Los Trancos Woods

Community Association

LTW/VV Newsletter - Dec. 2010/Jan. 2011

Health Insurance for Our Oak Trees

If we were to take out Health Insurance for our oak trees, what would be the best way to keep our premiums from skyrocketing? A little preventative care can go a long way in maintaining a healthy tree and keeping the doctor or chainsaw away.

1) Seasons are just what the doctor orders. We have a rainy season and a drought season, and our oaks must have the same. If you are watering on your property, be sure to not over water, or water under the drip line (this is the outside perimeter of the leaf canopy), or let water run downhill towards an oak. Watering causes a disease called oak root fungus that can kill an oak. Now is the time to move any water loving plants or lawns away from your oaks.

2) Oak trees have their "feet" firmly planted in the ground. If you change the ground level, then you no longer have the "feet" planted at the depth they should be. If you do some dirt moving around the base of an oak, be sure to mark the ground level, so you can maintain that level throughout the work time.

3) Climbing trees is fun, but not when it is ivy climbing the oak trees. Ivy holds in moisture at the bark, causing rot, and smothers tree foliage. Cut the ivy away from the tree twice a year. This will keep the ivy in check and make the job easier.

4) The most effective way to protect your oaks from Sudden Oak Death is to trim all Bay Laurel tree foliage to about 8 ft. away from the oak trunk. Bay Laurel is the prime carrier of the disease. A second step can be spraying oak trunks with Agri-fos which helps prevent infection.

Our "Woods" get their character from the abundant oak trees that grow here. With a little preventative care we can keep this wonderful character alive and healthy.

Submitted by Linda Drey-Nightingale

Emergency Preparedness

The Holiday Season offers good opportunities to review and update family emergency planning. As the household members are usually spending time together, you can come up with a joint plan that everyone has input on. Make it a game to see who can remember the most details about the plan.

Fire safety is especially important at this time of year.

- Older holiday lights may have frayed wires or cracking electrical wire casing. Why take a chance when you now can purchase new, ultra energy efficient, LED, holiday, indoor/outdoor lights.

- Candles make for a cozy atmosphere, but are sometimes forgotten and left burning in the hubbub of bedtime.

- Fireplaces are frequently used around the holidays, but if they have not been used the rest of the year, they may have soot buildup or blockages. Make sure your chimney is clean and you have a spark arrestor on the top. Sparks from a chimney can ignite vegetation overhanging a roof or not trimmed far enough away from a roof.

Emergency preparedness gifts are not only practical but show that you really care about the safety of a loved one.

- Walkie-talkies make great stocking stuffers and are fun to practice with.

- LED flashlights last far longer on the batteries than the flashlights of old.

- A crank/solar radio does not depend on your household electric grid and may be your only information source from the outside world in an emergency.

With a little imagination, all your gifts could prepare your family for the unexpected.

While you are changing the calendar to the new year, why not change your smoke alarm batteries too, and how about refreshing all your water storage bottles.

'Tis the season to be jolly, knowing you are safe from folly.

Excerpts from an article by David Smernoff and Jamie Sovereign

Los Trancos Woods Community Association

The new LTWCA Board held its first organizational meeting on Nov. 4th. The main officers are Tom Thayer, President; Julie Duncan, Treasurer; Steve Friedman, Emergency Preparedness. The next meeting will be Dec. 14th at 241 Bonita Rd. All residents are welcome to attend. The agenda will include reconsideration of current Articles of Association, result of investigation into Board liability, and update on community bulletin board replacement.

Submitted by Tom Thayer, LTWCA Board President

Neighborhood Notes

- Our thanks go to the Woodside Fire Protection District for providing the invaluable service of chipping and the Emergency Preparedness Training held in October. Although this summer was a quiet one in terms of fires, there are still the recent occurrences of two fires up here in our neighborhood the summer of 2009. Take a moment out of your busy holiday schedule to call or send them a thank you note for what they do for us, 135 Portola Rd., P.V. 94028. Also consider a donation to the Fire Protection Foundation, www.FireDistrictFoundation.org.

- Each year the Woodside Fire Firefighters sponsor a Toys for Tots collection. They volunteer their time collecting, wrapping and driving the fire engine with Santa on board to visit low-income families to distribute the toys. If you would like to donate a new, unwrapped toy(s), please drop them off at any Woodside Fire Protection District Fire Station by 24 December.

- Welcome to new neighbors, Martin, Kristin and Natalia Casado. They jumped right into the neighborhood by moving in on the day before Thanksgiving and then hosting a Thanksgiving feast to show off their new environs. Although Natalia at 4 months old was not born here, I am sure she will quickly become one of the Los Trancos Woods babes.

- Our intrepid rain monitor, Gene Hunner, has once again given us the stats: September - .01", October - 2.97", November - 5.64", total rain for the season - 8.62. Thank you, Gene.

Community Associations Web Sites

The web site addresses are:                                             The group e-mail list is:

http://lostrancoswoods.org/                                          VistaVerdeLTW@yahoogroups.com

http://www.vistaverdeca.org                                         

Thanks Jerry Jensen & Esther Dechow for maintaining web sites