New Bleachers

When you come to the Party in the Park this year, you will see some changes. The old bleachers at the horse show grounds have been torn down and replaced. The original bleachers were built some 50 years ago by local riding enthusiasts. Money to replace them was allocated out of the capital budget in 1998 - just when the State's operating budget started to shrink.

Since State law does not allow cross-over between the capital budget and the operating budget, and since the future of Bridle Trails had begun down that slippery slope to possible closure, no action was taken back then to upgrade our bleachers. Enter our Foundation to help insure that the operating budget would be met, and the State decided to come through with the capital money to do the upgrade.

With horse shows going on all summer, construction couldn't even start until Fall last year. Then, of course, like any remodel, there were surprises - many of them: rising costs, city and county upgrade requirements, wet weather and a new horse show season on the horizon. Footing in the horse show arena is a delicate balance of layering achieved over years and had to be restored after the water lines were brought up to date.

It was nip and tuck for a while, wondering if the facility would be usable by the time horse show season got here. But, with a Herculean effort on the part of many, the first horse shows were held over the weekend of May 8th and 9th. The judge had to sit under an umbrella in the new bleachers because the judge's stand is finished yet, but the arena has been fixed, the grounds are useable again, and the rest of the project will be finished in phases in the next couple of months.

We and the horse community want to thank the State Parks Department (especially our Ranger Mary) for all their hard work and effort in pulling this together. If the work is finished by July, we hope to have a small dedication ceremony during our Party in the Park.

As our Foundation evolves and our community gets acquainted with what we're doing, we would like to take the opportunity to introduce some people who have helped make our Park so special. It seemed fitting that our first personality profile should focus on Jeanne Wolfe, owner and operator of Bridlewood Stables, just across the street from the horse show grounds of the Park on 116th Ave. N.E.

Jeanne began her career with horses at the age of 8 leading ponies around the pony ring at Woodland Park in Seattle. At age 11 she started taking riding lessons from Jimmy Rainwater in Lake City before he moved to the eastside and established the Jimmy Rainwater stables just off N.E. 60th.

Meanwhile Jeanne stayed in the north end working as a trail guide and breaking Saddle Bred colts for 3 years at no pay. She eventually went back to work for Jimmy Rainwater on his Flying Horse Shoe dude ranch in Cle Elum in 1947. She attended the U. of W. for 1 year, did modeling for a year, and then married and had 3 children, Dan, Karen and Steve.

After a divorce and 10 years without horses in her life, Jeanne moved to the east side and started teaching riding. Jeanne lived and ran stables at Okie Flats (now 60-01), Hillcrest Acres (on the corner of 134th Ave. N.E. and N.E. 24th, and another one just south of 60th on 132nd Ave. N.E. She met Chuck Wolfe in 1959 and decided to partner with him in the running of and teaching horsemanship at the old Central Park Stables. They got married a year later, and sold the stable to Tex Johnston (of Boeing fame) and bought Bridlewood Stables on 116th N.E. and filled out their family with daughters, Sue and Tina.

That brings up a little history of Bridlewood Stables. Built in 1909, it was originally a trading post where Indians stopped on their way to fish on Lake Washington. The family that lived there had 8 sons. The father worked in the steel mill in Kirkland. The trading post was later turned into a stable. The arena was a gymnasium from an old school that was torn down in the area. When Evelyn Huff lived there and ran it, it was a non-profit riding club and was co-owned by a number of people including Manson and Franny Backus, long-time residents on the east side of the Park (see article about the Backus' elsewhere in this edition).

The Wolfes have been running Bridlewood Stables ever since. Bridlewood is a boarding/training stable and school for western riding. Jeanne and daughter, Sue, both train and help horse enthusiasts of all ages learn everything from basic horsemanship to show preparation. Their family has been active in the Lake Washington Saddle Club for most of those years and have been front runners in promoting horsemanship and a love for Bridle Trails Park. Two of Jeanne's children, Dan and Karen, are deceased, Steve now lives and trains horses in Arizona, and Tina trains Paints at Futurity Farms in Woodinville.

A year ago this July, Jeanne was lucky to escape with her life when an electrical short in one of the upstairs bedrooms sparked a fire that took the house and all their belongings. It was nothing short of a miracle that the barn and horses were spared. Jeanne and Sue have lived in a 40' trailer for the better part of the year since the fire while waiting for their new house to be built. Many friends and curious onlookers have watched the progress and will be happy to know that the move-in date is just around the corner.

If you have been in Bridle Trails Park, you know that the trails in our Park are made up of dirt and rock and covered with sand or gravel. A common question is why does the State use gravel while some smaller, regional parks use wood chips.

Wood chips are pretty and nice to walk on, but wear and tear on other parks' trails are much less because horses don't use them. They are also much more expensive to maintain, as wood chips have to be replaced a couple times a year or they break down and turn to mush. In a park with 3-4 miles of trails this may be feasible, but Bridle Trails has approximately 25 miles of trails and only one ranger to take care of it all.

When Ranger Mary came to Bridle Trails in 1982, she researched what would be the best, multi-use footing that would hold up all year round. She had to start by filling in mud holes with quarry rock and screened pit run, and topped with a layer of 5/8 minus gravel. In other places just a good clearing and a covering of sand were all that was needed. As weather and wear take their toll, gravel and sand can be added, but doesn't have to be replaced. Lake Washington Saddle Club has very generously purchased these trail materials from proceeds made at their horse shows for the last 20+ years.

Besides providing a safer footing for horses and dryer footing for pedestrians, this trail treatment makes it possible for Ranger Mary to go out on her tractor whenever needed in order to keep our trails cleared. If she couldn't get through, we could be waiting till summer before a blocked trail got opened up.

Also, as more and more runners and walkers visit Bridle Trails, we've been hearing that people would like to have some kind of signage system to make it easier to navigate through these 25+ miles of trails. Ranger Mary is investigating different types of signage that can be used without taking away from the natural aspect of the park and we hope to have something installed within the next year.

The Bridle Trails Foundation is excited to announce that we are closing in on our first $100,000. We have raised over $85,000 and are hoping to add another $10,000 - $20,000 as a result of our coming "Party in the Park" on Saturday, July 10th. We hope you will come and support our efforts to keep Bridle Trails Park open for years to come.

If you can't come to our Party, we still need your continued financial support. This community is what it is because of Bridle Trails Park and we all have a vested interest in keeping it alive. Besides just writing a check, there are other ways people have found to help finance our effort.

Several people have used Coldwell Banker Bain Real Estate when buying or selling a house and have asked their CBB agent to donate some of their commission to the Foundation. Our Foundation is on Coldwell Banker's Community Partnership preferred non-profit list and several of their agents have already donated out of funds from the purchase or sale of a house. We would like to Thank Beth Billington, Bob Guinn, and Wendy Lister for already using this method to support our cause. Diane Coates, Rebecca Rodda and Katherine Morris have also signed up to participate in the program as well, but remember, you must ask them to do this to activate the process.

Elsewhere in this issue I mentioned Manson and Frannie Backus who were once part owners in Bridlewood Stables. The Backuses loved the Park and lived just across the street from it and rode their horses there for many years. They set up a family foundation which their children and grand children now run. Last month we received word that they had just given us a $50,000 grant, to be funded over the next 10 years, in honor of their parents/grandparents. We wish to extend a huge Thank You to the Lucky Seven Foundation for their generous gift and look forward to it seeding our annual fund raising efforts.

Andrea Lorig, owner of Park Place Farm, and others have made significant donations in memory of Dr. Diana Berry, a close friend who loved riding in Bridle Trails Park.

Several home owner groups have given as a group because of what the park means to the well being of their neighborhood and community. Bridle View held a yard sale last summer at the home Jeff and Patty Allen. They wrote us a check from the proceeds and had it matched by Microsoft.

And, if you are interested in buying a State Parks season parking pass, it is good for one year from the date you purchase it. If you buy it through our Ranger or her office at Lake Sammamish and ask them to, they will credit the purchase to Bridle Trails. It will get you into all the State Parks across the state and, in the long run, will count as revenue to Bridle Trails and thereby reduce the uncovered expenses towards which the Foundation pays.

If you're curious why so many people care so much about Bridle Trails Park, please set aside Sat., July 10th, and come join us for a day full of fun, food and fresh air and get acquainted with your park.