Happy Holidays & some FOUP News

From the Dec 16th, 2012 email sent out, by Margaret Lidkea, to Friends of Uplands Park members:

Welcome to our newest Steering Committee member, Ben Clinton-Baker. Ben is a member of the Municipal Heritage Committee and offers great expertise to our committee.

Ben will also be on the panel of our upcoming event:

Heritage of Uplands Park
7 pm April 16, 2013
Windsor Park Pavilion

Thanks to Helen Johnson and Ralph Archibald, who have retired as members of the Steering Committee, for their greatly appreciated contributions. We wish them well as they continue to be involved in the community and as members of FOUP.

We welcome new members who may be interested in being on our Steering Committee.

Thanks to the financial donation of the Rotary Club of Oak Bay, two bicycle racks are now installed at two entrances to Uplands Park.

The Kiosk Project members are having a Visionary Session on Thursday December 27 at 12:30 pm to 2 pm. If you would like to participate please phone Margaret at 250-595-8084.

The federal Habitat Stewardship Fund has finally given money to Oak Bay Parks for Restoration projects in Uplands Park. This Fund is only available because we have so many volunteers working in Uplands Park removing invasive plants. THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HAVE PARTICIPATED!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!
SEE YOU IN 2013

Margaret Lidkea and Kathleen Matthews
Co-Chairs of the Friends of Uplands Park

Stewardship of Anderson Hill’s Garry Oak Ecosystem featured in Oak Bay News

The front page article in the Dec 19th, 2012 issue of the Oak Bay News, features the work being done by the Monterey Middle School students, to remove invasive species on Anderson Hill. The article is titled Ecokeepers care for the land and can be read at http://www.oakbaynews.com/news/183987081.html. Congratualtions to MArgaret, who has been active in working with the students. The Friends if Uplands PArk has provided tools for the students and Margaret is their expert mentor and champions the work of these students. The caption under the front page photo reads:

“Monterey middle school students Quinton Wilson, left, Wyatt Geisbrecht and Jonathan Noone work mulch on Anderson Hill Park as they conduct an experiment working with the municipality’s parks department to control invasive plants. A group of approximately 21 students cleared gorse and broom in a select spot and then covered it with layers of newspaper and mulch in a technique called lasagna. The group will find out in the spring if their experiment works by keeping the unwanted plants from the sun and having the camas cover the area instead.”

Also:

“The project will continue in the spring with the help of volunteers Christina Johnson-Dean and Margaret Lidkea, as well as the district of Oak Bay, which provided the leaf mulch.”

Margaret, on behalf of the Friends of Uplands Park, has been so active in collaborating with the group of community members looking after Anderson Hill’s Garry Oak Meadows. Congratulations Margaret, and THANK YOU.