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NEWSLETTER: January 2020

In this issue:

  • Rotary PlayGarden Expansion
  • Adopt a Rose for Valentine's Day
  • Summer Camp Program Support
  • Now Hiring
  • Volunteer Corner

Rotary PlayGarden Expansion

Thanks to support from the County of Santa Clara's All-Inclusive Playground Grant Program and the City of San Jose, the Rotary PlayGarden is expanding! The first community meeting was held on Thursday, January 9th. Please consider sharing your feedback on proposed designs via the online survey (open January 10th-24th).

You can also join us and partners--City of San Jose Dept. of Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Services and PGAdesign--for the second community meeting on Tuesday, February 25th from 6:30-8:00 pm at the Visitor & Education Center (438 Coleman Ave). A survey will be available after the meeting for those unable to attend.

More information here.

Did you know you can reserve a seating area in the PlayGarden for a birthday party or other special occasion? Proceeds help us continue to provide a clean, safe, and welcoming place to play. Learn more about reservations.

Adopt a Rose for Valentine's Day

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 $60, we will help you select the perfect rose from the Heritage Rose Garden and prepare a gift box for your Valentine.

Order or renew an adoption.

Summer Camp Program Support

Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved on December 17, 2019 recommendations to expand summer camp and enrichment activities for vulnerable youth in the region. Thank you Supervisor Cindy Chavez for your leadership on behalf of our youth, and for valuing the programs of GRPC for inclusion in your initiative. Pictured above, a student participating in a physics lesson during last summer's Camp Guadalupe.

Read more about the referral.

Volunteer Corner

Intuit helped us continue surrounding the Heritage Rose Garden perimeter with an environmentally-friendly preventative barrier to suppress weeds and reduce the use of herbicides in the Gardens.

We also welcomed 12 volunteers for the annual Christmas Bird Count in Guadalupe Gardens, logging over 1,000 birds representing 40+ species.

A hearty thanks to all the volunteer groups that toiled to make GRPG a more beautiful place this past November:

Alpha Phi Omega, Gamma Beta, SJSU, APO
Andrew Hill High School
Bellarmine College Preparatory
Branham High School
Gensler
Gunderson High School, Interact Club
HandsOn Bay Area
Hope Services
Intuit
Leland High School
Lynbrook High School, CSF
Monte Vista High School
Morgan Autism Center
National Charity League
Notre Dame High School
Pioneer High School
Presentation High School
San Jose State University
South Bay Heritage Rose Group
UC Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County
Westmont High School, CSF

And that is only the groups! We also appreciate the scores of individuals who come out weekly to make a difference. You helped us log 711 volunteer hours in November.

Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities

  • Heritage Rose Garden Workdays
    Weds. and Sats. 8:30-11:30 am. Join us to help with winter pruning! More info.

 

Meet Volunteer: Aleta
Aleta found our front desk volunteer opening on VolunteerMatch and has been with us since August of 2019. She chose to volunteer with us because we are close to her home, staffing the front desk seemed like a task she could manage, and she likes anything environment-related. Aleta enjoys working with the staff (she says we are nice and fun!) and that she is given a variety of things to do when volunteering. Thanks for all you do, Aleta!

So many ways to give:
Adopt A Rose, General Donations,
The Donor Walkway, Memberships, Endowment

Upcoming Events

Pruning Lessons in the Heritage Rose Garden

Wednesdays and Saturdays
8:30 to 11:30 am

Hands-on rose pruning lessons will be offered at the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden every Wednesday and Saturday through the end of February. Lessons begin promptly at 8:30 am.

Come to learn, engage with community members, and have fun! Please bring leather gloves and bypass shears if you have them; loaners are available if needed. Wear closed-toe shoes and bring a full water bottle. Meet at the garden shed.

More information here.

Homeschool Programs

January
Physics

Our weekly Community Homeschool Investigators of the River Park (CHIRP) program classes are available for ages 5-12.

Limited space is available for ages 9-12 on Mondays; ages 5-8 can join our duplicate session on Thursdays.

Kinetic vs. Potential
January 13th & 16th

Wave Behavior

January 27th & 30th

Register here.

Beginning Environmental Explorers

Weekly on Wednesdays (in English) & Fridays (in Spanish)
11:00 am to 12:00 noon
Rotary PlayGarden

Our Beginning Environmental Explorers (BEE) program is an enriching introduction into environmental science taught by Guadalupe River Park Conservancy's environmental educators and designed for children ages 2-6. Programs are offered for free on Wednesdays (in English) and Fridays (in Spanish) and drop-ins are welcome.

More information here.

Now Hiring

We are seeking an Advancement Officer to help achieve our vision of becoming San Jose's civic greenway and the premier urban riverfront park of the Bay Area.

View the position description.

Whose skeleton is that?

It's one thing to look at a rat, toad, or crayfish skeleton, and it's another to build and manipulate a 3D model to gain an intimate understanding of structure and function. Thanks to our talented education intern, Grace, we have a growing set of 3D printed skeletons and anatomical models representing local wildlife to complement our education programs.

Support Us When You Shop Online

Header photo of Guadalupe Gardens at sunrise captured by our Volunteer Coordinator, Sarah Dreitlein.

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