In the beginning...
Co-president Bill Prather welcomed us to a special meeting at Mesa Farm. We celebrated a tradition in our club, Al West Arbor Day. Usually at a school, this year we met at Mesa Farm, which is about to be a busy place.
He thanked our host, co-founder and Executive Director of Mesa Farm, Dan Parziale, and his board members, for welcoming us there.
Fern Barishman led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Bret Bradigan gave us a moving inspirational moment, sharing that “the time to give up on someone is never.”
After a delicious meal, Tessa Turner was put to the test with the roving mic which was not cooperating as well as we hoped. Many guests joined us.
Co-president Bill thanked Rod Owen, Sue Gilbreth, and Kelley Rassmussen for helping him with setup. It was a big job for the foursome, and much more involved than normal. Good job!
He also thanked our other workers today: Fern Barishman, Bret Bradigan and Tessa Turner as mentioned, Dave Brubaker for collecting our money, and yours truly Wendy Barker as Reminder editor.
Arbor Day with Al West
Co-president Bill read a proclamation he and Co-president Carl wrote for Arbor Day. The framed proclamation was given to Dan Parzaile, along with an Arbor Day poster from Al West. Al also reminded us that this is Smokey the Bear’s 80th birthday.
Mesa Farm and Dan Parziale
Al introduced our speaker, Dan Parziale. He attended Nordhoff High School, then got an undergraduate degree from Notre Dame. He worked in LA before going back to Notre Dame for a Master's Degree in non-profit management. His wife Molly is also an Ojai native. They moved back to Ojai in 2018.
Dan thanked our club for funding a food forest that was recently planted on site, with 30 different fruits and nuts. The 10-acre property was formerly planted completely in Valencia oranges. There are currently 300 bee boxes on site. Mesa Farm will be paid in honey, that their upcoming residents will then market and sell.
Mesa Farm recently had 10 tiny homes delivered.
10 Tiny Homes
They also have room for two residents in their main building. Within the next few weeks they will be interviewing young adults, ages 18-24, who have been referred by a county agency for their 2-year live-in program. All residents will be either homeless or at high risk of homelessness. Residents will be eligible to live on-site for up to two years. They will get support for school, work, mental health, etc. The residents will be young adults who have faced trauma and a lack of stability in their lives. Their time at Mesa Farm will be an opportunity to sink their roots into the ground, thrive and grow.
Dan appreciates our willingness to help Mesa Farm. He shared some upcoming dates. You are invited to help out with furnishing the homes on Community Day, May 18, Then on June 8, there will be a Community Open House, before the residents move in. All are welcome.
Al thanked Colin Jones and his son Connor who purchased and planted the trees for us, Greg Webster whose company Greg Rents provided the tables and chairs, and Betsy Watson, who made the meeting arrangements.
Planting the trees
We did the final bit of planting (well, really just mulching after Colin and Connor did all the hard work earlier this week) four trees. The two live oaks and two Tipuana trees will provide wonderful shade. We also had the opportunity to tour one of the unfurnished tiny homes. It was an inspiring meeting. We look forward to watching the progress at Mesa Farm and cheering their progress.
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