Vice-President Nancy Compton presents a community grant award for $500 to Save Our Lakes & Open Spaces (SOLOS) at the Jan. 23 meeting of the River Valley Garden Club. SOLOS Board members Linda Butler, left, and Cheryl McElhany are delighted with the new money.

RANCHO MURIETA, CA (MPG) - Benefitting local Scouts, mountain bike riders and fishermen, the River Valley Garden Club presented four community grant awards to local organizations at the Jan. 23 meeting.

The recipients of the $500 checks were Save Our Lakes & Open Spaces (SOLOS), Scout Troop 633, the Rancho Murieta Fishing Club, and the Murieta Trail Stewardship.

Another meeting highlight was a presentation by Master Gardiner Roxie Jones, who explained how members could create a wildlife habitat in their own backyards. See the separate story in this issue.

In other business, the members were introduced to a new fertilizer made from rocks, were updated about upcoming field trips and workshops, and approved a change to the club bylaws.

Awards

Vice-President Nancy Compton presented the community grant awards. She said the club gives them out annually “to local groups that help enrich and enhance our community.”

The money comes from fundraisers held throughout the year mostly comprised of plant sales in the warmer months. The club also funds scholarships for horticultural students at local colleges.

Compton said the first recipient was SOLOS. “This group is very involved in water and air and preserving our natural environment,” she said.

In thanking her for the check, SOLOS Board Member Linda Butler said money would go towards several needs. “But the most important one is that we need to get more residents involved in paying attention to the Integrated Water Master Plan that CSD is working on right now,” she said.

SOLOS Board President Cheryl McElhany added that now was a good time to grow the group’s membership, which already stands at 1300 residents. She said they must prepare for a proposed development (Rancho North with 697 lots) that could create issues with traffic and water.

Compton was visibly excited about handing a $500 check to the three representatives of Scout Troop 633. “I don’t care what goes on in this community, they are always there to help,” she said.

Accepting the club’s award to Scout Troop 633, are, from left, Jax Salo, Alex Hoburg, and Marjorie Salo. 

A case in point was their assistance with the club’s garden tour last summer. They helped set up the tables and the tents and delivered the flowers. Another was the Scout participation in a recent work party to revive a neglected student garden at Cosumnes River Elementary School.

As soon as President Jim Monical stepped forward to accept a check for the fishing club, Compton invited him “to come back and do a little presentation of what your fishing club actually does.”

Rancho Murieta Fishing Club President Jim Monical is happy with the new money.

Monical said he wanted to talk about introducing Sacramento Black Fish to Lake Calero. When he asked the audience members if they had ever heard of that fish, no one raised their hand. “That’s why we are doing a presentation,” he said.  

The final award recipient was the Murieta Trail Stewardship, which is comprised of local mountain bike riders who maintain 17 miles of dirt trails in undeveloped areas of the community. “If you have ever walked on them, they are clean, free of brush, and there isn’t a lot of stuff to trip over,” Compson said. “And that is all because of the volunteers in the Murieta Trail Stewardship.”

John Weatherford of the Murieta Trail Stewardship welcomes the donation that will help his group maintain the dirt trails in undeveloped areas of the community.

Compton said some garden club members are now seeing the work firsthand.  “We now have a biking group within our garden club, and we call it the Green Thumb Trekkers. How cool is that,” she said.

In thanking the club for the donation, Representative John Weatherford told them that the stewardship has installed three new trail signs thanks to the garden club grant given to the stewardship last year.

In other business:

-Business owner Joe Amoros introduced a new type of fertilizer that is a blend of rock power and green waste called Bio Roc. Grande said she would invite him back for a separate presentation.

-The members unanimously approved a change in the bylaws as presented by Co-President Jayne La Grande.

-Member Maria Lopez announced she will lead a Feb. 24 workshop on moss art.

-Sharon Barton announced the first field trip of the year will be to the annual Camelia Show on March 2.

-Berniece Jones provided an update on a club community project at the CRES gardens. Work days had been slated on Feb. 18 and 25.

-La Grande announced the club will present a plant sale the day before Mother’s Day. Last year’s was extremely successful.

More information about the club can be found at its website: https://rivervalleygardenclub.net/ The club also is on Facebook.