Three Rivers Environmental Weekend on October 6-7

You know you are from Three Rivers when…

A fun page has sprung up on facebook, completing this phrase.
It has over 400 posts and growing, below is a sample of the memories.

Photo by Earl McKee “Blossom Peak” from Bar-O-Ranch

You know you are from Three Rivers when…

…you got a wave from Grandma Vines when you drove by and if you stopped you could get fresh eggs…and when you try something on at the Thingere and when you look in the mirror you realize you donated it…Sage Lee

…speaking of the Carnival earlier, who remembers the steam engine coming out of the wall on one of the original old school buildings that was painted by Bill Jones? It remained there until the buildings were torn down…sniff, sniff, sob…Don Stivers

…you spend a small fortune to feed and keep the wild life in your yard…..when you spend a small fortune to keep the wild life out of your garden…Maria Partin

…a Christmas Eve memory involves tying fishing line to Santa’s arm and making him wave to cars going by (almost caused Mike Scott to crash…again!)…Jay O’Connell

…when you can ride your horse to the Three Rivers Market bareback, barefoot, and in a swimsuit…Megan Thorn

….You knew all the names of the plants and wild flowers before you knew your ABCs…Lindsay Boley Hendrix

…the Valley Oak Credit Union was in Gene and Marian Gray’s office at their house…Bob and I had just gotten married….had no credit at all…..found a car we wanted….drove it to the office….Gene came out and looked at the car….said it looked good to him…..we signed a 1 PAGE contract….he cut us a check on the spot! …Kathy Johnson

…you tell someone you live in front of the rock house on Old Three Rivers Road…Kathryn Frey Ramsey



…you only have 13 kids in your eighth grade graduation class…Michael Scott

…when every girl in the 8th grade was a cheer leader…Sandy Wilson Myers

…when your dad not only gave hitch-hikers a lift, but actually brought them home to set up camp in the pasture…and you can walk 2 1/2 miles barefoot on hot pavement to get to the hot rocks that lead to your favourite swimming hole, and hardly flinch. (Feet of steel, thanks Three Rivers!)…Deirdre Ohlwein Wolfgang



…I addressed a postcard with “Grandma and Grandpa, Three Rivers” and it was delivered to them!…and the local artists were Henrietta Siodmak, Eleanor Marshal, Jean Caulfeild, Frank Treuting, Jeri Crosby, Lorraine Young, Rosemary Packard, Carroll Barnes, Red Whitson, Lidabelle Wylie… and the weavers were at the Loom Room…Sarah Barton Elliott



…A Farkle Burger and a Beer with an olive in it…. Sounds good…and the Post Office was next to the Three Rivers Market and there was only one Mail Lady for the whole town…. Lora… Loved her. She was my hero and my inspiration…Lori Bauman



…[you got a] short stack at the  Nosiy Water Cafe for 99 cents…I miss that place, home of the humming bird…Esther Garcia

….you know there’s a difference between the largest living thing and the tallest living thing…Jay Emerson

…you are driving into Three Rivers and you are not driving around the lake but along the river where the lake bed is now…Elsah Cort

….when you get a week off of school each year just because you can’t cross a flooded bridge…Stephanie Noel Qullen

…Harold Kluck [rode] his pony cart down North Fork to town !!!!! There wasn’t much traffic then !!! …Judy Onstot Will

…when walking up the slide at slicky was as much fun as going down it & when riding the rapids on the Kaweah without a raft was second nature…Alyssum Root

…when you miss being there!!! And ALL your FRIENDS!! …Deonna Gardner

GeoTourism: authentic traveling for connecting with place, culture, and nature

Are You a Geotraveler? Or, maybe aspire to be one?

Visit the new Sierra Nevada Geotourism MapGuide.

The Sierra Nevada Conservancy and Sierra Business Council have partnered with the National Geographic Society to capture the history and heritage of the Sierra Nevada Region through an interactive Web site and print map. The Sierra Nevada Geotourism Project seeks to celebrate the Sierra Nevada as a world-class destination, while contributing to the economic health of the region by promoting sustainable tourism. History buffs and adventurers, backpackers and foodies, birders and sightseers can discover unique destinations based on recommendations from those who know best—residents of the Sierra Nevada.

Sierra residents and visitors, community organizations, tourism stakeholders and local businesses nominate sites for inclusion in a print MapGuide and interactive Web site. Unlike any other mapping project, a favorite local restaurant, farm, winery, hiking or biking trail, swimming hole, museum or artist gallery are samples of the type of nominations National Geographic and its project partners will be seeking. The web site will target a variety of growing travel niches—adventure and nature tourism, cultural heritage travel and agritourism—and allow for residents to select the one-of-a-kind places integral to a distinctive character of place.

Geotourism is defined as tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place—its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents. Geotourism incorporates the concept of sustainable tourism—that destinations should remain unspoiled for future generations—while allowing for ways to protect a place’s character. Geotourism also takes a principle from its ecotourism cousin—that tourism revenue should promote conservation—and extends it to culture and history as well, that is, all distinctive assets of a place. Through this site we invite you to visit and experience the distinctive landscape and communities of the Sierra Nevada. Visit National Geographic’s Center for Sustainable Destinations to find out more about Geotourism and discover other places where local communities have come together to encourage responsible tourism.

Redbud Arts and Crafts Festival…coming for Mother’s Day Weekend

The 38th Annual Redbud Arts and Crafts Festival will be held on May 7-8, 2011.
Saturday hours are from 10-5 pm, and Sunday hours are from 10-4 pm.

It is held at the Lions Roping Arena in Three Rivers, California. See directions here.

Free Admission to Sequoia National Park for National Park Week April 16-24

Moro Rock with redbud trees in bloom via Sequoia National Park website

From the National Park Foundation:  “Join us April 16th–24th as America celebrates National Park Week – a chance to hike, learn, share, and give back in the nation’s 394 national parks. Take this opportunity to come out and discover, or re-discover, 84 million acres of the world’s most spectacular scenery, historic landmarks and cultural treasures.

National Park Week is a chance for all Americans to experience the majesty of the national park system for FREE. Visit any of America’s national parks and enjoy free admission all week long!

Together, we are owners, protectors and lovers of this land. Whether you are visiting, volunteering or interested in sharing your national park experience with the world, below you will find all the resources you need to make your National Park Week experience a memorable one.”

Sequoia National Park is offering a Junior Ranger Family Event on Saturday, April 16, from 11am to 3 pm at Hospital Rock.  Families will check in at the Hospital Rock Picnic Area’s event information booth where participants will receive an activity sheet. Kids and families will stop at 6 or more stations, complete the related activities (of their choice), and obtain a stamp for each station. Kids and families will turn in their activity sheets at the event information booth, where they originally started. The ranger at event info booth will provide each child with a Sequoia and Kings Canyon Junior Ranger activity book. The event activities are equal to completion of one activity – attendance at a ranger-led program – in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Junior Ranger activity book.

Another view of Moro Rock from the Middle Fork Trail in Sequoia National Park.

Hidden Gardens Tour in Three Rivers on April 16

The Hidden Gardens of Three Rivers Tour is sponsored by the Three Rivers Union School Foundation, as a fundraiser for the local school, currently facing severe budget challenges. Six foothill gardens will be open to the public for this self-guided tour.

Actor, William Shatner, has graciously offered to share his beautiful Belle Reve Ranch for this one day special event. Guests will be able to visit his riverside Indian spirit gar…den and Little Grant’s Grove, in their beautiful natural settings along the South Fork of the Kaweah River.

Local artists, musicians, and a “Taste of Three Rivers,” provided by local restaurants will be offered at each garden, along with volunteers and docents, via the local Redbud Garden Club, will help guide you through the garden.

You can also enjoy the local wildflower bloom along your way.

The other five gardens on the Hidden Gardens Tour include
•a tropical garden, with hand-carved tikis, waterfalls, and an outdoor movie theater;
• an authentic early California garden and lavender farm, on a property with an historic adobe home
•a traditional terraced English country garden, complete with art studio and sunset views
•an expansive riverside garden, adjacent to a stunning South Fork waterfall, with a tour of the owners’ home, which was designed and built to the North Star
• a spiritual retreat garden where lawn and flowers meet oaks and granite.

Tickets are $35 each, available at Chumps in Three Rivers or online at trusfoundation.org. You will be able to exchange your ticket for a packet with a name badge, map and directions to each garden a week before the Tour at the Three Rivers Union School from 4-5:30 pm on Mon-Fri, or at Chump’s from 11-8 pm. Packets will also be available on the day of the Tour from 10- 1 pm at the school. Both Chump’s and the school are located on Hwy 198 in Three Rivers.

For more information, call Pam Lockhart at 559-471-6624.

Sequoia Speaks Series Returns

The winter “Sequoia Speaks” series of weekly lectures and presentations starts on January 29. Discover the untold stories of Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks through the explorations and experiences of scientists, artists, and historians. This series is resented by the National Park Service. See dates and topics below image.

All programs are free and open to the public, and will be held at the Three Rivers Arts Center on North Fork Drive in Three Rivers.

 

SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 2011  7-8 pm
Climate is Changing and So Must We
Accelerated changes in climate and its impacts to water and ecosystems are already being observed in many parts of our planet, including the Southern Sierra Nevada, and more are projected. In the face of these unprecedented global changes, past conditions no longer provide us with sensible management targets. What are land managers to do? The future is uncertain, forcing us to think and act in fundamentally new ways. Koren Nydick, Science Coordinator, will address what the National Park Service and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are doing to meet this challenge head-on.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2011   7-8 pm
Shifting Water Dynamics in the Sierra Nevada National Parks and their Consequences
Meet Jennie Skancke, the Sierra Network’s new physical scientist, and discover what profound implications warming temperatures and shifts from snow to rain in the Sierra Nevada will have for resources in the national parks and for state water management. Find out how anticipating and documenting these changes will allow the National Park Service resource managers and state water managers to focus their restoration or protection efforts.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2011   7-8 pm
Fire in the National Park Service: An Evolving Relationship
Patterns of fire occurrence in the Sierra Nevada are governed by biological factors, such as plant species composition and fuel production, and environmental and physical factors, such as topography, weather, and climate. Global climate change is likely to cause changes to these patterns. Tony Caprio, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park’s fire ecologist will look at past and contemporary patterns and consider how they may change in the future.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2011  7-8 pm
Taking the Long View: park biologists and citizen scientists working together to monitor alpine plant communities
Join Park Plant Ecologist, Sylvia Haultain, on a stunning photographic tour of the plants and animals that live above treeline. She will highlight the parks’ participation in the international Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA) network and the newly established High Sierra monitoring sites in the Mt. Langley area. Discover an exciting new program that engages you, citizen scientists, in documenting changes in the timing of life cycle events of local plants. Your observations can contribute to our understanding of local climate change effects.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2011  7-8 pm
A Legacy of Joseph Grinnell: predicting the future from the record of the past
Joseph Grinnell, the founding director of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC-Berkeley and an influential naturalist of the early 20th century, began his career at the museum with this vision: “…the greatest purpose of our museum…will not be realized until the lapse of many years, possibly a century…and this is that the student of the future will have access to the original record of vertebrate conditions in California.” Grinnell’s vision stemmed from his concern for the loss of nature habitats, but today we also face climate change.
Join Jim Patton, Curator and Professor Emeritus, from the University of California, Berkeley in his discussion of the Grinnell Resurvey Project. This project began in 2003 and centered along the length of the Sierra Nevada as a realization of Grinnell’s early vision. He will detail the changes in range distributions of small mammals and birds over the past century, discuss the potential forces underlying these shifts, and address the likely future for several of our most iconic terrestrial vertebrate species.

For more information, please call 559-565-4212.
Image source: nps.gov/seki