Presidents’ MessagesApril 2025

Good-bye from Don Burk:

I joined CNPS when I was an aspiring botany student at CSU, Chico (as green as Poaceae!). It never occurred to me that CNPS would be a big part of my life for the next 45-plus years. I’ve met hundreds of fascinating plants and dozens of interesting people through my CNPS journey, and all of these lifeforms have hugely influenced me, both professionally and socially.

At times, I’ve been able to be very involved with the Shasta Chapter, and at other times I’ve had to step back a bit (such as when kids started sprouting up… ). And there have always been plenty of talented and energetic volunteers to step in and help elevate the Chapter to the next level!

Now—with our first grandkid on the way and an herbarium cabinet chock-full of pressed plant specimens that need to be processed—it’s once again time for me to step back a bit. And we are so fortunate to have a newly elected Chapter president, Jeremey Kelley, who will help propel us into the future with new ideas, new projects, and boundless enthusiasm! I am so looking forward to seeing the new directions our Chapter will take, and the new plants and people that we will encounter along the way! ~Don Burk, Past-President

Barbara Williams, Don Burk, Rowena Goodner, and Gary Matson at the April 23, 1988,plant sale at the Monolith, Redding. H. & G. Edgecomb. — Here’s a blast from the past: Co-founding Mother and then-Vice-President Barbara Williams, with Co-founding Father and Past-President Don Burk, at one of our earliest plant sales, held at The Monolith at Turtle Bay, Redding, on April 23, 1988. To the right of Don, one can just make out the late Rowena Goodner and Gary Matson. Photo taken by Homer and Gwen Edgecomb.

Greetings from Jeremey Kelley:

I am truly honored to have been elected to the office of President of our very own Shasta Chapter of the California Native Plant Society!

As President Don Burk passes the torch, I am now following in the footsteps of the many dedicated members and officers of the present and past, all the way back to when Don Burk was our first Chapter President, in the early 1980s!

Like many other volunteer organizations, volunteerism declined during the pandemic. One of our most important goals is to increase participation! How cool is it to be involved in a society of community and friendship, one in which the common goal is the preservation of our native plant community through plant propagation, outreach, and education?

Stay tuned for more plant activities (like propagation sessions, gardening workdays, and plant sales), fun field trips, monthly meetings, and more! Thank you all for your support! ~Jeremey Kelley, President