New
Horse Shelter Open
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 19th for a Group Work Day at
which the top priority was building the stall walls. This was
followed by a work day on November 1st 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.
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