Friday, September 9
The mountain-area 55-plus program
meets at 9:30 a.m.,
at the Redwood Estates Pavilion,
to carpool to the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Foundation Exploration Center.
Following a one-hour tour, we’ll have lunch at Fire Fish Grill.
For information, reservations, or help with carpooling,
call Lynnette Vega at 650-747-0605,
or email lahondalynnette@earthlink.net.
RSVP by Friday, September 2.
Saturday, September 10
Mason-Taylor Ranch hosts its annual farm dinner,
beginning at 5 p.m., at 22849 Summit Road.
Purchase tickets at Summit Store
or email LomaPrietaMuseum@gmail.com.
Paper-making workshop led by Jeanne Tillman.
The five-hour session focuses on creating sheets of recycled papers with decorative flourishes.
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.,
Jeanne Tillman’s home, 15000 Old Ranch Road.
Cost is $65. For reservations, call 408-353-3921.
Sunday, September 11
Join us for the fall open house at Bear Creek Stables.
Enjoy horsemanship demonstrations, pony rides,
visit with the Neigh Savers rescue horses, and tour the stables
from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 19100 Bear Creek Road.
Families are welcome.
For more information, visit the Friends of Bear Creek Stables on Facebook,
or email friendsofbearcreekstables@gmail.com.
Saturday, September 17
Skyland Church Harvest Festival,
10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at 25100 Skyland Road.
Shop for clothing, books, household items, plants, jewelry, freshly canned fruits and vegetables, and more.
Enjoy a home-cooked meal,
participate in the silent auction,
and listen to live music.
Monday, September 19
The mountain-area 55-plus program
meets at the Redwood Estates Pavilion
for games, puzzles, projects, and flu shots.
At 10:30 a.m.,
flu, pneumonia, and other shots will be offered by the Santa Cruz Avenue Safeway pharmacy.
If you are enrolled in Medicare, bring your card.
Call Lynnette Vega at 650-747-0605,
or email lahondalynnette@earthlink.net for information.
Sunday, September 25
Mountain Bible Church
hosts a brown-bag lunch discussion on mental-health issues
beginning at noon.
A former program educator with the National Alliance on Mental Illness
will discuss what families can do to help loved ones with mental illness.
Through personal experience with her own son,
she will discuss some misconceptions about mental illness and answer practical questions.
Frankness is desired in this confidential group event that is open to the community.
The Los Gatos Community Concert season
kicks off with the duo Kubecca,
at the beautiful Los Gatos High School Theatre,
at 2:30 p.m.
Tickets are available at the door or online at www.lgcca.org.
To learn what you can do to fight airplane noise in the Santa Cruz Mountains,
visit http://sossantacruz.org/
For updates on Santa Cruz County road closures,
see www.sccroadclosure.org/
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Wildlife in the Mountains
If you see a mountain lion or other
interesting wildlife in our area,
call Neil at 408-353-1901 or email
news@mnn.net.
I'll post the sighting.
Be sure to give me a short description of
the animal, specific location, date, and time.
We'll share the results here.
Click
here for other wildlife sightings
For more information from
California Fish and Game
about mountain lions, click
here.
Click
Here for Ways to Prevent Erosion
Click
Here for Santa Cruz County Burn Regulations
Have you updated your
family disaster plan? Here's how...
Mountain
Wildfires
How did they happen, and what
we can do to stop them
Protecting Your Home from Fire
Here’s a checklist on how to improve your landscaping from
CalFire at www.fire.ca.gov:
Create a defensible space of one hundred feet around your home.
It is required by law.
Create a "lean, clean, green zone" by removing all flammable
vegetation within thirty feet surrounding your home
Create a "reduced fuel zone" in the remaining seventy feet or to
your property line.
You have two options in this area:
A. Create horizontal and vertical spacing between plants. The
amount of space will depend on how steep your property is and
the size of your plants.
B. Large trees do not have to be removed as long as all of the
plants beneath them are removed.
Remove lower tree branches at least six feet from the ground
Landscape with fire resistant plants
Maintain all plants with regular water, and keep dead braches,
leaves, and needles removed.
When clearing vegetation, use care when operating equipment such
as lawnmowers. One small spark may start a fire; a string
trimmer is much safer.
Stack woodpiles at least thirty feet from all structures and
remove vegetation within ten feet of woodpiles.
Locate LPG tanks (butane and propane) at least thirty feet from
any structure and maintain ten feet of clearance.
Remove all stacks of construction materials, pine needles,
leaves, and other debris from your yard.
For other ways to protect your home from fire, visit
www.fire.ca.gov