Conversation & Slides with Betty Young
This Sunday, Feb. 28, 11:30 a.m. in Tamalpais Hall, there
will be a Conversation and Slides with Betty Young, Director
of Native Plant Nurseries GGNRA. After completing her degree
in Plant Science/Nursery Management at UC Davis in the early
'80s, Betty has worked in diverse areas of nursery management.
-Five years as nursery manager at Filoli Historical Gardens
-One year as propagation manager at a large wholesale landscape
nursery
-Seven years as nursery manager at Circuit Rider Productions
growing exclusively native plants for habitat restoration,
specializing in riparian and oak woodland habitats.
And the last 13 years as the Director of Restoration Nurseries
for Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, where the five
community-based native plant nurseries in the park grow over
400 species of plants from foredune to salt marsh and oak
woodland to serpentine grassland.
Betty
directs the collection of seeds in the park, the growing of
over 150,000 native plants each year, the community volunteer
and educational programs, and has managed the construction
of five different types of greenhouses in the park nurseries.
Betty has the privilege of supervising the 9 staff members
that comprise the amazing team that grows plants in the parks’
five nurseries.
She has
spoken to many groups and published articles about growing
plants for habitat restoration in a community-based restoration
context. In her off hours, her favorite activity remains hiking
the beautiful trails of our own national park.
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March
3 --- Triple C --- John Norall
Please
join us on Wednesday, March 3, at noon, when we will enjoy
at tasty lunch prepared by
Judith Reneau followed by our traditional March program presented
by our own John Norall. Join us for a thrilling slide-show
adventure “From the Alps of Switzerland to the Sands
of Egypt.” Pure travel pleasure.
Lunch
is at noon; $6.00 at the door. The program at 1:00 is free.
Please bring guests. Everyone is welcome.
RSVP for
lunch and for rides from The Redwoods to Meta Bare 383-0783
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Congregational
Budget Meeting
Sunday,
March 21, 2010, 11:30 a.m. in Tamalpais Hall
Have some
coffee and treats after worship and hear about the Board’s
budget proposal for 2010-2011.
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Update
on Organ Blower Installation
Louis
Patterson of Schoenstein Organ Builders has been to the church
to survey the premises and take the measurements for the installation
of the new blower motor in the room behind the Sanctuary.
Timelines have been established for installing and updating
the electrical elements. Jack Bethards, President of Schoenstein
reports that the installation spot looks ideal and should
work very well.
Based
on the survey, the church received updated costs for the purchase
of the motor. Obviously, there have been some price
changes since last April, but we are still pretty close to
the original quote. The delivery cost of the blower
is now $9,745. Schoenstein estimates the cost of installation
at $5,230. If they are able to do it for less, they
will pass the savings on to us. The survey, which was quoted
at $650, only cost $520. The electrical work will be
done by Chris Reimer of Valley Electric and those costs are
additional..
The blower
is built to order and is now in the process of being manufactured.
The blower, by the way, has two motors, one for basic pressure
and one for a step up to the required high pressure.
We have chosen a single phase model as we do not have three
phase power in the building. The church has received written
requirements for the new organ blower installation which includes
space preparation
and electrical
specifications. Our electrician, Chris Reimer, in addition
to receiving the written specifications, has been in telephone
contact with Schoenstein for his part of the work.
The new
blowers will be housed in a single enclosure 3’-6”
wide by 3’-6” deep by 3’-0” tall that
will be placed in the storage room behind the Sanctuary along
the outside wall where the existing blower is located. A
wind line will come out of this new enclosure, run parallel
to this same wall and then go through a new opening in the
floor and attach to the existing wind line. Once the
new enclosure and blowers are in place, Schoenstein will coordinate
with Reimer for the best location for the magnetic starters,
disconnects and any other equipment in the room.
Schoenstein
is tentatively scheduling the blower installation for the
week of March 22 and will confirm this as the time gets closer.
They anticipate two days at the church to complete the
work.
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Census 2010 Now Hiring
The U.S.
Census Bureau is recruiting temporary, part-time census takers
for the 2010 Census with pay starting at $20/hour. To schedule
an eligibility test call 866-861-2010. You may download an
application form and other valuable information at www.2010censusjobs.gov.
Brochures in Tam Hall.
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Thursday Lenten Book Discussion
During
Lent you are invited to join the discussion of Confessions
of an Eco-Sinner: Tracking Down the Sources of My Stuff by
Fred Pearce. (Available in paperback at local bookstores and
online.)
The first
gathering was held February 21 with discussion on Chapters
1 through 11.
“People talk a lot about carbon footprints. But our
personal footprints are much bigger than that. And they are
social as well as ecological. The trouble is that in our charmed
world we know little about what our footprints are. It all
happens so far way. The people and the pollution that sustain
us are invisible to us.
“.
. . My purpose in writing this book was to discover the hidden
world that keeps us in the state we have become accustomed
to . . . I have traveled the world to find out where the cotton
in my shirt comes from, the coffee in my mug and the prawns
in my curry, the computer on my desk and the phone in my hand
. . . to find out who grows or mines or makes my stuff, and
where it goes when I finish with it . . . to find out whether
I should be ashamed of my purchases . . . or proud to have
contributed to some local community . . .” (Fred Pearce)
The group will meet in the Foster Room at 7:30 p.m. two more
times during Lent.
Mar. 11: Chapters 12 through 20.
Mar. 25: Chapters 21 through 29.
You may read the book from cover to cover, or a few chapters
from each part. Each chapter is a 5 to 10 page adventure to
a corner of the world many of us have seen only briefly or
never imagined. Come join the discussion on one, any or all
dates.
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Conversation: How to Start a Worm Bin
Worm bins
provide a great way to reduce your household garbage and turn
your food scraps into super soil. You can use the soil as
fertilizer for your household plants, or for your vegetable
or flower beds. Worm tea is also a by-product of the process,
and is used as an organic fertilizer and foliar spray. Worm
bins are simply a way to compost in miniature. They don’t
require pitchforks and muscle to turn a pile, and in general
are much easier to create and manage than a compost pile.
Join Barbara
Strader, on Sunday, March 7, at 11:30 a.m. in Tamalpais Hall
for a conversation on the whys and hows of starting a worm
bin. It’s easier than you may think!
Barbara’s
love of gardening began at the knees of her British immigrant
grandfather who cultivated a classic English flower and herb
garden in his small backyard in suburban Detroit. During her
annual two-week summer visits, she would follow him around
the garden as he tilled the soil, grew asters, trimmed spent
blossoms and told her stories inspired by the flower fairy
illustrations of Cecily Mary Barker .
Barbara
became a Marin Master Gardener in May 2009 after completing
an extensive 18-week training course. Marin Master Gardeners
focus their training and volunteer projects on the following
principles: sustainable landscape practices, feeding
our neighborhood and creating local food sources, as well
as training people to promote youth gardening. There
are a myriad of volunteer projects in the county in which
Master Gardeners participate. Barbara particularly enjoys
volunteering at the Novato Farmer’s Market Information
Stand and at the information Help Desk in the University of
California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) office in Novato,
answering questions, researching and diagnosing plant problems,
and giving horticultural assistance to home gardeners who
phone, email or come in with plant questions and problems.
This spring she is also a “Desk Tutor” for the
new class of Master Gardener trainees.
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