James Card:

EditorCHAMBER NOTESCHOOSING THE DESIGNThe Gresham Japanese Garden is a member of theGresham Chamber of Commerce. What that meansis that there is access to other members of thechamber as well as the many programs that thechamber offers. Opportunities and meeting otherpeople that thrive in the community, that otherwise
would not be available to Garden members. That isexactly what our community does...It thrives. Thechamber meets on Fridays at 7:20 am. The people inattendance can identify themselves and give adescription of their business or program. The hostgives a bit more about their organization andprograms available.

The Plaza will be mostly complete in a few months.
In the meantime the progress will continue as thefunds are available. Grants have been applied for andgifts have been bestowed upon us that will accelerate
the progress.

The awareness of the garden has grown and isconsistent since joining the Downtown Business
Association and the Chamber. You can find out
about the garden by looking at the Outlook, KATU
2 news, several small publications, the Gresham
History Museum, on-line at the web site,
greshamjapanesegarden.com or ebetsuplaza.com
and on Facebook.
The City of Gresham gave the garden focus in 2017and 2018 through the rebranding program currently
being promoted. That included the postcard of thegarden bridge and a video presentation called "TheGift" which also led to a news presentation by KATU
channel 2.
A huge THANK YOU goes out to all of those that
help with promoting the awareness. We love our cityand community and we are glad that they are enjoy
our Garden and Plaza.

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Many have seen the original rendering for the plaza.
As in all projects there are issues and problems thatarise during construction. The design was made withthe understanding that the plant material would haveto fit the availability and budget at the time ofplanting. Many of the specimen plants that act as thefoundation of the site were donated and had comefrom other mature landscapes. Some had been
aesthetically pruned which makes them even morevaluable. Of course the primary foundation of thearea are the 12 cherry trees. They are magnificent
and will only get better in time. The growth of thelower branches will provide strength to the stalk astime goes on.
People have commented on the mounding andheight of the Cherry trees. The drainage and amountof water from the hillside south of the Springwater
Trail never seems to dry out over the summer.
Planting the trees higher ensures their good health.
Another issues noted was the amount of water thatwas standing behind the entrance monument at theTrail. To provide somewhere for that water to go, acarved streambed was placed to allow the excesswater to be moved to the west and north. The watercaught by the emergency lane will move north andwill not affect the planting area.

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Cont. choosing a design

Benches will be installed around and in theplaza inviting those that are in the area to stopand relax. Originally the benches were going
to be constructed out of the old bridge wood.
These benches would require a lot ofmaintenance and probable suffer vandalism.
So that idea was abandoned. The City did nothave any benches available. One of thevolunteers donated funds for nine new benches
that match the Main City Park benches and will
be installed in the near future.
The City of Gresham has removed the oldwood mile markers along the Springwater Trailand given them to the garden. They will becleaned, paint removed and rotten areas
redressed. Then will become decorative pillars
in two’s connected with chain. One of thepillars will be cleaned up and given to theGresham History Museum for display.
Walking by the northwest corner of the Plaza,
one cannot help but notice the granite Japaneselantern. This was another gift. The imported
lantern weighs about 600 pounds and is calleda Misaki. As time goes on the lantern will
become weathered and tarnished blending inand maturing with the plantings that have beenchosen.
The shaded areas of the cherry trees, in time
will be enhance by the natural shape of the tree
and cover the lower plantings in the area which
include, rhododendron "Taurus", euonymus"Spring Bouquet" and Japanese Aralias.
Stepping down in size are the azaleas "HinoCrimson", barberry "Crimson Pigmy",
euonymus "Gold and Green". Stepping down
once again, several varieties of ferns andground cover, blended together with dark
hemlock mulch and black lava
The existing high pressure system was replacedwith drip irrigation which reduced the pressure
to allow the water to run at 30 psi.A mainline
drip tube was installed and individual emittertubes circle around each plant.

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One of the many reasons that neighborhood associations
exist to advocate for activities within a city and provide
communication and dialog with city government for suchthings as crime prevention. There are 15 associations inGresham and are coordinated by the City department ofNeighborhoods and Community Engagement.
The Gresham Japanese Garden, the Resource Centerand Ebetsu Plaza is located in the Gresham Butte
boundary neighborhood associations, Jim Buck,president. The Garden volunteers became a part of theassociation in April of 2018
There is a program offered by the City for eachassociation to submit a grant proposal that would
provide a 50% match for a new project or upgrade of an
existing component in that neighborhood. At the lastassociation meeting for the Gresham Butt Association aunanimous vote was obtained for Ebetsu Plaza grant
request for $1500.00 towards the installation of thestream bed/drainage at the plaza and plant material. It
has been submitted to the City for consideration.

MAY 2018 EDITIONPage 2What Is That Thing?
Vandalism at the Garden
It seems that every spring I begin writing about vandalism.
This spring is no different with several incidents takingplace.
One of the issues marks the 3rd or 4th time that damage
has taken place on the stationary gate at the ocean scene.
Bless John and Tad for the patience that they display withthe repairs each time. If you ask John, he keeps a log of hishours spent making the repairs. He keeps it on therefrigerator.
There is a security camera in the garden. We have foundthat much of the vandalism is taking place out of sight of thecamera. So just what is the answer to control the issue andpreserve our time, money and energy dealing with thesetypes of behavior? Some of the suggestions have included
notifications, asking for more attention to be paid to thepark/garden, including the storage yard, where somethingusually happens twice a week.
There is a belief that if several volunteers were around at
certain times of afternoon to evening; just their presence
would lend to the issue
In the next few days I will be contacting Garden volunteers
to form a committee to contact some organizations such as
scout groups, police cadets, senior groups, neighborhood
associations, local National Guard, watch groups andothers. I will also be contacting councilor's French andHinton to assist with other approaches.
Additional cameras may help identify these perpetrators.
Those volunteers that are around the park during theafternoon and evening could watch their phones and see thecamera footage and report it as it is happening.
Unfortunately it is too costly to obtain extra cameras fromthe garden budgets. A grant may be possible for the expense
but this too take time and effort for volunteers. In themeantime valuable plants and property that have been
donated are being destroyed. It is a shame.

Ever since the volunteers began having
access to the barn and storage yard by thegarden, we have wondered what the concrete
structure next to the Resource Center is or
was and can we get rid of it?
Most of the time it has been full of debris,storing tools, keeping things out of site andso on. Since it is at an odd angle it seems
out of place and even in the way. It can beremoved but at quite an expense since it isthick concrete and descends into the ground.
A couple of weeks ago there was agentleman standing at the entrance of Main
City Park and just looking around. When I
started up a conversation with him, he said
he was reminiscing. He said he had lived inGresham all of his life. I asked him if heknew about the wrecking yard and how thearea looked in the past. With that I asked
him if he knew what that concrete structure
was and he remembered it well.
Years ago he said that there was an above
ground water line that was big enough for aadult to stand in. There were several running
through the City with water that fed Portlandfrom Bull Run. One of the water lines ran
from northeast to southwest. It crossed
Johnson Creek and went toward that
Springwater Trail area, even before the train
line was built. The above ground water pipe
was supported by a series of abutments
above the ground. The cement structure in
the barn yard is one of those abutments.
To verify the time that this might haveexisted, I went to the Gresham Museum andlooked at a panoramic picture of Greshamwith a view from south to north and there it
was, plain as day. Mystery solved.

Updates will continue via this newsletter. If our readers
have additional suggestions or comments, please do nothesitate to contact us.

ISSUE 28

MAY 2018 EDITIONPage 3

Seeing It Again
Located in southwest Arkansas is a wonderfulgarden known as the Garvan Woodland Gardens, abotanical garden of the University of Arkansas.
The main expanse of the garden was designed byDavid Slawson who is a major presence in Japanesestyle gardens. I visited this wonderful facility about
7 years ago and once again realize why this gardenis listed of as one of the 5 best Japanese gardens inNorth America. The land was originally owned by
the Garvan family and was given to the university asa gift for development when Mrs. Garvan passed.

Much of the grounds are maintained by large
groups that come on a routine basis, much likeGresham’s Main City Saturdays. Some of thevolunteer duties are covered by interns from theUniversity, who conduct golf cart tours, act as
greeters and drive the "G" scale train that take folks
through certain areas of the facility. Many otheropportunities exist for specialized volunteers forevents that take place every month of the year.

The garden expands over several acres. There areclasses and workshops of interesting for any
member of the family. An event that takes place
annually is a display of national artists setting up
their art work, which includes everything fromhandmade quilts to glass art and projects for thekids. Another interesting event takes place 2 times
per year is the "tree identification hike". I like thisidea for Main City Park and the surrounding area.
If you have a chance to visit this garden in HotSprings, Arkansas, you will be exposed tomagnificent boulder placement, waterfalls, stream
beds and dozens of Japanese maples of every size
and texture that you might imagine. Bridges are an
intricate part of the paths that connect the various
and significant areas. All areas are wheelchair
accessible and paved either by well-planned
concrete bases or paver stone or both.
I had the opportunity to meet with the director of
the facility, Susie Burch who walked me throughher volunteer process. There are about 300
volunteers, with 100 being active at regularintervals. Although we did not specifically discuss
the facility budget amount, I did learn that theyreceive $250,000 from the University annually andthey have exceeded that amount almost every year
for the past several years. The balance is made up
of entrance fees at $15.00, event rentals, andspecific fund raisers and so on. Fifty-one
employees are on site which includes administrativestaff, restaurant staff, security and the garden staff.

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Another highlight of this trip was to tour theAnthony Chapel. This unbelievable church setting
is located in the middle of the forest and is marked
by a towering and dedicated monument
constructed in a Frank Lloyd Wright theme;
specifically the tree of life. The chapel is made ofwood and glass with a concrete floor. It seats about,
350 people for programs. Completely lit at night
including the paths to get to it, it has state of the art
sound systems, interior lighting, every view fromthe inside is 360 degrees and 90 percent of the viewis the forest. A must to see if you are there.

MAY 2018 EDITION

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