Valley Wide Kayak Club

07/04/2025

July 4, 2025


Dear friends of Nancy Austin

I am so very sorry to share that Nancy Austin passed away on June 21, 2025 at her home in Hemet, CA. Nancy was a close friend to many of us, and I know how much she will be missed. I'm here if anyone needs to talk or wants to share memories.

Possibly you worked with Nancy in one of the San Jacinto Valley community groups she loved to support, for example Valley Beautiful, SAGE Society of Hemet, Green Coalition of the San Jacinto Valley or Hemet Concert Association.

Maybe you were a fellow member in an outdoor adventure group like Valley Wide Kayak Club and kayaked with her on beautiful lakes, rivers & oceans. Nancy joined the Unity Church of Hemet in 2001 serving in many positions through the years. Unity was her "home away from home" where she loved and felt loved. However you knew Nancy, I’m sure she enjoyed her friendship with you.

I hope you will be able to attend Nancy's Celebration of Life on July 26. You'll have a chance to share your memories after the service when a light lunch will be served.

Sincerely,

Diane Boss

Hemet, CA

Attached & pasted below: Celebration of Life Announcement

Nancy Louise Austin

November 11, 1946 – June 21, 2025



Nancy Louise Austin, age 78, of Hemet, California

passed away on Saturday, June 21, 2025



Please join us in Celebrating Nancy’s Life on

Saturday, July 26, 2025 at 11 am at the

Center for Spiritual Living - Hemet

40450 Stetson Ave. Hemet, CA 92545

In lieu of flowers please consider donating to the Unity Valley Church - Hemet, Hemet Concert Association or the Green Coalition of the San Jacinto Valley.



To read Nancy’s obituary, leave a memory and get more information about her Celebration of Life, visit Trident Society at

Celebrate the life of Nancy Austin, leave a kind word or memory and get funeral service information care of Trident Society.

11/03/2023

07/26/2023

5 years ago, we were having a great time exploring and paddling Santa Cruz Island

05/18/2023

Tuesday, May 16 was such a beautiful day for a Valley Wide Kayak Club paddle on Lake Hemet, full to the very top due to the winter storms. Check out these pictures which include some taken next to the spillway. We paddled along the shore around the lake, stopping to check out the bald eagle nest with a little eaglet chick inside before we paddled back to the our campsite 471 among the trees for lunch and social time together. Thanks to Ron Gregory and Bob Pippin for hosting our get together !

04/30/2023

Ron Gregory took these pics of Valley Wide Kayak Club Lake Perris paddle on April 15. What a beautiful day it was to kayak from Sail Cove to the island for a picnic and back. Just a slight breeze which made it especially nice. Heiko, Diane, Ron, Pippin were pleasantly surprised to meet paddlers Cory & Shannon who responded to our Facebook invitation.

02/05/2023

Did you know that now is your chance to see a green snowball in the sky that only appears every 50,000+ years? ☄️

C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is an icy ball of frozen gas, rock, and dust, otherwise known as a comet. As this ‘snowball’ travels closer to the sun, it begins to warm up and release carbon gases to form a visible bright green center and a signature streaking tail. But what makes this “Green Comet” so stellar? C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is a non-periodic comet, meaning that it takes an extremely long time to orbit around the sun as it travels from the outer reaches of our solar system. The last time this particular comet passed Earth was during the Ice Age…over 50,000 years ago!

This image of C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was captured during the early morning hours on Saturday, January 28th from the Sky’s the Limit Observatory located near our North Entrance. Although February 1st was when the Green Comet came closest to our planet (a mere 26 million miles away), northern hemisphere observers can still use binoculars or a telescope to catch the tail of this comet until April 2023. For stargazers coming to visit the park, now’s your chance catch this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity before it disappears from the sky for another 50,000 years.

In the next few days, viewers may be able to see a faint green smudge near the bright star Polaris (also called the North Star) just before dawn. However, when the full moon fades on February 10th, the comet will have traveled extremely close to the planet Mars. If you face west after sunset to find the planet’s orange-red light (to the right of the constellation Orion), the comet can be seen just above it. During this time, astrophotographers can point their cameras towards this location in the sky and take long exposure shots of 20-30 seconds. If you see a fuzzy, tailed object…you’ve captured the comet!

No matter what day you go to check out this amazing occurrence, good weather conditions and a dark, night sky away from city lights are required. Luckily, the skies at Joshua Tree National Park match these criteria perfectly!

Photo By: Peter Ilott