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| SUN LAKES LIFESTYLES | SEPTEMBER 2025 | 45 Happy Cookers Hope everyone had a fun summer. We had some enjoyable meetings, including Baskin and Robbins ice cream in August. Yum! I love supporting the store in Banning and enjoy the ice cream. Happy Cookers meets every month (except November this year), and we have a wonderful Holiday Party in December based on restaurant dates. But please join us at the South Clubhouse on Sept. 26 at 11 am for one of the best monthly meetings — fall! And delicious cooking as the weather starts to cool. We will have a contest for your favorite apple recipes — apple pie or apple cobbler. Plus, we'll discuss preserving the open spaces of Oak Glen, which many of us enjoy visiting for apple picking, fresh cider, down-home music, and beautiful mountain scenery. A group from Sun Lakes visited Julian in San Diego County via bus trip. The mountain climate (elevation 4,226 feet) makes it ideal for growing apples, which is a big part of its tourism. But the Victorian houses and local laws to preserve the historic buildings are another major attraction. Settlement began early, around 1850, mainly for hunting, and few people settled down at first. That changed in 1869 when Fred Coleman, on horseback checking out a site for a town, noticed gold f lecks in a stream. His initial gold panning with a frying pan convinced him to stake a claim for the Coleman Mining District. A gold rush followed, but it was different from the Sierras. Other settlers, mainly members of the Bailey family (including Mike Julian), named the nascent town "Julian." In 1870, as others searched for the source of the stream' s gold, a hard-rock mining operation was established and operated for about 30 more years. One settler, James Madison, came through the area in 1873 with his wagon loaded with young apple trees. He is remembered for having the vision for this agricultural gem. The gold brought wealth, which is ref lected in the beautiful buildings along Main Street. With cooler weather now, the town attracts many visitors eager to enjoy a slice of its famous apple pie. See you on Sept. 26! Arlene's Breakfast Club is a group of wonderful Sun Lakes ladies who enjoy a morning of fellowship and breakfast. We meet at 9 am in the Main Clubhouse Restaurant the second Thursday of each month. We have a variety of speakers on various topics and support our local veterans with donations. Our breakfast is a buffet for $20 including tax and tip. No dues, just pay for your meal. We must provide an accurate count to the Restaurant, so enough food is prepared. Please call Patti Donitini at (951) 769-3271 for more information and to RSVP. Arlene's Breakfast Club