THE LONG BEACH RECREATION DOG PARK ASSN.
NEWS FOR 2000
Last updated Dec. 3, 2000
Dec. 2 and 3, 2000
Weekend cleanup: Once again volunteers pitched in to help rake up the park Saturday. About 20 people brought their rakes, shovels and wheelbarrows to the park to clean out the new little-dog park area. The crew was simply bushed as the gravel-and-mulch mixture proved to be heavier than the usual pine needs found throughout the rest of the park. Everyone agreed that the east end would prove to be the most difficult -- and it was! Some piles were left to be put in the trash cans by refreshed laborers on Sunday.
Dec. 1, 2000
Hockey fund-raiser: Supporters of the Dog Park journeyed to Long Beach Arena to cheer on the local Ice Dogs in their come-from-behind 4-2 victory over the Bakersfield Condors. The association was one of Friday evening's honored guests on the scoreboard JumboTron and was mentioned in public-address announcements. A band of 32 canine devotees purchased tickets for the event -- and thereby raised $384 for the association!
Oct. 21, 2000
Cleanup party: About 30 members and volunteers arrived -- some as early as 6:30 a.m.! -- to help prepare the western and central portions of the park for the following week's additional groundcover. Kudos to those rakers, left, who braved the layers and layers of old mulch near the golf course fence to fill the additional trash barrels provided by the city. Many agree that these raking parties are going faster than ever with the additional help.
Sept. 9, 2000
Raking party: About 25 members rolled out of bed early on a Saturday morning to pitch in with our biggest raking party yet--half the area of the park! In less than three hours the crew filled eight huge trash cans with pine needles, twigs, bark and trash to make way for next week's delivery of more decomposed granite for groundcover. Volunteers brought yard and garden rakes, pitchforks, wheelbarrows, a shovel--and the essential homemade coffeecake, donuts and beverages.
Aug. 5, 2000
Fund-raiser: More than $1,100 was raised to help buy more ground cover for the park thanks to the efforts of association members and others who pitched in to help at a yard sale at Jim Knutson's home, right. Buyers began streaming up the driveway at 7 a.m. while the last of the donations were being sorted out. Among the big-ticket items were an Amish bed, an oak filing cabinet and a dinghy. The amount raised should just about pay for two more truckloads of the crushed granite.
Aug. 3, 2000
New officers: The Board of Directors had selected the following officers for the 2000-01 year:
- President: Jim Knutson
- Vice president: Joan Shamitz
- Secretary: Jim Walters
- Treasurer: Miriam Yarden
July 22, 2000
New board members: Gerry Facon, left, Jim Knutson and Jim Walters were voted onto the association's nine-member Board of Directors for three-year terms in the organization's first election.
- Gerry Facon is a systems engineer and project manager at Lockheed, but is soon to retire and will move on to a new position at Boeing
in Seal Beach. Gerry has lived in Long Beach since 1985, where he and his wife, Sandy, are active in several local charities.- Jim Knutson works for the Allen Tire Co. in Long Beach.
- Jim Walters is a part-time editor at the Los Angeles Times and was the managing editor of the Internet home page company GeoCities before it was bought by Yahoo! in 1999. Jim has been a Long Beach resident since 1982 and a daily morning visitor to the park for about three years.
Spring-Summer 2000
Ground cover: In an effort to battle dust during the hot summer and mud during the wet winter, the association has begun covering the west end of the park in crushed granite. Because it is a heavy substance, it doesn't kick up as easily as dust when dogs go romping through it. And when wet, it drains easily and packs solidly. And, as an extra bonus, cleaning up after our pets has become less of a game of hide-and-seek. Volunteer parties of rakers, right, have helped clear the ground of twigs and pine needles--in rain or shine--before the granite is dumped. Those who have donated money toward the new ground cover include:
- Lillian and Tom Estrada
- Gerry Facon
- Shirlee Hitchcock
- Steve Kraemer
- Basil Minnick
- Fred Nicas
- Peggy Puskas
- Marcia Rohan
- Michael Saavedra
- Jim Walters
This is an ongoing project. To date the park is about one-third covered. Please contact us if you'd like to contribute or participate in the next raking party. Here are some of the volunteers who helped with one of the recent raking parties:
- Carolyn (Roddy and Sarah)
- Dean (Darby)
- George (Toby)
- Mary (Spot)
- Willy (Alice)
- Yori (Miki)
Spring, 2000
Yard sale: About a dozen members cleaned out their garages and raised some about $600 for the association. Those who helped mark prices, make change and move the merchandise included:
- Lillian Estrada
- Betty Glover
- Peggy Griswald
- Stella Haley
- Jim Knutson
- Sherrie Leach
- Brenda Lotts
- Buzz Minnick
- Gayle Nowat
- Marcia Rohan
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