August events at Jack London State Historic Park

Jack London State Historic park has announced its lineup of adventurous and educational events for the month of August.

Programming is a part of what the park does to stay in line with its goals of education and preservation, but its museum and 29 miles of trails are open to the public during the day for those who prefer independent discovery.

For information and tickets to these and other upcoming events at Jack London State Historic Park, visit Information and reservations for all three are available at jacklondonpark.com.

2 to 3:30 p.m.

Professional lecturer and lifelong Jack London fan Dr. John Freedman will present a dynamic review of Jack and Charmian London’s South Pacific and Hawaii adventures and their rich literary legacy.

Dr. Freedman will set the stage with an interdisciplinary overview of the mighty Pacific and a look at the literary forebears that preceded and attracted the Londons to this storied region.

The focus will then turn to the voyage of the boat that Jack London designed and built, the Snark, and the two subsequent trips. These rich South Seas adventures resonate with Alfred Kazin’s famous epitaph that “the greatest story Jack London ever wrote was the one he lived.”

These adventurous wanderings in Polynesia and Melanesia provided a creative canvas for a large component of literary output in the later years of London’s life, including “The Cruise of the Snark,” “South Sea Tales,” “On the Makaloa Mat,” “Jerry of the Islands” and many others.

Dr. John Freedman is an independent scholar and passionate world traveler who has explored over 160 countries on seven continents, with a special interest in destination-related topics that explore the literature, history, anthropology and biogeography of specific regions. He has been a featured speaker for National Geographic, Smithsonian, the World Affairs Council, Yale Alumni Travel and numerous cruise ship and riverboat lines worldwide including Viking, Silversea, Seabourn, Regent, Oceania and Ponant’s Le Paul Gauguin.

His presentations combine serious scholarship with an engaging presentation style and rich photojournalistic content gleaned from his own extensive photographic archives. A graduate of Brown University and Yale Medical School, Freedman practiced medicine in California for 34 years before retiring from his clinical practice in 2014 to pursue his passion for travel and teaching full-time. When not exploring faraway lands, he resides in Santa Rosa with his wife, Tina, a wine educator.

8:30 to 11:15 a.m.

California Naturalist Laura Wagner will lead participants in a mix of hiking, scientific learning, sensory activities and mindful meditation to discover the fortifying energy of the forest while traveling to the park’s ancient redwood, the 2,000-year-old “Grandmother Tree.”

The group will take a moderately paced four-mile hike, gaining 620 feet in elevation, stopping occasionally for experiences using touch, scent, sound and sight to connect with the environment and encounter the forest in a new way. The event will conclude with a guided redwood meditation session.

Wagner, who has been a volunteer at the park since 2017, advises participants to bring water, a bandana or eye mask, and layered clothing. The hike takes place on uneven, rocky terrain so sturdy shoes or hiking boots are recommended.

9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Nature and history lovers can learn about the history of an orchard originally planted in 1908-1912, later abandoned and recently restored at Jack London State Historic Park. They can then hike to the newly reclaimed orchard to see and taste the rejuvenation that now provides fresh produce for those facing food insecurity.

Deputy Director of Operations Eric Metz will start the day with a presentation on the history and progress of the orchard.

The group will then have the option to take a medium-effort, 6-mile (round trip) hike to the orchard for a personalized tour of the various areas that have been given a new lease on life to learn more about the unique challenges they had to overcome to revitalize the different areas, such as no access to water. Many of the fruit trees in the orchard now are much older than their average lifespans.

According to records from 1910, there were 675 apple trees, 175 apricots, 115 cherries, 250 pears, 75 plums, 810 prunes, and 575 peaches, and of grapevines 1,147 vines in the orchard that was part of Sonoma Developmental Center. By the 1980s, the orchard had been abandoned.

In 2002 Jack London State Historic Park acquired approximately 600 acres of the land, including 110 acres of orchard. In 2017, Jack London Park Partners acquired permits to start the work to revive these struggling trees with the work performed by mainly volunteers.

Today, the revitalized trees are producing a bounty of fruit. Jack London State Historic Park has now formed a partnership with Farm to Pantry to glean the fruit from the orchard and deliver it to Sonoma organizations that help people facing food insecurity.