All about orchids at Auburn Garden Club meeting

The Auburn Garden Club will hold its monthly meeting at 9 a.m. Monday, March 24, at St. Luke's Church Fellowship Hall, 124 Orange Street. Guest speaker Dave Veach will dive into everything you need to know about orchids. With their unique flowers, photosynthetic roots and thousands of varieties, orchids are said to be difficult. But that is just not the case. Learn about the many varieties of this stunning plant, how to care for them and why it is a lot easier to get them to bloom than you might think. Guests are encouraged to bring a few of your orchids to the meeting for questions and show and tell. For more information, call 530-823-8087. Music past and present at Newcastle Methodist Newcastle United Methodist Church at 410 Buena Vista Ave. will hold the third of its series of community events at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 23. This concert will be by the ensemble "Pastime with Good Company Consort" and will feature period music from truly ancient to completely present day. "Pastime with Good Company" includes soprano, alto, tenor, bass and great bass recorders, cello and classical guitar. The concert is open to the public at no charge, but free-will offerings will be accepted and will benefit Hospitality House, which serves homeless in Nevada County. Coffee and snacks will be available. The entertainment series is an open venue: musicians, historians, character actors and poets. Call, text or email Mark Weller at 916-804-4628 or Weller1954@gmail.com. Southern Pacific's operations at Norden The Placer-Sierra Railroad Heritage Society meeting on Tuesday, March 25, will feature Brendan Compton, an award-winning videographer and owner of BA Productions. Compton will present a video he filmed of a group with long connections to Donner Summit, including well-known Southern Pacific officials and famous photographers, discussing their experiences at Norden interlocking plant. The panel discussion includes historic photographs of the Norden complex. They shared captivating stories about snow service operations and the facilities at Norden, which included company houses, a station with telegraph office, a 120-foot turntable and a cook house for the crews. The video was filmed before the recent passing of two of the most knowledgeable SP employees at the summit, J.W. Lynch, retired SP division engineer, and Jimmy, "The Bear" Mahon, retired roadmaster and assistant division engineer. Additional contributors to the stories were John Valdez, Mike Pechner, Dick Dorn, Mike Graham Shirley Burman and Scott Inman. The participants present a fascination behind-the-scenes look at the daily operation at this remarkable location. The society meets at 7 p.m. at the Auburn Veterans Memorial Hall at 100 East Street. The public is welcome. For questions, email chuck.spinks@outlook.com. Canyon Keepers training session Auburn State Recreation Area Canyon Keepers are recruiting new volunteers for the 2025 season of service. A State Parks training session is planned for March 29. If you are interested in assisting State Parks in the local American River Canyons with visitor services, docent-led hikes, nature and history interpretation, Junior Rangers and trail maintenance and cleanups, contact State Parks Volunteer Coordinator Joe Shanahan for a new volunteer application. He can be reached at joseph.shanahan@parks.ca.gov or 530-745-2202. Learn more at: www.canyonkeepers.org. Genealogical Society meeting The Placer County Genealogical Society is holding its general meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 27, at the LDS Church, 1255 Bell Road in Auburn. The speaker is Suzanne Young Brayer, who will present by Zoom: "Using the Internet Effectively: How to Get More from your Online Experience." So much genealogical research is done online in the 21st century. How can we do it most effectively and efficiently? Young Brayer will provide methods, tips and best practices for achieving optimal results in online research. Young Brayer is an experienced lecturer based in Arizona with more than 30 years of experience as a historical and genealogical researcher. Everyone is welcome to attend in person or by Zoom. Please enter from the back of the main building. Refreshments are provided. For further information on the society, meeting location or to obtain Zoom access information, visit www.placergenealogy.org. Birds of Belize is subject The Sierra Foothills general meeting will be held Tuesday, April 1, at the Madelyn Helling Library Community Room in Nevada City. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; program starts at 7. Local bird expert Ted Beedy will talk about the birds of Belize. He will address aspects of individual bird species, including their taxonomy, natural history and ongoing efforts to conserve these tropical treasures. There will be great photos and sounds. For further information, call Program Chair Theresa Thomas 530-264-6742. Sons in Retirement Sons in Retirement, Chapter 37, in Auburn will hold their next monthly luncheon at noon April 3 at the Auburn Elks Lodge, #1691, 195 Pine Street. The speaker will be Daniella Stepek, economic development specialist for the Placer County Office of Economic Development. Visitors are welcome. Call Dave McBrayer with questions at 510-882-4326. PECA welcomes speaker Happy Earth Month! Join Placer Earth Care Action and be inspired by speaker Joan Griffin's carefully curated list of Earth-centered books. Griffin is the author of The Force of Nature. There is something for everyone. Sunday, April 6, at 1:15 p.m. in the Fireside Room at 1st Congregational Church Auburn, 710 Auburn Ravine Road. Zoom: https://www.ppoft.org/peca-events#PECA_Presents National Model Train Show coming to Sacramento The National Garden Railway Convention is having two public days, Friday and Saturday, June 20-21, at the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center in Sacramento for everyone to partake in a special model train event and experience all of the exciting and rewarding aspects model railroading has to offer. It will include a spectacular model train show featuring operating model train layouts, displays, merchandise and free kids make and take workshops. Times are 1-5 p.m. June 20 and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. June 21. Tickets at the door $15 for individuals 15 and $35 for the whole family.