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- This
was an online Zoom videoconference meeting. Mike sent out a meeting
link for this Zoom meeting.
- Attendees: Mike
Boulland, Steve Crockett, Joan Murphy, Sam Drake, Greg Koopman, Ron
Horii, Carolyn Schimandle.
- We had a work day last week on 9/1/23. See below. The next one is on 10/6/23.
- Park staff report by Carolyn Schimandle:
- Rob McDonnell is working on organizing La Fuente.
- The Public Health department has a Juntos Initiative program.
People are prescribed physical activities in parks. They have been
recommended to come to La Fuente. They expect about 80 people to show
up. They are mostly Mexican-American families. They have their rides
paid for.
- There
will be 2 walks: 1 will be led by Katrina
Semene in English. Hellyer Ranger Roberto Romero will lead a hike in
Spanish. They will go down the new Gulnac Trail. [The Curie Drive Trail
has been officially named the Gulnac Trail, after the Gulnac Family.
Carlos Gulnac built the ranch house.]
- Parking will
have to be on the street. The field by the spring that was used for
parking in the past has big cracks in it and is not suitable for
parking.
- Rob made flyers in Spanish and English. There will be an announcement on Instagram.
- If
you're signed in as a County Parks volunteer, either on Samaritan or as
a drop-in, you get free food. If you are an exhibitor, you don't
get it.
- They need volunteer help. Contact Rob for specific volunteer needs and times. You can sign up here on Samaritan.
- Parks
Interpretive Program Supervisor Elizabeth Evans will be leaving the
County Parks and joining the California State Parks on 9/15/23.
- Katrina
will be filling in for Victoria Heyse, who is on medical leave until
about October. Katrina is working full-time. She may be needed at the
Casa Grande when it reopens. Ian may also fill in there.
- They hope to reopen the Casa
Grande by the end of September. The elevator has been fixed, and they
are re-painting the building.
- They
have a new intern, Caitlyn. She's a student at Santa Clara U and
started about 3 weeks ago. She's working on a docent guide project with
Rob.
- Lucy, who is extra help, will be working with the Outdoor Recreation program.
- School
programs are starting back up in October. Rob is doing programs at
Santa Teresa and Martial Cottle. The Santa Teresa Programs are on
Fridays for K-1 from 9:30-10:30 and 11:15-12:15. They have given
programs for 4th & 5th graders by adapting their existing program,
but they don't advertise it for those grades. Martial Cottle
programs are designed for grades 2-3. School programs at the Casa
Grande are intended for grades 3-4.
- Starting
in October and until March, the Bernal Ranch will be closed on Fridays.
It will be open from 11-4 on Saturdays and 11-3 on Sundays.
- The
Neighborhood Naturalists program will resume in October at the New
Museum of Los Gatos. To get a pewter pin, participants need to do a
service project.
- The Climate Stewards program will start in the winter. Participants need to do a service project to get certification.
- La Fuente is on 9/23/24 from 4-7 pm.
- FOSTP will provide food, snacks, and drinks for volunteers at our booth.
- Parks will provide canopy, tables, and chairs.
- Volunteers: Mike, Dorene, Ron, Joan, Steve, Kim. Sam can come, but can't stay the whole time. Greg is not sure.
- Volunteers should arrive by 3 pm to help with setup. Teardown and cleanup will be from 7-8:15 pm.
- Last year, we bought branding irons with our logo. Mike will ask Jim beseau to make toys to give away.
- We'll have a horseshoe game, corn hole, and the sponge toss. We'll pass out recruitment flyers and our newsletter.
- Joan suggests we have a memory game, like the Open Space Authority has.
- Treasurer's
report (Steve): We deposited the check for our Beautify San Jose Grant
for $1500. Mike asked them if we could move some of the grant money
into
buying tools. Instead, they gave us an extra $100, so we got $1600
total from the grant. We have $2748.82 in the bank. We have an
uncleared balance of $1804.56. After expenses, we will have $450.41
left to spend of the grant money. We underspent the grant items so far,
except we over-spent newsletter costs by $2.74. The grant pays for our
UNSCC membership (pays for meeting insurance), website hosting fees,
Zoom fees, our post office box, event costs, and communications costs
(newsletter). We didn't host a National Night Out this year because we
didn't get the grant money in time, so we have unspent money from that
category. We can request to move
money between the categories. We need to reserve about $200 for
the
end-of-year recognition dinner. Steve and Mike will work on the budget.
- Joan donated a tool, called a Rock Slayer. It cost $55.
- Joan wanted to know about the status of the garden boxes. Rob should know.
- Sam said the Geocachers of the Bay Area had a big event in June at History San Jose. They had 500 participants.
- Greg
has been volunteering with the city. He's having a block party next
Saturday at his house, 9/16 from 3-8 pm. He got a city grant for the
party. His neighborhood association has been getting utility boxes
painted with art. It costs about $900/box. They work with an
organization that vets the artist, gets permits, gives art options to
the NA, and contracts with the artist, but the company will be changing.
- New
Almaden Day is this Saturday 9/9 at 11:00 am. The parade begins and
ends at the New Almaden Community Center, where there will be a
carnival afterwards.
- Ron is working on the newsletter, which we
will pass out at La Fuente. It's almost done. He has articles by Joan,
Kim, and Greg. Mike said he will write an article. The newsletter is 6
pages so far, but it can be expanded 2 pages at a time, but it will
cost more to print. It has color pictures. It can cost $1/page to print
in color. It's a lot cheaper to print in B&W. We can print just the
front page in color or print a small number of copies in color to give
to special visitors. We may be able to print some copies at the
Volunteer's Office.
- Ron showed pictures.
- 8/4/23:
work day at the Bernal Ranch. We pulled yellowstar thistles from the
drain by the start of the Joice Trail. Joan cut weeds near the park
entrance.
- 8/9/23: Twilight Stroll, led by Katrina, with Ron
helping. It started out at the barns, stopped at the spring, and ended
at the Bear Tree Lot. It was about observing and appreciating nature.
- 8/25/23:
Conditions at the Bernal Ranch: Blackberries are growing back around
the ceanothus bushes. Water was diverted from the drain of Santa Teresa
Spring by pig rooting, causing mud around the memorial bench.
Blackberries are growing along the ramp to the spring and are poking
through the rails. There's lots of mud and weeds around the
spring. The mud is dry and can be dug out.
- 9/1/23: work
day at the Bernal Ranch. We pulled weeds from the barnyards and cut
blackberries from around the ceanothus bushes and the ramp to the
spring.
- 9/6/23: trail rehabilitation on the Mine Trail, Rocky Ridge Trail, and Pueblo Trail. Pictures of the tree plantings.
- Ron
said that Máyyan ‘Ooyákma – Coyote Ridge Open Space Preserve opened to
the public on 8/31/23. It requires a "Butterfly Pass" to access the
upper parts of the preserve, which are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
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