East Fresno Kiwanis One Day 2009
River Center & Hidden Home Trail Improved
(written by Howard Jackson)
(click here for photo album pictures)
(click here for Kiwanis International Story)
(click here for the ABC Channel 30 News Report)
Kiwanis One Day 2009 set another record for East Fresno Kiwanis Family participation with 112 participants from 9 family member clubs plus 4 Buchanan Key Club members on April 18th. The participant totals included:
Clubs participating Participants Advisors & Guests
East Fresno Kiwanis club 32
Bullard Key Club 10
Edison Key club 5
Hoover Key Club 11
McLane Key Club 9
Buchanan Key Club 5
Leavenworth K-Kids 12
Yosemite Builders 8
Charis Aktion Club 15
CSUF Circle K 5
Total 112
Much thanks to Patty Lee with help from Robert Srabian, Tony Ducas, and June Pearson in keeping track of our volunteers and making sure they had their proper paperwork in place required by the River Center.
Just like years past, the backbone of the Total K Day efforts were carried by our fantastic Service Leadership Program members with 90 participants coming from our incredible SLP members, their advisors, and guests.
The weather and setting could not have been more perfect. The results of the First Five Grant funded work on the Children’s Hidden Homes Trail were very evident. The trail had been completely graded to ADA specifications around the pond. Much of the decomposed granite had been put in place to form the trail base. Compared to last year the trail was starting to come together and no weed whacking was required this year.
The day’s projects included scraping and priming the old carriage House which was done primarily by Key Club and Circle K members with more than a little help from one of the Aktion Club members. Another all day project carried out by Key Club, Circle K, K-Kids, Builders Club, and Aktion Club members was cleaning out the old barn. In addition, many members of the Aktion Club worked all day trimming the oleanders in front of the beautifully restored Ranch House.
Claudia Soria Delgado, Ramon Portales and Herb Schwartz with more than a little Key Club help took on a large project of digging out the water valve system to prepare for boring under the driveway to bring water to the project site. They were aided by a very talented Key Club member who had worked for an uncle installing sprinkler systems. We want the name of that young man. I know we could use his consultation in the next few weeks.
Chuck Shaheen took on the training of crews of volunteers in the art of installing the PVC waterline around the pond. Chuck was much in demand all day as he oversaw much of the work on the trail from restoring the old Vulcan irrigation line, digging out the valve system, and trenching the irrigation line.
Meanwhile, Tom Thomas brought out four trenchers that had been rented the day before. This proved to be the biggest headache of the day. The trenchers rented proved to be no match of the rough rocky soil of the project site. Ron Twinn, Howard Cook, Kevin Fukuda, Tom Powell, and others made a very brave attempt to make the machines work. By lunch time, Tom returned two of the machines and rented a more heavy duty model that, with considerable effort, worked better. After lunch, Howard C., Ron, Kevin, Tom, Robert Kolstad, Michael Berdinella, and several others dug a line about half way around the pond in about three hours. Later in the afternoon, Howard Cook and Ron Twinn also began installing the PVC pipe and risers for the drip line. Much more work on this project still needs to be done over the next couple of weeks.
Richard Laxton, Patricia Kuckenbaker, Kevin Fukuda, Chuck Hall, and Vern Dillon worked on restoring the old drip irrigation line that had been cut when the trail was graded. It is also a task that will need tending next week when the water is turned on for the Vulcan restoration plantings.
Every year we learn of new talents of our members. We discovered this year that Kevin Fukuda is a water witch. I am not kidding. Several of us actually saw him working with wires locating underground waterlines. Very impressive!
I believe that the work output of the East Fresno Kiwanis Family members is directly proportional to the good food in their bellies provided by the EFK cooking crew. This year the cooking crew was guided by the talented Chef de jour Leroi Vannucchi with lots of help from Ed Stone, Staff Maurer, Greg Mason, Tony Ducas, and others. A major reason for all the great work that took place I honestly believe is due in great part to the delicious tri-tip sandwiches and beans that kept us all going.
Part of the morning activities included a press conference attended by the Fresno Bee, Channels 30, 47, and 21. This wonderful coverage was coordinated on the EFK side by Howard Cook working with the Parkway Trust and First Five of Fresno County staff. The coverage for a Saturday was wonderfully impressive.
Work Since Our Kiwanis One Day Project
On Monday (the 20th), Herb Schwartz supervised the underground boring of a waterline under the River Center entrance way. This line will be hooked up to the River Center irrigation system to bring water to the project site. Thanks much to Herb for overseeing and coordinating this effort.
Starting on Friday and concluding on Saturday (24th & 25th), Tom Thomas and a few of his friends from HD Matthews, Inc. worked 16 hours transporting and installing 50,000 pounds of concrete pipe to form the base of the long anticipated “Mouse Hole”. According to Tom, it was very complicated and tough work. Someday we will have Tom tell us the story behind this effort. A huge debt of thanks as well as congratulations is due Tom and his friends.
Projects Still to Be Completed
Some of the projects still to be completed include:
1. Restoring the old Vulcan Irrigation lines
2. Connecting the irrigation system to the River Center watering system
3. Finishing the Hidden Homes Trail irrigation line
4. Installing some erosion control around the trail
5. Planting 65 native trees
6. Decorating the “Mouse Hole”
7. Building a reception site and recognition signage
I know I have probably left off names of folks that contributed significantly and need to be recognized and contributed to this very successful effort. I apologize for any unintentional slight. Our hats go off to all who made this such a wonderful project.
