adly, the final months of 1997 took with them
several senior members of the Mono Basin community. Lee
Vining matron Harriet Hess passed away in the
company of her family in November, leaving the town a
little less orderly and the "Panum Pantry" food
co-op far less organized. Harriet and her husband Augie
originally rented, and then sold, us the building which
houses the Mono Lake Committee offices and bookstore.
We’ll always remember Harriet tending her garden and
calling to see if the monthly co-op produce list had
arrived yet on the fax.
For many years, four generations of the Banta family
have kept the town running. Bill Banta, Sr.,
passed away last fall, and now we’ll have to get by
with three. His vegetable garden at the start of the Lee
Vining Creek trail turned out produce that quickly
entered local legend, though we never quite talked him
out of all his secrets.
Longtime Kings Inn owner Jim Harlan also left
us last year. A good friend of the Committee and our
local curmudgeon, Jim was always quick with a laugh and
cheerful word. We’ll miss him in the years ahead.
In the broader world of water politics, Carla Bard,
former chair of the State Water Resources Control Board
under Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. and pioneer of the
environmental movement in Ventura County, was killed in a
car accident in November. Carla helped organize the Water
Policy Conference VII, where she spoke out loud and clear
for the environment. Carla will be greatly missed.
Mono Lake supporter Dorothy Babbington passed
away in 1995, and our thoughts have been with her family
due to the recent passing of her husband Robert.
Together, they generously left a bequest for Mono Lake in
their estate.
