"Let's Welcome Monarchs to Tam Valley"

Join us to hear from retired NPS Ranger Mia Monroe and learn the bigger challenges monarch butterflies are facing in North America, their success stories right here in Tam Valley and tips for each of us to make this a safer, welcoming world again!  Your homework:  find a place in your garden for them and be ready to be both a gardener and community scientist!

MIA MONROE – A Tam Valley resident, Mia is a Xerces Society volunteer and has been monitoring the monarch butterfly overwintering population at coastal sites along California for decades.  She helped start the Marin Monarch Working Group, volunteers for OneTam and returns to the roots of her ranger career as a National Park volunteer often!  Her bumpersticker says, “I Brake for Monarchs”….

TAMALPAIS VALLEY: The Era of Constant Change 

Following up on historian Lissa McKee’s engaging presentation last spring about Tam Valley history from the 19^th century Mexican land grants to the early twentieth century, she will continue with information and historical photos describing the community’s ongoing evolution during the 20^th century.  She will focus in particular on the 1940’s to 1960’s. when so many changes and threats to the Valley were occurring, including the creation of the Kay Park and Crest Marin developments, the building of Tam Valley School, the establishment of the Tamalpais Sanitary District, the opening of the Community Center, the proposed city of Marincello, the launch of the Rhubarb Revue, the repeated flooding of the Crest Marin and Kay Park neighborhoods with their required evacuations, the proposal to build a four-lane highway through the Valley and so much more!

LISSA MCKEE – Tam Valley resident since 1991, Lissa has worked as an environmental planner and public historian for 45 years.  Some of her past projects include cultural resource surveys, National Register of Historic Places nominations, interpretive reports, and ethnic community histories for a variety of agencies, including California State Parks, the Sacramento History Museum, the National Park Service, and the California Department of Transportation.  Lissa has been a wonderful resource for the Tam Valley community due to her dedication to researching and chronicling our local history, including the rich history of the Southern Marin dairy ranches.

Ghosts of the Golden Gate – Now and Then 

This talk exposes the rich cultural and natural history of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Ghosts of the Golden Gate tells the park’s story by matching beautiful and fascinating archival photographs with photos from today. Join us as we reveal the hidden history of familiar locations. Images are showcased from a vast range of lands in the San Francisco area and the history of the diverse people that occupied them.

Ted Barone, a resident of Tam Valley, is a volunteer with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA), leading tours for several years at Alcatraz and more recently at Muir Woods.  He is also a community activist having co-founded the Tam Valley Neighborhood Response Group and the Tam Valley Sea Level Rise Task Force.  He developed online Then and Now photo exhibits for six national parks including the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and Yosemite, Death Valley, Point Reyes, Redwood, and Grand Canyon National Parks.  Ted is a retired high school principal, history teacher, naturalist, and outdoorsman.

Take a look at these Then & Now links:

Golden Gate NRA: https://www.nps.gov/goga/learn/photosmultimedia/nowandthen.htm

Point Reyes NS: https://www.nps.gov/pore/learn/photosmultimedia/photogallery_thenandnow.htm

Yosemite NP: https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/historyculture/thenandnow.htm

Death Valley NP: https://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/death-valley-then-and-now.htm

Redwood N&SPs: https://www.nps.gov/redw/learn/historyculture/thenandnow.htm

Grand Canyon NP: https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/historyculture/thenandnow.htm

2024 Ballot Measures: Pros and Cons 

Join us and the League of Women Voters of Marin & Sonoma Counties as they present a non-partisan and unbiased look at the Pros & Cons of the ten state ballot propositions that will appear on the November 5^th ballot.

This presentation will help demystify your ballot and explain what a “yes” vote means and what a “no” vote means.  In addition, you will hear the existing law, proposed changes, fiscal impact, the supporters & opponents as well as the campaign financing for each measure.

About The League of Women Voters:

For over 100 years, the League of Women Voters has been empowering voters and defending democracy.  We are a diverse, non-partisan, grassroots group of women and men with a long-standing tradition of educating voters. We envision a democracy where every person has the desire, the right, the knowledge and the confidence to participate.

Basics On Writing with Local Writer Michael Wisner

Whether you’re writing emails, letters, websites, diaries, Social Media posts, speeches, short stories, novels, poetry, or screenplays, all can be enhanced with the Basics on Writing. Attendees are welcome to bring writing samples to discuss. Michael will provide all attendees an extensive Reference Sheet of collected works on writing.

Michael Wisner is an author, screenplay writer. His early book, Living Healthy in a Toxic World was a best-selling environmental handbook. He started his professional writing career as an environmental speech writer for Tom Cruise. He wrote for Don Henley’s book; Heaven is Under Your Feet to save Walden Pond. He wrote and produced Earth Day for Disney. As head of Kirstie Alley’s production company, he oversaw the CBS movie Profoundly Normal. He has four major screenplays in development. Recently, he wrote with Alexandra Duparc, the screenplay for the upcoming movie, Monsanto, Directed by John Lee Hancock (Blindside). It is the true David v. Goliath story of a young attorney who took on Monsanto and its toxic pesticide, Round Up, starring Glenn Powell, Anthony Mackie, and Laura Dern (Variety 8 May 2024). He will talk on the basics of writing.