Friends of Shimek State Forest : Update on Dinner Honoring Volunteers

A Message from FOS President Ann Bennett:

A total of 24 volunteers and board members attended the Jan 11th Friends of Shimek (FOS) Annual Meeting held at Little Mexico in Mt. Pleasant.

At the FOS dinner,
Forester John Byrd and President Ann Bennett, standing.

Doug and Bonnie Moothart were recognized as the Bennett Volunteers of the Year for 2013. Doug kicked off the year in Jan of 2013 by donating $100 toward the purchase of blaze orange safety vests. Debbie Miller researched and ordered the vests for volunteers to wear on work days so they are highly visible and trail riders know why someone is out on a 4 wheeler in the timber or working with a chainsaw. Many individuals purchased their own vests in addition to the 10 vests ordered as loaners on work days. No FOS treasury dollars were spent on the vests. Bonnie started a Facebook group called Eastern Iowa Trail Riders and she keeps that group informed about work days and encourages trail riders to respect trail closures. The Facebook group is closed and you apply to be admitted to eliminate spam. The group is up to 750 members and Bonnie uses the forum to help educate trail riders, recruit help on work days and solicit donations. Doug can operate any kind of equipment and donated the use of his 4 wheeler, chainsaw and other tools. He and Bonnie both spread rock, worked on the de-construction of the old horse shelter, and helped build new stalls inside the new horse shelter. They both assisted on three unscheduled work days to see the completion of the jobs, donating a total of 78 volunteer work hours. They were presented with a hand turned spalted elm bowl, hand crafted and donated by Bob Achenbach.

Doug and Bonnie Moothart, Bennett Volunteers of the Year, and
Ann Bennett admire the bowl made by Bob Achenbach

Marsha Achenbach was nominated by the FOS Board of Directors (BOD) and selected as the “Trail Warrior” to be featured in the magazine Trail Blazer in the Jan/Feb 2014 issue for her diligent efforts scouting the Shimek Forest trails, keeping the Shimek State Forester informed about hazards, advising the FOS board about trail markings and maintenance and working on both work days and her riding days to prune back multi-floral rose, clear trails with a walk behind mower, clean out firepits, clean up tie rails and stalls that are left dirty, pick up redeemable cans, recyclables and trash. She was presented a framed collage of her work at Shimek.

Marsha Achenbach -- our very own Trail Warrior -- and her husband Bob

An astounding 47 volunteers donated 841 hours in 2013 to improve the trails and campgrounds and to promote care of our natural resources in Shimek. Volunteers often brought their own equipment and tools to do the work, from tractors to drills and saws. All volunteers donating 8 hours or more of time received an embroidered Friends of Shimek State Forest Volunteer iron-on patch and a Thank You for their work. Donors and volunteers donating up to 7 hours received Thank You cards showing a collage of the work being done by FOS in 2013. Lora Conrad designed and she and Ray Conrad donated the iron on patches and cards awarded to volunteers and donors. No dollars were spent from the FOS treasury to fund the awards. This is consistent with the promise by the FOS Board to donors that 100% of donations goes for campground and trail improvements. (The badges and photo card thank yous will be mailed out to those unable to attend the annual meeting.)

Two grants were funded and completed in 2013 that benefited the equestrian campgrounds and trails of the Lick Creek Unit of Shimek State Forest. Every grant took significant co-operation, volunteer labor and DNR labor. $10,000 worth of road rock was solicited by a Pathfinders RC&D grant written by Katy Anderson for 3.1 miles of the hard surface wet weather trail and funded by the William M. and Donna J. Hoaglin Foundation. Construction of a new 8 stall, roofed, horse shelter at the Lower Campground was funded with a grant from the Lee County Charitable Fund for $4000, with another $1500 in cash donations from Friends of Shimek for a total cost of $5500. Lora Conrad wrote the grant for the horse shelter. Director at Large Ringo Covert and Shimek State Forest Advisor John Byrd worked out legal requirements, bid proposal and solicitation, awarded the bid, and provided oversight on the construction of the roofed pole building. Volunteers and Shimek State Forest employees tore down the old shelter and built stalls in the new building with rough cut oak lumber from the Iowa Forestry Bureau.

Shimek State Forester John Byrd was recognized with a letter of commendation to the Director of Iowa DNR from the FOS BOD for his willingness to support the equestrian communities efforts and act as the Friends of Shimek Advisor. To quote from the letter: In all this effort, John has been the steady, guiding hand with the skills to work with people of all ages and interests in a way that earns their respect and appreciation and yet keeps control of what is done and assures that it is safe and useful. He has been a key part of fostering a team spirit amongst the volunteers and developing pride in our group and its role. John takes the initiative to see that we get our tasks completed.

Lora Conrad presents the letter of commendation
from the Board of Directors to John Byrd. (photo by Bonnie Moothart)

The FOS Board and Forester John Byrd have planned a Shimek Education Day on Sat, Mar 22, 9am to noon. Meet John at the Shimek State Forest headquarters building in Farmington, Iowa and learn more about forestry practices, conservation and how we can all help assure that the equestrian trails stay open and enjoyable to ride.

Work days scheduled for 2014 are: May 14, July 12, Aug 20 and Sept 20. Details will be posted on the FOS Blog Calendar. We hope to see you there!

Kicking off fund raising in 2014 to raise monies to go toward additional improved facilities at Shimek was a $300 donation from Iowa Trail Rider’s Association, $100 from Pam Larson, and $100 from Kenny Hartman. Donations may be sent to Friends of Shimek, attention Debbie Miller, Lee County Bank and Trust, 2501 Avenue L, Fort Madison, Iowa 52627.

Friends of Shimek board members and officers re-elected to serve in 2014 are as follows: President Ann Bennett, Vice President Marsha Achenbach, Treasurer Debbie Miller, Secretary and Editor Lora Conrad, Directors at Large Neal Hartman and Ringo Covert. Shimek State Forester John Byrd serves as the Advisor for Friends of Shimek. Thank you to the Advisor, Officers and Board Members for all your time and talent to attend meetings, plan, brain storm, organize and lead work days, and represent responsible leadership and a can do attitude. John Byrd mentioned that Friends of Shimek is the only Friends group in the Forestry Division and the success of this Friends group is noticed. Friends of Shimek will be represented at the Iowa Horse Fair and Equestrian Soft Trails Conference on April 4th at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines on a panel discussion about Friends Groups – What Works and What Doesn’t.

We know what makes Friends of Shimek a success – EVERY ONE OF YOU - volunteers, advisor, board members and donors that give of your time, talent and resources. THANK YOU!

President Ann Bennett received the following e-mail from Linda King, Volunteer Coordinator at DNR:

I really appreciate the invitation, unfortunately I won’t be able to attend to celebrate your success. Please extend to your group my heartfelt thanks for all you are doing at Shimek to help John improve our forests. Without volunteers like you helping us carry out our mission our agency would be at a great loss.

Blessings to you all in the New Year! – Linda

LINDA KING Volunteer Coordinator