Burnt Bridge Creek Times

Transcription

1 Save These Dates: Nov 19 th Next BBCNA Meeting and Burnt Bridge Creek Elementary Ian Bonham Speaker & Free Book Exchange Nov 23 rd Family Fun night at Firstenburg Community 5PM See Firstenburg Community website for details Nov 29 th Community Tree Lighting Ester Short Park 3-7PM Jan 28 th BBCNA Meeting Acknowledgement of Newsletter Distributors Mar 25 th BBCNA Meeting May 27 th BBCNA Elections July 12 th Dumpster Day Next Summer. Tuesday, Nov 19th, 2013 Our next Meeting 6:45PM to 8:30PM Burnt Bridge Creek Elementary School Americorp Representative, Ian Bonham will be the guest speaker discussing the volunteer activities of Friends of Trees. Be among the first 10 families to register before the meeting to receive a grant towards the cost of a tree on your property from the Neighborhood Association. Choose from over 125 street trees and 150 yard trees. Preference will be given to our neighbors in the east half of our Burnt Bridge Creek Neighborhood which is in greater need of more tree canopy. Everyone appreciates the pleasure and value of trees, but a 2003 study showed that canopy cover for Vancouver was down to less than 20%, below even Los Angeles. Understanding the economic and social value of healthier trees, the City of Vancouver decided to work toward a goal of 28% canopy cover through its urban forestry program. Part of this includes taking better care of existing trees but also planting new ones, which is where our Neighborhood Association comes in. Americorp is doing winter community service this year with Friends of Trees, a local organization that grows the local tree canopy by helping people plant and understand the care of urban trees. The most visible part of this work is neighborhood plantings where they help teach with the Friends of Trees technique for establishing trees. This team has a success rate above 90%. Book Exchange: Please bring 1 to 5 books to the meeting for others to read or exchange. There will be a table set up to hold the books, you can exchange books 1 on 1. Any books left on the table at the end of the evening will be boxed and donated to the VA hospital as this is Veterans Month.

2 Minutes from Last Meeting The meeting was called to order at 7 pm by President Cathy Serra, whereupon we had Introduction of New Officers and the Treasurer s Report. NEW BUSINESS included a discussion of the Clean Up of corner on 137th and 49th and the Date set for Dumpster Day next year. BBCNA 15th year as an association Tim Buck from City of Vancouver brought a birthday cake to celebrate. Kathy Kobow led the group in singing Happy Birthday to our association. Discussion of AmeriCorps-Friends of Trees and Urban Forestry Sue Townsen made the motion to have Friends of Trees rep Ian Bonham came to the next meeting. Shannon Kelly seconded the motion. The motion passed Officer Ford talked about tagging in the neighborhood, and the cleanup that followed. Shannon Kelly informed the group that Officer Ford will be leaving us and going on patrol, his replacement will be introduced at next meeting Kathy Kobow thanked the Vancouver Police dept. for their help in recovering her stolen camper within 12 hrs. Mary Ann (Newsletter distribution) thanked all the newsletters carriers and said all future newsletters will come out about 2 weeks before the BBCNA meetings. Cathy Serra talked about streetlights that are out and how to find the id number on the light pole. Call dispatch with the information at and lights will be replaced to help keep our neighborhood lite and safe. OLD BUSINESS Dog-Waste dispensers the Association will purchase and the City of Vancouver will install doggie bag dispensers in both Fir Garden and BBC city park. Steve will take on responsibility of contacting the city about refilling dispensers. The cost will be $ Sue T moved to have 2 dog waste dispensers and Kathy K second the motion and the motion passed. GUEST SPEAKERS Kristen Miller, Postal Inspector talked about identity and mail theft and foreign lottery scams Ariana Weston talked about First Aid Only and how it could be a fundraiser for BBCNA. Kits will be available at November meeting. DRAWINGS (to be held at every meeting) $50 from Parkrose Hardware went to April W First Aid Only drawing went to Wendy The meeting was adjourned at 8:05

3 Chestnut Roasting time of year Burnt Bridge Creek Times Reprinted from Friends of Trees Website: By Jesse Batty As you ve been walking through your neighborhood this fall, you may have noticed chestnuts on the sidewalk and thought Boy, those sure would taste good. Maybe roasted on an open fire? Palmate leaf and spiky husk? Don't eat it! Be careful! What you think are chestnuts are most likely Horse-chestnuts (Aesculus hippocastanum). Despite having beautiful spring flowers, these trees have horrible tasting nuts, toxic to humans due to a toxin called aesculin. This toxin is found in the leaves, flowers and twigs of the Horse-Chestnut. While a full-grown adult wouldn t die unless a LOT of nuts was consumed, children can become much sicker at much lower doses. Single leaf and sea-urchin like spines on the husk? Enjoy, with our compliments. That said, even amongst all the Horse-chestnuts in our city streets, you can still find a few European, Japanese, & Chinese Chestnuts (Castanea sativa, C. crenata, C. mollissima) which are indeed edible. The main difference is that the Horse-chestnut has a palmately compound leaf and a spiky armor like husk around the nut, whereas the Chestnut has a simple serrated leaf with a spiky sea urchin like husk around the nut. Unfortunately, the most delicious chestnut of all, the American Chestnuts (Castanea dentata), were largely wiped out by a fungal blight, although two prominent American chestnuts remain along Leif Erickson Trail in Portland and in Fort Vancouver in Vancouver. So don t eat those Horse-chestnuts! Keep your eyes peeled for the true chestnuts and consider yourself lucky if you get to eat an American chestnut. What is Nextdoor? Description from the Nextdoor.com Website Nextdoor is a private social network for your neighborhood. It's the easiest way for you and your neighbors and only you and your neighbors to talk online and make all of your lives better in the real world. And it's free. People are using Nextdoor to: Find a new home for an outgrown bike or Track down a trustworthy babysitter Quickly get the word out about a break in Find out who does the best paint job in town or Organize a garage sale, or a clothes exchange Finally call that nice man/lady down the street by his/her first name. Next door's mission is to bring back a sense of community to the neighborhood, one of the most important communities in each of our lives. There are categories including: Classifieds, Crime and Safety, Free items, Lost items and Recommendations.

4 Do your part with keeping the Neighborhood Clean Please take down your Garage Sale Signs when your event is over. Participate with neighbors to keep our parks clean, and our arterial roadways picked up. Come to the Neighborhood Association meetings to find out more. Recycle Article for the Month Recycle the Rain Water to your Yard and Garden By Jim Olenslager I have always thought rainwater was better for growing things than tap water, but I did not see any economical and physical way to trap and make it easily available to use until I found a simple plan in Birds and Blooms magazine September 2009 issue. The plan calls for a food grade 55- gallon plastic drum and a few PVC fittings. The drum can be adapted to the rain drain for input, and the PVC fittings can be installed at the bottom to accommodate a spigot to release the water into a water can or attached to a hose. The plan uses gravity feed to release the water, but I am sure a pump could be connected if more pressure were required. I used common screening to filter the water coming into the drum since I have a lot of fir tree needles in my gutters. I also try to keep the gutters that furnish water to the drums as clean as possible. There is an overflow pipe at the top of the barrel that attaches back to the rain drain when the drum gets full. I have installed two drums on each side of the front of my house and have been pleased with the results. I plan on attaching two more to drains at the back, which will provide 220 gallons of water for the lawn and garden. I have painted mine to look more like a wood drum, but that is not functionally necessary. The total cost for each unit is about $50.00 depending on your cost of the drums (Not including paint). Used food grade drums used to cost $ There are several places that want to get rid of these once the product they contained has been used. I do not believe they are cost effective to reuse by the manufacturer that is why they are available for this type of project. I purchased mine from a lady who has her own website to resell them, and they are on craigslist all the time. There seem to be many websites including Home Depot. I believe there would be several local food manufacturers who would be willing to sell these fairly cheap if you would give them a call. If anyone would like to see my drums, or need any preparation or installation assistance please contact me at jim_olenslager@hotmail.com or phone There is an underscore between the jim and the olenslager on my . I can make copies of the original magazine article that details the process to build and install these units. The City of Vancouver supports the Neighborhood Associations in their effort to share vital information with residents to create a more informed public. However, the information provided and the opinions and views expressed in the Neighborhood Association newsletter do not necessarily represent the position of the City of Vancouver, nor does the City determine whether the information published is accurate or appropriate. Printed by the City of Vancouver Office of Neighborhoods.

5 May Day Basket Mystery Finally solved By K. Clemens The May Day Basket Mystery has been solved! Some lucky folks in our neighborhood along 148 th Avenue were surprised to find May Day baskets" on their doors when they came home one day last June. One of our newsletter distributers has been trying to learn who was behind this happy deed since that day. The mystery is now solved! Angela Conrad and Paris Doherty, two friends from Burnt Bridge Creek Elementary school made and distributed the Spring themed gifts to their closest neighbors. Angela is a girl scout, and her troop had done the little baskets" for her grandpa's living center. When she discovered that she had materials left over, she and Paris made more for the neighborhood. Kathleen Clemens was one of the lucky recipients and says that finding the little flowers on her door that day was a sweet surprise that really lifted her spirits. She was happy to finally learn who the girls were so that she could thank them and tell them how much their gift meant to her. Kids Neighborhood Lending Library is Back! How about our neighbor that has a "Little Free Library" at their curb? Do you know about this organization? There is a website you can see at littlefreelibrary.org that will show you what it is that these neighbors have done for our neighborhood, and you can do also. City Contact Information: Code Enforcement East Precinct Police nonemergency Street Light Maintenance Abandon Cars and Parking What is a Little Free Library? It s a take a book, return a book gathering place where neighbors share their favorite literature and stories. In its most basic form, a Little Free Library is a box full of books where anyone may stop by and pick up a book (or two) and bring back another book to share. You can, too! The household is at the corner of 45th and 142nd. The previous lending library was vandalized and burnt down last spring, but like all good things, and with the support of the neighborhood it is back. Thank you our lovely neighbors.