Sometimes, It’s Not Easy Being Green in Orange County
My family used to live in a house in Anaheim where a neighbor’s large, leafy maple tree divided her front lawn from our driveway. When she sold and new neighbors moved in, we were stunned and appalled to see them immediately cut down that tree.
It provided wonderful shade and was a nice divider between our properties. But most of all, darn it, it was just a great tree. We were shocked to see them start cutting down every tree in their backyard too. They were on a tree-killing binge.
Not that I appreciate trees the same way environmentalists like my wife might. But that incident has made me appreciate people who take time from their lives to care about trees--and especially greening Orange County. People like Gloria Schlaepfer.
Schlaepfer is president of Tree Society of Orange County. When I asked her why she devotes so much time to this particular cause, she reacted as if I’d asked her why she cares about water, or food.
“Just fly into Orange County, and you can see from the air how barren we are here,” she said. “It’s not like flying into some place like Minnesota. And what makes a nice green [place] is a lot of trees. They provide shade, oxygen and beauty.”
Schlaepfer is one of the original members of the group. She says it started about seven years ago when several environmentally minded people in the Fullerton area began to discuss the need to make their area greener. It started out as a tree planting group, but now members spend most of their efforts funding others who want to plant trees.
It takes offers from people or agencies who want to do something about public barren spots. Tonight, at a private fund-raising musical event in Fullerton, the group will announce the winners of its most recent three grants (two for $1,000, one for $500), which happen to be three cities. Schlaepfer wouldn’t name the winners in advance. Apparently, there’s a bit of an Oscar night flair to this occasion.
When I interviewed Schlaepfer, she wanted to talk about local tree projects. Did I know, for example, about the recent tree planting by the Boy Scouts at the Turtle Rock Nature Center--60 trees? I kept steering the conversation back to her. Why did she make this her primary cause?
Schlaepfer got her master’s degree from Cal State Fullerton in environmental studies. She did not go into a working career, but instead married urologist Karl Schlaepfer and used her education to work privately on behalf of environmental causes.
She was part of a group called People Over Pollution, which helped develop one of the county’s first recycling centers. Through the American Assn. of University Women, she worked on an environmental project called “This Beleaguered Earth.”
It was through those contacts that Schlaepfer became involved in the creation of the Arboretum at Cal State Fullerton. She was co-chair of the first committee of its annual Green Scene open house.
“One thing always just led to another,” she said.
As if she weren’t active enough, she’s also head of the Tree Society’s “Project Learning Tree,” a program that allows her to train teachers, Scout leaders and others about the caring and planting of trees. On top of that, she’s co-author of a book series for children on natural history. Plus she does all her own gardening on the three-quarters of an acre she and her husband own.
When I told her about my old tree-cutting neighbor, Schlaepfer was also appalled, but said, “We get calls like that all the time. Some people just don’t appreciate that trees really make a difference.”
A Fig’s Life: Bea Kight-Herbst, 52, of Orange is considered her city’s expert on trees. She’s putting together a book on special trees in Orange, but hopes to expand it into a countywide project. Special trees, she says, are those with historic backgrounds, trees planted by well-known families, or trees with interesting pasts.
Kight-Herbst, who’s with a group called “Orange for Trees,” also works with the Tree Society’s commemorative tree planting operation. People ask the society to plant trees (for $75) as a memorial to someone, or to honor a special occasion. Commemorative tree No. 33 will be planted next weekend at Peralta Park in Anaheim.
Kight-Herbst’s choice for the city’s oldest tree in a public area: the Moreton Bay fig in front of the Holy Family Cathedral, which she says is 121 years old.
Around the Town: A first-time event will be held today and Sunday at the Fullerton Arboretum: An Asian Cultural Festival. It will include Chinese lion dancers, Japanese doll markers, Korean martial arts and Philippine dancers. Admission is $5. The arboretum is just north of the Cal State Fullerton campus, at 1900 Associated Road, right at Yorba Linda Boulevard. . . . There’s no let up for the the Olympic stars. Gold and silver medal swimmer Amanda Beard of Irvine will be the celebrity grand marshal Oct. 5 for Orange Coast College’s annual Doggie Derby. Participants run and walk their dogs through campus to raise money for its Children’s Center facility. Orange Coast had some clout in getting Amanda’s services. Her father, Dan, is a professor of food service management there. . . .
When you start to think Christmas cards, you might consider those sold by Olive Crest. The home for abused children, based in Santa Ana, sells cards each year with artwork created by the children in its own homes. Call (714) 543-KIDS, Ext. 153, to place an order. Proceeds, of course, go toward keeping up the home. . . .
At a recent Crystal Cathedral event, gold medal swimmer Pat McCormick gave a hug to good friend Donna Crean, the Santa Ana Heights philanthropist. “Donna has done more for children than anyone I know,” she said. Crean was among those honored this week by the Learning for Life center in Costa Mesa for dedication to children. . . .
Wrap-Up: I admire Gloria Schlaepfer for making such beautiful use of her master’s degree without ever going into a professional field. But she told me about one regret she had.
“I had a professor who really encouraged me to become a teacher,” she said. “But I was so very shy. I’m sorry now that I didn’t; I think I might have been good at it.”
I told her I was sure of it. In her own way, Schlaepfer has been teaching many of us for years.
Jerry Hicks’ column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling the Times Orange County Edition at (714) 966-7823 or by fax to (714) 966-7711, or e-mail to jerry.hicks@latimes.com
