White Pines Park is woman’s passion

For Sally Goedeck, no task is too dirty or cumbersome when it comes to White Pines Park.

Goedeck rummages through garbage for recyclables, cleans toilets and begs for donations. That’s because helping keep the park going has become her life’s work.

“I don’t know what I would do without it,” she said.

“I admit I have fallen in love with it.”

Others say her infatuation is a blessing for the community.

“Sally is a character,” said Calaveras County Supervisor Merita Callaway, “and I mean that in the very best way. She isn’t afraid to get in my face when she wants something for the park. I just love talking with her.”

Goedeck, 65, was a middle school teacher in Fresno for 31 years. Her mother lived with her for 15 years, and she had a best friend who taught with her for 27 years.

Her mother and best friend died within months of each other about 12 years ago. That’s when she decided it was time to make a new start and bought a house on Meadowmont Golf Course.

She is a golfer who at one time maintained a nine handicap for 18 holes.

“I don’t do that well any more,” she said, “but I still enjoy it. I play with the Meadowmont Niners.”

She worked at Bear Valley Ski Area in the equipment rentals department to supplement her income for six years after moving to Arnold. She drove her four-wheel-drive Subaru up the hill every day in all kinds of weather.

“I carried chains,” she said, “but I never had to use them.”

She is also an avid gardener, and she religiously works out on her treadmill and exercise bicycle to keep up her strength.

A friend she met in Arnold, the late Larry Stevenson, talked her into helping with an activity at White Pines Park shortly after she moved to Arnold, and she was hooked. She has been a member of the White Pines Park Committee for 10 years.

Among the many duties she assigns herself are recycling cans and helping other volunteers clean toilets and dump garbage.

“We were paying someone else $600 a month to do it,” she said, “so a few of us decided we could do it ourselves and save the money for the park.”

The park property — which includes a lake, picnic areas, beach area and trails — belongs to the Calaveras County Water District. It is leased to the county, which subleases it to the committee. It is open to the public during the spring, summer and fall.

It is also the home of the Sierra Nevada Logging Museum, which CCWD leases to Friends of the Logging Museum.

In addition to helping with the manual labor at the park, Goedeck is active in fundraising.

She’s a member of the Arnold Angels, a group that prepares fundraising letters and sends them to area residents for several causes, including the park.

She also helps with park administrative duties, including doing paperwork for grant applications.

She makes reservations for people, puts up reserved signs for them, then checks to make sure everything is left in good condition.

“She is invaluable to the park,” said Carolyn Whitfield, president of the White Pines Park Committee.

“I’ve seen her up and out at 5:30 a.m., making a run through the park to check toilet paper and garbage cans,” she said. “She loves the animals, too. I’ve seen her feeding them, and when a goose had a string wrapped around its feet, she called for help and made sure it was removed. She has made the park her life’s passion.”

Goedeck is a busy woman. Her other activities include keeping in touch with friends via the computer and enjoying fine wines. Her brother is a vintner in El Dorado County.

She also decorates her home for every season. She uses shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day, eggs and bunnies for Easter, a red, white and blue theme for summer, pumpkins for Halloween, turkeys for Thanksgiving and traditional Christmas decorations for December.