January 2024

Dear Volunteers,

Happy New Year! Thank you to all of our wonderful volunteer community members who joined our two large public programs this past December, Wreath-making and our first Gifts at the Garden marketplace. Whether you joined as exhibitors, visitors, or volunteers - you all helped make it a success! During Gifts at the Garden, we hosted 70+ exhibitors, 20+ program providers, and saw more than 2,600 patrons. 

As we welcome the new year, I'm excited to share our winter updates and special upcoming volunteer opportunities such as the MISTER G event, Garden Guides Training, piloting Green Team Group Days, and Lunar New Year!

Annually, city Gardeners have an opportunity to bid for new experiences across the Recreation and Parks Department so we wanted to share upcoming transitions to horticulture staffing you may anticipate at the Gardens. With this process Owen O’Connor, Shannon Sweeney, Toby Kanzawa, and Richard Wong will be moving on to new opportunities. We wish them all the best in their new placements in other parks which take effect starting Saturday, January 20. In addition, Eric Imperiale has retired and we congratulate him on a wonderful career at the Conservatory.

Also, starting on Saturday, January 20, we will be welcoming six Gardeners through the reassignment process. At the Japanese Tea Garden, Jim Kumiega will join the team. At the Botanical Garden we are delighted to welcome: Ahmed Baradah, Gabrielle Gaudet, Jeremiah Kelly, Jack Walsh, and Milo Linaman. 

While this will take place outside of the Gardens, commuters to the Gardens may notice changes as improvements are made to Golden Gate Park's entrance at 9th Avenue and Lincoln Way. Removal of three trees on the east corner will occur the second week of January, with staging and construction beginning afterward. The following impacts will occur to traffic, transit, and pedestrians: cars, buses, shuttles, and service vehicle traffic will be maintained through 9th Ave into the park at all times; pedestrian routing plans will be developed so access is maintained in and out of the park at all times; Westbound traffic on Lincoln will be reduced by one lane during roadway work. Work will occur Monday - Friday from 7:00 am - 5:00 pm, not on weekends. More information can be found here.

In addition, we have much more Garden news that we recently shared in the Leaflet and Family Fun newsletters such as our annual maintenance closure of the Conservatory of Flowers which takes place from January 10 - 24, 2024.

Garden Guides Spring Training Session
Five Tuesdays from February 20 - March 19, 9:30 am - 12:30 pm
In-person

Would you like to join our vibrant community of Garden Guides who help welcome and engage with children at the Gardens? This is your chance to join our wonderful community of volunteers focused on working with some of our youngest visitors. The initial round of applications will receive a response by February 1 so we recommend that you complete your application by January 31 for early review.  

Register here >>

MISTER G
Saturday, January 20
Celebration Garden, Botanical Garden

Help us at this family friendly concert in the Celebration Garden with Latin GRAMMY Award-winning artist, author, and educator, MISTER G (Ben Gundersheimer). 

Register here >> 

Botanical Garden Green Team Group Days 
Tuesdays and Wednesdays, January 23 - 31
Botanical Garden

Join us for our inaugural Green Team Group sessions where both long-time Green Team volunteers and drop-in volunteers can join to help with a group project. Each session with focus on a different section of the Botanical Garden and will give you an opportunity to meet fellow volunteers across the program and our horticulturists!

Register here >> 

Lunar New Year
Sunday, February 11, 10:30 am - 2:30 pm
County Fair Building Auditorium

Join our Education Program team as they help engage visitors at the Lunar New Year event with family friendly activities inspired by activities from the Children's Garden. 

Register here >> 

Monthly Botanical Garden Horticultural Maintenance 
Saturday, February 24, 9:30 am - 12:00 pm
Meet at the Bookstore, Botanical Garden

This is a unique drop-in volunteer assignment where you can also register friends and family to join just for the day! Help our Recreation and Parks Department team as they maintain our collection at the Botanical Garden. 

Register here >> 

Eli Feldman, Nursery Specialist, shares an update with our volunteer community

Much has been happening at the Nursery! Construction on the Headhouse, Greenhouse, and surrounding perimeter fence, including various repairs, is complete. The Horticulture staff will be moving in shortly, as we just passed final inspection. During the past few months, in this new role as Nursery Specialist, my primary task has been outfitting the Nursery - everything from the minutia of pencils to the key equipment we need to effectively steam pasteurize pots and potting media. In addition, we have redesigned the future shade structure, optimizing both the amount of growing space, and our ability to potentially expand the footprint in the future. This phase of the project is currently working its way through the process to be bid on by various construction companies. 

As we get closer to re-opening the Nursery, of course we look forward to welcoming back volunteers! While the Nursery complex itself, and associated sanitary protocols, will look different from the past, the vital contributions of volunteers will remain unchanged. If you volunteered in the Nursery in the past, or are new and interested in joining the team, please keep an eye on future Volunteer Newsletters for news and updates about upcoming opportunities to learn more about volunteering at the Nursery. We plan to offer a tour of the Nursery for volunteers this year and this will be an opportunity to become more familiar with the new site, meet one another, and check out some of the sanitary measures that will be used. 

Finally, as we continue building out infrastructure and systems, there is still a pressing need for propagation. Thankfully, our Recreation and Park Department colleague, Gabe Ortega, Chief Nursery Specialist for Golden Gate Park, has allowed us to temporarily use his Nursery. One recent example of the important - and fun - work we will get to collaborate on in the future – Brugmansia volcanicola (Angel Trumpet). This species is extinct in the wild in the higher elevations of Colombia and Ecuador. The Botanical Garden has only one wild-collected individual. Some recent tree removal work put it at risk, so we collected cuttings before the tree work began to ensure that we did not lose this unique specimen. Ten have rooted nicely and are already in one-gallon pots. These will eventually be planted in other, more suitable locations than the original plant, and provide much more material for propagation, and sharing in the future. Looking forward to working with this wonderful team – see you out in the Garden! 

Developing the Gardens' Interpretive Master Plan
Wednesday, February 7, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Zoom event

The Director of Programs and Partnerships, Jamie Chan, and Engagement Manager, Sarah Sawtelle, will lead a presentation about the Gardens' recent Institute of Museum and Library Services grant to develop our Interpretive Master Plan. Join Jamie and Sarah to see what we have learned and hear our plans for the future. 

Register here >>

Book Group: Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Thursday, February 8, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Helen Crocker Russell Library, Botanical Garden

All Gardens volunteers are invited to our next Book Group event. The next book the group will discuss is Gathering Moss: a Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

Register here >> 

Meet-up: Nature Journaling
Monday, February 12, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Library Terrace, Botanical Garden

All volunteers are invited to an informal meet-up group focused on nature journaling. Bring a notebook and supplies and join fellow volunteers for this group inspired by Wild Wonder Foundation. To help you prepare, download their Quick Start Guide to Natural Journaling zine. 

Register here >> 

Save the Date: Annual Volunteer and Member Briefing
Tuesday, February 27, 5:30 - 6:30 pm
Zoom event

Save the date for this annual event where the Gardens of Golden Gate Park leadership team will share a reflection on 2023 and plans for 2024. More information on how to register for this Zoom event will be shared at a future date. 

This January marks the 130th anniversary of the opening of the Midwinter Fair of 1894. You can read more about the history of the Japanese Tea Garden by visiting Section Supervisor Steven Pitsenbarger's page, joining a City Guides walking tour, or listening to KQED's 2022 Bay Curious episode The Complicated Origins of SF's Beloved Japanese Tea Garden. 

Next time you’re at the Conservatory, check out the new interpretative signage that was installed in late December. The Lowland Tropics gallery has updated interpretative signage with many thanks for content guidance and direction led by Engagement Manager Sarah Sawtelle and generous funding by former Conservatory volunteer Judy Fayollat.

We are delighted to welcome two new team members to the Gardens this month: Wendy Bear will be joining the Gardens as our new Director of Finance. Wendy is an experienced non-profit professional, focused for the past ten years in managing finance, accounting, and operations in diverse non-profits with multiple programs, integrated revenue streams, and diverse reporting requirements. Her previous positions include Chief Financial and Administrative Officer at the Children’s Council of San Francisco and Associate Director at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco. In addition, the After School team is happy to welcome Dreas Ratteray to the team. Dreas comes to us with a plethora of outdoor experience, and we can't wait to see how he helps our program grow. We hope you will give Wendy and Dreas a warm welcome when you meet them at the Gardens. 

San Francisco State University College Corps interns were recently featured in San Francisco Chronicle’s article “College Corps paying students for public service.” Read on to learn more about their experience and read interview highlights from our Director of Programs & Partnerships Jamie Chan about the interns’ work at the Gardens.

Don't miss your last chance to see California Birds and Plants Daniela Yew's gorgeous papercut artwork at the Helen Crocker Russell Library! Original framed papercuts and unframed prints are on display and for sale through Wednesday, January 31.

Now that January is here, our magnolia season is just around the corner! When you visit the Botanical Garden in these upcoming weeks, keep your eyes peeled for a glimpse of one of the most significant conservation collections of magnolias in the United States in bloom. If you or visitors would like to learn more about our public program offerings for Magnificent Magnolias, please visit our calendar for Magnolia Curator Tours and a Magnolia Embroidery Workshop hosted by Robert Mahar this January. 

Best wishes, 

Crystal 

Crystal Lee Stone | Volunteer Program Manager

Gardens of Golden Gate Park 

(415) 661-1316 Ext. 400

clstone@gggp.org

P.S. Did you miss an update? Catch up by viewing past newsletters. 

Gardens of Golden Gate Park

1199 9th Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94122