If working the soil had been my chief goal in life, I could not have found a better place to practice it than the hilltop lot in Tarzana to which we moved in 1964. There was never a dull moment on weekends as I battled to ward off the jungle that threatened to overtake all. During the years from then to 1980 when I retired from Kaiser Foundation Health Plan as Regional Manager of Member Services, I heard a good deal about Tarzana Property Owners Association and welcomed the opportunity to volunteer. As I sat in that first meeting, taking notes in order to understand what it was all about, Irma Dobbyn noticed that those notes included some shorthand scribbles. Presto! I became Secretary and it stuck.

Coincidentally, the Federation of Hillside and Canyon Associations, an organization founded in 1952, whose mission basically is to protect and promote the quality of life of residents of the Santa Monica Mountains and other Los Angeles hillside areas, was minus a secretary. As an active member of the Hillside Federation, Irma propelled me into that organization. After 27 years with both organizations, I’m beginning to learn what it’s all about

Then along came the Tarzana Improvement Association with a goal of contributing to improving the face of the business district and then the Tarzana Neighborhood Council that would bring city government and its benefits closer to the community. Volunteering to assist both seemed like a natural extension of TPOA.