November 2020 Homestead Headlines

Volume 65, Issue 11 | November 2020

Download the Headlines here

November 2020 Community Center Calendar

Public meetings are cancelled until further notice due to the

shelter-at-home order.

10 | HVCA Board |

10 | HVLT Board |

17 | Firewise Committee |

24 | Sanitary District Board |

1st/3rd Wed. | Tam Design Review Board |

Saturdays | A. A. Meeting |

Wednesdays | Mill Valley Zen Meditation |
Fridays | SingDancePlay - Music Together |

Homestead Valley Honors

Accepting Nominations for Homestead Valley Annual Service Awards

Homestead Valley has a long history of volunteerism whereby residents see an opportunity to create 'a more perfect valley' and make it happen. From the creation of the Community Association (HVCA) over a hundred years ago and the Land Trust (HVLT) in the early 70's, to a music festival in Stole Grove that then moved to the Community Center meadow and more recently an undertaking to ensure we live in a "firesafe" community with community education, tree and brush clearing and federal grant money, the spirit of community service and generosity is omnipresent in Homestead Valley.

Each year, HVCA recognizes two of the many people who passionately give their time to make a difference in Homestead Valley. You can find a list of prior Service Award winners on our website: Homestead Valley.Annual Service Awards. Winners are announced at the HV Annual Meeting in January.

While it has been an unusual year, The HVCA Board would like to reach out to the community this year for nominations for 2020 Volunteer of the Year and Distinguished Community Service Award. Please send your nominations with a one paragraph write up describing the reason for your nomination by November 30, 2020 to david@homesteadvalley.org.

Volunteer of the Year - this recognizes someone for their outstanding contribution of service and leadership in the community this past year. (This award can go to a previous recipient.)

Distinguished Community Service Award - this person has been continuously giving extraordinary service, inspiration, and an enduring dedication to our community (while giving generously of their time). This is a one-time award.

Many thanks to everyone who helps make Homestead Valley a very special place to live.

Homestead Valley 2021 Annual Meeting

TBD

4:30 Potluck Social - 5:30 Meeting

Community Center Updates

Have You Seen The New Educational Garden At The Community Center?

By David Melchert, Terry Nevin and

Leslie Dixon

While the warm days of fall are still with us, we hope that take the opportunity to enjoy the newest garden installation along Montford Avenue, adjacent to HVCC the parking lot. The garden still buzzes with bees, and the occasional Monarch Butterfly and other pollinators can be found floating amongst the colourful display of fall blooming flowers and textures of various foliage combinations. Developed along the principle of sustainable - regenerative gardening, this newly installed garden showcases plants that can easily grow well in your own Homestead Valley Garden while providing a number of benefits to our community, the natural environment and your own personal enjoyment - such as attracting beneficial insects and pollinators, economize water resources, improve native habitat, minimize the risk of wildfire and even help in the effort to mitigate the impacts of climate change - to name a few. Recently added plant identification signs will identify which of the plants presented in the garden address these benefits. Additional information on these and other topics will be available on our website and future educational kiosks to further explain how you can develop a sustainable - regenerative garden at your own home.

We invite you to come check out the garden to learn more, and if interested, inquire how you can be involved in this exciting new adventure at the Homestead Valley Community Center. Thank you to the generous grants from Marin County, Outdoor Art Club and the Marin Municipal Water District to help make this come together.

Homestead Halloween

Homestead Halloween Contest Winners

Homestead Valley celebrated Halloween this year with spooky decorations and lots of Halloween spirit.

The holiday started off with a wonderful pumpkin giveaway for the community. "The Pun-kin Patch", organized by Chelsey Susin Kantor and sponsored by The Troop, visited the community center on October 18th with a festive hayride theme. Many families joined in the safe & distanced fun and went home with free pumpkins.

HVCA created a fun contest to show off local Halloween spirit. The contest had three categories: Best Decorated House, Best Homemade Decoration, and Best Decorated Pumpkin. Thanks to all who submitted photos!

The winner of Best Decorated House is 87 Montford on the corner of Molino (photo at top). This house decorates every year and had an amazing display of spooky skeletons, scary pumpkins, and giant witches.

Best Handmade Decoration goes to Allegra Carlin for her "Dead Body with Cat Culprit" photo (photo at bottom).

The winner of Best Decorated Pumpkin is Lydia Laufer! She made beautiful decoupage pumpkins that represented the fall season perfectly. (photo above)

One special submission came from Anastasia Scalisi, a talented tap dancer. She choreographed a tap dance to the Addam's Family theme song! Special mention to Anastasia for Most Original Halloween Spirit. Congrats, Anastasia! Winners will receive a goodie bag of Halloween candy. Thanks so much for participating and happy Halloween!

(Editor's note: Many thanks to our secret volunteer judges and coordinators for helping make this a fun Halloween amidst the challenges we've been facing.)

Land Trust Notes

Over Diaz Ridge

Another main ramble out of Homestead is the Diaz Ridge Fire Road, up the southern rim of the valley to the west. There is a connecting trail from Homestead Trail as it bends around Femdale Canyon.

Once on the fire road, you follow its decidedly upward route until you traverse the south shoulder of Homestead Hill and cross Panoramic Highway.

Panoramic Trail is a few feet off the pavement. Go to the right on it and you can reach Four Corners (I warn you that this section is not maintained), and head back into Homestead down the fire road to Ridgewood, or, about a block down Sequoia Valley Road, down the Eagle Trail. It is not marked, but it is the only path you'll see before you get to the first house on the right.

Turn left on Panoramic Trail, and you soon connect with the Western Diaz Ridge Road, a very scenic over-the-hills route towards Muir Beach. After you come around the high knoll, you can go straight to make a dramatic descent into Frank Valley across from the Heather Cutoff. Or you can take the left fork through the gate and find the land distinctly tilting toward the ocean. That way you will come out at the Golden Gate Stables on Highway One, right across from the road to the beach. But you don't need to walk that road; instead take the levee path to the left when you pass Pelican Inn, and you'll soon be on the beach to rest up for the walk home or to rendezvous with your ride.

November 1987

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.

Homestead Valley Vignettes by Chuck Oldenburg

Ancient Redwood

One of the three remaining ancient 7-ft. diameter redwoods in Tam Canyon had leaned for centuries at a 60° angle from horizontal. Many residents wonder when it would fall down. In 2006 it finally fell down onto La Verne Ave. The County Public Works Dept. cut it up for removal, but saved one log for exhibition in Stolte Grove. An approximate tree ring count of that log indicated that the tree was between 700 and 800 years old. All three Tam Canyon trees were significantly scarred having survived and extensive fire. The ring count on the fallen tree indicated that the fire occurred about 300 years ago. Nine years later, on June 3, 2015, a news story caught our attention. "Oldest Muir Woods redwood is only half its estimated age. At 777 years old, Tree #76 is just a babe in the woods." Scientists' best guesses had been that the trees in Muir woods were 1200 to 1500 years old. Allyson Carroll, a Humboldt State University tree-ring specialist found that the 249-foot-tall beauty is only 777 years old. Thus the oldest redwoods in Tam Canyon seem to be about the same age as the oldest tree in Muir Woods. Not surprising because Muir oods is only a little over a mile west of Tam Canyon.

Homestead Valley & COVID-19

We hope this finds all our friends and neighbors healthy, happy and safe at home in these continuing turbulent times. As of this writing, the shelter-at-home order in response to the COVID-19 pandemic continues. All public meetings and gatherings are cancelled indefinitely.

"We do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate."

- Thomas Jefferson

Useful links:

HVCA contact information:

info@homesteadvalley.org

Marin County Coronavirus website:

coronavirus.marinhhs.org/

Marin Recovers

marinrecovers.com

Individuals may contact Marin Health and Human Services with non-medical questions about the coronavirus by calling (415) 473-7191 (Monday - Friday, 9:30 AM to 12 Noon and 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM) or emailing COVID-19@marincounty.org.