Diamond
Vogel Paints and Keep Iowa Beautiful recently announced that
Friends of Shimek State Forest was
awarded 9 gallons of paint for painting picnic tables and other
campground structures, including the toilet buildings. These
wooden facilities need painting about every two years to increase
their life span and improve their appearance. There are four
campgrounds at Shimek, all with wooden picnic tables with metal
frames, small wooden toilet buildings, and posts for signage and
other purposes. The paint was obtained through the Diamond Vogel
Paint Store in Burlington, IA which is managed by Nick Wittenmyer.
Friends of Shimek Board Member Neal
Hartman (left) is pictured with Nick Wittenmyer receiving the 9
gallons of paint which was special mixed in the DNR standard green
and brown colors. Ringo Covert, Friends of Shimek Board President
said: “ The Friends of Shimek extend our appreciation to Diamond
Vogel for this help in our on-going efforts to support DNR in
maintaining the campgrounds.”
Friends of Shimek volunteers met for their first Group Work Day of 2018 in late May at the Lick
Creek Lower Campground. The volunteers are shown above as they
prepare to begin the painting project as well as clearing downed
trees off trails, sorting cans and bottles and other campground
maintenance.
The first step in the project
was painting the two wooden toilet facilities at the Bitternut Lake
campground. The paint was peeling badly and no longer protected the
wood from the elements as shown in the photo above.
Here Volunteers and Friends of Shimek
Board Members Marsha Achenbach and Jo Watson are shown just after
completing the repainting of those two facilities, which are looking
much better.
Painting of the metal legs on picnic
tables to prolong their life is next on the Friends of Shimek “Paint
Iowa Beautiful” project. With 9 gallons of paint, there will be a
lot of "Painting Shimek Beautiful" yet to come. Volunteers to help paint will be needed at the next FOS Group Work Day on July 11th!
