By Paget Valentzas
Every year the Sierra Club San Francisco Bay Chapter bestows the Dave and Pat Michener Outings Leadership Award on a local outings leader who embodies the Sierra Club’s motto to “explore, enjoy, and protect the planet.” Beth Bittle is the deserving recipient of the 2018 award.
Beth is an excellent leader. While extremely organized and competent, she has the soft skills to put participants at ease and develop community. She is friendly and fun and has a loyal following of participants including younger and gender-nonconforming outdoors aficionados. She often ties a social piece into her outings.
One of the ways Beth has reached such a diversity of people with her outings is by offering a varied array of activities including hikes, camping trips, picnics, kayak trips, bicycle outings, and environmental education or conservation activities. These have memorably included:
- Outings to see the tarantulas on Mount Diablo during their mating season. She gives an educational talk beforehand about the habitat and life cycle of the tarantulas, as well as other creatures we are likely to see.
- Kayak trips around Elkhorn Slough to see the wildlife with a naturalist so that members can learn how to protect the marine life in our local area.
- Work parties including trail restoration in the Mount Diablo foothills and cleanups along the Bay.
Beth's involvement with the Rainbow Sierrans and the Sierra Club goes beyond leading local outings. Beth has been on the Rainbow Sierrans Governing Committee for the past three years. In that time she has served as both outings chair and chair. As a leader, she has worked to promote diversity and inclusion, broaden leadership, support outings volunteers, and expand the types of outings and activities offered by our group. Beth was the principal architect of changing our name from Gay and Lesbian Sierrans to Rainbow Sierrans. Her technology skills have helped us move into the 21st century. She is also a National Outings Leader, and has planned and led a number of national trips.
And she does all this during her free time! Beth has a rich family life with wife Katie and son Rowan. She works for Black Sheep Adventures and is in the process of getting a California Naturalist Certificate. Congratulations Beth!