Friends of Santa Teresa Park Meeting, 11/1/18

 

    • Attendees: Mike Boulland, Steve Crockett, Greg & Roxanne Koopman, Gus Letona, Ron Horii
    • Julie Kahrnoff is temporarily replacing Elizabeth Evans, who is on maternity leave, as interpretive programs supervisor.
    • Greg & Roxanne are still taking care of 2 garden boxes at the Bernal Ranch. The tomatoes are almost done.
    • We should lead hikes again in the spring, like the Stile Ranch and Coyote Peaks hikes that we did this year. Ron will give a photo class/wildflower walk again. We'll do them as park events, helping as volunteers. We need to find out when is the due date to submit them and what other events are scheduled so we don't conflict. We can have picnics after the hikes.
    • The Wildflower Scavenger Hunt at Almaden Quicksilver is on the second Saturday of April (4/13/19), so we need to schedule around it. 
    • Mike gave a ghost tour in New Almaden the Sunday before Halloween.
    • Mike Cox, Mike Boulland, Art Boudreault, and Kitty Monahan gave a presentation about New Almaden at the Ainsley House in Campbell on 10/12 at 6:00 pm. It was called "A Taste of New Almaden." About 50 people showed up. Tickets were sold for the event.
    • Mike submitted the final report for the Cycle 1 Beautify San Jose Grant. Ron and Mike worked on it. We under-spent the grant, so we have to give money back. Mike sent a check for $95.62.
    • We were approved for the Cycle 2 Beautify San Jose Grant for $2380. However, we don't get the money right away. We may not get it until February. We need to keep track of our expenditures and hang on to receipts. We need to check that if we expect to charge expenditures to the grant, that they are actually covered by the grant.
    • We need a fundraising event, like a speaking presentation, maybe at Avenue One. We can use NAQCPA or FOLAW as 501c3 fiscal agents. We need a San Jose business license if we sell anything in San Jose. We can use NNO for fund-raising. We'll have the insurance, permits, and a large audience. We can do a fund-raiser during our meeting time in the Banquet Facility. We're insured by UNSCC, and we don't get charged for the use of the room. Gus will chair a fundraising committee. Roxanne can help getting donations for a silent auction, if we have one.
    • Ron attended a meeting of the Santa Teresa Foothills Neighborhood Association at the Southside Community Center. Johnny Khamis and Sergio Jimenez were there and gave neighborhood updates. The Open Space Authority was there and talked their properties in the Santa Teresa Hills. The keynote speakers were the San Jose Police and the Crime Prevention Team, talking about the crime rate and what people can do to protect themselves from being victims of crime. The room was full. They had about 100 people there. STFNA is not a 501c3, but they collect dues at the meeting or online. They have enough money to give out scholarships. Here is their latest newsletter. They have a form on the newsletter for sending in donations.
    • We talked about printing costs for our newsletter and other publications. Gus said his school has a discount program at Staples for ink cartridges. To print our newsletters at OfficeMax, we paid $302 to print 400 color pages (50 newsletters) and 800 black and white pages (100 newsletters). NAQCPA prints their newsletters at OfficeMax. They have a discount card. They print 700 copies in black and white, worth $523, and they pay $200. Mike has a discount card now. 
    • We need a FOSTP table cloth, like the Parks' Department has for their table. Gus will look into how much it costs. We also need a FOSTP canopy or a banner to put on a canopy with our name on it.
    • We need to cleanup Santa Teresa Spring again. It's getting overgrown with brambles. We need to ask Lisa Pappanastos, acting senior ranger for Santa Teresa/Hellyer, for permission.
    • We want to clean up Santa Teresa Blvd. between Bayliss and the Coyote Valley. San Jose has a litter pickup program. They will supply tools and pick up the trash. Ron will look into what it takes to sign up for the program.
    • Our next meeting will be on December 6. NAQCPA is having a dinner at Mike's house on December 12. We won't have a meeting on January 3. Instead, we will have a dinner at Mike's house on January 10 at 6:00.  
    • Ron has stopped by the Muriel Wright Center several times, the last being 10/30. It's still under construction. The construction trailer is still there. Workers are still out there working on it, but it doesn't look like it's nearing completion.
    • Ron showed pictures: coyote above the Norred Trail, restored Nature Trail signs and a new sign at the redwood tree, views from Bernal Hill, conditions on the Norred Trail, Muriel Wright Center construction, plants recovering from the fire above the Norred Trail, grafitti'd sign and brambles at Santa Teresa Spring, and La Fuente. 
    • We participated in La Fuente on 10/27/18. It was organized by Kelsi Ju. Our booth was near Barn 2. Kitty and Mike manned our booth. Gus and Steve helped at the welcome table. Greg helped with parking. Ron took pictures and had his pictures on display. We had a raffle and gave away pumpkins. Everyone helped with setup and teardown.
    • We need to work on our 501c3 application. Mike has a draft copy. Mike & Steve will work on it. Gus' school's Home and School Club is a 501c3. It took them 6 months to get it finalized. NAQCPA became a 501c3 in 1979. They had a CPA who was a member at the time. We are a state-sanctioned non-profit.
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       Created 11/3/18 by Ronald Horii, secretary of the Friends of Santa Teresa Park