Community: Adventurer finds exploring a golden opportunity
For some, a week on a secluded beach with a tropical drink in hand is the perfect holiday. But Burbank residents Scott Warner and Jack Stern crave edgier vacations.
Both were recently voted into membership of the 93-year-old Adventurers’ Club of Los Angeles, a private international organization made up of men who share a love for exploration far from the beaten path. Applicants supply personal references that can verify their adventures before they are voted in by the board of directors.
The Los Angeles chapter was founded in 1921 by Capt. Jack Roulac and has inducted only 1,184 members since then, Warner said.
Stern was originally from Chicago and moved to Burbank at age 7. He graduated in the Class of 1964 from Burroughs High School and is employed as a studio teacher in the entertainment industry. He is an accomplished scuba diver, sky diver and aviator who also loves to surf in Hawaii.
With too many adventures between them for one story, today’s column centers on Warner. Stern will be featured in a future column.
Warner, 57, was born at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center and graduated with the Class of 1976 from Burbank High School. He has worked for Southern California Gas Co. for 31 years as a field operations supervisor out of Glendale.
He has been a professional gold miner for more than 30 years and has dredged for gold in most of California’s rivers. He is also a hunter of gems, minerals, fossils and meteorites all over the Midwest.
Just last week, Warner returned from a three-week gold-mining adventure in Nome, Ala., up near the Arctic Circle. He traveled with two friends — Guy Nesbitt and Mike Harmon. They used personal off-road vehicles called quads to get around the tundra. At night, they slept in a cabin. The trip is organized by the Gold Prospectors Assn. of America, which provides the mining equipment.
Warner most enjoyed seeing the scenery and wildlife of Alaska. There are grizzly bears, moose, bush hawks, wolves and fox. He took more than 1,000 photographs.
One has to be careful when photographing wildlife, especially moose, Warner said, because they will charge if provoked.
He tried photographing a moose with her baby, but changed his mind after she gave him a look of warning.
“I said, ‘OK’ and I jumped back onto the highway and into my quad,” he said.
What inspired Warner to take up gold mining was an interest in archaeology since he was a kid. He enrolled in a gold-mining class as an adult and came away with a fascinating hobby, and his teacher is now a friend.
He is also an adventure diver who enjoys treasure diving in the Florida Keys and exploring shipwrecks, caves and underground caverns in South America and the Caribbean. His other passions include exploring geologic/historical sites, Indian petroglyphs, wildlife and the volcanic thermals of the Western United States.
His wife Kathi, a Burroughs graduate, is supportive of his passion to explore.
“She allows me the freedom to be myself and do what I love to do,” he said.
Warner is a registered speaker for the Burbank Unified School District and teaches prospecting for gold, gems, minerals and fossils in the United States.
“Something that I learned from teaching the kids is that in life the important things are not what you do for yourself but what you do for others,” he said. “I get such a great satisfaction out of teaching the children and it was like I was giving something back.”
He said that his passions for adventure were sparked by John Goddard, who was a guest speaker for school districts and provided inspiring presentations on his adventures throughout the world. Goddard was a famous explorer, mountaineer and the first man to travel the entire length of the Nile River.
“He was a well-respected member of the Adventurers’ Club and was certainly a positive influence in my life, and why I started teaching to the children,” Warner said.
It’s Warner’s sense of adventure that made him a candidate for the Adventurers’ Club, said Martin Bloom, past president.
“Many people ask us what does it takes to join the club? Do you have to climb Mt. Everest? Do you have to go to the North Pole? Do you have to sail around the world, solo, in a boat you made yourself? Probably not, but we do seek those individuals who are about high adventure, and Scott Warner is a natural as an adventurer and was asked to join us in companionship,” he said.
The club headquarters in Los Angeles resembles a natural history museum with displays of many artifacts donated by the members. Meetings are held each Thursday night, and speakers talk about their adventures. Guests are welcome.
For more information, visit adventurersclub.org.
Parade to showcase local heroes
The theme should inspire a lot of creativity aboard floats and novelties when the parade returns to town on April 23. It is “Burbank On Parade Presents: My Super Heroes,” the committee has just announced.
Whether they are of the comic-book variety or live people — mom, dad, uncle, teacher or police chief — participants will have limitless possibilities for illustration. After mulling over almost 20 ideas, the committee placed the top three choices on its Facebook page and the public voted for a favorite.
The first of many fundraisers kicked off with a daylong celebration at Barragan’s Mexican restaurant. The next fundraiser will be all day on Aug. 18 at California Pizza Kitchen. The restaurant is donating 20% of the bill to the parade. Guests are reminded to secure a flier about the fundraiser and present it to the waiter in order for the parade committee to receive the donation.
New officers leading the march are President Carey Briggs, Vice President/Parade Chair Joanne Lento Miller, Vice President/Creative Director Wayne Poirier, Secretary Karen Sheahan and Treasurer Rob Bost.
The next meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Gordon R. Howard Museum, next to the Burbank Creative Arts Center in George Izay Park. Parking is in the lot on Clark Avenue.
Alumni shopping day funds scholarships
Burbank-Burroughs Alumni Assn. is starting early with its campaign to raise funds for next year’s scholarships to be presented to graduating seniors of both high schools.
For Macy’s Shop For a Cause event, shoppers can purchase a $5 ticket that allows them to receive a 25% discount on clothing and home goods and a 10% discount on electronics, watches and floor coverings at any Macy’s store throughout the day on Aug. 29.
The group has announced its next mixer will be from 6 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 26 at Once Upon a Page scrapbooking store, 2527 W. Magnolia Blvd. Four former teachers, names to be announced, will be honored.
Plans are being made for the pre-party just before the Burbank-Burroughs homecoming game in November.
For membership and donation information, go to the group’s Facebook page.
The alumni group is also supporting the BHS-JBHS fifth annual all-class reunion starting at 6 p.m. on Sept. 12 at the Castaway restaurant planned by Gil Tobon. Information about the event is available on the alumni association Facebook page.
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JOYCE RUDOLPH can be contacted at rudolphjoyce10@gmail.com.