The STAR Newsletter is published Quarterly by North Star Historic Conservancy. The Winter, 2022-23 issue is now posted. You can view, print, or download it online at:
In this issue:
Our online tour will guide you through:
Part 1: Heritage Garden
Part 2: Walk About the Property
With descriptions and pictures, the tour starts in the Heritage Garden, which is a tribute to the horticultural skills of Arthur De Wint Foote, North Star Mine Superintendent and avid horiticulturalist. This portion is level, with parking available very close.
Then take a walk around the property and see some of the surviving legacy trees and shrubs on the property. Many were planted by Mr. Foote, but some pre-date him. This will be over uneven terrain.
Click here to get to the Tour Guide.
The Tour Guide can be viewed on a computer, tablet, or on your Smart Phone (as you walk around the tour).
Note: The Heritage Garden will generally be open from 10am-12pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It will be locked most other times to keep deer and other critters from eating everything.
The Heritage Garden is closed December 1 – March 1 for winter maintenance.
Join our team and help us restore this historic House as a resource for the community.
NOTE: You can scroll down below the Volunteer Form to see a brief description of what the various jobs entail.
Fill out the following form to let us know what you are interested in. You will be contacted by one of our volunteer coordinators.
Current Volunteer Opportunities:
House Construction / Reconstruction: We have some very skilled craftsmen working on the house. We also need people to help with sanding, painting, cleaning up, getting rooms ready for work.
Maintaining Heritage Garden: The Heritage Garden honors the legacy of Arthur De Wint Foote, who was an avid horticulturalist as well as excellent mining engineer. People needed for pruning, planting, weeding, watering, maintaining hardscape, and maintaining irrigation system.
Landscaping and Grounds: Maintain several acres and restore grounds around the house to be similar to the previous landscaping.
Docent / Tours: Learn basic information about the North Star House and its history, then welcome visitors to the house, answer questions, and offer to show them around if they would like a brief tour.
NSH Events – Planning Committee: Attend monthly meeting to plan events; work on logistics of events between meetings and take responsibility for some aspects of some events.
NSH Events – Day-if-event Support: Help with setup, during event, and/or cleanup.
Social Media / Marketing: If you love social media and marketing our organization and events, this one’s for you.
Graphic Designer: Experienced graphic designer to produce high-quality flyers, ads, etc. for our organization.
Fundraising – Program Management: If you have experience with fundraising campaigns for nonprofit organizations, please get in touch with us.
IMPORTANT: If you filled out the form and did not hit the SUBMIT button, please scroll back up to the end of the form and SUBMIT it. The form will be replaced by a submission acknowledgement when it has been submitted.
UPDATE April 6, 2021: We are cautiously optimistic about being able to have some outdoor events this summer.
Sunday, October 17 will be a new, fun event which we are developing in partnership with Soroptimist Club of the Sierra Foothills. We’re still in the planning stage, but mark your calendars. We’ll have the Soroptimist Garden Shop, tours, and more.
We might be able to have one or two of the “Friday Nite Locals” concerts. Still working on that.
It has been a long year for all of us and we are anxious to resume relaxing and “enjoying company” at the House.
Previous Post:
The North Star House continues to be closed due to safety precautions and government regulations during the pandemic. Even though we cannot open to the public right now, we are continuing with house restoration and planning for the future.
We look forward to welcoming you back to the House when we are able to host the public again.
The STAR Newsletter is published Quarterly by North Star Historic Conservancy. The Spring, 2021 issue was published in March, 2021. You can view or download it online at:
https://thenorthstarhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Newsletter-2021-03.pdf
In this issue:
To Our Friends of The North Star House
The North Star family and our community are currently sharing a rough patch of history with the coronavirus slowing down our active lives. The 115 year old North Star House has survived many tragedies from World Wars, to economic recessions, to pandemics. Please be assured that NSHC will continue to preserve The House as a beacon of hope for better times. Although the facilities are closed for the time being due to the governor’s orders, we are not neglecting our responsibilities to our treasured house.
While we look forward to resuming event activities at The House, the NSHC Board and Volunteers continue working from our homes … planning our Speaker presentations, enhancing our website, and putting out the March 2020 Newsletter. When government regulations and general health concerns permit, we will launch a new Open House program, with the North Star House staffed by history docents on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons, alternating weeks, during the summer. We are also putting the finishing touches on our new Private Group Tour program. Look for information about that soon on our website.
The Heritage Garden crew is maintaining the garden and has it spruced up for Spring. We are disappointed that the Soroptimist Garden Tour had to be cancelled for 2020, but we will be on their tour May 22-23, 2021. Construction work has slowed but not stopped. (Did you know that some of our woodworking magic is done in the home workshops of volunteers, who bring their beautiful finished work back to The House for installation?)
The first presentation of our 2020 North Star Speaker Series — Chris Enss talking about Woman Suffrage — was very entertaining and informative. We have three more talks scheduled this year. If necessary, one or more of them will be rescheduled to later in the year.
We wish you all the best, and hope that you and your loved ones are safe and healthy. You can still make reservations for future events by calling the office. Keep in touch by visiting the website or Facebook. We look forward to reopening the North Star House and welcoming you back.
Board of Directors
North Star Historic Conservancy
