Foothills Sentry Page 6 MARCH 2026 Another roadside attraction Expect delays Ace ex-reporter and all-around civic watchdog Scott Breeden reports attending the recent OC Public Works (OCPW) public outreach meeting (held in public), where they described plans for the much-anticipated if longdelayed “Canyon Bridges Replacement Project,” and solicited resident opinions on what the bridges might look like, including the Ladd Canyon bridge. IRWD recently re-routed its water pipe that was attached to the bridge, but OCPW is significantly behind schedule, likely due to mudslides and other safety projects and emergency responses. (Recent storms had crews out pumping storm drains.) Some residents will recall successful community engagement with design of the gorgeous rust-colored and, yes, rustic bridge west of Silverado and the Christmas tree lot, a campaign led a decade ago by Silverado resident Linda May. The county offers an online map and describes the not-so-current project: “Public Works will remove and replace four bridges, with three located in Silverado Canyon and one in Modjeska Canyon. The bridges planned for replacement are two-lane steel bridges built in the 1930s and 1940s. The new bridges are designed to enhance safety and access for residents and area motorists by bringing the structures up to current design standards. Funding and implementation are now planned for this year and next.” Visit the OCPW website at ocip.ocpublicworks.com to sign up for project email updates, view documents, and take a survey on what you think the new Ladd bridge should look like. Choices offered (with accompanying mock-up photos) include the poetically titled “Concrete Railing,” “Metal Railing,” or “Concrete and Wood Railing.” You can’t choose the vehicle in the photo or add roadside vendors, cyclists or hikers. El frutero It’s been busy on busy Santiago Canyon Road, with arrival some months back of a popular cutfruit stand vendor doing especially good business in late weekday afternoons when the once-sleepy county road becomes a major (and dangerous) cross-county transportation artery, speedway and/or motorcycle racetrack. For a few weeks, a friendly mother and son team from Temecula sold their excellent Lalo honey, organic and raw, near the site of the old dump. Over the decades, that spot has seen beef jerky sales and a combat vet who set up his drum kit and performed his popup music therapy for everybody to see. Lately, mountain lion advocates have erected memorials cum advisories in an attempt to protect the cougars from vehicles, responsible for deaths of the animals. A poem lovely as a tree Apologies to Joyce Kilmer, but I hope that I shall never see a Gold Spotted Oak Borer eating my trees, or yours. So far, no bugs have been detected by licensed arborist and treatment expert Chris Burke of RPW Services in my block of our woods or, more correctly, Southern California oak woodlands. First, I had to count the actual number of oaks on or near my small property, which I walked with Burke and my tape measure. Recent rains actually required postponement of the prophylactic spraying I opted for, despite the lack of borers, but my surveying also established the distance of plants, shrubs, trees and my firewood stack from the house, this toward anticipating their possible removal to at least slightly further than the five feet soon-to-be-mandated by the new state Zone Zero for rural communities. Friends of Hetzel! Leo Hetzel, longtime Modjeska resident and long-serving volunteer firefighter, is no doubt still busy doing last-minute sorting through thousands of images, choosing which he’ll share and talk about at the Friends of the Library celebration of his life and work on Saturday, March 7, 2-3:30 p.m. at the Community Room at the Library of the Canyons. Introduced by Branch Manager Laura Blasingham and Inter-Canyon League President (and sometime troubadour) Geoff Sarkissian, the free, all-ages program will likely bring out Friends of Leo, whose photographs chart both a personal passion and professional expertise, with images and accompanying stories from many continents, as well as surf photography, photojournalism from his career at the Long Beach Press-Telegram, and canyon pics, including snow-topped local peaks, flora and fauna, and roadside memorials to those killed in accidents on you-know-where. Meet the candidates Nobody is officially certified quite yet, but most assume that 71st AD Assemblymember Kate Sanchez (R-Murrieta) is running for reelection, unopposed in the June primary by fellow Republicans. The filing deadline is March 6 but Silverado resident J.J. Galvez, currently serving on the Silverado Modjeska Parks and Recreation Board (SMRPD), submitted nearly twice the number of required registered voter qualifying signatures, and received an overwhelming endorsement vote at a recent Democratic convention. Thus far, no primary challengers have emerged from either party. Since redistricting, most of this Assembly District has gone east and MAGA conservative. Previous Democratic challengers ran mostly as placeholders, not campaigning at all. Galvez has already produced campaign materials and assembled a volunteer crew. Park goes recreation Laurie T. Park, founding owner of Plantenders on Santiago Canyon Road, is retiring. His wholesale nursery, in recent years specializing in drought-tolerant plants, has served canyon residents and their landscapers and gardeners since 1977. Contacted while on a much-needed preretirement vacation, Park reports that he and his wife have been canyonites since 1973, originally settling in Trabuco. They plan to stay local after selling the business, an area landmark and muchappreciated resource. Memento mori! Local resident Karen Hunt, a certified end-of-life teacher or “doula” and registered nurse, is founder of the Doula of the Sacred Canyons, a resource for end-of-life education and support. Among SMRPD’s programming is her monthly class on "The Good Death," helpful for current and potential caregivers. By 2030, there will be more people over the age of 65 in the U.S. than under, with the canyons already vigorously represented in seniors. See the SMRPD online calendar for details about the second Wednesday, 2- 3 p.m. programs, held at the Silverado Community Center. The Orange Public Library Foundation presented a check for $28,450 to the Orange City Council at its Jan. 26 meeting. Most of the donation was generated from a "Raise Your Paddle" fundraiser held during the foundation’s Mystery Authors Luncheon in October. The remaining $5,000 came from a grant the Foundation secured from ProLiteracy. The funds are earmarked for new computers accessible to patrons of the Orange Public Library system. From left are Elks Kelley Martinez, Cameron Pate, Julie Sutton, Jennifer Weerheim, Alex Pate, Julie Brown and Lynne Butler. The Orange Elks Lodge received the Elks National Foundation Impact Grant and used it to support The HUB OC. The HUB is a nonprofit resource center serving the unhoused and individuals experiencing hardship. The grant will help provide essential hygiene products, personal care items, protein snacks, limited pet supplies, blankets, gloves, wool socks, dentalcare products, deodorants, basic skincare items and grab-and-go protein snacks.
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