Archive Record
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Metadata
Catalog number |
1997.2.2619 |
Object Name |
Newsletter |
Date |
1997 |
Description |
TITLE: Quicksilver County Park News SUBTITLE: Newsletter of the New Almaden Quicksilver County Park Association Issue # 47 Winter/Spring 1997 QUICKSILVER COUNTY PARK NEWS Newsletter of the New Almaden Quicksilver County Park Association WINTER/SPRING 1997 ISSUE 47 PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE It's getting closer to reality! Yes, the Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Dept., under the direction of Paul Romero, is pursuing the purchase of the Casa Grande for a Ranger Station and Museum. We will be needing help in moving the artifacts from their present location to the Casa Grande. The lease on Connie Perham's property expires in August, 1997, so we are preparing the collections for transfer. The design of the interior of the Casa Grande for the museum collection has not been completed, so there is room for input from our members as to the direction to take for the display. Please call me if you have some ideas, or know of someone who has knowledge of designs For museum displays. The trails task force for New Almaden Quicksilver County Park is putting together its final report. A public hearing on the uses of all the trails in the park will be held at a Park's Commission Meeting on May 7, 1997 at 70 West Hedding, first floor Board of Supervisors' Chambers. Please keep this date in mind for your input on the trail use in Quicksilver Park. Information on the work of the task force is included in this edition of the Newsletter. For any further information you can call me at 268-6541. ALMADEN QUICKSILVER COUNTY PARK TRAILS ACCESS AND PLANNING TASK FORCE ROSTER~' PARKS COMMISSION INTERESTS Kitty Monahan-Historical, equestrian, New Almaden Community 21311 Almaden Rd. S.J. Ca. 95120 268-6541 Garnetta Annable-Biking interests, hiking, environmental 951 Dry Creek Rd. Campbell, Ca. 95008 371-9210 EQUESTRIAN INTERESTS Chere Barger, 1505 East San Martin Ave. San Martin, Ca. 95048 MOUNTAIN BIKING INTERESTS Bob Kaln, ROMP 1411 San Thomas Aquino, San Jose, Ca. 95135 261-8608 HIKER,BART Clark Smith, 411 Park Ave. #236 San Jose. Ca. 95110 294-6008 PETS Bob Wallace, 12881 Foothill Lane, Saratoga, Ca. 95070, 867-4576 RUNNERS Tom O'Connell, 17230 Deer Park Rd., Los Gatos,Ca. 96D32 358-3603 HISTORICAL INTERESTS, NAQCPA Jo Young, 1586 Hester Ave. San Jose, Ca. 95126 298986 (replacing Mike Cox) 3/10/97 COUNTRY CLUB COMMUNITY INTERESTS Bob Haggerty 1302 Rimrock Or. San Jose, Ca. 95120, 268-8065 CA. RIDGE COMMUNITY INTERESTS Alan Krause, 1203 Linder Hill Cn., San Jose, Ca. 95120, 927.6507 MID-PENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT Del Wood, (415) 691-1200 COUNTY PARKS DEPARTMENT STAFF John MaUei. Regional Park Manager463-0164 Dents Beason. Senior Park Ranger 268- 3883 Bill Burr. Park Ranger, 268,3883 Mark Federick, Park Planner 358-3741 x 143 Dave Pierce, Regional Park Planner 358-3741 x 156 Julie Bandurant, Park Planner (trails) 358-3741 x 152 This list of task force members is the committee who recommends to the Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Commission the opening of new trails in the Almaden Quicksilver County park and the uses thereof. The decision so far of the committee is to open all trails for hikers, runners, and pets on leash, to open all trails except the New Almaden hiking and nature trail to equestrians, and the map on the adjoining page is the recommendation for mountain biking.ln addition, horse drawn carts are allowed back in the park on Mine Hill and Randol trails and in Jacque Ridge. AS THE WORM TURNS (AND SLOWLY WALKS AWAY From late fall through spring the rains pour down on the parched California landscape. The grass greens, the flowers sprout and the worms start walking - at least those with feet do! Worms walking? Worms with feet? Not::: Some people think they've seen them though. However, a little more careful scrutiny of these strange creatures shows them not to be worms at all but very strange salamanders. You may find them under lags and rocks in the woodlands of the Quicksilver Park or even under boards in your own backyard. Only one to three inches in length, excluding their tail, they look like black or reddish -tan worms until you look a little closer. A tiny, horizontal frog-like mouth and two bulging little eyes might be your first tips that this is not a worm. Four very skinny little legs with four itty-bitty four-toed feet confirm that you have found a slender salamander. Worm Salamander is another common name. Sometimes these weird little beasties slowly walk away, sometimes they more rapidly wiggle away like a snake and at other times they simply coil up like a watch spring and wait for you to touch them or try to pick them up. Once touched they uncoil in an explosive fashion. Their body goes one way and their tail detaches and goes another way. As with many lizards, the lost tail continues to twitch and wiggle to attract potential predators while its owner makes haste in finding an escape route. There are three species of Slender Salamanders from Oregon to Baja. They are usually found above ground only during the rainy season. When it starts to get dry they retreat to underground refuges in rodent or other burrows or hide out in termite galleries in damp, rotten wood - munching on the termites along the way.Unlike most amphibians, they are not tied to water for reproduction and do not have the well-known "tadpole" stage. F They don't have gills so they drown if submerged. Instead of ! laying their eggs in a pond or stream the eggs are layed underground or at least under objects on damp soil. They don't have lungs either. They breathe through their skin so they (i die if they get very dry. As strange as this may seem the family to which they belong is the largest salamander family in the world. Lungless salamanders all belong to the family,. Plethodontidae - a name longer than some of the animals themselves.If you've never seen any of these amazing little creatures, this is the time to look for them. Once they head for their underground refuges another year will pass before you get another chance to see them. No lungs - no gills - and those tiny little feet, they are truly one of Nature's marvels. Bob Clement New Almaden's Never land by Cherie (Pope) Gavin The Casa Grande, my childhood home, was better known to me as Club Almaden. A summer swim resort and public picnic haven run by my parents Norman and Love Pope. I grew up in New Almaden for the first ten years of my life and have often felt I was the luckiest kid on Earth to be born and raised here. As I am the last of the six Pope children, I am certain we could recall a completely different account of our years growing up at the Casa Grande. My recollection goes something like this: I am told that 1 learned to swim before I learned to walk. As special as it was having a swim resort and a historic mansion as my home, I never realized it was anything out of the ordinary. I thought all kids had houses like this. I really didn't know that my home was special until I went to Hacienda Elementary School in First Grade. A big part of The Club Almaden Swim Resort business in the Spring were school groups coming for an end of the year picnic. My school,Hacienda, came out for the day. I thought it was great that Mom and Dad invited my entire school to come out and play with me. I was so elated to have a backyard big enough for all of my friends to play.My childhood was the most endearing as I didn't have the responsibilities or the duties the rest of my family had. I remember summers when 'The Club" was so busy that there was not a vacant place on the grass to lay a swim towel. I had so many playmates. I remember giving away candy from the snack bar where my sisters, Laurie, Kris and Brenda, were working, and sneaking nickels to my friends to play the pin ball games. My mother attended the Gate House checking guests in and greeting customers. I especially liked it when she greeted the Hostess Bread truck. Mr. B, as I called him, always had a cherry pie waiting for me. My brother Greg and sister Debby did life guarding at the pool. Debby saved me from drowning one day when I thought I could do headstands as she could. The problem was I was only three years old. Greg was not only a great life guard but an extraordinary babysitter. My parents went out and Greg would sneak all of us out to the pools for a late night swim. I asked him if this was okay to do and Greg responded, "It's okay, I'm a life guard!" Funny thing when Mom and Dad found out they didn't see it that way. I remember bounding out of bed and jumping into a swimsuit. I ran outside to play all day. This lasted until my mother would announce aver the PA system, "Cherie, back upstairs and you know why!" Well, I did know why. I never bothered to brush my teeth or comb my hair or make my bed. Who had time?! I had things to do! Part of my daily schedule was to check out which friends had arrived to play with and then off to pingpong, horseshoes, swing set and tree climbing. When the high school groups would come out to The Club, tree climbing took on a new meaning. My friends and I would perch ourselves on top of a tree and watch the teenagers kiss. "Oh, yuck;" we use to say. Sundays were magical to me. My Dad had games for all the children and he gave tickets to be redeemed for candy as prizes. There were diving contests in the diving pool, running contests in the shallow pool and searching for coins at the bottom of the pool. We had dance contests outside by the juke box. Boy, did I learn to Twist! The teenagers got to dance in what is now the Opry House and Black and White Mickey Mouse films were shown in the big room next door. (This was once the Casa Grande's formal dining room.) My family and I lived on the top floor of the Casa Grande. There was a very long hallway with doors on either side. A great house for Hide and Go Seek games. My brother used to roll me up in an extremely long couch cushion and then let it rip down the hallway. I guess that's what you get with a teenage brother. One of my favorite parts of the house was the mahogany banister. It went up and around two flights of stairs. We would conserve energy and slide down the banister at every opportunity. Of course we never did this around my parents. Living at the Casa Grande was so exciting because of the three levels of the house and so many nooks and crannies to explore. There was a dumb waiter shaft from the once historic kitchen in the lower level that went to the formal dining room. I remember a brick room that once was a vault to hold quicksilver flasks and a solid brick chamber of walls where a 1910 razor was found. Oh, if only these walls could talk! I am so proud of New Almaden. I am thankful for my Peter Pan childhood where I often think that the Casa Grande has been my Never land. Is There Life After Quicksilver? Where to find the biggest little park in the County! We Quicksilver Park groupies tend to think there is only one park -and that's our own New Almaden Quicksilver County Park! Well, a few leagues beyond Quicksilver, in the Uvas Canyon area, there's a surprising tiny little County park - about 4 acres compared to Quicksilver's 4,000 -that deserves a visit - maybe someday after your early morning run in THE park. The little park with the funny long name is Chitactac-Adams Heritage County Park. The incongruous sounding name is a suggestion of the long and varied use of the area. The Chitactac village of Ohlone Indians is thought to have been settled as long ago as 2,500 years. Located on the Uvas Creek, it would have been an excellent location for a large settlement, with plenty of food and water nearby, and on a central route between the marshy valleys, mountains and the ocean. It may have been a central gathering place for Indian groups from other areas to come to trade - cinnabar, perhaps? The Adams part of the name is for the Adams Schools which were located here on the Watsonville Road for over 100 years. The first was built in 1859 on land donated by John Hicks Adams, a local sheriff. John Hicks Adams, it might be noted, was no run of the mill sheriff. According to Clyde Arbuckle's History of San Jose, it was the very popular Sheriff Adams who hung the "infamous (bandit) Tiburcio Vasquez, the scourge of California." Adams himself was later murdered while prospecting in Arizona. As for Adams' namesake schools, the first burned down and was replaced by a second in 1915. This one was filled with kids - who had a grand. waterside playground among the sandstone rocks and mortars -until it burned down again in 1966, probably caused by arson. What you can see in the park now, if you look carefully, are some petroglyphs and "BRMs" - Bedrock Mortar Holes. What you will see, hopefully, before the year is out, will include a recreated Chitactac village, clear directions to and explanations of the archeological remains,and an Indian "round house" styled visitor center with wonderful interpretative panels in English and Spanish. Work on this heritage center is expected to begin this spring, at which time the park will be closed until the project is completed. Lucky are the schools which are located close enough or have enough bus money, to add this to their California Indian study. It will make a superb field trip. In the meantime, hurry on down to have a picnic there or in one of the other Uvas Canyon areas. But please do not plan to grind your peanut butter in a BRM - those are currently out of service. by Jo Schneider Young Peanut Butter Specialist Chitactac-Adams Heritage Park is located on Watsonville Road between Uvas Road and Highway 152 out of Gilroy. EVENTS FOR NEW ALMADEN QUICKSILVER PARK MARCH, APRIL, MAY MARCH 22, 1997: Sat. Volunteer Recognition Day. Vasona County Park 10:OOa.m. Call Chris Crockett 354-6583. APRIL 5, 1997: Sat. Tour of the museum and New Almaden town .10:OOa.m. APRIL 12, 1997: Sat. Truck tour, San Jose State U. 10:OOa.m. to 2:OOp.m. APRIL 26,1997:Sat. Calif. State trail days . Come out and build a trail call, Chris Crockett for further info. 354-6583, APRIL 27, 1997 :Sun. Calif. State Trail Days Event. Vasona Park. For further info call Kitty at 268-6541 April 28, 1997: Monday, tour of museum and town 9:30a.m. May 3, 1997: Sat. Truck tour Hacienda Entrance, 9:OOa.m. May 4, 1997 :Sun. Hike Hacienda Entrance 9:30 a.m. May 5, 1997 : Mon. tour Museum and town 10:OOa.m. May 6, 1997 : Tues. Truck tour Quicksilver park 9:30 a.m. May 7, 1997: Wed. Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Commission public hearing on opening and uses of the trails in Almaden Quicksilver County Park- 7:OOp.m. Board of Supervisors Chambers, 70 West Hedding St. 1 st floor MAY 17,1997: Sat. , Coastal Clean-up Almaden and Guadalupe Reservoirs. MAY 18, 1997: Sun. Truck tour Hacienda Entrance 9:OOa.m. MAY 24, 1997: Sat. Truck tour Greenbelt Alliance 10:OOa.m. DUES ARE DUE NEW ALMADEN QUICKSILVER COUNTY PARK ASSOCIATION P.O. BOX 124 NEW ALMADEN, CA 95042 Membership Application/Renewal Form Date Membership l New Renewal Name Address City State Zip Phone:( ) Dues: $70 per year per household, tax deductible. $ Additional tax deducible contribution. $ Total amount enclosed $ Checks may be made payable to 'Quicksilver Park Assn.' Note: Please examine your mailing label. Your dues are paid through the year shown In the upper righthand corner of the label. |
People |
Monahan, Kitty Romero, Paul Annable, Garnetta Barger, Chere Clement, Bob Gavin, Cherie (Pope) Pope, Brenda Pope, Kris Pope, Laurie Pope, Debby Pope, Greg Gavin, Cherie (Pope) Adams, John Hicks (J. H.) (Sheriff) Arbuckle, Clyde Schneider, Jo (Jo Schneider Young) Crockett, Chris (Christopher) |
Cataloged by |
Meyer, Bob |