Please enjoy this special evening of food and wine at a community favorite Chamber restaurant, Piccolino Ristorante!
​
Bon Appetit!

The Moulton Niguel Water District, in partnership with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, California Native Plant Society, and more than a dozen local water agencies, is excited to announce the launch of the Calscape Nursery Program, a first-of-its-kind initiative to help increase the availability of and information on California native plants. 

Please see the Press Release dated October 14, 2019:

New Pilot Program Helps Southern California Grow Native
Water agencies help increase availability of, information on California native plants
 
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and local water agencies have teamed up with the California Native Plant Society to bring more native plants to the region’s homes and gardens.
 
A new pilot program launched by the organizations this fall will boost the number and variety of native plants offered at local nurseries and ensure consumers have the information they need to plant and maintain the water-efficient flowers, trees, shrubs and succulents.
 
“Southern California residents have made tremendous strides to increase their long-term water efficiency to respond to our changing climate, including choosing sustainable gardens over thirsty grass,” said Metropolitan General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger. “But they sometimes face hurdles finding native plants in their local nurseries and knowing about how to take care of them, including how much less water they need. This program will help remove those hurdles.” 
 
Through the pilot, staff at participating nurseries will receive training on the proper care, maintenance, watering and planting of California native plants. In addition, native plants at the nurseries will be clearly identified and educational materials will be available for consumers to take home.
 
“We want to make it as simple as possible for Californians who are committed to sustainability to grow a beautiful garden of native plants. Having native plants with plant-specific information when they need it, where they need it – at the nursery – will be a big help,” said Joone Lopez, general manager of Moulton Niguel Water District, which helped initiate the program with support from WaterNow Alliance.
 
Native plants typically use about 83 percent less water, produce about 56 percent less green waste and require nearly 70 percent less maintenance, according to a nine-year case study conducted by the City of Santa Monica.
 
“Beyond these sustainability benefits, native gardens are just beautiful,” said Dan Gluesenkamp, executive director of the California Native Plant Society. “Through this program we’ve curated a really special list of plants that you’ll be able to find at local nurseries. The variety of colors, textures, smells and shapes will bring the beauty of California to your own front yard.”
 
So far, the pilot program is available to 60 nurseries in Orange County and Long Beach, and continues to gain interest from surrounding communities. In addition to free staff training – which qualifies for continuing education and professional certification credits – the nurseries will be part of a native plant directory at Calscape.org marketed to millions of people.  
 
Program partners, which includes the Municipal Water District of Orange County, will monitor its success to determine whether to expand it to other communities.
 
Interest in native plants has grown significantly over the past few years. Since 2016, traffic to the Native Plant Society’s website,Calscape.org, has increased by more than 250 percent, and a 2018 survey of the American Society of Landscape Architects expects native plants to be the most requested type of outdoor project this year.
 
This interest has been driven, in part, by Metropolitan’s turf replacement program, which provides consumers up to $10,000 in rebate funding for replacing their grass with native plants.
 
People also increasingly understand the essential role native plants play in the ecosystem, attracting and helping sustain wildlife and pollinators such as bees and butterflies, whose populations are diminishing, according to the California Native Plant Society.
 
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About the Metropolitan Water District
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a state-established cooperative that delivers water to 26 member agencies serving 19 million people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage and other resource-management programs.
 
About the California Native Plant Society 
The California Native Plant Society is a statewide organization that advances the understanding, appreciation, and protection of California’s native plants and habitats through science, education, horticulture, and conservation. CNPS has more than 70,000 fans and supporters, and 35 chapters promoting its mission throughout California and Baja California.
 
About the Moulton Niguel Water District
Moulton Niguel Water District, a co-sponsor and early founder of the Calscape Nursery Program, delivers high-quality drinking water, recycled water and wastewater services to customers in Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo, Mission Viejo, Laguna Hills, Dana Point, and San Juan Capistrano. A leader in conservation and environmental protection, Moulton Niguel maintains the lowest average water bill in South Orange County.

Most people have a hard time figuring out what to do with punctuation that comes within something that is in quotation marks. Here’s how it works… Commas and periods are always placed before the closing quotation mark. Question marks, exclamation points, and dashes are put before the closing quotation mark when the punctuation applies to the quotation itself, and after when the punctuation applies to the whole sentence.
 

• “I wonder,” she thought to herself, “when the cherry blossoms will bloom.”

 

• Eleanor screamed in exasperation, “I want to go home!”

 

• Do you agree with the saying, “A penny saved is a penny earned”?

​Contributed by Linda Coss, owner of Plumtree Marketing, Inc. To learn more about her services, please visit www.PlumtreeMarketingInc.com. 

On Thursday, October 10th, attendees gathered at the YTEL building in Lake Forest for our final Tri-Chamber Mixer. This mixer was hosted by the Lake Forest Chamber of Commerce.

As attendees came through the front doors, they were warmly greeted by all three Chambers (Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, and RSM) and kindly directed to first take a fun photo with Takata Photo & Design and then make their way to the meet n greet areas where the food, beverages, opportunity drawing prizes, and Chamber tables were located.

It was so refreshing observing the three Chambers interacting and sharing contact information to be used at a later time. The City Mayors were also on hand to support this special event, along with Board members and Ambassadors from each Chamber.

To see all the photos, follow this link: www.takatapd.com/p942096802.

We look forward to announcing our 2020 Tri-Chamber Mixers in the very near future!

The Mission Viejo Chamber of Commerce warmly invites all members, their families, and the community to support and participate in the final Bocce tournament of the year.

This event, hosted by the Mission Viejo Bocce Club and supported by the City of Mission Viejo, will be held on Saturday, November 2, 2019. Opening Ceremonies will begin at 7:30 a.m. with tournament play running from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

• Network with public officials, business executives, non-profit volunteers and bocce fans.
• Watch the most talented teams from San Diego, Los Angeles and Orange Counties.
• Bring a picnic and have fun with family, friends and neighbors—The event is free.
• Learn to play bocce and enjoy free lessons 9-11 a.m. and 2-4 p.m.

Please feel free to invite friends and associates by sharing the flyer below, which includes the tournament’s Mission Viejo location.

Congratulations to Elizabeth Elsanadi (Century 21/Kaufman Property Group), winner of the "Special Recognition Award"! We take this moment to acknowledge her hard work and extra efforts on behalf of her fellow Chamber members.

Elizabeth has been a valued Chamber member since July 2018 and has really "dove head-first" into the volunteer spirit by serving on both the Ambassador and Communications Committees. She is already a very busy realtor and yet, still gives of what little extra time she has, to serve her fellow Chamber members.

Elizabeth is highly visible at each Chamber event and networking opportunity. She regularly reaches out to her assigned Ambassador members to remind them to benefit from various Chamber activities.

As one of the Communications Committee members, perhaps Elizabeth is best known for her "paparazzi" skills and capturing key people moments at events such as our weekly Daybreakers Networking Breakfast, Ribbon Cuttings, Monthly Mixers, Happy Hours, and Chamber Mobs, and more. Then she spends time posting these amazing key moments to our social media outlets (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) (we also thank Diana Moreno for handling our LinkedIn posts). Over the last few months, nearly 100 posts has been created on behalf of the Chamber!

We say thank you again, Elizabeth, for working so hard on behalf of your fellow Chamber members!

To contact Elizabeth for real estate questions, including leases, please call 714-420-1031 or via email at elizabeth@kaufmanpg.com.

It's with great excitement that we proudly announce our Chamber "Ambassador of the Quarter", Joan Bornstein (Joan Bornstein Real Estate Services).

Joan has been with the Chamber since March 2017 and brings with her a wealth of real estate and life experience. She genuinely cares for her clients and knows the business community like the back of her hand.

Joan joined the Ambassador Committee back in the Spring of 2019. Since then, she has both diligently and willingly given of her time each month to help her assigned members to realize the greatest value for their membership, better use the website marketing tools available to them, and faithfully provides timely reminders for upcoming events and networking opportunities. 

While it's true that we have an awesome group of Chamber Ambassadors who are giving of themselves daily on behalf of their assigned members, we will proudly offer the "Ambassador of the Quarter" to Joan Bornstein!

If you would like to contact Joan for any real estate questions, please call 949-742-1978 or via email at info@joanbornstein.com.

We take this opportunity to sincerely congratulate Chamber member Diana Moreno (Web Design Pilot) for all of her amazing efforts as the "Volunteer of the Quarter"! 

Here are some of the highlights of Diana's "volunteer spirit" and extra efforts over the past few months:

She serves on the Ambassador Committee

• Provides a warm welcome to her assigned members
• Produces brief video interviews to help her members gain more exposure
• Supports all Committee meetings

 
She serves as the Assistant to the Communications Committee

• Spent countless hours to create helpful video tutorials for the membership
  • i.e. Request name badge, ribbon cutting, use of calendar, business directory
• Took the lead in the website restructuring and modification efforts
• Created Facebook “Members Only” group
• Has been instrumental in providing digital marketing support for Chamber
• Manages our social media LinkedIn account; creates valuable posts

 
A Few Additional Volunteer Facts: 

• Spent over 30 hours in various meetings in support of the Board and Committees
• Dedicated  over 75 hours to various assigned tasks
• Has acted on nearly 280 emails from the Communications Committee Chair alone!

 
It’s clear, this member is more than deserving of the “Volunteer of the Quarter”!
 
Congratulations again to DIANA MORENO – of Web Design Pilot!!

Many businesspeople make the mistake of focusing on their product’s featuresinstead of its benefits. What’s the difference? A feature is a fact about the product, while a benefit explains or demonstrates how the product will benefit the customer. For example, “made of heavy-duty plastic” is a feature; “guaranteed unbreakable” is a benefit (in this case, the benefit of it being made of heavy-duty plastic).

​Contributed by Linda Coss, owner of Plumtree Marketing, Inc. To learn more about her services, please visit www.PlumtreeMarketingInc.com. 

On Saturday, October 19, 2019, The City of Mission Viejo and Orange County Sheriff's Department will be hosting our 31st Annual Walk Against Drugs and Community Fair. In conjunction with this event, the City will be hosting the 12th Annual South County Disaster Preparedness Expo.
 
8 am / Rally at Mission Viejo High School (25025 Chrisanta Drive, Mission Viejo)
9 am / Community Fair & South County Disaster Preparedness Expo at the Norman P. Murray Community and Senior Center (24932 Veterans Way, Mission Viejo)

Kick off the event by attending the rally at M.V.H.S. Stadium. Walk down La Paz Road through the Oso Creek Trail to the Community Fair and Disaster Preparedness Expo. Enjoy interactive community booths, resources, educational displays, food for purchase, entertainment and games for all ages! Admission is free of charge.

For more information, please call 949-470-8433 or email to crimeprevention@cityofmissionviejo.org.