by Pat Leach, SJR Action Community Team

Come join-in and let’s make this day fun! The volunteers of the NSJ Community Center and the San Juan Ridge Action Community Team have partnered with local businesses – as of this printing Sweetland Mercantile and Ridge Café - plus Hospitality House, Nevada County Health and Human Services and Waste Management to help our town better manage litter, waste and discarded items. Please help for an hour or more.

The meeting place will be at The Lot in town on Hwy 49 across from Ridge Cafe, and the sign-in sheet will be with the volunteer near the Waste Management dumpster who will direct you to a location to service. Bring a friend to work with and join everyone at 1pm for soup and sandwiches.

Remember to wear appropriate work gloves, clothes, shoes and bring your water bottle. If you have a 5 gallon bucket or rake to bring, that would be most helpful!

For more info, contact SJR ACT: Roo 798.3355 or Coral 287.3431.

by Pat Leach, NSJ Fire Auxiliary

Fire Prevention Week Open House at Fire Station 3 on Tyler Foote. Saturday October 13th, 10am-3pm. Demonstrations by North San Juan Fire, Camptonville Fire and CALFire; Firewise Communities USA information; Hot Dogs and Ice Cream hosted by the NSJ Firefighter's Association.

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Annual Firefighter's Spaghetti Feed and Auction. Saturday October 20th, 5pm (Seniors) 6pm (General) Come mingle with the men and women of North San Juan Volunteer Fire Department and support those who serve the community - not only during fires, river rescues, vehicle accidents, downed power-lines and trees, but also - and mostly - medical emergencies! Come show your appreciation, have a great meal and share lots of laughter!

by Diana Pasquini, San Juan Ridge Family Resource Center

The San Juan Ridge Family Resource Center is very happy to announce that preschool aged (3-5) children will soon have the opportunity to have fun while learning in a Music & Movement Class presented by Jessica Navarrete. Having spent a lifetime working with young children, Jessica explained her motivation for presenting this class at the FRC. “My mom (Mindy Morton) always did day care when I was a child and I loved helping. When I was old enough I opened my own home day care in North San Juan and always tried my hardest to keep the kids engaged and learning in a safe environment. I’ve always done a structured preschool time that included music. I feel that an early introduction to music is beneficial.”

Preschool Music & Movement

at the San Juan Ridge Family Resource Center

Thursdays 10-11am…. Beginning October 4^th

FREE! Ten-week class

(class will not meet 11/22)

Must be pre-registered. No drop-ins. Limited class size.

This excellent opportunity is available to all San Juan Ridge boys and girls, ages 3-5. For more info or to enroll, drop by the FRC or call us at 292.3174.

From the web at: northcolumbiaschoolhouse.org

*With Molly Jochem & Gigi Grinstand*

*Saturday, Oct 13th * * Noon-3 * * $50* *

by Ned Russell, Coalition for a Drug Free Nevada County

Tip – Asset #1-7  – Positive relationships

Positive relationships are the foundation of many of the assets, at home and in schools, neighborhoods, and the community. Actively look for what your children do right and reinforce those behaviors with praise and hugs. When you must address negative behavior, allow for mistakes and forgetfulness, provide guidance, and let “natural consequences” play out when safe. Physical punishment often increases bad behavior. (A 4/26/16 CBS report on analysis of 75 studies over 50 years of 150,000 children states firmly that spanking leads to bad behavior. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/5-decade-study-reveals-fallout-from-spanking-kids/   or search for "spanking" on cbsnew.com)

To learn more about the 40 Developmental Assets (Got40?), call 271.5617 or send email to  info@Got40.org  or                      NedRussell@pacbell.net.

From the web at: northcolumbiaschoolhouse.org

There will be a pie contest, a hot pepper eating contest, beard and mustache contest, as well as the world famous “Tug of Peace,” sack races, Kids games with prizes and Fantastic Local Live music!

The musical line-up: Robert & Mei Lin Heirendt- a Father/Daughter duo will open up the stage, Hui Mea Hoomaka- a local youth band playing rock, pop and Hawaiian folk, Ruchrich Family Band- a shindig favorite, Hook & Line- will bring a square dance to finish up the fun filled day.

For info, visit northcolumbiaschoolhouse.org or call 265.2826.

by Mary Moore, Librarian

OPEN TUES & THURS 11-7   SAT 10-4          

Phone: 292-3008

Location: Next to Head Start on Oak Tree in North San Juan.

Storytime, Storytime!!  We need more children….

Last summer we received a huge tub of puppets from Patti Caraballar.  They have been the inspiration for planning really silly events.  Early in September the ELEPHANT puppet picked out her favorite books (all about elephants of course) to show the children and Moms how many different kinds of books we have:

A baby’s cloth book made by quilters, an almost indestructible board book, lots of picture books, several Easy Reading books and some true books about elephants for children and some for grownups.

Later in the month the two TURTLE puppets took over finding books, but imagine how surprised they were when a real African Tortoise came with his little boy,.  We grownups enjoyed hearing Dr. Seuss’s, “Yertle the Turtle”, while the children loved the puppets.

SAN JUAN RIDGE COMMUNITY LIBRARY PRESENTS

OCTOBER 13, 2018 9am-5pm

Bring a snack and some band aids as we will happily train you to stitch in no time. All sexes and ages welcome. (Each child will need a supervising adult) If you work for ½ hr., you get to sign the stitchers’ panel and be famous for 1,000 years.

The Library is behind the ball field, 18847 Oak Tree Rd. North San Juan 292-3008/470-8439

by Hank Weston, District IV Supervisor—Nevada County Board of Supervisors

As you may have read or heard, the Nevada County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted an Urgency Ordnance on September 11, 2018 prohibiting open fire burning within the South Yuba River Corridor. Specifically, the Urgency Ordinance prohibits open fire on private property within ¼ mile on each side of the ordinary high mark of the river in Nevada County from the confluence of the South Yuba River with Kentucky Creek below Bridgeport to Lang’s Crossing (39 miles) from Memorial Day to the end of the declared fire season each year from 2018 and again from Friday, May 24th, 2019 through the end of 2019 fire season as declared by Cal FIRE and the United States Forest Service. The Urgency Ordinance will only be in effect for two fire seasons as a pilot program. However, the Board adopted four exceptions to the prohibition to allow for reasonable and responsible summer activities like having BBQs but with some restrictions. Specifically, small recreational fires in organized campgrounds with the proper clearance are permitted. Small recreational fires in permanent fire pits or rings no larger than 5 feet in diameter that are within 30 feet of a designated water system (not the river) but that are at least 25’ away from any combustible structure that include the proper clearance are permitted as well.  BBQ’s are also permitted so as long as they are within 30 feet of a designated water system and have the proper clearance around them as well. The above exceptions also require that any allowed recreational or cooking fires must be on an improved parcel with an occupying resident or property owner present on the property. Last but not least, the Urgency Ordinance also provided an exception for smoking, so as long as it is inside, in a vehicle or in an area that is cleared of all not structural flammable material by a minimum of 5 feet.

It is important to note that the purpose of the Urgency Ordinance is to take the immediate necessary action to implement a precautionary measure to mitigate the imminent hazards of human caused wildfire in the South Yuba River Corridor that would have devastating impacts on the watershed, the surrounding community and the County as a whole. After all, Nevada County made it a top County priority to implement existing County policies and programs to reduce the risk of wildfire and the effects of wildfire on life, property, and the environment, as well as explore other ways to reduce the threat and damage from wildfires earlier this year.

The Urgency Ordinance was developed with the input from the Yuba River Public Safety Cohort, which is a multi-agency workgroup that includes local state and federal agency representatives, as well as various community organizations and stakeholders. The Cohort includes but is not limited to District I Supervisor Heidi Hall, District IV Supervisor Hank Weston, Sheriff’s Office, County Executive Office, Nevada County Office of Emergency Services, Nevada County Public Works Department, California Highway Patrol, Cal FIRE, Nevada County Consolidated Fire District, North San Juan Fire District, California Department of Parks and Recreation, Federal Bureau of Land Management, and various non-profit and community organizations. Please visit MyNevadaCounty.com for more information or call my office at 530-265-1480.

In other news, I recently had the opportunity to meet with Scott Thurmond, from Thurmond Consulting Services to discuss the County’s work on developing the County’s 10-Year Homelessness Strategic Plan. The consultant is meeting with various stakeholders to identify key objectives and strategies to further the County’s homelessness plan that includes identifying and leveraging various funding mechanisms. Some encouraging work is already being implemented as part of the County’s Housing First Approach that was presented to the Board at the beginning of the year. The County has implemented a Coordinated Entry System using Connecting Point 211, which streamlines how folks access homeless services through a single entry point. Previously, homeless individuals and families would have to apply for services through multiple programs, which as you can imagine made it very difficult to get access to all of the services available to them. If you know someone who is experiencing homelessness or is in jeopardy of being homeless, please have them call 211 to get registered in the County’s Coordinated Entry System. Additionally, the County has implemented its Bridging 2 Housing (B2H) Program which is the first program that enables homeless individuals and families to access housing without any pre-conditions except for simply being homeless. A Housing First Approach, which is supported by current best practices, research and empirical data outlines that chronically homeless individuals are much more likely to remain housed if they are housed first and then are provided services to help get them back on their feet. You can imagine how difficult it would be for an individual to overcome addiction, mental illness or apply for a job if they don’t have a place to live, shower and ultimately recover from being homeless. We anticipate that the County’s Homelessness Strategic Plan should be coming before the Board this fall for consideration.

Last but not least, as the end of my 12 years as your District IV Supervisor nears, I will be holding a Casual Celebration BBQ at the Western Gateway Park in Penn Valley on Saturday October 20, 2018 from 2 to 5pm. Tickets for the event are $15, with kids under 10 free, which will include locally made hamburgers, hotdogs, potato and macaroni salad, beer, wine and other non-alcoholic refreshments. Attire for the event is absolutely casual or as some say, Penn Valley Formal. Folks can RSVP for the event by emailing clerkofboard@co.nevada.ca.us or calling 265-1480 and can purchase tickets through the Clerk of the Board’s office by cash or check. So mark your calendars and come out to join the community for a terrific day of celebration.