Robert Hewitt, archer and community volunteer, keeps his arm steady and his aim true. Photo by Marshall Smith
Robert Hewitt, full-time Pine Cove resident with wife Janice Murasko since 2010, continues to serve Idyllwild with the same steadiness that characterized his 35 years of service with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Hewitt is president of the Pine Cove Water District Board of Directors, sits on the County Service Area 38 board, is search and rescue director for Animal Rescue Friends of Idyllwild and has recently started an archery school on his Pine Cove property.
Hewitt began to learn traditional archery in 1995 and opened his High Country Traditional Archery School in 2014. Teaching steadiness and radiating calm, Hewitt has already taught more than 400 students. “We’ve had a lot of archers in our family,” he observed. “I’ve done a lot of tournament shooting. I don’t hunt, but I love the skill of hunting. Killing animals is not something I ever do.”
It was as a firefighter that Hewitt honed his calm and steady demeanor. It is a physical and emotional conditioning that served him well in often dangerous fire combat situations.
He began his firefighting career in 1976 when hired by the U.S. Forest Service, Angeles National Forest Oak Grove Hotshots. He joined Los Angeles County Fire in 1978 and retired as battalion fire chief in 2013. During his LA County fire service, Hewitt, a proud Scots descendant, served as first bagpiper for LA County Fire Department.
Those who know Hewitt experience his calm demeanor and ready smile. There is an ease about him that puts others, including animals, at ease. And that is a good thing. Hewitt and wife Janice are key members of ARF, Animal Rescue Friends of Idyllwild — Murasko as director, and Hewitt as handyman and head of animal search and rescue. Murasko and Hewitt were honored in 2016 for their ARF volunteer service with the Ernie Maxwell Community Spirit Award, given annually by the Idyllwild Town Crier.
Hewitt said he and Janice became aware of ARF when he played bagpipe one weekend at Oakwood Village where ARF was then headquartered. “We had bought a weekend home in 2001,” said Hewitt, “and got our first dog, Lucy, at ARF. We started by making donations and then, when we were full-time, we started volunteering.”
Becoming aware of how many pets get separated from their owners, Hewitt took classes on tracking and organized the ARF tracking service two years ago. The need was huge to find missing pets and reunite them with their owners. “We have found and reunited so many pets with their owners; about 75- to 80-percent success rate,” said Hewitt. “There is a real satisfaction in doing that. It makes me feel good.”
Hewitt said reuniting lost pets with owners is assisted if the animal is well behaved, has an up-to-date collar and tag with a phone number, and is micro-chipped. “ARF provides micro-chipping on weekends,” he noted. “The first thing I do when I retrieve a dog is to scan it for a chip.”
Hewitt advised pet owners to be vigilant about their pet’s safety. “Animals get stolen all the time,” he said. “If a pet is taken to a vet or animal hospital, they always scan the dog to determine if it is stolen. Someone has to speak for the animals.”
Part of the piping to help reclaim the water to be used at the coming Idyllwild Brewpub. Photo by JP Crumrine
The opening of the Idyllwild Brewpub is still in the future. But when its taps do pour many special-craft brews, residents should enjoy the local libations as well as be proud of the effort to build one of the most technologically advanced and environmentally considerate businesses on the Hill.
From providing the purest water available to its brews to applying state-of-the-art cleaning and recycling processes to the product that remains after the beer is kegged, the Brewpub will represent a true 21st century entity.
In the beginning of the pub’s construction and of the beer brewing, Don Put, head brewer of the Brewpub, will use pure mountain water drawn from the pub’s own well.
The volume of water the Brewpub will consume is about 0.3 percent of the Idyllwild Water District’s average water production this year. Put estimates that the maximum monthly use will be about 20,000 gallons, which is less than the largest water consumers in IWD now.
“The well is sufficient to serve whatever the restaurant and the pub need,” Put said. No treatment of the well water is necessary. Put will use the same testing protocols as IWD, which is every three months he will conduct a bacterial panel. “We are basically our own water company,” he said.
Water is a vital ingredient of the pub’s product. “Beer styles are a direct result of the water that brewers have access to,” Put stressed. “Idyllwild water is like a blank canvas for brewers.”
The output from the pub will exit through modern wastewater treatment equipment intended to protect the local environment and water table. “We want clean brewery effluent,” Frank Ferro, local restaurateur, said.
“Our goal is not to send any wastewater to IWD unless we have to do that,” Put emphasized. “Ideally, we will treat it on site for use for irrigation.”
In March, when IWD and the Brewpub signed a memorandum of understanding, General Manager Tom Lynch concurred: “In many respects, the pre-treated material that will be released will be beneficial to the wastewater treatment process at the plant.”
The MOU will regulate the Brewpub’s discharge of effluent into IWD’s wastewater collection system. The MOU specifies several key points, including that the Brewpub’s discharge will be retreated.
Also, any discharge will occur between Monday and Friday, excluding weekends, which are already IWD’s peak wastewater surge periods. The weekly total is limited to 2,000 gallons and no more than 400 gallons in one day without prior permission. Any discharge will occur after 8 p.m., which places less demand on the IWD facility.
The MOU was a product of negotiations between the Brewpub, the district and IWD’s wastewater consultant, Wyatt Troxel, whose report a year ago verified how the Brewpub’s discharge would help IWD’s waste-treatment system.
The beer waste will travel through a receiving tank, aerobic digesters, then a settling tank, and move through both an ozone and ultraviolet cleansing processes. This water will be clean enough to be dispersed around the pub for irrigation to protect and enhance the vegetation.
Put has been working with state and county health officials to establish criterion for the wastewater. Biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, nitrogen content and total dissolved solids will be closely monitored.
“We expect they will hold us to the same limits as IWD,” Put stressed. The only breweries with this type of reclamation technology are some of the largest in the state, such as Stone Brewery in Escondido and Sierra Nevada in Chico, he added.
The spent grain, a brewing product, will become cattle feed available to several farms and ranches in Anza.
The spent yeast is planned to become compost to be used on site. Ferro added, “If there is enough, we can share with the community.”
In addition to their concern about safe and clean water in and out of the pub, energy is another concern. To minimize the pub’s demand from the electric grid, solar panels have been installed on the roof. These are capable of supplying between 75 and 80 percent of the facility’s electricity.
Finally, the lighting will be LEED compliant, too.
“Everything will be green,” Put declared. Except the beer.
Both propositions 65 and 67 deal with the subject of plastic bags but in opposing ways. If both pass, depending on which proposition receives the highest number of votes, both measures could either coexist or one could render the other moot.
Prop 65, called the Environmental Fee Protection Act, proposes to redirect money from 10-cent fees charged by grocers for recycled paper bags to an environmental fund. The measure is funded primarily by out-of-state plastic bag manufacturers and is opposed by in-state environmentalists.
Prop 67, called the Plastic Ban Veto Referendum, ratifies legislation passed in 2014 to ban plastic bags statewide. It contains no language to direct fees to environmental causes and yet is supported by environmentalists.
Prop 65 can only go into effect if there is a statewide plastic bag ban that passage of Prop 67 would enact. The propositions are dueling and oddly intertwined.
If both pass, the one getting the higher number of total votes affects the way in which paper bag fees charged by grocers would be dispersed. Confused? Here are the specifics.
Prop 67 is relatively clear-cut. It seeks to make permanent a ban on the use of plastic bags in designated stores enacted by the California Legislature in 2014 as SB 270. The legislation was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown but held in abeyance pending voter ratification on the November 2016 ballot.
If passed by voters, Prop 67 would ratify SB 270, and prohibit large grocery stores and pharmacies from providing single-use plastic carryout bags. The ban would apply the following year to small grocery stores, convenience stores and liquor stores.
Smaller single-use plastic bags for meat, bread, produce, bulk food and perishable items would still be permitted.
Passage of Prop 67 would also mandate the stores (defined by annual sales of $2 million or more, and square footage of 10,000 square feet or more) to charge a minimum of 10 cents for recycled, compostable and reusable grocery bags. Bag purchase exemptions for lower-income state residents (those who pay with a payment card or voucher from the California Special Supplemental Food Program for women, infants and children) are part of the proposition’s text. Grocers would retain revenues from paper-bag sales to offset their costs to purchase.
Passage of Prop 67 would also provide in-state, plastic-bag manufacturers (not out-of-state companies) $2 million for the purpose of transitioning to manufacture of thicker, multi-use recycled plastic bags that meet state standards for recycled bags.
If passed, Prop 67 violators, defined as “persons or entities who knew or should have known” of the law’s provisions to ban plastic bags, would be fined at the rate of $1,000 a day for first violation, $2,000 for second, and $5,000 for third or subsequent violations.
Supporters of Prop 67, including many environmental groups, argue that those funding the fight against 67 are large, out-of-state plastic-bag manufacturers who have no vested interest in protecting California’s environment and simply wish to continue sales of plastic bags to state businesses. They note that Prop 65 is a “disingenuous end run” around Prop 67’s plastic-bag ban and recommend that the surest way to protect the environment is to ban plastic bags statewide.
Supporters further contend passage of Prop 67 would reduce litter, protect oceans and wildlife, reduce statewide litter cleanup costs, and add impetus to the ongoing effort by cities and counties statewide to phase out plastic bags.
The same organizations and manufacturers who oppose Prop 67 (large, plastic-bag manufacturers) are the ones supporting Prop 65’s passage.
They argue that a statewide paper-bag ban will cost California consumers “more money” since they will have to pay 10¢ per recycled paper bag at checkout. They neglect to note that consumers in jurisdictions with existing plastic-bag bans can choose to carry their own reusable bags when they go shopping to avoid anymore bag charges. They also don’t acknowledge that for their legislation to be applicable, a statewide paper-bag ban must be in effect.
Opponents also argue that grocers would get to keep revenue from recycled paper-bag sales (under the provisions of Prop 67) and that bag-sale revenues should be redirected to an environmental fund that would better serve state consumers’ interests.
Prop 65 proposes to redirect revenue from grocer fees for recycled paper bags (10 cent minimum) to a new state environmental fund administered by the state Wildlife Conservation Board. Its provisions depend entirely on passage of Prop 67 and a statewide ban of plastic bags being in effect. If no statewide ban (Prop 67) is in effect, then Prop 65 is moot.
If both pass, then for Prop 65 to succeed in diverting grocer fees to a new environmental fund, it would have to receive more total votes than Prop 67.
Diverted fees would then go to the new state fund to be used to support grants for programs and projects related to drought mitigation; recycling; clean drinking water supplies; state, regional and local parks; beach cleanup; litter removal; and wildlife habitat restoration.
If Prop 67 gets more total votes, then grocers would retain fees (minimum 10 cents per recyclable bag), and the provisions of Prop 65 would be moot.
Opponents of 65 say the proposed redirect of grocer revenues from paper-bag sales is “payback” to grocers who changed sides in the plastic-bag war and now support the ban saying it’s what their consumers want.
Top financial contributors to Prop 65 include Hilex Poly Co. LLC (South Carolina), Formosa Plastics (New Jersey), Superbag Corp. (Texas) and Advance Polybag Inc. (Nevada).
Top financial contributors to Prop 67 include Albertsons Safeway, California Grocers Association and Californians Against Waste. Founded in 1977, CAW is a nonprofit environmental research and advocacy organization that identifies, develops, promotes and monitors policy solutions to pollution and conservation problems posing a threat to public health and the environment.
A partial list of Prop 67 supporters includes California Coastal Coalition, California Labor Federation, California League of Conservation Voters, Heal the Bay, Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club of California.
A partial list of Prop 65 supporters includes American Forest and Paper Association, American Progressive Bag Alliance, California Manufacturers and Technology Association and the Association of California Cities – Orange County.
Prop 67 supporters have raised nearly $2 million. Opponents have raised just over $5 million.
Prop 67 supporters, including many of the state’s major newspapers’ editorial boards (Los Angeles Times, Sacramento Bee, San Jose Mercury News and San Francisco Chronicle) recommend voting “yes” on 67 and “no” on 65 to avoid confusion over interpretation and outcome.
Major cities with existing plastic bag bans include Berkeley, Beverly Hills, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The Associate ladies of the French Quarter in the mid 1990s. Lin Carlson (front right), Diana Smith (front left), and (back row, from right) Jo Shinkle, Elise Brett and an unidentified woman. They built it from scratch, creating in the process, a bit of paradise. Photo courtesy Jo Shinkle
The Associates of Idyllwild Arts Foundation have raised scholarship money for Summer Program students and, later, Academy students from 1968 until the present. From then until now, they have raised just under $2.2 million.
In 1993, three organizers — Barbara Wood, Lin Carlson and Marshall Hawkins — conceived the biggest project yet to raise scholarship money. They staged a jazz festival, Jazz in the Pines, on campus with an ambitious goal of raising $10,000 for the first year with their new project. “We thought we could do anything,” said Wood. Prior to the idea of a jazz festival, the Associates had raised money with cocktail and dinner parties, and silent auctions, averaging annual totals of from $10,000 to $15,000.
In addition to raising scholarship funds, Associates did anything they could to advance the school’s needs — helping with “mailings, student registration, raking pine needles, shoveling snow, painting, repairs and many other tasks. [They] held weekly meetings and organized cultural events for the community.” (Associates online history) They also established an endowment fund in 1988, now totaling more than $300,000, from which interest income goes directly to scholarships for Idyllwild Arts Academy and the Summer Program.
Nevertheless, some were dubious that a jazz festival was a good fit for Idyllwild. Where would enough people who love jazz come from? And would they trek all the way up the mountain to Idyllwild? Bill Lowman, IAF president and Idyllwild Arts headmaster at the time, thought a jazz festival would not succeed. “It’ll never work,” he contended. “And if it does, I’ll eat my hat.”
Jazz in the Pines launched in 1994 as a one-day event. “We raised $30,000 the first year for scholarships,” said Wood. “We weren’t surprised.” And good sport that he was, Lowman ate his hat, or at least a portion of it.
For the next 20 years through 2014, the Associates grew and managed Jazz in the Pines — booking acts, creating venues, including the iconic, immediately popular French Quarter, staging a Patrons Dinner, organizing parking and transportation and, in the early years, doing it all from scratch, with an intoxicating and inviting homespun ambience.
“That first year, when we started, the school and the community were not in sync,” noted Wood. “Our goal was to incorporate the town with the school, bringing in local groups as volunteers, including the Community Patrol, the Rotary, Rotary Anns and the Quilters. We tried to tap everybody. With the music, Marshall Hawkins, Bob Boss and John Harris played back-up for everybody. We actually cooked the Patrons Dinner on barbecues outside of Rush Hall in 1995, the first year it was offered. Seventy-five people attended. Every year we tried to make more money so that the money would stay on campus.”
Wood noted that the problem with attracting major sponsors, at the beginning and even now, is that the campus and the numbers of attendees are too small. “We tried to get major sponsors, but it just did not pencil out,” said Wood.
But still the amounts raised for scholarships stayed strong until the economic downturn. “One year, we got close to $70,000,” said Wood. “I think that’s the first year Anne Finch ran it.”
Mary Jo Shinkle remembered the thrill of launching the French Quarter in the early 1990s. “We turned it into a small paradise with truckloads of plants and flowers from my son Bill’s nursery in Hemet, the Tranquil Heart Vineyard,” she said. “We covered support poles with green crepe paper making them look like trees. One year, Lynnda Hart brought in two men who painted a New Orleans mural. We spent weeks, if not months, putting it together.”
But each year something was added that raised attendance and enthusiasm for the festival. The growth
was dazzling. More volunteers showed up for year two in 1995, and merchant arts and crafts booths were added. The year 1996 cemented the current three venues, the Holmes Amphitheatre Main Stage, Stephens Hall for straight-ahead jazz and the French Quarter featuring food, drink and dancing. In 1998, the festival expanded to two days. In 1999, a national headliner appeared with guitarist Lee Ritenour.
In 2002, matching national trends, the festival moved toward more commercial jazz with rhythm-and-blues sax man Ernie Watts and smooth jazz pianist David Benoit. 2005 saw a big jump in attendance with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy drawing a younger crowd and smooth jazz pianist Brian Culbertson headlining.
The economic downturn began to affect attendance in 2012 and 2013. In 2014, Marshall Hawkins returned as programmer and began featuring more of the school’s rising star alumni and returned programming to a broader mix of jazz genres.
At various times throughout its growth, Associates’ chairs put their personal stamp on the programming and the bottom line. In 2011, jazz aficionada Marsha Lytle, working with KJazz programmer and personality Bubba Jackson, imported many new acts, making the festival a showcase for new talent Denise Donatelli, Gregory Porter and Oreo Divaz, and raising total contributed scholarship dollars to around $80,000. “Historically, what I can say is that every year we tried to improve on what had been done the year before and see more profits for the school,” said Lytle.
In 2015, Idyllwild Arts took over management of Jazz in the Pines, and formed a Jazz in the Pines Committee composed of Idyllwild Arts employees, Associates and volunteers. In 2016, the 18-member committee included John Newman, IAF director of business operations, who serves as festival chair; Marshall Hawkins as musical director; with Associates Anne Erickson and Pam Goldwasser as Patrons Dinner coordinators.
Marshall Hawkins (right) on bass and Herman Riley (front left) on sax are seen here on the main stage of Holmes Amphitheatre in the early years of Jazz in the Pines, circa early 1990s. Photo courtesy Anne Erikson
Associates and volunteers continue to direct key operations, including Green Room, parking, French Quarter, golf carts and communications. “The committee is about 50 percent Associates and volunteers and 50 percent Idyllwild staff,” Newman said. He emphasized that all revenues go to scholarships as they did when the Associates ran the festival. “No IA staff members are paid separately, it’s all part of their school job responsibilities.”
Newman said reviews for the mix of jazz genres over the last two years have been very positive, noting a jazz brew that spanned different generations, styles and cultures. “That is exactly what we intended,” said Newman, proud of the cooperation of school personnel, Associates and volunteers in producing a successful event.
Although final figures have not yet been reconciled, Newman anticipates having $60,000 in scholarship money from this year’s festival. He noted there were about 160 fewer tickets sold this year, but a price increase for tickets grossed an online increase of $13,000.
Idyllwild Arts students whom scholarships will assist this year number 306 and are from 32 countries. Thirty are day students, with families who live in Idyllwild. Sixty percent of the student body last year and this year receive some form of scholarship aid. Newman noted total annual financial aid support for the Academy and Summer Program is about $8 million.
Inland Leaders Foundation invites the community to participate in a unique golf tournament in partnership with Elite Tournaments. Numerous contests and prizes include a one-hour clinic for up to four people at Redlands Country Club by Dave Stockton, vacations, Krank Golf clubs and memorabilia. Golfers are able to register online at www.ilfoundation.net.
ILF supports Inland Leaders Charter School, a public charter school serving students in the Yucaipa area. Through ILF’s “The Voice For School Choice” campaign, ILF intends to share the success of ILCS with other communities and facilitate the growth of the charter school movement by example, advocacy and public awareness.
The golf tournament begins at 8 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, at Morongo Golf Club’s Tukwet Canyon in Beaumont.
In my last column, I asked all of you for a favorite recipe. Below is a submission from my wonderful friend Marilyn.
Marilyn is one of the crown jewels of Idyllwild. She is a wonderful musician, actor, teacher, active member of the community, and amazing mother and grandmother. Along with many other things, she is also a most talented and comfortable member of all those who enjoy the love of food and the labor of its careful preparation.
I have had the pleasure of her gastronomic skills over many years now, and it is my pleasure to let her write in this column:
How about a French Canadian ground pork paté called Creton? When I first encountered this traditional favorite of Maria Poirier, who was born in the 1870s in Victoriaville, Quebec, it was spread on warm, crusty French bread. After just one bite, I pleaded for the recipe, delivered in Patois French, but I’ve now translated it for you all.
Whenever I make it now, I am transported back to the rural Quebec of long ago, when families fresh from Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve jumped into horse-drawn sleighs, burrowed under buffalo rugs and plowed through the fresh snow toward the host farm for Reveillons feasting.
Fiddle music, singing and dancing and, of course, Creton, lovingly presented in little “pots au feu” garnished with a glossy bay leaf atop, nestled among home-baked baguettes. It was hearty, it was spicy and it was a beloved traditional offering.
Now get ready for a long, slow cooking and a chance for your kitchen to radiate the redolent promise of homemade paté. Your 2- to 3-quart saucepan with the hefty bottom will be on the stove for at least three hours.
In this lucky pot, you will put the following ingredients:
• 2 lbs. ground pork loin (Your butcher will be horrified when you present him with that lovely pork loin roast asking him to grind it up, but smile and help him to understand “fabulous.”)
• 2 good-sized yellow chopped onions;
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 tbsps. Herbes de Provence
• 1 tsp. allspice mixed with 1/2 tsp. ground cloves (adjust to your taste preference)
• 2 bay leaves
Cook first three ingredients together until meat is no longer pink, but stop before you brown it. Reduce the heat, add the seasonings and allow the mix to “burble” along for three hours uncovered.
Occasionally mash down the mix but don’t let it become dry. You can add more broth or water.
The final product should be somewhat gelatinous. Check for salt to taste. Remove the bay leaves.
Refrigerate in small containers with a lid or cover with plastic. Lastly, after overnight, remove the layer of fat and top with a bay leaf. Cover and keep refrigerated.
Bon appetit from the kitchen of Marilyn O’Connor Beauchesne.
Regarding Dr. Jim Gates, Jeff Smith looked at the license database and didn’t see Dr. Gates’ name. That is because he is retired.
I don’t have the Aug. 4 paper to see if he used present tense instead of past tense, but Jeff attacks Dr. Gates stating it is a character flaw.
I think it is sad that Jeff didn’t contact Dr. Gates to ask why he stated he was licensed. Dr. Gates has moved off the Hill now and people with Jeff’s attitude will discourage him and others from returning to live here.
People need to inquire or talk to the person when they have a question instead of blasting them in the newspaper or social media.
I read Nancy Pearlman’s letter about how her water bill somehow went from $28 to $1,400, and how the Idyllwild Water District seemed totally unresponsive.
My water bill went from $28 to $1,200. This is a weekend home and during the month in question, no one was in the home and no water should have been used at all.
IWD’s first explanation was that it was a leak near the meter and their responsibility. That was later changed to “a toilet may have been running” and I was told I had to pay the entire amount, which I did over a matter of months.
I’m wondering if Nancy and I are alone, or are there others having similar spikes. It seems like these types of things never happened prior to the new meters being installed.
It would be great to know if these are isolated examples, or if perhaps their new system is leaking bad data.
Nothing in this article is meant to be medical advice. Please consult you own healthcare provider for any questions or issues concerning you own health status.
Women’s Healthy Heart Month is not until next February; but really, why wait?
If you read no further, please at least click on this link promoting Living Guidelines for Women. In my opinion, it gives women of all ages every piece of info they need to stay heart healthy in a quick, easy-to-use format. And gentlemen, not all the info included there is exclusive to the gals. So, please check it out also:
Here is the best news: Recent medical research shows us that it is truly never too late and that even small, incremental changes do make a healthy difference at all ages.
Wow! That is great news. But what is the key?
It’s simple. Staying active. I think life on the Hill can make staying active both easy and a bit more difficult. So, we may need to be strategic here.
Let’s break it down. Walking, even short brisk walks for as little as 10 minutes throughout the day, can provide enough physical activity to keep your heart in shape. The goal you are working toward is to get 30 to 40 minutes of exercise three to four times per week.
Remember, you don’t have to hit that 30 to 40 minutes all at once. It’s a goal you work toward gradually, especially if you have not been very active for a while.
Here is one tip to gradually increase your strength and stamina: Start modest and do just a bit more each day. Even if you start with five minutes of concerted activity per day, you are already making advances in your health status.
Think of that! If you’re going from sedentary to active, medical research shows us that adding a mere five to 10 minutes of activity daily does indeed improve cardiovascular fitness.
Think of it like the 12-step adage … “one day at a time.” In our case of increasing activity, maybe we can think of it as five minutes at a time; then six minutes at a time; then seven and eight, and so on.
Note: Activity does not necessarily mean exercise, per se. I think of exercise as something you don special clothes to do, such as walking shoes, yoga tights, basketball sneakers. Activity can be as simple as staying on your feet longer than usual and moving about your house and yard.
On the other hand, when improving your long-term cardiovascular “fitness,” it is recommended by medical experts to achieve and sustain a mild increase in heart rate for the duration of your exercise and/or activity.
Believe it or not, you can increase heart rate by simply lifting your arms above your heart and back down, repeatedly. Again, start slow if you’re new to this.
But, please do check with your healthcare provider before doing any activity that increases heart rate, especially in our rarefied mountain air.
Callie Wight is a California state-licensed registered nurse with a Master of Arts in Psychology. She has worked professionally both in bedside nursing and as a psychotherapist. Her nursing practice has spanned the specialty areas of maternal and child care, acute care and care of patients with long-term chronic illness, especially cardiac and pulmonary diseases.
As a psychotherapist, she has worked primarily in the area of post-traumatic stress disorder. In addition to a private practice in Los Angeles, she worked for the last 25 years for the Veterans Administration.
She is president of the Idyllwild HELP Center board and is serving on the Idyllwild Community Fund board. She enjoys managing a few of the bookstore shelves for the Friends of the Idyllwild Library.
