Friends of Santa Teresa Park Meeting, 3/7/13

 


  • Attendees: Mike Boulland, Kitty Monahan, Sam Drake, Ed Jackson, Greg Koopman, Ron Horii
  • We have $674.95 in our account.
  • John Dorrance got schools to donate for candy canes for Santa at the Ranch.
  • General elections are in April. Mike wants to be vice president instead of president. We need someone to take over as president. We also need someone to take over as treasurer. Ron is willing to remain as secretary.
  • We lost the $400 CAP Mini-Grant and have to send it back because we didn't follow the requirements due to lack of time, but we still have our original CAP Cycle 26 Grant. That grant pays for our UNSCC membership, our website, and a newsletter. We did not ask for event insurance this year.
  • Sr. Ranger Aniko Millan said there was no way to get a trail put in at the historic site across the street from Bernal School right away. There is a plan to put one there eventually. They need to make sure it's good for neighbors.
  • Roxanne talked about work days in the park for the cross-country team. She'll work with Aniko on dates. We will be there to help out. Mike has forms for events. They can do the work as a separate event or join one already planned. They prefer to work at Santa Teresa Park.
  • Fandango is August 24.
  • We need to make a newsletter. We have CAP Grant money to cover part of the cost. We should make a newsletter to hand out at Festival in the Park at Hellyer on June 22.
  • The County Parks Commission approved the Capital Improvement Plan. They approved money for the Historic Heritage Commission. They get $90K/year. They have to spend it on restoration in the County Parks.
  • Sam had a geocaching class at Almaden Quicksilver. There were 25 students, plus helpers. The next class is on June 15 on the Wood Road Trail in Almaden Quicksilver.
  • A boy scout troop wanted to go geocaching in Santa Teresa Park. Ron asked around and a group of geocachers volunteered to take them on a geocaching hike starting at the Bernal Ranch and along the Norred Trail. Ron met them and gave them a tour of the Bear Tree Lot, Santa Teresa Spring, and the Bernal Ranch.
  • Sam is with the Umunhum Conservancy, which is working to restore the radar tower on Mt. Umunhum. They met with Mid-Pen to discuss their relationship. They submitted their 501c3 application.
  • Sam said the house across the street on Curie was broken into. Robbers go knocking on doors. If no one answers, they go into backyards through unlocked side gates and break into the house from the back yard.
  • Ron showed pictures of the waterfall and rainbow in Laurel Canyon, a panorama from Coyote Peak, a bobcat in the Bear Tree Lot, 4H rabbits at the Bernal Ranch, Cait Hutnik's lichen hike on the Stile Ranch Trail, the Rocky Ridge Trail, the Boy Scouts' geocaching hike, and the phenology project at Almaden Quicksilver.
  • Ron passed out information about the California Phenology Project in Silicon Valley. Phenology is the study of seasonal events in plants and animals. Volunteers regularly monitor and record changes in specific plants and animals. There is a phenology project on the Mine Hill Trail in Almaden Quicksilver. We could do something similar in Santa Teresa, such as at the Bernal Ranch or on the Norred Trail. It would require picking certain plants or trees to monitor and recording observations once a week. For more information about sites in Silicon Valley, e-mail SVphenology@gmail.com.
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    Created 4/1/13, updated 4/25/13 by Ronald Horii, secretary of the Friends of Santa Teresa Park