Foothills Sentry October 2021

Foothills Sentry Page 6 October 2021 Poetry and politics Screen shots Signs displayed lately on San- tiago Canyon Road offer a nearly poetic Burma-Shave-style sum- mary of recent civic concerns: Forest Gate Closed Until 9/22/21. Watch for Motorcycles. Road Work Ahead. Work Area Ahead. Bike Lane Closed. Detour. Nature Preschool. Vote Yes on Recall. Vote No Now. And, my favorite, Born Free. Civics lesson If, to spin the Zen koan, a tree falls in the forest, canyonites will surely hear it. If a limb falls on your neighbor’s property, you call a local tree service and pay for any damage. Even if your neigh- bor is, say, a Trump supporter and you are a Bernie Bro. In emergen- cies involving fire or flood, you help out with rescue, fill sandbags or run errands, regardless of po- litical affiliation. At election sea - son, you delight in, or only put up with, roadside campaign signs depending on your position, and call it a celebration of democratic participation, civic engagement and the First Amendment. Or not. Some folks lately don’t play by the rules. Yet local anti-recall activ- ists, feeling victorious after the election, found ironic delight in at least not having had to drive around picking up their home- made signs the day after the mas- sive failure of the recall. Not only was the rightist assault defeated bigtime but, helpfully, most of the No signs had in days leading up to the election been vandalized, removed, or outright stolen any- way. More poetry perhaps. Incident # 210824-0503 One local scofflaw deputized himself as an anti-recall officer, leading this reporter to engage real law enforcement after wit- nessing him remove signs posted in a historically adopted area of civic discourse. Even after be- ing asked, politely, not to, please. Unwilling to embarrass the perp, charges were not preferred. But filing an “incident report” proved a terrific opportunity to meet two local OC Sheriffs from North Op- erations, who promised to speak to the vandal and affirmed the larger concept of electioneering as a public good. Alas, the lone suspect vigi- lante’s anti-democratic mischief led to copycat sign thievery, with nearly three dozen signs removed. Even those posted on obviously private property were taken by unidentified trespassers who’d apparently not attended class the day the First Amendment was discussed. By the numbers Canyon recall vote totals sug- gest that politics is worth fight - ing for, activism worth engaging, if perhaps not stealing for. In the larger precinct, encompassing Modjeska, Williams and most of Silverado (70087), totals at press time showed victory of anti-recall voters by only 13 votes. In the smaller precinct (70089), the re- call actually won, by 39. During the same (busy) week as the election, the county re- ported 129 COVID cases in the Silverado “region,” (yet another categorization of our demograph- ic) making our sparsely populat- ed neighborhoods proportionally overrepresented when compared to the flatlands, where numbers have spiked. Hard to be sure who is vacci- nated in these parts, with FedEx, U.S. Postal Service, and UPS delivery personnel masked. Cox and other service providers are masked, as are tree-trimming contractors. IRWD meter read- ers, on their scooters, are masked. Those two OC Sheriffs were masked. Donors to the election week Silverado-Modjeska Rec- reation and Parks District-spon- sored blood drive were masked at the community center, as were, of course, Red Cross technicians and SMRPD board volunteer Rusty Morris. Library of the Can- yons staff sit behind plexiglass. Contrast this behavior with the practices apparently endorsed by attendees of Calvary Chapel of the Canyons, whose website advances a “moral argument” against vaccine use, based on its opposition to both science and women’s reproductive rights. Theological inquiries to the pas- tor were ignored. See the website if you dare. Oh, and, yes, our region or district or multi-precinct elec- toral territory is, proportional to its population, the lowest in the county in recorded vaccinations. These facts and fictions certain - ly cause some to wonder about public health practices embraced during this summer’s concert se- ries, and perhaps to read carefully the fine print on the sardonically named “Silverado’s Crazy Times Country Fair” flyer for the Sat., Oct. 9 and Sun., Oct. 10 annual outdoor (!) wingding featuring arts, crafts and live music: “There is a COVID-19 risk in attending this event. COVID-19 protocols will be in place.” Protocols will also be in place at the Environmental Nature Center’s Saturday morning train- ing for volunteer gate greeters at the soon-to-be-reopened Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary. See encenter. org. Au revoir les amis Farewell and Godspeed to longtime canyon residents Jessica Puma and Jim Mamer, retired teachers (community college and high school, respectively) who lived in Modjeska for 27 years. They cheerfully surrendered their matching bright yellow and or- ange Canyon Watch vests and GMRS radios to a new couple, also teachers, and gifted a fine bottle of Bordeaux to heartbro- ken, if grateful, neighbors before heading off with three old cats to San Diego. Cheers. OPA BBQ is back in the saddle The annual Orange Park Acres BBQ returned Sept. 18, after remaining dark last year due to the coronavi- rus. Seen here is the BBQ committee, from left, Sherry Panttaja, Julie Shaw, Sandy Forkert, Kelley Chaplin, Kate Bonnaud, Cindy Reina and Laura Thomas. Orange Park Association President Sherry Panttaja was the recipient of the Gary Bandy Award. The membership votes on the honoree who has contributed to the community’s trail system and worked to preserve the area’s equestrian heritage. Lance and Teri Mora share a dance under the stars. OPA board members David Hillman, Nancy Flathers and Steven Judith. The Orange Unified School District and the Orange Chamber of Commerce both recently chose Assistance League of Orange for special recognition. The 81-year old service or- ganization received the “OUSD Community Partner Recogni- tion Award” at the Sept. 9 OUSD Board of Education meeting for providing, “a myriad of oppor - tunities … that have enhanced and enriched students’ curricular and extracurricular experiences.” Many of Assistance League’s philanthropic programs focus on ensuring local children have the clothing, supplies, equipment and mentoring needed to succeed in school. The Orange Chamber of Com- merce selectedAssistance League as its “2021 Community Organi - zation of the Year” for its on-go - ing good work in the community, especially noting the group’s col- laboration with mobile vaccine clinics in Orange that inoculated over 1,200 residents over the summer. That project, undertaken by As- sistance League’s Orange Blos- soms Auxiliary, included staffing the check-in tables and providing lunches for the doctors and nurs- es. Members of the Auxiliary and Chapter will accept the Cham- ber’s honor at the Oct. 6 State of the City event. For information regarding the Orange chapter of Assistance League, see alorange.org . Assistance League recognized with two awards OUSD's Cathleen Corella, left, with Deida Conrad and Jean Wagner.