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SEPTEMBER 1997 NEWSLETTER Our own Dorothy Fotheringham will be leaving the Southland
to move far north to Alaska to be with her daughter. Dorothy began her career in the Forest Service and when she
retired she joined the SGVA along with her husband Lee. She has served as the Barton Flats
Visitor Center Manager for eleven years. Both she and Lee are largely responsible for the
refurbishing of Barton Flats and making it the lovely place it is today. Dorothy was a founding member of the SGVA Board and has
served as a Director for many years. She has received many awards over the years and one
of the most outstanding was received this May: the U.S. Forest Service National Volunteer
Award from the Chief of the Forest. Dorothy served at the Mill Creek Station for many years so
it was a natural step to the SGVA. She will be missed by us all... and we thank her for
her countless hours of service and for always knowing the answer to our questions. Considering the busy lives we lead, it was a small wonder we were able to organize the Forest Festival. Some minor things (perhaps some more than minor: that "hidden" Forest Festival banner; the Smokey suit left behind at Mill Creek in a locked storage; the lack of Porta-Potties - ow!) were overlooked, but next year's coordinator (you know who you are!) will surely not make the same mistakes. Despite our designation as "Coordinators", it was all of you fine Volunteers who deserve the credit for making this Forest Festival a memorable event - not only for the hundreds of visitors who came to share a day under the pines with us, but for yourselves as well. The camaraderie and spirit of this year's Festival scattered our fears of failure into the cool mountain breeze. We cannot say enough to show our THANKS for your effort (you'll get the same feeling when you coordinate next year). If you can reach your arm around to your back, go ahead and pat it in recognition of a job well done, for this Festival would not have succeeded without your support and hard work. This year's Festival raised nearly $600 and the total number of volunteer hours contributed to the Festival (planning and the day itself) was estimated at 660. It is also estimated that we saw between 400 and 500 visitors this beautiful day. Inevitably, some individual contributions may be overlooked here (for which we apologize), but we wish to thank the following individuals for their special work (in no particular order) at the Festival: Lynn Anderson, Linda Barkley, Diane Davis, Malena Heinzein, and Scott Johnston for staffing the terribly popular wildlife print plaster casts table; Roger Gossett for staffing two tables (Pacific Crest Trail Association & the SGVA Volunteer table); Cindy Harris for sharing her knowledge of local American Indians with everyone; Gitty Denver and Jan Gudgell for taking complete control of the raffle table and coercing visitors into buying tickets; John Jr. & Bonnie Flippin for handling the Backcountry Store (while bringing in a fair share of the Festival's receipts); Kim Easter, Pilar Ellis, and Sheila McMahon for their artistic expertise in creating various signs around the grounds; Marie Kupecz for educating everyone about herbs; Natalie Gammey for sharing her knowledge of gems and minerals with the visitors; John Goude for hosting his annual wild edibles table and then taking visitors for a meal and walk wrapped in one; Jeff Haggard for lending his spatula expertise on BBQ duty (where were you stung by a bee?); Phebe Baty for her unique and charming basket-weaving talents; Joe and Cindy McGregor for once again bringing out their equines to share with visitors, and Cindy for her special raffle donation of a hand-made afghan requiring 65 hours of labor to create; Margaret Phelps for donning Smokey's skin for the kids and running down to Mill Creek to pick up the Smokey suit and the public address system (both which didn't find their way up to Barton Flats on their own); Linda Roddick for all her work in securing donations for the raffle and driving around to pick them up (you winners should thank her personally); John Dombrowski, Ted Schofield, and Bill Hedekin for helping everyone get a taste of the hard work necessary to cut a downed tree in the Wilderness (and then brand it-do we do that up there?); Ed and Lane Lutz for managing and beautifying the Barton Flats VC with all that pretty rock; and finally, all other volunteers for their various contributions to a successful event: George Denney, John Flippin, Dorothy Fotheringham, Tom Gordon, Mickey Kacherwski, Craig Konrad, Terry Licht, Bill McBlaine, Peggy Manning, Sandy Messner, Bob Opermann, Pat Peters, Chuck Phelps, Phil Rosenkrantz, Don Rosene, Karen Saffle, Lance Shattuck, Andrew Skolnick, Harry Stenzhorn, Larry Stiles, Michael Swoboda, and John Urbino. Apologies are in order for missing any individuals whose contributions were overlooked by us - the frenetic coordinators. Let us not forget that the Festival was a success also due to the contributions of individuals outside the SGVA. We sincerely thank the civilian and organizational participants in this year's Festival: Outdoor retailer Adventure 16 for manning a table and generously giving away prizes (the ten essentials) every half-hour for those savvy enough to guess the weight of the backpack (reciprocate their support of the SGVA by dropping by an A16 store); the Benevolent Animal Rescue Committee (BARC) for bringing up some canines and felines for adoption and sharing with us the importance of spaying and neutering your companions (Marita Rutledge of BARC is the owner of the Oaks restaurant in Angelus Oaks - drop by and dine, and drop a contribution in the BARC can next to the register); the Los Angeles Orienteering Club for setting up a basic orienteering course (attend a meet sometime); and finally, San Gorgonio Search & Rescue (they're volunteers and need love, too!). We also sincerely thank the generous donors of the raffle items; Fariad Saud Ali of Wildland Images, Snow Summit, Trader Joe's, Redlands Cyclery, Applebees, American Wilderness Experience, Marie Callenders, Jazz & Java, and the Warehouse. The 1997 Forest Festival was indeed a success, but in no way could it have been so without the support of you, the Volunteers, and the support of the organizations listed above who came out for a full day and volunteered their time. Next year's Festival will be even bigger and better (calling all potential Coordinators!). THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! Michael & Heather Gordon Alfredo Zarate and I would like to sincerely thank
all of you that answered the call for assistance on the Vivian Creek Trail Project on
Saturday September. 13. As most of you know, the Forest Falls area was hit hard by a flash
flood on Thursday the 4th. For over a week the residents dug out their homes and their
roads while the public was not allowed up into the area. Part of the Forest Service's next
responsibility was to be sure that the trails could be open to the public. This would have
to include re-creating a trail from the parking area to the trail head for Vivian. For
those of you who have not been up there, you are in for a surprise when you go. From the
parking lot, you no longer drop down into the creek bottom. Instead, one must climb up the
rocks to get to the stream. The terrain was totally modified by the rush of water. On Wednesday the 10th a few people inquired if there was
anything they could do to help reopen the trail. That afternoon and evening there were
many phone calls between Alfredo, Karen McKinley and myself, including calls that
were interrupting them at home in the evening. The results of the calls was a plan to try
to establish a crew for Saturday morning that might be able to accomplish our goal.
We were saying might because it was a very lofty expectation. On Thursday evening, phone calls were made to many people, being careful not to steal anyone who was already scheduled for patrol while trying to contact those with prior trail maintenance experience and training. The response was fantastic. Even those who could not make it were sincerely enthusiastic about the project. We ere encouraged and overwhelmed by all of this. These were people who have already put in countless hours with the organization, were not scheduled to work that weekend but were willing and able to put aside planned activities to come spend a day of backbreaking, manual labor. All of this for the good of the public and the San Gorgonio Wilderness. What a great membership we have! When Saturday rolled around there were 13 volunteers ready to go. They moved rocks, filled in washed away areas, moved more rocks, worked around big rocks, and moved even more rocks until a trail had been re-created that would be a safe passage for our visiting hikers and backpackers. All in one day, the challenge had been attained. To the following list of persons we want to express our heartfelt thanks and gratitude. Thanks to your fine work the trail was able to be opened the next day: From SGVA there was Linda Barkley. Michael Gordon, Heather Gordon, Tom Gordon, Malena Heinzen, Bob Kreider, Terry Licht, Kari Licht, Bill Matula, Bob Opperman, Don Rosene, and Harry Stenzhorn. From Valley of the Falls Search and Rescue was Jim Evans. We would also like to thank the San Bernardino Sun and its staff for covering our efforts and through their work, not only on this article but others in the past, showing the community that volunteerism is alive and well in the inland empire. Our hats are off to you all! Alfredo Zarate I've just gotten back from vacation in the Sierras, and I'm still relaxed from my trip. The scenery was beautiful. However, due to the "100 year flood" the trails in some remote areas needed a little work. Maybe we could all go to Yosemite next year and stay the summer working on trails, they could use our help. Our trails here are looking great, thanks to many volunteer efforts. The walk in memory of Alice Krueper is October 4, and we're looking forward to a great turnout. You'll read about it elsewhere in this newsletter but I just wanted to mention we are going to have refreshments and a memorial at Horse Meadows. The memorial will include a book in which you can write your thoughts for or about Alice. If you want to write something ahead of time you may leave it with the book. Hopefully we will repeat this walk/ride each year so her memory and achievements will live on. Congratulations are due John Flippin, he finished his college classes and became a teacher this year. He started this September and is teaching elementary school 5th grade. He assures me he is still sane; I'm waiting to see how he's doing at Christmas Break. Good going John! Those of you anxious to serve on the SGVA Board are
reminded we nominate new Board members in the fall. Get in touch with me or another Board
member to find out when and ask any questions you may have. We could use some new faces
(I'd like mine to be less wrinkled) and ideas. We have limited our meetings in the winter
months and have them on the weekends in the summer months to make it easier for those of
us that work or live some distance away to attend. Please think about it and at least come
to a meeting, which is held the last Tuesday of each month during the winter at the
Supervisors Office in San Bernardino. Happy Trails! Valerie Silva A group of SGVA volunteers have begun the renovation of the buildings at Horse Meadows to create a visitor stop-off point on the way up the South Fork Trail. The concept will be to depict the history and use of the meadows from the past. If you can help with pictures or any memorabilia concerning the meadow that you will share please call Sheila McMahon at (909) 683-8850. Sheila McMahon The October issue of 4 Victor will be the last for this season. You still have an opportunity, and invitation, to send in your comments, articles, stories, etc., etc. to be published. Help us make this last issue a full one. Send to Editor, 4 Victor, P.O. Box 487, Calimesa CA
92320. Please meet an October 20th deadline date. Jan & Pat Gudgell
 to Michael
Gordon, San Gorgonio Volunteer Association, 34701 Mill Creek Road, Mentone, CA
92359, USA. Telephone (909) 382-2882. Home | Volunteer | Contribute | Wilderness | Flora &Fauna | Trails | Trail Conditions | Weather | Trip Planner | Wilderness Regulations | Minimum Impact Ethics | Store | Gallery | Links | Wisdom | Newsletter | Special Report! | Awards | Summit Register | What the visitors say | History of the SGVA | Developed Campgrounds | What's New |
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