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Nature Friends, a 100-year-old rustic mountain retreat, hosted its annual Oktoberfest on new platforms built above the rubble left behind by the Eaton fire.<\/p>\n
(Gary Coronado \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n
\u201cOur members have viewed the fire as a challenge, not a dealbreaker,\u201d said Nature Friends president Jim Angus. \u201cThere\u2019s a new sense of opportunity, and even excitement to reimagine the property.\u201d The nonprofit plans to rebuild the three-story lodge in stages as the founders did, preserving its alpine look but adding modern innovations. Fundraising efforts<\/a> have netted about $140,000.<\/p>\n Nature Friends is a branch of Naturfreunde, founded in 1895 by social democrats to enrich the lives of factory workers in Vienna. The parent organization<\/a> champions ecological and sociopolitical causes and operates 700 lodges worldwide that offer budget accommodations and nature activities.<\/p>\n Although dirndl dresses and lederhosen prevailed at Oktoberfest, attended by about 60 people, Nature Friends is not a German social club but rather a haven for lovers of nature, art and culture.<\/p>\n \u201cI love Nature Friends because it reminded me of home, north of Tehran \u2014 a place called Darband,\u201d said member Lila Ghobady, who hosted Nowruz, the Persian New Year celebration, at the lodge in 2023 in memory of her sister, Fereshteh.<\/p>\n Sierra Madre Clubhouse, Nature Friends lodge, newly built in 1924.<\/p>\n (Courtesy of Nature Friends, Los Angeles)<\/p>\n Darband, a dreamy mountain village, mirrors the simplicity of canyon life along Woodland Drive, which leads to Nature Friends. The road is lined with stone walls and cottages adorned with flags, painted rocks, wind chimes and gnomes \u2014 a mini Topanga Canyon anchored by Mary\u2019s Market<\/a>, a 103-year-old eclectic diner and country store.<\/p>\n Ghobady said Nature Friends recalls her free-spirited teenage days in Darband when, with friends, she\u2019d escape strict dress code laws. \u201cWe\u2019d take off our hijabs, eat great food, party together,\u201d she said. \u201cNature Friends has the same kind of rich Persian culture, a community that celebrates life, nature and beauty.\u201d<\/p>\n Wielding a sledgehammer to help clear the wreckage of the lodge in February, I found remnants of that community that the fire had spared: an iron triangle we struck before community dinners, a coffee cup I drank from after all-night revelries with friends, and a handprint pressed into cement by a long-ago member. Countless acts of love had gone into maintaining and beautifying the lodge.<\/p>\n As a 30-year member and past president, I\u2019ve watched the organization evolve into a hub for diverse groups, some nonconformist: drum circles, shamanic trainings, sweat lodges, yoga retreats, sound baths, ecological lectures and the Body Electric School, founded in San Francisco during the 1980s AIDS epidemic to teach Taoist and Tantric massage.<\/p>\n But long before the blaze, the lodge had already reinvented itself several times.<\/p>\n On the surface, the organization offers potlucks, movie nights and holiday gatherings open to all. But dig deeper, and what Angus calls the club\u2019s \u201chidden history\u201d emerges.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve never been quite what we appear,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The club had been largely an expatriate German club that also had Jewish members. That began to change in the early 1990s.<\/p>\n 1 <\/p>\n 2 <\/p>\n 3 <\/p>\n 1. Lionel Gaimari, six, left, mimics Julian Hasenfratz, off frame, during a dance contest at Oktoberfest at Nature Friends. 2. Joan Waller, 87, left and DeeAnne Gunnemann serve themselves German food. 3. Cheddarwurst on the grill. (Gary Coronado \/ For The Times) <\/p>\n \u201cWe brought in friends \u2014 a gay element and free spirits,\u201d said Bruce Anderson, whose house opposite Nature Friends was spared in the fire. His husband, Cuban-born Ken Symington, became Nature Friends\u2019 caretaker in 1993, a post he retained until his death at age 90 in 2022. Symington was a mentor to hundreds of seekers who gathered at the lodge for events and concerts. He also became the engine that kept the club solvent and thriving, partly by offering the property as a wedding venue.<\/p>\n After I met Symington, he invited me and others to co-found the Invisible Theater. Starting in 1998, our troupe of 30 held a decade of annual performances, an underground happening exploring themes of masculinity. It was a rare collaboration that deeply connected our tribe through art, play and free expression.<\/p>\n For the record:<\/p>\n 7:17 p.m. Oct. 22, 2025A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Zak Clark is the club\u2019s caretaker. He is director of operations.<\/p>\n After Symington\u2019s death, the club began yet another reinvention. Zak Clark became the club\u2019s first director of operations, living in the bunkhouse on the property that later survived the fire. He attracted younger members and encouraged hands-on involvement.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re stressing the importance of volunteering, and people are loving it,\u201d said Clark, who managed the rehab effort. \u201cThey want to work with their hands and feel a sense of ownership, just like the immigrants who founded the club.\u201d<\/p>\n Nature Friends built a temporary deck among the remaining walls and foundation of the lodge after fire debris was cleared. (Courtesy of Nature Friends, Los Angeles) <\/p>\n Darrell Goodwin holds a German stein during the Oktoberfest celebration. (Gary Coronado \/ For The Times) <\/p>\n Two dozen volunteers have worked to make the property usable for outdoor events. Retired contractor Darrell Goodwin, who lives down the canyon, built the 750-square-foot stage and will head the building\u2019s volunteer-led reconstruction. His wife Heidi Goodwin and her family have been Nature Friends regulars since the early 1960s, when their German emigrant father Benno Werstein joined.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was so heavy to see it burned down \u2014 all that time and love we\u2019d poured into the building,\u201d said Lori Werstein, Heidi Goodwin\u2019s sister. Months before the fire, she and her mother Barbara Werstein created Bavarian decor for the lodge\u2019s facade \u2014 faux shutters, flower boxes and door and window trim. Undaunted, Werstein crafted new alpine touches that adorn the ruins\u2019 newly painted concrete walls.<\/p>\n The Eaton fire destroyed more than 9,400 structures, most of them in Altadena; Sierra Madre was not as severely hit.<\/p>\n For members, the fire was only the first in what Clark called a \u201ctrifecta of horribleness.\u201d Winter downpours brought a torrential river cascading down Yucca Trail, which lies between the leveled lodge and the bunkhouse. Mudslides followed, burying parts of the property under four feet of sludge.<\/p>\n Next came the bears<\/a>, breaking into Clark\u2019s cottage multiple times, ravaging cabinets and the refrigerator; it has since been bear-proofed.<\/p>\n Nature Friends members survey the ruins of the lodge after the Eaton fire destroyed it in early January.<\/p>\n (Courtesy of Nature Friends, Los Angeles)<\/p>\n By early summer, the cleanup was showing results. The club\u2019s rehab effort centers on expanding its nonprofit status. A new foundation<\/a> is dedicated to restoration, education and outreach. \u201cThe fire gave us permission, or perhaps a mandate, to evolve,\u201d said Angus, who plans to establish family and scouting programs and conservation internships.<\/p>\n Member Jeff Cain grabbed the opportunity to reimagine the surrounding slopes. After clearing swaths of torched aloe plants, he trenched in about 500 native plants that he said \u201cwill look spectacular in a few years.\u201d<\/p>\n At Oktoberfest, I got roped into a schuhplattler dance contest, losing badly to 6-year-old Lionel Gaimari. (The dance troupe Die Gem\u00fctlichen Schuhplattler<\/a> performed at no cost). The winning times of a stein-holding contest (mugs of water held out with straight arms), clocked at 5 minutes, 57 seconds for the women\u2019s group and 7 minutes, 20 seconds for the men\u2019s.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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