IN THE PIPELINE:

Last week I had the pleasure of speaking at the Friends of the Library luncheon along with fellow authors Robert Mayer and Kai Weisser as part of the city’s ongoing, yearlong centennial celebration.

The morning of the talk, I was taking my walk around the Bolsa Chica Wetlands, getting my thoughts together for what I would say when it was my turn to speak at the event. I arrived up on the mesa by the old Gun Club site and surveyed the view.

The weather was a typical Huntington Beach morning: cool, breezy, sunny and near perfect. A couple of miles to the left were oil wells. Ahead of me, out to sea, there was a pod of dolphins, some surfers in the distance, and people walking along the ocean.

Just behind me, a gaggle of nature photographers clicked away on the blue herons nesting in the tall trees. It dawned on me that this panoramic view provided, in essence, a “centennial” view of the city: the oil, surfing, nature, tourists — and this view became the basis for my talk later that day on what a remarkable city this has proven itself to be this first 100 years.

The luncheon was wonderfully attended, and I had the pleasure of making some new friends, including Joyce, who, in a charming brogue will sing Surf City’s charms all day long. Then there was 92-year-old Betty, a sharp-as-a-tack lady who reminded everyone in the room where the expression “young at heart” comes from.

Shirley Detloff, who I got to thank once more for being so committed to the wetlands was there, as was Ralph Bauer, another dedicated civil servant (who I also learned was a neighbor of ours).

What also made the event special for me was the coincidence that I was speaking at a centennial event while putting together this, the 100th In The Pipeline column.

In column years I know that is not an incredibly long term, but still, after two years and about 100,000 words, I did want to take this chance to thank you most sincerely for reading this space when you’ve had the opportunity.

It is a privilege to bring you local stories at a time when local news seems to be becoming more and more scarce, and the number of Independent readers I met at the luncheon reminded me of just how powerful a newspaper can be (and thank you to the Independent for supplying copies of the paper for everyone that day).

Mary Spafford, the entire Friends of the Library staff and everyone else at the library took fine care of we three authors and we are most grateful.

As part of the program, I shared some rare, recently uncovered images from the 1951 Fourth of July parade here in Huntington Beach, and I’m including one in the column today as well.

And getting back to my morning wetlands walks, I wanted to make you aware of an ambitious project the Bolsa Chica Land Trust is undertaking for Earth Day. From the release: “The Bolsa Chica Land Trust seeks your help for a massive single-day donation to help preserve and restore the Bolsa Chica this Earth Day 4-22-09:”

“We are asking 100,000 people to donate $50 or more on April 22 to reach a goal of $5 million in one day.

“This will be the largest single-day donation to help save and restore an ecosystem in U.S. history.

“While this may seem impossible, you may remember that with your help, the land trust has done the impossible before. In 1992 we were told we could not save the Bolsa Chica from 4,884 houses, a four-lane highway across the wetlands, and 900 houses on the wetlands themselves, but we did!

“The work at Bolsa Chica is not over! More wetlands are threatened, archaeological sites are in peril, and if the land is not restored, life cannot be sustained.

“Join us once again, pledge today to donate on Earth Day 2009 by subscribing with your e-mail address at www.bolsachicalandtrust.org.”

More to come on this project as Earth Day approaches, and more information on the project is available on the website.

CHRIS EPTING is the author of 16 books, including the new “Huntington Beach Then & Now.” You can write him at [email protected].