Hello from Krystal, your PCR 2022 Director.
I love to connect people, being involved with planning PCR since the second year with my partner Richard, has been a way to connect our Southern California Pagan community with nature and each other for several years. Over the years I have been a presenter, led rituals, and volunteered for a variety of tasks both in planning for PCR and on-site.
Our committee is set up with a mentoring model. I was selected as the co-director for the 2020 event, which we presented online, and then became the PCR Director for 2021/22. We have had some interesting challenges to navigate; the Covid-19 pandemic, a virtual presentation, closure of the National Park group sites, finding an alternate location, and more. Through all that, our community has grown and developed new skills to meet the challenges, and other than the unbearable heat, we had a fantastic in-person event in 2021. The opportunity to spend time in the community literally brought me to tears, after more than a year of shutdowns, isolation, and Zoom meetings.
Our new location at Down-to-Earth EcoShire is a perfect opportunity to deepen our connection to nature in a reciprocal relationship, as it is a land restoration project. A private intentional community on 35 acres, with running water and on-site projects, it dove-tails with our mission and intentions. It also allows us to grow and we hope to have 200 attendees in April 2022. We have the ability to invite attendees to vend, which also supports the site. The owners of the site, Jim and Dawn, are amazing and supportive of our event and what we bring to their land and project. We have been the only group to camp that left about 100 gallons of water in the duck pond, which we hope helped the pond pump survive the rest of the hot dry summer.
The heat, whether in the midst of the Angeles National Forest or in a meadow south of Hemet, has become the biggest problem we have faced at Summer Solstice. Climate change is real and for health and safety, not to mention comfort, our committee has unanimously voted to refocus our mission and change the dates we host our event. That has led to our mission statement and name changes on our website and social media, PCR is still PCR, with some great new opportunities. I am excited to lead our 9th PCR at Down-to-Earth EcoShire on Earth Day weekend, Apr 22-24th 2022. You will see us at a variety of upcoming community events, as we share our camp-out opportunity and recruit volunteers and sponsors to join us at PCR 2022 with our theme of “Renew”.
I hope you will join us and I look forward to seeing you all!