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- Attendees: Mike Boulland, Sam Drake, Joan Murphy, Ron
Horii.
- This
was an online Zoom videoconference meeting. Mike sent out a meeting
link for this Zoom meeting.
- Beautify
San Jose Grants have been delayed due to Ken Podgorsek's death. We don't know when or if we're going
to get our Cycle 5 grant. The City is reviewing the process. However, our final report for the Cycle 4
grant was approved. We were complimented on our report.
- Because
we depend on the Beautify San Jose Grant to fund our National Night
Out, planning for it is suspended. We could do an alternative event,
but we would need event insurance and permission to do it, if it's a
private event in the park. We could just help with La Fuente instead.
- If
we continue to meet on Zoom, we don't need the UNSCC membership and
insurance, which covers in-person meetings. However, if we want to get
UNSCC event insurance, we need to be members. We need event insurance
if we host our own events, like National Night Out. If we help with
events, like La Fuente or our Stile Ranch hike, we don't need
separate event insurance.
- The new Play Here brochure is out. It
shows that La Fuente is on Sept. 16, which is on Mexican Revolution
Day, which is a Mexican holiday.
- The T-shirts came in: 28 in various sizes, plus 2 rejects.
- We had
a work day on 4/7/23. 20 people from Apple came to help. (See below.)
- Our
next workday will be on 5/5/23 at the Bernal Ranch. About 14 people are
signed up for it. We will be doing weeding around the ranch house.
- After that, our next workday will be on June 2.
- Is there a better day of the month for our meeting? We should ask members. Today, people may be watching the Warriors game.
- We
will take a field trip on 6/24 to Black Diamond Mines. Jaclyn Caldwell,
who was an interpreter at the Casa Grande, will give the tour for up to
30 people. It may cost $3 per person. Mike has a flyer for it.
- We
have $1138 in the bank, after spending $210 for logo stamps, made by
Jim Besau. We're not spending any other money until we get our grant.
- Our
history/nature hike is on 5/13/23 at 9:00 am, starting at the Stile
Ranch/Fortini Trailhead. Ron is worried about parking. The parking lot
was full in April, when the wildflowers were at their peak. There is
room down the street. There have been large events there, like trail
days. We may need someone to direct parking. Mike wrote scripts to be
read by volunteers portraying historic characters in Santa Teresa's
history. Joan will play Clementine Fortini and will talk at the
trailhead. Mike's neighbor Faith is a Master Gardener and loves
wildflowers. She will talk about wildflowers and will pass out
wildflower brochures. We will go counter-clockwise starting on the
Fortini Trail, which is flat, though narrow. Once we reach the Mine
Trail, which is steep, we can let people know they can go back if they
don't want to hike uphill. We'll have sign-in's for the trailhead.
We'll have our banners. We should bring newslettters or at least a desk
copy and flyers. We could have a members-only picnic after the hike.
However, the closest restroom is at the Rancho San Vicente parking lot.
- Ron
reviewed the changes to the website. There are new news items: the
PixInParks Challenge, which includes Santa Teresa Park; trail closures
due to PG&E construction; and our history/nature hike.
- We reviewed the meeting minutes.
- Ron showed pictures and discussed the following (with links to albums with more pictures):
- 4/15/23: The County Parks Volunteer Recognition event
was held at Hellyer County Park. Senior Park Maintenance Worker Jason
Gormon and IPM Manager Naresh Duggal thanked Stephen Cassidy for his
work as a Land Steward at Santa Teresa, removing weeds and planting
trees and shrubs.
- 4/7/23: Work day at the Bernal Ranch:
Apple employees came to help. We removed old bark that had turned into
dirt and weeds at the picnic area near the bus turnout. We cleared it
down to the old weedcloth. In the future, new bark will need to be
spread and maybe new weedcloth. Joan and Youngmee removed weeds by the
ranch house. Steve pulled weeds along the retaining wall and cut grass
along the walkway above the wall.
- 4/7/23: The sycamore trees in the Pueblo Area are leafing out. There's still water flowing in the creek that waters them. The Rocky Ridge Trail was closed to all users.
- 4/13/23: The Rocky Ridge Trail
was open. Bikes were using the trail. Poppies were blooming on Rocky
Ridge. Lupines, tidytips, and leptosiphons were blooming on the lower
trail. Lots of goldfields, along with redmaids, creamcups, and poppies
were blooming in the serpentine areas on top of the ridge. Checker
mallow and johnny jump ups were blooming in the grassy areas. The pond
on the Hidden Springs Trail
was still almost full. Phacelia, monolopia, poppies, black sage,
Chinese houses, and California gilia were blooming farther down the
trail.
- 4/14/23: There were lots of poppies blooming along the Stile Ranch Trail.
They were attracting crowds of visitors. The parking lot was full.
People were parking down the street. The trail was dry and in good
shape. There were most beautiful jewelflowers and bitterroots growing
along the trail. There was an unusually heavy bloom of seep
monkeyflowers on the Mine Trail at the Fortini Trail. Lots of goldfields were growing on the service road below the Fortini Trail.
- 4/18/23:
Signs were up on the Joice Trail warning of trail closures due to
PG&E working on their service roads. It was after 5 pm.
Construction work had stopped for the day. Existing roads leading to
the power towers were renovated. Roads, which were either overgrown or
new, were weed-whacked leading to 2 towers. There's a spot on the
Bernal Hill Trail near the Joice Trail junction that got very muddy in
the winter.
- 4/20/23: Up the Joice Trail again in the early
afternoon. Crews were working higher up on Bernal Hill. The Joice Trail
was closed near the Bernal Hill junction. The Norred Trail was very
muddy in the winter, particularly at the Joice Trail junction and
approaching the upper barn. It was drying up. There were wildflowers at
the serpentine outcropping overlooking the Bear Tree Lot.
- 4/21/23:
The Mine Trail was closed due to construction between Bernal Road and
the Bernal Hill Trail. The Mine Trail was also closed between Bernal
Road and the Stile Ranch Trail due to storm damage. There are new tree
tubes on the hills, installed and maintained by Steve Cassidy, who has
been whacking weeds around the new trees. The Pueblo Trail has a very
muddy spot near the entry road to the Pueblo Area.
- 5/2/23:
There are lots of weeds around the Bernal Ranch house that need to
be removed. The blackberries are growing back in the ceanothus bushes
above the retaining wall, the ramp to the spring, and the picnic area
below the spring. The cistern below the spring is overflowing. Water
and mud are flowing around the spring. There's heavy plant growth
around the spring.
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