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- Attendees:
Mike Boulland, Kitty Monahan, Woody Collins, Steve Crockett, Kim Gardner, Mr. & Mrs. Gus Letona, Ron
Horii, visiting Ranger Lisa Pappanastos, visiting guests: Dave Zitlow, Carolyn Schmandle, 10 others.
- This
was a special meeting. We did not discuss business. Ron passed out
meeting minutes and flyers for his outdoor photography class. He had
pictures of Santa Teresa Park and posters on outdoor photography on
display. Mike brought coffee, cookies, and muffins. He had copies of
our newsletter.
- Prior to the meeting, Mike emailed some
documents for review: Annual group activities work plan, duties of
officers, expense voucher and purchase order forms, 501c3 application
forms, NNO park use application, bylaws, treasurer's report, estimated
future expenses. We'll discuss these at our next meeting.
- Lisa
Pappanastos was our guest speaker, the first in a series of speakers
that we intend to have periodically at our meetings. Lisa is the acting
senior ranger for Santa Teresa, Hellyer, and Martial Cottle. She has
been working for the County Parks since 1995. She started at
Hellyer/Santa Teresa, but then moved to JD Grant and worked there for
18 years, helping restore the historic Grant House, leading tours of
the house, documenting the history of the Grant Family, and gathering
information from family members. When she started working at Grant
the house was in bad shape. It has since been restored and is
open for tours by reservation. It still needs work, which hasn't been
funded yet. The Grant Ranch was part of Rancho Canada del Pala.
It covered 15,000 acres and was awarded to Jose de Jesus Bernal in
1839. He was a nephew of Jose Joaquin Bernal, founder of Rancho Santa
Teresa. Part of the land was later purchased by wealthy San Francisco
merchant Adam Grant in 1880. His son, Joseph D. Grant, expanded the
property by purchasing nearby land. Joseph became a wealthy railroad
and power company executive. He owned mansions in several cities. He
restored and exanded the family house from 1927-1936. He entertained
guests such as Leland Stanford and Herbert Hoover at the ranch. He
was a trustee of Stanford University and a member of the Sierra Club
and Save-the-Redwoods League. Joseph's daughter Josephine took over the
ranch, buying up land inherited by her siblings, and lived there until
she died in 1972. Josephine had no heirs. The land was deeded to the
Save-the-Redwoods League and the menninger Foundation. Santa Clara
County purchased the land in 1975 and named it Joseph D. Grant County
Park. It's the largest County Park. Joseph's granddaughter Elspeth
Grant Bobbs is still alive and donated family memorabilia, as well as
the rose garden and gas lampposts from San Francisco. Pictures and documents from the Grant Family are in Past Perfect and can be viewed online.
- Ron showed pictures of Santa Teresa Spring, and wildflowers and views from the Joice, Bernal Hill, and Stile Ranch trails.
- Ron is giving a photo class/wildflower hike at the Bernal Ranch on 4/27 at 10 am.
- We
will be giving a hike on the Stile Ranch-Mine-Fortini Trail loop again
on 5/11, the day before Mother's Day, starting at the Stile Ranch
Trailhead off Fortini Road.
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