Regularly Scheduled Activities

Sunday Volleyball | Thursday Hike | Monday Hike
| Great Outdoors Meets Being Alive

Valley Volleyball - Maple Park in Glendale

NOTE: Due to budget cuts, the Maple Park Gym is closed on Sundays. For the time being, Valley Volleyball is suspended. We're looking for a new locations. If anyone is aware of another nearby location that we could use, please contact Stephen at Vollyballr@aol.com

Sundays, 3:00-5:00 PM

Join us for Valley Volleyball! Currently we're playing in Glendale while we await the re-opening of our Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks gym in January 2006.

Maple Park in Glendale has open-play adult volleyball Sunday afternoons from 3 - 5 pm. Since there are few members of the general population attending, it will seem like a G.O. exclusive activity. All skill levels are welcome, so don't be afraid to join us if you've never played before or are a beginner. The regulars will be happy to teach you the basics or help you improve your skills. It's a great exercise for all ages, too! (This author once played with a group ranging in age from 9 to 78!)

The park is in a residential area and has a small parking lot, but street parking is available. There is a $15/year park registration fee that will allow you to use both Maple Park and nearby Pacific Park free for their other activities.

Directions: Maple Park is located 1 ½ miles from the Colorado Blvd exit from the Golden State Freeway (I-5). The address is 820 E Maple Street and the park office telephone number is (818) 548-3797. The gym is on the second floor of the recreation center building.

For more information, email Stephen at Vollyballr@aol.com or call (818) 399-9433.

Thursday Night Hike

Thursdays, 7:00 PM

his popular series of night hikes returns to Griffith Park starting January 24th, 2008. Come meet old friends or make new ones while enjoying the lights of L.A. from the top of Mount Hollywood. Meet at 7:00 PM in the courtyard at the Griffith Park Headquarters/Visitor Center on Crystal Springs Road.

The hike is aerobic, fast-paced and not for beginners. It's a 5 mile round trip with an 1100 ft elevation gain. Bring a windbreaker and sturdy shoes. Rain after 5 PM cancels.

Additions questions? contact Jeff

Griffith Park Monday Night Hike

Mondays, 6:00 PM

This hike is designed as an alternative hike to the other very successful weekly hike on Thursdays. It is an easy ascent/stroll. After the hike, we will meet at a local restaurant for dinner. Rain after 4:30 p.m. cancels.

The hike is on the Charlie Turner Trail and goes to the top of Mount Hollywood. We meet at the trailhead which is at the far end of the Griffith Park Observatory parking area. Note that as of November 19, 2007, you can drive up to the observatory and park rather than having to take a shuttle.

For more information, Contact Gary by email or call 213.481.1933.

The Curse of Griffith Park

Circa 1863. Wealthy rancher Don Antonio Feliz dies of smallpox and leaves his vast stretch of land--now Griffith Park--to friend and fellow rancher Don Antonio Coronel. Feliz's blind, 17-year-old niece, Dona Petranilla, is given nothing. In an act of revenge, she swears out a curse:"Misfortune, crime, and death shall follow those who covet these remains!" One by one, Don Coronel's family members die out--of disease or misfortune. After Coronel passes away himself, his widow remarries, only to have her new husband divorce her and try to take the land. The litigation lawyers take almost all that is left. The lawyer in charge of the estate, however, is suddenly killed in a bar fight. The next owner, Leon Baldwin, attempts to run a dairy there, but the business fails and he loses the land to mortgage companies and a devastating rainstorm. Griffith J. Griffith is the last private owner. In 1896, he bequeaths the 3,000 acres to the City of Los Angeles for use as a public park. But the act of goodwill doesn't help him escape the curse. A few years later, he is convicted of trying to kill his wife and is locked up in San Quentin. [LA Weekly - Greg Bishop]