Old Marengo Park at Woodbury and Marengo will be dedicated as an Altadena Heritage Area thanks to the efforts of
the Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy being honored by Altadena Heritage. It’s just one worthy effort local groups are making to preserve open space in the foothills. The following is from the  Old Marengo Park release:

Located on the border of Pasadena and Altadena, the park is planted with native trees and plants to demonstrate how low-water gardening can succeed. In-ground catchment basins allow heavy rains to seep down quickly to
recharge groundwater, rather than flow into storm drains and into the ocean. As more landscapers utilize these features, drinking water is conserved, water quality at the beaches improves and heavy rains soak in and do more good.

Funding was provided by Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Neighborhood UU Church, Foothill Municipal Water District, and donations from many supporters.

The park was made possible by the work of many people, including area residents. Altadena Heritage recognizes not only the hard work AFC, but the work and donated services of many supporting partners like Mountain View Cemetery, Pasadena Water and Power, J. Harold Mitchell Co. of Altadena, Rain Bird Corporation, Mark Goldschmidt
Design, and PB Construction. Special thanks to L.A. County Supervisor Michael D Antonovich, Altadena Watershed Committee, and Altadena Heritage, along with former AFC board member Rick Carron, AFC board member Michelle Markman, and the tireless Watershed Committee chair Michele Zack who was instrumental in the success of
the park.

“It’s a small park, but it makes a big impact on the area,” said John Howell, AFC’s executive director. “We hope people will enjoy seeing how native plants can be used wonderfully in our gardens, and get ideas about capturing and saving water.”

For a more detailed history of the park, you can read AFC’s newsletter from 2008 here; http://www.arroyosfoothills.org/newsletters/afcnl2008_08.pdf

Since working on the park, AFC has also completed a major successful acquisition of 41 acres in Rubio Canyon, Altadena, and is working to preserve more open space in Pasadena, La Canada, La Crescenta, Altadena, and the neighboring foothills and arroyos.

To learn more or to donate, visit www.arroyosfoothills.org. You can also contact AFC executive director John Howell at 626-796-3004, or johnhowell@arroyosfoothills.org.

About the Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy

Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. Founded in 2000
as Altadena Foothills Conservancy, its project area now encompasses the foothills and
communities of Pasadena, La Canada-Flintridge, Glendale and La Crescenta, along with
Altadena and adjacent areas.

AFC works to preserve natural open spaces, protecting scenic landscapes, native plants
and wildlife, streams and water, and trails and historic sites. It collaborates with property
owners, governments, land trusts, private donors and other stakeholders to acquire,
restore, protect and maintain these natural areas.

Tim Brick led the festivities which included awards to:

• The Hahamongna Bloggers for Best Advocacy (about 25 of us blogged on the same day to protest development plans in the Hahamongna Watershed Park) below JPL
• Foothill Municipal Water District for Greening the Arroyo–Agency
• Urban Semillas and Miguel Luna for Greening the Arroyo–Organization
• Arroyo Green Team, Audobon Center for Volunteers
• Nolan Pack and PCC Student Government for Citizen Activist
• Michael Cacciotti, mayor Pro-Tempore, City of South Pasadena (great remarks!)
• Highland Park resident Virginia Neely for a Special Award for her historical record-keeping and assistance to many
• Nicole Possert for Lifetime Achievement

 See my earlier post for the list of Hahamongna bloggers, and add to that Steve Scauzillo
http://templecitydailyphoto.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the great party! So nice to be recognized! And hats off to Petrea Burchard, Karin Bugge, and Barbara Ellis who hatched the united blogging idea.

While we all got certificates, Petrea’s in possession of the festive froggy award that glows in the dark! That should keep her hoppin. And thanks to new friend Robert for taking a slug of these photos.

Here are some pix. They’re also on flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ohdebutaunt/

http://altadenahiker.blogspot.com/2010/01/i-give-counterintuitive.html

The proposed new name is Arroyo Food Co-op. The next fete is September 5. Big community meeting coming up October 10.  Show your support and check out details at www.altadenawantsacoop.com. Wish I had more time to write a long story about this. More when I can.

August 29 is the date for the next Altadena Heritage event. Topic: Irrigation. Many say water availability is in danger and we need to do what we can to conserve. Find out what you can do.

Kazi, a first violist with the L.A. Opera, gave teaching tours of the property to dozens of eager students drooling over the packed avocado trees. I was sorry to learn she offs the poor squirrel who gets in her way, but we all have our own karma to deal with said my unusually understanding pal, who has been known to keep an orphaned baby squirrel warm in her bra until she could get it to a rescue center.  Farming is a sometimes brutal business.

I’d say about 100 Altadenans enjoyed the cooler early evening atmosphere, grateful the event was moved back from 4 p.m. when all would have wilted.

Four residents were chosen to receive the Golden Poppy Award, this year given to those with sustainable gardens. Chair Mark Goldschmidt explained the new criteria, which also resulted in an $11,000 grant from Edison to promote sustainability. Mark also presented the awards. I was unable to get all the names, but I’m attaching a number of photos. One couple, Jennifer and Ham, live just down the street from me. They’re the ones with the farm in their front yard that I’ve been meaning to visit. So now we’ve met. I’ll be getting down to see their yard up close very soon.

Patrick Reagan was out touting the benefits of having a co-op in Altadena. And in gardening spirit, bags of iris rhizomes were out for the sharing. Richard Davies promised a major event in late October at the Mosoleum, so stay tuned. Hoping it doesn’t involve the dead, being so near Halloween.

Got the story about this bizarre log that has been lodged on this power or telephone line for years. It’s in front of a house that used to be an eyesore before getting a facelift. There was a huge tree next to these lines, and this piece ended up on the wire instead of the tree. New owner Lauren has been trying to get the utility to remove it, but they refuse. They say it’s not hurting anything so they won’t remove it. Well it hurts curb appeal, but I guess it’s nothing compared to those ugly wires and cables and telephone pole sitting right in the middle of his front yard. So that’s what intrigues me…how in the hell did a pole get put in the middle of someone’s yard? It couldn’t have been put between the houses? It’s a matter of a few feet, and would have improved the property values. Any ideas? Just another case of bad development?