News from Wolf Creek Lodge

Wolf Creek Lodge Cohousing Newsletter

Proactive Adult Cohousing in Grass Valley, California

February 2012

Welcome

Welcome!

Suzanne at Christmas Party

Valentine's Day isn't just for lovers. It's also a time to connect with friends. Dr. Oz calls them Vitamins F (for Friends) and counts the benefits of friends as essential to our wellbeing. According to a 2009 article in The New York Times, "Researchers are only now starting to pay attention to the importance of friendship and social networks in overall health. A 10-year Australian study found that older people with a large circle of friends were 22 percent less likely to die during the study period than those with fewer friends . . . [and] Harvard researchers reported that strong social ties could promote brain health as we age." In April of last year, the Mayo Clinic listed the following benefits of friendship: Increases your sense of belonging and purpose; Boosts your happiness; Reduces stress; Improves your self-worth; Helps you cope with traumas, such as divorce, serious illness, job loss or the death of a loved one; Encourages you to change or avoid unhealthy lifestyle habits, such as excessive drinking or lack of exercise.

Sounds good, doesn't it? All of the benefits listed above, and more, will be a regular part of life in Wolf Creek Lodge. We know that adopting a cohousing lifestyle will be good for us, in many, many ways. We hope you will consider joining us! Happy Valentine's Day from Wolf Creek Lodge, a community of neighbors and friends.

Suzanne Marriott, editor

Construction Update

Construction Update

By Katie McCamant

Well, the rains finally came, and we were ready for them! Our focus over the last couple of months has been to get the slabs poured and the road ready for winter so we can work through the winter rains-and we did that! As the drops started falling last month, our grading contractor was just finishing up compacting rock on the road to create a working base for construction trucks and lots of workers.

Unlike the old days where winter rains meant you could just go home, today rain means lots of inspections for erosion control. In the last couple of years, California has instituted much stricter regulations about how construction sites must protect against erosion. A Storm Water Pollution Protection Plan (SWPPP or "sweet pea") requires every construction site to develop a plan for mitigating erosion and performing ongoing inspections and maintenance. For every storm event-defined as 50% or greater chance of getting more than 1/2 inch of rain-we need to do a pre-storm inspection, a during- storm inspection, and a post-storm inspection, and sample water leaving our site to make sure that we are not contributing particulates to the stream below. Two of our community members-Butch and Dick-are assisting our Geotechical/SWPPP consultant Tom Holdrege with these inspections to help keep costs down. The fines are serious ($10,000 per violation, per day!) so we have to take this seriously.

I find myself torn over the strictness of these new regulations. On one hand, I am glad to see stronger protections of our waterways, which are cleaner now than they have been for 160 years, and at the same time I am frustrated by the amount of time and money these inspections cost us. But over time, this will become the norm, and Wolf Creek will remain a healthy mountain stream that can support fish and marine life. Wolf Creek Lodge can be proud that it is doing its part to protect that stream both with our erosion control measures and with members' involvement in the Wolf Creek Alliance, a local non-profit that monitors the stream's water quality.

On other fronts, I have been working closely with our Construction Project Manager to coordinate subcontractors for the start of erecting the walls next month. The walls are being pre-built in a warehouse and will be delivered as panels to the site. That will be an exciting day when they start going up!

Featured Article

MusicaliTea

By Jacque Bromm

WCL enjoying MusicaliTEA

Several lucky lodgers plus friends spent a delightful afternoon on Sunday, January 22 at the 2nd annual MusicaliTea, a benefit event for the Sierra Master Chorale presented by InConcert Sierra (click for information). Sweet music and hot tea, what could be better in the wintry cold of January? Sierra Master chorale members serenaded us in-between serving a delicious 3-course luncheon that included Curried Egg Capriccios, Scrumptious Scones with "Harpsichord" Curry and "Timpani" Tartlets, among other delectable finger foods. Local actor and playwright Gary Wright entertained us with oral excerpts from "Tea" related literary works such as the Mad Tea Party from Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." Butch Thresh was so inspired he's planning on revisiting Adams' work. He is also going to practice drinking his tea with the "pitch-perfect pinkie pose" that Claire Manhart is so deftly modeling in our photo. We'll expect more lodgers to join us for this fun-filled fundraising event next year!

Featured Member

Claire Manhart

Claire Manhart

I was born, raised, and formally educated in Omaha, Nebraska. After teaching 6th graders for one year, I came out to Los Angeles to babysit my sister's kids while she was in the hospital having her third child. A friend had told me that since I was in California, I should visit beautiful San Francisco before returning to Omaha. As luck would have it, my brother was in San Francisco after getting out of the Marine Corps. I called him up; he met me at the airport, took me out to dinner, and took me on several cable car rides. As luck would have it again, it was a gorgeous, sunny, warm, fog-free day. And the marine air. Ah, the marine air! I was in love. Decided on the spot to stay in San Francisco. Called Mom to send out my stuff, and my real education began in SF in the 60s.

Now, I didn't run down to the Haight to join a hippie commune, but I was definitely changed by the openness and acceptance of many around me and the music and the concerts in Golden Gate Park and Avalon Ballroom. But all was not love and brotherhood. There was the divisive Vietnam War. As a Department of Army Civilian working in the high school completion program at the Army Education Center at the Presidio, I saw many soldiers change their lives as a result of advancing their education. I also saw many being spat on if they left the Presidio wearing their uniforms. After serving in Vietnam, many returned to the US in a body bag. I worked for the government for 27 years, 3 years in Germany and 1 year in Korea. I was offered an early retirement and became a tour guide-leading many cruise trips: to Alaska, up and down both coasts, through the Panama Canal and train trips across Canada. Always I was happy to return to San Francisco until I realized most of my close friends had moved out of the area, and my closest family members were in Fresno and Folsom. I was in need of finding a community, so I came up to Grass Valley to checkout Wolf Creek Lodge. I was impressed with the friendly spirit of its members, so I moved from my beloved San Francisco to Grass Valley, which is fast becoming my new beloved city!

February CoHousing Events

Cohousing Events

Introduction to Wolf Creek Lodge

Friends!

Saturday, February 18th, we're having an introduction to Wolf Creek Lodge and you're invited!

Starting at 1 pm guests are invited to visit the building site where a member of Wolf Creek Lodge will describe the project. At 2 pm you're invited to observe our business meeting followed by our Introduction to Wolf Creek Lodge presentation at 4:30 PM. This is a great opportunity to meet the people who are choosing Wolf Creek Lodge proactive adult cohousing as their new home. Stay for our delicious potluck dinner and a chance to talk informally with members and other guests.

For location and to reserve a spot, please email info@wolfcreeklodge.org or phone 530.478.1970.

Anyone for coffee?

Let's have some coffee! Are you and your friends interested in proactive adult cohousing?

Do you drink coffee?

If you arrange a small meeting over coffee at your own home or in a coffee shop, members of Wolf Creek Lodge will be happy to join you. They will share their experiences creating the Wolf Creek Lodge community. This can be anywhere in northern California, but we may be able to visit some other locations.

To get the conversation started email info@wolfcreeklodge.org, with "coffee" in the subject line.

Local Events

There are lots of fun things to do in Grass Valley and neighboring towns.

BEAR YUBA LAND TRUST

Trek: Spenceville's WWII Bunkers Saturday, Feb 4, 9:00am-4:00pm

Bear Yuba Land Trust Treks Join Clarence Motter for a tour of the historic WWII bunkers in the Spenceville Wildlife Preserve. There are numerous structures tucked away off the beaten track in the preserve, wartime remnants from 65 years ago. This 4.5 mile trek will visit 10 military bunkers, the "Cabbage Patch" cemetary and the strange structure known as the "Dragon's Teeth."Level: Moderate. Cost: $12 for Land Trust members, $17 for Not-yet members.