Friends of Santa Teresa Park Zoom Meeting, 8/6/20

 


    • Attendees: Mike Boulland, Kim Gardner, Greg & Roxanne Koopman, Woody Collins, Marilyn August, Ron Horii. Greg was calling in remotely from Delaware.
    • This was an online Zoom videoconference meeting. The Santa Teresa Golf Course banquet facility and clubhouse are closed, and we are under a shelter-in-place order due to the coronavirus crisis, so we can't meet in person. (Restaurant alternatives are also closed.) Mike sent out a meeting link for this Zoom meeting. Here's the agenda for today's meeting.
    • Ron showed the minutes from our July meeting.
    • Ron showed a slideshow (subset posted on Facebook). Some highlights: Norred Trail weeding has widened the trail. There are lots of invasive trees of heaven growing at the Pyzak and Bonetti Ranches and by the Norred Ranch barn. The garage at the Pyzak Ranch has been tagged. The sign at Santa Teresa Spring was tagged, but it's been cleaned off. There is still some graffiti on the fence rails by the spring. The shrine and font at the spring are mostly clear of brambles, but could use some clearing away of mud and leaves. The sign to the closed trail on the Hidden Springs Trail by the Ridge Trail junction has been tagged. The picnic table at the Stile Ranch Trail entrance has been tagged. There were serpentine sunflowers and van houtte's columbines blooming at the bottom of the Stile Ranch Trail. There are soaproots, yampah, marsh baccharis, naked stem buckwheat, and hayfield tarweed growing on the Joice Trail. There was a cleanup by young volunteers along Heaton Moor across from Bernal School (saw it on Next Door). There's termite damage to the steps and porch of the Bernal Ranch House. [Ron reported it to Maintenance and rangers.] The garden boxes at the Bernal Ranch are looking good. The butterfly box needs tending. Weeds and plants need to be cleared from around the farm equipment by the barns at the Bernal Ranch. The canal below the Joice Trail has been tagged. Rocks and the rock wall on the Rocky Ridge Trail have been tagged. 
    • The County Parks & Rec. Commission had a virtual meeting. This was the agenda. Mike was the only non-staff or commission person attending.
      • Cattle grazing licenses have been issued for Santa Teresa, Rancho San Vicente (Calero), Coyote Canyon at Anderson, and Tulare Hill. There will be funding for building more cattle fences.
      • Melissa Hippard, Strategic Partnerships Manager, gave a report on the Volunteer Program. They lost staff in the Volunteer Office. Julie Abbatelli left. Julie Lee is helping with the County's housing program. Patricia Vasquez is helping with COVID-19 contact tracing. [Debra King is helping temporarily in the Volunteer Office.] The number of volunteer opportunities doubled from 2017 to 2020. Martial Cottle has been operating for 5 years with over 70 long-term volunteers.
      • The department expects a budget deficit next year.
    • The Interpretive Department has 2 new interpreters: Rob McDonnell and Travis Trinh. Luke Bailey and Victoria Heyse are still there. Chris Carson retired. Jan Shriner is doing COVID-19 contact tracing. Kelsi Ju and Dan LaFlash left. The interpreters have been doing virtual programs.
    • On 8/20 at 6 pm, new Park Interpreter Rob McDonnell will be giving a virtual program, called "Santa Teresa Spring Across Generations." It will be about Rancho Santa Teresa and the Bernal Family.
    • On 8/26 at 12 pm, Park Interpreter Luke Bailey and Natural Resources Coordinator Mason Hyland will be giving a program called "Fire as a Land Steward." Using the recent Santa Teresa controlled burn as an example, they will talk about the use of fire in parks.
    • Treasurer's report (Greg): We have $1547.70 in the bank.
    • Beautify SJ Grant: Mike talked to Ken Podgorsek about the grant. The grant will pay up to $15 per shirt for T-shirts. We have to cover the balance. We can give them away. We need to submit a change request to move money around. Banners, business cards, trifold brochures, and flyers are covered. Giveaways are not covered.
    • We were awarded $2480 for our grant. We spent $2131.51. That leaves $348.49. However, much of that money was allocated for events that we can't have, like National Night Out and La Fuente. We have to apply to move the funds around, or we'll have to give the money back.
    • Jim Beseau said he has the materials to make keychains and bookmarks with our logo stamped on them. He bought the materials for Martial Cottle and Pioneer Day events, but since those won't be held, they are surplus. He'll make them up for us for free. We need to give him a design for our logo so he can have a stamp made. The design may need to be modified so it looks good as a 1-color stamp.
    • We need to make a design for the trifold brochure.
    • We need to make a business card. They cost $22 for 500 at Costco. We need a generic card for the organization. Mike will decide what to put on it. Greg and others may want personalized cards. We'll order generic cards now, personalized cards later when needed.
    • There's a weekly farmer's market at Oakridge behind Sears. Non-profits can display there up to once a month. They need to fill out an application and be approved. We could display there. We'd have to see if insurance is required and get it. We could hand out our newsletter, trifold, and keyrings. We could have non-contact games. We could setup tables. We have the tablecloths and a runner with our logo on it.
    • We need an 8'X10' banner to hang at the back of our booth on a canopy. It costs about $150-$200. The grant should pay for it (need to confirm). We'll need a picture to put on it. Ron will provide one.
    • Mike got a letter from the California Secretary of State acknowledging our non-profit status. That allows us to apply for federal 501c3 status.
    • We need to make a newsletter. Tentative deadline for articles: mid-August. The newsletter needs to be published by the end of September. Ron will edit it. Ideas: impact of the pandemic on activities in the park, park usage, littering, parking, etc. Ron will write about personnel changes in the park. Mike can write historical articles, like about the Battle of Santa Teresa and about the book "Mine" by Jenny Clenendon on Maria Bernal Berryessa. We could talk about some of the park virtual activities, such as Neighborhood Naturalists, which had people doing volunteer projects. We could have pages for kids coloring or activities. The mining museum has coloring pages. The Bernal Ranch had a teacher's guide that may have some activities in it.
    • The next meeting will be on September 3, 7 pm on Zoom.
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       Created 8/11/20 by Ronald Horii, secretary of the Friends of Santa Teresa Park
    Funding provided by a Beautify San Jose Grant