Jim Folsom address the Women of Eagle Scouts Brunch on 4-27-19

Guests at the twenty-first annual Greater Los Angeles Area Council of Boy Scouts of America Women of Eagle Scout Brunch, Wind Under Their Wings, will be treated to an elegant and motivating event on Saturday, April 27, 2019 at the Altadena Country Club, 2290 Country Club Drive, in Altadena. A reception will be held at 10:30 a.m. followed by a brunch and the program at 11:15 a.m. The celebration will end at 1:30 p.m.

This year the Women of Eagle Scouts Committee has planned a Celebration of 100 Years for Boy Scouting in the San Gabriel Valley and The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens ---both established in 1919.

Local Boy Scouts will greet guests during the hosted reception and will usher them into the dining room for a delicious brunch. Scouts from Rose Bowl District, Troop 359, under the direction of Scout Leader Steve Erickson, will lead the pledge of allegiance, followed by a memorable rendition of the National Anthem played by buglers from Venture Crew 560, Bryan Rose, Julianne Rose, and Eagle Scout Bailey Shen. There will also be vocal musical entertainment by Renee Hunt, wife of Scout Executive Jeff Hunt, who will sing America the Beautiful accompanied by Dr. JoAnn Haycraft.

Grant Ukropina, an Eagle Scout from Troop 4 will speak about “Why Becoming an Eagle Scout helped him in College, obtaining his MBA, and in the Business World”. He attended Loyola High School, Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, and obtained his MBA from the University of Southern California in 2017. After working four years as an engineer at McMaster Carr in Santa Fe Springs, he now works as a Systems Engineer at Happiest Baby in Culver City, which manufactures and distributes bassinets and other products worldwide that help new babies sleep through the night. His two brothers Nick and Conrad are also Eagle Scouts from Troop 4, and he is the son of Linan and Bill Ukropina of Pasadena.

The Invocation will be presented by Eagle Scout mother, Julie Wong Tam. Scout Executive of the Greater Los Angeles Area Council, Jeff Hunt, will give the annual “State of the San Gabriel Valley Council”. Jeff has over thirty-three years of professional experience and is the founder of the BSA Camp Card Program, which helps Scouts earn their way to go camp. Jeff’s passion is Scoutreach and creating opportunities for youth in disadvantaged areas to help them grow, develop and mature in reaching their full potential. He joins in partnership with the volunteers and staff of the Greater Los Angeles Area Council to deliver quality Scouting experiences to the young people of the communities they serve. Council Chairman, Tim Greenleaf will also greet the guests with words about the Council.

Capping the brunch will be a motivating talk by James (Jim) Folsom who rides the demographic peak of baby boomers, having been born in southeastern Alabama in 1950. His lifelong love of plants is reflected in a BS in Botany from Auburn University, an MA in Biology from Vanderbilt University, and a PhD in research botany from The University of Texas at Austin. Though his research has centered on the orchid family, with much of that time spent in Tropical America (including a year in Colombia on a Fulbright Pre-Doctoral Fellowship), Jim’s botanical interests are wide-ranging.

Jim is the Telleen/Jorgensen Director of the Botanical Gardens. He joined The Huntington staff in 1984, serving as assistant curator before becoming director in 1987. As director of The Huntington's gardens, he oversees more than a dozen thematic gardens covering 120 acres of the 207-acre grounds. He serves as visionary and project head for the development of new gardens and botanical facilities and restoration of historic gardens and maintenance. He dedicates much of his effort at The Huntington to educational programs that increase public interest and understanding of the science, culture, and history of plants and gardens.

Some of the most notable achievements under Folsom's leadership have been the design and construction of a botanical research and education facility in 2001, The Rose Hills Foundation Conservatory for Botanical Science in 2003, the Helen and Peter Bing Children's Garden in 2004, the Chinese garden, Liu Fang Yuan, or the Garden of Flowing Fragrance in 2008 and the Huntington Ranch in 2010; as well as the renovation and expansion of the Japanese Garden in 2012.

He also has added invaluable botanical collections to The Huntington, including, most recently, more than 5,000 orchids donated by the family of the late collector and grower S. Robert Weltz that will help The Huntington become a center for orchid conservation.

He was recognized as a Friend of the Cactus and Succulent Society of America in 1996, a Member-at-Large of the Garden Club of America in 1998, and presented a Professional Citation by the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta in 1999. The Garden Club of America awarded him their Medal of Honor in 2007.

Jim is also the liaison between the Boy Scouts and The Huntington, acting as both mentor and overseer of countless Eagle Scout projects on the grounds of the Botanical Gardens. He is a true friend to the San Gabriel Valley Boy Scouts and the community at large.

This year’s committee under the leadership of Co-Chairmen, Connie Knott and

Evelyn Boss of San Marino; includes Avery Barth, Kathy Bayle, Ann Boutin, Janice Conzonire, Sallie Determan, Vicki Elliott, Mary Falkenbury, Lynn Hatashita-Jung, Ann Kunitake, Mona Mapel, Patricia Tom Mar, Leigh Olivar, Pam Osgood, Karen Quon, Helen Kim Spitzer, Valerie Gumbiner Weiss, Karen Wicke, and Julie Wong Tam of San Marino; Vivian Chan of San Gabriel; Kathy Vine of Temple City, Suko Gotoh of Glendale, Patricia Libby Thvedt of Altadena, and Ellen Chiechi and Janet Orswell of Arcadia. The committee is advised by Diana Bates. The committee welcomes the community to attend and honor the Women Behind the Eagle Scouts. The cost is $60 per person and includes pre-luncheon refreshments, brunch, mementos, and supports the Boy Scouts of America. Invitations and/or additional information may be obtained by contacting Diana Bates at the Greater Los Angeles Area Council of Boy Scouts of America at (213) 413-4400 extension 412 or diana.bates@scouting.org. Registration is also available online at https://www.glaacbsa.org/wings_event.