April 18, 2009 Valley Friends and Neighbors,
You are cordially invited to attend the Earth Day Restoration Celebration, a special morning dedicated to working on restoring native plants and wildlife in San Geronimo at Roy's Pools. Meet with neighbors, see old friends, and talk with SPAWN volunteers and staff about making every day Earth Day in the San Geronimo Valley. Hands-on restoration, native plant sale, bird watching, refreshments and the SPAWN tent will be at the west edge of the golf course this Saturday, see below for all the details.

SPAWN Earth Day Restoration Celebration
Saturday, April 18th, 8am - 1pm
Join SPAWN staff and volunteers for a Special Creek Habitat Restoration workday with a fabulous combination of fun educational walks & talks, SPAWN meet & greet, a Native Plant Sale, a big display of SPAWN books, T-Shirts, newsletters, and free info, and of course hands-on restoration along the creek at Roy's Pools in San Geronimo. Families and friends are welcome and refreshments will be provided! All activites will be centered around SPAWN's ongoing habitat restoration around Roy's Pools on the west edge of the San Geronimo Golf Course, where San Geronimo Valley Dr crosses the creek.

Here's what to expect

Early-Bird Songbird Hike, 8-10am: Wonder who that is singing in the trees this time of year? Then join us for an exploration of migratory and resident songbirds that are now breeding along our streams and ridgelines. We will identify birds by sound and sight and explore some of their nesting habitats in and amidst Valley neighborhoods. Meet at Roy's Pools at 8AM, bring binoculars and sturdy walking shoes. We will return by 10AM to meet up with the restoration team. Suggested donation $5-10 (supports our riparian restoration program).

SPAWN Meet & Greet Info Table, 10am - 1pm. Share your ideas with Chris, Blaine, and Paola at SPAWN's information table all day until 1pm, with a special talk on the history of SPAWN and Roy's Pools at 10:15am. We will cover our info table with informative books, newsletters, free info and have our T-shirts (100% made in USA organic cotton) for sale too!

Native Plant Sale, 10am -1pm: Support SPAWN's community-based Native Plant Nursery in Lagunitas! Since 2005, our awesome volunteer nursery team has annually collected local seeds and cuttings and grown native plants for habitat restoration. For Earth Day at Roy's Pools we will have a selection of the over 35 species for sale that we grown, including Redwood, Doug Fir, Coffee-berry, Pacific Nine-bark, Creek Dogwood, California Buckeye, Valley and Live Oak and more.

Hands-on Creek Restoration, 10:30am-1pm. After a brief talk on SPAWN history and such at 10:15 we will break into several groups to plant native plants, mulch areas where weeds were removed, water seedlings, and remove invasive plants as we work to restore the riaprian area along the creek to its former glory of dense, native plants. Learn the How's and Why's of creek restoration, valuable skills to take to your back yard and for making every day Earth Day!

Picnic at Roy's Pools, 1pm
When the work is all done, it is time to eat! Bring your own sandwich or salad for lunch with the restoration crew. We have created a small park-like setting of native plants along the creek at the edge of the golf course, and we have been invited to use this space for our Celebration. Some refreshments are provided thanks to generous donations from the Lagunitas Grocery and Deli and Eat My Kookies! in Corte Madera.

See you there!