Henderson Pines Blog

Puccini in the Pines

2011-08-31T14:24:00.005-06:00

George & Myrna Hill hosted a musical soiree at their cabin last Monday evening featuring Andrea Thornock (left) and Rochelle Thornock (at the piano). Rochelle and Andrea are the daughter and grandaughter of our founders Rulon and Ardeth Henderson. Andrea is a professional opera singer from Virgina as well as a music teacher there. Rochelle recently retired from teaching music. In attendance were George & Myrna Hill, Larry & Dororthy Hill, Barbara & Lyn Bidstrup, Jeff Livingston, and Debbie Davis.

In addition to a opera selections by Puccini and a German composer (can't remember his name), Andrea and Rochelle did a duet of the Lord's Prayer as well as other hymns. There was even a sing along. Andrea really showcased her remarkable range in the Broadway show tune "Summertime". We learned alot about opera and the long years of study and practice. What a beautiful setting for such beautiful music. Thanks Rochelle and Andrea for sharing your gift of music and the powerful spirit is brings.

HENDERSON PINES HOMEOWNER MEETING

2011-08-23T22:12:00.002-06:00

DATE: Sunday, September 4, 2011

TIME: 2 p.m.

PLACE: Larry & Dorothy Hill's Cabin

4503 Angel Lane

It's that time of year again for our annual meeting. This is a great opportunity to hang out with your neighbors and get up to date on all the happenings in our little corner of heaven. Come with your questions, concerns, and good ideas. If you have any items you'd like to put on the agenda, just email Debbie Davis at jedjwd@comcast.net and we'll make sure to cover it at the meeting. We hope to see you there!

We Still Have Lots of Snow!

2011-05-23T14:27:00.004-06:00

This is a photo of our cabin taken on Saturday, May 21, 2011. As you can see, there is still a lot of snow. Fish Creek Road has been plowed but according to my awesome brother, Steve Bates who took the photo, driving a car into the cabins probably won't be possible for the Memorial Day Weekend. Plan accordingly if you are attempting to go to your cabin this holiday weekend. Good luck and be sure to let us know how it goes.

Fall Color

2010-10-06T21:00:00.003-06:00

The fall color is stunning and the weather is fine. For those of you who have already closed up and headed south, I thought I'd send you a little look at what you may have missed. I love Island Park in the fall - no crowds, no bugs, fires in the fireplace and lots of perfect weather (most of the time).

No Donuts Road Signs!

2010-09-27T09:07:00.002-06:00

Hi Henderson Pines Homeowners,
We have had a wonderful summer in Henderson Pines. It has been an unusally cooler summer than normal. As we write this blog this morning it is 37 degrees and will hit near 80 this afternoon. This is why we stay and enjoy September and part of October every year.

The primary reason for this post is to report we have had some vandalism that occured the past week (9/20-25/2010}. The commissioners installed this summer two 4 wheeler "No Donuts signs" near the approaches to Henderson Pines off of Fish Creek road. We found the signs did have an impact because we didn't observe any donuts on our Mag Chloride section of Fish Creek road. However, we found the signs were missing this week. It is our guess that thieves thought they would make nice signs for their bedroom walls or resented that they can't be told what to do with their 4 wheelers.

Please, if you know of any person or person involved let us know. The cost of the signs was $60. I am sure we will replace them, but, will have to figure out how to attach the signs in a way that would make it more difficult to steal or remove.

If you have any thoughts on this subject please let us know.

Larry & Dorothy Hill

Greater Yellowstone Coalition Credits Island Park

2010-09-26T22:07:00.002-06:00

Island Park earned a nice blurb in the last publication of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. Many of our homeowners took advantage of their program to purchase Bear-proof bins last year. Here's what the article had to say. Kudos to us!

Bear-proof bins prevent grizzly conflicts in Island Park

The grizzly bear's place in Greater Yellowstone became a little more secure in mid-July. That's when more than three-dozen people turned out in Island Park, Idaho, to help GYC celebrate the purchase and distribution of 40 bear-proof garbage containers throughout the community.

Thanks in great part to your support in subsidizing these $200 residential containers, Island Park ~ which doesn't have a formal garbage-disposal program but does have a lot of bears ~ now has 104 bins in key locations. And there is already a waiting list for next year's crop of containers.

How do bear bins correlate with grizzly security? You've heard the old axiom "a fed bear is a dead bear"? Island Park has been ground zero for bear/human conflicts in recent years because of improperly stored garbage. Island Park ~ which hugs U.S. Highway 20 for 33 miles just west of Yellowstone National Park, boasting "The Longest Main Street in America" ~ is at the crossroads of a critical wildlife migration corridor between Yellowstone and the wild Centennial Mountains along the Montana-Idaho border.

Several grizzlies have been killed or removed from the area because their instinctive migration habits drew them past easily accessed residential garbage cans. Once a bear becomes habituated to domestic food, it is unlikely to return to its natural food sources. The result is sometimes bad for humans and almost always bad for the bear.

The timing of this bear-proof bin program is especially critical. A primary food source for the grizzly, the whitebark pin, has been decimated by a warming climate. The loss of pine nuts at high elevations in Greater Yellowstone is forcing more bears to search for food closer to where people live, work and play. Bear/human conflicts are increasing all too frequently ~ and tragically.

Distribution of these bear-proof bins in Island Park in the past three years has already helped reduce the number of grizzlies enticed into residential areas. This important project is just one more way humans and Greater Yellowstone's iconic creatures can coexist on this incomparable landscape. At our Island Park event, two bear experts with the U.S. Forest Service and Idaho Fish & Game Department also showed guests how to operate bear-spray canisters while showing how to be more "bear aware."

Learn more about our grizzly bear work at http://www.greateryellowstone.org/bears.

2010 Update

2010-09-24T20:30:00.003-06:00

Fall is here, the color is beautiful, and it's getting cold at night but warm during the day. In other words, life in Henderson Pines is perfect. It came to my attention at our annual meeting that many homeowners weren't even aware that we had a blog, so I thought I'd re-invite everyone to come and visit our blog and make a post if you'd like. Anyone can visit and read the blog but only invited members can post. All homeowners who have provided us with their email address have been invited to be members. If you know someone who would like to contribute but whose email address we don't have, just contact me and I'll send them an invitation.

Sadly, we received the news that long-time resident, John Dawson, passed away five weeks ago. John was a wonderful member of our community and will be very missed here. We send his family our condolences and hope that the many fond memories made here will be a comfort to them at this time.

Our annual meeting was held on September 5 at Jeff Livingston's cabin. In addition to other business, there was a change in the association leadership. George Hill is now the head commissioner with Larry Hill and Jeff Livingston serving as co-commisioners. If you would like a copy of the minutes from that meeting, please contact me and I'll email them to you.

The season may be coming to a close and there may not be much to report over the winter, but we hope you'll visit often and share your thoughts and ideas for next summer.

Moose Munchers

2008-08-08T21:19:00.004-06:00

I had two unexpected guests this evening who decided to stop by for a little dinner. They were real pros and very patient with me as I snapped my photos. After the rain earlier in the afternoon, I think they found my bushes particularly tasty and they nearly stripped them bare. I enjoyed their company for about half an hour before they tired of my paparazzi ways and moved on.

Hungry Grizzly

2008-08-02T15:08:00.003-06:00

Sarah Grigg, a Bear Education Technician with Idaho Fish & Game, paid a visit to the area yesterday to talk with homeowners about a grizzly sow and cub in our area that have become habituated to human food. The bear is causing quite a problem and Fish & Game has been trying to trap her for the last week. They want us to be extremely cautious and very diligent about our food storage & disposal habits, even to the point of not spilling drinks other than water into the ground. Check out the link to Island Park news as there were several articles in the last edition on this bear and the appropriate precautions, including one written by Sarah. She has even agreed to come to our annual meeting on Sunday, August 31, at 2 p.m. and spend a few minutes (she promised it would only take about five minutes) to update us on bear activity in the area. She has also promised to put anyone interested on a list for next spring's bear-proof garbage can purchase program. This year's program was so successful that all the cans were spoken for very early. They were selling the containers for $50, which is an excellent price compared to the usual $200 - $300.

Bear Saver

2008-07-14T15:10:00.002-06:00

After our grizzly scare last Fall, I looked up Bearsaver.com. The cans are bear-proof and cost over 200.00, but the order must be for 20 or more. Anyone else interested in bear-proofing our area? If worse came to worse, I figure we could get in the can for protection. Last Fall's event was scarey!

Sandra Mangum

Great Job

2008-07-12T10:13:00.002-06:00

Debbie: Great job on getting the blog site up and running! We appreciate your long hours of service in getting this site operational--the picture was beautiful, as well! Already, Dorthy and Larry have contributed. Of course, we look forward to seeing them later this summer.

We have had a busy summer with lots of visitors to our cabin. Family and friends certainly add to the experience here.

Hope to see more of the Pines families this summer.

Jeff Livingston

Aloha From Paradise!

2008-07-09T15:41:00.003-06:00

Aloha Moose Creek Pine Friends and Neighbors!

We have had an awesome experience living on Oahu for the past 17 1/2 months. Although it will be hard to leave, it is time for us to return home and not too soon since we have missed Moose Creek so much.

We will be returning to our home in St. George on July 25th and after a brief report and setting up our home again we will trek to IP the first week of August for the rest of the summer.

We look forward to seeing everyone again.

Mahalo,

Larry & Dorthy Hill

The First Post

2008-07-08T21:43:00.001-06:00

Everything is beautiful in the Pines right now. The weather is perfect with it being warm during the day and cooling down for a delightful night’s sleep; the mosquitoes are thinning out; and we still have a few wildflowers left in bloom. Fish Creek Road through the development has been treated to keep the dust down so everyone can enjoy a walk or ride without donning a coat of powdery dust. This was listed as the #1 priority of those who answered our project survey. The man who grades the road has agreed to lift his equipment for that portion of the road to help maintain the integrity of the surface for the season. We hope everyone will help keep it in good condition by not doing those awful donuts with the ATV. Be sure and check out some of the links at the right, especially the one for Bear Saver garbage receptacles. SEE YOU AT OUR ANNUAL MEETING ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 31 AT 2 P.M. AT JEFF LIVINGSTON’S CABIN.