Friends of Santa Teresa Park Zoom Meeting, 9/5/24

 


    • This was an online Zoom videoconference meeting. Mike sent out a meeting link for this Zoom meeting.
    • Attendees: Mike Boulland, Ron Horii, Joan Murphy, Park Interpreter Rob McDonnell
    • Mike will be giving his annual ghost tour to a private group the weekend of Halloween. He will talk about legends and whoppers.
    • La Fuente will be on 9/21/24 from 4-7 pm. Rob is organizing it. 
      • FOSTP will have a booth there, with games, newsletters, and displays. Mike, Kim, Joan, and Dorene will be coming to work the booth. Ron will be taking pictures and helping with setup/cleanup.
      • Canopies, tables, and chairs will be provided and setup. They have 12 canopies at Martial Cottle. 
      • County Parks will have a video posted about La Fuente on 9/14.
      • 9/15 is the start of Hispanic Heritage Month. Because of that Los Arribenos, who performed last year, will not be available. Elena Robles recommended Los Panaderos, which plays traditional folk music. Rob is contacting them.
      • Ranger Roberto Romero will lead the walk to Santa Teresa Spring and the Bear Tree in Spanish.
      • Banners announcing La Fuente will be up tomorrow.
      • Exhibitors who said they are coming are the County Library, the Open Space Authority, Valley Water, and Janice Frazier, who will be bringing her horse. Not sure about the blacksmith or Anza Trail yet.
      • A Stanford researcher wants to pass out Spanish language Alzheimer's Disease information.
      • Rangers will be helping.
      • A port-a-potty will be placed by the main entrance.
      • Rob made a map of the event. Janice will have her horse in the small corral by Barn 2. FOSTP will be along the fence in the middle. Roping steers will be by Barn 2. 
      • Rob raked leaves around the ranch house and will use it as mulch. He will sweep the barn. The house will be deep-cleaned on 9/18. 
      • Barn 2 will have hay bales moved into it for the pulley demonstration. The old bales were removed because they were attracting rodents.
      • Pizza will provided for volunteers.
      • We may do the pumpkin raffle earlier.
    • Ron showed a slideshow:
      • 7/27-9/2/24: repair progress of pipes and valves in garden.
      • 7/31/24: graffiti on Hidden Springs Trail mapboard in Pueblo Area.
      • 8/2/24: First Friday Work Day.
      • 8/18/24: Posters about the Fortini Road Project on the Stile Ranch Trail mapboard. Sunflowers and columbines blooming on the Stile Ranch Trail.
      • 8/19/24: Graffiti on bench, doggie bag dispenser, and bicycle repair station at the Hidden Springs trailhead in the Pueblo Area. Graffiti on the mapboard covered up. Bench at overlook of Fortini Trail tagged again.
      • 8/23/24: Grass cut under farm equipment in barnyard, some dirt and blackberries around the spring, water in pond below spillway.
      • 8/24/24: Info table and surveys at Rancho San Vicente about the Fortini Road Property Plan.
      • 9/2/24: Flowers and weeds around the Bernal Ranch House. Santa Teresa Spring closed due to oil spill, caution tape and barriers knocked down later. Snake, hawk, and tarantula on the Norred Trail.
    • Mike talked about Santa Teresa Park's Historic Area being one of the few historic areas in the county. It is designated as H4. It makes it easier to get grants for historic preservation. Mike will write articles for the newsletter about the 8 historic sites in Santa Teresa Park.
    • On 8/24/24, the County Parks held a tabling event about the Fortini Road Property at the Rancho San Vicente staging area of Calero. Members of the Parks Planning Department were there and answered questions. They had a map of the planning area and were taking surveys about it. The surveys asked what activities visitors did in Calero or Santa Teresa Parks and what trail elements would they like to see in the project.  Mike and Ron went. Ron sent a proposal showing a straight trail for bikes and a walking trail that runs along the 2 creeks, with interpretive signs. He also recommended putting a parking lot and restroom across from the Stile Ranch entrance. Mike says the surveys didn't ask about interpreting the history of the area. He says there should be signs about its history. We can suggest topics for the signs. The new area will be an extension of Calero County Park, so it will be managed and maintained by the Calero unit.
    • We had our First Friday Work Day on 8/2/24. We dug up yellow star thistles in the barnyards. Mike showed and talked about Santa Teresa Spring and the Bear Tree to the new volunteers. We cut blackberry vines around the spring. 
    • Our next work day will be tomorrow 9/6/24. The drains along the retaining wall need sweeping and clearing of blackberries. The ground squirrel holes by Barn 2 need to be filled up. We'll work until it gets too hot. Mike wanted to repaint the garden boxes, but the old paint is peeling and may need to be stripped off before repainting. We may do that at a future event, but not this Friday. 
    • After expenses, we have $667 in our account left to spend. Paint costs $50/gallon. We have money to cover printing expenses for our newsletter.
    • Ron is editing the newsletter. It will be available for handing out at La Fuente. We may print lots of copies of just the front page of the newsletter, with a link on how to get the rest of it.
    • Jim Zetterquist, Past President of the California Pioneers of Santa Clara County, wrote a book called "Californio Connections." He writes about his Ohlone and Hispanic ancestors. One of them discovered mercury ore in what would become New Almaden. We should have Jim speak at a future event.
    • There will be an ice cream social for County Park volunteers on 9/28/24 at 1-3 pm in the Pueblo Area of Santa Teresa Park.
    • 9/14/24 is New Almaden Day in New Almaden. It starts at 11:00 am with the Jump-In Parade around New Almaden, followed by a carival at the New Almaden Community Center.
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       Created 9/11/24 by Ronald Horii, secretary of the Friends of Santa Teresa Park
    Funding provided by a Beautify San Jose Grant