Our post-Thanksgiving “welcome table” event outside of the Visitor Center on Friday and Saturday, November 27 and 28, to celebrate the new mountain lion “exhibit” was a resounding success. The park was packed with visitors on both with days under beautiful sunny skies and many folks stopped by our table to say hello (we counted 39 on Friday and nearly as many the following day). We signed up three new members of the Friends and passed out several more applications! We also sold some finger puppets, maps, guides and stickers, among the various items on display, and even received a few donations.
We received numerous compliments on the new mountain lion display and enjoyed trading stories of mountain lion sightings and encounters with multiple people, including a woman who played for us an iPhone recording of a screeching mountain lion that she made while camping in a tent in Northern CA! In addition, we were visited on Saturday by Michael Myers, a wildlife photographer who dropped off for sale more than 20 of his gorgeous mountain lion photos – all taken within our park. His photos were a big hit and a big seller!
Many thanks go out to Ranger Matt Del Carlo for letting us set up our table outside the entry to the Visitor Center and to the coronavirus-safe efforts of the Friends of SPVP volunteers who set up and staffed the table on both days: Judy Bacon, Mark Golembiewski, Melinda Moses, Sharron Walker, Carl Schwab, Susan Kern, Enid Ansgarius, and Alice Shirley.