Big Bear Valley, CA — This Saturday offers two opportunities to get outside, join your fellow community members, and be of service. The Big Bear Lighthouse Project welcomes everyone to “love your community, love your school,” as, in anticipation of Earth Day, there will be a work party at Big Bear High School. Volunteers are needed to help with several projects, including constructing the Peace Vegetable Garden at the school at 351 Maple Lane in Sugarloaf. Event organizer Beth Gardner says, “We have an unprecedented opportunity to beautify the front of the campus with a demonstration Xeriscape. A collaborative between many organizations has made it possible for us to create a rock riverbed feature, sculpt land contours, place boulders and plant native trees and plants, all donated to our school! Our first work day, which is rock and land moving day, is Saturday, April 17.” All ages, skills and abilities are invited; participants in the work party, which runs from 9am to 5pm, should wear clothes and shoes that can get dirty, and are also reminded to bring gloves, sunscreen, lunch and water, and tools such as wheelbarrows, shovels and steel rakes. For more information on the Peace Garden work party at BBHS, call the Lighthouse Project at 888/906-9998.
Also on Saturday, all are welcome to participate in the 6th annual Walk MS along the Alpine Pedal Path. Last year’s Big Bear Walk MS event raised over $80,000 to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and it’s not too late to form a team or, as an individual, get pledges to support this cause. Always a fun event, Walk MS begins at North Shore Elementary School, and walkers can do either a one-mile or 5K walk along Big Bear Lake’s North Shore before returning to the elementary on Stanfield Cutoff for lunch, music and a fun kid zone; there will also be prizes, for best dressed and most spirited teams, as well as for the most inspirational walker. Saturday morning check-in begins at 9am at North Shore Elementary, opening ceremonies are at 10:30am, and the official start is at 11am. For more information on the April 17 Big Bear Walk to support MS research efforts, call 949-1363; info is also posted at NationalMSSociety.org.
