MOUNT HELIX The Mount Helix Park Foundation’s Earth Day Fair, while well attended last year, is not slated for 2014.
Because of funding challenges, the amount of staff needed and a shortage of volunteers, the event that attracted hundreds of visitors to the top of Mount Helix has been scratched, according to Mount Helix Park Foundation Executive Director Tracey Stotz.
But to help soften the ecological blow, the foundation will be sponsoring and hosting two eco-friendly talks in the next few months as part of Nature/Sustainable Living lecture series.
First up will be a demonstration from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. March 1, on how to propagate plants native to California.
Mount Helix resident Ed Piffard “will show guests how to multiply and grow their own drought-resistant, beautiful varieties of native plants for use in landscaping,” said Peggy Junker, office administrator of foundation.
Stotz called Piffard “a walking encyclopedia on natives who can tell you everything about the weed you are about to pull, its whole history, its Latin name…”
She noted that after the lectures, attendees will be invited to take a walk along the Yawkey Trail to see the park’s recent California native plant restoration project and examples of some of the plants discussed.
The second presentation features a lecture by Greg Rubin, who co-authored “The California Native Landscape: The Homeowner’s Design Guide to Restoring Its Beauty and Balance” with North Park garden writer and editor Lucy Warren.
Rubin, the founder and president of the Escondido-based company California’s Own Native Landscape Design, Inc., will speak from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. May 17.
Stotz said that while disappointed about the absence of the fair, she said the foundation still “wants to put the park in Mount Helix Park” and show people there is “more to it than an amphitheater and a great view.”
“We want to offer events that feature nature and share ideas about sustainability,” Stotz said. “Because we are no longer sponsoring an Earth Day Fair, this is a way to get that message out.”
There is no parking at the summit, so attendees are asked to walk up from parking lots adjacent to and across from the San Miguel Fire Station at 10105 Vivera Drive in La Mesa. The hike from the fire station to the top at 4905 Mount Helix Drive typically takes five to 15 minutes.
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