QUARTERLY MEETING

Tuesday, November 15, 2016 5:00PM | Conference Call

Chair: Chris Pattillo
Recorder: Janet Gracyk
Participants: Betsy Flack, Cate Bainton, Cathy Garrett, Chris Pattillo, Janet Gracyk

1. Sebastopol Spring meeting April 22 - Betsy and Chris

   The Spring meeting is shaping up to be a full day event in Sonoma County. Several possible locations to tour are being explored. Betsy has also offered to host a picnic for attendees at her Sebastopol property as part of the day. Membership may also have suggestions -- if so, let us know. Betsy will be the chief coordinator for the day and Janet will assist

2. Report of To-Kalon Vineyard HALS project - Chris

   Chris has had some follow up with the owner of To-Kalon Vineyard (Napa). Recall that there was talk of HALS members taking on documentation of the property and being remunerated. That is not the case now; the owners of the winery will do the documentation themselves. They would appreciate guidance from any HALS members, though. The winery is said to be one of the oldest in the valley, and Thomas Church did a small project on the property. You may like to read one history of the old vineyard here: To-Kalon Vineyard. Since our meeting HALS Chapter member Pam-Anela Messenger has confirmed that Church designed the landscape associated with the residence. We also received and expression of interest from Dennis Hill, photographer.

3. 2016 competition results
   • HALS Challenge
     See pages 3 and 4 of the HALS flyer for the winners. Forty-three entries were received from around the country, with Rhode Island and Mississippi being the first HALS documentations for their states. Four entries were received from California, none won this time. The idea for the competition originated with our HALS group (thanks, Chris!) and it is rewarding to see its ongoing success.
   • Holland Prize
     It was also noted that HALS member Cate Bainton received an honorable mention for her entry to for the Holland Prize. Go to the Holland prize winners page to see her fine drawing of Mission San Juan Bautista, Plaza; as well as those of the other winners. Click on the thumbnails to see the images. Congrats, Cate!

4. 2017 HALS Challenge theme - All

   The new HALS challenge is "Documenting City or Town Park(s)." See pages 1 and 2 of the HALS flyer for details. Please print and post the flyer at your office.

5. Report on the CGLHS Annual Meeting - Janet

   This year's meeting was in Chico. The meeting began on a Friday evening (Sept. 23rd) with a private tour of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Saturday morning started with a presentation on the history of the town, including the Maidu and the Bidwells, followed by a lecture on the cultural landscape of the town. Afterwards we toured the campus, led by a retired biology professor, Wes Dempsey, who has deep knowledge of the place, and of trees. The campus is an arboretum and included trees planted by the Bidwells in the 1870s. After a picnic at Bidwell Park, we were shuttled to a private garden, then a walk in the adjacent Chico Creek Ecological Preserve. Dinner was at a delightful restaurant that uses sustainable practices (Leon Bistro). Sunday we toured the Chico Seed Orchard, led again by Mr. Dempsey. Of interest to HALS members is the 112-year history of the place, originally created to develop fruit and nut trees for commerce. They introduced the Pistachio in 1917, and the Kiwi in 1934. Now the focus is on trees for reforestation, but many old fruit and nut trees still stand. There are public trails in the Seed Orchard. The next meeting will be in Palm Springs; the date has not been announced.

6. Report on the annual HALS meeting from the New Orleans ASLA Conference - Anyone who attended

   No members on the conference call attended the 2016 ASLA conference and minutes from the meeting have not been released yet, so no report.

7. 2016 HALS Heroes Student submissions status report - Chris

   All five of the 2016 HALS Heroes Student submissions from UC Berkeley need additional work to bring them to completion. PGA employees are working on them as time allows, and Fred Rachman also took on the completion of one of the projects. Any members willing to lend a hand, please contact Chris Pattillo.

8. 2017 HALS Heroes - Chris

   Chris does not have a connection to UC this year for promoting the HALS Heroes project in 2017. It is not certain how the program will be promoted in the coming year. ASLA has provided the funds for the prizes and prefers a focus on emerging professionals, although that's not a strict requirement. Colleges and universities could be approached in the coming year if someone is willing to do the outreach.

9. Thanks - Janet

   A shout-out was given to Cate for maintaining the excellent HALSca.org website, and recognition was given for Chris Pattillo whose efforts keep the group going. They are both pillars of the organization (and ever-hopeful that members of the group will contribute to the success of the organization).

10. 2017 meeting dates
    • Feb 21st Call-in meeting
    • Apr 22nd Day-long event
    • Jul 18th Summer afternoon meeting, possibly at the Lake Chalet in Oakland
    • Oct 17th Call-in meeting

    This is a slightly different arrangement from previous years. We are using the longer days for in-person meeting and events, and call-in meetings for winter. It was suggested that the 2018 event take place at John Muir National Historic Site in Martinez. Members are invited to suggest venues and events that we can add to our calendar and the HALSncc website.