Fullerton Arboretum

The Friends of the Fullerton Arboretum will hold the ninth annual Arborfest Oct. 15 in the arboretum at Cal State Fullerton. The day's events will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. There will be games, pumpkin patch tours, face painting and tours of an 1894 Victorian cottage that belonged to one of the city's first doctors, as well as plant and pumpkin sales. In addition, horse-drawn hay rides will offer tours of the 26-acre arboretum.

Admission is free to the Fullerton Arboretum on Saturday, when hayrides, a plant sale, children's games and gardening demonstrations will be offered as part of Arborfest. Arborfest is an annual event intended to introduce the arboretum at Cal State Fullerton to the public. The festival attracted 2,500 visitors last year. "So many people didn't know we were here--they thought the arboretum was a landscaped parking lot for Cal State Fullerton," said Frances Shropshire, Arborfest coordinator.

Savor the splendor of the tomato at Fullerton's Tomato Tasting and Sizzlin' Summer Salsa Contest. The tomato in its purest form and many varietals of salsa are up for your consumption and opining, all grown by locals at home. Fullerton Arboretum, 1900 Associated Road, Fullerton. Sat. Free with admission. fullertonarboretum.org.

When Dick and Lorraine Jekiel's nephew, Charles Henault, died at age 26 last year, they commissioned a memorial tree in his honor through the Tree Society of Orange County. "I felt it was the perfect way to symbolize him being here," Jekiel said. "He lived with us for a while and graduated from Villa Park High School in 1981. He loved California and dreamed of coming back here to live." The Tree Society selected a eucalyptus, which was planted in Eisenhower Park in Orange.