Monthly Meetings:
Where: NEW LOCATION!
Our new meeting room is at our propagation area address: 
San Diego Youth Services
3845 Spring Drive,
Spring Valley, CA 91977

When: 4th Wednesday each month (except Nov & Dec)
Time: (these are approximate)
6:00 - 6:45pm: social time
6:45 - 7:00pm: business
7:00 - 8:00pm: speaker presentation & Q&A
8:15-9:00pm: fruit tasting & opportunity table 
9:00 - 9:30pm: questions, wrapup, cleanup with gates locked by 10:00pm 

We are meeting live again, but only when feasible, will we try to provide a link via Zoom to some speaker's presentations. As possible, any link will be posted in the newsletter.

THE FESTIVAL OF FRUIT IN ORANGE COUNTY
was well-attended and our members are welcome to share their experiences
at our upcoming meetings
(Bring your photos and stories)

CRFG Incorporated -
Festival of Fruit at Cal State Fullerton in Orange County(This was a great opportunity to meet members from other chapters, hear interesting  speakers on a variety of topics, and attend awesome tours. Plus, there were fruit tastings, plant sales, and vendor and sponsors tables.)

IMPORTANT NEWS
NEW meeting location:

3845 Spring Drive, Spring Valley, CA 91977

September 23, 2026  ~6:00pm

Our September Meeting Speaker presentation starts: 7:00pm 
Mark Lee - Chula Vista 
"Tropical Rare Fruits"

San Diego County

Lifetime CRFG member Mark Lee was born in San Diego and grew up in Bay Park. At an early age he recalls fruit trees growing at his parent's house. His father taught him how to prune and manage some of those fruit trees, while his mother showed him how to prepare fruit preserves. On Saturdays, Mark would also get to visit both his grand-parent's homes - one set living in Chula Vista and the other pair lived in City Heights. He would visit both homes, and helped take care of their yards and trees. After high school he attended Brigham Young University in Hawaii where he worked on a banana and papaya plantation.There, he obtained a degree in geography, and soon found employment with the SD County Agricultural Services, and later worked for the Environmental Health Department, where he was an inspector for organic farms and poultry. While working for the County he met Art and Dottie Logan in Vista, they introduced him to the CRFG. He continued to learn a lot about rare plants from Quang Ong and spent a lot of time helping Quang do things at his nursery in Linda Vista At his current home, Mark grows many varieties of rare fruits and spends his time teaching his grandchildren about plants - especially fruiting species. He has traveled to many countries in search of good waves for surfing and rare fruits, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Fiji, Singapore, and most of South America, He also lived in South Africa for two years. He now spends a lot of his time at home, taking care of the plants with his wife and also with his grandchildren when they visit. He likes to share his experiences with others about rare fruit, and visit different nurseries to learn about rare fruit trees, especially with Steve Spangler at Exotica and Quang Ong, both of whom have taught him more about horticulture.

crfgsd@gmail.com
crfgsecretary@gmail.com