Event Speaker 9/26
Meet Roger Mason
Roger Louis Mason was inspired by his granddaughter, Rachel, to found a mountain history museum group in 2015. Roger is a fourth generation Santa Cruz Mountain resident whose family settled in the Skyland community in the 1870’s. Great grandparents on both sides of the family lived and farmed on Stetson Road. Roger grew up and worked on the family fruit farm, and he also worked in construction with his father. Roger graduated from San Jose State University with an Industrial Engineering degree and a Business minor.
Event Speaker 9/26
Meet Melany Moore
Melany Moore grew up in Monte Sereno and, as a child, she was fortunate to have loving parents who nurtured her love of all animals, including horses. Her entire life has been devoted to saving animals of every type, to her children and to her business Shanel's Flowers in Campbell, which she created in 1986 and worked at until 2022. As a mother, Melany is proud to have raised her two daughters in the Loma Prieta School district, for which she was a volunteer for 11 years. Her children are proud graduates of Loma Prieta, C.T. English & Los Gatos High School.
Meet Nancy Cole
Nancy Cole has been a Santa Cruz Mountain resident for over 35 years, having discovered the area through the Summit Riders horseman’s group over 50 years ago. Nancy’s initial experiences were riding horses from property to property to visit, do brunches, lunches, dinners and overnight camping with the horses. She fell in love with the mountains from the very first of her many adventures.
The Historical Wright Family Name
By Debra Staab
It’s not unusual for people to choose a beautiful and serene location for their retirement, perhaps a location like the Santa Cruz Mountains. That is the exact plan that Reverend James Richards Wright put into place back in 1869 when he acquired 100 acres of land at the Summit from Lyman Burrell. The Wrights and Burrells had been neighbors in Ohio, and their families were related by marriage when James’ sister Clarissa wed Lyman in 1839. Burrell had staked his claim at the Summit in 1853. Sources say that Wright paid $600 for his property, possibly as part of a debt repayment scheme between the two men.
Bringing Fruit to Market
By Lou Rapp
Preparing for next year's crop of fruit begins in September and over the next twelve months, here’s what it took for the Rapp Ranch to make a crop of fruit ready for market. Adolphus Rapp first started farming in the Santa Cruz Mountains in 1904. CHAPTER ONE - WINTER WORK In September a cover crop of Vetch seed was spread throughout the orchard. Vetch fixes large amounts of nitrogen (N) into the soil that helps the pear crop. The grass protects soil from erosion and helps improve soil and provides weed control during its vigorous growth in the spring. Also at this time a single disc blade plow was used to make drainage ditches across certain parts of the orchard diagonally, diverting water out of the orchard. This prevented the rain water from eroding the soil by gouging out gullies in the orchard. During these rain storms Adolphus went out with his hip boots on to make sure the water was draining properly in the orchard and that the reservoir was not overflowing.
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