time, Walker was married to financier, Ralph Whitworth, who paid $1 million to have Paul McCartney perform at a private birthday party for her in Rancho Santa Fe, California, near San Diego. McCartney agreed to make this rare appearance if the money was donated to the landmines charity he was supporting with then-wife Heather Mills.

Wendy and Ralph first met Paul when he appeared with Heather on the Larry King Live show in 2002. The Whitworths then chaired the Adopt-A-Minefield benefit in 2002 (which McCartney performed at) and donated $50,000 to the charity.

Being huge Beatles fans, Ralph Whitworth got the idea the following year to approach McCartney to play at a private birthday party for his wife. McCartney agreed to this rare private performance since the $1 million sum would go to Adopt-A-Minefield.

The party was held at the Whitworths’ favorite restaurant, Delicias, in Rancho Santa Fe. Wendy describes her shock and surprise to see her childhood idol, Paul McCartney, performing in the intimate setting– and all for her! Walker was surrounded by approximately 150 friends and family including the emcees of the party, Larry King and Katie Couric. As any true fan would, Walker documents in her book the 19 song set-list that McCartney played that night.

Walker crossed paths with Macca again in 2007 when Larry King did a special interview in Las Vegas for the one-year anniversary of The Beatles’ Cirque du Soliel show, LOVE. Ironically, both Wendy and Paul were now divorced. While talking to Paul, Ringo entered the room, and Paul introduced them: “Ringo, this is my friend, Wendy.”

After 17 years as a producer for CNN’s Larry King Live, Whitworth has met her share of famous politicians and celebrities. But to this day, she is still amazed that Paul McCartney played at her private birthday party — a once-in-a-lifetime event that she will never forget.

San Diego Botanic Garden Events - Fall Festival on Saturday; Garden of Lights in December

Fall Festival in the Eucalyptus Grove (photo by Rachel Cobb)

Saturday, October 30, 2010
10:00 am – 12:30 pm

Come to the San Diego Botanic Garden to celebrate Autumn and Halloween. Children ages 2 to 12 may celebrate the season with fall and Halloween themed crafts made from natural materials.

“Snap Tap N Sing” will engage children and their families in interactive music making.

We’ll have a great BIG pumpkin photo op.

Children may wear costumes. No scary masks, or adults in costumes please!

Cost: Free with admission or membership, plus craft activity tickets as desired.  

• Craft activities ($1 to $3 per craft)
• Children will work with red clay to make a simple clay figure, like a pumpkin, a simple bird, an owl, or a pinch pot.
  The figure can either air dry, or may be fired if you have access to a kiln.
• Make a leaf crown from dried fall leaves, recycled brown bag paper, sand and seed pods.
• Create a dry flower and grass bouquet in a bamboo cup. Decorate the bamboo cup.
• Paint and decorate a small pumpkin.
• Make a scarecrow collage from fabric pieces, construction paper, yarn and buttons.
• Make a funny bird from a small gourd, feathers and seed pods.
• Make vegetable prints of sliced vegetables and tempera paint, on large paper sheets.
• Make a spider web with marbles and tempera paint.
• Make a fragrant Halloween themed sachet from dried herbs and flowers.

Garden of Lights 2010

After the sun goes down, the San Diego Botanic Garden is transformed into a dazzling winter wonderland with over 100,000 sparkling lights illuminating the Garden for a magical holiday experience. Many of these lights are LED, which are much brighter than regular lights. Adding to the sparkle is the “Poinsettia Garden,” festively decorated with many varieties of poinsettias.

Activities include horse-drawn-wagon rides, holiday crafts, marshmallow roasting, visits with Santa, live music, hot mulled wine in the Poinsettia Garden, and refreshments.

December 9 - 23, 2010
December 26 - 30, 2010

5:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Admission prices:
Members, $6
Non-members: Adults $12; Seniors, Military & Students $8
Children 3-12 $4

There will be additional fees for some activities. 

230 Quail Gardens Dr., Encinitas, CA 92024

760 436-3036 x206

www.SDBGarden.org

San Diego Botanic Garden Offers Exceptional Classes for Fall

-Butterfly Gardening, Photography, Hydroponic Gardening and more-

ENCINITAS, CA- September 28, 2010- San Diego Botanic Garden is pleased to announce its upcoming classes for the fall of 2010. Advanced registration and payment are required for all classes. To pre-register go to www.SDBGarden.orgor call 760/ 436–3036 x206.

Build Your Own Hydroponic Fall Garden

Saturday, October 23, 9 am – 12 noon

Learn the principles of the hydroponic wick method—a fun and easy sustainable gardening technique. You will build your own sustainable garden to take home, filled with fall veggies. Fee includes all materials.

Cost: Members $70, non-members $90

Pre-registration required by October 20.

Plant Life on Avatar’s Pandora

Sunday, October 31, 2 – 3:30 pm
As botanical consultant for the movie Avatar, Dr. Jodie Holt had a unique opportunity to bridge knowledge from science to the public. Her talk will be slanted towards the botanical content and plant life of the movie, as well as details of her movie-making experience.

Cost: Members $10, non-members $12.

Pre-registration required by October 27.

Butterfly Gardening for San Diego County

Thursday, November 4, 6 – 9 pm

Butterflies and moths in Southern California are adapted to our unique climatic conditions.  In this interactive class we will review the biology and behavior of butterflies and moths attracted to gardens. With this information you can select and place plants to attract adults and support the larvae, provide the necessary habitat for pupation, and protect them from predators.  Butterflies make a great addition to your garden. Fall is the best time to plant your butterfly garden.  Some starter plants will be provided. Paul Tuskes is known nationally for his study of butterflies and moths.

Cost: Member $25, non-member $30.

Pre-registration required by November 1.

Recycled Folk Art Workshop

Saturday, November 6, 9:30 – 11:30 am

Create art with recycled materials under the guidance of Rodney “Rodrigo” McCoubrey who has his recycled art permanently on display in the Encinitas Library. Each parent and child team will decorate one piece of art that will be put on temporary display in the Garden, after which the piece can be taken home. Teams should bring enough trash to decorate a flower (see picture) such as bottle caps, straws, old toys, etc. Rodney has worked with many kids and parents to create public art made of recycled material.

Cost per team: Members $20, non-members $30

Pre-registration required by October 30.

Free Composting Workshop

Saturday, November 6, 10 am – 12 noon

Learn how to compost your food scraps and yard trimmings. Workshop also covers vermicomposting (worms). Compost bins and worm bins for sale afterward. Taught by Solana Center Master Composters. Meet at the Compost Demonstration Site by the Seeds of Wonder Garden.

To register call 760/ 436–7986 or visit  http://www.solanacenter.org/.

Native Plants for your Garden

Saturday, November 13, 10 am – 12 noon

Mike Evans, co-owner and founder of Tree of Life Nursery, will discuss the art of growing native plants. He will talk about general principles including planting times (November is a great time to plant natives) and discuss specific plants suitable for your garden. A plant sale will follow.

Cost: Members $10, non-members $12.

Pre-registration required by November 9.

Go Green for Your Holiday Cards

Saturday, November 13, 1 – 3 pm

Design your own “green” holiday cards, or create a finished piece of art, using natural materials from the Garden. Learn to use plant pigments to create forms and colors. Open to adults, or adult with child. Adult/child teams pay as one. Fee includes materials.

Cost: Members $40, non-members $50.

Pre-registration required by November 10.

Plein Air Painting

Sunday, November 14, 9:30 am – 4 pm

Enjoy a day in the garden plein air painting with pastels under the guidance of artist Helen Shafer Garcia. Learn how to simplify and organize the garden elements with soft and hard pastels on paper while gaining new pastel techniques. Pastels are an exciting and immediate medium, which incorporates both drawing and painting. Learn ways to create sense of depth in landscape and garden setting painting, focusing on value structure and strong color. All skill levels welcome. Materials list supplied upon registration.

Cost: Members $65, non-members $75.

Pre-registration required by November 10.

Fearless Food Photography Workshop
Saturday, November 20, 8:30 am – 2 pm
Come for a morning of food, follies, and photography that will inspire and delight the senses. Acclaimed home and garden photographer Bob Bretell will show you how to light and style entrees, pastries, beverages and desserts and will demonstrate how to use props to create mood and ambiance. Learn how to post photos on Facebook and food blogs that will make your recipes stand out. All you need is a camera, a few simple props and you could be the next “Iron Chef of Photography”! We will end with a slide show and prizes for the winning photos. This is a fun class and has been designed for all levels.

Cost: Members $75, non-members $85.

Pre-registration required by November 17.

Introduction to Knotting

Saturday, November 20, 10 am – 3 pm

This versatile art form will be taught by fiber artist Carol E Lang.  The age-old technique of knotting can produce 2 dimensional tapestries or 3 dimensional baskets and coiled sculptural pieces. The class will explore the sculptural form using simple knots. The only tools needed are your hands, and a pair of scissors. This class is for all levels. Bring a lunch if you wish. To learn more, call Carol at 760/ 431-1645 or email her at caldesigns@roadrunner.com. Fee includes materials.

Cost: Members $50, non-members $55.

Pre-registration required by November 17.

Yellow Roads: in Search of Hechtia argentea

Sunday, November 21, 10 am – 12 noon

Join Robert Kopfstein and Andy Siekkinen as they share details of their amazing, and sometimes harrowing, 4000-mile adventure through 13 states in Mexico in search of Hechtia argentea. This rare bromeliad was discovered in 1860 in a canyon north of Mexico City. The plant ended up in the Kew Gardens collection, winning Best in Show in Brussels at the Plant Exposition in 1864. The purpose of the trip was to rediscover this iconic species and to study genetic diversity within its population. There appears to be much variation in this species, causing confusion among collectors (some have even discarded plants not thought to be the actual species). Yellow roads, refer to the secondary roads on maps of Mexico.

Cost: Members $10, non-members $12.

Pre-registration required by November 17.

Thanksgiving Table Decor

Sunday, November 21, 2 – 4 pm

Have you always yearned to have a holiday table setting that rivals Martha Stewart? At this hands-on workshop taught by floral designer extraordinaire David Root, you will create unique floral napkin rings, votive candle holders, and the crowning glory of your table—the floral centerpiece, all to take home. Bring your floral design tools: knife, clippers, scissors, wire cutters, and hot glue gun. Fee includes materials. Note: 50% of profit goes to the Garden.

Cost: Members $55, non-members $60.

Pre-registration required by November 17.

Cooking Classes with the Opera Singing Chef

Mystic Mushrooms

Saturday, October 30, 1:30 – 4:00 pm

A vegetarian feast that is perfect for All Hallow’s Eve. Learn how to prepare Polenta and Mushroom Gratin, Rigatoni and Portobello Mushroom Sauce, and Drunken Mushrooms, plus a few tips on mushrooms and why they’re so good for you.

A Pumpkin Feast

Saturday, November 6, 1:30 – 4:00 pm

Learn how to prepare Baked Pumpkins Stuffed with Sausage and Sage; Spicy Pumpkin Seed Brittle; and Creamy Pumpkin Flan, seasoned with ginger, cinnamon, cloves, baked to perfection. 

Kitchen Gifts

Saturday, December 4, 1:30 – 4:00 pm

Spice up your holiday gift-giving with these unique kitchen offerings. Chef Elizabeth will share recipes for her own culinary blends: Graham Marcela, Herbes du San Diego, and a wonderful Southwest Spice Mix. Three dishes will be offered for sample, which employ the spice and herb mixtures.  Plus learn how to make Limoncello, a sweet, tangy Italian liquor perfect for the holidays and Old Cottage Tea Scones with cranberries and jam.

Recipes and tastings will be offered for each cooking class.

Cost per class: Members $25, non-members $30.

Pre-registration required.

San Diego Botanic Garden 9/11/10 Gala: Paul Ecke III birthday, Dave Scott, Rita Sweeney, Salli Sachse... Raye Anne Marks photos...

Surprise! Julian Duval introduces and Sabrina Cadini presents the cake to Paul Ecke III who celebrated his birthday on Sept, 13. Ecke was about to introduce UC Riverside botanist Jody Holt as recipient of the Paul Ecke Jr. Award of Excellence at the San Diego Botanic Garden Gala. (For more on the gala, visit http://tiny.cc/xerka and   http://tiny.cc/1o9dq...

RAYE ANNE MARKS REPORTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS: KUSI's DAVE SCOTT, SONGSTRESS RITA SWEETING:

Salli and Fernanda and I arrived at 5 and immediately met Dan Weisman from www.AhHaRSFnews.com who was at our Rancho Santa Fe Art Guild reception for Sebastian Capella the previous evening.

It was meant to be.

 We were missing Charles Pinkney in our group who just got an important portrait commission for a congressman and had to fly out that morning.  So, Dan Weisman joined our part.

 We next met this pretty singer, Rita Sweeting, email godslittlegarden@yahoo.com if you are interested. Fernanda knew her and introduced us to her.  I bought her CD.  She is lovely and she posed for us several times. She did two costume changes and is very paintable.  She was a special guest and had two songs with two of the different bands.

First, we saw the band starring (KUSI) Channel 9/51 weatherman, Dave Scott. I could have just stayed there all night they were so good.  I took 400 photos and many are from this band that are worth painting. These band members had the best character to paint. The steel drum guy was playing with an apple. The bongo player was intense. They were all just too good to be true.  I can not say enough about these guys. Rita sang an Astrud Gilberto song with them and she was a star.

 Then, we went to several food stations and did not avoid the champagne servers. Our friend, and fellow artist, Elisa had a painting there that was auctioned.  We went to a few of the food stations which were scattered throughout the park, bands playing everywhere, wildlife encounters (see the parrot) and there was glitter on everything!  I cannot get it off my face. I have taken two showers and there are still little pink and white diamond glitters on my face.

After roaming the food stations we sat at a reserved table purchased by Ruth and Ed Evans, who gave us these tickets and are big supporters. Ruth is a former board member of Quail Gardens. It was an auction and dessert table where we sat with the people who have the lilypond that many of us have painted from photos I took at a fundraiser from Rancho Santa Fe Art Guild a couple of years ago.

 Ruth has the best lilypond I have ever seen in my life, just outside Rancho Santa Fe. She told me it is because she has the best gardener who was just out there that day wading in the pond.  I will try to send her some of the things we have painted, including Elisa's that was auctioned at the event.  While we were at the table there were special guests and the silent auction and Dan's video is the best source for that at http://tiny.cc/cmqn9 or http://ahharsfnews.com.

 After that only a few people stayed for the last band and they danced their pretty shoes off. I think there are some things for the gossip columns and you will see Francesca Filanc, and our own Movie Star, Salli Sachse along with  Fernanda Natale Reynolds dancing with sparkles. 

 Fernanda has a nice photo with Lauren Nancarow, the weatherman and conservator.

 The dancing lady in white was amazing all of us and we would like to know who she could be? I took her photo earlier with our favorite singer Rita.  I still have sparkles tonight.

Thank you so much Ruth and Ed for our tickets!  And I think everyone else should go to this event next year.  It was magic!  I will be going next year.

XOXORaye Anne Marks. 

 Gala in the San Diego Botanic Garden 9/11/10 - the video of the event takes you there

The San Diego Botanic Garden, formerly known as Quail Botanic Gardens held its Gala in the Garden celebrating environment and stewardship on Sept 11, 2010. The annual fundraiser drew about 400 guests to visit and experience the garden at sunset as it transformed into a wonderland of colors, lights, flora and live music. They strolled and indulged in culinary specialties of the area's finest eateries. Silent and live auctions also were part of the event that was enjoyed tremendously by all who had the good fortune to attend.

It was, as well,  an earth-friendly, zero waste event, as you will hear from Julian Duval, the executive director, with all food waste composted and serviceware recycled later. Then, it was time for Paul Ecke III, to present the prestigious Paul Ecke Jr. Award for excellence, created in 2002 and named for his late father, to Jodie Holt "for her life's work as a distinguished scientist and educator. Professor Holt  chairs the department of Botany and plant science at the University of California -- Riverside. But you may be more intrigued even by her role as botanical consultant for James Cameron's blockbuster film Avatar. This is Dan Weisman for Ah-Ha Rancho Santa Fe News, http://ahharsfnews.com.

For more background on the event and Jodie Holt, visit this article at http://tiny.cc/4r7q5

Enjoy.

(Editor's Note: Jodie Holt, botanical consultant for the blockbuster film “Avatar,” will receive the award at the San Diego Botanic Garden on Sept. 11. Sabrina Cadini, of La Dolce Idea, co-director & venue chairperson, Association of Bridal Consultants (San Diego Region), who contributes a weekly column to Ah-Ha Rancho Santa Fe News, is the event manager. Rene van Rems, an internationally-renowned floral designer, is the genius behind the incredible decor. A fabulous special committee is planning the event for San Diego Botanic Garden.)

 Jodie Holt, a professor of plant physiology at the University of California, Riverside and the botanical consultant for James Cameron’s film Avatar, will receive the Paul Ecke Jr. Award of Excellence “for her life’s work as a distinguished scientist and educator” at a ceremony beginning at 5 p.m., Sept. 11, 2010, at the San Diego Botanic Garden, 230 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas, Calif.

“This award reflects the high regard that the San Diego Botanic Garden holds for botanists, and I am delighted to receive it,” said Holt, who chaired the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences through June 2010.

Holt shaped Sigourney Weaver’s character as a botanist in Avatar and helped create and name plants for the film. Her involvement with the film and her subsequent outreach to the public helped raise awareness of botany and its importance in people’s imagination. At UC Riverside, her lab conducts research in the ecology of weedy and invasive plants in order to contribute ecologically sound weed management practices.

 Tickets for the award ceremony – a fundraiser called “Gala in the Garden,” with this year’s theme being “Celebrating Environment and Stewardship” – are $175 per person and may be purchased online at www.sdbgarden.org. 

The Paul Ecke Jr. Award of Excellence was established by the San Diego Botanic Garden in 2002. It recognizes exceptional achievement by an individual or group in one or more of the following categories: Education about plants and their roles in the environment; conservation of native plants and wildlife, or other rare and endangered plants; creation or preservation of public places for enjoying the beauty of the natural world; and preservation or re-creation of historically significant plantings and structures.

Last year, PBS television personality Huell Howser won the award that is named for a renowned poinsettia rancher and horticulturalist. It was the efforts of Paul Ecke Jr. (1925-2002) that helped the Ecke family ranch, located in Encinitas, Calif., turn the poinsettia from a field plant to the potted plant that is now a symbol of the Christmas season. 

San Diego Botanic Garden members and visitors will have an opportunity on Sept. 11 to listen to Holt speak about her contribution to Avatar. 

RELATED LINKS

• More about Jodie Holt
• Department of Botany and Plant Sciences
• San Diego Botanic Garden
• Avatar
• LA Times interview with Jodie Holt

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS

• Jodie Holt
• Sherri Johnson, San Diego Botanic Garden

The blockbuster film is being re-released in select theaters on Aug. 27 with nine additional minutes of never-been-seen-before footage.

The Enigma Impresses the Poker World

July 31, 2010

Poker writer Peter Sharkey is impressed by Brent “The Enigma” Wilkes’ power of concentration at the card the table:

Brent Wilkes should exploit a gap in the market – for poker players’ benefit.

Just how good are you at blanking everything out and concentrating fully upon your poker?

 The level of concentration necessary to be successful is startling as you need to keep a constant eye on how play progresses and how individuals react to winning as well as to defeat. If you’re having problems away from the table and they begin to prey on your mind, it’s invariably curtains for your game.

Of course, there are short cuts to achieving a level of focus few other pursuits require. Switching on an mp3 player or donning those mirrored lens shades are two of the most popular – and effective, but there’s no substitute for heading to the felt with a clear mind.

So imagine you had been convicted for bribing a government official and received a 12-year prison sentence. That’s bad enough, but assume you’ve been free on bail for more than two years, pending an appeal against your sentence. Seems you would have your plate pretty full eh? And probably not much time to partake of a few hands of poker.

Not Mr Brent Wilkes, a 56 year-old former defence contractor who was convicted of conspiracy, bribery, money laundering and wire fraud in 2007. Mr Wilkes was freed from prison in February 2008 pending an appeal, which finally got under way on Monday.

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Teddy Bear Collector Admits Stealing San Diego County Pension $

July 29, 2010

 Bow-tie wearing hedge fund founder Paul Greenwood has pleaded guilty to defrauding San Diego County’s pension and other big institutional investors of at least $331 million.

Greenwood and partner, Stephen Walsh, ran WG Trading, which collapsed with $78 million of San Diego County retirees’ money.

“You treated these investments as your own personal bank accounts?” U.S. District Judge Miriam Cedarbaum in Manhattan asked Greenwood during his plea hearing yesterday.

“Correct,” said Greenwood, who said he and Walsh often paid investors back using funds from other investors.

Greenwood used part of the money to acquire a collection of rare teddy bears and other stuffed animals.

The San Diego County Employees’ Retirement Association is suing to get its money back.

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Former Clinton official Mark Lindsay is “educating” Congress on Mina/Red Star

July 28, 2010

Add another name to the troupe of lobbyists that the super-secret U.S. defense contractor Mina Corp/Red Star has dispatched to Capitol Hill.

Mark F. Lindsay has registered with both houses of Congress as a lobbyist for the company at the center of a congressional inquiry over $1.4 billion in contracts awarded to supply jet fuel to the U.S. airbase in Kyrgyzstan.

Lindsay describes his job as “work[ing] with the Administration and Congress to educate them on the mission of Mina Corp./ Red Star Enterprises Ltd.,” according to the registration form received by the House and Senate July 26.

Congress is investigating whether Mina/Red Star’s “mission” involved payments to the family of a corrupt former Kyrgyz president.

Lindsay was hired by Weil, Gotschal & Manges, which appears to be coordinating Mina Corp.’s response to the dirt kicked up by the Rep. John Tierney and his Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

The registration was made in Lindsay’s role as president of White House Consulting Inc., which shares the address of of Lindsay’s employer, The Livingston Group. Lindsay joined the The Livingston Group to run its health care practice last year.

Lindsay was a member of the Obama transition team and ran the Office of Management and Administration in the Clinton White House.

The lobbyist filings exempt Mina, a foreign corporation seeking to influence the U.S. government, from the much more stringent filings required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Under FARA, Mina would be required to reveal the names, residences and nationalities of its directors and officers — the precise information it has worked so hard to conceal.

However, FARA provides an exemption for foreign corporations whose agents register under the weaker Lobbying Disclosure Act.

As a senator, Barack Obama in 2008 co-sponsored a bill that would have eliminated this exemption, the “Closing the Foreign Lobbying Loophole Act.” The bill died in the Foreign Relations Committee. 

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Out on Bail, Brent “The Enigma” Wilkes Plays His Cards Right

July 27, 2010

 Brent "The Enigma" Wilkes

A “58-year-old retiree” is how Ultimatepoker.com described Brent “the Enigma” Wilkes after he won $10,900 in a March No-Limit Hold-’em poker tournament at Harrah’s Rincon Casino.

Sporting his new chin strap, Wilkes is a self-described “former executive consultant who is now retired and is spending much of his time writing and playing poker,” Ultimatepoker.com tells us.

He’s also a former defense contractor who was convicted of bribing former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham with prostitutes, luxury vacations and other goodies.

Since he bailed out of prison while he appeals his conviction, The Enigma sure has been playing a lot of poker.

He made it to the finals at last year’s Rincon series, coming up just short of victory on each occasion.

Fans of the Randy “Duke” Cunningham scandal will recall that Wilkes was a life-long poker player. According to testimony at his trial, one of the ways Wilkes bribed Cunningham was by letting the old pilot win at poker.

Wilkes and his best friend, former CIA honcho Kyle “Dusty” Foggo, who’s now serving time in prison for fraud, hosted regular poker games at the Watergate Hotel that were the subject of much (mostly unfounded) speculation.

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Irwin Jacobs one of decade’s biggest earners

July 27, 2010

San Diego’s Irwin Mark Jacobs is No. 15 on the list of the decade’s top earners at publicly-traded companies, a Wall Street Journal analysis has found.

The Journal put the Qualcomm founder’s total realized compensation at $436.8 million for the period of 1999-2008. Jacobs served as Chairman of the Board of Directors from July 1985 to March 2009 and as Chief Executive Officer of the Company from July 1985 to June 2005.

For investors, Jacobs’ performance as CEO landed Qualcomm in the middle of the pack of the companies on the Journal’s list. An investor who bought $100 worth of Qualcomm shares wound up with $191.90 over that period.

The bulk of Jacobs’ compensation came in gains on stock options, which netted him $419.5 million.

Forbes estimates Jacobs’ total fortune at $1.6 billion, making him the 220th wealthiest American on the magazine’s annual ranking.

Topping the Journal’s list was the $1.84 billion realized by Oracle CEO Larry Ellison.

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Seth Hettena is a freelance writer and author based in San Diego, California. He writes frequently about law and finance.

A former reporter and correspondent for The Associated Press, Hettena has exposed the torture death of an Iraqi prisoner in CIA custody. He has also discovered photos posted on the Internet of Navy SEALs treating prisoners harshly and revealed that a secret Navy office contracted planes that were used in the CIA’s rendition program.

Hettena grew up in New York, attended The Fieldston School and spent his summers in high school working on oil tankers and coal carriers running to Panama, Alaska and the Netherlands.

He is a graduate of The Johns Hopkins University and holds a Master’s Degree in journalism from Columbia University in 1994. Before joining the AP in 1997, he worked for two Iowa newspapers.

He and his wife have two sons and live in San Diego.

Visit Seth's exclusive blog at http://www.sethhettena.com/