Fresh Starts & Giving To Others
Dear Members,
As 2023 comes to an end, I cannot help but reflect on how grateful and delighted I am with the support, encouragement and kindness you’ve shown me in my first 6 months as President. I knew it would be a lot of work but did not realize how rewarding it would be and how much I’d feel part of something so much bigger than myself. Our HIVE is vibrant, growing and filled with delightful members like you! YOU are what keeps me going each day and I thank you!
We’ve accomplished so much in 2023 and had fun along the way: 1. Tending the rose garden and pocket park. 2. Supporting the pollinator gardens at Heisler Park and Bluebird Park. 3. Engaging our school children to learn where their food comes from and doing all kinds of math and science experiments with our support of the gardens at El Morro, TOW, and Thurston (which is up and growing again!). 4. Support of the Glenwood House and Hortense Miller gardens. 5. Providing scholarships to LBHS and Saddleback students who are championing our Club’s mission with their ongoing learning and career choices. 6. We’ve learned from delightful and knowledgeable speakers like Krystle Hickman, Caleb Finn and Lisa D. Foster. 7. Participated in the Patriot’s Day Parade (Rakettes mark your calendars for March 2, 2024!) and Arbor Day. 8. Bringing smiles to kids in need with our participation in the Spark of Love toy drive with LBFD. 9. And we’ve supported the Laguna Food Pantry empty egg carton reuse program totaling 523 cartons donated between September and December 2023, just to name a few.
Most exciting of all is that Matt Willey will begin painting our “The Good of the Hive” mural at our fantastic Gate & Garden Tour partner’s headquarters, the Laguna Beach County Water District, on about February 12! Our Club’s “Love Letter to Laguna Beach” is the story of how to handle the crisis of pollinator endangerment with optimism and cooperation while keeping the needs of one another always at the forefront of everything we do in our Laguna Hive. With pollinators’ lives endangered, there is a real threat to the world food supply. Our mural will be a beautiful reminder to be water-wise and protect the pollinators for the Good of this Hive known as Planet Earth. Everyone’s future flies on the wings of pollinators!
Keep an eye on your Constant Contact emails for information about how you can participate in the success of the mural as a docent (and other ways) as the start date gets closer. And to be “in-the-know” about events surrounding the mural. These will be the “you don’t want to miss them” events!
It’s not too early to volunteer at our Gate & Garden Tour scheduled for May 4 (tickets are now available for purchase on our website). As the overall chairperson of volunteers this year I urge you to pitch in! I’ll be sure to get your name to the dedicated, hard-working phenomenal superstar committee chairs who make this event a success. This year will be extra-special as we showcase our beautiful mural. We need everyone in the LBGC Hive to participate. This is our BIG fundraiser of the year. It’s what allows us to do all the wonderful things we do that benefit our Laguna Beach Hive every day.
To volunteer to help with the mural and G&G Tour (or anything else of interest to you) you can use the new on- line volunteer form under the members only section of the website or sign up at the January 12 meeting. I promise that you will get much more out of volunteering than you give. It’s rewarding beyond what you can imagine!
As always, be sure to share with me what delights you with an email, photo or text. What delights me is YOU!
– Jane Leary