Dear Volunteers,
This is my last newsletter as Interim Volunteer Manager! It's been so great getting to work with so many of you over the last five months - new and familiar faces alike. I can't wait to see what December and 2025 brings this incredible program.
Before we turn the page for the New Year, we have a handful of great opportunities coming up in December that we'd love for you to join!
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Wreath Making - Pruning Greens
Thursday, December 12, 10:30am-2:30pm
Gallery Courtyard
Join us in the Gallery Courtyard on Thursday, December 12 as we prepare the greenery for our annual Wreath Making event! Prepping the greens includes pruning, trimming, and sorting various types of greens so they're in small, usable bits. Enjoy the company of other volunteers and the fresh smell of the plants!
Register here >>
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Children's Garden Green Team
Wednesdays, 10am-1pm
Children's Garden, San Francisco Botanical Garden
Assist with the maintenance of the Children's Garden, creating and caring for the special hands-on learning space designed for families and nature lovers of all ages. We welcomes adults and teens who are interested in mentoring our next generation of garden enthusiasts!
Register here >>
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Bean Sprout Family Days
Tuesdays and Thursdays, some Saturdays
Children's Garden, San Francisco Botanical Garden
Bean Sprouts is back! The Garden offers sessions for drop-in families, providing them with tools and supplies, as well as activity stations, so they can make the most of the space together. Volunteers help with set-up, welcoming families, and being a friendly resource in the garden.
Register here >>
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Enrichments, Trainings, and Events |
Book Group: The Tree Collectors
Thursday, December 12, 10am-12pm
Helen Crocker Russell Library of Horticulture
All Gardens volunteers are invited to our next Book Group event. The next book group will discuss The Tree Collectors, by Amy Stewart. We hope to see you there!
Register here >>
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Enrichment: Interpretive Gardens Walks - Coastal Redwoods
Thursday, January 9, 10-11:30am
San Francisco Botanical Garden, Main Gate
All Gardens volunteers are invited to this series of walks - by volunteers, for volunteers. Use this opportunity to learn from each other about the Garden, to practice leading walks after one year hiatus of public tours, and of course, to reconnect with fellow volunteers in person!
Register here >>
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Written by volunteer Steve Bell, photo from Cameron Chernoff
Each Wednesday morning, members of San Francisco Botanical Garden's Fern Team work to maintain a fernery within the Mesoamerican Cloud Forest. Many members of the team are also members of the San Francisco Fern Society, and have both extensive knowledge of, and experience growing and propagating, fern varieties. This year, the team has also been assisting with maintenance of the ferns growing within the Botanical Garden's Ancient Plant Garden.
Through a chance encounter earlier this year, several members of the Botanical Garden Fern Team met SF Rec & Park gardener Cameron Chernoff, who had recently been assigned to manage the Golden Gate Park Lily Pond and Tree Fern Dell area, located opposite the Conservatory of Flowers. Cameron quickly discovered that these were not your average "park passers-by" admiring the tree ferns, and upon finding out about their ongoing Botanical Garden volunteer work, asked if they would be willing to assist with both providing advice and helping to renovate the Tree Fern Dell. The team agreed to extend their weekly "work hours," and since March, has been working a 3-hour Botanical Garden volunteer shift, followed by another 2-hour shift with Cameron at the Tree Fern Dell. The team has since made much progress cleaning up, replanting ferns, and removing invasive plants in the fern beds along John F. Kennedy Drive. Additionally, some members of the team have donated specific plants from their personal collections to enhance the Tree Fern Dell beds. The team has also begun to catalog the plant collections at the Lily Pond and Tree Fern Dell.
Work, yet to come, includes a major project to improve the hillside opposite the Lily Pond. Once a shady area covered in tree ferns, the area was heavily damaged over the years when canopy trees fell, both destroying some plants beneath them and leaving behind a much sunnier rocky hillside that is less conducive to successfully growing tree ferns.
As this project continues to evolve, anyone interested in assisting Cameron and the Botanical Garden Fern Team at the Tree Fern Dell can now sign up to volunteer on Wednesday afternoons (1-3 pm) through the SF Rec and Park volunteer website (not the Gardens volunteer sign-up page). Additionally, the group has worked with SF Rec & Park to create a new community organization, "Friends of the Golden Gate Park Tree Fern Dell and Lily Pond," to raise both public awareness of the work and funds to help with the restoration project.
We are fortunate to have this group providing their time and expertise to maintain our Botanical Garden fern beds, and now, sharing their time and talents to help improve the Golden Gate Park Tree Fern Dell.
Thank you Steve, and thank you Fern Team!
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Recently we were saddened to hear of the passing of long time volunteer, Barry Galvin. Above is a picture of him leading a tour at the San Francisco Botanical Garden's 75h Anniversary Community Day. Here are a few words from Director of Education, Annette Huddle, on Barry:
I was sorry to learn of the recent passing of Barry Galvin, a committed volunteer who trained as a docent in 2009, and as Docent Council president served on San Francisco Botanical Garden’s Board of Directors. An enthusiastic booster of the Garden, Barry loved sharing stories and experiences with visitors, other volunteers and staff, and really knew how to keep his audience engaged. He and his wife Laura, a wonderful children’s walk guide, were Garden regulars until a move to a senior living community in Oakland a few years back, where Barry promptly became instrumental in creating a Garden Committee to renovate and maintain the gardens there. Barry was a special man and will truly be missed.
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Crystal is back! We are thrilled to welcome Volunteer Manager, Crystal Lee Stone, back from her maternity leave. We are transitioning the program back into her very capable hands, and she will return to the office in December. Say hello once you see her around the Gardens again, and wish her a hearty congratulations. Welcome back, Crystal!
Thanks again to everyone who made it out for the Fall Potluck earlier this month! We had a great time sampling seasonal treats with everyone and enjoying the lovely weather together.
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Thank you, everyone, for being so wonderful during these last five months (and always!). It is truly a treasure to work with the volunteers at the Gardens - you love what you do and the beautiful place where you get to do it. You inspire me often, and I'll still see you around the Garden!
If celebrating, I hope you have a wonderful holiday and a restful break. It is a volunteer cohort like you that I am especially grateful for this year!
Warmly,
Jenn
Jenn Tapler | Interim Volunteer Program Manager
Gardens of Golden Gate Park
(415) 661-1316 Ext. 404
jtapler@gggp.org
P.S. Did you miss an update? Catch up by viewing past newsletters.
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Gardens of Golden Gate Park
1199 9th Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94122
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