 
JULY 1997 NEWSLETTER
 The President's Corner
Forest Festival
National Trails Day on the Pacific Crest Trail
Santa Ana River Patrol
Where are Those Uniforms?
Fish Festival - 1997
Trail Work Training
Found…
Burro Roundup
Volunteer Notes
Adopt-A-Highway
South Fork Trail Work
What's A Paid Volunteer?
August Events Calendar
Forest Festival - August 23
We are organizing this year's Forest Festival and would like involvement from any SGVA volunteers. Would you like to host an interpretive table about birds of the forest? Would you like to give a talk on the geology of the San Bernardino Mountains? Would you like to host a children's program? Would you like to give a talk on your area of expertise? Please contact Michael Gordon at (562) 439-3737 or Bill and Tamara Matula at (909)795-2604. Your help and cooperation is necessary to make this year's Forest Festival a great one. Don't hesitate!
Michael Gordon
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National Trails Day on the Pacific Crest Trail
I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone that came out to work on the Pacific Crest Trail for National Trails Day Saturday June 7th.. We had a great group of folks show up to work on the Mission Springs section of the trail. Those who offered to be my slaves for the day were: (Hikers) Bill Matula, Ken Wolff, John Dombrowski, Mike Murphy, Harry Stenzhorn, Bill Hedekin, Malena Heinzen, Jeff Haggard and Ted Schofield. (Equestrians) Vat Silva, Nancy Laggard, Ross Stark, Del Hawkins and Earl Rider. We did miss Tamara Matula who was at home ill.
The hiker contingent worked on removing slough, widening and reinforcing a switchback with lots of rock (ah! the slaves were a good workin' bunch!), and there was some fancy rake work done by Malena Heinzen. Cleaning up the mess that the equestrians left behind from clearing trees off the trail left us totally exhausted! JUST JOKING! Actually, the equestrians did a great job, took out 6 trees that day. I was sure glad that I didn't have to carry the saw as they packed it on the horses and then even provided the sawyer!
To finish off a great day Earl Rider, with Danny Silva's assistance, winched a tree down that had rolled and fallen into another tree over a trail that lots of camp kids hike and equestrians ride. The situation was too dangerous to cut the tree down, but with Earl's trusty truck and winch the cable pulled it down creating a spectacular crash!!
Anyway, thanks to all of you for such a fine day and thanks to Cindy and Joe McGregor for taking the tree down off the PCT near Coon Creek.
Audrey Scranton
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Santa Ana River Patrol
At Barton Flats about dozen volunteers met on June 21st to hear Ben Matibag, forest biologist and Rick Fisher, fish and game warden, describe the duties for this patrol. Presenting a presence to the public and general clean-up are the main concerns. If interested, let John Flippin or Steve Stump know you'd like to patrol this pretty area.
Steve Stump
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Where Are Those Uniforms?
Are some of you wondering why it is talking so long to get all of your uniform parts this Summer? Well, I'm afraid that to cut the cost of the uniform parts we give you, this year we are having all volunteer uniforms made by villagers in Fiji and shipped by boat to California. Then there was a terrible typhoon. And then….oh well, enough excuses. Actually, Lion Apparel in Ohio is apparently cutting their inventory costs this year. As a result, they keep back ordering and delaying shipments of our orders. So, thanks for being patient. Keep checking with me on Friday afternoons or Saturday mornings at Mill Creek to see if we have received your order .
Also, we thank volunteers Bob and Kim Windver for taking all of our orders, getting them summarized for faxing to Lion Apparel, and sorting them out for us after they arrive at Mill Creek. It's a good thing we ordered a few extra uniform parts. I keep having to give Kim larger and larger shirts. No, it's not because of too much chocolate and ice cream. It's because of too much chocolate, ice cream, and pickles all together. CONGRATULATIONS to Kim and Bob on the expected arrival of their first baby later this summer!
John Flippin
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The President's Corner…..
Summer is cooking along as usual: too fast, too hot. We had a great pot-luck over the 4th of July. Lots of good food, a great campfire, and good company. The pot-luck concluded the end of our first day of work at Horse Meadows. Clean up and restoration has officially begun and hopefully by the end of summer it should be close to being done. We're still looking for pictures depicting the history of Horse Meadows.If anyone should happen to have anything pertaining to the area contact Val Silva.
Preparations are coming along well for the Forest Festival. This promises to be one of the best yet. Mike and Heather Gordon and Bill and Tamara Matula are sharing the responsibilities for getting everything together. Sheila McMahon compiled a notebook that details what must be done and the deadlines from her experience last year when she coordinated the Festival. The outline has helped this year's coordinators and they are coming up with new programs and participants that sound really interesting.
I'm sure you've all noticed, as I have, the confusion caused by the Adventure Pass and the wilderness permits. Seems some people are having trouble discerning the difference. Sunday we asked for a permit from a fellow going to Dollar Lake. He assured us he paid the $5 and hung it in the window like he was supposed to. We asked for a description of his car and his name. We found his car in the parking lot and sure enough his permit for Dollar Lake was displayed in his window next to his Adventure Pass. I guess we need to be a little more understanding and explain the difference.
Cindy and Joe McGregor have been whipping trails in the Heart Bar area into shape. They found the elusive tree on the PCT that had been reported to be in a dangerous location. The dangerous location was described by many people to be in numerous areas, some had it by Bean Flats, some by Onyx Summit, and other points in between. The common description was that it was by an old logging road. Many looked but Joe and Cindy found it - it was not near a logging road, it was in a dangerous location. THANKS Joe and Cindy.
I went with Earl Rider and Del Hawkins to clear trees on the Lost Creek Trail July 6th. As you may have heard there were numerous trees down on that trail making it difficult for hikers and equestrians. Those two did an excellent job of moving trees off the trail. Two of the trees were 36" plus and laying length wise on the trail. When we saw those two I thought we probably would have to admit defeat, but not them, with ropes, winches and ingenuity they managed to clear the trail. They are thinking about notching their saddles every time they move a tree - they counted 12 so far this summer. Between these two and the McGregors look out downed trees!
See you on the trails....
Valerie Silva/SGVA President
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Training for Trail Work
Twelve volunteers attended the June 21st session covering care and use of tools, safety, and how to recognize problems on the trail. The afternoon was spent on Forsee Creek Trail using their new knowledge by bringing a portion of the trail tread up to specs. Thanks to: Bill McBlaine, John Dombrowski, Bob Oppermann, Bonnie and John A. Flippin, Larry Stiles, Bill Ostic, Marlena Heinzen, Chuck Griswold, Bob Kreider, Howard Simpkinson, and Don Rosene.
Future trail work dates are:
August 16 and 30th
September 13 and 27th
Call Karen at (909)338-0940 to find out where to meet. Plan for all day, bring lunch, water, gloves, and wear long pants and boots.
You volunteers are doing a great job indicating on your green cards problems you see while hiking: downed trees, needed brushing, etc. But more importantly, please include trail tread problems as you find them.
P.S: Ann Barz of "Trail Mix" fame will be working part-time (on her days off) to help remove trees on the trails.
Karen McKinley
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Fish Festival
Save the date: September 27th for the annual Fish Festival to be held at Jenks Lake. This day is for 100-150 inner city kids to visit the forest and hopefully to catch fish! Please let Roger know if you are interested in helping. (909) 797-8812
Roger Gossett
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Found…
New Forest Service baseball cap, prescription glasses, and watch. Don't know if they were lost by the same person, but all were attached together at the South Fork trailhead. Please call John Flippin, (909)864-4546, to claim one or all.
John Flippin
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Burro Roundup
There are a lot of wild burros in the mountains around Big Bear Lake. Over the years, many of the burros have moved into the communities around the lake where they have taken advantage of garbage, gardens, and improper handouts. Unfortunately many burros are killed or seriously injured every year by the increasing number of vehicles in the area. Therefore, the Forest Service has been authorized to roundup the burros in the communities and put them up for adoption.
A major roundup will occur in July or August. Volunteers on foot or horseback are needed to help. If you are interested in helping save these burros from further traffic accidents, please call John Flippin at (909)864-4546.
John Flippin
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Volunteer Notes
Natalie Gammey encourages us all to sharpen up and review our first aid skills, especially those concerning head injuries. Seems a young lady was playing football and a tree tackled her...she had a severe bump on the head and needed medical assistance which she received at Barton Flats. Natalie reminds us that head injuries can be very serious.
Jan Lorenzen reports on a "Phantom Ranger". For several years now I have been a volunteer ranger and as I came upon people and asked for their permits they almost always said "Mickey already looked at it." The permit was always signed with the name "Mickey." I had never seen Mickey, nor had I hiked with another ranger that had seen him, but...we knew he was out there somewhere, as a matter of fact, he is everywhere!!!!!
A few weekends ago, we were at Fish Creek Saddle with Teddie Boston...and Mickey came hiking into our camp.Mickey does exist he is real!!!!!
John Flippin reports that Heather and Michael Gordon spotted a wild fire on the north side of Shields Peak a few weeks ago. They very quickly and skillfully made a radio report to San Bernardino Dispatch who called in helicopter support. After several drops of water scooped out of Jenks Lake the situation was under control. However, a hardworking Forest Service crew had to hike in for many hours to completely put out all hot spots. I'd suspect Heather and Michael were just trying to get some artificial rain to cool them off on that hot weekend, but I know they were across a canyon from the fire. Great job Heather and Michael!
PS: If any of you know of an unusual, interesting, or humorous happening in the forest, and you need something to do during some of those long evenings on the mountain, write up a story for us. You can send it to our editors, Jan and Pat at P.O. Box 487, Calimesa, CA 92320 or give it to me or one of our volunteer coordinators. Thanks.
John Flippin
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Adopt-A-Highway
The June 21st clean-up was supported by Chuck and Margaret Phelps and Joe and Cindy McGregor. Thanks to this small team SGVA got its section of highway cleaned. We could use MORE help on the next date: August 9th, 9:30 a.m. at Heart Bar Fire Station.
Cindy McGregor
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South Fork Trail Work
A crew of young men from the Arizona Boys' Ranch worked on the South Fork Trail June 16th. They worked on widening the trail tread to approximately 4 to 4 1/2 feet in that first stretch above the parking lot that is really narrow. They also obliterated the short cut down into the drainage where folks are walking on the downed cedar. I hope to have them do similar work on Lost Creek later on. The crews will be shared with other functions such as Fire Prevention for project work. We will have crews from the Arizona Boys' Ranch staying at Heart Bar and working for us off and on for the next 6 months. So if you see them out there, stop and talk with them and thank them for their help. Louie Nuno, the Engine Captain at City Creek, has made all of the arrangements for getting these crews out here for our Forest...THANKS LOUIE!
Audrey Scranton
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What's A Paid Volunteer?
That's someone who is foolish or brave enough (but mostly very dedicated to serving) to volunteer to come in before all the other volunteers, stay longer than the other volunteers, be responsible for the safety of the other volunteers, schedule and make volunteer assignments, keep track of where volunteers are at all times, make sure that all volunteers going out on patrol come back from patrol, account for all radios and battery packs used by the volunteers, keep records of volunteer activities and hours, and be available to help on-duty volunteers with any problems that may arise. For all of this and more we have found it only fair to pay these individuals a small per diem stipend for at least periodically taking on these management level responsibilities.
Having these "paid volunteers" enables us to reduce the General Volunteer Coordinator hours (the position I presently hold) and thereby decrease SGVA expenses. It also means we can have several people familiar with managing the volunteers performing the essential services of our organization. A strong organization does not have most of the knowledge of management in one person. So we are very happy that the following individuals have agreed to help us manage the volunteer program.
 Val Silva - Responsible for equestrian volunteer operations at all times. Val has done this for several years but has recently taken on additional scheduling and record keeping duties.
Roger Gossett - Responsible for Wilderness and Santa Ana River patrols on selected weekends. Roger started doing some of this a couple years ago. He's doing more this summer including a lot of additional paper work.
Lance Shattuck - An experienced veteran. Lance recently agreed to take care of the Wilderness and Santa Ana River patrols on weekends when we need him. I'll be calling on him soon.
Larry Stiles - Another veteran who puts in above average hours. Larry has also agreed to take care of the Wilderness and Santa Ana River patrols when we need him.
Like all of our volunteers, these are great people. I can't thank them enough for shouldering the very heavy responsibility of worrying about your safety and supporting your efforts as you serve the public and protect our forest. You can help them a lot by first thinking and being safe in all you do out there. Then simply give them all the support and encouragement you can while you work together. There are two things which make the SGVA a great organization providing a very valuable service to an appreciative public - those two things are the dedication and generosity of you volunteers. Only because I happen to be around a little more, I hear much more often than you the many thanks from the public and Forest Service professionals for all you do. I proudly pass those sincere thanks, along with my own, on to all of you.
John Flippin
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Calendar of Events for August
9th Adopt-A-Hiway 9:30 a.m. Heart Bar Fire Station
16th Discovery Center Opening, Big Bear
23rd Forest Festival, All Day Barton Flats, Bar-B-Q 6:00 p.m.
31st Board Meeting 2:00 p.m., Angelus Oaks Rest.
SPECIAL EVENT... The First Annual Alice Krueper Walk in the Wilderness. October 4th is now in the planning stages. More information to come. SAVE THE DATE.
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4-VICTOR is published by the San Gorgonio Volunteer Association, 34701 Mill Creek Road, Mentone, CA 92359. A non-profit organization in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service, San Bernardino National Forest. The goals of the partnership are to educate the public to preserve and conserve our natural resources.
4-Victor newsletter edited by Pat Peters and Jan Gudgell
Send questions or comments by email  to Michael Gordon, San Gorgonio Volunteer Association, 34701 Mill Creek Road, Mentone, CA 92359, USA. Telephone (909) 382-2882.
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