Local real estate agent Trischa Clark assumes her seat on the Fern Valley Water District (FVWD) board in December. Clark has attended FVWD meetings to familiarize herself with district water policy. But she does not want to answer questions about water policy or the district’s activities before being sworn in as director. Clark brings solid business experience to her new role as director. Although she only moved here nine years ago, Clark had been coming to Idyllwild for more than 35 years. She and her late husband, Thomas, operated Banning Glass for 30 years.
“We owned a full-service retail glass business that took care of and worked with many contractors,” she said. “I also served on the Chamber of Commerce in Banning. In addition, Clark worked for real estate agency Coldwell Banker prior to moving permanently to Idyllwild.
Volunteerism has always been part of Clark’s life, but now FVWD will fill time she does not need for Idyllwild Realty and other volunteer efforts. Clark serves as secretary for Idyllwild Rotary and as president of the board of Spirit Mountain Retreat, a spiritual retreat center in Idyllwild. She is also a Religious Science practitioner and has counseled in that capacity. Using that experience, Clark will be participating in the Family Mentoring program that grew out of the community dialogues called in response to a series of hate crimes in 2010.
Asked why she is moved to volunteer more hours as a FVWD director, Clark said, “I think this is a great way to serve my particular community [Fern Valley] and understand the water business.”
In addition to her business experience, Clark is a trained classical singer, having studied and sung opera professionally as well as having acted in plays and musicals. Roles she has played in prestigious venues such as the Long Beach Civic Light Opera include Anna in “The King and I” and Laurie in “Oklahoma.” She has sung professionally at the Hollywood Bowl and the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. “Actually, my husband and I met while we were performing in ‘Camelot’ together,” she remembered. “He was such a fine actor and singer.”
Clark is looking forward to broadening an already impressive resume with service to the FVWD board.