The La Honda Voice

Join us Sept. 16th for Coastal Cleanup Day, and see the new Interpretative Panel at San Gregorio State Beach

San Gregorio Environmental Resource Center (SGERC) invites you to join us at San Gregorio State Beach on Coastal Cleanup Day, September 16th from 9:00 - 12:00.  This is an annual event sponsored by the California Coastal Commission.

Also visit the beautiful new interpretative panel installed at the beach near the picnic area. This panel describes how artificial breaching of the lagoon affects wildlife, and introduces you to a number of the fish and birds that live in this important habitat. We’ll be on hand to provide information about the lagoon and sandbar, and how to help keep this environment healthy.

SGERC sponsored this interpretative panel, installed with the help of our local office of California State Parks. If you are interested in helping offset the cost of this panel, or any of our programs, you can make a tax-deductible contribution by visiting our website: www.sgerc.org (Tax ID # 94-3083465), or donate at this event. Our activities include a monthly stream monitoring program at several locations in the watershed (now in its 17^th year), a watershed education program with local schools that is just beginning, Adopt-a-Highway litter removal on Hwy. 84, and pampas/jubata grass removal throughout La Honda and San Gregorio.

If you are interested in participating in any of these projects, or would like to propose further projects which enhance the health of the local watershed. Please send an email with your contact detail to: [email protected]

On Coastal Cleanup Day, tons of trash and recyclables are removed from beaches, streams, parks, schools, and other areas across California with the help of community volunteers. Last year in San Mateo County, 4,145 volunteers picked up more than 22,000 pounds of trash and nearly 4,000 pounds of recyclables. The most common items are cigarette butts and tobacco products, food wrappers, paper and plastic bags, glass and plastic bottles, beverage cans, and construction materials. SGERC will have all the necessary supplies including reusable gloves and buckets. If you like, bring your own sturdy gloves and bucket to help reduce waste from the event. Wear sturdy shoes and dress in layers since the weather can be unpredictable. We will have refreshments for volunteers.

Children welcome! We look forward to seeing you at the beach!

More info at:

www.sgerc.org

https://www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/ccd/cleanup/ - /map

SF Archbishop to Visit Our Lady of Refuge

Pictured: The archbishop's visit to St. Anthony's in 2014. L to R Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, former parish administrator Fr. Shouraiah Pudota and Deacon John McGhee Photo credit: Debra Greenblat used with permission

It’s not unusual for an archbishop to visit any of his parishes to administer the sacrament of confirmation or to make a pastoral visit to personally meet the priests and parishioners. On Sunday June 10, 2017, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone will be administering confirmations at the main church in our parish, Our Lady of the Pillar in Half Moon Bay.

What is unusual is that he will return to our parish on June 25, making a special visit to Our Lady of Refuge to offer our Sunday Mass here in La Honda. The parish of Our Lady of the Pillar is the largest in land area in the Archdiocese of San Francisco and is comprised of the main parish church in Half Moon Bay and the two mission churches, St. Anthony's in Pescadero and Our Lady of Refuge in La Honda. Because of the distance between the three churches in the parish, it was too difficult for the archbishop to visit Our Lady of Refuge during his pastoral visitation to the parish two years ago. Parishioners were asked to attend either his Mass at Our Lady of the Pillar or his Mass at St. Anthony’s in Pescadero. Now he will finally be visiting our church. And it works out well in the end, because since the pastoral visit when he could not come to Our Lady of Refuge, we have gotten a beautiful new floor!

The parish community of Our Lady of Refuge is extremely honored that Archbishop Cordileone is making this special visit to our little mission church.

For more information call Mary at 650-559-9344.

A Community Holy Hour

Come away to a quiet place and rest a while. Mark 6:31

Our newly appointed Parish Administrator, Fr. Joseph Previtali, has proposed a monthly Holy Hour at Our Lady of Refuge Catholic Church.

Join us for an hour of prayer and reflection and songs of praise.

The first Holy Hour will be Thursday evening, July 21, from 8:30-9:30 PM. (The following months will be at an earlier hour.)

Traditionally, a Holy Hour is often held on a Thursday with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction.

Confession will be available.

All are welcome!

Our Lady of Refuge Catholic Church is located at 146 Sears Ranch Road, La Honda

For more information call Mary at 650-559-9344

Holy Week and Easter Sunday at Our Lady of Refuge

Here is the schedule for Holy Week and Easter Sunday 2016 at Our Lady of Refuge:

• Palm Sunday, March 20th: Mass at 10:30 AM
• Holy Thursday, March 24th: Evening Mass at 8:00 PM with washing of the feet
• Good Friday, March 25th: Evening Stations of the Cross at 6:00 PM with service to follow at 7:00 PM, ending with procession to Altar of Repose
• Easter Sunday, March 27th: Mass at 10:30 AM, light brunch after Mass

Our Lady of Refuge Catholic Church is located at 146 Sears Ranch Road.

Let’s Kick Pampas!!

Volunteers wanted to remove Pampas & Jubata Grass from our San Gregorio Valley.

Plant removed near Lower Reservoir in Cuesta La Honda

Let’s control these grasses so they won’t spread as they have in Pescadero, Half Moon Bay, and along the coast. SGERC has received permission from Caltrans to control and remove invasive Pampas and Jubata grass along Hwy. 84 between Hwy. 1 and La Honda. If you’re interested in helping with this project, please contact Neil Panton, (650) 854-8038 or [email protected].

We use manual methods, no chemicals. We plan to clear the Hwy. 84 corridor, but since a number of plants exist on private property as well, we’d like to help interested landowners remove these invasive plants from their property. For those who’d like to keep ornamental grasses on their property, there are several non-invasive alternatives, like these suggested by the Native Plants Society and Yerba Buena Nursery:

http://calscape.cnps.org/loc-California/cat-Grasses/ord-popular?srchcr=sc56a0f45be321b

http://www.yerbabuenanursery.com/Avail.php

Anyone 16 years or older can participate. We’ll schedule several morning work days over the coming year beginning in April. All safety and other training will be provided. Removal of seed heads is the first step in preventing further spread.  Next we cut back vegetation to control plant growth, and finally remove the plant. Smaller plants come out in a few minutes.  Larger, established plants take more effort, but can be removed with pick axe and shovel. The root balls are amazingly small and shallow considering the size of these plants.

The biggest concentration of plants is around the 2.0 and 3.0 mile markers on La Honda Rd. With team effort, we should be able to remove the remaining plants along the highway in short order.  After that, we just monitor for new growth.

Feel free to pass this information along to anyone you think may be interested.  We can use help on work crews, communicating with neighbors, and identifying remaining plants in the watershed. With your help, we should be able to remove Pampas and Jubata grass from San Gregorio and La Honda completely in a year or two. As one of our community leaders says “It Takes a Village”!  We look forward to hearing from you!

La Honda Radio Club gears up for 2016

La Honda’s local radio club has laid its plans for 2016. Now 40 members strong, the club is always welcoming new members, and increasing its ability to serve the community with emergency preparedness and radio communications. Meetings are held the third Saturday of each month at 10am, often at the La Honda Fire Brigade. You can check their website, sc4arc.org for more information.

February 20^th’s technical session will highlight several local emergency groups, and the differences between them. Also demonstrated will be the use of dual band radios, which offer the ability to monitor two frequencies, or stations simultaneously. This ability has shown itself to be extremely useful in emergency situations, where local communications need to be conducted, but remaining in touch with another coastside or bayside station is critical.

Dual Band Radio

In March, the focus will be on Communication Skills: how to effectively and efficiently communicate when in an emergency. In an emergency, it’s easy to let adrenalin take over and cloud your ability to speak clearly and calmly. This class will share ways to collect your thoughts and deliver essential information in a concise way. In a true emergency, many people will have important information to pass along, and clogging the airwaves with unnecessary chatter could have life-threatening implications.

Other activities this year include Field Day, an annual 24 hour event to demonstrate the ability to set up radios with emergency power and contact ham operators far and wide. This event the last weekend of June is often held in La Honda Gardens. Club members also support events like Dream Machines in April, and the Half Moon Bay Marathon in September with radio communications.

Club meetings are open to the public, and begin at 10am with club business, followed by the technical session. Anyone with an interest in emergency preparedness or radio communications is encouraged to attend. You may become the next person in your neighborhood to get your ham license, or become part of the growing number prepared to help in an emergency!

Sleepless in La Honda

 

SC4 Amateur Radio Club welcomes all to Field Day

This June, La Honda’s fearless ham radio operators once again pulled an all-nighter in the name of emergency communications.  You may have noticed the gigantic antenna in the field next to the firehouse, or bleary-eyed operators stumbling into the Market for coffee Sunday morning, but this dedicated group worked all weekend to prove that La Honda is not as isolated as it seems when it comes to emergency communications.

Mobile 40’ Crank-up Tower with antennas

Field Day (seems like Daze) is an annual event, and La Honda’s Amateur Radio Club proved once again that we have some of the most innovative and accomplished individuals around.  Some achievements this year include:

-       Rigging a 40 foot mobile tower with four very different antennas, controlled with remote switch by radio operators to enable contact with other stations across the United States.

-       Using a homemade pneumatic tennis ball launcher to raise other antennas high in the trees.

-       Constructing an antenna made from a tape measure and PVC pipe, and using it to contact the International Space Station as it passed overhead.

-       Using computers and software connected to the radios to make contacts using digital modes such as RTTY, PSK-31 and CW (Morse code).

-       Operating entirely off the grid using generators and solar power.

Tape Measure Antenna built by Jennie KK6DNX at Field Day

An entire village was set up in one day at La Honda Gardens (thank you Charlie C.!!!) that included a radio tent, eight antennas, a food tent, overnight accommodations, a public information booth, and a radio station allowing visitors to “get on the air” and try out ham radio.  Then, radio operators worked 24 straight hours making contacts with as many other stations as possible. This is a radio contest, so logging contacts and keeping score is part of the fun.  Equally important is to share information with the community about emergency preparedness and communication, and to encourage new hams. It also keeps La Honda’s club in practice for setting up communications quickly in case of an emergency.

Pneumatic Antenna Launcher built by Mike, KJ6VCP

Getting an amateur license is easy, and the cost of your first radio can be quite low.  Hand held radios starting as low as $50 allow you to communicate from La Honda to Skyline to Pescadero and even Half Moon Bay and Pacifica from some locations!  That can come in handy on the trail or in areas where cell phones don’t reach. La Honda’s radio club offers classes each year to help prepare for the license exam (35 multiple choice questions, 26 answered correctly) and provides training and resources to help you become an effective part of the area’s communications network.

Keep your eyes open for upcoming ham radio events, and get involved!  You can also visit the website http://www.sc4arc.org for more information.

Bundy and the La Hondettes at AJ's - Saturday March 29th

It Started at the Cuesta Pool...

Joel and Angela Mansfield met in the 1960s in La Honda. He was  a lifeguard at the pool. She and her family spent summers at their family cabin in Cuesta.  As part of the choir at Our Lady of Refuge Catholic Church during the summer, Angela's mother played the organ, Joel played the mandolin and Angela sang.

 

Angela and Joel Mansfield

This year on July 29, 2012, the couple celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary at Our Lady of Refuge with a blessing at Sunday Mass and a barbecue on the church grounds afterwards. Family and friends joined the local church community in celebrating the couple's 40 years together.

Although Joel and Angela Mansfield

Father Charles and the Mansfield choir

 have lived in San Francisco for most of their married life, La Honda has always occupied a special place in their hearts. Besides driving from San Francisco twice a month to provide music for Mass at Our Lady of Refuge, they have spent hours at other times cleaning and polishing, doing general repairs and helping out with fundraisers. Their children, who are now grown and living away from home, "grew up" singing and playing instruments with their parents at Our Lady of Refuge.

Back in 1973 Joel and Angela were asked to play regularly at Our Lady of the Pillar in Half Moon Bay, where they provided music for 17 years on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. But with three children they found their life growing more hectic and time in short supply and so they

The cake was baked and decorated by Angela's sister

decided not to make the weekly drive to Half Moon Bay from San Francisco. For many years now they have "commuted" to La Honda where the whole family and now just the two of them have played and sung at least two Sundays a month. For the past 20 years they have also provided music for the children's liturgy at their local San Franscico parish --the Church of the Epiphany.

Familly and community enjoying the celebration

True to their giving nature, the couple not only supplied the music on this day, they also brought  the food and planned the anniversary celebration--right down to games that were played after lunch.

They may not reside  in La Honda but they have certainly given much to our community.

 

Special Visitor to La Honda Gardens

Yes, Camilla Corona, the chicken that went into space as mission mascot for NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), spent last weekend in La Honda Gardens, hanging out with local ham radio operators for Field Day. 

Camilla was not the only important visitor last weekend. More than 80 people dropped by to see the successful raising of an emergency radio communications system in beautiful downtown La Honda. Other visiting dignitaries were members of La Honda Fire, San Mateo County Sheriff's Office and offficials from the ARRL (American Radio Relay League).

In this exercise of quickly setting up emergency communications, La Honda's radio club made contact with more than 400 other stations around the country, including one 6,000 miles away in Slavko Celarc, Slovenia!  Using a combination of (La) Honda generators and solar power, these hams operated the radios for 24 straight hours to make as many contacts as possible. Using only three gallons of gasoline all weekend, they averaged about 17 contacts per hour, or one every 3-1/2 minutes.

This was not only a fun social event, but a critical part of living in more isolated areas like the coastside.  In the event of a large, or possibly even small, emergency, our ability to communicate with the outside world can help save lives and provide support to those in need. If you didn't stop by the event this year, plan on visiting the next full weekend in June 2013.  In the meantime, find out how easy it is to become a ham radio operator, and join the local club to participate in various events all year long.  It's a great activity for all ages, and provides a vital service to the community. www.sc4arc.org