The Southern San Joaquin Chapter officers for 2016 are Brian Rueger, Chair; Larry Duysen, Vice-Chair; and Jonathon Wagy, once again serving as Secretary-Treasurer.
The Chapter has had a busy winter-spring. Meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month, generally in the Porterville area. Recent programs have included a presentation by Major Craig Jones (retired) on “Perspectives of our Modern Military”. Major Jones currently serves as the Fleet Manager for the Sequoia National Forest. In March, the Reedley College Student Chapter hosted a joint meeting with both the High Sierra and So. San Joaquin chapters. Joshua Soderlund, representing the Reedley College Forestry & Natural Resources Department, conducted the meeting and showed the film titled “America’s First Forest”, about Carl Schenck and the Biltmore Forest School.
The Bakersfield College Student Chapter hosted the April meeting. This popular meeting, held outdoors on campus at Renegade Park, included another fine dinner prepared by the Bakersfield College Culinary Arts Department. The evening program was provided by Rodney Blankenship, (“Buffalo Man”), on the Plight of the Buffalo.
The highlight of the Bakersfield College (BC) evening was the annual presentation of scholarships by the chapter to students transferring to four year forestry schools. This year five scholarships were awarded to deserving junior college students from Bakersfield College and Porterville College who have been accepted to Humboldt State University for the 2016 fall semester. These students are Joselin Dorado, Karine Hunt, Vanessa Mendoza, Kyle Mann, and Victoria Roel. Jeff Gletne, the Chapter’s Scholarship Chair, commented that it had been a number of years since so many qualified students had applied for scholarships at the same time. Bill Kelly, Faculty Advisor to the BC Student Chapter, continues to spark the interest of his students in the field of Forestry.
The Chapter staffed a forest management booth at the 56th Annual SCICON Barbecue & Wildflower Festival, sponsored by the Tulare County Office of Education. The So. San Joaquin Chapter has supported forestry educational activities and the campus tree nursery at SCICON for many years. SCICON officials commented that the SAF booth is one of the most popular attractions at the event. To help assure the booth would remain popular this year, the Chapter once again recruited Hailey Henschel, Ashtyn Perry and Kynlee Perry for their assistance. These three young ladies eagerly greeted the public, handed out tree cookies, and maintained a well-organized booth.
* Photo caption (submitted separately): Recipients of the 2016 So. San Joaquin Chapter scholarships
are recognized at Bakersfield College in April 2016.
