The Art Alliance of Idyllwild is a class act, co-founded by my friend Chris Trout and Grace Songolo. So when it suffers controversy, it brings out my most Southern mama roots.
Here we go: My Mama, who died too soon at age 71 in 1998, would say about what’s going on, “I’m as mad as a wet sittin’ hen.”
She had so many of those idioms from her Mississippi roots I wish I had collected instead of ignoring them.
Let’s hope the founders’ and subsequent AAI leaders’ efforts of expanding this vital organization aren’t taking a downturn.
Issues of transparency and communication are important in a member-based organization. But communications involving personal attacks and vulgar language at a volunteer by AAI’s public relations person took the problem to a different level.
You don’t call the person who created the “Deer Sightings Project” a b---- on Facebook, take it down and expect people to distance you from the position you hold with AAI.
While the board is now expected to make all decisions as a group, I hope you take this nasty posting into consideration in your talks. Shanna Robb didn’t deserve that and it’s causing division among the organization.
And even before that posting, AAI used its website and Facebook page to specifically target Shanna.
Come on, AAI board, turn this around, get your house in order and get back to doing the wonderful things we’ve come to enjoy about this organization.
I served as AAI treasurer for several years and know volunteerism is a challenge.
You’ve got some great talent on that board, some great events for the new year (see page 13) and a town that wants you to do well.
Town Hall Adult Basketball had 3-on-3 playoff action at Idyllwild School last Saturday morning. From left, Noah Whitney, Brian Kretsinger, Jessie Wilkerson and T.J. Titus with Bo Dagnall watching from the sidelines. Photo by Peter SzabadiJosh White playing for Idyllwild Inn spikes the ball against the Native Islanders during Tuesday night’s Town Hall Adult Volleyball game at Idyllwild School.
I refer to last week’s article about the Art Alliance of Idyllwild membership meeting and wondered if your reporter attended the same meeting that I did. Yes, there were a few members with a single-item agenda, but there were many facts and nuances your reporter failed to mention. For example:
• The AAI financials include monies collected for the sale of its members’ artworks at AAI events. Checks are promptly sent to the artists, less a small credit-card processing fee, if applicable.
• AAI is left with some working capital to fund future events, donations, etc. There was a time when the AAI presidents had to use their own funds to put on events. Thank goodness AAI is now more financially prudent.
• AAI is able to provide financials for each event and will supply figures to anyone who clearly states what information they seek and for what purpose.
• AAI membership has increased, as has the number of events sponsored by AAI each year. It has received additional funds and will host more art workshops.
• AAI is introducing a Volunteer of the Year Award that will be named after its first recipient, Gary Kuscher, for his many years of dedicated service. This positive news was received to great applause.
• The board agreed to look into all of the issues raised, including the acceptance of a most welcome offer for an accountant to conduct a complete financial audit.
• The AAI board is made up of volunteers and many of the membership expressed their gratitude for their commitment and professionalism.
Many members volunteered their help during the meeting and many left feeling very positive. Your article does a disservice to these people.
I hope you redress this in future articles about the good AAI does for its members and the community.
Donna Elliot Idyllwild
Editor’s note: The Town Crier does not keep or report the minutes of meetings we attend. That is the job of the organization’s recording secretary. We report news; what we feel are newsworthy matters of import to the community. The story in question reported on specific controversial matters discussed at a recent AAI membership meeting. In such a story, we do not generally at the same time report on the wonderful things an organization has done or is doing. Those are reported in other stories.
Readers of the Town Crier and other Idyllwild House publications know that we have published dozens upon dozens of stories regarding the fine accomplishments of AAI’s board and members and the contributions they have made and are making to our community, including in this issue.
Kay Wanner had worked as a legal secretary for lawyers for many years. “I was 21 and worked for a probate attorney in Simi Valley and became intrigued by wills and probates,” she said. “At that time we didn’t yet have trusts.” Wanner said she told attorneys she worked for that she would do the research and the prep work in this area of the law she found fascinating. “If you don’t do it, let me do it,” she recalled telling them.
When she was 31, the death of her husband in an accident changed everything. With children to raise, Wanner began preparing to attend law school. “If I don’t do it, where will I be in five years?” she remembered thinking. Then, at the age of 39, she entered Western State College of Law night school, eventually graduating from Southwestern Law School in 1985. “I worked for attorneys during the day and went to law school at night,” said Wanner.
Wanner, featured presenter for the Idyllwild Community Center’s Speaker Series, will talk about “The Black and White in Estate Planning.” She noted it is an area of the law with which people are increasingly concerned. Wanner said she would discuss the pitfalls of dying without a will or trust and the hardships and expense to beneficiaries of the protracted court procedure called probate.
“Through estate planning, you protect yourself and your assets while you’re alive and protect your beneficiaries from probate after your death,” she said. Wanner said probates that once might have been concluded in months can now take years to resolve. By creating living trusts, in which one’s assets are placed in trusts while the individual is still alive, probate is avoided and transfer of those assets to beneficiaries is a simple process.
Wanner opened her own law office in Palm Desert after graduation, an office she still maintains. She currently is training two people to take over her practice once she retires. From this early fascination with protecting and bequeathing assets, Wanner noted she has built a career and practice that has always afforded her work and the gratitude of her clients.
Wanner’s presentation is at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19, in the Silver Pines Lodge great room. A wine and cheese reception is at 5:30 p.m. Both are free to the public.
Gary Kuscher, nine-year member of the Art Alliance of Idyllwild and current vice president, will be honored as the first recipient of AAI’s Volunteer of the Year award. In recognition of his years of dedicated service, the award will be named after its first recipient.
Kuscher, with longstanding commitment to expanding the profile of the organization, and leader of the very successful Art Walk and Wine Tasting event, has demonstrated what makes art in Idyllwild so important — talent, heart, commitment and long hours of hard work.
I was extremely disappointed to read your article concerning the Art Alliance of Idyllwild in the Town Crier. I attended the meeting and, in my opinion, you only reported the negative side of the business conducted while completely ignoring the positive elements raised at the meeting. For example, you completely failed to report that the longest and loudest applause of the evening was in a response to a comment thanking the board for their hard work and diligence.
There were also other things reported that, in the context of the article, implied at the very least incompetence and possibly malfeasance. These included:
1. Comments on the terms of board members which are limited to four years. You should note that many organizations in California, including some of the biggest in the world such as Apple, have directors serving much more than four years; they are simply re-elected after each term, much as the members of Congress are. A one-word change in the bylaws, from extension to re-election, would surely solve this issue.
2. Expenses. The large size of the expenses shown in your article implies profligate management when in fact this sum includes several thousands of dollars of sales by individual artists processed on their behalf by the AAI; more money donated to Idyllwild good causes in the last year, including the smARTS program, than the previous three years combined; and expenses for the Art Walk and Wine Tasting, Idyllwild’s biggest and best annual event.
As an artist, AAI provides the main outlet and prime source of promotion for my work. It is one of Idyllwild’s greatest treasures and we should thank anyone and everyone who has donated their time to help this organization and thus the artistic community of Idyllwild. We should all be focusing our efforts on improving the organization rather than denouncing it or it will end up in the self destruction which overtook the Chamber of Commerce.
I am not a member of the board and the information I have included is my understanding of the information presented at the meeting.
Neil Jenkins Idyllwild
Editor’s note: The Town Crier does not keep or report the minutes of meetings we attend. That is the job of the organization’s recording secretary. We report news; what we feel are newsworthy matters of import to the community. The story in question reported on specific controversial matters discussed at a recent AAI membership meeting. In such a story, we do not generally at the same time report on the wonderful things an organization has done or is doing. Those are reported in other stories.
Readers of the Town Crier and other Idyllwild House publications know that we have published dozens upon dozens of stories regarding the fine accomplishments of AAI’s board and members and the contributions they have made and are making to our community, including in this issue.
Suzie Bennett, Idyllwild Garden Club treasurer, was out planting bulbs for spring in town planter buckets on Wednesday, Jan. 28. Photo by Halie WilsonFIREFIGHTERS GRILL: Idyllwild firefighters and volunteer firefighters served up hamburgers for Sports Team Day last Thursday at Idyllwild School, in honor of the upcoming Super Kids Bowl and Super Bowl. Photo courtesy Bethany SwansonSUPERBOWL: Lauren Haynes, cashier at The Rustic Theatre and major Patriots fan, was adorned with a Patriots blanket, T-shirt, socks and purse, which she thinks contributed to their Super Bowl victory Sunday. The Rustic opened their doors for a free viewing of the game Sunday.
Town Hall Sports Coordinator Richard Mozeleski gave these reports on Kids Basketball:
In 6- to 8-year-old action this week, the Red Kettle Dragons have held on to their division lead at 4-1 with a solid, opening win Monday against the American Legion Sea Dragons, but late in the week they were upset by the Killer Crocs.
The Crocs were led by Brody Posey’s 21 points, though he sat out the last half of the final quarter. The Dragons rallied, but the rebounding of the Crocs and skillful time management of a couple of the players kept control of the last 20 seconds for the Crocs to prevail.
In the 9- to 11-year-old group, Jo’An’s Heat held on to their 4-0 lead, but the Rotary Storm are starting to make their move, with an overtime win over Leigh’s Purple Penguins. A basket by Kilo Harrington in the two-minute period was enough to secure victory for the Storm.
This week is packed with eight games at the mid-season mark. Games are at 5 and 6 o’clock Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, with excitement guaranteed or your money back.
A yoga class inside the Present and Positive yurt on Double View Drive. Photo by Colin Parker
By Rick Barker Special to the Town Crier
The idyllic wilderness we call Idyllwild has long been a magnet for healers, whether of body, mind or soul. Several Native American tribes considered our mountaintop a place of healing, and even a sacred space. Our town’s first building, built in 1901, was a sanatorium. Seeking a home base for his Trailfinders, in 1941 Harry James chose our mountaintop, at what is now the James Reserve. The “Father of Holistic Medicine,” Dr. Evarts Loomis, was adamant that the first holistic hospital be built “in the shadow of Tahquitz Peak” (1952).
These four examples are but the tip of the iceberg, and today Idyllwild is recognized as one of the premier hubs for holistic healing. Joining this venerable lineage is a donation-funded nonprofit named Present and Positive whose website describes as being dedicated to self-awareness, personal development and positive change in the world.
Present and Positive is the brainchild of Colin Parker and Janel Ruehl. They bought a house on Double View in late 2013, and after completing several projects, including a 30-foot diameter yurt, they held a grand opening on Oct. 18, 2014. Since then, the yurt has been a favorite gathering place for locals, and today they offer a full schedule of classes, workshops and artistic events.
Trine Bietz moved her yoga classes from Town Hall to the yurt. Every morning from 7 to 8:30 a.m., the yurt is reserved for open meditation. Other regular events include a drum circle, Tai Chi, Shaolin Qi Gong, Jin Shin Jyutsu, Ecstatic dance, “gentle” yoga and an open-mic night for sharing poetry, songwriting, storytelling, dance, etc. The latest addition is “Meditation for Children and Teens,” which Dr. Susan Foster will facilitate every Tuesday.
Present and Positive also regularly hosts a wide variety of concerts, film screenings and other artistic events. To celebrate Martin Luther King Day, four local musical acts performed. The yurt is equipped with a first-class film projector and screen; the debut film in the series was “The Highest Pass,” after which the director Adam Schomer answered questions from the audience.
I recently had the opportunity to interview Colin (Janel recently enrolled in a holistic healing program at the Institute of Psycho-Structural Balancing in San Diego but still is heavily involved in the administration of the project). When asked about the vision underlying Present and Positive, he replied, “We don’t have a particular ideology or process. Our approach is more about service and listening. We’re not trying to force something that we believe in on the community. We’re listening to the community, we’re experiencing the community, we’re trying to understand what is most needed here, and we’ll put our resources toward that. It’s a very receptive approach. We believe in creating space — with the house, the yurt and the 40 acres in Garner Valley — for the beautiful energy here in Idyllwild. We’re just facilitators for what already exists here.”
This inclusive attitude has been well-received by the community, and they are already expanding operations. They recently joined forces with Maryna Allan, whose White Feather Retreat (five minutes north of Pine Cove) provides a nice symmetry (the Double View house and yurt are at the southernmost end of Idyllwild). They are currently looking to rent another house near Double View, and their long-term vision for the Garner Valley property includes permaculture, community gardens, organic farming, low-cost overnight guest facilities and artistic venues.
One thing that particularly impressed this reporter is their ability to emphasize connectedness and unity in tandem with individual expression in a way that doesn’t seem contradictory: “We recognize the power of connection, but we also believe strongly in free expression and equality. Present and Positive is absolutely horizontal in every aspect. The original vision came from Janel and I, but now no one person has the final say. We trust each other and we have different strengths, and we believe all people have something to offer. We believe in achieving balance through simultaneous self-reliance and interdependence.”
In closing, I would like to quote a passage from their mission statement: “We believe that all people intuitively know what they need to thrive. When free of distractions and surrounded by nature and a supportive community, most people will naturally gravitate towards greater happiness, harmony and peace.” Since our mountain offers all the necessary ingredients in such abundance, it is easy to see why it continues to attract spiritual visionaries.
Whether you are seeking holistic healing, connection or just looking to raise your spirits and have fun, check out their schedule of events at presentandpositive.com.
