ABOUT US / MISSION STATEMENT / HISTORY / BOARD MEMBERS / PRESIDENT'S REPORT

MISSION STATEMENT
The Friends of Hermon Dog Park exist to enhance the Hermon Dog Park, keep it's environment safe and healthy, teach responsible pet ownership and further humane education, encourage dog training efforts, organize pet adoption events, and help other organizations that provide for the care of animals.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF HERMON DOG PARK

December 2002 -- As the Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council is forming, informal discussions began among several participants from Hermon, Montecito Heights, and Mount Washington about the desire to locate a dog park in Hermon.

February 20, 2003 -- At a meeting in Hermon, the city's Department of Recreation and Parks (RAP) accepts a community proposal to change the name of the Arroyo Seco Park located off Via Marisol to "Hermon Park in the Arroyo Seco" in time for the community's centennial celebration that summer. Discussions also begin with elected officials regarding placing the first city dog park in Northeast L.A. within Hermon.

May 22, 2003 -- City Council District 14 officials and RAP staff members meet with interested parties to measure community support for the dog park in Hermon -- support was overwhelming.

June 24, 2003 -- Outgoing Councilmember Nick Pacheco lists Hermon Dog Park in his transition memo as a funded project ready for review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

July 1, 2004 -- New Councilmember Antonio Villaraigosa, in his 12-month report lists Hermon Dog Park among his staff's accomplishments.

January 2005 -- RAP's CEQA report finds "no significant unavoidable adverse impacts associated with the project."

April 29, 2005 -- Groundbreaking for the first dog park in Northeast Los Angeles.

July 16, 2005 -- Grand opening of the Hermon Dog Park.

September 30, 2005 -- Friends of Hermon Dog Park, now a 501(c)3 non-profit charitable organization, is organized by original members of the Hermon Dog Park Formation Committee nearly three years after work began to place a dog park here.

BOARD MEMBER BIOS

Wendi Riser, Co-President

Wendi Riser has lived in Hermon nearly her entire life. She began working with Donnette Thayer, our city councilmember, and the Department of Recreation & Parks in early 2003 to get the Hermon Dog Park approved in concept and then saw it through to its completion in July of 2005.

Wendi has spearheaded many other Hermon community projects as well -- such as getting over 100 new trees planted in Hermon's parkways, medians, hillsides and home gardens, getting students to design 2003 centennial street light post banners, the creation of the beautiful Hermon monument sign and managing the city grant that funded it.

The Hermon Advance Team (HAT), the service organization of Hermon, was founded by Wendi and others in 2004. It includes the monthly "Clean Team"-- a group of neighbors that clean the parkways and bridges, as well as a bi-annual community bulky item collection. HAT also sponsors quarterly meetings of the Hermon Safety Committee, a community-wide neighborhood watch to proactively address and prevent crime.

Lastly, Wendi writes a fun and quirky e-newsletter "All Things Hermon" with info on things happening in and around the historic little community. (Want to subscribe? Write to: contact@hermondogpark.com)

Wendi lives with her husband Joseph and her son Hans.

Nancy Nickerson, Co-President

Nancy Nickerson is a Web Producer and a lifelong animal lover. Although she grew up with a dog, she didn't adopt her first pet until she moved to Mt. Washington in the early nineties. As often happens, the cat actually adopted her. Since then she has had 3 other cats and finally adopted her first dog, Tilly, in 2008.

Tilly is an exuberant terrier mix who had been rescued by the Bark Foundation. While at Bark Avenue, she graduated from K9 Connection, a wonderful organization that pairs shelter dogs with at-risk teens. Tilly and Nancy subsequently graduated from Lezle Stein's (Co-President of Hermon Dog Park) Handle Woof Care basic obedience class, since Nancy had some catching up to do. Both are much better behaved now and participated in the Pasadena Humane Society's Wiggle Waggle Walk in 2008.

Today Nancy and Tilly live with Tiger, a beautiful and friendly tabby adopted from Lacy Street in 2005. Tilly and Nancy can often be found in their backyard entertaining other neighborhood dogs and humans. Tiger prefers to watch from the front steps.

Sherry Uribe, Secretary

Sherry Uribe has been a long time resident of the El Sereno area living with her husband, 3 children, 3 dogs and 3 cats. She has served on various committees at her children's schools and currently works for the County of Los Angeles Public Library. Her children have been active in the sports programs offered at El Sereno Park. She enjoys reading, gardening, and meeting others that share her love of pets and their well being.

Ursula Brown, Treasurer

Ursula Brown immigrated to the U.S. in 1966 from Germany via Mexico, Costa Rica, and Central America. She was raised near her grandparents farm post-World War II. She now owns a Property Management/Real Estate office and her home in Highland Park includes ducks, chickens, birds, dogs, and cats-all abandoned by their owners.

Animal welfare has always been close to her heart, from her childhood spent with farm animals to seeing how some people neglect or abandon their animals when they move. In an effort to advance animal welfare and contribute to a better community, Ursula originally spearheaded the effort to establish an off-leash dog park in Eagle Rock. Unable to locate suitable land in Eagle Rock, but with solid support from city agencies, the cause was picked up by the community of Hermon who successfully carried it to completion.

Ursula’s professional and community affiliations are: Member of Northeast L.A./Glendale Board of Realtors; Fraternal Order of the Eagles Auxiliary; Eagle Rock Lions Club; Eagle Rock Center for the Arts; B.L.E.N.D.; Damenchor Frohsinn; Officer, Eagle Rock Chamber of Commerce; Board Member, Collaborative Eagle Rock Beautiful; Board Member, Northeast Awareness Team (NEAT).

Kathryn Spofford, Director

Kathryn "Kat" Spofford was born in Houston, Texas. Her uncle, a veterinarian, presented her with her first Terrier. She grew to love all dogs but especially terriers and she's owned 6 terrier breeds over the years.

She moved to Los Angeles soon after she married and she and her husband currently reside in Highland Park with their two dogs, Henley and Spencer. Both of their dogs are CGC certified and working actors. As Kat says, "They bring me smiles everyday. I rescued Henley and Spencer from The Houston Sheltie Sanctuary in Houston 5 years ago. They are half Shetland Sheepdog, half Jack Russell Terrier. The dogs know around 30 tricks!"

After moving to Highland Park in 2008, Kat's first order of business was to find a dog park near her home. Kat says, "I discovered Hermon Dog Park and became a member soon after."

Mark Legassie, Director

Mark was born in 1963 in Ashland , Maine and grew up with lots of dogs, cats, and aquarium fish. His love of animals came from his grandmother and mom, who both instilled a responsibility to care for helpless animals, especially the sick and needy.

After moving to L.A. in 1999, Mark has worked as an Arroyo Seco Board member to help homeless animals, first with a Pet Adoption Festival in August 2009 with L.A. Animal Services North Central Shelter.

Mark also founded the F.A.S.T. the Friendly Arroyo Seco Trappers www.fasttrappers.org dedicated to reducing the stray cat population in Northeast Los Angeles using the Trap-Neuter-Release methods approved by the ASPCA.

Mark joins the Board as the FHDP have committed to assist F.A.S.T. by being their fiduciary agent, enabling them to get more donations with our tax-exempt status, while fulfilling our mission to further humane education and assist those organizations in the animal care community.

ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER BIOS

Phyllis M. Daugherty, Advisor

Phyllis M. Daugherty, Director of Animal Issues Movement and Humane Training, has been involved in animal protection/welfare, spay/neuter and rescue/shelter work in Los Angeles since 1987. She currently produces documentaries and training films for law-enforcement and sheltering agencies on investigating and prosecuting animal cruelty and illegal animal fighting and speaks at training sessions and community event. She has been a guest columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News, and frequently writes on local animal control issues, animal cruelty and its connection to domestic violence, human trafficking and other crimes against humans.

In 1989, Ms. Daugherty produced a film entitled, "Early Age Spay/Neuter" in a cooperative effort with Dr. W. Marvin Mackie, showing the benefits of sterilizing pre-pubescent dogs and cats. This was followed in 2001 by a documentary called "Overcrowding California Animal Shelters" and in 2003 by "Investigating and Prosecuting Illegal Animal Fighting", which presented the steps needed to successfully prepare animal cruelty and illegal fighting cases for court. Her latest films are "How to Start and Run a Spay/Neuter Clinic" and "QuickSpay" (in which Dr. Mackie demonstrates high-volume spay/neuter methods for cats and dogs).

Phyllis has served on the Los Angeles County Animal Care & Control Foundation Board since 2003. She has a BA in Social and Criminal Justice and extensive specialized training in animal control and animal-handling techniques. She is an Associate Member of the California State Humane Association and a member of the National Illegal Animal Fighting Taskforce. Ms. Daugherty is also a member of the LAPD Human Trafficking Taskforce.

Lezle Stein, Advisor

A graduate of Animal Behavior and Training College, Lezle Stein is AKC-certified as a Canine Good Citizen Evaluator and a professional member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers as well as a member of the Southern California Dog Trainers Forum.

Lezle's extensive experience also includes American Red Cross certification in Pet First Aid and CPR. She has also participated with her own dog, Lucie Bell, in obedience, agility and shepherding training.

Lezle is the volunteer adoption counselor & dog rehabilitator for Downtown Dog Rescue, Los Angeles ' rescue group for homeless people & low-income people and their dogs for the past 8 years. A firm believer in community involvement Lezle, is also the Director of Animal Welfare for the Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council. She recently was selected by Councilman Jose Huizar, to sit on the board of The Los Angeles City Council Spay & Neuter Committee. Lezle has written dog training advise columns for the Highland Park News, Glassell Park News and the Mt. Washington Association. She has also studied with Dr. Nancy Scanlon, who specializes in holistic veterinary medicine through acupuncture and herbs.

Lezle continues her education through frequent seminars and training with Lucie Bell, who has become her faithful "demo dog" companion. Also now, Lezle and her dog Jesse are involved in doing fun nose work (scent detection) and agility too!

PRESIDENT'S REPORT

What a full and rewarding year this has been for the Hermon Dog Park, and its support organization, Friends of Hermon Dog Park (FHDP). To continue to promote the dog park and get the word out as to where we are, we participated in a number of fairs and festivals this year: In Highland Park, the Arroyo Seco Northeast Trees Festival; in South Pasadena, Garfield Park Doggie Days; at Hermon Dog Park, Dog Days of Summer; in Pasadena, the Wiggle Waggle Walk; in Atwater Village, Howl-o-ween; and in Hermon, the Harvest Festival.

As we tried very hard to be good stewards of the money that has come to FHDP, we've accomplished a great deal. Another tree we purchased -- a Sycamore -- was planted by Rec and Parks in the small dog area for shade, the Ralph's grocery store "Gives Back Program" was set up to give us a percentage of the total money spent for groceries from enrolled persons who signed up for FHDP -- with no cost to them. It's a win-win. We purchased a year's worth of doggie bags and asked the Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council to purchase another dispenser that has been installed by the large name sign, right before where you walk under the overpass. This will hopefully catch the dogs that just can't wait all the way to the dog park. Now we can have a nicer, clean welcoming entrance. We've asked Rec and Parks to replace missing locks from the large gate between the large and small dog park. They've already replaced them four times. We purchased a large tri-fold display board to use at fairs to show some of the many things we've been able to enjoy and accomplish. Our website is being completely overhauled and constantly updated. We had a Dodger's fundraiser in August, and we purchased a heavier sandwich board for out front to welcome people to Yappy Hour afternoons.

Friends of Hermon Dog Park have made strong connections with our General Services Police Senior Lead Officer Phil Graciano (cell) 213.305.9233. The general 24/7reporting number is 213.978.4670, or you can reach Officer Graciano by e-mail at 27057@lacity.org. We continue to remind park goers not to leave anything of value visible in their cars, to lock their cars and move things of value to the trunk before they get to the park.

We've made some impressive, delightful partnerships this year with other groups and organizations that also work to promote having healthy pets in loving homes. F.A.S.T. (Friendly Arroyo Seco Trappers) traps feral cats, neuters them, gives them medicine to make them well, and then returns them to their colony with food and a feeding program that they set up with a neighbor. They trap 10 or more a week. We help by being their fiduciary agent so that money they raise will be tax exempt. You can give to F.A.S.T. by clicking on the "Donate" page on this website.

Also, we've partnered with Vet Techs to join us quarterly at Yappy Hours to provide you a convenient way to keep your dogs and cats current on their shots, or to get them microchipped. WOOF Dog Boutique (in Atwater Village) http://www.woofdogboutique.com/ has had Hermon Dog Park benefit shopping days for us and plans to continue those. We are now working with Meals on Wheels to provide home bound seniors with food for their dogs and cats, so that they don't go hungry feeding their meal to their pets. We'll be partnering with major pet food companies to get that program started. And we've added some wonderful new board members this year like Kat Spofford-Director, Nancy Nickerson-Co-President, Mark Legassie of F.A.S.T.-Director and sadly said good-bye to others like Mark Forbes-Director and Lezle Stein-Co-President. We're always looking for other people that would be dedicated to our mission and not afraid of a good challenge and lots of fun. E-mail wendi@hermondogpark.com if you're interested.

Interested in volunteering some of your time to benefit this great community resource? You can contact:

Monthly "Yappy Hours" membership table or food table or booth personnel at Fairs: (you get to meet a lot of great HDP regulars as well as some newbies): sherry@HermonDogPark.com

Saturday, Feb. 13, 2010, we are partnering our resources with a huge adoption event at the L.A. City shelter on Lacy Street: mark@HermonDogPark.com

Regular Dog Park Cleaning -- disinfecting the benches and trashcans, and sweeping the entry areas, we'll provide the supplies! It should be done weekly, now that the Dept. of Rec and Parks has had their budget cut back: wendi@HermonDogPark.com (If you are a student we are more than glad to sign your volunteer papers for school.)

Pet Meals On Wheels: wendi@HermonDogPark.com

Now we'd really like to hear from our members to be sure we're heading in the right direction. We always do so much more together. So let us know at contact@HermonDogPark.com "Because it's all about the dogs!"