GRESHAM JAPANESE GARDEN

Tsuru Island
VOLUNTEER CELEBRATION
What a grand day we had on the 16th, a full house, lots to doand see and great food too; Tomiko, you did an outstanding jobof putting the day together.
If you did not make it, there are pictures available on our web
site, which are displayed normally on “One Drive”, thanks toTad. Tea ceremonies with Gracey Ishikawa and bonsai display
with Mark Vossbeck headed up the first part of the day. At 3 pm
we were treated to a Koto Program by Mitsuki Dazai of Oregon
Koto-Kai.
This was the first scheduled event to take place in the Azumaya(pavilion). What a way to break it in. To see the Azumaya put touse in the best possible scenario, those of us who planned andbuilt it can understand the joy and fulfillment that wasexperienced. to Kent, John, Tad and John the associates of theGresham Japanese Garden would like to extend a standing
Ovation for your efforts.
We cannot say thank you enough for the assistance that thevolunteers provided with set-up and tear-down during the day.
Many of you showed up at 8 am and did not leave until we werestatus quo. THANK YOU!

ISSUE 8Winter Projects

Over the past two years wehave been working on
several projects, the bridge
and the Azumaya, that are
now complete. There is still
most of the lumber from theold bridge available andsome scrap sections ofpurple heart that was usedon the bridge.
A list is being compiled ofthings that can be madefrom some of that lumber.
The list includes small display
stands for bonsai, larger
pedestal stands fordisplaying bonsai in thegarden, tables and benches
and cutting boards, just to
name a few.
For those of you who wish toparticipate there will beplans and drawings
available for the items weare creating. The
participant will learn how toplane the wood, choose
profiles, assemble the woodand how to choose andapply the final finish. These
projects will most likely begin
in October or November.
The Card's shop will be used,which is heated andspacious.
JULY 2016
Please send Jim
Card anemail or wait for the sign-up
email from Wendy. Looking

Behind the Scenes
Several months ago I got an email from Jim
Buck telling me about a tree that was going
to be removed on a commercial property
on Kane. He wanted to know if I wasinterested in the wood for the garden. I
contacted Tina Osterink with the COG who
had the number for the owner. I got a callfrom the new owner of the property, Curt
Hugo and he was willing to help out. Afterseeing the Sycamore Maple and it's size I
was intimidated. If we as a group ofvolunteers were going to tackle thismonster it was going to take months to cut
down, cut up and move the usable
sections. During our discussions, We all
agreed that we could never be preparedwith the time, tools, equipment andexpertise to handle the project. Aftercommunicating with Curt, he decided tohave a professional take the tree down at
his cost. The limbs of the tree were cut into
firewood and taken by a number ofindividuals and the main trunk of the tree
was removed by Wood miser Inc. Anagreement was made that Wood Miser
would remove the trunk and do thehauling and the garden would receive 40%of the slabs. The trunk was massive. Not
only did it fill the trailer but it took twotrips and the floor of the trailer collapsed
due to the tree retaining water as well as
being a dense hardwood. Weeks went by
and the tree was eventually run throughthe mill. I got a call that the slabs wereready for me to pick up.
Currently the slabs are in storage and are
drying. At some point and the slabs can besold as is, processed to make product thatcan be used by the garden or sold atauction. The largest section has a value ofabout $1000.00 and if processed properly
could yield 5 to 6 times that much.

ISSUE 8one section of the slab, will be used tomake a table for the new Dutch Bros.
coffee shop on Kane, north of Division,
who so generously donated the wood tothe garden.

JULY 2016

VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED

Plant Identification- Chain-link fabric for thefencing around the ResourceCenter.
- Replacing the lawn for theemergency path in-front of
the Resource Center.
Installanadditional
irrigation main line from thehorseshoe area leading up tothe Resource Center.
"Tsuru Island" banners
placedonlightpoles
between Main/Powell andTsuru Island.

garden has its own story about
where it came from, why it waschosen and placed in thatparticular spot.

Over the last couple of years wehave had many questions about
the plant materials in the garden.
Gresham Japanese garden is aJapanese style garden and not a
Botanical garden where plants areusually identified. The plantmaterial is not all that unusual to
the Pacific Northwest or even
Japan for that matter.

Two or more plants will befeatured. Bill has taken pictures
which include a broad view, aclose up, and placed it on adigital index card. A
description, including thebotanical name, the common
name and the story of the plantis included, with the date, time
and the position that thecamera was held. Once theseare presented in our newsletter,
Sue will add them to thewebsite. They will also be kept ina note book to be presented for
onsite use. At this point a digitalrecord of the original plants will
be kept along with the changes
in the next years. This record willtell us about the plant growth,
how it was pruned, was it
moved to a new location, how
it is affected by other plants
and its progress.

Over the last 5 years we haveworked with all of the plants thatwere already on the island andplanted by Kaz and the original
volunteers. We have heard thatsome may have come from Japanand other may have come fromlocal sources.
In order to accommodate thissituation a committee was formed
which includes Sue Hughes ourweb developer, Bill Peterson andJim Card. Each plant in theISSUE 8JULY 2016

Update on the Bridge

the joints were again stable, Tad

In the fall newsletter some of thewood to its original color by

expectations for the bridge over theremoval of the exposed surface

winter was discussed,

as the woodwith abrasives. The surfaces weremoved and was effected by the weather

coated with a finish base and aover the first year. Hot and cold, wet andclear

dry all have an effect on any wood andmarine grade varnish.

and Toshi decided to bring thethe purple heart is no exception.

coatofUV

protective,

The remaining unfinished areas

Not all of what we experienced waswill wait until the end of August

negative and matter of fact for me most ofwhen Tad and Toshi return fromthe experience was positive. The part thata trip to the Far East.

gets most of the wear and tear is the deckand it has done very well with someminor movement of the boards that canbe adjusted which will be done thiswinter.

In the meantime we will continue
to work with the gaboshi thesame way the Tad worked withthe hand rail. Each piece will be
removed, the parting lines will be

Most of the negative was expected but

cleaned and dressed and thesome of the issues were not related to

epoxy will be applied using a dye

weather on the wood but rather the glue

to color the epoxy to match thethat we used to assemble the components.

color of the gaboshi. This will be

Only the hand rail, gaboshi and the top

complete before the winter rains

layer of the top beam were affected. Even

set in.

after

theversions of the finials funds must

manufacturer of the glue and assurances,

be raised to replace them with

we still had issues with the glue giving

cast bronze pieces that will be

way to the stress and movement of the

produced by Rip Caswell.

wood.

costs will include a onetime moldlengthy

discussions

withTo replace the woodThe

fee and the production of four
So what to do????

Tad and Toshi are

new units for a total of $2170.00.

credited for the handrail and the top

A fundraiser to bring that project

beam. If you came by the garden on any

closer to reality will be coming ingiven day you would see one or the boththe fall.

of them working with the railings. They
first split the joints to the point that they

Please join me in thanking Tad

were stable, cleaned the mating sections

and Toshi for the beautiful job

and dressed the parting lines. A two partand all their efforts.

epoxy was applied to both mating

appreciated.

It is sosurfaces and then rejoined together. The
sections were held together with clamps
until they could be bound with zip ties

Questions or comments go toGresham.japanese.garden@gmail.com

and left to cure for a couple of days. After

ISSUE 8JULY 2016