Friends Of Smith Canal

10/24/2024

Thursday morning, cranky pants : Gee, it would’ve been nice if the city had let those of us who live on Smith Canal know about the dedication ceremony of the new $96 million floodgate. Lots of politicians in attendance and various officials, but very few members of the public it appears. I may be wrong, but I seem to recall that the original price tag on that boondoggle was somewhere in the neighborhood of $30 million. I look forward to being invited to the first demonstration of its usefulness.

09/29/2024

Still a visible oil slick on Smith Canal this morning.

09/23/2024

How come I did not hear about Coastal Cleanup Day this year? I saw nothing in the Recordnet.com or Stocktonia News or on FB. Glad to see that Michael Blower and Paul Canepa got out to American Legion Park for the cleanup. Good work, guys. There were three cleanup days at ALP over the summer. I managed to make two of them. The third was the same day as a family reunion at my house. New bathrooms for ALP are in this year's city budget, a much needed improvement.

07/08/2024

A small orb weaver spider was spinning a web in our dining room window yesterday. It was fascinating to watch it make the spokes and then weave the circles around them. I've seen only a few small ones this year. Some years we get so many large one that I wonder if they would be good to eat batter fried like calamari. Here's a photo of one from a few years back. I'm told they weave a new web every day. The one in the window yesterday is gone today.

06/27/2024

06/12/2024

We're having a block garage sale. Come by & buy this Saturday.

06/09/2024

Yesterday, a small group of volunteers met at American Legion Park to pick up trash in the park and from Yosemite Lake. It was high tide when we started at 8:30 am. After s couple hours of pulling trash out of the lake, it still looked like the photo below. The city refuses to use their brand new "scooper" boat anywhere but downtown. They claim it would take too long to motor from downtown to Smith Canal & Yosemite Lake. Granted, it would take a couple hours at the speed their boat travels, and they might not be able to fit under the Pershing Street bridge. It would also require city departments working with each other. We shall see if their unwillingness to share still holds when debris starts backing up behind the soon to be completed flood gate at the mouth of Smith Canal and the residents of Atherton Cove & Island start screaming. There will more park/lake cleanups on July 13th and August 10th and Coastal Cleanup Day in September.

05/28/2024

Yosemite Lake, Smith Canal and American Legion Park cleanup this Saturday June 8th at 8:30 AM. Meet at the flagpole near Baker. We need a boat!

04/26/2024

hey there, Facebook friends. Are any of you members of the American Legion or know members of the American Legion? If so, let them know that the flagpole in American Legion Park has no flag. They might want to rectify that matter. Thanks.

04/25/2024

Thursday not so much cranky as disappointed: I went to the christening of the city's new boat "The Magnolia" for scooping up floating debris in the McLeod Lake and Stockton Channel. I asked the skipper if the boat would fit under the Pershing Street bridge and could be used on Smith Canal and Yosemite Lake. His response was that the boat has a top speed of 3 MPH and it would take all day to get to Yosemite Lake. So, no the boat will be used only in the downtown waterways. I hope this will change or that the city will buy a second boat for Smith Canal. They can tie it up to my dock and I won't charge them a docking fee.

04/11/2024

Wednesday Crankypants:
If you can not train your dog not to bark at everyone who walks past your house then you should not own a dog!

12/23/2023

A floating island of water hyacinth is completely blocking Smith Canal, hung up on the downed palms across the way. It appears to have captured a watercraft of some sort. Plus, the red sofa is back and snagged on what's left of our downed tree. I snagged a big piece of floating styrofoam and latched it to my dock for removal at some later date. Any idea when is the next Yosemite Lake and American Legion Park cleanup scheduled?