Silicon Valley Disc Golf Club

Dear Disc Golf-hers and Disc Golf-hims,

WE NEED YOU to show up for the Public Hearing of the Santa Clara County Park & Recreation Board. The time is 6:30 on WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7th. The location is 70 West Hedding Street, San Jose. The Commissioner’s of the Park & Recreation Board will be render their decision on a proposal that the Club presented at the Hearing in May. The proposal: we want to lease the LaRaza group picnic area on an annual basis to establish a nine hole disc golf course. We would lease this area until the Park & Rec Department develops a new setting for a disc golf course in south County. The new setting is off Highway #101 near the Coyote Creek Golf (ball) Course. However, this new area, called Perry’s Hill, won’t be ready for development for another 7 – 10 years. Eventually, the LaRaza group picnic area will be no more as the Department will turn it back into a natural area as it is in the flood plain of Coyote Creek. When the new area is ready we will vacate LaRaza. We’ll always have the original nine at Hellyer and that will stay when we begin developing the new course of 18 baskets.

Speaking of LARAZA, there’s a TOURNAMENT this weekend of MAY 20 &21. We’ve rented out the site and we’ll have a singles event on Saturday and a doubles event on Sunday. There’s a paved parking lot, bathrooms, running water and picnic tables for our use. The course is extremely challenging and fun to play. The LaRaza group area is off Coyote Road just east of the freeway. From the Hellyer original course it’s about 2 miles to drive to LaRaza.

ENCLOSED you’ll find a business card from Mel Cotton’s Sporting Goods. There’s a stamp on the back of the card to show that you’re a member of the Club. Present this specially stamped card and you’ll get a “DISC”-COUNT on disc golf merchandise while shopping at Mel Cottons. Thank you Gavin McClements for this membership perk.

Thanks again to TORY JAMISON for leading the charge to acquire a RIDING LAWN MOWER for the Club. Hellyer has never looked better. THANKS are also in order to STEVE GANZ for establishing and maintaining the discussion board at Google as well as maintaining the web site.

See you at the course!

Dear Hellyers and Hellyettes,

Greetings! Tis the season for play at our green pastures in San Jose. With a little rain and before the “grass” turns into two feet high weeds, it’s time to enjoy the disc golf experience at Hellyer Park. And just in case you’d like to go beyond the realm of being a player-only type, we’re offering the opportunity for you to help out on our WORKDAY-SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31ST, 10AM TO 2 PM, WITH PIZZA AT NOON !!! We’re going to plant some trees and bushes, do some weed whacking, rebuild some of the rock walls, repair and rebuild some of the protective screens around the Toyon bushes, pick-up of wood debris and various other clean-up type projects on the course. Bring some work gloves and appropriate tools if you have them. Also, bring a friend!

Speaking of bringing it for a non-playing activity, how about being present at our ANNUAL MEETING, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4TH, 2006, 9 AM. The meeting place is our world headquarters at 3880 S. Bascom Avenue, #115, San Jose, CA, 95124. And just in case you can’t be physically present for the meeting, enclosed you’ll find a PROXY statement. You give your vote, via the proxy statement, to someone who will be present at the Annual Meeting.
If you give your proxy (vote) to someone else before the Meeting and then you are able to make the Meeting, then you get your vote and the proxy is cancelled. Please FILL OUT the PROXY and RETURN it with your annual MEMBERSHIP DUES.

And we’ve had some good speakers and excellent attendance by Hellyerites at various Public Hearings and Public Meetings that have been held regarding the rework of the Master Plan for Coyote Creek. The Club, via its members present at these meetings, has publicly expressed a desire for the EXPANSION of the course to the PARQUE DE LA RAZA group picnic area, which is along the Coyote Creek right of way. There will be future Public Meetings and Hearings and the best way to keep informed for this and other non-playing activities is through our discussion group at Yahoo.com.

SCOTT VAN TYLE has been the MODERATOR for the Yahoo discussion group and deserves a big thanks for his time spent in opening and keeping this communication tool available so that we’re all informed on an up to the minute basis as to disc golf locally and globally. Many thanks are also in order for the effort by JEF WIND in handling the Club T-SHIRT PROJECT from artwork conception to delivering the final product for issuance to the members. Please let us know if you have not received your official Club T-Shirt. STEVE GANZ continues his work in progress for the CLUB WEBSITE at svdgc.org and we all say thank you for your expertise in displaying our e-message on the goodness of our game.

See you at the course!

Dear Members & Friends of Disc Golf @ Hellyer Park

It’s been an up and down and then up again year for disc golf at the friendly confines of Hellyer Park. There was hope that we’d open the long awaited illusive front nine, but, those hopes were dashed in the spring when we were informed by the County Park & Rec staff that the City of San Jose had “taken back some land that they owned” and that land grab by the City eliminated about 3 of the baskets on the front nine. Not a good development. Furthermore, the County Park & Rec staff wants us in the near future to remove the 2 baskets on the grassy area by the lake that are numbers 1 & 2 because the County’s going to build a structure in that vicinity and they wanted to avoid a mixing of disc golf with the general public. Not a good development. So, after working for over 6 years to get to the point of being ready to finally finish out the original plan of an 18 basket course during the “dry” season, we were getting short-changed in a matter of months.

The Board of Directors this past summer decided to present a proposal to the City of San Jose as to developing a disc golf course at Kelly Park. In September, the Board visited the site at the edge of Kelly Park in the old orchard and liked what they saw. Currently, we’re in the process of assembling pictures from the early days of play at Hellyer Park through the present to tell the story of all the different kinds of people that play the game of disc golf. We’ll be able to put together a PowerPoint Presentation through the pictures and text to show the work that’s been done to improve the land and the lives in our community. We look to have a proposal ready for presentation to the City of San Jose by the first part of 2005.

Meanwhile, we just received a call from the County Park & Rec with some potentially exciting news re disc golf at Hellyer Park. The County is reviewing and renewing its Master Plan along Coyote Creek with a push to have more creek crossings. One of the crossings would link to the other side of Coyote Creek at the La Raza Group Picnic Area! The La Raza area is directly across Coyote Creek from our existing nine baskets. And for those of you that played in the special monthly disc golf tournament in November at La Raza, you’re probably drooling over the thought that our other nine baskets could be at La Raza!! La Raza has a paved parking lot, bathrooms, water fountains and picnic tables. But, most importantly, La Raza is one of the most fun and challenging courses in northern Califonia. In 2005 we’ll be having some more events at La Raza to include some monthly tournaments as well as some special Doubles Events on a Sunday following the Saturday monthly.

Check out the web site at www.svdgc.org. Steve Ganz has been doing a great job in developing the site and we’re fortunate to have his services helping the Club. We’ll be developing an extensive web site library of “official”
documents that’ll include the Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws of the Silicon Valley Disc Golf Club, the Revised Negative Declaration of the Environmental Impact Study (our guiding operating document) for disc golf at Hellyer Park, correspondence with the County Park & Rec re the development of the course at Hellyer, copies of the Annual Use Permit and much more.

There will be work days in 2005 on the last Saturday of the months of January, February and March. The Annual Meeting of the Silicon Valley Disc Golf Club will take place on Saturday, February 5th, 2005. The Meeting will start at 9 AM at 3880 South Bascom Avenue, Suite #115, San Jose, CA 95124.
If you are a CURRENT DUES PAYING MEMBER, YOUR PROXY IS INCLUDED IN THIS MAILING. PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR CURRENT DUES FOR THE UPCOMING YEAR ALONG WITH YOUR PROXY. IF YOU SHOW UP AT THE MEETING YOUR PROXY WILL BE RETURNED TO YOU.

See you at the Annual Meeting and see you at the course.

BOD SVDGC