History of the Friends

The Friends organization was founded as a small program by Woodside residents, Susan Lang and Robert Levenson, through their INNW Foundation (If Not Now When?) in 1992. The INNW fund is a non-profit organization dedicated to environmental education and land conservation. The early programs of the Friends supported various aspects of Park management and assisted the rangers with plant watering, trail maintenance, etc.

The Friends became a non-profit community-based organization in 2002. While the INNWF continues to be involved, other major donors and board volunteers joined to assume leadership positions. To supplement the volunteers, part-time staff people were engaged.

The first program manager was Celia Hartnett who developed the educational aspects of the Friends and began bringing children into the Parks for guided hikes. She subsequently developed the docent program that was continued by Ellen Schuette who built upon Celia's initial work. Daran Reinholm is now directing and developing the children's educational programs and overseeing the docent program that has grown to five docents.

As the Friends has grown, so have the variety of tasks needed to run the organization smoothly. Joe Geist is our Director of Finance and Administration and Anne Wellner de Veer and Summer Lopez are working on the campaign to restore the Folger Stable.