Volume 65, Issue 3 | March 2020  
  Download the Headlines here 
March 2020 Community Center Calendar
 
  3 | HVCA Board | 7:00 PM
  6 | Kids Night Out | 5:00-9:00 PM
10 | HVLT Board | 7:30 PM
17 | Firewise Committee | 7:00 PM
20 | Supervisor Rodoni Office hours | 2:00-4:00 PM
20 | Kids Night Out | 5:00-9:00 PM
24  | Sanitary District Board | 7:30 PM

1st/3rd Wed. | Tam Design Review Board | 7:00 PM (Log Cabin, Tam Valley)
Saturdays     | A. A. Meeting | 10:00 AM
Wednesdays | Mill Valley Zen Meditation | 7:00 PM
 Fridays         | SingDancePlay - Music Together | 9:00, 10:00 & 11:00 AM

Save the Date
April 18 | Pool Season begins
April 23 | Mill Valley Philharmonic | 7:00-9:00 PM
Candidate's Forum
On Monday, February 24th, HVCA hosted a Candidate's Forum for Marin County Supervisor District 4 candidates featuring incumbent Dennis Rodoni and challenger Alex Easton-Brown. Local voters were presented an opportunity to meet & greet the candidates and ask questions. The event was moderated by the League of Women Voters of Marin County.

Many thanks go to Jim Derich for coordinating this important election year event.
Firewise and Safety Committees
Update From Firewise and Safety Committees

By Mike Cann
 
The Firewise Committee serves both the HVCA Safety Committee and the HV Land Trust. The HVLT deals with wildfire resistance execution and outreach education, while the HVCA Safety Committee is focusing on the Block Contact Program and Address Placard installations. The IJ recently reported in a front-page article that wildfire risk continues to be a top concern in Marin - more than any county in the state - Marin is embracing the Firewise national fire prevention program - a six-step program that includes forming a Firewise committee, obtaining a wildfire risk assessment, creating an action plan including defensible space around homes, clearing out fire-prone vegetation and engaging the community through meetings and other outreach programs. Homestead Valley was one of the early Firewise certified communities in Marin.
Our focus in 2018 was on completing our 2016 CalFire grant leveraging our $95,000 grant to raise an additional $425,000 in matching contributions, resulting in over a half a million dollars in fire prevention work: Tree removal 63%; Shrub and Brush removal 32%; and Organization and Outreach Education 5%.
 
In January the HVLT was awarded a second 2-year CalFire Grant for $125,00 which we will leverage to obtain a minimum of 120% additional matching contributions (in cash or work) from the community. Increased emphasis will be focused on Shrub and Brush removal 54%; Tree removal 20%; and Organization & Outreach Education 26%.
 
The Safety Committee Block Contact program has recruited committed Block Contacts for 37 of our 69 blocks. We are still recruiting block contacts and urge you to contact Kris Cann if you are interested in being a Block Contact.
 
The Safety Committee reflective address Placard program is off to a great start this year by launching an aggressive program to complete installations currently on order by the end of April with 38 of 80 total backlog installed through February.
 
Contacts are:
Land Trust Notes
Plum Blossoms

Homestead Valley has not looked so grand in many a spring. The lack of rain with the continuing mild weather has allowed maximum bloom-out in the flower realm.
Many people have enjoyed the almost surreal effect of the trees at Reed and La Verne, especially the one in the lawn next to the curbing.

By the time this reaches you, their glory may be faded, but the plum trees of Three Groves were magnificent in the slanting spring sunlight. The screens of lacy whiteness defined the dramatic greens and dark shadows in stupendous fashion. By now the other fruit trees may be in bloom.

A special treat is in store for anyone who pauses at the Japanese garden on Linden Lane opposite Homestead Terrace. The site is always enjoyable with its miniature trees and mountainside. And now there is flowering cherry.

March 1984, the first "On Foot" piece

These timeless articles are reprinted from "On Foot in Homestead A Hiker's Journal of a Coastal Valley," by Matthew Davis, 1988. Matthew Davis (1935-2015), a former HVLT Board member, wrote articles which appeared in the Homestead Headlines beginning in 1984. In 1988 Matthew compiled his columns into a book "On Foot in Homestead - A Hiker's Journal of a Coastal Valley," published by the HVLT.
The Dharma Trail

While clearing brush during our fire fuel reduction work, the HVLT restored a historic trail below Pixie Trail. In a nod to Jack Kerouac's Dharma Bums that was written nearby, we're calling this the Dharma Trail. Find it by the orange cones marking its junctions with Pixie Trail or look for it downslope from the main trail near Janes Street. A new version of the HVLT Trail Map including this trail can be found at hvlt.org.
Marin Checker Lily 
CNPS Wildflower Walk

The Marin chapter of the California Native Plant Society is hosting a wildflower walk in Homestead to showcase the rare listed Marin Checker Lily that thrives in the meadow below Amaranth.
 
March 12-- 10 AM to 12 noon
 
Join Marabeth Grahame for a foray around Homestead Valley for early spring wildflowers, especially the chocolate lily! Starting at 4-Corners, Marabeth will lead the group down into Homestead Valley through coastal prairie and chaparral. Our destination is the meadow below Amaranth where the listed Marin Checker Lily (Fritillaria lanceolata var. tristulis) blooms each spring. Oakland star tulip (Calochortus umbellatus), barberry (Berberis pinnata), Fremont's deathcamas (Toxicoscordion fremontii) are also found in these meadows. On the return, we will traverse forest habitat where fairy bells (Prosartes hookeri), star-flowered lily-of-the-valley (Maianthemum stellatum) and fetid adder's tongue (Scoliopus bigelovii) grow.
 
This loop is 1.3 miles with a 600' descent and climb. Trails are narrow and rutted in some places.
 
We will meet at the intersection of Panoramic Hwy & Sequoia Valley Road in Mill Valley (aka 4-Corners) where there is plenty of parking.
 
Heavy rain cancels.
Leader: Marabeth Grahame, marabethg@gmail.com
HVCA is Hiring
Homestead Valley Vignettes by Chuck Oldenburg
The Home Front
 
Five days after Pearl Harbor, Mill Valley had its first blackout. The fourth one came on January 26, 1942 at 6:53 PM. The army had announced the presence of unidentified aircraft 80 miles off the coast. Blackout violators were fined $25. Air raid sirens in Alto and Homestead were part of the Mill Valley system that included nearly sabotage-proof methods of control from the firehouse. On April 15, a cottage on the corner of La Verne and Melrose became a sector post for air raid wardens. Volunteers spent the night there. They were responsible for warning Homestead residents of an air raid. During the day, the grocer on Linden Lane was responsible. On Sunday, April 17, the Mill Valley area's 36 Japanese residents (8 families) left on the 6:15 AM bus for Santa Rosa. Homestead's Okubara family and other Japanese from Marin, Sonoma and Napa boarded a train to the Merced assembly center for relocation.

Little Free Library

The Little Free Library is open for business!  Located in front of the founders, Christina and Chuck Oldenburg's house, across from Stolte Grove at their lower driveway.  Come and see what the free library has to offer! Take a book, bring a book to share!  Books for all ages.
Homestead Valley Contact Information
Community Center Office
David Ross, Executive Director                      
415.388.0137                                           

Community Association
Alex Scalisi, President

Ashley MacDonald, Vice-President
                          
Land Trust
Brian Spring, President
415.497.2880

Firewise
Mark Stahl
415.519.7525

Sanitary District
Bonner Beuhler, Manager
415.388.4796

Stolte Grove Rentals
Sheila Nielsen
415.388.2162

Joint Marin Horizon School/Homestead Valley Committee
Christina Oldenburg, Co-Chair
415.388.9315

Bill Perrine, Co-Chair
415.388.8408 x225

E-Mail HVCA Board, Center & Headlines
info@homesteadvalley.org              
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