Friends of Santa Teresa Park Zoom Meeting, 9/1/22

 

    • Attendees: Members: Mike Boulland, Sam Drake, Steve Crockett, Greg Koopman, Ron Horii. 
    • This was an online Zoom videoconference meeting. Mike sent out a meeting link for this Zoom meeting. 
    • Kitty Monahan's Celebration of Life is at the Santa Clara County Horsemen's Association at 20350 McKean Road on 9/4/22 at 1:00 pm. Mike will need help around 9:45-10:00 to setup canopies, tables, and chairs. Dress for the event is casual. It's a potluck event.
    • Sam said the work on Mt. Umunhum is finished.
    • Our account balance is $1582.84.
    • Ron showed a slideshow:
      • Our workday on 8/5/22 at the Bernal Ranch: Mike, Youngmee, Greg, and Ron showed up, along with 3 volunteers. We cut blackberries around the ceanothus bushes by the street and below Santa Teresa Spring.. 
      • There's a new sign at the end of the new trail on San Ignacio, crediting the Prop. 68 State of California Parks & Water Bond of 2018 for the funding of the trail.
      • There was a big rattlesnake on the Norred Trail. Hikers spotted it. It crawled away into the grass.
      • Amaryllis flowers are blooming at the ranch. The garden looks good.
      • There are colorful leaf galls growing on the valley oak trees in the park.
      • There's some graffiti on top of the viewing platform rail by the spring.
      • More dirt is covering part of the shrine, below the font, and around the cistern at the spring. There are more blackberries growing to the right of the font. There are blackberries growing along the ramp leading up to the spring.
      • The drain behind the ceanothus bushes along the walkway above the street needs clearing.
      • There are about 100 sycamore trees in containers in the corral at the Pueblo Area. They are drip-watered while they wait to be permanently planted. Some have fallen over. The ones farthest from the water source look dry.
      • The memorial bench under the pine tree by the corral parking lot gets shade from the tree, but also lots of bird droppings.
      • There was a group of new sheriff's cadets getting search and rescue training in the Pueblo Area.
      • At last month's talk, Mike Cox talked about the Bernal marl mine. There are some remnants of it along the Mine Trail. There's an old wooden pole, covered with poison oak, that was part of the marl processing facility. Part of the hillside next to the trail has been excavated, exposing the marl.
      • There are madrone trees planted along the entry road to the Pueblo Area.
      • The trails to the top of Trench Hill in the Pueblo Area are getting a lot of use, but they are not trails. They were cut for firefighter training.
      • There's a telephone pole with a memorial cross at the Norred Ranch.
      • There were some wild pigs on the hill below the Bernal Hill Trail and across from the Mine Trail.
      • There's stinkwort growing along the new trail and in the Bonetti Ranch field. Stinkwort is highly invasive and can cause skin rashes.
    • Ron also showed pictures of the work that still needs to be done at the Bernal Ranch and Santa Teresa Spring. There will be a work day on Friday, 9/2/22, starting at 9:00, meeting at the ranch house.
    • Mike wants to buy more T-shirts. The grant will pay $15 per shirt, but we need to submit a change request. The New Almaden Community Club was able to buy shirts for $15.
    • For future events, we can get giveaway items at Oriental Trading Company or from Alibaba. We can have a wheel of fortune at our booth. Jim Besau can make wooden giveaways, with a custom brand for FOSTP. Note that our grant does not cover giveaways.
    • We can leave copies of our newsletter at libraries and the Southside Community Center.
    • County Parks is having an ice cream social for volunteers on 9/24/22 at 2 pm at Vasona Lake. If you received an invitation, you need to RSVP.
    • New Almaden Day is on 9/10/22 at 11 am, starting at the New Almaden Community Club, going around New Almaden, and returning to the Community Club afterwards for a BBQ and carnival.
    • NAQPCA is holding Pioneer Day at the Casa Grande on 10/8/22 at 11 am. We may want to pass out FOSTP literature.
    • Greg is hosting a block party at 3 pm on 9/10/22 at his house.
    • On Sunday 9/11/22 and 10/9/22 there will be brush-clearing work days at Almaden Quicksilver at the Hacienda Area. They want to reduce the fire load around the parking lot to provide a safe evacuation area during fires.
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       Created 9/27/22 by Ronald Horii, secretary of the Friends of Santa Teresa Park
    Funding provided by a Beautify San Jose Grant