Financial Report
By Emily Ramos MVHA Treasurer
Checking Account Balance as of 6 / 10 / 2020 : $ 22,224.24 Income : $ 214.36 Expenses : $ 1,242.63 Checking Account Balance as of 1 / 17 / 2021 : $ 21,195.97
New Park Re�lects Fowl
History
By Pamela Baird MVHA President
Certi�icates of Deposit Balance as of 6 / 10 / 2020 : $ 60,434.11 Certi�icates of Deposit Balance as of 1 / 17 / 2021 : $ 60,476.67
MVHA Board Changes
By Nicholas Perry MVHA Past President
The new year brings some new faces to our Board of Directors , as well as familiar faces in new roles .
In addition to our new president , Pamela Baird , we are very excited to welcome IdaRose Sylvester as our new Membership Committee Chair ! IdaRose has lived in Mountain View for over 20 years , and is fascinated by the rapid change the city has gone through , and the commitment to community the city has . She holds an MBA , and previously ran her own consulting �irm ,
IdaRose Sylvester and now runs her nonpro�it , Appetite for Good . She chairs Mountain View ’ s Human Relations Commission , and is involved in several civic organizations helping protect and de�ine the city ’ s future . She loves studying the past to see what lessons we can bring to the future . Prior to joining our Board , IdaRose facilitated the MVHA ’ s 2020 Vision retreat last March so she ’ s already received a crash-course in the many great ideas we have for advancing our organization ’ s mission . Welcome , IdaRose ! And a big thanks to our out-going Membership Committee Chair , Lisa Garcia . We are glad to have Lisa remain on the board as a Director-at-Large . Marina Marinovich , who most recently served as one of Directors-at-Large , has agreed to resume her role as our Publicity Committee Chair .
We also are wishing a fond farewell to Melissa Wright , our Historical Data Committee Chair . During her time with our Board , Melissa did a phenomenal job completely rebuilding the MVHA website and helping us enroll and take advantage of a variety of technological platforms , like Google Suite . She graciously agreed to continue to provide us with advice on our website from afar . Thank you , Melissa ! Stepping in for Melissa as Our Historical Data Chair is our previous Past President and Mountain View History Center librarian , Candace Bowers . Candace continues a long and fruitful collaboration between library staff and our association .
Everyone else on the Board has agreed to retain their previous positions , and I look forward to volunteering with all of them in my new role as Past President . As always , we want to hear from our members . If you have ideas you want to share or want to get more involved in the MVHA , please email us at info @ mountainviewhistorical . org .
Chickcen sculptures at the new Wynadotte Park
The City of Mountain View recently opened a new park in an area of town that doesn ’ t have much park space . Located at 2254 Wyandotte Street , the park is nearly an acre of land . Prior to its construction the city conducted several community outreach meetings to encourage residents to have input in the design and naming of Wyandotte Park . During the meetings several residents encouraged the city to recognize the history of the area around the park- that of chicken farms !
For many years this area was outside of the city limits and contained properties where chickens were raised for meat and eggs . The area was nicknamed “ Chickentown ”. Streets on both sides of Rengstorff were named for breeds of chickens-Leghorn , Plymouth , Wyandotte and Colony .
The Wyandotte breed of chickens was developed in New York state in the 1880 ’ s . They are named after an American Indian tribe that inhabited New York and Canada . As a breed Wyandotte chickens are generally very docile , friendly and easily handled . They are raised for both meat and eggs . City Council decided to add a budget for public art in this park . The Visual Arts Committee was tasked with developing ideas for the artwork . Owls were originally suggested , but participants of the original outreach meetings suggested that chickens would be more appropriate , based on the history of the area . The artwork , entitled “ Hello Chicken ” was created by WOWHAUS ( Scott Constable & Ene Osteraas-Constable ).
The new park features play and �itness equipment , green open space , bike racks and �ive chicken sculptures . What a fun way to give a nod to a part of history that few people know .
you needed copy editor
Cynthia Hanson Editorial Consultant & Copy Editor
Whether you ’ re updating your resume or writing the world ’ s next great novel , Cynthia Hanson is available to help make sure your writing is clear and typo-free . As the MVHA ’ s volunteer copy editor , she ’ s helped make this newsletter shine and is available to hire for other projects .
Contact Cynthia today : cynthialynnhanson @ gmail . com
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