November Newsletter
Hi, friends. Welcome to our latest newsletter.
Volunteer spotlight: Mike H has been volunteering with the Arboretum for 10+ years. He uses C-Van to get here and other volunteers get him home. Mike is a huge help with all our projects. He prepares the cardboard for sheet-mulching and picks up all those ankle-turner pinecones, magnolia seed pods, and fallen apples. Mike is especially valuable carting the pulled weeds and other yard debris from the gardens to the debris pile, and mulch and chips from their respective piles to the garden areas. Rain or shine, Mike shows up. Thank you, Mike.
Education: We are a great location for home-schooling events. And generally, science and horticulture classes for all levels.
Projects: We are dressed for the holidays! Wreaths are made (yes, we make our own) and the Stanger house is trimmed out with somewhat period-appropriate decorations. There are leftover cuttings from around the grounds that you can pick up and use for your decorating.
Weber history, continued:
This is from Vinson Weber’s interview with Jean Norwood and Emma Powell, March 1991. I will be posting the entire interview in the next few newsletters – it’s quite long.
After Oberlin college, I didn’t really know what I was going to do. I didn’t even take any science courses my Freshman year, but in my Sophomore year I took chemistry and I was an outstanding student because I was tied for first in the class. Clark County Historical Museum 2 Book 50 Volume 1 Weber, Dr. Vinson A certain chemistry professor kept coming around and talking to me even though he didn’t teach me. I never understood what he was doing but all of a sudden I realized that he was trying to talk me into going into being a premedic major because he was the advisor for the pre-medic students. So I ended up graduating in pre-medics. I decided before I graduated that I didn’t want to be a physician so I took a couple of courses in education and after I graduated my father was then the county superintendent of schools. This gave me a certain advantage and I took numerous tests to get a temporary teaching certificate. So I taught school that first year really not qualified although I had that temporary certificate. Then I started going to school summers and Saturdays at the University of Michigan and eventually got the Masters degree in 1940. The first place I taught school was Berlin Heights near Oberlin. After I had been there one year they hired a new English teacher who was an outstanding English teacher. She ended up teaching in Vancouver because I married her about four years later. While we were there, that was a very good school. That was why James Caliver thought he had two good teachers because I was a good science teacher and she was a good English teacher. Naturally he had a pretty good basis right there for being a nuclear physicist or whatever he was. Well, after being in the little town of Berlin Heights for three years, I moved down to another bigger school called Napolean, Ohio. Shortly after that I was married and continued going to University of Michigan on Saturdays until I got the Masters degree.
The Stangers had a small but very important role in the development of the City of Vancouver. In 1868, about a decade after the City of Vancouver was incorporated, the city was looking for a reliable water source for its residents. In exchange for John’s water rights to Stanger Creek, Vancouver guaranteed him enough water for his family and farming. This agreement was upheld for 70 years until 1939 when the city laid new water pipe in the area.
Volunteer Opportunities:
• Tuesday mornings we have a dedicated crew working the grounds from 9am until 11am. Everyone seems to have a favorite project so you will see us here and there working. Often pulling weeds but we’ll be planting and dividing when we’re comfortable with the fall rains. Seldom does weather keep these volunteers from their tasks.
• Wednesdays from 9am to about 3pm is Caboose time! If you like your railroad history and have some basic carpentry skills, check them out.
• Friday mornings from 9am to noon another dedicated crew is busy restoring the Stanger House. Coffee break is about 10ish, everyone welcome.
• Second Saturdays every month from 9am to noon. Refreshments follow. Often these work parties are an opportunity to tackle bigger projects as a group. Bring your garden gloves.
• We are looking for a grant writer, a genealogist, a fundraiser, and a historical interior designer.
• We would like storage so we can mill the logs from the Big Leaf Maple.
