News from the Hall January 2013

News from the Board by Collin Riley

Hello friends and neighbors. Thank you for allowing me to serve as Hesperia Hall Board President for 2013. Gracious thanks to Carol Kenyon for her tenure as President. I am pleased and honored to update you on Hall business as we conclude this holiday season. Now beyond the winter solstice, this is the time when our longest nights and shortest days begin reversing their trend. The days gradually lengthen, and the nights gradually shorten. My hope, entering the New Year, is that our adversities will lessen, while peace and prosperity increase. I hope the holidays were a time of rest and reflection on the precious gifts of life and love.

Santa Claus came to Bryson-Hesperia Hall at the monthly potluck on December 21st. The children enjoyed Santa’s jolly, magnanimous generosity, and no lumps of coal were distributed. Thank you to the Steele family, Santa Claus, and all who made this wonderful night possible.

Bryson-Hesperia Calendar 2013 sold well and copies are almost gone. Please get yours now to enjoy gorgeous photographs of our area and to support the Hall.

Cal Fire has agreed to attend our January 18 potluck and issue burn permits at 6:30 pm prior to the event. Dinner is at 7:00 pm. After dinner, Cal Fire will address the group on clearing and fire suppression issues. This is a valuable service to our community that they have performed for us in previous years. Please attend and take advantage of their service and generous time allocation. I was asked by the Battalion Chief to relay that in the interim, burn permits can be obtained at the Bradley Cal Fire Station. This has not been the case the past three years when they have been obtained at King City. Cal Fire performs the service of issuing burn permits in non-fire season as a courtesy to another agency, and this year they are at the Bradley station. Online issuance is not yet available though still planned for the future.

Please attend the potluck on January 18 at 7:00 pm and be there at 6:30 if you want a burn permit.

Many exciting opportunities and challenges lie ahead, and your 2013 Bryson-Hesperia Hall Board is eager to meet them. See you on the 18th, and thanks again for the chance to serve.

This month’s potluck is a busy one and will take place at 7:00 pm on January 18. Cal Fire will issue burn permits from 6:30 pm, and both Cal Fire and SMERTA will give presentations after dinner.

Santa Visits Hesperia Hall

The threat of rain did not deter a jovial, exuberant Santa Claus from making his annual appearance at the Hall, and there were plenty of eager young people to greet him and receive early Christmas gifts. On a sadder note, Joan and Kevin Steele announced that this 2012 Christmas potluck would be the final one they host. The Hall community is deeply grateful for the ten years they have hosted the splendid, convivial, warmly anticipated Christmastime event.

Scholarship Report by Ed Buntz

The Scholarship Committee would like to express thanks to Bill and Jane Munger for their very generous annual donation. Thanks also go out to Janet Hardcastle for making a Christmas gift donation as her third donation of the year and to Don and Jen Webster for their annual Christmas gift donation. We also acknowledge and thank an anonymous donor for making a substantial end-of-year donation to the fund.

The Christmas party and potluck at the Hall, hosted wonderfully once again by the Steele family, provided great fun and community thankfulness. We were pleased with the return of scholarship recipients past and present at this event and to hear of many more students on their way home from college to spend time with their families in our wonderful community over the holiday season.

The scholarship fund was richly blessed in 2012, so thank you to all donors that made individual contributions and/or supported the raffle quilt. The New Year is upon us, so students will be back to their new semester/quarter, and we will be working to keep up our annual support of their endeavors. We look forward to working with students, parents, and supporters to continue a robust community scholarship program.

If you have any questions about the scholarship program or wish to establish a college savings account for your children, please contact Ed Buntz at (805) 472-2070 or Lois Lindley at (805) 472-9556.

Kay and Jim Brand Honored

On December 21, Carol Kenyon presided over the final potluck of her tenure as she introduced new members of the Hesperia Hall Foundation Board of Directors. Carol will be stepping down, at least for the time being, as will Janice Smith-Ramseier and Jim Brand. The Board recognized the services of its outgoing president with a Certificate of Appreciation. Collin Riley, Delfina Pineda, and John Plumb will join the Board as of January 1, 2013, with Collin assuming the position of president.

As a final pleasant duty, Carol was happy to preside over the Board’s recognition of Kay and Jim Brand’s many years of service, presenting the couple with a Life Membership to Hesperia Hall. Jim and Kay have served the Hall diligently for decades. They hosted the Thanksgiving potluck for many years, created and led the Line Dancers, hosted community picnics, took care of recycling trash, oiled the Hall floor annually, and were dependably active in ways, great and small, too numerous to catalog, including Jim’s frequent service as grill master when events required barbecuing.

Though Jim is stepping down from the Board for now, he and Kay continue their active role in our Hall community. All who have enjoyed Hall events over the years have enjoyed knowing this hardworking, generous, warmhearted pair. We appreciate and honor their years of service and participation.

SMCERTA Report by Carla Martinez

Happy New Year, Neighbors. All of us at SMCERTA are hoping you enjoyed the holiday season and have welcomed in the new year with a bang. We are looking forward to our upcoming Hesperia Hall potluck to share with you a major project undertaking. We will be discussing the Residential Property Survey in which we hope everyone will participate. This property survey will give us vital information as to resources that are available when disaster strikes. Again, this is a voluntary survey, and you do not need to be a member of SMCERTA to become involved. SMCERTA member Tom Foster will also be giving a brief slide presentation describing the communication difficulties our area poses when our landlines and internet services are down and how we will fill in the gaps through emergency amateur radio operations. We hope to see many of you at the potluck.

We have been having some really cold and windy weather lately. This is a good time to survey your property to look for areas that may need your attention. Exposed water pipes are always a problem as the temperatures continue to drop. Replacing old pipe insulation is always a good idea as well as maintaining adequate shelter for your outdoor animals. We are very fortunate not to have to contend with snow and ice, but we should be sure our trees are pruned back away from our rooftops and buildings to avoid any wind damage. As we enter into our rainy season, if you should be in need of sandbags, please contact me or any other SMCERTA member. The Office of Emergency Services provides the bags, and there is a huge sand pile on Jolon Road just east of the Cal Fire station that is available for your use in filling the bags.

We’d like to thank all our community members who have sent in their SMCERTA membership applications, and we look forward to seeing more of you join us. Stay safe and dry this winter season and know that spring is just around the corner.

Donate a Computer by Cherie Landon

With technology changing so quickly, we sometimes upgrade only to have an unused but fully functional computer taking up space and gathering dust. Especially now, after the gift-giving season, if you find yourself with such an embarrassment of riches, please consider donating your unused computer to San Antonio School.

The school needs more computers. Your gift to San Antonio School of an otherwise unused, working computer will give your old machine an extended useful life. Please contact Cherie Landon at (831) 385-3051 for information or to make arrangements.

Amateur (Ham) Radio Class by Tom Foster

There are myriad reasons one may be interested in learning to become an amateur radio operator. Living remotely as we do, communication in the event of an emergency is an obvious reason for gaining proficiency. One may be interested in ham radio as a hobby for worldwide communication, for communication while traveling, for use in supporting local events, or simply for acquiring an education in basic electronics and radio wave phenomena.

Beginning at 6:30 pm on Wednesday, January 23, 2013, free classes in amateur radio operation will begin at Saint Luke’s Church in Jolon. The class, provided by Jack Lindley and Tom Foster, is designed to give you an understanding of radio fundamentals to pass the basic Technician Level exam and to help you become an Amateur Radio Operator. The instructors have between them more than 100 years of ham radio experience.

For further information or questions, call Tom Foster at (831) 385-5327 or Jack Lindley at (805) 472-9556.

Fruit Tree Grafting by Ed Buntz

We will have some California Rare Fruit Grower’s Organization (CRFG) members return to the Hall for our annual fruit tree grafting demonstration/class at Hesperia Hall in conjunction with our potluck on March 15, 2013. They will be providing apple rootstock but no scions this year, so it is our responsibility to ensure we have sufficient scions for our class. Here are a few items of interest to assist us in conducting a good class at the Hall.

1. CRFG will conduct their annual orchard pruning class at Cal Poly on Saturday, January 12. Location and time will be posted on their web site http://www.crfg-central.org/calendar.htm, so check for details prior to the event.

2. CRFG will conduct its Annual Scion Exchange and Grafting Party at Cal Poly on Saturday, February 16, 2013, at 1:00 pm. There will be continuous grafting demonstrations by experts including avocado grafting and a huge scion exchange. Attendees are encouraged to bring healthy and non-patented scions. There will be a good selection of deciduous fruit tree rootstock and selected grafting supplies available for sale. The meeting location is the Crops Unit on campus at the corner of Highland and Mt. Bishop Road (free admission and free parking). Several Hall members have expressed interest in fruit tree grafting for non-apple trees. This is the opportunity to attend and learn about the possibility of expanding our annual Hall event. This is also a good opportunity to select apple scions for our use at the Hall in March.

3. If you would like to attend the February CRFG event and/or the March Hall event and have existing fruit trees, follow the following instructions to collect scions:

a. Cut pencil sized scions from this year’s growth in January or February (when leaves have all fallen off and before buds are popping out).

b. Choose buds close together to have the best growth potential.

c. Cut to length (8- or 12-inches). Store by wrapping in damp paper towel or newspaper, placing in zip lock bag, labeling each cutting, and then placing in refrigerator. Do NOT freeze.

d. Bring your scions to the February class at Cal Poly and/or to the Hall on March 15th.

If you would like to attend the Cal Poly class on February 16th as part of the Hesperia Hall contingent, please contact Ed Buntz at (805) 472-2070 for car pool arrangements. We hope to use this class to collectively organize our approach to the Hall class in March.

CRFG always welcomes volunteers to assist in their school education and community orchard projects, so consider helping them by volunteering some of your time. Their web site is http://www.crfg-central.org/, or feel free to call Marv and Pet Daniels at (805) 773-9311.

News from the Hall will have an update in February and again in March on these activities.

Year-End Report by Beth Winters

The Angelina Animal Compassion Fund paid for thirteen cat and five dog spay/neuters in 2012, up from ten animals in 2011. Two emergency vet visits were also covered as part of our mission to make pet ownership affordable and to encourage adoptions. The Angelina Fund’s white elephant table at the Hall on Sundays brought in almost $1500 for mostly small items, giving us a healthy balance of almost that same amount going into the new year.

Please spay and neuter your pets and encourage your friends and family to do the same. In 2011, 2,417 dogs and cats were euthanized in Monterey County. The Hall fund reimburses the cost of the surgery and vaccinations for the pets you adopt and for the feral cats on your property. The only requirement is Hall membership.

Please contact Beth Winters at (805) 472-2095 prior to scheduling the surgery, and come visit our table, Angelina’s Treasures, at the Produce Exchange on Sundays, 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. You can also make a donation by writing a check made out to Hesperia Hall; write Angelina Fund in the memo line.

Mission Preservation Effort by Rupert Lyle

In an effort to keep this beautiful mission open for future generations, the Campaign to Preserve Mission San Antonio de Padua has raised over one million dollars so far. The State has mandated that all public buildings, including churches, must be made earthquake resistant or be closed. Our immediate goal is to raise $6.5 million in order to complete Phase 1, work on the church roof and walls. Timing is critical because the entire roof has to be removed. If this can be done during the summer months, then the considerable expense of erecting a tent over the structure can be avoided. The board is now hoping that by May 2014, the funding will be in place to achieve this.