When Herbalists Retire
Danielle Cook is a retired herbalist and sales rep.
What possibly could have inspired Danielle Cook to volunteer as the event coordinator for the “Healing Waters & Arts Festival” that is taking place in Jacumba Hot Springs this month? It has been a more than a yearlong labor of love, not to mention inspiration, cooperation, frustration and jubilation. She has been the driving force behind the creation of a grand series of Centennial Celebrations that spotlight the rich local history of a small “once and future” famous center for health and healing, culture, music, and cinematic backdrop 1 deposit casino canada.com.
As a retired herbalist and sales representative, you’d think that Cook had earned the right to relax in her garden. Instead, she is signing up holistic vendors, artists, craftspeople, musicians and food trucks of all kinds; she is scheduling activities, demonstrations, presentations and talks about everything from local historic homes, how the Native Americans came to Jacumba for the sacred healing hot springs, to a screening of the Hollywood blockbuster movie filmed in Jacumba in the 1920s called “Beggers of Life,” a silent movie with Wallace Beery and Louise Brooks.
Where does Cook get the energy? She says that it is from the documented energy vortexes that surround her Jacumba home, just an hour’s drive East of San Diego. It must be so, since the community involvement meetings she holds garner a high percentage of other local residents who are equally energized. Of course, some of their enthusiasm may also be due to Cook’s ability to inspire. Her neighbors join her in the revitalization movement to rebuild this small mountain town back into the cultural and healing hot spot that it once was, when the railroad brought international visitors to “take the waters.”
Cook was attracted to the amazing, peaceful energy of Jacumba when she spent camping vacations there. She finally made it her permanent home a few years ago. She saw much potential in the place that was rapidly becoming a ghost town. And, she decided to make it her quest to invigorate the community, support a business incubator atmosphere and recruit others to her vision of Jacumba as our own local version of Sedona or Ojai: a place full of fine art, great local cuisine, music festivals, nature hikes and wonderful shops with distinctive regional products.
Cook envisions sitting on the patio at the newly refurbished Jacumba Hot Springs spa, enjoying a local brew of Jacumba pilsner while eating fresh Jacumba goat cheese with native herbs. When you see what has already been accomplished at the Spa and with the sculpture installations, you can believe that the rest of her dream will follow. It will be a full spiritual, intellectual, and physical well-being center; it will be a place where it is fun and refreshing to visit; a destination for vacations, retreats, conferences and events.
Cook became an herbalist through her job. She became quickly disenchanted with being the professional sales representative for pharmaceutical companies and found the herbal products industry a better fit for her integrity. As a successful sales person, she was able to represent companies that could teach her about quality raw materials, rigorous production processes and ethical representation of product benefits. Some of her favorite nutritional supplements are astaxanthin, spirolina and medicinal mushrooms, all of which she still takes and continues to recommend to others. Manifesting the “Healing Waters & Arts Festival” is her way of giving back to the community.
Come see the renaissance and the magical transformation for yourself. Come out to Jacumba Hot Springs on May 24th, bring friends and family to spend the day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Attendance is free. Take Highway 8 East to the Jacumba exit. You will find food, tunes, arts, crafts, and insight into our local history. And you will help Cook to fulfill her mission of energizing you with relaxation. Find more information at www.JacumbaHotSpringsCentennial.org or contact Daniellet96@yahoo.com See you there! My vendor booth will promote Healthier Living workshops.
Category: Health & Fitness, Local News
