Tag: Donna Beth Wilenman

BEAVER MURAL IN THE NEWS

heidi08 Beaver Art October 20, 2018

Finally. Tim Hon’s fantastic mural gets the attention it deserves with a wonderful article in the Gazette. I’m not sure how I missed this, it’s dated last month. My favorite part? The part where it makes it very, very clear I’m not to blame in any way.

Artist’s beaver mural attracts attention

MARTINEZ, Calif. – When artist Tim Hon made his first stroll of Martinez’s downtown area a few years ago, he was impressed. Little did he know the walk would lead to his creating a popular mural on the side of one of its businesses.

And the owner of the business that bears the mural hopes it will help extend the downtown Martinez “renaissance” well past Main Street.

“I was really impressed with how quaint it was, and had so much character compared to surrounding areas,” Hon said about his exploration of his new home town.

Hon is familiar with a place with character. He moved to Martinez from Berkeley, which has a strong vibe of its own.

But Hon’s first trip to Martinez’s downtown took an unexpected turn. “I randomly stumbled upon the beavers in the creek!” he said.

“It was such an amazing experience. I just stood there on the bridge watching them work for a few hours. It was just incredible how they could be here amidst this ‘urban’ area,” he said.

If there’s another city where a graffiti artist randomly happens upon a family of beavers and is inspired to create art, I surely don’t know where it is. And honestly, you don’t either. I’m so glad that this engaging mural is getting the attention it deserves.

The mural is not a commissioned piece, Hon said. “It was done out of my own accord,” he said. Bernard helped out by purchasing the needed materials.

Because the building’s surface of metal and glass wasn’t ideal for a painting, Bernard put up plywood paneling on which Hon could paint.

Those panels serve a dual purpose, he added. “We weren’t sure if the city would accept it or try to remove it,” Hon said. “So we put it on panels in case we needed to move it.”

“I didn’t want to gamble with the painting,” Bernard said.

As Hon was doing preparatory plans for the mural, he learned about the Martinez Beaver Festival June 28 in Susana Park, which highlighted the work of Napa street painter Amy G. Hall, who made a sidewalk mural of a beaver pond in the center of the park.

Hon met with Heidi Perryman, whose Worth a Dam organization started the festival to let residents express their support for the aquatic dam builders that originally were controversial but have become unofficial mascots of the city.

The more Hon learned about the beavers and their festival, the more he wanted to coincide the timing of his mural with the celebration. “So I actually started that mural the day before the Beaver Festival,” he said.

And it wasn’t Heid’s fault. So there. Plus this mural is getting the positive reception it so rightly deserves.

“It turns out it’s unanimously beloved by everybody,” Bernard said. He said Martinez Police’s answer to the lip-synch video challenge may incorporate the mural. He’s heard the painting praised by members of the Martinez Council, and said Mayor Rob Schroder notices it on his daily walks past the building.

And for the artist?

“It was a fun experience, interacting with the public and watching people’s reactions,” Hon said. “And that is really why I do it. Kids especially were so amazed and got so happy.”

Nice! Here’s a little fun fact because we know each other so well. A supporter of Worth A Dam’s child was once a waitress at the breakfast restaurant right across from the mural. Guess who she noticed coming for breakfast every friday morning? That would be the fine mayor of our city and the wealthy property owner who originally threatened to sue the city over the beavers prompting the city to respond by trapping. Such a coincidence! Now their little breakfast cabal can be held in the shadow of a giant beaver mural.

Ahh small towns.

FEELING FESTIVE?

heidi08 Festival June 19, 2018

Let the media promotion begin! The hard-working salmon spends an awful long time banging into the rock before it finally succeeds. And that is exactly how I have felt about getting attention for our whopping festival this year. Well, let this be the first sign that the tides are changing.

Beaver Festival gets new home at Susana Park

MARTINEZ, Calif. – After 10 years of annual appearances at a downtown area that became known as Beaver Park, the Martinez Beaver Festival is moving to Susana Park, organizer Heidi Perryman said.

It’s date has been shifted to the end of June, as well.

And in a fortuitous coincidence, a family of beavers have moved into the creek that runs near the park, she said.

“The 11th Beaver Festival will be full of surprises,” Perryman said.

“The improved venue has boosted interested in the festival, too,” Perryman said. This year’s edition will have more than 50 nature exhibits, making it the largest event since it was begun as a way to celebrate,. rather than condemn, the beavers that had been building a dam in Alhambra Creek in the city’s downtown shopping district.

Why is the festival so much bigger really? Is it just the nicer park? Is it the cumulative effect of being around for a decade finally making people feel like you’re for real? Is it because it’s earlier in the year and fewer people are on vacation? I just had to notify chairs for affairs yesterday that we’ll be needing twice as many tables as usual!

But the beaver dam and the nature exhibits aren’t the only things eventgoers will see.

Amy

Amy G. Hall, a noted chalk artist, will be creating a beaver-themed illustration on the concrete in the park.

Hall is a lifelong fan of beavers, and her home town, Napa, has some, too. Her chalk painting will be of a beaver pond, and it illustrates how beavers benefit other wildlife.

Children attending the festival will be invited to pick up some colored chalk and create their own artwork in spaces near where Hall is working.

HURRAY! Great job plugging Amy. Honestly in September I was worried that she and I might be the only one in the park that day. Now I’m starting to think that might not be so bad.

Ben Goldfarb, an award-winning environmental writer who covers wildlife conservation, marine science and public lands management, will be launching his book, “Eager: The Surprising, Secret Lives of Beavers and Why They Matter.”

He will read excerpts on the festival stage, and Chapter 6 focuses on California, beginning and ending with the story of the Martinez beavers.

The book is published by Chelsea Green, and will be released at the end of the month.

No more pre-orders. It’s out. I just got a notice from Amazon that its on its way. Hurray!

The festival also has inspired the west coast premiere of Sara Koenigsberg’s documentary, “Beaver Believers,” which looks at the animals in light of climate change.

The premiere will take place before the festival, Thursday, Jan. 28, at the Empress Theatre in Vallejo.

Koenigsberg and her students from Whitman College came to Martinez in 2013 to interview Perryman before filming the festival that year. The documentary also looks at how beaver damming could help prevent water loss in the west in addition to telling Martinez’s beaver story.

TAfter the article there is a nice section of how to buy tickets for the premiere!

While many new things are happening this year, those who have visited the festival in the past will see many familiar and popular things, from a day-long musical lineup that includes bluegrass and Dixieland bands, a nature-themed silent auction, the return of beaver tours and special activities for children.

This year, the first 100 youngsters to arrive at the festival will get to build a “beaver pond” of their own, by collecting wildlife stickers from exhibitors and learning how beavers help other animals, Perryman said.

This sticker adventure will mirror Hall’s beaver pond mural design, she said.

While Perryman praised the previous venue as a park that “served us well for a decade alongside our original beaver habitat, she said, “This new home is ideal for the everything we’ve become./” And since the new venue comes with its own dam a short walk away, she added, “it’s like the beavers showed us the way!

The Martinez Beaver Festival will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 30 at Susana Park, at the intersection of Estudillo and Susana streets. Admission is free. Those interested may visit the website www.martinezbeavers.org/wordpress.

Whooohoo! It used to weirdly bug me when reporters used my wording from a press release with their name as if THEY had written it. Now I love it. That’s growth, right? There are good things in the works and hopefully the East Bay Times article will follow soon.

Oh and just to keep me feeling relevant, I got a distressed email yesterday from a woman looking for help defend beavers to her HOA in a very large, notoriously unfriendly beaver state. Because of this website my beaver rolodex is large and growing every day, so I was able to introduce her to a local ally who agreed to help her going forward.

Put THAT in a mission statement.

“AND THEY’RE OFF!”

heidi08 Festival April 30, 2018

I’ve learned to appreciate those special Sunday’s that arrive with good beaver press. Yesterday we were treated to a nice article in the Martinez News Gazette and the East Bay Times. Chalk it up to that media hound Ranger Rick, and our spotlight seeking beavers.

Around East County: Ranger Rick magazine to feature Martinez beavers

Children throughout the world will have their chance to learn about the locally ever-famous Martinez beavers in May as they make a splashy debut in the ~~World~~ National Wildlife Federation’s children’s magazine, Ranger Rick.

Water collects on the whiskers of a beaver that pokes its head out of Alhambra Creek in Martinez, Calif., on Wednesday, June 3, 2015. Heidi Perryman, president of Worth A Dam, was a the creek hoping to catch a glimpse of a newborn kit. (Susan Tripp Pollard/Bay Area News Group)

In 2015 nationally famous wildlife photographer Suzi Eszterhas spent the summer in Martinez checking out the eager, busy beavers as they worked their way throughout Alhambra Creek in the downtown Martinez area. During her stay, Eszterhas was able to see how the local residents helped the beavers in the creek by planting willow trees, one of their favorite foods, and other ways the locals encouraged beavers to make the creek their home.

“We are really happy to have a chance to show other cities nationally ways to co-exist with beavers,” said Heidi Perryman, head of the organization Martinez Beavers: Worth A Dam.

In the article Perryman talks about how Martinez residents learned over the years that beavers have helped Alhambra Creek by attracting new kinds of wildlife and turning the creek into a nature preserve.

The article shares pictures of the local beavers, sites from the Alhambra Creek bridge, residents planting trees and even those showing off crafts at the annual Martinez Beaver Festival.

Speaking of the Beaver Festival, since the beavers in Martinez have moved a little upstream, the annual show will move as well this year, in location as well as date. The new date will be June 30, and the event will be at Susana Park in Martinez.

To check out a copy of Ranger Rick’s “Leave it to beaver” story, go to rangerrick.org/ranger_rick/leave-it-to-beavers. Or pick up a copy of the May Ranger Rick Magazine at local retailers.

Wow, thanks for an excellent article Roni Gelke. When the reporter contacted me I had that weird sensation you get when you run into your kindergarten teacher in the grocery store: something familiar but out of context. It turns out Roni used to be the lead on the Delta Science Center who often exhibited at the beaver festival. She said the DSC had stopped doing events as the volunteers got older. Then pointed out that she had heard about the Ranger Rick story because of her work on the Fish and Wildlife Subcommittee where she serves as a board member!

(That would be the CCCFW that gave us our grant again or the festival activities this year, thank you very much. Small, small world.)

After chatting with Roni I was contacted by Donna Beth Wilenman of the Martinez Gazette, who also wanted to talk about the Ranger Rick article. She is a careful reporter who always pays attention, but I was surprised to find her story covered both the history of the beavers AND the history of Ranger Rick!

Martinez beaver story appearing in Wildlife Federation magazine

MARTINEZ, Calif. – When children across the country open their May copy of the National Wildlife Federation’s “Ranger Rick” magazine, they’ll learn about Martinez beavers.

Writer Hannah Schardt shared how towns once tried to keep beavers out of nearby rivers and streams, but now have decided to leave the animals alone, or go farther by welcoming them.

Martinez wasn’t the only city that became alarmed when beavers began building dams in waterways that could result in flooding of low-lying areas. Beavers cut trees, eat the leaves and twigs, then use branches to build the dams that block waterflow to form ponds where the aquatic rodents can live safely, Schardt wrote.

“Unfortunately, a beaver dam may cause the water to rise so high that it floods nearby streets,” she wrote. “So for many years, people tried to keep beavers out of their towns and away from their homes.”

That was the case about 11 years ago in Martinez, when a family of beavers built a dam in Alhambra Creek. That alarmed business owners who regularly hope that sandbags and other water blocks would prevent flooding inside their storefronts during winter rains. Some felt so strongly about the matter, they wanted the beavers removed or killed.

But not everyone agreed.

Heidi Perryman became the face of Worth a Dam, a grass-roots group that sought to protect the beavers. And the organization sought others who supported their viewpoint that beavers were integral parts of an aquatic ecosystem.

Fortunately, scientists had been researching the impacts of dams and had learned how they keep waterways healthy, Schardt’s article explains. Those beaver pools also become homes for fish, birds and other wildlife while filtering pollution out of the water.

Isn’t that a great way to read about the beavers? First promoting the city then promoting the beavers themselves? Honestly this article was much better than I expected.

This year, Perryman said during a recent Park, Recreation, Marina and Cultural Commission meeting, beavers have been spotted again in Alhambra Creek – near Susana Park. That inspired a change of venue to Susana Park, which also led to a change of date for the 11th annual Beaver Festival. It will take place June 30.

This year, festival goers will be able to see one of the two known beaver dams – one is visible from the Susana Street bridge. Another is near Martinez Junior High School.

This year’s festival will feature a noted Northern California chalk artist, Amy G. Hall, whose canvas will be the center of Susana Park. She will begin work on her chalk painting the day before the festival, and work on it throughout the event. Children and others will be welcome to make their own chalk drawings as well.

Like others who have come to love the Beaver Festival, Hall, too, has an affinity for beavers.

Hall’s design will be the picture children use to pick up stickers at various stations throughout the festival. Not only will they complete the picture, the experience will teach them about the importance of beavers to the overall environment

Perryman said the venue change will be good for the festival, which once again is the recipient of a Contra Costa Wildlife Committee grant.

Susana Park has trees for shade, water, electricity and restrooms, amenities the Beaver Park doesn’t have. Perryman said she had thought about changing the festival’s site. “When the beavers moved, that was a good sign,” she said.

The festival received mention in the Ranger Rick article.

Honestly, I hadn’t even started working on the press release for the festival yet. So this is all ‘icing on the cake’!

“The best thing article does? It’s a national magazine, so it’s in every single state and Canada, and there will be kids that read this,” Perryman said. They’ll learn that beavers can be tolerated in urban creeks and that communities can install devices that help the animals and people coexist. Back when Martinez did it, it had never been done,” she said. “Now everyone knows. That’s my greatest joy about it.”

A-a-a-nd scene! Very nicely done Donna Beth, a very interesting section follows on the history behind Ranger Rick magazine which you should go read. In the meantime I’m going to admit that I never tire about reading articles about the beavers that refer to me as “Perryman”. I feel like a general marching the troops into action.

Wait there’s MORE. How about our article in the Mt Diablo Audbon newsletter?

I know the calendar says it’s still April, but believe me when I tell you. It’s officially festival season now.