New Life In North Fork......Continued

The weather and Springtime has not been cooperating at all this year. It has been miserably cold and unpredictable for us humans for weeks, but still our resident returning sparrows have braved the weather, and have been very busy transporting nest building materials to the nest site. Look closely and you can see two long wing feathers as Mom is tidying up the nesting area.





This year the neighbors and I decided to help out our industrious sparrows, note the mound of nest building material consisting of lint, tiny sticks, fluff, and, string hanging from the red bud tree.



At first the wary sparrows were more cautious than thankful for the scary cocoon looking mound of nest material as it tumbled and twisted in the wind. The sparrows soon discovered, however, that the odd looking cocoon was a much easier way to obtain building materials than darting all over town.

As attested by Dad sparrows mouth full of fluff, our offered up cocoon appears to be a very successful helpful hand.




Here is Father sparrow on the constant look out for danger as Mom is arranging the nest to suit her fancy.




Even Moms need to take a rest occasionally..............




Stay tuned for more reports on our returning sparrow family.


© Copyright 2008 North Fork News

NFCoC Annual Dinner/Auction Fundraiser

Tom Wheeler, Auctioneer

North Fork Chamber of Commerce
Annual Dinner/Auction

Saturday, April 19, 2008 5:30pm at Town Hall

Saturday evening April 19th , The North Fork Chamber of Commerce is hosting our annual fundraiser Dinner and Auction at North Fork Town Hall. We have some fabulous items up for auction. Be prepared for a memorable evening of classy food and fun. The Buckhorn Saloon will be catering the sit down dinner with your choice of Tri Tip, Chicken or a delicious Vegetarian selection.

Pre-Sale Tickets are $18 each

(a limited number of tickets will be available for sale at the door, at $20 each)

Our Auctioneer for the evening, North Fork's own Tom Wheeler, will try his best to encourage you to dig deeply into your pockets to support the chamber's town restoration projects while entertaining you. All of your friends look forward to seeing you there.

Please put this special event on your calendar now!


Pre-sale tickets are available at North Fork Hardware and the Buckhorn Saloon on Main Street in North Fork.

Dinner/Auction Information: 877-2410




© Copyright 2008 North Fork News

Water Management Plan

The following is an excerpt from a letter written by Ken Swanson of Boyle Engineering Corp to the Integrated Regional Water Management Plan Advisory Committee Members on April 16th:

The Madera County Integrated Regional Water Management Plan (Plan) was unanimously accepted by the Board of Supervisors on April 14, 2008. The final document is available on the Madera County website . The project website has been closed.

The acceptance of the Plan as an initial assessment of conditions in the County that also identifies alternatives to protect and improve the County's water resources is only the first step in developing and implementing the Plan. The State is currently developing guidelines for these Plans that should be available to the County later this year. It is anticipated that the County will apply for additional funding to update the Plan to meet future State guidelines. In addition, the Madera County Water Advisory Commission (MCWAC) will review the Plan at least every six months to ensure it is kept current and is updated as conditions change or new information or data is available. Additionally, the MCWAC will be discussing the formation of subcommittees to review and work on the Plan as necessary. The intent is that the document be a "living document" that will be used to assist the County in making decisions regarding water resources in the County now and in the future.

I would like to thank all that participated in the development of the Plan. I know that it took many hours of your time in attending meetings and reviewing documents. Your efforts and giving of your time is greatly appreciated. I also commend the County in taking the lead in preparing this Plan. It is one of only a few being prepared in the Central Valley region and throughout the State. It is also the only Plan that addresses water resources on a countywide basis, including both mountain and valley floor regions. It is very important that the County continue to be proactive in addressing it water resource issues so that the State does not step in and do it for the County. I know that everyone involved believes that Madera County water resource issues are best handled at the local level by the stakeholders that best understand the issues.



© Copyright 2008 North Fork News

Dance & Sing While the Music is Still Playing

Video by Josh at TenTortoise.com

© Copyright 2008 North Fork News

For Love of the World

Beach at Carmel, CA

In my previous post last Monday telling about the memorial celebration of Cynthia Loweburg's life, I mentioned that people spoke and read poetry and that there was a memory table with photos and a poem on it. You can see the memory table in the photo at the top of my March 31st post, but you cannot see the words of the illustrated poem on the right hand side of the table.

One of Cynthia's close friends found this poem in a "hippie catalog" that her daughter showed her and she felt it spoke of Cynthia so well that she purchased the poster with the poem on it, had it rush shipped to her and then framed it to read and present it to Cynthia's family at the memorial gathering last Sunday. I really like what the poem says, believe it does apply to Cynthia and other women that I have known, and would aspire to be like the woman in this poem.

The author is Charlotte Tall Mountain. I looked her up on the internet to find that she died in 2006 of cancer at the age of 64. She apparently was a very active, strong and passionate woman as well. You can read more about her and her poetry here.

Here's the beautiful poem:


For Love of the World
by Charlotte Tall Mountain

For the love of a tree,
she went out on a limb.

For the love of the sea,
she rocked the boat.

For the love of the earth,
she dug deeper.

For the love of community,
she mended fences.

For the love of the stars,
she let her light shine.

For the love of spirit,
she nurtured her soul.

For the love of a good time,
she sowed seeds of happiness.

For the love of the Goddess,
she drew down the moon.

For the love of nature,
she made compost.

For the love of a good meal,
she gave thanks.

For the love of family,
she reconciled differences.

For the love of creativity,
she entertained new possibilities.

For the love of her enemies,
she suspended judgment.

For the love of herself,
she acknowledged her worth.

And the world was richer for her.



© Copyright 2008 North Fork News