KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – As volunteers, park officials, elected representatives and community members looked on Saturday afternoon, the State Parks Department formally received an important gift – the new Clear Lake State Park Education Pavilion.
Clear Lake State Park Interpretive Association President Madelene Lyon not only officially handed over the seven-year labor of love to State Parks Director Ruth Coleman, she also topped off the gift with a hug.
That gesture captured not just personal warmth but also pointed to the greater cooperation that has formed between private and public interests in accomplishing the pavilion's completion.
The new building sits across from the park's visitor center. It features a covered area with an outdoor sink, counter and power outlets, and a secure enclosed portion where equipment can be stored.
CLSPIA's goal, the group said, was to create an outdoor educational space for young people, to keep them engaged and to make sure “no child was left inside.”
The vision turned into action in 2004, and Lyon and the group pursued years of fundraising, planning and lobbying to turn ideas into sketches, and sketches into a structure.
Along the way, one of the worst economic climates in memory hit, which has had critical impacts on state funding and, especially, the state parks.
Clear Lake State Park itself was on a list of parks former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed for closure, but a local grassroots campaign by the group and the community at large spared the park.
It was the community's very vociferous defense of its park – as well as CLSPIA's ongoing commitment to offering educational programs like the Junior Rangers, park tours and bird walks – that kept the park open, officials said Saturday.
Coleman had been a staffer for Mike Thompson when he was in the state Legislature, before he moved into Congress. Noting, “Once you work for Mike you always work for Mike,” Coleman recalled Thompson calling her in about 2005 to ask if she had money to devote to the pavilion project.
The state did put aside funding for the project before leaner times arrived. While it took a lot of time and more than the estimated $20,000 to build it, Coleman said the pavilion was nonetheless an important example of what private and public entities can do when they work together.
She said the park would not be nearly as successful as it is if it weren't for its nonprofit partner, CLSPIA, adding that partnership “is the reason this park is still open.”
Thompson, who along with wife Jan came over for the afternoon for the dedication, credited Lyon's tenacity with pushing the project forward, which he said made “absolute perfect sense” in its goal of reaching young people, whose ability in science will be crucial to the country.
With so many partners – the community, the government and the organization – pushing in the same direction, it spelled success, he said.
Assemblyman Wes Chesbro – who Saturday afternoon was heading back to Sacramento and back to work in the Legislature – said it's seemed like a dark time for the state, with its budget woes.
However, Chesbro was heartened by the hope he said he saw expressed in the project's cooperative nature.
It was an example that Chesbro said could be used to confront other problems.
Chesbro said when a community supports a state park, it makes it easier for their government representatives to push to keep them open.
“I'd say this park is in good hands,” said Chesbro, who noted he loved the park and had visited it with his family many times.
Lauding Lyon, Coleman and Thompson, Chesbro added, “Really, the whole community deserves the credit.”
Clear Lake Section Superintendent Bill Salata also spoke, thanking CLSPIA. “What they did was just incredible.”
He also thanked the California Conservation Corps, which built the pavilion.
Lyon, before she turned over the pavilion and the hug to Coleman, thanked everyone, agreeing with others who had spoke that it took the entire community to make it possible.
“We saw such a huge need for this,” she said.
CLSPIA reported that major donors to the project included the Keeling-Barnes Family Foundation, Wildhurst Vineyards, Brad and Kathy Barnwell, William and Roberta Beat, the California State Park Foundation, D.A. and Leona Butts, Henry and Dorothy Hurkett, Madelene and Walt Lyon, Ernie Mendes, Dorothy Meyer, Tom and Val Nixon, Brad Onorato, the Priest Family Charitable Fund, Rotary Club of Lakeport, Grant Cary Family, Thrivent, Neil and Bobbi Towne, and Tom and Tina Wasson.
The dedication ceremony also coincided with the opening of the park for the season. Officials reported that a new ranger was on temporary assignment for the summer to assist at the park.
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