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Hi Friends,
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Thank You for the Holiday Gifts!
Thank you to all of you who donated to Friends this holiday season! We’d like to send out a warm “welcome!” to our newest members, and say thanks again to those of you who are joining us again this year to help us protect and preserve our beautiful State Parks and Beaches!
We hope you enjoyed reading our first Annual Parks Update as much as we enjoyed putting it together. Compiling the information and images for the update was an inspiring process. It’s great to see everyone’s hard work supporting our parks is paying off. We couldn’t do it without YOU!
It’s easy, fun and rewarding to be a part of the Friends team and the best part is that your support makes a HUGE difference.
To become a Friends members, purchase a membership as a gift or tribute, or make an additional donation, please click here!
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Volunteers Bring Historic Santa Cruz Dairy Ranch Alive! Sign-up Now for Training that Begins Saturday, February 1 at 10:00 AM
Once a year, Wilder Ranch State Park pulls together a series of in-depth classes for new docent volunteers. Docents give heart and soul to the “Life on the Ranch” and other activities that make Wilder Ranch State Park such a fun, interesting, hands-on place to visit.
Docents help with school group programs, present living history demonstrations, put on events like the annual Harvest Festival, help care for farm animals, lead hikes and tours of the historic complex and host the visitor center.
One of the most rewarding activities is the “Ranch Kids Day" program, where school-children experience local history as they visit a host of hands-on stations led by docents. Students come from local schools to try their hand at many early-day tasks including forging iron in the blacksmith shop, examining the workings of the water-powered Pelton Wheel, grooming the horses, churning butter from fresh cream, baking muffins and cookies and preparing vegetable soup, shucking corn to feed to the chickens, and washing laundry using bar soap, a grater, tubs, washboards, wringers and an old-fashioned iron. The day is an unforgettable lesson in local history for the kids.
Sign-ups take place now through January; training begins Saturday, February 1, at 10:00am in the park’s historic Meder Home.
Call (831) 426-0505 to request an information packet and become a docent at one of Santa Cruz’s most treasured state parks!
Natural Bridges Migration Festival Saturday, February 8 from 11am to 4pm Garden and Wayside Exhibits Ribbon Cutting at 11am!
 Fly, swim, waddle, walk, bike or drive as you migrate to Natural Bridges State Beach for the 28th Annual Natural Bridges Migration Festival on Saturday, February 8, from 11am to 4pm. The event celebrates the migration of whales, butterflies, birds and the many creatures that travel. Over 20 organizations will share the science and wonder of the migratory journeys of our region’s diverse wildlife, there will be habitat hikes, active games and crafts for children, face painting, butterfly garden tips, along with live music by the Mystic Troubadours, Marty O’Reilly, and the nature-loving 5M's Band.
The event is part of a year-long  celebration of California State Park’s Sesquicentennial; marking 150 years of California State Parks from 1864 to 2014. California’s state parks are welcoming way-stations, providing a safe path and essential habitat for animals in migration. You can make new discoveries about our region’s many migratory animals and more and wish a fond farewell to monarch butterflies leaving Natural Bridges at this year’s Migration Festival. This event is FREE and fun for the whole family!
 The event begins at 11am with a ribbon cutting sponsored by Friends to mark the completion of new water-wise landscaping, milkweed demonstration garden and a series of wayside exhibits that orient visitors along the monarch butterfly boardwalk, Moore Creek Trail and Tidepool areas. Native, drought-resistant plants replaced the grass lawn in front of the visitor center…
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ MORE…
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