Foothills Sentry August 2021

Foothills Sentry Page 7 August 2021 Orange Daisy Troop supports Mary’s Kitchen Girl Scout Troop 8257 didn’t know how many cookies to pre- order in January 2021. The early cancellation of booth sales due to COVID, and the fact that it was a brand new troop made up of five, six and seven-year-olds made for a lot of unknowns. Still, the girls set a sales goal of 1,200 boxes, or about 100 each. Their goals were to ride a Duffy boat and to support Mary’s Kitch- en. “Helping those less fortunate than ourselves was a decision the girls made together,” says troop parent Derek Kurtti. When the girls doubled their sales goal to 2,528 boxes, they proudly handed over $177 of their troop earnings to Mary’s Kitchen. But the girls didn’t stop there. They gathered clothes, hygiene products, and a crate full of sun- block to distribute to Mary’s Kitchen patrons on June 12. “One of the girls picked out two of her largest dolls, Blinka and Blanca,” says Troop co-leader Jonelle Strickland, "because she wanted others to have what she has.” When troop parents learned about Mary’s Kitchen's “90 days to vacate,” they braced them- selves for a heart-to-heart con- versation with their daughters, Strickland says. Daisy Troop Group 8257 donated $177 of cookie sale profits to Mary’s Kitchen. Rear, Troop 8257 co-leaders Jonelle Strickland, left, and Ali- son Luckey flank Mary’s Kitchen Director Gloria Suess; front, from left, Daisies Abby Nguyen, Gwennie Biard, Avery Kurtti, Emma Luck- ey, Ruby Nguyen, Christina Chao, Sierra Strickland, Sage Strickland and Rebecca Mechael. Santiago Hills landscape fees to increase The Orange City Council ap- proved a 1.5% increase in the overlay assessment for the San- tiago Hills Landscape District, July 13. Property owners in Santiago Hills pay for landscaping and maintenance in the community’s common areas via two assess- ments that appear on property tax bills. The first originated in 1987, and is capped at $369.44 per single-family detached home. Voters approved a second over- lay assessment in 2015, which allows for annual increases based on the Consumer Price Index. Together, the assessments fund maintenance and improvements for neighborhood plant life, hard- scape, and utilities. Overlay assessment fees for single-family detached homes will increase from $244.49 to $248.16. Condominium fees will go from $173.59 to $176.19. Under a separate agreement, Rancho Santiago Community College pays the city to main- tain the parkways adjacent to the school. Temperature check The county reported an updated total of 101 COVID cases in the Silverado “region” in mid-July. With spikes in both reported cases and deaths in OC, masks are mak- ing a comeback among patrons of post office, library, and canyon businesses, as state-sponsored phone outreach to homes, and in- centive programs are attempting to boost OC’s overall 55% fully- vaccinated rate, disappointing, but above LA’s. SCE continues pole replacement and insulated wire installation, with frequent, if brief, lane closures. In Modjeska Canyon, some dog walkers carry aerosol bear spray after sightings of another cougar. Hot weather fails to discourage mountain bik- ers, but many walk their bikes up Modjeska Grade Road. Since July 4, the once-familiar boom of nightly 9:30 p.m. Magic King- dom fireworks echo again in our hills, a sonic reminder of both a tentative return to normalcy and its risks. Who speaks for the trees? The Lorax. But who speaks, exactly, for the branches and limbs through which power lines and communications cable run? Recent inquiries about who might trim these, toward both further fire prevention and easier emergency vehicle access, led your humble reporter into a bureaucratic wil- derness of institutional hierar- chy. To review: Edison line is on top, with Cox and others renting space below for aerial communi- cations cable. If your home once received service from another provider, say AT&T, you’ll see as many as four lines in the oaks or sycamores. SCE maintains the poles, assessing safety and viability. You likely knew that, but a jolly morning spent with an Edison naturalist illustrates fur- ther happy complications via a birdwatching tutorial. The expert avian surveyor was identifying active nests, typically abandoned by late summer, so that tree crews don’t disturb busy habitat. In un- der 45 minutes, he introduced me to hummingbirds, hawks, band- tailed pigeons, spotted towhees, nuthatches, house wrens, house finches and goldfinches, both ra- vens and crows, with assurances of a Golden Eagle nest above Madame Mo’s house. Sometimes you can’t see the birds for the trees! Nesting season ends with the arrival of Santa Anas, so an- ticipate migratory tree-trimming crews then. Loving Lepidoptera The answering machine mes- sage at Tree of Life Nursery in San Juan Capistrano anticipates questions from gardeners eager to do the right thing for visiting monarch butterflies: “Yes, we have tons of California native milkweed available this summer, and we won’t run out.” Indeed, a recent “New York Times” story inspired mass action by first re- sponders to our butterfly crisis. Recommended for our region, and for the species’ health, are showy milkweed, narrow leaf milkweed and a desert milkweed. Planting a popular tropical varietal confuses the insect and distributes a deadly virus. “Hey now!” The Conspiracy Radio Band (motto: Rock Done Right) tribute outfit and Hempstring Orchestra, a jam band heavy on Grateful Dead classics, perform together on Sat., August 21 at the Silvera- do Summer Concert Series. Every 56 days If you joined the recent Red Cross Blood Drive in Silverado, then you’ll want to schedule your next donation for as early as Aug. 10. RedCrossBlood.org. In Inter-Canyon news … Emeritus board member Fran- cesca Duff continues hustling on our behalf for Radio Net repeater funding, but, meanwhile, scored a $10,000 grant from Edison. Those funds cover emergency first-aid kits for disasters, as well as training in CPR for neighborly volunteers, and mental health counseling for residents impact- ed by recent fires, flooding, and evacuation. The diligent Duff also reports that modest legal complications have delayed final purchase (not “assignment”) of the Tucker by the Environmental Nature Center, with predictable confusion over historically weird canyon parcel boundaries. Good faith efforts by both seller (CSU Fullerton) and buyer (Bo Glover of ENC) challenge a real estate- meets-meteorological phenom- enon called “cloudy provenance.” Locals hope for clear skies. Friends of the Library Chair Fran Williams reports $3,500 in proceeds from the recent swap meet. Organizer Jane Bove plans a scaled-back Silverado Fair, with Zach Dupre lining up bands and volunteers invited to com- mit now. Steve Kerrigan takes over September clean-up days from longtime Inner-Coastal and All Canyons coordinator Phil McWilliams. Perhaps Phil can now coast a bit, but still stay chipper. He continues to liaison with Waste Management, which joined a recent ICL meeting af- ter concerns from residents about idiosyncratic rates, and practi- cal questions about pick-up and recycling protocols. See the ICL minutes online, but note that re- cyclables should be put in bins loose, not bagged, and anticipate a new statewide color-coded bin protocol. Safety in Solidarity Canyon Watch now boasts a block captain network count of 30, and over 460 canyonites with GMRS or base radios. Sixteen volunteers patrolled over Fourth of July weekend, stationed at Maple Springs Gate, Silverado Post Office, and Jackson Ranch, as well as patrolling from Sil- verado Canyon Road to the 241. Fire Watch stalwarts patrolled Modjeska and Williams Canyon. Lisa Alvarez enjoys the refurbished fountain at the Modjeska House.