Annual flower show heralds beginning of holiday season

A popular song of the season is “It’s beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.” I suppose that the more we get into November and then December, we will realize that the song is prophetic and that yes, the season is upon us. Oh, we are not complaining or whining, in fact, we are rather rejoicing. I join that throng that looks on Christmas through the eyes of a youngster who is seeing his first Christmas tree. Ah, to relive such an experience.

We had a number of happenings here this past week that may not have anything to do with Christmas but they are, nevertheless, enjoyable hence they might go hand in hand with the season.

One of these comes from the Bonita Valley Garden Club. They are staging their annual Holiday Flower Show that will run for two days. They will begin their activities today (Friday Nov. 10) starting at 1 p.m. and running until six. They will repeat the effort tomorrow from 10 a.m. until five in the afternoon. This is the fifth annual staging of this event.

For the first time the show will be at the site of the new Bonita Museum and the Bonita Sunnyside Library. These two new venues, located in the heart of the community, are commencing to be the site of many important community activities. The flower show could certainly qualify as one of the major ones.

Cynthia Stojeba is a long time member of the club and, at present, does publicity for the organization. It, by the way, is one of the oldest valley clubs. It was founded in 1972 and still has some of its original members, a longtime community friend, Peg Burley, being one of them. Their literature tells us that they are a neighborly group who love everything about gardening and getting together in a mixed atmosphere. The feeling is that they enrich souls by lingering among nature’s wonders.

The club has adopted the Rock Rose as the club flower and as the club tree, why the lemon, of course. The club president is Lynne Batchelor. She, as well as other club members, invite interested community members to investigate their membership. Anyone at the flower show can help. By the way, admission is free. Can’t beat that.

Another activity of the past week was the 25th anniversary of the Norman Park Center. The seniors of the area who regularly attend this center had a lunch and were entertained by “The Merrie Ukes,” a ukelele group. This was rather appropriate since the ukelele players meet at the center each Tuesday morning. The group, led by ukelele virtuoso, John Porner, played and sang a few medleys of old time favorites.

The Merrie Ukes, by the way, are putting together a Christmas show that will entertain at some of the assisted living homes in the area. This is an annual affair with the group and one that has met with some plaudits. Like the Garden Club mentioned above, the ukelele players are those who not only entertain others but entertain themselves because of the aid that they give one another. Porner invites anyone who cares to, man or woman, to drop in at ten any Tuesday morning. The music and the instruments will be furnished. Like me, the only thing that one needs is a few arthritic fingers that will make us once again, young again.

I think that one of the saddest instances of the Christmas season is a family that cannot celebrate because some accident or negative act has happened to someone in their family. There are, of course, illnesses or home accidents that cannot be prevented. But when we stop and think about it there are many that can be averted. We took a ride on SR 54 last Sunday for the first time since our return from Sacramento. As usual we settled in to our customary 65 mph, and as usual we were passed by vehicles of all types, semis, pickups, SUVs, even family sedans doing their customary 80 and 90 mph. But before we got to the I-805 turnoff all traffic ground to a standstill. When we resumed moving it was at a snail’s pace, one at a time, until we passed the reason for the stop. There were six emergency vehicles on the site. They were attending the passengers of one vehicle that was lying on its side, facing the wrong direction. We don’t know the extent of injuries. We could only get a glimpse of the medics loading one stretcher into an ambulance.

Suffice to say that there is one family—perhaps more—that are going to be affected adversely to some degree. And all because too many cars were traveling too rapidly unnecessarily. Let’s make the season safe for everyone.