The Martin-Fontana Parks Association has been established to raise and provide funds to preserve and enhance the beauty of TJ Martin and Jeffrey Fontana parks with the City of San Jose. We do so in a manner that’s compatible with the delivery of safe and reliable power under the transmission lines in the parks. We are dedicated to the preservation and enhancement these two parks. These parks, with their beautiful native Oak trees, are in Almaden Valley, San Jose, California. Any funds generated are specifically used for pruning and enhancing the vegetation in them. Won’t you please join us in achieving these goals by becoming a member?
Please watch the video below to see what our beautiful parks look like.
Are you of the opinion that the Guadalupe we see today is the Guadalupe the Spanish encountered when they arrived at the end of the 18th Century? Of course not! San Jose has undergone dramatic growth and Flood Control quickly became a main objective of Valley Water (and the predecessor agencies). Yet we hear of the efforts to bring back the Coho Salmon and the Steelhead Trout.
In this close-up map, Hervey Lane is about where “The Heirs of M. Hervey” is written. Alma is the border between the Devincenzi and Goldstein Parcels.
In this overview map, River Glen is at the east-end of the Willow Glen Fruit Union Parcel. That is where the spring is located… at the intersection of Pine and Bird. The intersection of Minnesota and Willow is top-dead-center on the overview map (yes- they do intersect!
Should we not have a baseline idea of what was, before we plow ahead in this conservation effort? This link will explain that the Guadalupe Creek/River was not originally continuous: circa 1777, El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe [The Town of Saint Joseph of Guadalupe]. The discontinuity occurred near Koch and Lincoln (present day streets) and extended to about Willow Glen Way and Old Almaden Road. Want to know more? Read on!
*Pat Pizzo, who submitted this article, is a long time Martin-Fontana Parks Association member & Project Coordinator.
One of 23 trees cut at their base hangs from its support along Meridian Avenue in San Jose, Calif., Monday morning, July 18, 2016. The Chinese Fringe Trees were apparently targeted late last week. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
In a Friday’s Mecury News article:
“In what Berry calls the worst vandalism she’s ever seen, someone has targeted the trees along Meridian Avenue and Dry Creek Road by sawing off their trunks in the middle of the night. Berry said it appears the vandals used an electric saw to chop up more than a quarter mile strip of trees.”
Were you were wondering why there were so many Police Officers at the Park Monday morning? They had come to pay their respects and remember their fellow Officer, Jeffrey Fontana. Officer Fontana, for whom the park is named, was at the age of 24 when he was killed by gunfire in the line of duty on October 28, 2001.
From left to right they are Chris Reed, Larry Sasscer, Dave Poeschel, Sunny Wagstaff, Patrick Pizzo, & Vince Piazzisi. Not shown in the photo was Mike Kalashian who had to leave before the photo was taken.
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Thanks guys and a big thank you to all those donors who provide the funds for all these projects.
P.S. You can check out the story in Almaden Times Weekly by clicking here.
Thanks again to members of the of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who showed up last Thursday to help us spread more mulch. When will it ever end!
Thanks to the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who came back for a second round to finish painting the fence and move more mulch. We now have a matching green fence across from the one that was painted during the Beautiful Day project in Nov of 2010.
We hope to have them back next Thursday the 17th to finish it all up.
I am sure many of you have already seen the results of the huge tree-planting effort by Martin-Fontana Parks Association and Our City Forest in Jeffrey Fontana Park. Neighbors from all over the South Bay and OCF’s Tree Amigos, came to volunteer their time to plant 18 new trees and 7 shrubs. This, combined with last month’s (March 31) planting of 16 trees in T.J. Martin and Jeffrey Fontana Park, will almost complete this Spring’s tree planting efforts. One more effort, next week, on April 28th. The target this time is the garden area across from Glowing Court in T.J. Martin Park. We will be planting some shrubs and 2 more trees. We will meet at 9:00 AM at the Jeffrey Fontana Memorial Statue. MFPA and San Jose Adopt-a-Park will welcome the largest work party ever seen in our parks to plant, spread mulch, clean out weedy areas, and make our parks sparkle!
Thirty six new trees in our two parks…. outstanding, yes?
When an organization does some outstanding work to improve the community, they need to be acknowledged. The best way to acknowledge your support is to continue your membership and/or make a direct contribution to MFPA to continue these beneficial efforts. You already know of the target $1,300 to put in a bench, in the shade, by Tree #13. We are about half-way there. Additionally, we plan to install an educational CA Native Plant garden in the western end of Jeffrey Fontana Park. That will require funding. So come on…. you may not have been able to swing a pick or to wheelbarrow mulch…. but you certainly can write that check! It is effortless, why not go to our donation link at the top right of our home page or you can mail it to us using this form and help support MFPA, because you certainly can see and enjoy the benefits it brings to the community!
The 2012 discussions between Martin-Fontana Parks Association and PG&E have successfully concluded. On February 21st at 7:30 am, PG&E will be in the Jeffrey Fontana Park, west of the dog park, with Davey Tree Company. They will be removing tree #25, a Holm Oak directly under the high voltage center power lines. This is a non-native species that has been crowding out more desirable native oak species in the park, and is a rapid growing variety which will pose a safety hazard in the near future. They will also be removing some of the random volunteer oaks at the southern boundary of the park across from Tree #13. They will be replaced with shrubs to maintain the screening provided by the oaks. MFPA believes that this was a very good outcome of the negotiations. It’s tough to lose a tree, but sometimes it’s the right thing to do.
This year PG&E will also donate several replacement trees to plant in Fontana Park to mitigate the loss of tree #25. This April, MFPA will join with Our City Forest, Adopt-a-Park, PG&E, and the Parks Dept. in a major planting and enhancement of the parks to celebrate Arbor Day. Over 20 new 15 gallon sized trees will be planted as a part of this event.
MARTIN-FONTANA PARKS ASSOCIATION 