Volunteer of the month Albert Chiu - a steady supporter of Sierra Singles

Albert Chiu's 20-year volunteer career with the Sierra Club began with a stroll down College Avenue and a love of tennis.

As he wandered into the old Sierra Club bookstore (no longer open) in the mid-1970s, Albert couldn't have envisioned his subsequent years of service as an officer and trip leader for the Sierra Singles. His eye was caught that day by a flyer advertising a regular Saturday Sierra Singles tennis event. As a serious tennis enthusiast, Albert was eager to meet more players. During the next few years, he met lots of other Sierra Singles and broadened his recreational outlook. With his new friends, he hiked, snow-camped, and backpacked. He also moved into leadership positions - not because he aspired to them, but to keep Sierra Singles going.

Albert's life began far from the Bay Area. Born in southern China, he then lived with his family in Hong Kong for five years before they found a home in Oakland's Chinatown in the mid '50s. A year after their immigration, they moved to the Fruitvale area of Oakland, where nine-year-old Albert found himself the only Asian in his school classes. (Fruitvale's demographics have changed a lot since then.) Because he wanted to have friends, he learned English quickly and well - and lost his facility with Cantonese. The oldest of seven kids, he helped raise his younger brothers and sisters. He didn't have time for much traditional teenage play; after his classes in junior high and then at Oakland's Fremont High School, he delivered newspapers and worked in small Chinese family grocery stores. He contributed at least half of his wages to the family bank account.

Albert attended Merritt College for a couple of years before transferring to San Francisco State, where he earned a B.A. in economics. He graduated during the Vietnam war, and the U.S. Army decided to make use of his economics skills by turning him into a finance clerk in Fort Lewis, WA. He was so miserable in the rainy northwest that he asked to be sent to Vietnam, but he was instead transferred to Germany, to the walled cathedral town of Worms.

When he returned to the states, Albert went to work for 27 years for the Department of Labor in San Francisco. Eight years ago he decided that what he wanted to do for the rest of his life was not oversee state unemployment insurance for the federal government. He took an early retirement and moved his recreational and volunteer activities to the front burners. Treasurer of the Sierra Singles isn't a position that people seem to seek. Albert agreed to be treasurer time and again "to keep things going", which he sees as his function in many facets of the Sierra Singles.

For the past two decades, he has been leading Sierra Singles hikes. After learning a lot from fellow Sierra Singles leaders like Steve Bakaley, Jake Van Aarkkan, and Roy Buck (a professional botanist), Albert began leading his own trips. He says his wildflower jaunts are less erudite than Roy's, but he knows the common names of the plants. Richard Lardner, chair of the Sierra Singles, has tagged along behind Albert. "He is very patient and sets a good pace," Richard says. "He gets people prepared before a hike in order to minimize injuries and problems." He makes sure hikers drink enough liquids and are properly attired. However, Richard laughs, Albert himself wears shorts no matter what the weather! "He is probably the most versatile of our leaders," Richard continues. "He has led about every hike we have in the Bay Area. He has probably led more hikes than any other single Sierra Singles leader."

Albert no longer plays tennis, but in 1979 he got involved in Sierra Singles coed softball, and for the past 25 years, he has helped to keep alive the Sunday afternoon activity on a Lafayette school playground. A few years ago, the school district contacted Albert with some new insurance requirements and use charges that forced the softballers to cut their connection with the Sierra Club, but they continue to play "unofficial" pick-up games.

Albert hasn't limited his volunteer work to the Sierra Club. Every Wednesday he serves as a gardening assistant at UC's Botanical Garden. During the six or seven years he has been doing this, he has met fascinating people and picked up useful botanical and gardening information.

One drawback to early retirement is that Albert has to wait for his friends to retire so that they can all travel together. He has enjoyed his journeys to Spain and Italy. His favorite places to visit, however, are in the Eastern Sierra - Mono Lake, the Bishop area - where there are great mountain peaks and scenery and few tourists.

Sharing these experiences with friends makes them much sweeter - and Albert credits the Sierra Singles with supplying him with a great number of loyal, interesting, and active friends.

Karen Rosenbaum