Ducor Telephone Holiday Schedule & Planned Internet Outages Week of 11/20

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From Kevin in our local Ducor office:

I will be out of the office until 11-22-17. You can leave a detailed message at 559-850-0012 or e-mail me at kevinr@ducortelco.com and I will call you back, take care of your issue remotely, or have someone help you ASAP.

There will be one 15-minute outage on Monday 11-20-17 between 1 and 2 am and maybe another on Tuesday 11-21-17 for 15-minutes between 1 and 2 am.

Thank you for your patience with our upgrade and we apologize for any inconvenience.

Holiday closures for all Ducor offices:
November 23 and 24
December 22 and 25
January 1
I will still be available for any issues you may have.
Thank You!
Kevin Ryant
KM Exchange Manager

New KMPO&A Newsletter Editor Named!

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This morning, Sunday October 1st, at the regular KMPO&A Board Meeting, Kitty Ferguson volunteered and the Board approved the acceptance of her as the new editor of the KMPO&A Newsletter.  This vacancy was previously announced in the just published Fall Edition of the Newsletter.

The KMPO&A members have been quite fortunate to have been so professionally served by Bernadette Tilger for the last six years. Our good fortune continues in finding such an able and enthusiastic replacement as Kitty.

Let us all welcome Kitty Ferguson!  And, as was so well articulated by Bernadette in her farewell editor's message, please now support Kitty by providing input, ideas and content for the newsletter - remember; it's YOUR newsletter!

Thank you from the Kennedy Meadows Fire Department!!

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The Kennedy Meadows Fire Dept. would like to recognize the generous donations recently received. Scott and Kendra from Grumpy Bears donated the proceeds from a 50/50 raffle from their July BBQ. Johnnie and Suzy Cross donated the proceeds from their FBI BBQ sandwich sales for the Monte Boydston Tribute at the General Store'sChili Cookoff. The total donated exceeded $375 which is most appreciated.

Kennedy Meadows Volunteer Fire Department.

Lee Watson In Memoriam

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Very sad to report that Lee Watson passed away recently while on a family trip to England.  We will all miss her giving personality and bright smile.

Larry Watson wrote this appreciation:

While on a trip to England and France, Lee Watson suffered a stroke and passed away in Epsom, England. The trip had put a big hole in her bucket list as seeing Paris was at the top.
 
Lee was born in Douglas Arizona in 1953 and grew up in Tucson, the daughter of Leo and Nadine Johnson. Graduated from the University of Arizona as a Systems Engineer in 1975 and made the only mistake in her life by marrying Larry. She gave up her career at Hughes Aircraft to, as she put it, do a harder job and raise a family. She had four kids, Leslie, Sarah, Ross, and Greg.

She was an expert in all disciplines of education, softball, baseball, volleyball, basketball, soccer, water polo and track and field. She attended countless practices and games and every school function involving her brood. She was a volunteer teacher's aide at Arlington High School in Riverside for fourteen years; exactly the same fourteen years she had at least one kid attending the school. They got away with nothing. Raising those kids was her proudest accomplishment.

During that time she directed that a cabin be built in Kennedy Meadows which was finished in 1990 and used extensively. Her kids lived in the city but grew up in the mountains. When the kids were up and gone she decided to rescue the family construction company by assuming the role of CEO, CFO and BMF. She agreed to retire in Kennedy Meadows if somebody built her a house to her specifications. Somebody did. She moved in in 2013. She loved her kids, house, cooking, reading, movies, stitchery, Kennedy Meadows and its people, and put up with her husband for 41 years, 6 months and one day.

She had a smile that would light up the darkest of times and places and was the most beautiful, approachable and friendly 6-foot tall redhead you could ever meet. There is no way a single page could convey the love she shared with so many and her impact on everyone who knew her. Sweet dreams and happy trails, Lee. You have no idea how much you will be missed. Rest in peace.  
- Larry Watson

A quick note about the Meadow Fire

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It's *very* smokey in Kennedy Meadows today.  The smoke is from the Meadow Fire which is burning up near the Trail of 100 Giants north of Johnsondale.

According to the Forest Service it is a Use Fire and is currently contained between two creeks. It will not be allowed to expand (which they wish to do, in order to prevent some much larger future situation) until the wind situation becomes better known.

Dennis Johnson has contacted the people responsible for monitoring air quality; They did not expect the westerly winds which are bringing us the smoke.  They have indicated it should be "much better" tomorrow because of changing winds.  The forest serviceindicated it would clear later tonight, but flow in tomorrow morning and then clear in the afternoon, if their forecast is correct.

The San Joaquin Valley Air Quality department can be reached at 559-230-6000 with questions about air quality from this fire.

BLM CHIPPER DAYS JUNE 18th AND 19th, 2016

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All Kennedy Meadows property owners are invited to sign up. BLM will usually devote up to one hour of labor with their massive wood chipper to each property owner. They will be here on Saturday, and stay for Sunday only if there are enough interested parties.

Have your slag branches stacked in an area accessible to their truck and trailer. The butt end of the branch should face the trailer. Also designate a direction to blow the produced chips. Leave branches intact as much as possible, so it is easier to pick up a single, large branch and feed it into the chipper. Branches can be up to 8 inches in diameter (their chipper can go a bit larger), but each should not weigh too much to be picked up by one man. Most will be smaller because the large ones are firewood size. Members of the KMPO&A will check your stack and organize the schedule before BLM comes. You must either have someone present or arrange for access as below.

Sign up through Bill Ferguson by email and/or phone: wwferguson@hughes.net 760‐608‐9958

Give your contact info, address or APN, and which days you could be present or arrange for access.

Kennedy Meadows Campground Closure

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YOUR LETTERS TO PUBLIC OFFICIALS ARE NEEDED!

As many of you may know, The Sequoia National Forest has announced they will no longer maintain the Kennedy Meadows Campground.
The Kennedy Meadows campground:

  • Protects the health of the community and the South Fork by providing sanitation in a heavily used area. This use will probably continue whether the campground is closed or not.
  • Provides a place other than our private property for visitors to stay and access the river and domelands.
  •  Concentrates campers in an area more easily accessed in case of campfire danger.
  •  Contributes significantly to the economy of the community, benefiting business owners AND those of us who patronize those businesses.
  •  Attracts visitors to our area resulting in more who might want someday to buy property and become part of the community.

You will find more background information HERE.

Background information on potential sanitation problems HERE.

A SAMPLE LETTER and instructions for whom to contact HERE.

 

Thanks to Kitty Ferguson and Ed Royce!

Kennedy Meadows Campground Closure Threatened

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The KMPO&A is currently doing all it can to keep the Kennedy Meadows Campground open.

For the first time in years, we had a resident host at the campgrounds during the 2015 season who did a lot to improve maintenance and the overall camping experience.  We are currently looking for someone who might be interested in hosting the 2016 camping season.  Interested parties should contact us through the contact page on the website.