J U N E   2 0 1 7
 Because of your support we again won the Environmental Hour for East Bay Gives!
Thank you for generously donating all day long on May 4.
Where Art Meets the Estuary


Join local historian Dennis Evanosky and community organizer Cynthia Elliot for a walk through Jingletown near where Sausal Creek meets the estuary. Find out how this bustling and colorful neighborhood has made history. This walk coincides with the East Bay Open Studios, so plan to visit some studios afterwards. Find out more about Jingletown's art scene here. For more information on the walking tour, contact Jill Miller.

Jingletown Estuary and Art Walk
Sunday, June 11, 10-12:30 p.m.
Peterson Street between Ford and Chapman streets, Oakland
Honing in on the Solstice

When you're cutting out blackberry vines or limbing up trees on restoration workdays, how much do you really appreciate the tool that makes it all possible? Our pruners and loppers and shears get a workout every year; they're tired and dull and in need of some TLC. Perfect theme for a summer potluck and community celebration!

The Summer Solstice Potluck and Tool Restoration is in lieu of our July member meeting at Dimond Library. Bring your favorite edgy recipe and some sharp conversation topics. Seasoned tool sharpeners will be on hand to teach you how to hone that blade to a fine FOSC edge. What better way to celebrate the solstice but with beloved tools and Friends?

Summer Solstice Potluck and Tool Restoration
Scout Hut in Dimond Park
Tuesday, June 20, 6-8 p.m.
FLYER 
Rockin' Walk Redux

Andrew Alden has graciously offered to lead another geology walk since the one in May reached capacity. Please RSVP to  coordinator@sausalcreek.org or call (510) 501-3672. This event will be limited to 25 people.

Rocks of the Dinosaur Era in Shepherd Canyon 
Saturday, July 1, 2-4:30 p.m.

New Monthly Workday
Dimond Park Native Plant Demonstration Garden Wants You!

We are thrilled that Dimond Park's gorgeous Native Plant Demonstration Garden has joined our family of recurring workdays. Don't miss this opportunity to commune with like-minded folks to tend this well-establishe d public garden. All skill levels welcome, but gardening experience is a plus and a desire to learn is a must.  Activities include weeding, pruning, mulching, planting, watering, and lively conversation.  For more information, please contact Jill.

Dimond Park Recreation Center , 3860 Hanly Road 
Saturday, July 1, 10 a.m.-noon (1st Saturdays)
Friend of the Month:
May Chen 
 
May's excitement about the natural world is contagious. Despite her deep knowledge of everything from slime molds to shorebirds, her greatest strength as a volunteer field trip docent is her unceasing curiosity. There is no flower, insect, or fungus that is "ordinary" in her eyes; each one is an invitation for discovery and wonderment. May is able to pique others' curiosity through incredible stories about the natural world and by engaging students in hands-on interactions. As seen in this photo with 4th graders from ASCEND, students are learning about the unique ability of sticky monkeyflowers to physically react to a pollinator's visit; when the flower's two-part stigma is touched, it will close up "thinking" it has been fertilized. The boys pictured with May proceeded to round up every last one of their classmates to show them what they had just learned. A frenzy of excitement over a flower--that is the magic of May Chen. Thank you, May, for inspiring those around you on field trips and workdays throughout the watershed!

***

We're on the lookout for more volunteer field trip docents like May. If you have a passion for environmental education, enjoy working with youth from kindergarten to high school, and are able to volunteer during the week, please contact Jill.
Meet Nursery
Manager Erin Todd 
 
Erin Todd's experience and enthusiasm leading field trips and restoration workdays as a FOSC intern convinced us that our next nursery manager was already in our midst. We are excited to have Erin on staff, and she is eager to work with all the nursery volunteers.  

Erin holds a B.S. in environmental science from the University of Michigan, where she specialized in agroecology. She has worked in invasive species management, seed collection, and organic farming. While many of our local species are new to her, she's learning quickly and has jumped in with both feet (and hands) leading workdays, guiding seed hikes, and reviewing planting plans.

Come meet Erin at the next nursery workday or seed hike. See the FOSC event calendar for details.
Explore the Watershed 
Spring in the Pollinator Garden--
A Bumblebee Picnic
 

At the May 21 pollinator garden workday, May Chen spotted a struggle for existence on the tip of a ceanothus blossom. What's going on in this photo? A crab spider, Misumena vatia , captured a bumblebee and is making it into a nice picnic lunch. Check out the cream-colored spider, with its distinctive red stripe, on top of its prey, a nice fat bumblebee.

  ARTICLE 
Kudos Korner
 
We are so grateful to Andrew Aldrich for letting us use his gorgeous creek image for our East Bay Gives reminder postcard and to May Woo for designing the mailer that helped make our mid-year appeal so successful. Thank you!

We are humbled by yet another feat produced by Stan Dodson. Long have we dreamed of having the fencing extended at Fern Ravine to help keep folks on trail and protect the fragile redwood understory. Thank you to Stan and company--Michael Allen of Oakland Public Works, Friends of Joaquin Miller Park, Dee Rosario, and the crew from Oakland Volunteer Park Patrol--for making this dream a reality. This project was funded by Oakland Trails, which is continually fundraising for more trail enhancement projects. (Note: The "bootleg" or "social" trail in the background was covered up after the crew finished the fencing. Fingers crossed it stays that way.)   
School Year 2016-2017 Wrap Up
 
Environmental Ed in the 'Shed 
 
Passing out binoculars so third graders could get a better view of the peregrine falcons on Fruitvale Bridge ... Doing our first student bucket-dip at the creek's mouth to test the water quality ... Writing cinquain poems next to the creek that two years ago lay buried in Dimond Park ... Yanking bagfuls of invasive ehrharta grass from Beaconsfield Canyon ... Planting redwood sorrel and woodland strawberry at Monterey Redwoods.

These are just a few of the memories from this school year as we had the opportunity to amaze and delight hundreds of students on dozens of field trips from the fog-dripped hills to the breezy bay. Of all of the work we do, our environmental education program requires the most cobbling together of funding from a variety of grantors so that we can provide free field trips for underserved students. But FOSC field trips are also highly sought after by teachers who don't qualify for funding under our grants, so we strive to offer as many as we can on a fee-for-service basis so we can reach and teach even more Oakland students.

As we wipe our brows (and plan for next school year), we'd like to sincerely thank the funders who make this work possible. There's nothing quite like the feeling of infinite possibility when students suddenly discover the magical urban wildlands within walking distance from their neighborhoods.


Our Funders:
Coastal Conservancy -- We have two more years to grow and refine this Follow Your Creek program that seeks to inspire kids to explore the coast while learning about the creek that was buried long ago and flows underground.

NOAA -- We much enjoyed working with two new schools through a partnership with Girls Scouts of Northern California under their Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) grant.

NOAA -- This marks the fifth and final year of Joaquin Miller Elementary's journey as an Ocean Guardian School. It has been a joy to lead these field trips and be able to teach the full restoration cycle to second graders.

Bill Graham Supporting Foundation of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund and The Clorox Company Foundation -- Year after year the support from these two local foundations has allowed us to lead field trips for local K-12 classes. We are so grateful for their ongoing support!

Hillside Gardeners of Montclair -- This local club has made it possible for us to hire an intern to enhance the field trip experiences we provide for local schools. Having an intern's help has made a huge difference in the quality of our field trips.
 
FOSCers like you! -- Budgeting is an imprecise process. Grants are hard to get and, once gotten, not always renewable. The generous support of individual donors makes all the difference. Thank you so much!

"We had such a wonderful time. My kids and their parents were talking about their favorite parts the whole bus ride home. A majority of the families mentioned their shock at how close Fern Ravine was to where they live. I love that such a special and important part of Oakland became more accessible to them." --Alex Perry, ASPIRE Triumph Kindergarten Teacher
 
Rippling Water 
 
Water
Smooth, quiet
Rippling, dancing, crashing
Blissful happiness every place
The aquifer

--Manzanita SEED student, written at daylighted creek in Dimond Park on May 9

 
Event Calendar

RESTORATION WORKDAYS
 
Beaconsfield Canyon
(last Saturdays)
Sat., June 24, 9 a.m.-noon
 
Bridgeview Trail
(2nd Sundays)
Sun., June 11, 9-11 a.m. 

Bridgeview Trailhead Pollinator Garden
(1st & 3rd Sundays) 
Sun., June 18, 9-11 a.m.
 
Marj Saunders Park
(1st Mondays)
Mon., July 3, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. 

Montclair Railroad Trail
(3rd Saturdays)
Sat., June 17, 9-11 a.m.
 
Native Plant Demontration Garden
in Dimond Park 
(1st Saturdays)
Sat., July 1, 10 a.m.-noon
 
WD Wood Park
(3rd Saturdays)
Sat., June 17, 9-11 a.m

PALLID MANZANITA CREW 
Chabot Space and Science Center
Email Jill for details.  

TRAIL CREW
Meet at the Scout Hut in Dimond Park 
Sun. June 25, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. 
NURSERY WORKDAYS  
FOSC Native Plant Nursery
Joaquin Miller Park
(2nd and 4th Saturdays)
Sat., June 10 & 24, 1:30-4:30 p.m.
 
COLLECTION HIKES
Locations TBD
Fri, June 16, 10 a.m.-noon 
Thurs., June 22 & 29, 10 a.m.-noon 
J oin the Seed Hike Google Group  here 

SUMMER SOLSTICE POTLUCK AND
TOOL RESTORATION 
Meet at the Scout Hut in Dimond Park
Tues., June 20, 6-8 p.m.
FLYER

JINGLETOWN ESTUARY AND ART WALK 
Sun., June 11, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
SHEPHERD CANYON GEOLOGY WALK 
Sat., July 1, 2-4:30 p.m.
 
Get Involved
Our mission is to restore, maintain, and protect the Sausal Creek Watershed. We educate future generations, involve the community in local environmental stewardship, and collaborate with agencies and other nonprofits to have a positive impact on the local ecosystem. 

FOSC needs your support -- 
 
Amazon purchases donate 0.5% to FOSC --
sign up today  
Contact:
Jill Miller
Restoration & Education Manager
510-853-3533
education@sausalcreek.org

Erin Todd
Nursery Manager
510-325-9006
nursery@sausalcreek.org

Kimra McAfee
Executive Director
510-501-3672 
Photo Credits: Andrew Aldrich, Lee Dingain, Stan Dodson, Kathleen Harris, Michelle Krieg, Kimra McAfee, Jill Miller, Mike Perlmutter, Michael Thilgen, Erin Todd  
Friends of Sausal Creek   www.sausalcreek.org
Like us on Facebook