Diamond Vogel Donates Paint To FOS - Paint Iowa Beautiful!

Diamond Vogel Paints and Keep Iowa Beautiful recently announced that Friends of Shimek State Forest was awarded 10 gallons of paint valued at $455.66 for painting posts in and around campgrounds and the inside of the toilet buildings in the four campgrounds at Shimek State Forest. These structures need painting about every two years to increase their life span and improve their appearance. The four campgrounds at Shimek all have small wooden toilet buildings the outsides of which were painted last year as part of a “Paint Iowa Beautiful” award. All have numerous wooden posts for signage, for overnight registration cards and/or protection of facilities. The paint was obtained through the Diamond Vogel Paint Store in Burlington, IA which is managed by Nick Wittenmyer. Pictured are (left to right): Board Member Neal Hartman, Nick Wittenmyer, Manager, Diamond Vogel Paint in Burlington, and Friends of Shimek President Ringo Covert. The 10 gallons of paint awarded was special mixed in the DNR standard brown color and white. The Friends of Shimek extend our appreciation to Diamond Vogel for this help in maintaining the Shimek State Forest campgrounds.

Friends of Shimek volunteers will use the paint beginning with the July 10th Group Work Day – if the rains will slow down a little. See the Friends of Shimek Event on Facebook or the Friends of Shimek Blogspot for full details. Come help FOS and DNR staff with this and other campground and trail maintenance on the workday. Meet in the Lower Campground at 8:00AM. Paint brushes provided!

Trail Update 6-20-19

Shimek Equestrian Trails status change!!!

  DIRT TRAILS are CLOSED.

Wet Weather Trails are OPEN.

Rainfall over the weekend created problems on the dirt trails. We appreciate your respecting this request to stay off the dirt trails for now. Forester Byrd will reopen them as soon as the weather permits. The new section of trail to help riders avoid the Highway right of way is not yet open. The soil on that section must firm up so that rock can be applied to it. Please do not ride it at this time.
FYI: Before going to ride, check trail status:

 For your reference:
DNR Status/Closure site:https://www.iowadnr.gov/Places-to-Go/State-Parks/Alerts-and-Closures

DNR Shimek office phone: 319-878-3811 (Reminder: There are no office staff--a message will be left re trail status; If Forester Byrd is in the office, he will answer.)
FOS Blog page re WWT: http://friendsofshimek.blogspot.com/p/photos.html

Work Day Scheduled for Wednesday July 10, 2019

 

Any and All Volunteers are Welcome.

 

 

The next FOS Group Work Day will be held on Wednesday July 10th and coordinated by Ann Bennett. Meet with Ann and Technician Patrick Thomas at 8:00 AM in the Lick Creek Lower Campground. Priorities will include clearing trails (ATV's and chain saws needed). Note from John: "If someone is bringing an ATV to clear trails, I want to get them started right away. Please unload and be ready to talk to me and head out as early as possible...iF it isn't too wet."
Lots of campground work too. Painting is planned inside of toilet buildings. The ones at Lick Creek were pressure washed by Jo Watson with help from Bob and Marsha Achenbach. Note: If painting, we will be using oil based paint and it for sure can get stuck in your hair and make permanent spots on clothes--so bring an old cap or a shower cap to protect your head and hair if painting; wear clothes that you will find just as useful with lots of paint spots on them. :-)
We also need to clean out the gutters on the horse shelters. Other campground work needed is to cleanup camp sites and horse stalls plus collect and sort recycle items. (Be sure to wear the protective gloves provided when handling recycle items, picking up trash or clearing fire pits.)
After a morning of work, all will return to the Lower Campground at noon to report back on progress, discuss upcoming activities, then rest a while with friends. A pot-Luck Lunch is planned, so bring a dish to share. Water provided. Don't forget your blaze orange Friends of Shimek work vest if you have one. There will be some loaners available to identify all of us as volunteers. Remember—no previous volunteer experience necessary.
NOTE: If you let us know you are coming, we will call or e-mail you if we are rained out; will post on Facebook and the FOS blog if rained out also.

6/12/19 ALL TRAILS OPEN

6/12/19 2:30 PM Message from Forester John Byrd: "All trails at Shimek are OPEN! They are not powdery dry but looking pretty good. We have cleared about 85% of the trails of downed trees. I want to thank all the riders (there were a few rogue riders) that stayed off the dirt trails for saving the staff at Shimek weeks of maintenance work. We will be keeping an eye on the trails if we get a sizable rain in the near future.
Thank you and Enjoy."
FYI: Before going to ride, check trail status:
For your reference:
DNR Status/Closure site: https://www.iowadnr.gov/Pla…/State-Parks/Alerts-and-Closures
DNR Shimek office phone: 319-878-3811 (Reminder: There are no office staff--a message will be left re trail status; If Forester Byrd is in the office, he will answer.)
FOS Blog page re WWT: http://friendsofshimek.blogspot.com/p/photos.html
Image may contain: tree, outdoor, text and nature

6/5/19 Wet Weather Trails open!

Before going to ride, check trail status:
For your reference:
DNR Status/Closure site: http://www.iowadnr.gov/Plac…/State-Parks/Alerts-and-Closures

DNR Shimek office phone: 319-878-3811 (Reminder: There are no office staff--a message will be left re trail status; If Forester Byrd is in the office, he will answer.)

FOS Blog page re WWT: http://friendsofshimek.blogspot.com/p/photos.html