Latest News from the Friends

2 December, 2020
Welcome to the December Newsletter with all the latest from the Friends of Kings Park.

Find out about news at the Friends of Kings Park.

Read on for Volunteer Opportunities, Service Awards and our new Botanical Gin!

In this issue

President’s Report

Thank you to everyone who volunteered at the recent plant sale. Net proceeds of $19,155 was raised in less than three hours. A special thank you to the growing volunteers for the quality and range of plants available at the sale. 26 new members joined at the sale.

The Friends has been given a wonderful Christmas present. Due to declining numbers, the Master Gardeners have decided to join us as one of our volunteer groups. They will continue to support Digby Growns in plant development, the science department in BCC, giving gardening advice, looking after their xeriscaped bushland garden in front of BCC and the monthly Dig it With Coffee sessions with horticulture staff.

The transition will take a while but I hope you will welcome our new volunteer group.

Our Fund supports the annual KP Science Summer scholarships programme. This year there were over 30 expressions of interest, 17 applications and offers made to 9 students. I am proud that the Friends are involved in this programme, in providing a pathway for leaders of the future.

Read more about the student’s projects here

I have exciting news on the progress of the Fixing Friends, a group of new volunteers, who will support the infrastructure team here in the Park.  Interviews have taken place to find a Maintenance Tradesperson Coordinator to lead these volunteers.  If you are interested in joining this group, please wait for details which will be advertised in our February newsletter.

Looking for that special Christmas present?  Order a bottle of the Friends of Kings Park Botanical Gin available by clicking here for the order form. To receive your order in time for Christmas, send your form to [email protected] by 2pm, Wednesday 9th December. Please note the CVV question has been removed from the form.

Orders can be collected from Wanju Marr on the following dates:
Monday, 7th December between 7 am and 12 noon
Tuesday, 8 December between 9 am and 12 noon
Wednesday, 9 December between 9 am and 4 pm
Thursday, 10 December between 9 am and 4 pm
Two new collection dates:
Monday, 14th December between 9 am and 12 noon
Tuesday, 15th December between 9 am and 12 noon

On behalf of the Friends, I wish Lesley and Grady a well-deserved retirement.
I wish you all a safe and enjoyable festive season.

Best wishes.
Pippa.

Membership Milestones

As we wrap up 2020, the Friends of Kings Park would like to acknowledge the following members who are meeting their membership milestones this year – that’s 10, 15, 20, and 25 years of being a member. Members are recognised in the year they reach these milestones.

We thank you for your continued support of the Friends!

25 years (Joined in 1995)
Dennis Craig
Barbara Knott
Janet Muhling
Peter Muhling
Lesley Davies
Tony Scalzo
Evalyn Beaumont
Tony Weldon
Stella Weldon
Suzanne Stanley

15 years (Joined in 2005)
Andre Bozyk
Murray Cutler
Jennifer Henderson
Jolanda Keeble
Alec Hooper
Margaret Drummond
Kaye Menzies
John Luscombe
Sorrel Gillett
Mary Jones
Lorraine Luscombe
Jacqueline Barnwell
Annabelle Steele
Donna Peters
Doreen Allbeury
Judith Holmes
Norman Allbeury
Karin Robinson
Ronald Croager

20 years (Joined in 2000)
Barbara Kent
Siegy Krauss
Greg Bates
Harry Pearson
Trish Bylsma
Nancy Cornish
Audrey Pearson
Judith Burn
Val Crook
Sally Harvey
Robert Wark
Michael Murray
Dale Murray
Kaye Crawford
Lois Sharpe
Phillip Jacobsen

10 years (Joined in 2010)
Glenn Pegrum
Stephanie Rusyn
Barbara Butler
Jan Stewart
Eng Pin Tay
Amanda Shade
Lesley Hammersley
Stephen Easton
Peta Lewis
Doug Stewart
Diana Stewart
Helen Arevalo
Robyn Cooper
Margaret Hooker
Flora Kendall
Peter Wilshaw
Gillian Hunt
Kitty Spackman
Mark Spackman
Kim Smith
Andrea Hawkes
Jan Sooby
Maria Harries
Alice Thomas
Jane Maclean
Lester Zani
Ross Jackson
Rhian Brearley

Growing Friends Volunteers Wanted

The Growing Friends are looking for members who are keen, willing to work outdoors in all weather, are friendly, self-motivated, have high attention to detail, able to work in small groups and willing to get their hands dirty. Volunteers will be expected to attend at least two sessions a month. Vacancies are presently available for the Wednesday afternoon, Saturday morning and Saturday afternoon sessions. Interviews will take place on Saturday, 16 January 2021.

For this group, you must be a Friends of Kings Park member. If the position is of interest to you, the first step is to email the Volunteer Coordinator, [email protected] with your name, relevant experience and a brief description of how you could support the Growing Friends.

The Volunteer Coordinator will then send you further information.

Wanju Marr Carers Update

What a year to start a new volunteer group – during COVID-19! Despite the interruption, Wanju Marr (WM) Carers have had a productive year. We felt welcome from day one, as we moved to set up our office procedures and processes in this sparkling new building with great support from Mike Baldwin, Pippa Moodie, Larr Rose and Mike Weaver among others.

Our core functions are:

  • Managing the Wanju Marr Volunteer Hub building and supporting our volunteers
  • Maintaining operating hours for Wanju Marr – on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
  • Providing morning tea facilities and refreshments for Garden Carers and Bushland Carers
  • Responding to emails, sending out communications and making bookings for meetings and gatherings at Wanju Marr
  • Preparing for the quarterly Volunteer Hub Administrative Committee (VHAC) meetings, attending and taking minutes

Our latest assignment is supporting Ryan Glowacki, Bushland Manager in the Bold Park and Kings Park Fauna Monitoring Project. This involves scanning the images taken by bushland fauna monitoring cameras and identifying and recording animals and birds captured on film.

One of the most rewarding parts of our job is supporting and spending time with the Garden Carers and Bushland Carers. The Garden Carers come in on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and the Bushland Carers come in on every second Wednesday.

A highlight of being a WM Carer is making new friends, enjoying the beautiful outdoor area and finding out more about Kings Park.

Celebrating Melbourne Cup at Wanju Marr:
L-R Georgia Wilson, Mike Nicholson, Brian Ferguson, Geoff Chidlow, Erlene Chun, Merilyn Burbidge and Ursula Keel.

Ryan is pointing out insects pollinating the flower

ClimateWatch Walk – Bushland Nature Trail

A group of us met at the Mia-mia for a group walk along the Bushland Nature Trail on Wednesday and were lucky with good weather.  This was an opportunity to catch up with some old friends and meet other people interested in the trail.  Ryan Glowacki,  Bushland Manager, BGPA, joined us to provide information on the origin of this ClimateWatch trail and the plants and insects along the way.  The data from the observations of specific plants along this trail is maintained by the CW group of FoKP for the BGPA.

These walks are held to introduce people to the trail with the idea of bringing together new people and those who collect data with the objective of increasing the number of people monitoring the selected plants.  If you are interested in assisting with the data collection or finding out more please contact the ClimateWatch group at Kings Park and we can provide more information.

ClimateWatch Walk Wed 18 Nov 2020 – Forrest Drive Trail

On a beautiful sunny late spring day, a number of ClimateWatchers (including Pippa) attended and enjoyed the walk along the Forrest Drive Trail. Collecting observations on the ClimateWatch app, seen above on Marri (Corymbia calophylla), is easy and fun.
Another nominated tree along the trail,  the WA Christmas Tree (Nutysia floribunda) with its beautiful bright orange flowers can be seen from a distance away.

Thank you for your interest and support in this important project.

Look forward to seeing you in 2021.
Stay safe and well.

Movie Ticket Giveaway – Ammonite

Members Giveaway!

We have 10 double passes to new movie, to give away to our members.

AMMONITE

Official Selection: Cannes Film Festival 2020
Official Selection: Toronto International Film Festival 2020
Official Selection: London Film Festival 2020

In 1800s England, acclaimed but unrecognized fossil hunter Mary Anning (Kate Winslet) works alone on the rugged Southern coastline. With the days of her famed discoveries behind her, she now searches for common fossils to sell to tourists to support herself and her ailing mother. When a wealthy visitor entrusts Mary with the care of his wife Charlotte Murchison (Saoirse Ronan), she cannot afford to turn his offer down. Proud and relentlessly passionate about her work, Mary initially clashes with her unwelcome guest, but despite the distance between their social class and personalities, an intense bond begins to develop, compelling the two women to determine the true nature of their relationship.

To enter the giveaway, let’s lighten the mood! Tell us your best Christmas joke to enter the draw. The winners will be drawn at random, and the best jokes will be printed in the next newsletter.

Send your entries to [email protected] no later than 11 December 2020.

Volunteer Survey

We recently sent a survey to our active volunteers about their experiences in 2020. If you haven’t had a chance to do it yet, please take a moment this week so we can find out how your volunteering is going. Thanks to everyone who entered the draw to win as Aspects voucher by completing the survey by Tuesday. The draw is now closed and the winner of the voucher is MIKE NICHOLSON. The survey will remain open until Wednesday 9 December.

New email addresses for the Friends

Our staff and office bearers are moving to a suite of new emails so please update your address books as follows:

Office Admin (Helena): [email protected]

Events & Communications (Alex): [email protected]

President (Pippa): [email protected]

Vice President (Ian): [email protected]

Treasurer (Vern): [email protected]

Growing Friends: [email protected]

The old “bgpa” email addresses will be phased out over the next few weeks. Phone numbers remain the same.

2021 Calendar

Our very popular Wildflower Calendar is now available, featuring a beautiful selection of native flowers and plants. It makes the perfect gift for locals and visitors alike.

The calendar can now be purchased on our website and will soon be available in Aspects. Friends members enter the discount coupon that was emailed to you to receive a 15% discount off the retail price.

Don’t forget, proceeds from the sale of the calendar go straight to the Friends, to support important projects within Kings Park.

Make sure you don’t miss out! Last year’s calendar sold faster than we anticipated and a few folks were left disappointed. Support the Friends of Kings Park by purchasing your calendar now!

Purchase the 2021 Calendar here