Monday, July 15, 2013

Horse Shelter Replacement Project Status
11/1/2013  New Horse Shelter Open
 --See blog posted on 11/3/2013

9/18/2013  Construction began
The posts were installed for the first new horse shelter today.

9/7/2013  Construction contract awarded.
Bids for the construction of the first replacement shelter have been taken and the bid awarded to  Klesner Construction.  Construction should begin soon!

8/21/2013  Site prepared for construction
DNR Staff have taken down all the old posts and smoothed the surface where the new horse shelter will be built.

7/13/2013  FOS began taking down old horse shelter
FOS volunteers removed and stored gates and removed and stored stall boards that were usable from the old horse shelter.

7/15/2013  Grant  for First Replacement Horse Shelter Awarded to Friends of Shimek

      The Lee County Charitable Fund (LCCF) has notified the Friends of Shimek State Forest Equestrian Trails that they have been awarded a grant of $4,000 toward the construction of a new horse shelter in the Lower Campground of the Lick Creek Unit of Shimek State Forest. Friends of Shimek and DNR Shimek Staff will provide in-kind labor to deconstruct the dilapidated shelter that is being replaced. Friends of Shimek will raise the remaining cash to complete the construction which has been estimated at $5,800 for a roofed, 8 stall pole structure with gutters. Volunteers will construct the internal stalls and hang gates.

         Lee County Charitable Fund is a non-profit foundation established by the Community Foundation of North Lee County and the Keokuk Area Community Foundation and serves only Lee County, Iowa.  The Fund’s charitable interests include arts and culture, community betterment, education, health, and human services.

With the assistance of LCCF's grant, the Friends of Shimek volunteers and the DNR Shimek staff plan to take down the most deteriorated roofless set of stalls and have the new horse stall building in use by the end of the year.

         FOS President Ann Bennett said: “We are most appreciative of the grant from the Lee County Charitable Fund. This grant will help us provide safer, better facilities for the use of campers at Shimek. Thousands of riders use the trails each year, many camp out and need access to horse shelters. This will make camping safer for the horses and increase the attractiveness of the facility to equestrians from around the state and nearby states a well.” She went on to say: “We are in the midst of raising funds to complete this shelter and to prepare for upgrading the remaining two old shelters. We are pleased to announce that a generous, anonymous donor has awarded us $1,000 which will go toward this project.”

During the workday, a team of volunteers took down the old gates and stall boards and moved the gates to storage for reuse. FOS Board member Ringo Covert will direct the project and work with Forester John Byrd to assure that the project is completed satisfactorily. The next steps are that Shimek Forest staff will take down the old poles and Ringo will obtain bids for construction of the shelter, followed by constructions as soon as possible.

We are raising funds for match on this project and toward the replacement of the other two roofless shelters in the future. Any donation you can make to help us with this project will come back to you as better camping and riding facilities at Shimek. Send donations to  Lee County Bank c/o Debbie Miller, 2501 Avenue L, Ft. Madison, IA 52627.. Make checks payable to Friends of Shimek.



FOS Work Day July 13, 2013

Work Day Coordinator Ann Bennett sent the following report:

A total of 20 volunteers were greeted by another beautiful work day with cool temps and plenty of work from cleaning bathrooms and firepits to spreading lime chips under tie rails at the upper campground and trimming trails with walk behind mowers, chainsaws and loppers. 

New signs about Pack It In, Pack It Out were designed by FOS. Forester John Byrd had several permanent signs made which were mounted near trail heads by volunteers. We have all noticed that there are fewer and fewer drink bottles and beer cans tossed along the trail.  Our appreciation to everyone that is remembering to Pack it Out and recycle those cans and bottles. We have lots of work to maintain trails and campgrounds each work day and appreciate not having to crawl around under multi-flora roses and down into ditches retrieving someones tossed cans!

We all wore the orange Friends of Shimek safety vests so campers and trail riders noticed the small army of volunteers working to clean up camp and work on trail maintenance. 

The first set of horse stalls at the lower campground were deconstructed and boards and gates salvaged.  Shimek staff will remove the posts. Several volunteers are coming back to move the lime chips in the lower campground under the tie rails.   Thank you to John Byrd, Shimek State Forester, for co-ordinating lime chips and the skid loader.  

Debbie Miller and Bonnie Moothart made their way around to the campers explaining more about the volunteers and Friends of Shimek and Debbie collected $60 donated by folks who appreciated the work being done.   Debbie received several positive comments about the hand sanitizer dispensers in the bathrooms – that is courtesy of the Iowa DNR and installed by FOS.   

Ringo Covert talked to several people about the new horse shelter to be constructed.   A new volunteer commented about the great esprit de corps and what a pleasure to work with a well organized and positive group of volunteers.  Then all enjoyed a delicious salad and cold cuts potluck lunch.

Debbie Miller and Neal Hartman returned to the trails that afternoon with a chainsaw to clear downed trees off trails. Volunteers put in over 133 hours of work that day!

Ann Bennett, Bonnie Moothart and Lora Conrad made photos to document the activities and volunteers of the day. These are posted for you to enjoy at


When the page opens, you can click on Slideshow at the upper left. There are 20 photos showing all the activities Ann described and our 20 volunteers hard at work.