Friends of Santa Teresa Park News Archive 2010-2017

Santa Teresa Park Official Park Page Park Map News Special Reports Greetings Calendar Meetings Volunteer Hours Links Contacts	Friends of Santa Teresa Park News Archive 2010-2017 The following are archived news events from our homepage, from 2010-2017. The Santa Teresa Community Fest will be held on Saturday September 18, 2010 from 11 am to 5 pm, George Page Park, Santa Teresa Blvd. at Miyuki Drive. The Friends of Santa Teresa Park had a booth there. The County Parks is hosting a series of community meetings on setting the criteria for their acquisition plans. See here for more information. See here for the flyer on the community workshops. The dedication ceremony for the Albertson Parkway was held on Saturday August 29, 2009 from 10:00-10:30 am at Jaggers and Conejo. The Santa Teresa County Park Site Historic Plan final plan documents are available on the website. The plan was presented to the Historic Heritage Commission on 2/19/09, which was the last forum for public input before the CEQA and environmental review process begins. A public meeting was held on August 11, 2009 to discuss the Draft Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration for the plan. We had a farewell celebration at the Mounted Ranger Unit, Monday evening, June 29, 2009. Our organization was featured in the June San Jose City Council District 2 newsletter. We had our picture taken at our May meeting. Councilmember Ash Kalra's District 2 newsletter for March 2011 has a picture on page 3 taken by Ron Horii from the Ridge Trail in Santa Teresa Park, showing a rainbow over the Santa Teresa Golf Course. We participated in the Santa Teresa Library Anniversary on Feb. 5, 2011. We had a table, where we displayed artifacts, models, and passed out literature. Mike Boulland read stories to the kids. Ron Horii showed a slideshow on Santa Teresa Park (56 MB), Sam Drake had a display and gave a slideshow and demo on geocaching. We gave a presentation and crafts activity on Santa Teresa wildflowers at the Santa Teresa Library on 4/30/11. We are working on a design for an interpretive plaque on Coyote Peak. Here is a picture of a mock-up design for the plaque. We have applied for Cycle 25 of the City of San Jose's CAP Grant. Here is a copy of our application. We have been awarded a CAP Grant for 2011-2012 of $500, which is half of what we asked for. Our application was initially denied, but after writing a letter of appeal and making a presentation, we received funding for everything except for Fandango Entertainment. Ron Horii made a slideshow on Santa Teresa Park, the Albertson Parkway, and views from La Colina Park. We helped out at Festival in the Park at Hellyer County Park on Saturday June 25. It ran from 11 am to 4 pm. There were booths for County Parks volunteers and Friends groups. We provided our latest newsletter and other information. Our members helped out in various places at the Festival. Here is a web page on the festival. We will be taking a guided tour of Gilroy Hot Springs on July 31. Everyone is invited. Contact Mike Boulland for more details. We be participating in Family Fandango at Santa Teresa Park on August 13, 2011. We could use help manning the booths and activities. Check back for more details. The new County Parks Park Here Brochure is available, which has maps, pictures, and descriptions of all the County Parks. The cover picture is of the Norred Trail in Santa Teresa Park, taken on 5/27/10 by Ron Horii. Ron also took the pictures of Alviso Marina, Chesbro Reservoir, Chitactac-Adams Park, Uvas Reservoir, Rancho San Antonio Park, Sanborn Park, and Stevens Creek Park. Councilmember Ash Kalra's District 2 newsletter for June 2011 has a picture on page 3 taken by Ron Horii from the Norred Trail in Santa Teresa Park, showing the Albertson Parkway. The new County Parks Fall 2011-Spring 2012 Play Here Brochure is available. The cover picture is of the Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch barns taken by Ron Horii. Ron took many of the pictures inside the brochure. The Santa Teresa Community Fest will not be held this year (2011). It should be returning in 2012. Ron Horii has a display of Park Photography at the Santa Teresa Library in the Community Room in September 2011. It will be on display for about a month. The room is normally open only for events. The best time to see it is during the Friends of the Santa Teresa Library's book sale on Saturday September 17 from 10 am to 4 pm. Ron Horii had his display of park photography to Moonbeams Coffee, across Santa Teresa Blvd. from the Santa Teresa Library, next to 24 Hour Fitness, for the month of October, 2011. We, the Friends of Santa Teresa Park, celebrated our 20th anniversary at the Santa Teresa Library from 10 am to 2 pm on Saturday March 24. We had an information table where we passed out park information. Paul Bernal loaned us pictures of the Bernal Family and Rancho Santa Teresa and costumes so kids could dress up as Spanish soldiers. There were be arts and crafts for kids. Boy Scout Troop 227 had displays of their projects at Santa Teresa Park. Ron Horii had park pictures on display and a slideshow. The Tenor Band provided musical entertainment. Major construction of the East Barn at the Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch has been completed. 4-H will use the barn for an animal project, most likely in 2014. The Healthy Trails 3rd Edition guide has been published. It includes 2 trail routes in Santa Teresa Park. Ron Horii will be teaching an introduction to outdoor photography workshop at the Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch on Saturday October 4, 2014 at 10:00 am. He will show how to choose and use a camera, how to take better outdoor pictures, and photo composition. The workshop includes a slideshow, demonstration, and a walk around the historic area to take pictures. Meet at the Bernal Ranch barn. Register online or call 408-355-2201. Coyote Peak Interpretive Sign Dedication Event: We designed a new interpretive sign for Coyote Peak. We had a dedication ceremony on October 25, 2014 at 10:00 am. (See the event flyer.) It was held in the covered group picnic site in the Pueblo Day Use Area of Santa Teresa Park. The event included music, refreshments, displays, information, talks, awards, and acknowledgments. Parking fees were waived. Unfortunately, due to the weather, we were not able to have our planned sign unveiling ceremony up on Coyote Peak, so we unveiled a copy of the sign in the Pueblo Area. (See the pictures from the event and of the sign.) Widening Curie Drive at the Pyzak/Bonetti Ranch is in the County Parks 2016 budget. The work will be completed in 2017. See our new FOSTP flyer for June 2015. See our newsletter for June-July 2015. Ron Horii's pictures were used for the County Parks' "Nature is Nearby" Billboards. One of them was a picture of Santa Teresa Park. It was on Keyes St. west of 8th St., on the south side facing east, 5 blocks west of Senter. Story Road going west turns into Keyes. It showed the Coyote Peak Trail below Coyote Peak. The billboard campaign was intended to make urban residents aware of the natural areas nearby. They showed County Parks, most of which are less than a half hour's drive from the billboards. We applied for and received a City of San Jose CAP Grant (Community Action and Pride). See the August 2015 meeting minutes for details of the application. The Friends of Santa Teresa Park held a cleanup event at Santa Teresa Spring on September 26, 2015. The spring was nearly completely covered with vines and dirt. We cleared away the dirt and trimmed the vines. Ron Horii taught a class in outdoor photography on November 14, 2015 at the Bernal Ranch in Santa Teresa Park at 10 am. See below for details. See here for pictures of the class. On March 3, 2016, we had a special community meeting with representatives from the County Parks rangers, sheriffs deputies, San Jose Police, San Jose Council District 2 to discuss issues with the park. Here is a flyer for the meeting, the meeting agenda, the goals of the meeting, FOSTP board members and vision, the list of contacts, and the meeting minutes. We gave 2 wildflower hikes in Santa Teresa Park in April (here is a poster): April 16 at 10:00 am on Bernal Hill, starting at the Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch on Manila Drive. (See here for pictures of this hike). April 30 on the Stile Ranch, Mine, and Fortini trails, starting at the Fortini/Stil Ranch Trailhead on San Vicente Avenue off Fortini Road at 9:00 am. Ron Horii gave an outdoor photography class and hike at Coyote Lake/Harvey Bear Ranch County Park on May 7, 2016 at 10:00. Here's a poster for the class/hike. Our members helped out at Festival in the Park at Hellyer County Park on Saturday June 4, 2016. Ron Horii gave a nature photography class and hike at Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve on Saturday June 11, 2016 at 4:00 pm. He will be giving another class there at 4:00 pm on July 23. He will be giving another class at Ulistac Natural Area in Santa Clara on 8/20 on 4:00 pm. See the Open Space Authority's Activities Calendar. Ron has a class tentatively scheduled on Nov. 12 at 10 am at the Bernal Ranch in Santa Teresa Park. Ron Horii was featured on an episode of the "Open Road" TV show on NBC Bay Area, hosted by Doug McConnell. Ron talked about Santa Teresa Park and other parks and about his outdoor photography classes. His pictures of the parks and classes were shown. Family Fandango is the biggest event at the Bernal Ranch. We helped out with the event and had a booth there: Saturday, August 13, 2016, Family Fandango • Santa Teresa’s Historic Bernal Ranch • 5pm-8pm. "Celebrate the history of early California and its ties to the Anza Expedition and the Bernal family. The evening’s focus is family fun through song, dance, demonstrations, and activities that highlight the many contributions of our early communities. Location is Camino Verde at Manila Drive. Food available for purchase. Questions? (408) 918-7770." Here are pictures from the event. From Assemblymember Mark Stone: Did you know that Santa Clara County Parks is celebrating turning 60 this year? You are invited to join me and Santa Clara County Supervisor Mike Wasserman in spending the day enjoying and celebrating a local favorite, the Almaden Quicksilver County Park. Join us for breakfast and conversation, and then stay to attend fun-filled guided tours of Casa Grande and the town of New Almaden. Saturday, August 27, 2016, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Almaden Quicksilver County Park. Parking located at Casa Grande Museum: 21350 Almaden Rd, San Jose, CA 95120. 10 – 11 a.m. Breakfast with Assemblymember Stone and Supervisor Wasserman at Casa Grande 11 a.m. – Noon Walking tour of the Town of New Almaden Noon – 1 p.m. Tour of Casa Grande This event is FREE, but RSVPs are encouraged due to limited space. Please let us know if you have any special needs. For more information and to RSVP, please call my office at (831) 425-1503 or email angela.gile@asm.ca.gov. The Volunteer Recognition Banquet for Santa Clara County Park volunteers was held on Saturday August 27, 2016 from 12:00 to 2:00 pm at Martial Cottle Park. "Volunteers who have recorded at least 5 hours of service in the last year will be invited to attend. Please submit any outstanding hours either online or to volunteer@prk.sccgov.org by June 30, 2016 to ensure we fully recognize you for your achievements! NOTE: If you would like to check how many hours you have recorded, in order to confirm your invitation, please contact the Volunteer Program by email volunteer@prk.sccgov.org or by calling at 408-918-4930." See our new Summer 2016 newsletter. It has articles about our park-community meeting, Family Fandango, Bernal Family member Dorothy Wuss, Bernal Zorros, our spring wildflower hikes, a memorial to former County Parks director Lisa Killough, Measures Q and A, Old Fashioned Wash Days, cleanup of Santa Teresa Spring, cream sac wildflowers, Ron Horii's appearance on the "Open Road" TV show, and senior park ranger Phil Hearin. We submitted our application for a City of San Jose Community Action and Pride (CAP) Grant for Cycle 30, which runs from 9/1/16 to 8/31/17. We requested a grant of $1,150 to pay for our UNSCC membership, website, newsletter, PO Box, and event expenses, including Fandango and National Night Out in 2017. We will be looking at organizing a National Night Out event, which will be held on Aug. 1, 2017. At our August 4, 2016 meeting, County Parks Natural Resources Program Supervisor Barry Hill and Deputy Director Don Rocha came to give us an update on cattle grazing in Santa Teresa Park. Here is Barry Hill's presentation on it. The Friends of Santa Teresa Park went on a field trip to see Monterey State Historic Park, Fisherman's Wharf, and historic sites in Salinas: Facebook: FOSTP Trip to Monterey 8/28/16 Facebook: Trip to Salinas Historical Sites 8/28/16 On 8/30/16, Mike Boulland, Kitty Monahan, and Ron Horii met with County Parks Director Robb Courtney. To discuss the Santa Teresa County Park Historic Site Plan and its implementation. Here is the presentation we gave. Ron Horii taught an outdoor photography class at the Bernal Ranch on Nov. 12, 2016 at 10 am. See the Events below. Santa Clara County Parks' "Wish you were here?" Ad Campaign in 2017 featured a billboard of Santa Teresa Park in downtown San Jose at 10th St. and Hedding St. The picture of the Coyote Peak Trail was taken by FOSTP secretary Ron Horii. 13 of his pictures were used for billboard and busback ads for the County Parks. The Friends of Santa Teresa Park held our first National Night Out event at the Bernal Ranch on Tuesday, August 1, 2017, from 5-7:30 pm. We served free ice cream and popsicles. Visitors could see a fire engine and a sheriff's patrol car. A park ranger, sheriff's deputies, and firemen were there to answer questions. Children’s crafts projects and games were provided. City Councilmember Sergio Jimenez came by, greeted people, and helped with a raffle. Sponsored by: The Friends of Santa Teresa Park, Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation, United Neighborhoods of Santa Clara County, and the City of San Jose’s Community Action and Pride Grant Program. Here is more information about the event. This is a flyer for the event. Here are pictures from our National Night Out. Family Fandango was held this year on Saturday, August 5 from 5-8pm at the Bernal Ranch. It celebrated the history of early California and its ties to the Anza Expedition and the Bernal family. The evening’s focus was on family fun through song, dance, demonstrations and activities that highlighted the many contributions of our early communities. Here are pictures from that event. We have applied for the City of San Jose's Cycle 1 Beautify San Jose Grant. It replaces, but is derived from, the city's old Community Action and Price (CAP) Grant. The grant funds neighborhood beautification projects, community events, and operating expenses for neighborhood organizations. We requested funding for our UNSCC membership (pays for meeting insurance), our website, our PO box, our newsletter and other publications, and expenses for next year's National Night Out and Fandango. We also submitted the final report for our Cycle 30 CAP Grant. Ron Horii gave his annual outdoor photography class at the Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch (Manila Drive at Camino Verde) on 10/30/17. Here is the flyer for the class. He also gave a lunchtime brownbag slideshow presentation on outdoor and nature photography at the Open Space Authority of Santa Clara Valley's headquarters at 33 Las Colinas Lane, San Jose, on September 22, 2017. Ron Horii gave a Nature Photography Workshop at the Japanese Friendship Gardens in Kelley Park, 1300 Senter Road San Jose, CA 95112 on Saturday October 21, 2017 from 4pm to 6pm. See here for more information. The Muriel Wright Center, which is above the Pueblo Day Use Center in Santa Teresa Park, is being converted into a mental health care facility. It was originally built in the 1960's and was used as a residential juvenile correctional facility. It was closed because of declining census, and juvenile offenders were transferred to the James Ranch in Morgan Hill. In 2014, the Santa Clara County Parks' Volunteer Office moved in, along with an office of the County Sheriffs assigned to patrol the County Parks. It was also used as a training facility by the Sheriffs Office. In early 2016, the Volunteers Office were told they would have to move out to make room for the mental health program. Originally, they were told they would have to move out by June 2016, but the date was pushed out. Now they are looking at early next year. This year, they temporarily moved into a much smaller office space adjacent to the Sheriff's station. The plan is to move them into a new facility at Vasona Lake County Park, near County Park headquarters. In the meantime, their former space has been cleared out (see picture below). The retrofitting project, expected to cost $5 million, has been funded. Neighbors in the community below Santa Teresa are concerned about the impact of this project on their neighborhood. The Friends of Santa Teresa Park are also concerned about the impact to the park and park users. On 9/14/17, Mike Boulland, Ron Horii, and neighborhood resident Issa Ajlouny met with Supervisor Mike Wasserman and his Chief of Staff John Gibbs, who is also a County Parks Commissioner. They discussed this issues, and John Gibbs created a Q and A information document. Here is the latest version of the Q&A document. We have been discussing this issue in our meetings. We may have a larger community meeting in the future or will participate in meetings organized by other groups. On 8/13/17, a group of about 50 volunteers assembled at the Pueblo Day Use Area for a Martin Luther King Day of Service in Santa Teresa Park. Trail crew members gave instructions and led them down the Hidden Springs Trail to the Ohlone Trail. The volunteers worked on the Ohlone Trail, widening and smoothing it. Here's an album of pictures from that day. Long-time volunteer Rick Leonard passed away in November of 2017. He volunteered at many events at Santa Teresa Park, especially the movie night. Here are pictures of Rick at Santa Teresa Park and some pictures from his memorial at his house. Created 4/24/19, by Ronald Horii, secretary of the Friends of Santa Teresa Park

The following are archived news events from our homepage, from 2010-2017.

The Santa Teresa Community Fest will be held on Saturday September 18, 2010 from 11 am to 5 pm, George Page Park, Santa Teresa Blvd. at Miyuki Drive. The Friends of Santa Teresa Park had a booth there.
The County Parks is hosting a series of community meetings on setting the criteria for their acquisition plans. See here for more information. See here for the flyer on the community workshops.

The dedication ceremony for the Albertson Parkway was held on Saturday August 29, 2009 from 10:00-10:30 am at Jaggers and Conejo.

The Santa Teresa County Park Site Historic Plan final plan documents are available on the website. The plan was presented to the Historic Heritage Commission on 2/19/09, which was the last forum for public input before the CEQA and environmental review process begins. A public meeting was held on August 11, 2009 to discuss the Draft Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration for the plan.

We had a farewell celebration at the Mounted Ranger Unit, Monday evening, June 29, 2009.

Our organization was featured in the June San Jose City Council District 2 newsletter. We had our picture taken at our May meeting.
Councilmember Ash Kalra's District 2 newsletter for March 2011 has a picture on page 3 taken by Ron Horii from the Ridge Trail in Santa Teresa Park, showing a rainbow over the Santa Teresa Golf Course.
We participated in the Santa Teresa Library Anniversary on Feb. 5, 2011. We had a table, where we displayed artifacts, models, and passed out literature. Mike Boulland read stories to the kids. Ron Horii showed a slideshow on Santa Teresa Park (56 MB), Sam Drake had a display and gave a slideshow and demo on geocaching.
We gave a presentation and crafts activity on Santa Teresa wildflowers at the Santa Teresa Library on 4/30/11.
We are working on a design for an interpretive plaque on Coyote Peak. Here is a picture of a mock-up design for the plaque.
We have applied for Cycle 25 of the City of San Jose's CAP Grant. Here is a copy of our application. We have been awarded a CAP Grant for 2011-2012 of $500, which is half of what we asked for. Our application was initially denied, but after writing a letter of appeal and making a presentation, we received funding for everything except for Fandango Entertainment.
Ron Horii made a slideshow on Santa Teresa Park, the Albertson Parkway, and views from La Colina Park.
We helped out at Festival in the Park at Hellyer County Park on Saturday June 25. It ran from 11 am to 4 pm. There were booths for County Parks volunteers and Friends groups. We provided our latest newsletter and other information. Our members helped out in various places at the Festival. Here is a web page on the festival.
We will be taking a guided tour of Gilroy Hot Springs on July 31. Everyone is invited. Contact Mike Boulland for more details.
We be participating in Family Fandango at Santa Teresa Park on August 13, 2011. We could use help manning the booths and activities. Check back for more details.
The new County Parks Park Here Brochure is available, which has maps, pictures, and descriptions of all the County Parks. The cover picture is of the Norred Trail in Santa Teresa Park, taken on 5/27/10 by Ron Horii. Ron also took the pictures of Alviso Marina, Chesbro Reservoir, Chitactac-Adams Park, Uvas Reservoir, Rancho San Antonio Park, Sanborn Park, and Stevens Creek Park.
Councilmember Ash Kalra's District 2 newsletter for June 2011 has a picture on page 3 taken by Ron Horii from the Norred Trail in Santa Teresa Park, showing the Albertson Parkway.
The new County Parks Fall 2011-Spring 2012 Play Here Brochure is available. The cover picture is of the Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch barns taken by Ron Horii. Ron took many of the pictures inside the brochure.
The Santa Teresa Community Fest will not be held this year (2011). It should be returning in 2012.
Ron Horii has a display of Park Photography at the Santa Teresa Library in the Community Room in September 2011. It will be on display for about a month. The room is normally open only for events. The best time to see it is during the Friends of the Santa Teresa Library's book sale on Saturday September 17 from 10 am to 4 pm.
Ron Horii had his display of park photography to Moonbeams Coffee, across Santa Teresa Blvd. from the Santa Teresa Library, next to 24 Hour Fitness, for the month of October, 2011.
We, the Friends of Santa Teresa Park, celebrated our 20th anniversary at the Santa Teresa Library from 10 am to 2 pm on Saturday March 24. We had an information table where we passed out park information. Paul Bernal loaned us pictures of the Bernal Family and Rancho Santa Teresa and costumes so kids could dress up as Spanish soldiers. There were be arts and crafts for kids. Boy Scout Troop 227 had displays of their projects at Santa Teresa Park. Ron Horii had park pictures on display and a slideshow. The Tenor Band provided musical entertainment.
Major construction of the East Barn at the Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch has been completed. 4-H will use the barn for an animal project, most likely in 2014.
The Healthy Trails 3rd Edition guide has been published. It includes 2 trail routes in Santa Teresa Park.
Ron Horii will be teaching an introduction to outdoor photography workshop at the Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch on Saturday October 4, 2014 at 10:00 am. He will show how to choose and use a camera, how to take better outdoor pictures, and photo composition. The workshop includes a slideshow, demonstration, and a walk around the historic area to take pictures. Meet at the Bernal Ranch barn. Register online or call 408-355-2201.
Coyote Peak Interpretive Sign Dedication Event: We designed a new interpretive sign for Coyote Peak. We had a dedication ceremony on October 25, 2014 at 10:00 am. (See the event flyer.) It was held in the covered group picnic site in the Pueblo Day Use Area of Santa Teresa Park. The event included music, refreshments, displays, information, talks, awards, and acknowledgments. Parking fees were waived. Unfortunately, due to the weather, we were not able to have our planned sign unveiling ceremony up on Coyote Peak, so we unveiled a copy of the sign in the Pueblo Area. (See the pictures from the event and of the sign.)
Widening Curie Drive at the Pyzak/Bonetti Ranch is in the County Parks 2016 budget. The work will be completed in 2017.
See our new FOSTP flyer for June 2015. See our newsletter for June-July 2015.
Ron Horii's pictures were used for the County Parks' "Nature is Nearby" Billboards. One of them was a picture of Santa Teresa Park. It was on Keyes St. west of 8th St., on the south side facing east, 5 blocks west of Senter. Story Road going west turns into Keyes. It showed the Coyote Peak Trail below Coyote Peak. The billboard campaign was intended to make urban residents aware of the natural areas nearby. They showed County Parks, most of which are less than a half hour's drive from the billboards.
We applied for and received a City of San Jose CAP Grant (Community Action and Pride). See the August 2015 meeting minutes for details of the application.
The Friends of Santa Teresa Park held a cleanup event at Santa Teresa Spring on September 26, 2015. The spring was nearly completely covered with vines and dirt. We cleared away the dirt and trimmed the vines.
Ron Horii taught a class in outdoor photography on November 14, 2015 at the Bernal Ranch in Santa Teresa Park at 10 am. See below for details. See here for pictures of the class.
On March 3, 2016, we had a special community meeting with representatives from the County Parks rangers, sheriffs deputies, San Jose Police, San Jose Council District 2 to discuss issues with the park. Here is a flyer for the meeting, the meeting agenda, the goals of the meeting, FOSTP board members and vision, the list of contacts, and the meeting minutes.
We gave 2 wildflower hikes in Santa Teresa Park in April (here is a poster):

April 16 at 10:00 am on Bernal Hill, starting at the Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch on Manila Drive. (See here for pictures of this hike).
April 30 on the Stile Ranch, Mine, and Fortini trails, starting at the Fortini/Stil Ranch Trailhead on San Vicente Avenue off Fortini Road at 9:00 am.

Ron Horii gave an outdoor photography class and hike at Coyote Lake/Harvey Bear Ranch County Park on May 7, 2016 at 10:00. Here's a poster for the class/hike.
Our members helped out at Festival in the Park at Hellyer County Park on Saturday June 4, 2016.
Ron Horii gave a nature photography class and hike at Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve on Saturday June 11, 2016 at 4:00 pm. He will be giving another class there at 4:00 pm on July 23. He will be giving another class at Ulistac Natural Area in Santa Clara on 8/20 on 4:00 pm. See the Open Space Authority's Activities Calendar. Ron has a class tentatively scheduled on Nov. 12 at 10 am at the Bernal Ranch in Santa Teresa Park.
Ron Horii was featured on an episode of the "Open Road" TV show on NBC Bay Area, hosted by Doug McConnell. Ron talked about Santa Teresa Park and other parks and about his outdoor photography classes. His pictures of the parks and classes were shown.
Family Fandango is the biggest event at the Bernal Ranch. We helped out with the event and had a booth there: Saturday, August 13, 2016, Family Fandango • Santa Teresa’s Historic Bernal Ranch • 5pm-8pm. "Celebrate the history of early California and its ties to the Anza Expedition and the Bernal family. The evening’s focus is family fun through song, dance, demonstrations, and activities that highlight the many contributions of our early communities. Location is Camino Verde at Manila Drive. Food available for purchase. Questions? (408) 918-7770." Here are pictures from the event.
From Assemblymember Mark Stone:
Did you know that Santa Clara County Parks is celebrating turning 60 this year? You are invited to join me and Santa Clara County Supervisor Mike Wasserman in spending the day enjoying and celebrating a local favorite, the Almaden Quicksilver County Park. Join us for breakfast and conversation, and then stay to attend fun-filled guided tours of Casa Grande and the town of New Almaden. Saturday, August 27, 2016, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Almaden Quicksilver County Park. Parking located at Casa Grande Museum: 21350 Almaden Rd, San Jose, CA 95120.
10 – 11 a.m. Breakfast with Assemblymember Stone and Supervisor Wasserman at Casa Grande
11 a.m. – Noon Walking tour of the Town of New Almaden
Noon – 1 p.m. Tour of Casa Grande
This event is FREE, but RSVPs are encouraged due to limited space. Please let us know if you have any special needs. For more information and to RSVP, please call my office at (831) 425-1503 or email angela.gile@asm.ca.gov.
The Volunteer Recognition Banquet for Santa Clara County Park volunteers was held on Saturday August 27, 2016 from 12:00 to 2:00 pm at Martial Cottle Park. "Volunteers who have recorded at least 5 hours of service in the last year will be invited to attend. Please submit any outstanding hours either online or to volunteer@prk.sccgov.org by June 30, 2016 to ensure we fully recognize you for your achievements! NOTE: If you would like to check how many hours you have recorded, in order to confirm your invitation, please contact the Volunteer Program by email volunteer@prk.sccgov.org or by calling at 408-918-4930."
See our new Summer 2016 newsletter. It has articles about our park-community meeting, Family Fandango, Bernal Family member Dorothy Wuss, Bernal Zorros, our spring wildflower hikes, a memorial to former County Parks director Lisa Killough, Measures Q and A, Old Fashioned Wash Days, cleanup of Santa Teresa Spring, cream sac wildflowers, Ron Horii's appearance on the "Open Road" TV show, and senior park ranger Phil Hearin.
We submitted our application for a City of San Jose Community Action and Pride (CAP) Grant for Cycle 30, which runs from 9/1/16 to 8/31/17. We requested a grant of $1,150 to pay for our UNSCC membership, website, newsletter, PO Box, and event expenses, including Fandango and National Night Out in 2017. We will be looking at organizing a National Night Out event, which will be held on Aug. 1, 2017.
At our August 4, 2016 meeting, County Parks Natural Resources Program Supervisor Barry Hill and Deputy Director Don Rocha came to give us an update on cattle grazing in Santa Teresa Park. Here is Barry Hill's presentation on it.
The Friends of Santa Teresa Park went on a field trip to see Monterey State Historic Park, Fisherman's Wharf, and historic sites in Salinas:

On 8/30/16, Mike Boulland, Kitty Monahan, and Ron Horii met with County Parks Director Robb Courtney. To discuss the Santa Teresa County Park Historic Site Plan and its implementation. Here is the presentation we gave.
Ron Horii taught an outdoor photography class at the Bernal Ranch on Nov. 12, 2016 at 10 am. See the Events below.
Santa Clara County Parks' "Wish you were here?" Ad Campaign in 2017 featured a billboard of Santa Teresa Park in downtown San Jose at 10th St. and Hedding St. The picture of the Coyote Peak Trail was taken by FOSTP secretary Ron Horii. 13 of his pictures were used for billboard and busback ads for the County Parks.
The Friends of Santa Teresa Park held our first National Night Out event at the Bernal Ranch on Tuesday, August 1, 2017, from 5-7:30 pm. We served free ice cream and popsicles. Visitors could see a fire engine and a sheriff's patrol car. A park ranger, sheriff's deputies, and firemen were there to answer questions. Children’s crafts projects and games were provided. City Councilmember Sergio Jimenez came by, greeted people, and helped with a raffle. Sponsored by: The Friends of Santa Teresa Park, Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation, United Neighborhoods of Santa Clara County, and the City of San Jose’s Community Action and Pride Grant Program. Here is more information about the event. This is a flyer for the event. Here are pictures from our National Night Out.
Family Fandango was held this year on Saturday, August 5 from 5-8pm at the Bernal Ranch. It celebrated the history of early California and its ties to the Anza Expedition and the Bernal family. The evening’s focus was on family fun through song, dance, demonstrations and activities that highlighted the many contributions of our early communities. Here are pictures from that event.
We have applied for the City of San Jose's Cycle 1 Beautify San Jose Grant. It replaces, but is derived from, the city's old Community Action and Price (CAP) Grant. The grant funds neighborhood beautification projects, community events, and operating expenses for neighborhood organizations. We requested funding for our UNSCC membership (pays for meeting insurance), our website, our PO box, our newsletter and other publications, and expenses for next year's National Night Out and Fandango. We also submitted the final report for our Cycle 30 CAP Grant.
Ron Horii gave his annual outdoor photography class at the Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch (Manila Drive at Camino Verde) on 10/30/17. Here is the flyer for the class. He also gave a lunchtime brownbag slideshow presentation on outdoor and nature photography at the Open Space Authority of Santa Clara Valley's headquarters at 33 Las Colinas Lane, San Jose, on September 22, 2017.
Ron Horii gave a Nature Photography Workshop at the Japanese Friendship Gardens in Kelley Park, 1300 Senter Road San Jose, CA 95112 on Saturday October 21, 2017 from 4pm to 6pm. See here for more information.

The Muriel Wright Center, which is above the Pueblo Day Use Center in Santa Teresa Park, is being converted into a mental health care facility. It was originally built in the 1960's and was used as a residential juvenile correctional facility. It was closed because of declining census, and juvenile offenders were transferred to the James Ranch in Morgan Hill. In 2014, the Santa Clara County Parks' Volunteer Office moved in, along with an office of the County Sheriffs assigned to patrol the County Parks. It was also used as a training facility by the Sheriffs Office. In early 2016, the Volunteers Office were told they would have to move out to make room for the mental health program. Originally, they were told they would have to move out by June 2016, but the date was pushed out. Now they are looking at early next year. This year, they temporarily moved into a much smaller office space adjacent to the Sheriff's station. The plan is to move them into a new facility at Vasona Lake County Park, near County Park headquarters. In the meantime, their former space has been cleared out (see picture below). The retrofitting project, expected to cost $5 million, has been funded. Neighbors in the community below Santa Teresa are concerned about the impact of this project on their neighborhood. The Friends of Santa Teresa Park are also concerned about the impact to the park and park users. On 9/14/17, Mike Boulland, Ron Horii, and neighborhood resident Issa Ajlouny met with Supervisor Mike Wasserman and his Chief of Staff John Gibbs, who is also a County Parks Commissioner. They discussed this issues, and John Gibbs created a Q and A information document. Here is the latest version of the Q&A document. We have been discussing this issue in our meetings. We may have a larger community meeting in the future or will participate in meetings organized by other groups.

On 8/13/17, a group of about 50 volunteers assembled at the Pueblo Day Use Area for a Martin Luther King Day of Service in Santa Teresa Park. Trail crew members gave instructions and led them down the Hidden Springs Trail to the Ohlone Trail. The volunteers worked on the Ohlone Trail, widening and smoothing it. Here's an album of pictures from that day.
Long-time volunteer Rick Leonard passed away in November of 2017. He volunteered at many events at Santa Teresa Park, especially the movie night. Here are pictures of Rick at Santa Teresa Park and some pictures from his memorial at his house.