Annual Shareholder Meeting 2016

Wow! I'm so good at this blogging thing that I remembered to post in less than a year from the last p... oh wait. It's 2016. Well, anyway, I felt the need to get back on the blog because of our last Shareholder Meeting that took place at the ranch on Saturday, June 25 @ 10am (yes, I do realize this was a month ago). It was very informative.

Due to the busy lives we all have and the extensive amount of miles that blocks many from the journey, a portion of the Ranch's shareholders were unable to attend. However, we did appreciate the presence of Harry, Bob, Steve, Betsy, Erik Johnson, Matthew Poirier, Anne Johnson, Richard Reader (Anne's husband), Paris Fox, and Julie Ritzman (my mom). Matt Ritzman (my dad), Kallan Ritzman (me!), Karen Johnson Poirier, and Laura (Matthew Poirier’s wife) were also present for some of the latter part of the meeting.  Evan, Betsy’s husband, and Sonya, Steve’s wife, also joined us for the lunch afterwards (the food was delicious!).

During this meeting we reviewed the events and work of the past year:

• Fire control compliance
• Brush and poison oak eradication
• Removal and cutting up of fallen trees 
•  Harry and his buddies removed a huge tree at the top of the driveway
• Road repair and maintenance 
• Harry, Kaia, my Utah cousins, my dad, and I, dug burms on the upper field road which preserved it during the rainy season.
•  Also, PG&E caused damage to our upper field road, so Harry contacted them and got them to repair it. 
• Keeping the tractor operational 
• Mark Johnson had been very helpful in this pursuit.   
• Fence and gate repairs
• Plumbing and EBMUD line maintenance 
• Somebody checks the water meter everyday to make sure we don’t have any leaks.  We fixed a leak near the barn this year.
• Clearing culverts and creeks.  
• Replaced the back door to the ranch house – it was not closing correctly.
• Got a cat to help with the rodent population, it helped!  
• We installed a cat door to the house so that the cat has protection at night. A wiley raccoon figured out how to open our first raccoon proof door, but so far he has not broken into the new one.

We also reviewed the Ranch's constant maintenance needs which mainly consist of:

• clearing brush and trees blocking paths, roads, or creeks
• repairing fences and gates
• preparing roads for the rainy season
• Doing Ranch projects that are centered around the needs above, but often change from year to year:
1. Repairing the spring (located on EBMUD property)
2. building a new barn
3. cleaning the ranch house
4. Clearing out out corral area of brush and weed
5. Planting Alfalfa
6. Installing access for the tractor to get into the corral
7. Re-roofing the cottage and creamery (building above the creek creek)

We often have work days to help with these needs and projects. It would be great to have a larger workforce, so I will try to announce the work parties more frequently. If you are interested in coming to the Ranch to work, please email Harry or my mom ( julieritzman@sbcglobal.net ). If you bring guests they must sign a waiver. Email Harry if you need one.
More details on the meeting (including a discussion about the future of the ranch) will come out shortly either through email or the blog.