Hopefully, by the time you are reading this you will have already noticed The
Ventanas new look. We have redesigned the front covers for a cleaner, less
cluttered appearance. I use the term front covers because we have
three. For about five years, we have used covers that display our logo and masthead
which ever way The Ventana is displayed: in a plastic holder at the public library
or lying unfolded on your coffee table.
In November your editor attended a workshop in San Francisco for Club newsletter
editors from all over the country. It was stimulating to meet and network with
editors from large and small chapters and groups from Florida, Massachusetts,
Tennessee, North Dakota, California, and other places.
At that workshop we were given advance copies of the new graphic standards manual
for the Sierra Club. This guide depicts standard ways to present the Club logo
in order to increase the branding or recognition factor for Club publications.
Our previous Ventana masthead placed the newsletter logo next to the Club logo.
Our new cover design separates these two logos so that each is displayed more
effectively. We hope you like the change. Everyone we showed the test designs
to preferred the new.
As we start 2003 we are buoyed by the spirit and initiative of local residents
when it comes to protecting the environment. All around us on the Central Coast,
people are not willing to wait for the government to protect our beautiful mountains,
ocean, creeks, and meadows. All around us friends and neighbors are living their
lives in a manner that respects the plants and animals that share our places.
This issue of The Ventana highlights a Capitola couple who built an innovative
house largely out of reclaimed materials. Their story demonstrates yet again that
the people are way ahead of their government when it comes to conservation.
And while we must speak out and try to change the misguided policies of the current
administration, we will continue to lead.
Someday, they just might catch up.
Debbie Bulger
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