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26 | OHCC LIVING | MARCH 2025 | e Sewing Etc. Club members are always trying something new - for example - sewing Mahjong card holders. We think the Mahjong players are going to love them! Our calendar is loaded with classes and activities, including a workshop on March 29 with over 200 Christmas stockings to cut, assemble, and sew for Camp Pendleton families. e club has been planning a March class to go over basic machine repair and maintenance. We're hoping to have a representative from a sewing machine repair service. Check our calendar to see if it has been scheduled; and, contact the organizer for details. e plan is that all members of the community will be welcome to attend the event subject to availability of space. Speaking of our calendar, go to the OHCC website club listings, select the sewing club block https://ohccsewing.wixsite.com/ ohccsewing e calendar lists activities, events and more. Interested guests are welcome to check us out at the monthly meetings in the Mykonos Room. e meetings are held on the rst ursday of the month from 9:30 to about 11 am. e agenda always includes time for sharing time, during which you'll see the wonderful eorts of our many talented members. e club would like to nd someone who is interested in coordinating a small group of people interested in doing beading. Coordinating doesn't necessarily mean teaching, but it would involve maintaining a list of group members and notifying them of scheduled activities. Jacqueline, Sewing Etc. the club activities planner will assist in making reservations with the beading coordinator. If you are interested, please contact Jaqueline Ettinger to make arrangements and get on the schedule. If you are interested in participating in our activities or would like to make suggestions for classes or activities but are not sure who to reach out to for further information, please contact MaryLu Belisle (952) 454-1931. All are welcome to join us. Dues are still just $7 a year. Submitted by Marylu Belisle Sewing Etc. Club Every winter seems to have a dierent personality, and this one was much cooler than normal, and that means another slow return to our gardens by our beautiful buttery friends. But the sanctuary in the Buttery Park is now open; our volunteers have been planting new milkweed and nectar plants, and we're looking forward to another bountiful year for these still- threatened creatures. e SMB Club circulated a tube yer a few weeks ago that highlighted the very real possibility of extinction for the Western Monarch, unless current trends change. at sobering news was followed by a truly alarming report from the Xerxes Society about the annual count of Monarchs in California; their numbers fell to just 9,119 this past winter — the second lowest number ever. We began the SMB Club three years ago when those numbers reached their all-time low of 1,800. Since then, thanks to eorts like ours, the population grew to about 330,000 before falling again in the severe weather of the last two winters. is latest dramatic drop seems to have been caused by our rising temperatures and prolonged drought. e news just underlines how important it continues to be to create habitat for our threatened Monarchs. Our club's mission is to do everything in our power to ensure that our grandchildren will still be able to enjoy them as much as we do. e Club had a very successful Do Dues Day, attracting 65 new members, many of whom also volunteered to help plant and maintain our gardens. ere was also a very positive response to our new Adopt A Garden program, in which a club or a group of individuals (at least three) commit to maintain a specic patch of garden for the year. is approach provides exibility for volunteers to work when they can; if someone in the group is unavailable, others can ll in. e Club now has ten separate sections under its care, apart from the fenced sanctuary, and that number will increase this year. If you or your organization are interested in being part of the program, please contact Myra Esler at mke6717@gmail.com. e Club will provide all the training you need for your participation to be satisfying and rewarding. Spring is always a season of renewal and hope, and that is especially true for our club and its mission. Our Monarchs need our help more than ever. We know what we have to do to meet this challenge. Please consider joining us as a member and/or volunteer as we continue to grow. Written by Myra Esler Save the monarch butterfly Christmas stocking by Vicki Dibble Binding together class with Susan Baker, Mary Ann Barbee, Susan Baker, Paula Samuolis, Kristin Schneiders, Mary Ann Barbee and Paula Burdy. Meredith Mears modeling her knitted scarf