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President's Message: The Times They Are A-Changin'
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In the Words of Bob Dylan, “The Times They Are A–Changin’ …”
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This is a time of great change in our organization and an opportunity for all members to play a role in the direction OWAC is heading. Our noble leader and Executive Director, Bob Semerau, is stepping back from all of the duties he’s been ‘voluntarily’ taking care of for OWAC over the many years. I don’t think any of us realized just how much he’s been doing, both in front of and behind the scenes, until now, as we move forward without him at the helm. Boo hoo!! It’s going to be tough … really tough … but we will somehow survive.
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Although losing Bob as our E.D. in this time of transition is sad news, I am happy to announce and welcome Janet Fullwood as our newest member to the Board of Directors! Janet has a long history of writing and editing outdoor-oriented stories, including 23 years as travel editor and ski/outdoor writer at the Sacramento Bee, plus years of freelance work for many other publications. She will be a great addition to our team. Welcome Janet!
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In other news, OWAC’s 2023 Excellence In Craft (EIC) contest wrapped up recently and the award winners were announced on our website. All first-place winners received $50 for their winning entry while 2nd place finishers received checks for $25. Once all of the entries were judged and the top writers and photographers began emerging, I’m happy to congratulate Nancy Sorrells who was selected as OWAC’s Writer of the Year! This is the highest honor given to one of our members each year, and Nancy’s award is well deserved. Nancy is a very talented, award-winning, nationally recognized writer and photographer, and her work speaks for itself. Congratulations Nancy for this prestigious award!
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And regarding EIC, please keep checking our website as Nancy’s entries, as well as many of the other award-winning work from the authors and photographers recognized through the EIC, will begin appearing soon for all to see and enjoy.
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Finally, please read Peter Schroeder’s article in this newsletter where he is outlining our next OWAC conference set for January 2024 in Sacramento to coincide with the International Sportsmen’s Expo. We will have a lot more information and details coming as we get closer, and I think you’ll be excited to learn all we have planned, so stay tuned. In the meantime, we are still searching for out next conference venue following Sacramento and we will let you know once we have some confirmations to share.
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Until next time, I hope everyone is enjoying the summer and the long days of sunshine in California’s beautiful outdoors. I encourage everyone to share your travels and adventures with us on our website by posting your stories anytime to www.owac.org.
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Passing The Baton
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For the past seven years, I have been proud and honored to work on behalf of all OWAC members as your volunteer Executive Director. The experience has been both personally and professionally rewarding.
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The many varied tasks performed during my tenure include, finance, membership, conference development and execution, outreach, publicity, promotion, EIC awards program, OWAC website development and maintenance, Vachini High School contest program, and many more.
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Working with the OWAC Board of Directors, we have accomplished much together, with several exciting conferences, a 500% increase in OWAC general funds, securing state and federal regulatory approval for OWAC operations, and much more.
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The amount of work being done can be quite daunting and for me, has become more than any one volunteer should be asked to accomplish. For that reason, and with the diligent cooperation of the OWAC Board of Directors, the time has come for us to “pivot”, as they say.
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In the coming weeks we will be transferring Executive Director responsibilities to various members of the Board and other members at large who are interested in improving OWAC’s effectiveness.
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I will participate in this transition and will retain some responsibilities, but for the most part we will spread the E.D. tasks across various members.
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Watch for announcements as we move OWAC forward into a new and exciting future.
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Thanks for a wonderful experience and all your support through the years.
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Bob Semerau, Executive Director, OWAC
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OWAC 2024 Conference
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OWAC Plans 2024 Conference at International Sportsmen’s Expo in Sacramento
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Save the Dates — January 18-21, 2024
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Outdoor Writers Association of California is planning its next annual conference in Sacramento in conjunction with the International Sportsmen’s Expo. Dates are January 18-21, 2024. OWAC’s annual meeting is scheduled for Saturday afternoon at the Expo, January 20, at 3pm.
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“It’ll be wonderful to see each other again,” says Carrie Wilson, President of Outdoor Writers Association of California. “After a hiatus of almost two years, OWAC members will come together again for an annual conference, with the added attraction of the largest sportsmen’s show in California.” No OWAC conferences were held in 2020, spring 2021, autumn 2022, or in 2023 because of disruptions from the COVID pandemic.
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The 2024 gathering follows a different conference model increasingly used by other writers organizations: holding the meeting in conjunction with a major annual sportsmen’s show. Afterwards OWAC’s Board will gather member feedback about whether this approach is successful or if people prefer the previous format of seeking visitor bureaus to host our dedicated meetings.
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OWAC is setting aside the late afternoon of Saturday, January 20, for its annual business meeting, as required by the by-laws. Also included will be a short program as well as discussions about the future of OWAC followed by a social hour. Afterwards, attendees can return to the show to visit exhibitor booths in search for ideas for their writing, photography, and broadcast markets.
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ISE exhibitors cover varied activities for outdoor enthusiasts not only throughout California, but also Canada and Mexico as well as internationally. Displays range from archery to Zodiac inflatables, fishing to game hunting, camping to kayaking. The Show also offers outdoor seminars, hands-on demonstrations, and speaker presentations, and a wide assortment of boats, campers, and vehicles will be on display.
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The show typically draws 300 to 600 leading resorts and lodges, outdoor-product manufacturers, boat dealers, regional and specialty retailers, hunting and fishing guides and outfitters, national and local conservation organizations, state and federal government agencies, and nonprofit groups.
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“In addition to re-connecting with old friends and colleagues, the tie-in with the ISE offers many benefits for our members,” says Carrie:
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— Networking with vendors and tour operators to research story angles and arrange bookings for upcoming assignments later in the spring, summer, and fall.
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— Free admission to ISE for OWAC members with press cards as well as free attendance at the OWAC annual meeting and social hour.
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— Free booth where members can sell books, display photos, promote their expertise, and mingle with colleagues, courtesy of ISE organizer. With brochures on hand to promote OWAC, this also provides an excellent opportunity to recruit new journalist members.
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— The event is not hosted by a tourist board or visitors bureau, so there’s no obligation to write about the destination and its activities.
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— Supporting members would likely want to participate with their own display booths not only for the benefit of OWAC members, but also for the wider audience the show will attract.
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— The January dates do not conflict with early-season fishing and hunting seasons.
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The only personal expenses for OWAC members are for travel, accommodations for one or more nights, and meals. Through ISE organizers, OWAC members will receive a list of nearby motels that offer discounted rates. RV parks can accommodate members who come in their own RVs.
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“More details will follow as we get closer to the meeting date, so stay tuned to the OWAC newsletter,” says Carrie. “Looking for a festive gathering of all OWAC members in six months.”
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In the meantime, please provide feedback as to (1) your likelihood of attending, (2) the booth space you would like for displaying/selling your books and photographs, and (2) any ideas that could contribute to our 2024 conference. Please send your comments to either
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Here is an example of what a book display may look like
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Example of Book Display
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2023 EIC Winners and Writer of the Year
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Results of OWAC's 2023 Annual Excellence in Craft Awards are in!
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We had a great showing of entrants this year. First place winners receive $50 and second place winners receive $25 for their accomplishments.
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After reviewing all submissions, the judges have selected:
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2023 OWAC Writer of the Year
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2023 EIC
action photography/artwork
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2nd betsy senescu Sailing toward Hawaii
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3rd nancy sorrells Entering the Tunnel
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column
1st merit mccrea "Ridden Hard, put away wet"
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1st bob gaines Remembering Alpers Ranch
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2nd carrie wilson A Day At Sea
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3rd nancy sorrells Fall in Love with the Valley from the Seat of a bicycle
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feature photography/artwork
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1st phil reedy After the Storm
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2nd laurie morrison Push Pull Splash
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3rd john poimiroo "Red Lake Creek Cabin, Hope Valley"
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1st john poimiroo California Fall Color
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2nd risa wyatt PeakEats.com
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1st nancy sorrells Sen. Kaine hikes near Staunton in support of proposed Shenandoah mountain bill
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2nd bob cooper 10 Scenic Running Paths From Around the World
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3rd matt johanson Washoe and allies run to stop Minden siren
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1st nancy sorrells "Native Peoples, native plants connected"
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2nd laurie morrison Calm Between Seasons
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3rd barbara steinberg "California Rambling: Tuolumne County offers iconic Yosemite Gold Rush history and High Sierra adventures"
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video
1st philip friedman Captain Mike McDaniels talks about catching a 200-pound Nile perch in Egypt
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book
1st peter schroeder Writing—How to Make Money
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Books cast new light on Sierra Nevada adventure
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Explore a spectacular new hiking route from Yosemite to Mount Whitney, learn to find your own food in the mountains, or join a cyclist on the ride of a lifetime from Lake Tahoe into Mexico. Despite record-breaking snowpack blanketing the Sierra Nevada range, these rewarding adventures are possible through three new books by four inspiring authors.
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Their course promises a different experience than better-known trails because those who follow it will seldom walk on trails. Instead, they will travel cross-country through two national forests, three national parks and five wilderness areas.
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Not a beginners hike, Sierra Grand Traverse runs mostly above tree line between 9,000 and 12,000 feet, involving 56,000 feet of elevation change, nearly twice the height of Mount Everest. Those who explore the full length will climb over 41 mountain passes and cross many miles of loose rocks and rough terrain.
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Great rewards await those who brave this journey. The Chapmans mapped a trek through scenic beauty which few have ever visited or seen.
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“Compared to other recognized trails and routes in the Sierra Nevada, this traverse spends less time on trails, has more miles above tree line, crosses more passes and visits more lakes. It features spectacular scenery and many beautiful lake basins, highlighting the range’s grand scenery, hence the name: Sierra Grand Traverse,” they wrote.
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Covering the full distance will take from 25 to 45 days, the Chapmans estimate, but hikers need not attempt it all. The authors divided their route into five sections, each with accessible trailheads. The shortest is 25 miles long from Piute Pass to Dusy Basin in Inyo National Forest.
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As much as hikers love the John Muir Trail, anyone who’s been denied an elusive permit or longed for a more private wilderness experience will appreciate the Chapmans’ creation. The book features beautiful photography, detailed maps, and more than 200 pages of helpful directions and suggestions. Previously, the world travelers published 15 guidebooks about hiking in their native Australia.
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“For determined backpackers with reliable navigation skills, the adventure of a lifetime awaits,” they wrote.
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“The Sierra Forager” by Mia Andler
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Foraging from wild plants not only feeds the hungry, it also educates us about ecosystems we live in and visit, she wrote.
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“Had we lived 500 years ago, even traveling from county to county would have been a culinary adventure. For the most part, people ate what grew where they lived,” Andler wrote. “So what did the food of the High Sierra taste like? The best way to answer that now is to eat from the land – harvest the wild edibles.”
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Andler’s book advises readers about finding edible plants in each season. Summer features the most offerings, including blossoms, berries, and greens such as dandelion and nettle. But even winter offers provisions like tree bark, fir needles and seeds of tall plants.
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More than 50 edible plants (clovers, plantains, wild onions and sagebrush, to name a few) get descriptions and photos. Andler takes her craft a step further by suggesting 44 related recipes. Who can say no to cattail power cookies, campfire blackberry pie, a cleansing cleaver smoothie or crab apple muffins?
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Andler stresses both ethics and caution. She encourages readers to harvest only lightly from plants growing abundantly, and strongly urges them to avoid eating any plant without complete certainty of its safety. Her book includes a list, descriptions and photos of common poisonous plants and identifies poisonous look-alikes of the edibles she suggests.
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This beautiful book will fill stomachs as it educates and broaden the horizons of even those who consider themselves experienced Sierra Nevada adventurers.
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“I am deeply grateful to the plants that feed and teach me each day I walk on this earth. I feel that they guide me in this process, and I hope I have done them justice and shared what they wished for me to share,” wrote Andler, a Lake Tahoe resident who previously authored “The Bay Area Forager.”
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“She Rides” by Alenka Vrecek
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If a 200-mile wilderness trek or a search for edible plants sound overly ambitious for your taste, then try a vicarious bicycling odyssey. In “She Rides: Chasing Dreams Across California and Mexico,” cyclist Alenka Vrecek takes readers on her journey of discovery to the southern tip of Baja California.
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For years, Vrecek dreamed of connecting her family homes in Lake Tahoe and the Mexican village of La Ventana under her own power. This desire grew stronger as she lived through tough times: an unpleasant divorce, a knee injury that ended her ski coaching career, breast cancer and her second husband’s diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease. The clock was ticking on her dream.
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“I started asking myself if I was only a person who dreams and talks about doing something or if I was a person who has the guts to follow her dreams,” she wrote.
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Vrecek, at 54, climbed on “The Beast,” a mountain bike laden heavy with camping gear, and rode south along and over the Sierra Nevada. Then she crossed the Mojave Desert and climbed over the San Gabriel, San Bernardino, San Jacinto, Cuyamaca and Laguna mountains, all before crossing the Mexican border.
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“On a bike, one is always moving forward. Only by doing that did I think I would be able to feel alive again. I only needed to prove myself to myself, and in the process of riding my bike, I was hoping to heal my ravaged body and my wounded soul,” she shared.
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Over 57 days, she biked 2,524 miles and climbed 48,000 feet. Along the way, she faced rough roads, bad drivers, exhaustion, loneliness, anxiety, rattlesnakes, hunger, thirst and frightening strangers. But she also found joy, fulfillment, unexpected kindness and new friends.
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“I crossed the deserts while the Mexican sun sucked the last ounce of fluids from my prune-like body, until faith was restored again by gulping down sweet water handed to me by a stranger,” she revealed. “People I met along the way who had the least gave me the most.”
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Vrecek’s inspiring pilgrimage will motivate those who may have deferred their own dreams. “She Rides” powerfully expresses both the hardships and rewards of pushing limits and facing challenges.
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Any or all of these three good reads will help pass the time until the sun opens the mountains for summer outings, and inspire readers to get outside once it does.
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Bidwell Park: Memories, Magic, And Mortality
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I turned onto a well-trodden dirt path, a sense of serenity washing over me as I entered the park’s atmosphere. Swallowtail butterflies flittered above, their bright flaxen wings matching that of the dazzling sunlight, as a creek gurgled nearby, synonymous with the laughter and shouts of children. As I continued my run, smiling and waving to others on the trail similarly reveling in the gorgeous day, I glimpsed a flash of chestnut flecked with white: a blacktail doe and her fawn.
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On any given weekend, Bidwell Park is home to hikers, equestrians, mountain bikers, swimmers, and stargazers. Throughout the week, Bidwell Park hosts younger children on field trips to the Anita Ingrao Observatory and teenagers, who cluster in truck beds to enjoy a clear view of a sunset streaked with crimson and violet.
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As one of the largest municipal parks in the nation, covering a staggering 3,600 acres, this park provides countless outdoor opportunities and is truly a crown jewel of the town. Since its creation in 1905, Bidwell Park has provided a sense of community to the town of Chico, California. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, when all other gathering places were shut down by social distancing and public safety guidelines, Bidwell Park remained an area where one could safely connect with both nature and their community.
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As a younger child, I recall birthday picnics and bike rides on the Lower Park loop, with my pink bike tassels fluttering in the wind, collecting squirming, speckled tadpoles along the creek banks, and jumping off jagged basalt cliffs into Bear Hole, a popular swimming location. For many in my community, Bidwell Park represents fond memories and valuable time spent with loved ones. As recognition of this value, Bidwell Park was acknowledged as a California Park and Recreation Society “regional treasure” in 2013.
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This park also serves as the center of the vibrant running community of Chico. While the competitions between the crosstown rival high school cross country teams is present, both teams run the trails of Bidwell Park on a near-daily basis; cheering and friendly fire audible when these groups pass. Fleet Feet, a local running store, hosts group training runs into Lower Park, further serving to boost the liveliness and inclusiveness of the Chico running community. The athletes of Division II distance running powerhouse, Chico State, also call the trails of Bidwell Park home.
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Alongside runners and the black-tailed deer I spotted earlier on my run. Bidwell Park is home to over 100 species of birds, including the garish red-headed woodpecker, whose knocking is audible throughout the seasons, and the quintessential Californian bird: the quail. On hikes to the outermost boundaries of Upper Park, I have spotted mountain lion tracks and coyote dung, carefully positioned on higher rocks. During the spring breeding season, Chico Creek is alive with leaping Chinook salmon and Horseshoe Lake with the calmer catfish. The eastern roads along Lower Bidwell Park host flamboyantly iridescent peacocks, which are often found blocking traffic as they strut in all their feathered glory.
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This abundance of life, coupled with the pure cheerfulness of all its visitors contributes to the vibrancy of Bidwell Park, yet this park isn’t immune to the environmental struggles that all outdoor spaces face. Due to the dry Californian climate, Bidwell Park is at high risk for wildfires, a danger only exacerbated by invasive vegetation, including star thistle and blackberries, among others. Multiple endangered raptor species within Bidwell Park are at risk of extinction and the once vibrant Chinook salmon population has dwindled to 60% of its original size.
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While the community has stepped up to face these problems, in the form of the Chico Bidwell Park Project and the annual Bidwell Park & Chico Creek Cleanup, to remove trash and unwanted invasive vegetation and to raise awareness for the struggles Bidwell Park faces, improvements still need to be made. As I traverse the well known trails of Lower Bidwell Park today, I recognize the pure beauty of the park, while acknowledging the efforts that will be needed in order to preserve this beauty for my own children to form irreplaceable memories.
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Bidwell Park is one of the crown jewels of Chico and Butte County California.
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Vachini High School Scholastic Awards Announced
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Vachini High School Writing/Photography Scholastic Awards Contest Attracts Record Entries
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Inspiring students to consider careers in outdoors journalism. That’s the goal of the Vachini High School Writing/Photography Scholastic Awards Contest, now in its fourth year, which is sponsored by Outdoor Writers Association of California. The contest, which is free to enter, is open to juniors and seniors attending any high school in California: public, private Catholic, charter, and others.
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Demonstrating the strong appeal that the outdoors holds for the next generation, the contest this year drew a record number of more than 50 entries from 11 high schools throughout the state.
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In the photography category, students submitted a portfolio of three photos on any combination of fauna, flora, and people in an outdoor setting. Submissions are to be in digital format, color or b/w. Digital adjustments and processing are allowed.
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In the seven writing categories, students were required to write a minimum of 500 words, except for poetry, on any outdoor subject in any style: essay, news article, personal experience, documentary, blog, research study, poetry, etc. The two prose categories this year were “News/Features” and “Essays”. Poetry entries divided into four groups, “People in Nature”, “Endangered Nature”, “Nature as Metaphor”, and simply “Nature”.
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Each entry is judged by three or four professional journalists and photographers from OWAC who each write critical evaluations of every submission. All students who enter receive copies of the judges’ comments. In addition, the First- second- and third-place winners in each category will each receive cash awards and certificates suitable for framing plus the prestige of recognition by California’s leading organization of outdoor media professionals.
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OWAC is proud to sponsor this scholastic award competition, the only contest of its kind in the State of California that offers cash awards. More than $2,000 will be paid out at the end of May when the winners are to be announced.
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The Pat Vachini Outdoor Writing/Photography Scholarship Fund was established in memory of the wife of Don Vachini, long-time OWAC member and one of California’s foremost outdoor writers and photographers.
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Founded in 1986, OWAC is the only organization of outdoor media professionals in the state of California. Members include newspaper and magazine staffers, freelance writers, book authors, bloggers, internet content contributors, photographers, broadcasters, editors, and media professionals covering outdoor life.
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for detailed guides on how to navigate and use the site.
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