Editor: James CardKaz Kids go to the Birds
As you know by now the Kaz Kids come to Main
City Park on Fridays to help maintain the planting
beds along the Spur Trail. What happens when
the weather is just too wet and cold for anyone tobe out braving the elements.
With every good plan, there is a backup plan. The
garden volunteers came to the Resource Center tohelp the Kaz Kids build BIRD HOUSES. Lunch wasprovided. We had a fun time working with thestudents to nail together the precut homes for all
those birds out singing in the rain.
The fabricated bird house wood was donated anda bird house for each student was built. They took
the houses back to the school. When the weather
gets warmer, the students will take them off theshelf and apply a good coat of paint to make themas personal as possible. This procedure allows
the students to have yet another opportunity to
be constructive and creative. Eventually when
painted and dry, the students will take them homeand make them available for those birds in need.
During the day, Bill Peterson took a group ofstudents to the garden during a break in the rainto see how the “Interactive Garden Program”
would be utilized by the students. Bill learned alot and has since met with Jenny Halley to confirm
a direction that the program will pursue.
Many thanks to John Harold, Maryann Buck, Sue
Hughes and Bill Peterson for coming, helping withlunch and with the students. We only had one
complaint about Maryann's cookies...they wereway too good to only have one.

Issue #16 | MARCH 2017

Main City Saturdays
A new program called Main City Saturdays wasstarted in January. The purpose is to offer a means
for local organizations and companies to participate
with the maintenance of Main City Park. January andFebruary are usually the hardest months to haveparticipation in an outdoors program. However,those months were the first to be filled. January
included Cub Scouts from Den 586 in Gresham withassistance from the parents and den volunteers.
The Scouts were 3rd graders that came out withpleasure regardless of the weather. It gave theScouts an avenue to earning a badge. Andrea Allena chaperone leading the group, said they had been
looking for an opportunity to volunteer in thiscapacity. It was a great opportunity for them andthe City of Gresham.
The second group that came in February wereseniors from Gresham that enjoy volunteering on
the Springwater Trail and decided to try thisprogram for a change. This group was led by Curt
Kimball. Since they normally work on the Trail, thearea around the south entrance to the park would fit
their agenda.

Cont. Main City Saturdays

They trimmed the ornamental grasses and trees in thearea. In the future Curt and his team will work with theCity of Gresham Parks Department working with theTrail.
The park hosted a group put together by Nic Casteneda
who participates with the Chamber, the Rotary and theBusiness Referral Group of Gresham. This group reallypulled through on March 25th which was a dry, sunnyday, they are also scheduled to return in June.
The Parks Department of Gresham, gave additional
tools to add to our program.
At present, there are two groups going at the sametime on Saturdays; the Garden maintenance and theMain City Park Saturdays, from 9 to 12.
If you have a company, church organization or a family
that would like to put your mark on Main City Park, you
can sign up at any time by contacting me at our email,gresham.japanese.gardem@gmail.com
orJoe.Walsh@greshamoregon.gov

The Tsuru Island website is coming rightalong. Two items that are taking a bit oftime are the “Garden in Living Color” andthe “History of the Garden”.
The “Garden in Living Color” addition to
the website has to do with the color andtextures that can be experienced during
each month of the year with explanationsof the plant changes during the seasons.
There will be a clarification of that
individual plant for that precise area in thegarden. Included are pictures of the plantthat draw the visitors interest. Pictures will
be added as the plants mature and/or
evolve through the seasons and years.
A visitor to the garden or website willrealize that the maturing of the plants
does not mean that it necessarily changes
in height or width. Instead it changes insize of the trunk, stock and branches. In
the case of Pines, look for the maturity toinclude the development of the branching
and foliage.
Over the past few weeks we have beenworking with Matt and Silvie at theGresham Historical Museum, researching
information about Tsuru Island and Main
City Park. The information will provide us
with the decisions and activities that lead
up to the Main City Park, the changes withJohnson Creek, and Tsuru Island. This
sets the stage for the development ofTsuru Island Japanese garden and will
focus on the volunteer base that helped
put it all together. We will continue ourresearch to try and understand the detailsof the Japanese American Citizen League'sgoals.
One individual who grew up in Gresham
when all these changes took place, wasasked if it was an important event inGresham in the city. He said it was not abig deal. I found the exact opposite
during my research. The $900,000.00
bond changed Powell Blvd, rerouted
Johnson Creek and developed Main City
Park was a huge undertaking for the Cityand would change things forever.

Issue #16 | MARCH 2017

Just when you think that you
are done with a project andcan move on to the next priority
in-line, something takes placecausing you to take a few steps
back. If you recall, someone
decided to kick out the decorative
lattice on the sides of theAzumaya and take the wood.
We made the decision to build another set of
sections. This time it would be made from 2x2
sections of Douglas fir. Materials cost a lot and thegardens’ budget would not allow the expense ofclear cedar components to match the Azumaya
bench that was stolen. A pile of lumber was kept
at the storage yard after the old bridge had been
disassembled. Some sections of lumber were stillgood enough to be machined and used for nonstructural components. These parts turned out tobe prime old growth Douglas fir. Not only is it solid
but most of it is clear with no knots, great weather
staining in the grain structure and black streaks
flowing through the grain where galvanized
fasteners were used 46 years ago.
There is a new lattice arrangement for the Azumaya
coated with rosewood oil from Brazil. There is alsoa plan to replace the lattice that surrounds the"moon window" in the center of the back wall.
Additional boards have been selected and havebeen drying in a controlled atmosphere to prevent
any additional cracking. The project is set to begin
by the end of March by Kent Thompson and Big
John. Let Jim know if you are interested in helping
with this project.
If you are at the garden/park, look at that pile ofwood to see if there is piece you might beinterested in for projects or furniture, etc. Notify
Jim Card if something appeals to you.

Issue #16 | MARCH 2017

Not long ago after the Springwater Trail wascompleted the beavers decided to remove 2trees adjacent to the long hand rail between thegarden entrance and Main Street Bridge. These
trees were replanted with Big Leaf Maples that
almost match the ones taken. This tree iscommon to our area and environment. Anothertree placement will be accomplished by theParks Department who will oversee the plantingof 2 white oak trees near the dog park on April
12th at 9am.
The volunteers at Tsuru Island have been asked
to provide the bamboo skirts that have beenutilized on the island. The hope is to cause
enough frustration to the beaver that they will
leave the trees alone.

Some years ago, while working the area behind the"Resource Center" it became apparent that there wasno easy way to get from the lower driveway to theupper storage area to the greenhouse. It was a veryslippery slope as well. A make-shift set of stairs wasadded that would at least help one get to the top.
The thought never occurred as to how to get backdown.
Over the past month of Saturdays, efforts were madeby Ron, Steve, Jim Buck, Kent and John Harold tobuild the new steps. Steve Bruckner submitted
information for building the stairs. Staying true toour ongoing endeavors of using recycled materials,
some beams left over from one of the trestle of theold bridge were utilized. Using a chain saw, thewood was cut to length and 1/2 inch holes drilled tosecure them into the ground with rebar. To bulk up
the stability of the stairs, left-over sections of bluestone from the garden path were used. And surplus
3/4 minus crushed rock from the paver project infront of the Resource Center placed between therocks.
The stairs are finished. With a little dry weather thegrading with a shovel, rake and the Dingo will
finalize the area. By the way dry weather was justreferred to for grading; that is to let you know thatmost of the project was completed in the pouring
down rain during the entire undertaking. Thankyou gentlemen!

The “Giboshi” or finials on top of each of the four
posts of the bridge were used on the original bridgein 1970 and appeared as a totally different
configuration and cradled with a highly polishedsphere setting on top. The Giboshi on the newbridge was shaped to be as authentic as possible.
Tad journeyed to the Portland Japanese Garden andmeasure the Giboshi that were used there. Scrap
sections of Purple Heart were laminated together andTodd Nelson, using a lathe turned them to a highquality ornament.

In doing research, we found that the Giboshi
was borrowed from the use of roof line
decoration with some hint of superstition...mydog will scare your dog spirit. There are a few
companies that specialize in these pieces thatare used as art forms on building, stairrailings and bridges. Giboshi are usually
made of brass or bronze and are usually blackin color, while many in Japan are weathered toa Verde color. Anything made of metal placedin the garden might not stay on the bridge
without an armed guard 24/7. That block ofPurple Heart cost less than $325.00.

To provide a bit more detail; Tad felt that the Giboshi
should be larger in diameter due to the post size of
9-inches. It will have a more aesthetics appearance.
Although that did not make a difference at thePortland Garden (their Giboshi was smaller than thepost).
As some time and weather exposure along with theglue breaking down started to reduce the appearanceof these pieces, a repair with epoxy took place. A
decision needed to be made to either have newbronze units cast at a cost of $2100.00 or make new
Giboshi out of solid sections of Purple Heart.
Visiting Phil at Moxon Hardwoods revealed that hehad a section of Purple Heart that was 8x12 inches
and 16 feet long and had not been exposed to theoutside for over 10 years. A 5 ft. board weighting
250 lbs. was hauled to the shop. It refused to slideout of the truck. After using some pipe as rollers, ahand truck, and a chain saw, each section was cut toabout 40lbs. Jim Buck will be fabricating the newGiboshi in his garage/shop using a small lathe. Eachpiece is 13” tall and 8” in diameter at the base.
It was discovered that the sections were just too far
out of balance to allow the lathe to hold them andnot bounce around. Doug Mullins at Quality
Woodworking referred us to Mike Ash a resident andvolunteer of the City Of Gresham who provided a few
turns on his larger lathe to balance the pieces.
Within one afternoon the project was ready to move
forward. All four units needed to be the same andinstalled onto the posts and finished with the best
possible polish for durability.

Issue #16 | MARCH 2017

Wood production for
the new bench.
And Giboshi for thebridge posts

KAZ KIDS WORK SCHEDULEAPRIL 21MAY 19MARK YOUR CALENDARS
Send Questions and/or Comments to:
gresham.japanese.garden@gmail.com