The La Honda Voice

“Who ya’ gonna call? La Honda Radio Hams!”

Public Demonstration of Emergency Communications June 23-24^th – La Honda Gardens

by Sherry Niswander, KG6LGO

Despite the high level of communications available in our area, during emergencies this important tool is often the first lost.  Neither the internet, cell phones nor land lines can withstand heavy winter storms, tornados or major earthquakes.  One consistent service has never failed – Amateur Radio.  The La Honda’s ham radio club, SC4ARC, will join with thousands of other Amateur Radio operators showing their emergency capabilities this weekend.

Local ham radio operators have provided the critical communications during unexpected emergencies, such as last year’s tsunami from Japan and the heavy winter storms of past years.  On the weekend of June 23^rd and 24^th the public will have the chance to meet and talk with  ham radio operators at the La Honda Gardens and see for themselves how the systems work as hams all across the USA and Canada will be holding public demonstrations of emergency communication’s abilities.

Field Day is an annual event that is the climax of Amateur Radio Week sponsored by the ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio.  Using only emergency power supplies, ham operators will construct emergency stations and spend 24 hours (noon to noon) contacting each other to practice sending messages in many forms under crisis scenarios, without the use of phones, internet or any other infrastructure that can be compromised in a crisis.

In the La Honda area, the SC4ARC ham radio club www.sc4arc.org will be demonstrating Amateur Radio at the La Honda Gardens on Highway 84 (behind Cuesta Café) on June 23^rd 12:00PM to June 24^th 12:00PM.  They invite the public to come and see ham radio’s new capabilities and learn how to get their own FCC radio license before the next disaster strikes.  A GOTA (Get On The Air) station will also be set up, which allows unlicensed operators  to transmit.   Come out and try your hand and see what ham radio can do for you and your community.

 

 

The Hams are coming! The Hams are coming!

Where: La Honda Gardens      When: June 25^th/26^th     What: Field Day

Who’s Invited?  You Are! 

You’re invited to join La Honda hams (the SC4 Amateur Radio Club) June 25^th and 26^th at La Honda Gardens for Field Day 2011.  Each year, ham radio operators around the country set up stations in fields, parks and malls to practice emergency communications.  Beginning at noon Saturday and continuing for 24 hours, licensed hams AND members of the community will practice their skills in emergency communications by attempting to contact radio operators around the world.

 

Featured again this year is the Get-On-The-Air (GOTA) station, an opportunity for everyone from the community to try out their skills in radio communication. No license is needed, just stop by the booth and check it out.  Also at the GOTA station will be demonstrations of various ham radio equipment and hobbies including computer communications, low power rigs, “fox hunting” and more.

 

“We formed this ham radio club five years ago to teach emergency communication skills to the people who live in the rugged rural mountains here – where the first responders to disasters will likely be them” says Emergency Coordinator Jack Eddy.  “We started out with two experienced operators and have since grown to nearly thirty.  Field Day gives us a fun way to test our basic radio skills and experiment with new technologies”.

Stop by La Honda Gardens June 25^th/26^th – see what it’s all about and meet your local hams.  You’ll probably recognize some as your neighbors!  We’ll also have a booth at the La Honda Fair in June. This fun and easy means of communication not only provides information during storms and road closures, it could someday save a life when other means of communication are not available.  To find out more about Field Day or the SC4 Amateur Radio Club, visit our website http://www.sc4arc.org/ or contact Jack Eddy, WA6YJR at jackheddy@yahoo.com (650) 922-6458.

 

Coastal Cleanup Day - Saturday September 25th, 9am-12noon

by Neil Panton
 This year it's "BYO!"  - Bring Your Own buckets, gloves and water bottles.

In an effort to cut down on the amount of trash generated on Cleanup Day, this year we're encouraging volunteers to bring their own buckets, gloves, water bottles etc.  There will be plenty of supplies for folks to use if they don't have their own, but anything you can bring that is reusable will reduce the amount of trash utilized in our cleanup effort.

San Gregorio Environmental Resource Center (SGERC) will be site captains once again at San Gregorio State Beach.  Parking is free for all volunteers.  Come clean up the beach in the morning, then stay and enjoy it in the afternoon! There are many other cleanup locations too, if you prefer.  Go to flowstobay.org for more information about the event and other cleanup sites.

Your school can get involved too.  Friday, September 24th is a perfect opportunity for schools to involve their students in a cleanup event of their own.  Once again, check flowstobay.org for info on this.

Planning for the event is easy.  Either download a waiver form ahead of time or sign in at the site Saturday morning.  Dress in layers since the weather is always unpredictable.  Wear sunscreen and sturdy boots, bring a pair of gloves and and anything else you can think of that will make for a fun and safe day.  We'll have a brief safety talk before heading out so we can protect ourselves as well as the environment while cleaning up.  Volunteers are provided with a data card to keep track of items collected.  This allows the organizers to track the trends in trash (just made that up - pretty catchy!) so that resources can be directed at areas that need the most help.

This event gains in popularity each year.  I believe the reason is the immediate reward and satisfaction volunteers get from seeing a beautiful area restored to a litter free environment.  It becomes almost addictive to pick up trash when we see it - the results are immediately apparent!  San Gregorio State Beach offers many opportunities for cleanup since it stretches long distances in either direction.  The large parking area and entrance also need cleaning up, and for the intrepid, the parking area across the highway is usually pretty well littered.

Please join us on the 25th.  We'll have refreshments and small prizes for the most unusual items found, most trash collected, and most innovative BYO item.  Hope to see you there! 

 

Sully’s To Surf fun run popularity gains

(excerpt from HMB Review, by Mark Foyer, http://www.hmbreview.com/articles/2010/08/04/sports/doc4c59af396618b271173424.txt)
“Karl Bane won the running portion of Saturday’s Sully’s To Surf Race, but he had to take second fiddle to the event itself. The second annual event, starting at Sullivan’s Restaurant & Pub in La Honda and going west for eight miles on La Honda Road before ending at the San Gregorio General Store, was a celebration of La Honda. “There used to be a similar run, from Apple Jack’s to the beach,” said Jane Sullivan, co-owner of the restaurant with her husband, Tim… “We wanted to bring the race back, with an emphasis on fun,” Sullivan said… Money raised from the event goes to charity.” 
 2010 La Honda Princess, Tenaya Bennett

 

All Night Bash Leaves Hams High-Fiving

by Neil Panton

A 24-hour marathon communications contest left local hams slapping each other on the back celebrating their successful Field Day event. This annual event has ham radio operators setting up stations in fields all over the country testing their long distance communication capabilities. "The 1556 points we earned far outstrips our prior efforts. We just keep getting better and better!" said a tired but happy club secretary Mary Panton.

Held in La Honda Gardens June 25th and 26th, ham radio operators of the SC4 Amateur Radio Club demonstrated their ability to communicate with the outside world in the event of a disaster or other emergency.  Using entirely portable equipment and completely off the power grid, these amateur operators needed only a few hours to set up and communicate with stations as far away as Hawaii, Canada and the east coast.

A big part of the exercise is quickly setting up a radio station in any location with your own power and equipment.  For this event, the hams used two small Honda generators, three canopy tents, three high frequency radios (HF) and three antennas; two dipoles strung horizontally through the trees, one vertical on the ground supported by guy wires.  There was enough food, shelter and equipment to keep the group going for quite a few days. In a real emergency, the 40 or so members of the group are prepared to assist the community with more generators, radios and antennas.

Twenty-two licensed hams participated in the event making 261 contacts by voice (referred to as Phone contacts) and an additional 71 contacts using Morse code (CW).  Twenty-two members of the public visited the group over the course of 24 hours of operation, several of whom took advantage of the opportunity to "Get On The Air" themselves.  This special "GOTA" station was set up to allow unlicensed operators to get on the air with the supervision of a licensed ham.  Anyone, young or old could have the experience of talking to another ham in another part of the country or world.  Hopefully they discovered how fun and easy it is and will be inclined to get their own radio license.

If you are interested in joining the group or finding out more about it, visit the website http://www.sc4arc.org/ or contact Jack Eddy at (650) 922-6458. We can be proud of the dedicated amateurs who devote their time, experience and resources to emergency preparation.  Join in, or at least get to know a ham near you.  You never know when you may need assistance in an emergency. Ham radio could provide you with help faster than you think!

 

Tour de Peninsula coming to a road near you!

This is just a reminder that the Metric Century portion of the Tour de Peninsula bicycle ride will be traveling on portions of Old La Honda Road (west) and Highway 84 (east of La Honda) on Sunday, August 1, 2010.

Thanks to the South Skyline Association for mentioning this in their recently delivered newsletter!

The Tour de Peninsula is a family bicycle ride, raising funds for the San Mateo County Parks Foundation and Bicycle Sunday. The ride features routes from the easy one-to-three mile Kids/Family route to the 63 mile Metric Century that passes through parts of Greater La Honda (Outer La Honda? Suburban La Honda? The Woodside-side of La Honda? Whatever you want to call it).

Whether you are interested in registering for the ride or staying off the roads during the ride, you can get more information and maps at the Tour de Peninsula website.

Also see Bicycle Sunday and San Mateo County Parks Foundation

Mindego Hill Opening Space

by Randy Vail

On Friday, June 25th at 1:30 pm the Use and Management Committee of the Mid-peninsula Regional Open Space District held a special meeting to decide on the development of trails in the Mindego Hill Open Space. 

Originally purchased by POST from long time land owners, the True family, Mindego Hill was subsequently purchased by MROSD with the agreement that they would provide public access to the top of the hill by the summer of 2011.

The committee decided to proceed with the first of two options of a planned trail route to the top of the hill from the gate that connects it to the adjacent Russian Ridge Open Space.  Several studies of native wildlife, including the protected San Francisco Garter Snake, are underway before further development will take place.  However, it seems likely that the Option 2 trail, which includes an existing road on the property, will eventually be opened, and there is the possibility that the two trails will be connected to create a loop around the hill. 

Initially, the trail will be open only to hikers, but in a year or so, pending the outcomes of the various studies, the trail may opened to equestrian users and possibly mountain bikers.  The process of creating a trail involves the approval of various agencies and various permits and necessitates many considerations of steepness, views of the hill, lines of sight on the trails, views from the trail, trail routes through various vegetation areas and wildlife habitats, and the potentially conflicting interests of public users. 

At the meeting, the possibility of eventually connecting the Mindego trails with the Cuesta La Honda Guild trails was raised.  Some of the committee members seemed amenable to the prospect of potentially connecting the Mindego Open Space with the La Honda Open Space.  However, discussion, decision, approval, and action are lengthy and involved processes that will take years.  In the meantime, initial public access to this beautiful and majestic open space - in our own backyard - is now only one year away.

The following is a brief history of Mindego Hill from http://www.gomindego.org/history.php

"People have lived on Mindego Hill since 500 A.D., beginning with the Ramaytush Costanoans, a group of Native American hunter-gatherers. They thrived in the area until the early 1800s, when immigrants arrived to settle the West.

In 1859, Juan Mendico, a Basque farmer and the first non-native settler, established a homestead and cattle ranch here. Historian Bud Foss, in his 1941 book History of La Honda, describes the California Grizzly Bear that once frequented Mindego Hill, and how in 1885 they got away with seven of Juan’s calves. Interestingly, in the Basque language, Juan Mendico’s name means “John of the Mountain”—a prophetic coincidence, considering the property was eventually named for him as “Mindego” Hill.

In 1954, Admiral Arnold True, a World War II veteran and professor of meteorology, and his wife, Corinne, purchased Mindego Hill, where they continued the ranching traditions of the land. In 1977, their son Chris took over management of the ranch and later began raising Brahman and Angus cattle as well as a cross of the two breeds for rodeo bull-riding. Admiral True passed away in 1979, and Mrs. True passed away in late 2006. The couple always treasured the natural beauty of their land and spoke often of preserving it. In honor of their parents’ wishes, the True family finalized an agreement with POST to protect the land permanently. Thanks to our mutual goal of land conservation, we all have a unique opportunity to save Mindego Hill for generations to come."

 

 

Ham it Up June 26th & 27th!

Let's face it, ham radio operators provide a vital service in storms, power outages, road closures, earthquakes and other emergencies.  Amateur operators have proven their worth in disasters like Katrina, Haiti and even the recent telephone outage in San Jose.  Especially important in rural and isolated areas like ours, having an amateur radio license, or even listening in on local ham bands can be a life saver.

June 26th and 27th, 2010, our local ham radio club, SC4ARC, will be hosting an annual event at La Honda Gardens. Called Field Day, it is a national event designed to give radio operators experience in communicating in a real disaster.  Literally set up in a field, off the grid and very quickly, we'll attempt to contact as many other hams as possible around the nation in a 24 hour period.  We also have a lot of fun!

GET ON THE AIR!!

An important part of Field Day is the opportunity for members of the community to "get on the air" and try their hand at operating an amateur radio.  You do not need a license to participate and all ages are welcome. Our "GOTA" station this year will also offer demos of digital modes using computers, "fox hunting", low power radios and other hobbies associated with ham radio.

Visit our booth at the Fair and we'll be happy to provide more information. You can also visit our website http://www.sc4arc.org/

 

The Amgen Tour of La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District

by Randy Vail

Of all the obscure country roads in California, Butano Cutoff, connecting Pescadero Creek Road to Cloverdale Road, is certainly one.  This year it was part of the route of one the biggest races in the country, the Amgen Tour of California, a world class bike race featuring elite riders from across the globe, among them seven-time Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong.  Butano Cutoff Road was already famous however, due to the fact it is also the home of Pescadero High & Middle Schools.  This convergence was manifested on Tuesday, May 18th when the entire student population turned out to cheer on the riders as they made their way from San Francisco to Santa Cruz, going by our school along the scenic Butano Cutoff Road. 

Equipped with cowbells, signs, and exuberant teen enthusiasm, the students got to experience the rolling bicycle parade that is the Tour of California.  About the time a helicopter was sighted to the east over Pescadero Creek road, an impressive regiment of CHP motorcycles followed by CHP cars, all with sirens blaring, zoomed past the school.  Then came the entourage of cars, a lead group of cyclists, and yet more cars - featuring thousands of dollars worth of bike racks.  Finally, the main cluster of dozens of cyclists, including Lance and his Radio Shack team, whizzed by, again followed by the armada of support vehicles.  It was a truly exciting event for students and staff, and we hope it becomes an annual event.  To find out more about the Tour of California and Pescadero High & Middle Schools, check out: http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/ and http://www.lhpusd.net/

The lead bikers as they come through La Honda

The Fair is coming, the Fair is coming!

by Craig Eddy

Once again it's Fair time in La Honda.  The crown jewel of La Honda annual events, the La Honda Country Fair and Music Festival, is coming up June 12th and 13th in the La Honda Gardens. This event has been going on in some form or another for close to 40 years. It is still a local minded event but has evolved and grown over the years. Paula Dennis the festival coordinator says "To me, the La Honda Fair is pretty much an institution. It has grown into an event that not only local people come to, but people from the greater Bay Area have discovered it. As an organizer, I love getting all the different people in the community involved."

The original event was known as La Honda Days.  Local Charlie Natske was one of the earliest involved in putting on the event.  "I was first involved with The La Honda Fair in the late 70's, playing in the Mindigo String Band with Jerry Logan, Michelle LeCompte & Dave Hennigh. Since we had a PA, I ended up doing sound. In those days the fair was at the church across  Hwy 84 from the post office. Seems like we did that for a few years."

In the early 90's Paula Dennis and Nancy Hewitt got together with Pam McReynolds, and Gwen O'Neil and formed the La Honda Merchant Association, got the La Honda Elemetary School Foundation interested and with both organizations sponsoring the festival they were able to get the owner of the La Honda Gardens, Charlie Catania, to allow the festival to move to its present location.

Early on there was a parade with Harry Moore and the Landing Party playing from the back of a flatbed truck.  However due to regulations concerning the state highway, the parade had to be nixed.  The focus way back then was music but once the Merchant Association got involved it made perfect sense to have booths selling art, clothing, jewelry, etc.  Profits from the fair have been donated to the La Honda Elementary School art and music programs.

The list of bands that have donated their time is quite long and it must be noted that none of the bands have ever been paid to play.  They always are happy to play for the cause.  One year the Glide Memorial Choir played as the owner of the cafe in town was a member. The quality of the music has always been exceptional due in part to the people that have done the sound over the years.  Twisting those knobs were Charlie Natzke, John Redbeard, Will Mitchell, Perry Thorwaldson, "Bo" Putnam, and Reid Dennis.  Booking the bands has been done by Nancy Hewitt, Nigel Webb, Craig Eddy and currently Jeff Ring. There are several bands playing the fair for the first time this year.

This year's event kicks off at Sullivan's Cafe with a Friday night outdoor dance party.  Sully's will be hosting a Saturday patio party also after the festival shuts down for the evening. Check www.sullivanslahonda.com for Friday night's band and Saturday will be local favorites Lighthouse. The Fair music schedule and other information can be found at www.la-honda-fair.com

Also this year the new La Honda market will be celebrating their grand opening the weekend of the fair. Be sure to check out the excellent deli.

The La Honda Fair is a great chance to enjoy the beauty of the La Honda Gardens, socialize with friends and neighbors, support the local school, artists, and musicians.  Plan to be there for the weekend and you are bound to have a great time.  See ya there!!