QUARTERLY MEETING

Tuesday, April 25, 2017 2:00PM | Conference Call

Chair: Chris Pattillo
Present: Betsy Flack, Cate Bainton, Cathy Garrett, Chris Pattillo, Fred Rachman, Fredrica Drotos, Melissa Mourkas

HALS Northern California Chapter Members,

The leadership of our group has agreed to not schedule any regular meetings at this time. For the past several years attendance at meetings has been enthusiastic but sparse. One year ago we decided to change the format to two meetings per year plus two phone meetings. The hope was that with fewer meetings more members would attend. It didn't work.

Our group has existed since September of 2004 and we've accomplished a lot. In addition to hosting quarterly meetings at a number of cultural landscape sites we initiated the HALS Challenge. The Challenge has succeeded in encouraging people throughout the country to undertake HALS documentation. This month ASLA national reported that 178 sets of HALS documents have been added to the collection through the HALS Challenge program. Our efforts have helped to introduce HALS to municipalities and public agencies that needed to be aware of the program.

We created the HALS Heroes program and have awarded seven $1000 stipends for completed measured drawings. Currently we have funding for five additional sites.

Currently, there are over 100 sites in California that have some level of HALS documentation -- nearly all of this is a result of our efforts -- either directly or indirectly.

Thanks to Cate Bainton, and all who contributed to creating our list of potential HALS sites, we have a fabulous website that serves as a resource for Californians and as a model for other states.

So, what's next?

If we don't have meetings are we still a group? Yes, absolutely. For many of you who have been unable to attend meetings we've been an online resource for 12 years. We have two powerful online tools that enable us to continue as a group. Our website www.halsca.org will continue to provide information about HALS in general and California's cultural landscapes. Persons who visit the website can find a list of sites in California that have been documented, they can learn about upcoming events, find links to learn about HALS, read our meeting minutes, and find contact information.

Anyone with an interest in cultural landscapes can join our e-group and use it to send relevant messages to the membership. On the Contact Us page, the following list tells visitors how they can use the e-group:

1. Use the site to respond to queries about historic landscapes or to share such information.
2. Send the address to others who share an interest in historic landscapes.
3. Announce events about historic landscapes.
4. Do a book or periodical review that features historic landscapes.
5. Schedule meetings of the HALS Northern California Chapter.

Chris Pattillo, Cathy Garrett, Betsy Flack
Founders, HALS Northern California Chapter