Guadalupe River Park Conservancy

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NEWSLETTER: January 2013

In this issue:

Adopt-a-Rose for Valentine's Day
River Clean Up
Rose Pruning Classes
Volunteer Corner

Adopt-a-Rose

Looking for a distinctive Valentine's gift? A bouquet of roses will last a week, but a rose bush will bloom throughout the year. With your donation of $50, we will help you select the perfect rose and prepare a gift box for your Valentine. Click here for more details.

River Clean Up

Thanks to everyone who came out Dec. 15th to help cleanup up the Conservancy's adopted stretch of the Guadalupe River near the office! The early December heavy rain washed a lot of garbage into the river and we were able to collect about 40 bags of trash and miscellaneous items estimated at 1,200 pounds. The effort not only helps protect the wildlife in the river area, but it also ensures the debris will not make its way to SF Bay. Our next clean up is January 19th...click the green button to join us.

Rose Pruning Classes

Hands-on rose pruning lessons are being offered at the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden every Wednesday and Saturday, beginning the first Wednesday of the New Year, January 2th, and ending in mid-February. Lessons begin promptly at 8:30 am.

Come to learn, engage with community members, and have fun! Bring leather gloves and bypass shears, if you have them, loaners available if needed. Wear closed-toed shoes and bring a full, large water bottle. Meet in the center of the garden.

The Heritage Rose Garden is located at Spring and West Taylor Streets. Free parking is available on Seymour Street, Taylor Street and surrounding side streets. All minors (age 16 and 17) need to come prepared with a signed minor release form. Call the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy at 408-298-7657, or email Mike Peasland at mike @ grpg.org for more information. Click here to sign up.

Volunteer Corner

Meet Volunteer Alexander Marcus
Alexander is one of our newest field volunteers. Back in October he jumped in to help with the apple cider pressing booth at Pumpkins in the Park. He has also been supporting our busy monthly Orchard workdays and river cleanups. In his spare time Alexander enjoys gardening, reading, and walking. In fact he discovered the Conservancy while out on a walk in the park! It’s always nice to have people step forward to lead, so we appreciate Alexander’s efforts.

Upcoming Events

Homeschool Series

January theme: Weather Happens Everyday: Investigating the Science Behind the Sky

Wild about Wind, Jan. 16th
Cloudspotting, Jan. 23rd
Extreme Weather, Jan 30th

Time: 1:30 – 3 pm
Ages: 5-12
Cost: $10 members/$15 non-members per class

For more information, click here.

Winter Dormant Fruit Tree Pruning Workshop

Saturday, January 19th
9:30 – 11:30 am
$10/members, $15/non-members

Winter is the perfect time to sign up for a pruning workshop with professional landscaper, Sean McGrail! Sean will teach you how to prune fruit trees and then let you gain hands-on experience by practicing your newly learned techniques on Guadalupe River Park & Garden’s Historic Orchard. The orchard contains over 220 fruit and nut trees, including cherries, apricots, prunes, apples, and more. Sign up.

Greywater Basics: Reusing Household Water In Your Landscape

Saturday February 9th
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Age 18 and up
$10/members, $15/members

Certified greywater installer Alan Hackler covers the basics of how to safely and easily reuse your laundry, sink or shower water in your home garden. In addition to being a certified greywater installer, Alan is a talented landscape designer and the owner of Bay Maples landscaping. Sign up.

2013 Compost Workshops

Wednesdays, 6-8 pm, Free!

March 27
June 19
July 24
August 21

We team up the City of San Jose and the Santa Clara County Home Composting Education Program to offer four basic composting classes each year. More details along with a link to register can be found on our web site in the coming weeks.

Legacy Giving

As part of the fiscal cliff resolution, Congress extended the IRA charitable rollover for 2012 and 2013, creating a unique circumstance for individuals older than 70.5+. If you took a taxable distribution from your IRA in December 2012, you can avoid taxes on the distribution by making a gift to a charity by January 31st.

For the rest of the year, you must ask the custodian of your account to send funds directly to your chosen charity. For more information click here.