Report on the FOS Work Day September 20, 2014

 

Saturday dawned as a perfect day for working on the trails and around the campgrounds at Shimek---cloudy and mild. A total of 14 FOS Volunteers---Ann Bennett, Marsha Achenbach, Lora Conrad, Ringo Covert, Neal Hartman, Bob Bender, Art and Judy Duke, Doug and Bonnie Moothart, Bill and Linda Fiordelise, Nancy Grams, and Mary Doyle---came to work, with tools and equipment in their vehicles. In addition, Shimek Forester John Byrd and DNR Technician Cody Brothersen arrived to help, giving up a day at home to help us out. John brought a DNR truck very loaded with rock and his small truck and trailer for moving the DR's way out on the trails as well as paint and a very heavy duty weed eater with blade. John gave us our assignments for the day and everyone got busy.

A total of 83.5 hours of work was contributed by the volunteers. Work accomplished included painting the rusty bottoms of all tables not in use at the lower campground, cleaning out all firepits and around tie rails at both campgrounds, filling potholes with rock on the road (hard work!), mowing down the multi-flora and autumn olives etc. along the side of the two trails down to the Croton blacktop off the main trail and one other loop down from trail marker 14 to 13, mowing out from the south end of the lower campground, using the recently donated Troy-Bilt mower, and cut a downed tree off a trail west of the upper campground as well as cut briars and weeds along that trail with a weed-eater. Thanks to DNR crew member Heath, the several trees down on the Wet Weather Trail were removed last week.

In preparation for the building of the new horse shelter at the upper campground, volunteers took down the gates on the old horse pens so they can be reused on the new horse shelter and took down the wire between the two rows of stalls. The DNR crew plans to deconstruct the rest of the old stall this week and the contractor will build the new horse shelter during the last week of the month as now planned.

The few good boards on it will be saved for reuse.

There is still painting needed and more trails that need to be mowed ---maintenance is never finished---but we made some headway and the hard work of all the volunteers is much appreciated. We celebrated with a Southern picnic lunch, packed up and headed off to ride (or rest, in my case.)

Bonnie Moothart documented our activities in the photos shown below.

 Those of you who did not make one of the scheduled group work days this year, we hope you'll put them on your calendar and come help next year or help out every time you are down there---pick up any cans that have been tossed out, clean out a firepit or two and encourage all your friends that use Shimek State Forest to take care of our precious forest and facilities so we can all continue to enjoy them.