Idyllwild CA
Lemon Lily Festival June 24th & 25th, 2017 ~ Idyllwild Nature Center
Welcome!
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n behalf of Friends of San Jacinto Mountain County Parks (FSJMCP) and our-cosponsors, Idyllwild Nature Center, and Supervisor Washington (CID grant), we welcome you. The festival is designed to provide joy, fun, listening pleasure, and education for our visitors. The festival is, of course, dedicated to one of our indigenous flowers, the lemon lily (Lilium parryi). The mission of the Lemon Lily Planning Group (George Ray, Ann Wehn, Paul Jensen, Larissa Moss, Amanda Allen, and Irena Carlson) is to foster an appreciation for the threatened native lemon lily, educate the public of its plight and relevance to Idyllwild, restore it to its historical range, and benefit Idyllwild economically by promoting Idyllwild as a visitor destination. Enjoy! FSJMCP is a non-profit corporation whose mission is to assist, promote, advance, and develop the historical, scientific, educational, and cultural aspects pertaining to San Jacinto Mountain County Parks. FSJMCP is guided
Pioneer Town – Fun For All Ages!
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wide range of activities are planned for kids of all ages (yes, you too). Pioneer Town features old west activities, including rocking horses – live pony rides – horse shoe tossing – roping - target gallery – fool’s gold panning – blacksmithing – flint knapping, and more. Hands on activities include apple pealing, washboard laundry, crafts, soap bubbles, and much, much more!
by a board of directors that typically meet monthly to guide its affairs. Membership is open to everyone interested in promoting these goals. For more information contact staff or volunteers at Idyllwild Nature Center located at 25-225 Highway 243, Idyllwild, CA, telephone number (951) 659-3850, or visit our website at www.idyllwildnaturecenterfriends.org
IMPORTANT INFORMATION Entry fees $5 adults $4 children $1 dogs Members of Friends of San Jacinto Mountain County Parks will be admitted free. Parking is limited at Idyllwild Nature Center. Shuttle Service: Leave your car in town and catch one of the free shuttle vans running between the Idyllwild Monument (near Idyllwild Inn), the Idyllwild School parking lot and Idyllwild Nature Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Idyllwild Radio Club members will be assisting with parking at the Idyllwild Nature Center. See map on page 3 for shuttle stop locations.
OUR MISSION The mission of the Lemon Lily Festival is to foster an appreciation for the threatened native Lily, Lilium parryi, educate the public of its plight and relevance to Idyllwild, restore it to its historical range and benefit Idyllwild economically by promoting it as a visitor destination.
INSIDE: Art Raffle Drawings, pg. 2 Map pg. 3 \ Schedule pgs. 4-5 How the Lemon Lily became a cause to celebrate by Kate Kramer pgs. 6-8 1
Lemon Lily Walks and Marketplace
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un for adults include shopping at vendor booths, raffle or art items, lectures, music, and tasty food. Explore the Idyllwild Nature Center by tagging along on guided nature walks. Explore Lily Creek, and marked trails on your own, see bedrock mortars fashioned years ago by Mountain Cahuilla, and mingle with
local flora and fauna. Enjoy scheduled informative talks in the auditorium, music by the Stone Creek Stompers and Three for Joy. Lemon Lilies and native plants will be on sale. Make sure your location is suitable for lemon lilies, however. Another option is to Adopt-a-Lily to be planted along Lily Creek.
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Art Raffle Drawings ...
he Lemon Lily Festival will have a raffle of items provided by local artists. Items include: ceramic bowl, paintings, prints, and a sketch (see photos). Raffle tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5. Drawings will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday (3 pieces) and Sunday (the remainder). The first winner may choose from all items, remaining winners may choose from remaining items. Winners need not be present to win. If winner is not present, item will be chosen by random drawing, if choice is not written on ticket.
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Desert Chavez – Ceramic Bowl With Lily
Mark Dickerson – Sketch of Lemon Lily
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Jeffery L. Hummel – Lily on Lake Painting
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Elizabeth Green – Prints
Irena Carlison - painting – no photo available Rob Padilla – Painting “Butterfly, Bee & Lily”
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Festival vendors, sponsors and village map Humber Park
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VENDORS
RESTAURANTS Café Aroma 54-750 N. Circle Dr. 951-659-5212 Ferro 25-840 Cedar St. 951-659-0700 Idyllwild Brewpub 54-423 Village Center Dr. 951-659-0163 Red Kettle 54-220 N. Circle Dr. 951-659-4063 INNS Bluebird Cottage Inn 26-620 Saddle Dr. 951-659-2696 Creekstone Inn 54-950 Pinecrest Rd. 951-3352 Silver Pines Lodge 25-955 Cedar 951-359-4335 The Grand Idyllwild Lodge 51-820 Pinecrest Rd 951-659-2383
Map of Idyllwild Village
SHOPS Coyote Reds 54-225 N. Circle Dr. 951-659-2305 88 Far East 542-225 N. Circle Dr. #3 951-59-7771
NORTH CIRCLE DRIVE
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5. Patricia Hughes - Recycled Aluminum Can Jewelry. 760-660-3104 6. Lilly Zdjelar - Lilly’s Gifts and Gems. 619-408-6986 7. Sharon Coleman - Custom Handmade Jewelry. 760-349-3272 8. Mark Willden - Wine Country Gifts. 951-591-0089
13. Ron & Linda Hill - Jewelry 714-323-9433
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4. Mary Kirmil - Maliakei Bags. 408-691-4595.
12. Carl Verbanic - Carl’s Concessions. 951-634-4056
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Idyllwild Elementary School
3. Eben Longfellow - Master Gardeners. 951-990-4997
11. Heather Machaen - Woodland Yard. 626-453-6345
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14. Jennifer Dodd - Handmade Bath& Body Care. 951-525-9648 15. April Gryner - Hawaiian Lei Lotion. 760-848-9984 16. Heather Limoli - Scentsy Candles. 760-578-1617
Town Center Monument
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17. Sherri Dominigoni - Paintings and Face Paint. 951-306-5958
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18. Plant Food Supper Club. 951-468-0070 19. Radio Club
New Community Playground
MAP KEY Lemon Lily Venue S Shuttle Stop n
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2. Nikki Hock - Nikki’s Painted Ponies. 760-449-0599
10. Robert & Terri VandenBurg R & T Traders. 760-413-2669
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(Shuttle from Nature Center to the town center) Limited parking available, please use shuttles in town
1. Julie & Don Roy - Alpacas of Anza. 858-361-6321
9. James Bowden - Flintknapping. 909-557-5515
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DONORS Larissa Moss - Sylvia Sherman Brett & Ann Wehn George & Jaclyn Ray
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CHURCHES Yokaji Zen Mountain Center
Idyllwild Nature Center
Idyllwild County Park Campground
FESTIVAL SPONSORS
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Public Restroom
20. Carlos Chavez - Clay Works. 213-447-1413 21. Chuck England - Tandy Leather. 909-835-3685 22. Jaime Zeballos - Incas Empire Novelties. 951-399-2595 23. Julie Hinkle - Real Time Pain Relief 760-333-5317 24. Mark Dickinson - Artist. 25. Jenny Gagnon - Gourds. 951-567-6803
Lemon Lily Festival Schedule
JUNE 24TH 2017
SATURDAY
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• 10:00 AM-4:00 PM Nikki’s Painted Pony Rides • 10:00 AM-4:00 PM Alpaca Display • 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM Children's Story Book Walk featuring "The Lemon Lily Fairy" a story by local author Sherri Domenigoni. • 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM Pioneer Town Featuring Fool’s Gold Panning with Hemet Valley Prospectors, Leatherworking with Tandy Leather, a Flint Knapping, Roping, Clothes Washing, Horse Shoe Tossing, Target Shooting, Blacksmithing, Apple Pealing, Crafts, and much more! • 10:30 AM Talk by David Stith: "Insights on the Restoration of Lemon Lily” • 11:30 AM Guided Walk • 12:00PM Talk by Master Gardener Linda Powell • 1:00 PM Lemon Lily Restoration Talk by David Stith • 2:30 PM Native Plant Talk by David Stith “New Species for the Flora of the San Jacinto Mountains” • 3:00 PM Raffle drawing (need not be present to win)
Catch the Stone Creek Stompers both days
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aking the stage at this year’s Lemon Lily Festival is a bluegrass band with some local roots who collectively have some impressive credits. The Stone Creek Stompers are made up of Idyllwild resident Sandii Castleberry - guitar, vocals, harmonica; John Penn of La Quinta - vocals, banjo and mandolin; Bobby Furgo - fiddle, from Yucca Valley; and bassist Gene Libbea from Anza. Sandii has lived in Idyllwild since 2003, and has been an Idyllwild Concerts in the Park opening act every year since her arrival. She played for 4 years for the Coachella Stage Coach Music Festival family stage, and has been a performing and workshop artist for Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Orange County since 1998. She is also a founding member of “Hot Flash” a popular folk bluegrass band fronted by three women, and teaches music to children at the Idyllwild Arts Summer program. In the 1950’s, Singer/songwriter and Blue Night Recording Artist John Penn spent his youth in in Idyllwild and Pine Cove. His grandparents owned a home in Stone Creek where he spent many summers. He also hung out during ISOMA-
TA’s early years catching workshops by Sam Hinton and Pete Seeger. John’s song “Moonlight Motor Inn” inspired by his grandfather’s defunct motel (where Alhatti Conference Center now resides), is a bluegrass standard. John spent the early 1970’s jamming and performing with upcoming country folk-rock legends such as Linda Rondstadt and Emmy Lou Harris. Yucca Valley violinist/fiddlist Bobby Furgo is a much sought after musician in the Coachella Valley. He has an extensive touring background including such names as Leonard Cohen, and recording credits with Nancy Sinatra, Amy LaVere and Pat Boone. He plays weekly at popular hang-out Pappy and Harriet’s in Pioneertown, and at the 29 Palms Inn. Gene Libbea spent the 1990’s playing stand-up bass with Grammy award-winning band “Nashville Bluegrass Band.” He spent many years on the road as a touring bluegrass musician before retiring to Anza, where he presently makes his home. Catch the Stone Creek Stompers on Saturday, June 24th, and Sandii with Bobby Furgo on Sunday, June 25th both days from 11:30 to 3 p.m.
The Stone Creek Stompers: Sandii Castleberry, John Penn and Bobby Furgo (not pictured)
Idyllwild Nature Center
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• 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM Children's Story Book Walk featuring "The Lemon Lily Fairy" a story by local author Sherri Domenigoni. • 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM Pioneer Town Featuring Fool’s Gold Panning with Hemet Valley Prospectors, Leatherworking with Tandy Leather, a Flint Knapping, Roping, Clothes Washing, Horse Shoe Tossing, Target Shooting, Blacksmithing, Apple Pealing, Crafts, and much more! • 10:30 AM Talk by David Stith: "Insights on the Restoration of Lemon Lily” • 11:30 AM Guided Walk • 12:00PM Talk by Master Gardener Linda Powell • 1:00 PM Lemon Lily Restoration Talk by David Stith • 2:30 PM Native Plant Talk by David Stith “New Species for the Flora of the San Jacinto Mountains” • 3:00 PM Raffle drawing (need not be present to win)
SUNDAY
• 10:00 AM-4:00 PM Alpaca Display
JUNE 25TH 2017
• 10:00 AM-4:00 PM Nikki’s Painted Pony Rides
MUSIC SCHEDULE – BOTH SATURDAY AND SUNDAY (JUNE 24-25, 2017) • • • • • •
11:30-12:15 PM The Stone Creek Stompers 12:15-1:00 PM Three for Joy 1:00- 1:45 PM The Stone Creek Stompers 1:45-2:15 Three for Joy 2:15-3:00 PM The Stone Creek Stompers 3:00- 3:30 PM Three for Joy
Three for Joy
Nikki’s Painted Ponies Nikki’s Painted Ponies is a fun, professional and experienced Pony Ride company. We are licensed and fully insured. Our focus is on safe and wholesome family fun and wonderful learning opportunities!
Alpacas
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hree For Joy” a kids’ bluegrass band will also be taking the stage. Not only do they all play instruments, but they do traditional clog dancing as well. They will be sharing the stage with the Stone Creek Stompers, with performance sets until 3:30 p.m. both days.
This year’s Lemon Lily Festival is happy to welcome back Jule & Don’s Alpacas of Anza Valley!
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Lemon Lily Festival Of Idyllwild:
How A Local Lily Became A Cause To Celebrate By Kate A. Kramer Reprinted courtesy of the California Native Plant Society: Kramer, Kate. “Lemon Lily Festival of Idyllwild: How a Local Lily Became Cause to Celebrate.” Fremontia Vol. 44 No. 3 - December 2016
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he lemon lily (Lilium parryi) f the Southern California Mountains may be the only native geophyte with its own festival. This is the tale of how an entire town came together to celebrate and conserve this species. THE LILY Lilium parryi is one of 11 species of Liliums native to California. It occurs in scattered populations in the transverse and peninsular ranges of southern California and in the sky island mountains of southeastern Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. Although neither federally or State-Listed, L. parryi is rare enough to warrant 1B.2 status by CNPS and is a Forest Service Sensitive Species. This perennial herb grows from a bulb-like scaly rhizome along mountain streams and meadows above 4,000 feet; it is restricted to riparian habitats. A single plant may grow to 4-6 feet with multiple, large, fragrant yellow, flowers. Local botanists found one plant with 40 buds and flowers in a single year! This stunning plant is an excellent excuse for a hike to cooler mountain meadows in early July. Unfortunately, most lemon lilies are now only found in high elevations above 7,000 feet; there are few to enjoy in easily accessible areas. There are many reasons that lemon lilies have disappeared from the most visible public creeks and streams: the striking flowers are tempting to pick and tuck on the outside of a daypack, lemon lilies are eaten by local herbivores: deer crop off flower buds and gophers consume the rhizomes, and lower snowpack in recent years has resulted in less prime habitat. However, the most horrifying rea reason may have to do with bulb fanciers at the turn of the last century: in 1902, Harvey Monroe Hall noted the activity of bulb collectors in the San Jacintos: “. . . one party took out over 5000 [lemon lily] bulbs in a single season” (p. 68, Hall, 1902). While lemon lily habitat quality has declined, this may be the case of a plant becoming rare due to being over-loved ...
Kate A. Kramer The lemon lily (Lilium parryi) is found in the southern California mountains and the Sky Islands of southern Arizona. One population has been reported from Mexico.
CONCERN IN THE COMMUNITY Our story takes place in Idyllwild, a small community in the San Jacinto Mountains above Palm Springs. Local botanists Dave Stith and Tom Chester have studied the local flora as an avocation for several years. Dave, in particular, is a longtime admirer of lemon lilies. After finding the quote in Hall’s monograph on the flora of the San Jacinto Mountains several of us wondered if something couldn’t be done: public awareness was key. Holding a festival devot-
ed to the lemon lily was one way of getting the word out to a large number of people. Idyllwild has a history of festivals; one celebrating such a beautiful plant would help ensure that both locals and visitors are aware and care about the fate of this stunning plant. The mountain environment of Idyllwild is a getaway place for people of San Diego, Los Angeles and the desert cities to escape the summer heat. It is a tourist town with repeat visitors, some whose families have been coming to Idyllwild for generations.
7 It also attracts artists, musicians, and hikers and is a stop for Pacific Crest Trail through-hikers. In short, Idyllwild attracts enough interested people for a festival celebrating a beautiful plant to be successful. STARTING THE FIRST FESTIVAL—JULY 2010 Dave Stith started working on the Lemon Lily Festival in 2009 by garnering support from the local merchants, Riverside County’s Idyllwild Nature Center and various interested groups and individuals. His efforts and commitment to include the town have paid off in spades. He has said that whenever he mentioned Hall’s report of 5,000 lily bulbs being dug up in a single year to the variousgroups, there would be “an audible gasp in the room”; it was easy to convince people that this was a good cause. Several committees were formed and met for months before the first festival in 2010 at the Nature Center. The Lemon lilies in the wild. Photo by Michael Wangler Nature Center Director at the time, Shelly Kibbey, was extremely support- ture Center, an organization that facilitated much ive of the Festival. The Festival committee became of the preparation. Another talented leader from the part of the non-profit Friends of the Idyllwild Na- business community, Doug Yagaloff, stepped up and the merchants were very active in the first year’s festival. Doug also contacted the local county supervisor and a group of lemon lily supporters convinced the county supervisors to proclaim July as Lemon Lily Month in Riverside County. “Education, celebration, and restoration of the lemon lily” was Dave’s festival mantra. This was a very relevant theme as few people at that time had actually seen a lemon lily. With photographs of lemon lilies and a few purchased bulbs, community creativity was set Article continues on next page
Pioneer Town offers kid-friendly fun. Photos by John Drake/ Courtesy Idyllwild Town Crier
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Continued from previous page loose! Over the years of the Festival, various lemon lily-themed activities have occurred: gift baskets of donated items were offered in a raffle in which money had to be spent in local stores to obtain the raffle tickets in the first year. Many merchants offered lemon lily-themed products during the Festival weekend. The local quilting guild designed and donated an original lemon lily quilt to be raffled off with the proceeds benefiting the Lemon Lily Festival restoration work; later, original artwork including a stainedglass piece and a ceramic lemon lily platter were raffled off. A lemon lily banner competition was held and the banners were also auctioned off. Prior to the Festival, the banners were displayed in town to encourage people to come to the event. Festival organizers have offered t-shirts and pins for visitors.
The theme for the festival was celebrating the time in Idyllwild when lemon lilies would have been abundant, before the turn of the last century. Music and activities were organized with this in mind. A lemon lily song was written and performed by a group of local singers and people dressed in turn-of-the-last-century inspired clothing. Education talks were offered several times each day and naturalists led hikes to observe lemon lilies in nature. Fortunately, there were a few, accessible lilies left in Lily Creek on Idyllwild Nature Center land for Festival visitors to see. We talked about what had happened to the lemon lily and how its numbers could be increased through both preservation and restoration at every opportunity. Los Angeles public television station KCET even did an entire episode of California’s Gold devoted to the first festival—which the station graciously continues to replay each year before festival time.
Closeup of Lilium parryi. Photo by Jenny Kirchner/Courtesy Idyllwild Town Crier
ies. We’ve tried tissue culture techniques but have found that local seed is relatively easy to germinate after being stratified for a few months in a refrigerator. We are learning how to “overwinter” the seedlings in order to grow bulbs large enough to survive once planted. The goal is to re-establish colonies in the Idyllwild area in lily habitat. As of this writing, the Lemon Lily Festival continues on. The Idyllwild Nature Center has taken the lead and held the Festival for the last few years. Festival status can be found at lemonlilyfestival.com. The Festival has changed the public’s attitude towards lemon lilies—from being unaware of this gorgeous native plant RESTORATION EFFORTS—INCREASING THE to becoming fiercely protective of it! Lemon lilies are celLEMON LILY Having actual lemon lilies in bloom in nature for peo- ebrated every July in Riverside County and there is now ple to see was important for Festival credibility. In addi- a continuing community effort among botanists and gartion to the few plants growing naturally at the Nature deners to “bring them back” to local habitats. Center, bulbs were also purchased from in hopes that they would be in bloom in time for the Festival; it is al- REFERENCES ways difficult to plan an event based on flowering in na- Hall, H.M. 1902. A botanical survey of San Jacinto Mountain. University of California Publications Botany ture in advance! Over the years, this has supplied many “teachable 1:1– 140. moments” at the Festival on how springtime tempera- McRae, E.A. 2001. Lilies: A Guide for Growers and Coltures affect the bloom time of most plants. Bulbs have lectors. Timber Press, Portland, OR. been planted in appropriate habitat around the commu- Kathryn A. Kramer, Ph. D, 40250 Reseda Springs Rd., nity on private property and at the Nature Center—in Hemet, CA 92544-9021; Kakramer1@icloud.com a nursLily Creek—to augment the population. We continue to ery in Oregon whose original stock had come from this perfect propagation techniques for increasing lemon lil- area in the 1970s.The first bulbs were planted
For several years, local quilters donated quilts honoring the Lemon Lily.