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• PBKNCA Young Connections: Volunteering at Hidden Villa

  • When
    March 30, 2025
  •  
    2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
  • Location
    Hidden Villa, 26870 Moody Rd, Los Altos Hills, CA 94022
  • Spaces left
    18

  Register

  Join the Phi Beta Kappa Young Connections on Sunday, March 30 from 2-4pm for a day of volunteering at Hidden Villa, an educational nonprofit. Volunteers will be helping out with a landscaping project.
  
  Hidden Villa is located at 26870 Moody Rd, Los Altos Hills.
  Please complete this waiver/volunteer form prior to attending. 
  
  

  If you register, then later decide not to attend this event, there may be others on the waiting list who will be able to take your place, so please cancel (click "Already registered" if you are on the event page) or by contacting us via e-mail.

  
  

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• Native Plant Extravaganza And Picnic

  • When
    April 05, 2025
  •  
    12:30 PM
  • Location
    12:30 PM at Dr. Sorensons's home in Orinda at 295 Sundown Terrace

  Register

  To register, we prefer you pay online via the black "REGISTER" button.

  The 10:30 AM session is full

  
  

  The 12:30 PM session is available

  
  

  For other options, contact O'Neil Dillon at oneilsdillon@gmail.com or 510-207-8761

  Call phone (+15102078761)

  We return to the Skyline Garden's project, this time at high bloom, then go on to Orinda to visit one of our docent's  remarkable native plant gardens, where we will have our picnic lunch.  Skyline Gardens is a 1.5 mile trail running South from the steam trains at Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley to Sibley Volcanic Regional Reserve.  It is on EBMUD watershed land.

  Skyline Gardens is an East Bay Botanic hotspot for native plants, with more than 280 species. 

  The reason it is called a “Garden" is because since 2016 there has been a major volunteer-led restoration program removing a massive invasive non-native plant population.  With this help native plants, animals, and insects have thrived.

  This event will be  led by two docents and will not only be a Spring wildflower walk, but an education on restoring nature.

  https://www.skylinegardens.org/

  https://baynature.org/article/weeding-the-wild/

  After this, we will travel to one of our docent's (Dr. Robert Sorenson) world class native gardens  close by in Orinda, where we will have  our picnic lunch.  We will share this garden tour with members of the Berkeley Rotary Club.  This garden is designed using local ecosystem native plants exclusively.

  Date: Saturday April. 5th

  Places and times: 

     10 AM at Scott's Peak Trail Head in Orinda for the Skyline Garden walk  

      12:30 PM at Dr. Sorensons's home in Orinda at 295 Sundown Terrace

  Cost: NCA members and their guests $20. All others $25
  

  PBKNCA  rep.  O'Neil Dillon

  Max group size-18.

  Map and directions are available at this link for the Skyline Gardens trail.

  The trailhead is .7mi South from the Tilden Steam Train turn-off on Grizzly Peak Blvd and .3mi North from where the intersection of Fish Ranch Rd and Grizzly Peak Blvd. Parking is on the side of the road.

  The trail is generally flat, but has some slight elevation change. Binoculars recommended.

  Map and directions are available at this link for the home garden tour-  (see attachment and map.

  If on the day of the event you find you can't make it, call O'Neil Dillon at 510-207-8761. Simply not paying or not replying prevents us from allowing someone else to attend. No-shows do NOT receive a refund!
  

  If you register, then later decide not to attend this event, there may be others on the waiting list who will be able to take your place, so please cancel (click HERE, or on "Already registered" if you are on the event page) or by contacting  O'Neil Dillon at oneilsdillon@gmail.com or 510-207-8761

  If you are on the waitlist and wish to be removed without being registered, please contact  O'Neil Dillon at oneilsdillon@gmail.com or 510-207-8761

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• Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon, Novato, May 4, 2025, 12- 5 p.m., 12 noon to 4 p.m.

  • When
    May 04, 2025
  •  
    12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
  • Location
    The Key Room, 1385 Hamilton Parkway, Novato

  Registration not yet open.

  This is your opportunity to meet the outstanding scholars and professors whom we have selected to receive our awards, as well as to mingle with your fellow Phi Betes.  Just when you might have lost faith in the future of liberal arts education, seeing and hearing these awardees will act as an inspiring restorative.

  Since the Bancroft Hotel in Berkeley is no longer available, we found a great place. It is reasonably priced, has plenty of parking, and is easily accessible via the freeway. We are still working out the menu and other details.  You will be receiving additional information about this event via email.

  Date and Time: Sunday, May 4, from 12 to 5 - please mark your calendars and plan to join us then

  Location: The Key Room, 1385 Hamilton Parkway, Novato.

  Price: Has not yet been determined

  Questions? Contact Jean James at jeanejames@comcast.net or (415) 328-7978

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• 39th Asilomar Conference - Feb 13-16, 2026

  • Start
    February 13, 2026
  •  
    4:00 PM
  • End
    February 16, 2026
  •  
    12:00 PM
  • Location
    Asilomar, 800 Asilomar Ave, Pacific Grove, CA

  Register

  
  

  To register, we prefer you pay online via the black "REGISTER" button. But you may mail the coupon and a check by snail mail.  After you register you will receive information about reserving room and meals with the PBK group. For registration or logistics matters, please contact Barry Haskell at bghaskell@comcast.net. Registration is $150 (member and guests rate), 180 Non-PBKNCA, which goes in part to scholarships.  (Remember, to be part of the PBKNCA package, do not reserve directly with the facility - wait for the information from Barry.) 

  A preview of 2026 Speakers will be posted as we progress. For more information, contact Deirdre Frontczak, (707) 546-4238, dfrontczak@scu.edu.

  We are delighted to invite you to share in a weekend of learning, dialogue, and fellowship at the Asilomar Conference Center on the spectacular Monterey Coast.

  But this is more than eight interesting speakers, it is an opportunity to renew old friendships, or make new friends at meals; walk on the beach or the trails. Explore the historic buildings of the Asilomar State Park. Visit the Butterfly Grove Inn to see the beautiful Monarch Butterflies, and much more. 
  

  

  “Education is the most powerful weapon we have to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela
  

  Some of you may feel ready for new beginnings.  Some may be eager to expand your learning into unexplored ground.  Some of you may just be eager for a chance to hang with friends in a beautiful,  refreshing and historic coastal retreat.  And for some of you, all three apply.  Thankfully, we are looking forward to a new season for the PBKNCA Asilomar Conference in February!  It is again time to reserve your space for a weekend of learning, inspiration, fellowship and a breath of sanity, on the magnificent Monterey coast. Come, bring a friend, and find out for yourself. 
  

  If you have questions on this year’s program, please contact dfrontczak@scu.edu. For registration or logistics matters, please contact Barry Haskell at bghaskell@comcast.net. Registration is $150, which goes mainly to scholarships. Cost will be similar to last year, about $680 per person, double occupancy, and includes all nine meals and parking. All registered participants will receive forms to reserve their Asilomar accommodations, including meals; please check your email. (Remember, to be part of the PBKNCA package, do not reserve directly with the facility.)

  Please join us once again for the annual Asilomar Conference -- to learn, engage in discussions, and to listen to one another in new ways.
  

  
  

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