Archive for the ‘Park Maintenance’ Category
18 Jul
Volunteers Spruce up Native Plant Islands
On June 6th, 2021, a hard working group of 18 volunteers signed up with the San Jose Parks Recreation & Neighborhood Services Dept. to help the Martin-Fontana Parks Association prepare the Jeffrey Fontana Park’s two largest native plant islands ready for the long hot summer.
Wearing face masks and after passing COVID temperature checks, the volunteers went to work on the two islands to pull out dead native plants, prune back the spreading plants. To help conserve water over the summer, they hauled several buckets of mulch to cover the bare ground around the plants. The unused mulch from the ten cubic feet delivered by South Bay Materials will be added later in the summer. MFPA member donations funded the mulch purchase and will fund needed replacement plants in the late fall.
13 Jul
SCCAOR* AT WORK IN OUR PARK
On Sat, July 10th., sixteen volunteers from the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors* came out in the 90°+ heat to refresh the Jeffrey Fontana Memorial Garden. We were joined by Johnny Khamis, the past City Council member and now the Public Relations Consultant for SCCAOR, and a couple of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services staffers, Eddie and Lalo. All worked diligently to pull weeds, cut prune tree suckers, gently deadhead the roses, and feed each rose bush in the block long garden.
Chris Chen & Linda Wilson 
Signing up 
30 bags of mulch 
Tools provided by Adopt-a-Park 
Photo by Johnny Khamis
The work party was organized by the Martin-Fontana Parks Association working with San Jose’s Adopt-a-Park volunteer unit and PRNS maintenance workers from our District One Maintenance Dept. Funding from MFPA member donations provided the rose feed, and 30 bags of mulch that were spread to preserve the sprinkler water during the summer. Thanks to Johnny Khamis and PRNS staffers Eddie and Lalo who provided extra help and support.
Thanks also to MFPA member Dave Gonzalez (wearing the white shirt) who signed in the volunteers and provided energy snacks! And thanks to our MFPA photographer, Wayne Opp for all the photos.
8 Jul
July 10 work day in Jeffrey Fontana Memorial Rose Garden
This Saturday volunteers from the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors will be meeting at the Jeffrey Fontana Memorial Rose Garden to spruce up the area and feed the roses. We would love to see you join them Saturday, July 10 at 8:15 am to pitch in and lend a hand!
Linda Wilson and Kelly Shepherd will be signing in the volunteers, and Lalo from Parks, Recreation and Neighbor Services (PRNS) will have all the tools, gloves, and other necessary equipment on hand. Ice cold water and healthy snacks will be provided. A canopy will be set up to provide some shade for anyone who wants to take a break.
Volunteers from the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors meet twice yearly to work in the memorial garden and have helped the Martin-Fontana Parks Association keep this area as a fitting memorial for Officer Jeffrey Fontana who was killed in a nearby neighborhood nearly 20 years ago.
Looking forward to seeing you there!
17 Jun
Fontana Turf Repair Project
A proposal to fund the remaining portion of a project to restore and make usable a .05 acre patch of grass located in tront of the Jeffrey Fontana Dog Park was submitted by
Councilmember Matt Mahan’s office to San Jose City’s mayor Sam Liccardo. The proposal is to repair the turf in front of the dog park at Jeffrey Fontana Park with new sod and gopher wire.
Martin-Fontana Parks Association has saved $15,000 to contribute to the project along with Councilmember Matt Mahan’s office contributing $7,000.
Here are the details: https://saveourparktrees.files.wordpress.com/2021/06/bd083fontanaturfrepaird10.pdf
14 Jun
Watering Day at Guadalupe Oak Grove Park
Thanks to the folks who came out to help water the oak saplings and to our own Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Services Supervisor Jesse, his son, and Boy Scout Troop 250 for paving the way to smooth trails ahead.
7 Mar
Watering Team to Revive (?) New Tree
Four intrepid volunteers have formed a watering team for the newly planted natural Coast Live Oak tree planted in the Heritage Grove. Rich Grialou, Brandon Koehne, Dave Gonzalez and Dave Poeschel make up the team who will water weekly and try to revive the tree.
The grove of multi-trunked Coast Live Oak trees was designated a Heritage Tree site by the City of San Jose in 2011. Two years ago, PG&E removed two diseased trunks of one of the oaks and the City Arborist recommended planting a replacement tree. Martin-Fontana Parks Association helped pay for the tree with the agreement that Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services would plant it. Late in February, park staff planted the Coast Live Oak. Planting was a big job because the tree was in a 24″ box, bigger than anything we had ever planted before. Although the tree has completely browned out, the branches are still alive, so our MFPA team will be working diligently to bring the tree back to life!
8 Feb
Memorial Rose Garden Clean Up
The Martin-Fontana Parks Association (MFPA) thanks all of you in the Santa Clara County Association of REALTORS® (SCCAOR) and the Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services (PRNS) Adopt-a-Park Program for your help in establishing the recent work day in the Jeffrey Fontana Memorial Rose Garden.
This year, 2021, marks the seventh year since the realtors in SCCAOR adopted the rose garden, donated funds to help keep it up, and have recruited volunteers to work each spring and winter to keep Jeffrey’s garden a delight for all park visitors. Saturday, Feb. 6 continued this tradition, with 30 realtors and adopt-a-park volunteers spreading throughout the garden to pull weeds, remove ground cover choking out some rose bushes, and cutting out the prune tree suckers that spring up every year.
Abiding by COVID restrictions, the masked volunteers worked in the warm February sunshine to get the garden ready for spring and the new rose growth to come. Lots of mulch was spread to prevent weed growth, and plans for a June work day were set in motion. The rose bushes provided an abundance of thorns to keep everyone on their toes as they worked through the garden.
The event was set up and organized by Elisabeth Krienke of PRNS and Anna Lopez with the Realtor Group. Don Jessup and Neil Collins provided leadership for the realtors’ efforts, and Jose Ruiz from PRNS pitched in with much needed manpower to head up the green waste collection and clean up.
*Special thanks to Wayne Opp, our MFPA photographer, who captured the spirit of the day with his photos.
18 Nov
Nurturing Nature at Guadalupe Oak Grove Park
Dave Poeschel shows how it’s to be done
Thanks to all our volunteers who came out last Sunday the 15th., including our District 10 San Jose City Councilmember-elect Matt Mahan, to give the tender loving care needed to keep our natural oasis thriving!
Matt and Jason returning from the top of Blue Oak Hill after leading youth to plant a dozen sites with the acorns that mighty blue oaks, quercus douglassii, will grow — and the 40 lb. bucket of water needed for each oak!
Volunteers provided the watering needed for the many small acorn sprouts, as the rains had not yet provided the moisture that was needed.
New, wire cages, were placed around the growth of small sprouts so that they will be able to thrive in the natural environment.
*Thanks to Jason Spitzer & Matt Mahan for all the photos
5 Nov
The Five Islands in Fontana Park are Ready for Winter!
Halloween Day saw several masked Martin-Fontana Parks Association volunteers meet at the Five Islands in Jeffrey Fontana Park with rakes in hand. Forty bags of mulch were spread among the islands by the hard working volunteers, assuring that the Islands were tucked in and ready for the winter rains. To help keep the weeds at bay, the MFPA volunteers spread Preen (a weed preventer that stops weeds from germinating) around the islands. After running short on mulch, Stacey Winters made a run to Outdoor Supply Hardware to return with enough mulch to finish the job!
Many thanks to Pieter Noordam, Dan and Michelle Judd with son Jared, Stacey Winters, Dave Poeschel, Rich Grialou, Kelly Shepherd and husband, Dave Gonzales, Star Taylor, organizer Linda Wilson, and MFPA Photographer Wayne Opp. Additional thanks to Pat Burrow who also contributed pictures of the hard working masked team.
A bench dedicated to Antje Hirt, a former MFPA member who spent many mornings walking her little dog in the park, has provided a quiet place to sit and contemplate for several park walkers since its installation last summer. Plans are being made to compliment the bench with a Manzanita plant on each side.
HATS OFF TO OUR MFPA VOLUNTEERS!!!
MARTIN-FONTANA PARKS ASSOCIATION 