Beautful Fall Color along the Horse Trails

Last week, Debbie Miller rode her horse and carried her camera along the trails in the Lick Creek Unit of Shimek State Forest.  Below are some of her photos taken that day.  Its really too bad if you did not see it in person!  Aren't the colors awesome?

New Horse Shelter Open

New Horse Shelter Open

Ready to use. (Photo by Bonnie Moothart.) 

 

The new horse shelter in the Lower Campground at the Lick Creek Unit of Shimek State Forest is now open for use. Friends of Shimek volunteers met on October 19^th for a Group Work Day at which the top priority was building the stall walls. This was followed by a work day on November 1^st to hang the gates, put in blocks on which to to sit the gates and add chains to fasten them. In addition, braces were added to the middle of each stall wall separating the two sides of the shelter. There are eight stalls in the shelter. As has always been the case, there is no charge to use the stalls. However, users are expected to clean up the stalls after they use them—haul the manure and bedding to the manure bunkers located nearby. Wheelbarrows are provided, but you do need to bring your own manure fork for cleaning up the stalls---just as you should for cleaning up around the tie rails. When not using a stall, please return the gates to the fastened position, sitting on their blocks with the chain tied. This will help protect the gates from damage.

The horse shelter was made possible with a $4,000 grant from the Lee County Charitable Fund with the rest of the cost and the labor to install stall walls and gates provided by the Friends of Shimek volunteers. The DNR Shimek Forest crew and Friends of Shimek volunteers took down the old shelter earlier this year. The DNR provided the lime chips for the stall floors and Forester John Byrd spread them in the building. Oversight of the bid process was provided by Friends of Shimek board member Ringo Covert. The entire project was under the direction of Forester John Byrd.

There are two additional horse shelters at the campgrounds that were built over 25 years ago and have already had to have their roofs removed for safety. Both are deteriorating and need to be replaced. Anyone who can assist with this goal can send a donation to Lee County Bank, c/o Debbie Miller, FOS Treasurer, 2501 Avenue L, Ft. Madison, IA 52627.

Photos documenting the volunteers at work were made by Bonnie Moothart, Lala O'Hara and Lora Conrad.  Photos documenting the October 19th Group Work Day are included in the post dated October 20, 2013---the one just before this one.

Bonnie Moothart documented the installing of gates and braces on November 1st --with her ingenuity in using a wheelbarrow as a tripod, after completing the work, the entire crew posed for the photo below. For photos of all the action that day, see Bonnie's facebook page slide show at 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200932446374036.1073741871.1252018229&type=1&l=ec85723595

Pictured left to right are Bob and Marsha Achenbach, Lora and Ray Conrad, Doug and Bonnie Moothart ..the “Hanging Crew”--standing in front of the completed shelter.

This project was possible only because of funding provided through the Lee County Charitable Fund and the guidance and assistance of Forester John Byrd. Our appreciation and thanks are extended to both. To learn more about the Fund, see www.leecountycharitablefund.org

Congratulations to all the Friends of Shimek volunteers and donors that have contributed time, hard work and/or money to help complete this project. Obtaining funding and then completing the project as planned, on time and within budget gives us a track record for seeking future funding.