Fullerton : Arboretum Holding Its First ‘Awareness Week’

After nearly 10 years of planning, the Fullerton Arboretum formally opened to the public in the fall of 1979. Now, six years later, the acreage replete with plants, trees, a waterfall and lake is being readied to provide the community with an education program.

This week, the arboretum is conducting its first “awareness week” with displays, tours, lectures and social events. Arboretum personnel, many of whom are volunteers, hope the awareness programs will become a permanent fixture.

“We’ve come to the point where we can stop adding to our plant materials and start on our education programs,” said Lorra Almstedt, a vice president of Friends of the Fullerton Arboretum, a community group that donates time and money to the 25-acre arboretum at Cal State Fullerton. The arboretum is financed under a joint agreement between Cal State and the city.

After this week’s awareness programs, the arboretum will regularly feature nature walks every second Tuesday of the month and workshops, lectures and demonstrations at least once every two months, Almstedt said.

Some of this week’s programs include a brown-bag noontime talk Friday on “Walking Iris and Other Weird Plants,” an ice scream social from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, and a chili cook-off and barbecue from 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday.

There is no admission charge to the arboretum, at Yorba Linda Boulevard near the 57 Freeway. A $1 donation is requested from visitors to the adjacent Heritage House, a museum of family life and medical practice of the 1890s. Built in 1894 and moved from its original downtown location in 1972, the restored building was once the home and office of Fullerton physician George C. Clark.