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| Goleta Valley Beautiful E-Mail News - October 2006 Click here to see the PDF Oct Newsletter Sept 2006 Board Minutes Nov 2006 Newsletter Dec 2006 Newsletter
Our September volunteers above included Westmont and Mercer Advisers Day of Caring volunteers at the N. Kellogg Open Space pathway project on September 16, and UCSB and Beautify Dos Pueblos volunteers at the Dos Pueblos High Tennis Courts tree planting on September 30. To sign up for a volunteer activity, send an e-mailScott or leave a message at 685-7910. -Also Click here to see the calendar October Tree Planting Projects Kick Into High Gear October 21 NeighborWoods/Make a Difference Day Tree Planting New national sponsors to our project to plant 40 trees at the Glen Annie Creek Open Space west of Glen Annie Road and north of Del Norte include the Home Depot Foundation and the Alliance for Community Trees. They join our new local sponsor Andy Holland who will be donating his time and equipment to dig the 40 holes. Andy joins the 21 families who have contributed $775 towards our $1500 goal to cover costs. Tax deductible contributions for this project in any amount are still being accepted. Final reviews by City staff are underway. October School and Park Tree Planting Projects - This month we'll be planting trees on the weekends at Kellogg Elementary, Dos Pueblos and San Marcos High Schools, and on Wednesday mornings at the Kellogg Tennis Courts, Ribera Parkway and Tabano Hollow Bikeway. Call 685-7910 to join in. October Goleta Valley Beautiful Award - 5753 Stow Canyon Road - MacCallum residence The October award goes to the MacCallum residence at 5753 Stow Canyon Road. This water saving renovation was a collaboration between the homeowners and their landscape/hardscape installer Benigno Marcharro, who, to their delight,introduced many new plants beyond the original concept. Surrounding the dry creek bed are many grasses, daylilies, lavenders, lantana, and blue fescue, with Bower and Trumpet vines along the fence and iceberg roses framing their patio. All bedding plants have drip irrigation and are seasonally mulched. You can nominate your favorite Goleta Valley Residential property by downloading a nomination form from the website or by contacting Bonnie Freeman at 683-1878. For all other categories (Multifamily residence, Commercial, Firescape, Sustainable Development, Home Owners Association, Preservation of the Goleta Valley, Public/Institutional, Open Space, Shopping Center, Commercial Orchard, Open), contact Phebe Mansur at 685-2277 or call 683-0121. Water Kings and Queens- keep the water flowing in October Note to our Water Kings and Queens - please keep filling your Treegator bags if you have them, and if not, keep giving you trees a deep watering once or twice in October. We generally keep watering until the first good rain of 1/2 inch or more. A painless way to help Goleta Valley Beautiful- Good Search and Albertson's Preferred Partner Program SEARCH THE INTERNET AND HELP SUPPORT GOLETA VALLEY BEAUTIFUL..Did you know that you can support Goleta Valley Beautiful by doing something you most likely do everyday? Well, you can! GoodSearch.com is a new search engine that donates half its revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. You use it just as you would any search engine, and it's powered by Yahoo!, so you still get good search results. Just go to www.goodsearch.com and designate Goleta Valley Beautiful as the charity you want to support. Just 500 of us searching four times a day will raise about $7,300 in a year without anyone spending a dime! And, be sure to spread the word! And if you are not already participating in the Albertsons Community Partners Program, please contact us at 685-7910 for information on how you can help us buy books for the Goleta Public Library without cost to you or go to back to our HOME page on this web site and click on the Albertson link and follow the instructions. Goleta Valley Beautiful Litter and Graffiti-Removal Volunteers GVB Evergreen volunteers Don and Judy Nason of Cambridge Community Church volunteered 17 service hours last month and a lot of shoe leather in collecting 11.5 bags of trash from our local roadways with GVB supplied trash grabbers. They can use your help in reduce litter. Please give them a call at 964-4895. GVB Evergreen volunteer Ed Graper of the Goleta Noontime Rotary needs help with keeping graffiti under control such as the paint out on 101 above. A message from Ed said "What help do I need? I'd really love to have a gardener to help get vines growing over walls like the one in the picture. There are perhaps 10 of them along 101. It would make a HUGE difference I always badly need people to report tags they see in their daily travels and walks. They can be there for weeks before I'm told! And, of course people that will take responsibility for a small area and keep it clean (training and materials provided).' You can reach Ed at 964-7117. September 2006 GVB accomplishments/Kudos In addition to our litter and graffiti efforts mentioned above, GVB volunteers were all over the valley last month. New Evergreen volunteers Stacia Young and son Adran spent 18 hours repotting trees at the Devereux greenhouse. Fred Keplinger spent 4 hours watering the new trees at Calle Barquero, while Steve and Kris Hayes spent 3 hours watering at Winchester Canyon. Evergreen volunteers from the Pies, Bish and Janee families were among the 100+ volunteers who contributed 300+ service hours, 45+ UCSB and Beautify Dos Pueblos volunteers contributing 117+ hours for our first in a series of Dos Pueblos tree plantings. And the GVB Board contributed 40 hours while conducting it's first retreat in five years to review the GVB Vision, Mission, and Goals. Special thanks this month to Marborg for their donations of 3 trash containers for the Day of Caring project, Home Depot for their donation of tools, Helen McPhirren for her donation of three cases of snacks for volunteers . See more photos at Click here to go to the photos If the hyperlink does not work, you can cut and paste the link into the address area of your browser. Your comments to kennethknight@cox.net will help us build a better communications link. To remove your name from the monthly e-mail newsletter list, please reply to this e-mail with the word 'remove ' in the subject. click here to go to top of archive GOLETA VALLEY BEAUTIFUL Board of Directors Meeting Friday, September 1, 2006 Board Members present: Laura Funkhouser, Zea Bauer, Ken Knight, Juliette Wigley, Bonnie Freeman, Merlyn Cummings, Michael Bennett, Phebe Mansur. 1. Call to order: Laura began the meeting at 7:04 am 1.1 Juliette Wigley from UCSB welcomed as the newest board member 1.2 Danielle Havicon will be joining us next month, also from UCSB 2. Approval of August 4 GVB Board meeting minutes 2.1 Motion for approval made by Mike, seconded by Merlyn 2.2 Minutes approved unanimously –no discussion 3. Approval of August 17 Executive Committee meeting minutes 3.1 Motion for approval made by Merlyn, seconded by Bonnie 3.2 Minutes approved unanimously – note made about the resolution Ken prepared for funding by Calif. Dept of Forestry that authorized Ken to sign on GVB behalf 4. Budget Report: Ken for Tami: 4.1 A printed report was provided showing current expenditures and projected income. First month: expenses $9000, income $1000. Grant monies will be arriving at various dates. Expenses are shown as % of anticipated budget 4.2 Mike commented on format that appears somewhat confusing 4.3 Laura explained budget is based on accrual method. Grant monies are anticipated but have not actually been received. Accounts will fill up with real money at later date, depending on funding dates. It is a Zero-based budget. 4.4 Ken indicated that budget projections depend on accurate planning to meet year-end goals and fulfill grant restrictions. 5. Board Member Issues: Laura 5.1 Nominations for open positions: Laura will remain President thru October. Search for candidates ongoing. 5.2 Calif. Releaf Conf: Pasadena Sept. 7-9 - still one opening available as Laura & George are unable to attend. Ken will hold extra room a bit longer. 5.3 Board Retreat: Saturday, September 30th 1-5 Ken explained that the retreat is to give the board an opportunity to review goals and mission of GVB, as well as to examine progress over the past 5 years, review current business plan, and update & modify by-laws as needed: e.g. existence of Executive Committee and 2nd VP. Materials passed out to Board members present to review before the retreat: 1) Current Mission/Goals of GVB; 2) series of worksheets that will be considered during the retreat (prepared by Phebe) Location still to be determined. Cost is factor in obtaining facility. Pacifica Suites may be a possible choice Facilitator also needed: Ken is trying to find one for reduced fee or free Board members unable to attend may send in their comments/answers on the materials provided. 6. Directors Report/Business Plan Status: no discussion 7. Monthly Volunteer Status Report: no discussion 8. Monthly Awards Committee Report: Bonnie & Phebe 8.1 Sept. Award: residential: none Business: St Michael’s Church, Isla Vista: drought adaptive & native plants predominate 8.2 October Award: residential: 5753 Stow Canyon Rd. photos shared- also two others on Stow Canyon for future consideration. 8.3 November Award candidates also presented 8.4 Proposed December awards coordination with Goleta Rotary Christmas lighting awards met with general approval. This will be in addition to the regular December Awards. 8.5 End of contract with Valley Voice: no funds available for a paid insertion of the GVB Monthly Award photos and information. Will be relying on “space available” unless donor comes forth to fund. 8.6 SB News Press will continue to print the monthly residential awards whenever submitted, but they should be notified whenever there isn’t one. They do not print the commercial or business awards. 9. Education Committee Report: Ken 9.1 Albertsons: funds continue to trickle in: see below 9.2 Venture Crew: still in plans- work with San Marcos High in fulfilling grant for planting on the school grounds. 9.3 additional books for Goleta library purchased with Albertsons & Urban Forestry Council funds. Details in GVB Newsletter. 10. Government Committee: Michael 10.1 Need volunteers to attend meetings of various government agencies to increase GVB’s “visibility”- Michael commented that usually only 1 (Ken) attends most meetings and that may affect the outcome 10.2 Ken made a presentation to Goleta City Council on Aug 7th seeking the appointment of a City representative to the GVB Board. No action taken 10.3 Planning commissioner recommendations will be made Sept. 5th. Jean Blois has indicated that she will nominate Ken Knight for a position on the board. 10.4 Suggestion that T-shirts be designed to be worn at this type of event to increase “visibility”. “PRO-GROWTH” slogan with tree suggested as a possible design by Laura. Maybe bumper sticker as well? Board expressed positive interest. 11. Urban Forestry: Ken 11.1 Day of Caring: Sept 16th N Kellogg project: information in GVB Newsletter and flyer provided by neighborhood assn. Also some landscaping to be done at Dos Pueblos High on the same day. 12. Other Board Items: 12.1Members encouraged to review reports & newsletter, also report monthly volunteer hours to Scott before Board meeting 12.2 Bonnie raised question about Daniel Wilson status regarding his intent to join board. Still considered a guest & potential member 12.3 Confidentiality issues were also raised about dissemination of GVB information. Noted that GVB is a public non-profit. 13.Adjornment at Pacifica Suites location 13.1 Merlyn moved to adjourn at 7:35, seconded by Mike. All departed in cars to Devereux & rendezvous at end of Stoke Rd 13.2 Travel to the Devereux Greenhouse and Growing Grounds for tour 14. Tour of Greenhouse & Growing Grounds 14.1 Many Board members had not had opportunity to visit the facility 14.2 Everyone was very impressed with the scope of the plant growing 14.3 Much discussion over future of the facilities and use by GVB 14.4 Most board members left around 8:30. Next Board Meeting: Friday, October 6th, Pacific Suites, 7am. WATCH FOR 2007 GVB MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS IN EARLY NOVEMBER! Goleta Valley Beautiful E-Mail News - November 2006
Our October 21 NeighborWoods Project above included 70 volunteers donating 236 community service hours to plant 35 15 gallon sized Coast Live Oak and Sycamore trees in the Glen Annie Open Space. The Project built upon the decades long efforts of local arborist Dougal House (shown above with daughter Carly) to improve the quality of local watersheds through native tree planting and care. This neighborhood funded project was linked to a national NeighborWoods tree-planting and care program during the month of October. Over 100 NeighborWoods events nationwide were coordinated by the Alliance for Community Trees (ACT) in partnership with the Home Depot Foundation. ACT sponsored a pizza party for the volunteers afterwards. Councilmember Margaret Connell spoke briefly to the volunteers, which included neighbors, UCSB students, and a team of Home Depot volunteers led by Goleta Home Depot store manager Scott Lesan. Prior to the event, Andy Holland donated his time and backhoe to dig the holes in the compacted clay soil, and Liz Hasch spearheaded efforts to publicize the event in the community. To sign up for a volunteer activity, send an e-mailScott or leave a message at 685-7910. -Also Click here to see the calendar November 17 Urban Forestry Workshop at Goleta Community Center Click here for more information. November Tree Planting Projects Continue at our schools Dos Pueblos, San Marcos and Ellwood Schools will benefit from our tree planting efforts this month. Dos Pueblos will see a continuation of native oaks planted along Cathedral Oaks Road (Oaks on Cathedral Oaks-what a concept!) and Alameda on Nov 4 after receiving a row of trees around the tennis courts in October. San Marcos High kicked off their planting program in October with a visit from Assemblyman Pedro Nava, and more trees will be planted there on Nov. 11. Ellwood School will get 30 new trees on Nov 18 with the help of Andy Holland's backhoe. Call 685-7910 to join in. click here to go to top of newsletter November Goleta Valley Beautiful Award - 1103 More Ranch Road - Isabelle residence The November award goes to 1103 More Ranch Road in Santa Barbara County. Owner Mrs. Julie Isabelle traded her Avocado Ranch for this family Hacienda with barn, stable and orchard property. Helping her convert the grounds to a sustainable compound was her daughter and son-in-law Jennifer and Patrick Housh. The family installed a large vegetable garden, many fruit trees, bird and bunny-attracting plants mixed with lots of color and scents for the entryways. Statuary abounds with Saint Francis and St. Roque watching over wildlife and pets. You can nominate your favorite Goleta Valley Residential property by downloading a nomination form from the website or by contacting Bonnie Freeman at 683-1878. For all other categories (Multifamily residence, Commercial, Firescape, Sustainable Development, Home Owners Association, Preservation of the Goleta Valley, Public/Institutional, Open Space, Shopping Center, Commercial Orchard, Open), contact Phebe Mansur at 685-2277 or call 683-0121. Water Kings and Queens- keep the water flowing in November Note to our Water Kings and Queens - please keep filling your Treegator bags if you have them, and if not, keep giving you trees a deep watering once or twice in November. We generally keep watering until the first good rain of 1/2 inch or more. El Encanto Heights/Dos Pueblos High Entryway Sign Restored On October 7, ten members of the Sigma Chi Omega Fraternity took time out from tree planting to reinstall the entryway sign to El Encanto Heights and Dos Pueblos High School. The $3500 sign was originally paid for by contributions from neighborhood residents and installed by Dos Pueblos High School Principal Mike Couch and a group of Dos Pueblos volunteers over 9 years ago. The posts for the sign rotted out recently, and the $600+ cost of replacing the posts and repainting the sign were supported by Beautify Dos Pueblos and the Dos Pueblos High School Art Club. GVB Project Learning Tree School Presentations As part of Goleta Valley Beautiful's tree planting programs, we are also available for making classroom presentations on tree-related topics. Above are photos from the October 26 Family Science Night at Kellogg School where we presented a number of math and science activities with a tree-related theme. These activities included providing samples and identity of every tree species on the campus, leaf printing, telling time through tree rings, how to test acorns for viability, tree height and canopy estimating, and materials for children to take home to do with their parents. The following day 14 Students in the Kellogg Student Council contributed 42 volunteer service hours in planting two trees (Grecian Laurel and Arbutus Marina). Although Principal Nancy Knight provided overall supervision and Arborist Ken Knight provided technical guidance, these trees were planted wholly by student initiative. These and other activities from the Project Learning Tree program are available at no charge to classroom teachers upon request. These programs are made possible in part by support from GVB donor members. October 2006 GVB accomplishments/Kudos A real busy month! Merlyn Cummings has temporarily assumed the GVB Presidency taking over for Laura Funkhouser, who stepped down to concentrate on responsibilities at work. 81 trees (mostly natives grown by GVB) were planted in October with 420 volunteer service hours. Our litter crew picked up 131/2 bags of trash with 15 volunteer service hours. Greenhouse volunteers Stacia and Adran were joined by Janine and put in 33 volunteer hours with our new trees. Our Work Training Programs crews are hard at work planting trees at County Open Spaces on Wednesday mornings. Look for them at Tabano Hollow and Ribera Bikeway in November. See more photos at Click here to go to the photos click here to go to top of newsletter Click here to go to top of page Goleta Valley Beautiful E-Mail News - December 2006 2007 GVB MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS DUE DECEMBER 31ST
Seventy six volunteers Make Ellwood School Even More Green with the Addition of 33 TreesSeventy six people planted 33 trees on the Ellwood campus on November 18 contributing 207 community service hours. About half of the volunteers were Ellwood parents and students, while the other half with UCSB students, including members of the Chinese American association, the Environmental Affairs Board and Alpha Kappa Delta Phi Sorority. Andy Holland made the digging quite a bit easier by contributing his backhoe to dig half of the tree sites and move mulch into position. The trees were chosen for their ability to sustain themselves once established, including Coast Live Oak, Island Oak, Ironwood, Torrey Pine, Catalina Cherry and New Zealand Christmas Trees. These trees are part of a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Green Trees for the Golden State Grant to plant 744 trees at Goleta Valley Schools and parks. To sign up for a volunteer activity, send an e-mailScott or leave a message at 685-7910. -Also Click here to see the calendar What's New on the GVB Website www.goletavalleybeautiful.org? You can now use our website to renew your membership online using a secure PayPal system. In the next few months, Webmaster Thom Myall will be adding other items to our Online Store including reservations to workshops, tours and the annual banquet. Another new item in the archives is our annual Form 990 report. It is like the Tax form 1040, but this is one that non-profits have to file for public review. Among other interesting information in a rather dry report is the fact that we planted 486 trees last year, and about 45% of our annual revenue comes from local resources, with the rest being grants. Thanks for keeping us afloat! December Tree Planting Projects Continue at Goleta Valley High schools Dos Pueblos and San Marcos Schools will again benefit from our tree planting efforts in December. Dos Pueblos will install a temporary drip irrigations system for the trees along Cathedral Oaks Road and Alameda on Dec 2, as well as 10 trees in the interior Court M/B. San Marcos High will get another ten oaks hear its softball fields. Call 685-7910 to join in. December 2006 Goleta Valley Beautiful Award - 339 Princeton Avenue-LaBouve residenceThe December award goes to 339 Princeton Avenue in the Goleta Valley unincorporated area. Owners Frank and Diane LaBouve were inspired to renovate their property after Mr. LaBouve attended a landscape design class at SBCC. With advice from instructor Billy Goodnick, (a City Landscape Architect) in sustainable concepts, the LaBouves selected appropriate plants and ended up doing much of the work themselves. As to hardscape, the replacement of a cement slab driveway with bricks in a permeable zig-zag pattern warms up their entry and reduces rainwater runoff. The driveway was installed by Custom Hardscapes Inc. You can nominate your favorite Goleta Valley Residential property by downloading a nomination form from the website at www.goletavalleybeautiful.org or by contacting Bonnie Freeman at 683-1878. For all other categories (Multifamily residence, Commercial, Firescape, Sustainable Development, Home Owners Association, Preservation of the Goleta Valley, Public/Institutional, Open Space, Shopping Center, Commercial Orchard, Open), contact Phebe Mansur at 685-2277 or call 685-7910. Water Kings and Queens-Please continue to water in December Due to the dry weather, we are asking all residents with new trees to give them a deep watering once or twice in December. If you have Treegators, please fill them up as we are not removing them until we have a good soaking rain of 1/2 inch or more. If you would like to help us water trees in December that would normally have been watered by rainfall, please call 685-7910Mid State Bank and Trust Foundation Donates $3000 to Goleta Valley Beautiful Youth Tree ProjectsMid State Bank and Trust Assistant Vice President/Customer Services Manager Tami Mason presents a check for $3000 to Goleta Valley Beautiful Executive Director Ken Knight on behalf of the Mid-State Bank and Trust Foundation. The Foundation is supporting Goleta Valley Beautiful's efforts to work with local youth to plant trees in public areas. The Award was made during a recent tree planting at Ellwood School conducted by mostly student volunteers. To volunteer, call 685-7910 or visit www.goletavalleybeautiful.org. Teachers! - Coming January 19/20, 2007 - Project Learning Tree WorkshopElementary and high school teachers are invited to attend a Project Learning Tree Workshop on late Friday afternoon January 19 and Saturday morning January 20 at the Goleta Union School District. State instructors will be conducting a workshop training in the latest Project Learning Tree materials with numerous lesson plans for teaching required environmental curriculum with a tree-related theme. Registration details coming soon. November 2006 GVB accomplishments/KudosAnother big month! 70 trees (mostly natives grown by GVB) were planted including 10 at San Marcos High, 17 at Dos Pueblos High, 33 at Ellwood Elementary, and 10 along Ribera Ave/Tabano Hollow Bikeway. The Nason litter crew picked up 13 bags of post-Halloween/Election trash with 20.5 volunteer service hours. Greenhouse volunteers Stacia and Adran planted hundreds of new trees at the Greenhouse in 24 volunteer hours with our new trees. And Interns Juliette and Iara continued crunching numbers for a tree research project. Whew-we're workin'. See more photos at Click here to go to the photos Despite generous contributions of snacks and sodas from Sam Alfano and Helen McPherrin, our supplies have been all used up by the increased number of volunteers. Donations of water, packaged healthy snacks (granola bars/pretzels) and 100%% fruit juices are appreciated. We're moving away from offering sodas as most student volunteers prefer less sugar. Your comments to kennethknight@cox.net kennethknight@cox.netwill help us build a better communications link. To remove your name from the monthly e-mail newsletter list, please reply to this e-mail with the word 'remove ' in the subject. click here to go to top click here to go to top of newsletter |
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