Guadalupe River Park Conservancy

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NEWSLETTER: October 2012

Pumpkins in the Park Festival

Saturday, October 13, 2012 / 10 AM to 4 PM
Guadalupe River Park / Discovery Meadow
(Woz Way & San Carlos) San Jose

Giant Pumpkin Patch
Costume Parade
Pumpkin Decorating
Scarecrow Row
Fresh Apple Cider & Apple Tasting
Guadalupe River Education
Lots of Free Kids' Activities
Andy Z, Zun Zun & Radio Disney

Scarecrow Contest - Whether you choose scary, silly, or spectacular, it's time to get creative and enter a scarecrow in our annual contest. Click here to register your scarecrow.

Sponsors - Able Services, Adobe, Mike & Christy Akatiff, Blach Construction, Bright Green San Jose, Cisco, Cosmopolitan Catering, eBay inc, Flagship, Garden City Sanitation, The Health Trust, Hugh Stuart Center Charitable Trust, Kaiser Permanente, Linda Lee Lester, Martinelli’s, NBC11, PG&E, Radio Disney, Republic Services, SanDisk, S.C. Valley Water District, San Jose Mercury News, San Jose Water Company, Silicon Valley Law Group, Sobrato Development, Valley Crest Landscape, Watershed Watch, West Valley Construction.

Click here for more details!

Utility Cart

Thanks to Jim Alves and Hardcastle Auto Body we now have an awesome electric cart to help with garden tasks and field trips. Thanks Jim!

Historic Orchard

Help preserve a portion of the old Santa Clara Valley when orchards stretched across the valley floor. We are looking for volunteers to help maintain the Historic Orchard in the garden area of the Guadalupe River Park. Workdays are the first Saturday of the month from 9 am to noon. So the next one will be Saturday, October 6th. We hope to see you there.

Feral Cats

Two dedicated volunteers have been helping to reduce the cat population in the park by trapping, neutering and releasing feral adults and finding homes for kittens and the tame cats that have been dumped in the park. If you’re thinking of getting a cat or kitten, please consider adopting one from the Guadalupe. The kittens make great pets as one GRPC staff member can attest. If interested, contact cats@grpg.org.

Volunteer Corner

Meet Board Member Brandon Steene
Brandon Steene is the Branch Manager for the Silicon Valley branch of ValleyCrest Landscape Maintenance in San Jose and has worked for the company for the past 14 years. ValleyCrest Companies is the country's largest integrated landscape company with a 60 year reputation for unparalleled knowledge and technical ability. Brandon was born and raised in Calgary, Canada and holds an AD in Landscape Management and a Bachelor of Science in horticulture from Olds College. Brandon is married and lives with his wife and two young children in Willow Glen. As a former downtown San Jose resident, Brandon is enthusiastic about having the Guadalupe River Park & Gardens become an integral part of the downtown experience for everyone.

Meet Volunteer Emily Green
Emily’s background resembles a travelogue as she was born in Minnesota, but grew up in Wisconsin and earned her undergraduate degree from UC San Diego. While in San Diego, she met her husband Marshal; they recently moved to Santa Cruz where he will be attending UC Santa Cruz while Emily works towards a graduate degree in environmental anthropology at SJSU. Emily heard about the Conservancy at school and, in addition to staffing the front desk, plans to do an internship while here. Thanks to Emily for taking time to help us out and if you happen to come into the office on Wednesday afternoons or Thursdays, stop at the front desk to say hi. If you'd like to volunteer in the office, please click our fancy new button to shoot us an e-mail.

Upcoming Events

Homeschool Series

October theme: Exploring our Watershed

Mountains in Motion
October 3rd

Stream Sense
October 10th

Macroinverte-who?
October 17th

It’s All Connected
October 24th

Which Way to the Wetlands?
October 31st

Time: 1:30 – 3 pm
Ages: 5-12
$10 members/$15 non-members per class
$35 members/$55 non-members per series

For more information, click here.

Scarecrow Workshop

Saturday, October 6th
1 to 3 pm
$10/members, $15/non-members per scarecrow group
Ages: All welcome, children must be accompanied by an adult

Pre-registration required by
Thursday, October 4th

Celebrate the fall season by creating an autumnal favorite: a scarecrow! Bring your family, friends, school or scout group to the Guadalupe River Park to create your very own silly, scary or stupendous scarecrow. We’ll provide the ‘skeletal’ material to help you build him or her, participants are asked to bring clothing and hats to clothe their new friend. Participants are also invited to enter their scarecrow into the Pumpkins in the Park scarecrow contest. The cost of the workshop covers any group or individual making one scarecrow. Sign up.

Onions, Garlic and Other Edible Alliums

Saturday, October 6th
10:00am to 12:00pm
Ages 18 and Up
$10/members, $15/non-members

Learn about the history of edible alliums and how to successfully grow them in your garden, taking advantage of our bay area mild and rainy winters, warm and sunny summers, to grow a gourmet garden of bulbing onion, garlic, shallots, scallions, chives and leeks. Master Gardener Sue Zaslaw will teach you how to select the best varieties for our area, how to prepare the soil, when and how to plant, grow, harvest and store you alliums. Discover how edible alliums may be used ornamentally, and the dramatic use of ornamental alliums to make your garden stand out. Handouts will be provided. Sign up.

Kids Growing Strong Leader Training
presented by Kids Growing Strong

October 20, 2012
9:00 am to 3:00 pm
Pre-registration is required

FREE TRAINING for Parents, teachers and anyone interested in gardening with children. Leave the kids at home and spend a day exploring new and exciting ways to share the joy and wonders that can be found in a garden. This training day will be spent sharing tips and strategies to garden with children, interact with families, and enrich the lives of others using hands-on garden activities. Click here to visit their registration page.

Fall Walking Series

Saturdays, September 8th -- October 27th (8 weeks)
8:30 to 9:30 am
Ages 18 and Up
$40/members, $50/non-members

Step by step, you'll be healthier as a result of this class. Join fitness instructors Kristin and Sheri Saturday mornings for fun, fitness and friendship along the Guadalupe River Trails. Starting Saturday, September 8th at 8:30am, this series will run for 8 weeks. Sign up.

Legacy Giving
Retirement accounts, which are subject to income tax, are good vehicles for charitable gifts. Charities aren’t subject to income tax so your gift goes farther.