A Full House!! Volunteers and Friends seated before dinner at the Little Mexico Restaurant to honor 2014 FOS Volunteers

Shimek Forester John Byrd speaks to the group.

 



Dennis Hunter, Recipient of the Bennett FOS Volunteer of the Year Award admires the beautiful hand turned bowl made by Bob Achenbach, who is shown with  John and Ann Bennett presenting the award.

Dennis Hunter draws a name to win the campfire set he donated for
 a FOS Board Member.  Neal Hartman won the campfire set.

After dinner conversation: Brenda and Ringo Covert, Doris Parks (the sculptor of the Ding Darling bust at Lake Darling) and John Bennett

 

 

Chelsea Rohrs and DNR Technician Cody Brothersen with their son Owen.

 

 

 

 

FOS 2014 Volunteer Appreciation and Planning for 2015 Dinner

Thirty-five FOS Volunteers and friends met for dinner at Little Mexico in Mt. Pleasant on Jan 10, 2015.

Among the guests were Rep. Curt Hanson, Member of the House of Representatives in Iowa, District 82 and ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee.  DNR Representatives included Tom Basten, Southeast Area Parks Supervisor( which includes the campgrounds in Shimek), Shimek Forester John Byrd, and DNR Technician Cody Brothersen. 

Honorees included Denise Schieffer who was nominated for the Iowa Horse Council Meritorious Service Award by Friends of Shimek.  Denise is the President of the Iowa Trail Riders Association.  She has been a contributor to the equine community for many years, and has helped get out the word about FOS since our inception.  She publishes all news releases about FOS and the annual FOS calendar in the ITRA newsletter and on facebook.  In addition, ITRA donated money this past year to help with the building of the new horse shelter. Denise is an advocate of trail riding that is safe for the horses and riders and does no harm to the natural resources of the forest. 

Dennis Hunter was selected for the Bennett Volunteer of the Year Award  for 2014.  Dennis welded, painted and constructed 16 signs with posts to display the "You are Here" maps on the equestrian trails at Shimek.  After many years of stories of people lost for two, four or more hours on the trails, this should mean no more lost riders.  Dennis also made and donated two black iron campfire cook sets for fund-raising for FOS raffles.  As if that were not enough, although he lives over two hours away, he came to help build stalls for horse shelter 3---so Dennis truly deserves the honor.  His award included a lovely hand-turned spalted elm bowl made by Bob Achenbach and a framed certificate from the Board of FOS as well as dinner for he and his family.  

This past year FOS had 44 volunteers who donated a total of 961 hours of work. A Thank You  photo card was presented to each volunteer.  In addition, 28 people contributed 8 hours or more---each of these individuals received an iron-on Voluteer patch suitable for their FOS vests or other vest or jacket. 

FOS Volunteers and Forester John Byrd were also recognized in the November Issue of TrailBlazer Magazine (page 86).  Copies were provided to everyone attending.

Ringo Covert set up a slide show of FOS activities in 2014 for people to watch as they visited.  The photos were made by Lora Conrad, Bonnie Moothart, and a few contributed by others, including John Byrd.  To play the movie version set up by Lora, go to
https://plus.google.com/photos/109715468761500706650/albums/6099998381664850433/6100031312642464722?banner=pwa&authkey=COXszMnI8MPD-QE&pid=6100031312642464722&oid=109715468761500706650


Photos of the evening are in a separate blog entry.

Denise Schieffer Chosen for Iowa Horse Council Meritorius Service Award

Denise Schieffer Honored by Friends of Shimek and Iowa Horse Council


In an e-mail to Ann Bennett, who submitted the Friends of Shimek
nomination of Denise Schieffer for the Iowa Horse Council (IHC)
Meritorious Service award for 2014,
Barb Zukowski, IHC Awards Chair,  wrote:


The judging is over and I am happy to say Denise is going
to be awarded the IHC Meritorious Service Award.

The award will be presented to Denise at the IHC Annual
meeting which is on January 24, 2015. The meeting begins
at 10AM. Do not know the exact time the presentation will
take place. The location for the meeting is on the Iowa
State University campus Kildee Hall Rm 1204.

Denise as an award winner, will receive a complimentary
lunch as will  one guest of her choice. The luncheon will
begin at 11:30 Am.

Congratulations to Denise!

Gary Schieffer, Denise Schieffer, and Ann Bennett at the Friends of Shimek
Volunteer Recognition Dinner Jan. 10, 2014

Benefit for Heart For Hooves Rescue-Follow-Up

 The Heart for Hooves Fundraiser on 2/7/2015 was a great success---over $9,000 was raised to support the animal rescue efforts there.  Thanks many times over to Bonnie Moothart for organizing it all and to the many people who donated items, food, services, the facilities and all the many hours of work.

Beth Miner shown standing right is the owner/operator of Heart for Hooves.
 She is shown with friends who have helped with the work and fund-raising.

Bonnie Moothart, standing, is shown with friends
 Pat Pollpeter and Becky Hassman before the auction..

Lala O'Hara and friends look over the many items that were auctioned.

 

 

 

 

Your Invitation to the Annual FOS DInner Jan 10, 2015

Message from Forester John Byrd Nov. 5, 2014 / Completion of Horse Shelter #3

Message from Shimek Forester John Byrd:

Thank you for everyone’s help in completing the stalls in the new horse shelter in the Upper Campground...the last one!  It is a relief to get that project done and we can move on to another project.  I would never have completed getting the horse shelters done without a lot of help from volunteers.  Now we have three good quality horse shelters that should last a long time. 

As I look to the future for improvements to Shimek facilities, my goal is to look hard at the trail side of things.  Campgrounds are still not perfect, but the reason people come to Shimek is to ride trails.  It is unfortunate that I was unable to do much trail work this year due to wet conditions most of the time.  There are some ambitious plans for the future but time is the limiting factor, especially with 9,500 acres to manage.  I will be looking to volunteers to remain vigilant in our fight to protect the resource and maintain a safe and healthy trail system.

In closing, I would like to thank all volunteers in 2014, whether you helped 1 hour or 200 hours, every hour counts.  Thank you and we will look to a successful 2015.

John Byrd, Area Forester

Iowa Department of Natural Resources

Shimek State Forest, 33653 Rte J56, Farmington, IA 52626

Phone: 319-878-3811 e-mail: john.byrd@dnr.iowa.gov

=========================================================================

Completion of Horse Shelter #3 -Upper Campground

The last of the dilapidated, roofless horse shelters has been replaced with a new, metal roofed structure with 10 stalls. The stalls are made from rough cut oak lumber taken from Shimek Forest. Construction of the new ten horse stall shelter was made possible by a grant from the Lee County Charitable Fund, funds raised by Friends of Shimek, Friends of Shimek volunteer labor and both DNR funds and staff labor. The Lee County Charitable Fund supports only projects in Lee County in the fields of arts and culture, community betterment, education, health and human services. The grant to Friends of Shimek was used to improve the equestrian campground facilities at Shimek's Lick Creek Unit in Lee County. The grant of $4,200 was combined with $2,000 raised by Friends of Shimek and lumber, hardware and gates provided by DNR to construct the new horse shelter. Use of the horse shelters is free to equestrians. Forester John Byrd and crew cut trees and sawed the heavy, rough-cut 2 x8” boards that were used for stall construction. Once the roofed structure was completed, 15 Friends of Shimek volunteers assisted by Forester John Byrd and DNR Technician Cody Brothersen installed the stall walls and gates –this was a hard but enjoyable day of hauling very heavy boards, cutting them to length, countersinking holes, placing boards, drilling holes, inserting carriage bolts and adding a washer and nut, tightening the nuts, then cutting off the bolts, followed by smoothing any jagged edges where the bolt was cut---for 234 bolts! Ten gates with chains were hung also. Volunteers were: Doug Moothart ( FOS Construction Coordinator), Bonnie Moothart, Marsha and Bob Achenbach, Ray Conrad, Ann Bennett, Bob Bender, Art Duke, Ringo Covert, Pam Larson, Al Brown, Pat Pollpeter, Dennis Hunter and Pam Ball. Both Forester John Byrd and DNR Technician Cody Brothersen also worked on the stall construction with the volunteers. The work was completed by mid-afternoon. A total of 110.5 volunteer hours were donated toward stall construction. Volunteers enjoyed snacks provided by Bonnie Moothart and Lora Conrad and lunch provided by Ann Bennett.

From: This unsafe old set of pens ----

To:

A proud group of FOS Volunteers and Forester John Byrd celebrate the completion of Horse Shelter 3!

More photos below (by Lora Conrad)  of the construction of the stalls:

Photos by Bonnie Moothart from the FOS Potluck and Raffle

This is a sample of the many photos made by Bonnie Moothart at the Potluck.
 Thank you, Bonnie.

Gathered Round the Campfire

A serious FOS Board meeting ---only Lora missing--
she was in the hospital so might be excused.

Ann Bennett holds the raffle tickets while Dennis Hunter draws names

Excitement! Art just won the campfire tools donated by Dennis.

Chow Time!

 
 

 

A relaxing evening by the fire.

Report on the End of Season Friends of Shimek Potluck and Raffle

Report on the 2014 End of Season Friends of Shimek Potluck and Raffle

from FOS President Ann Bennett with input from Debbie Miller

Art Duke of Brighton won the campfire iron grill donated by Dennis Hunter.- Dennis did the raffle drawing for us. The campfire ring was donated by Bill White and won by Debbie's boss at work - Mike Culbertson of Fort Madison. Treasurer Debbie Miller reported that the raffle raised a total of $960. In addition $100 was donated by Diana Thrift as she has been unable to volunteer and work the last couple years but hopes to be able to do so this coming year. Another $50 was donated by Michael & Barbara Leete. Total revenue raised over the weekend: $1,100 which gives us a good start on

funding improvement projects for the campground and trails.

The weather was stunning - sunshine and 70's, Sat night clear and stars. The Upper and Lower campground was over flowing, trailers parked in day riding and skirting every available spot. The potluck was outstanding with walking tacos, chili, fried chicken, bacon wrapped little smokies, pumpkin pie dessert, dutch oven cobbler, sweet potatoes, cabbage/sausage casserole, and other great food I'm sure I'm forgetting at the moment.

 

  Everyone was enjoying the beautiful fall weather and out riding. Camp was peaceful and quiet at night - all enjoying a campfire but settling down shortly after 9pm - thanks to all the courteous campers. I saw lots of folks cleaning their tie rails and stalls, so hopefully camp was left clean for the following weekend visitors. Bonnie is donating a quilt to the raffle next year so looks like Friends of Shimek will be making the October potluck an annual event.

We estimated 50 people there for riding and/or potluck. There was no sign-in for attendees, so we'll list as many trail riders and potluck attendees as we can remember: Art and Judy Duke, Mary Doyle, Diana Thrift, Becky Hassman, Pat Pollpeter, Linda and Bill Fiordelise, Martina Poggenpohl, Jewel McDonald, Denise Schieffer, Doug and Bonnie Moothart, Laura Paulsen, Ringo and Brenda Covert, Craig and Kristine Sink, Bob Bender, Debbie Miller, Marsha and Bob Achenbach, Dennis and Melinda Hunter and their daughter Michelle Hunter, Pam and Bob Noe, Nancy Grams, Ann Bennett, Pam Larson and Al Brown, Pam, Alan, Adam and Jackie Ball, Dean and Cathy Weber, Neal Hartman, Lala O'Hara, John Steenhoek, Dick and Sharon Wyett, and Tom and Jeanie Schacklett. Thanks to Bonnie Moothart, Judy Duke, Martina Poggenpohl, and Ringo Covert for making photographs.

Strings of rental horses stopped at camp to use the bathroom and take a break. The camp was so crowded that they were blocking the trail entrance at the south end of camp. Someone suggested some tie rails and a picnic table near the pit toilets so they would have somewhere to hang out. It is a good idea as one of the campers said the dude horses were trying to drink out of their water buckets and were in their camp site. And riders out on the dude string horses probably don't have any idea how to stay away from the other horses' food and water.

I camped in site #34 and sadly someone had recently tied a horse to a tree at that campsite and badly damaged it. There were fresh chew marks, the damage is only apparent from the back side so you can't see it from the road. Whoever had the campsite last left a big mess all around that camp, but not at the hitch rail.....almost like it was someone camping next to whoever rented the site. The bad damage to the tree will likely result in its death later---clearly campers must obey the Do Not Tie to Trees rule or our  lovely trees in the campground could all easily be destroyed.

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.

Update From Shimek Forester John Byrd.... September 2014

 

What a difference a year makes!  Last year the trails were dry and the Shimek DNR crew got tons of work done.  This year it has been spotty when we could get on the trails and not make more damage than we have fixed.  I guess it is good that we are not in a drought anymore.  

 A few things to look forward to this fall --- besides the horseflies dying.  First of all, Horse Shelter 3 –the one at the Upper Campground--- has been bid.  The winning bid was submitted by Klesner Construction.  They expect to build the new shelter during the last week of September, weather permitting.  This shelter has been designed to be five double stalls instead of the four double stalls of the other two.  The extra set should present better opportunities for campers to get a stall. Building this shelter is a cooperative effort of Friends of Shimek, a grant from the Lee County Charitable Fund, the Shimek DNR Crew and DNR Parks funds.

Another positive note; DNR at Lacey-Keosauqua State Park hired a technician to help with day-to-day activities.  One of these activities includes helping out at Shimek with the FOS, answering camping and other questions, and patrolling the area to ensure everyone’s safety.  His name is Cody Brothersen and he is excited to meet everyone in the community.  You might have seen him already if you have camped or ridden in the last few weeks. His bio and photo are included below—so look for him when you are at Lacey or riding in Shimek and introduce yourself to him. Cody and I look forward to working with Friends of Shimek Volunteers on the September 20^th work day

Lastly, this is the time of year when leaves start changing, cool weather starts peeking in, hunting seasons start, and the Shimek DNR crew starts getting back into the forest.  As you ride you might see red* or blue** marks scattered around the forest.  I am a big advocate of managing the forest resource so the next generation can enjoy the forest like we do now.  With that being said, the longest running annual forestry field day in Iowa is coming up October 7^th and will be in the upper campground this year.  The agenda and details on the Southeast Iowa Forestry Field Day will be posted by Iowa State at http://www.extension.iastate.edu/forestry/publications/new_programs.html (check back if not there yet.)


Enjoy Shimek!

JOHN BYRD, Area Forester

*Trees marked with red paint are to be girdled or felled and left in the timber as part of forest stand improvement.

**Trees marked with blue paint are marked to be harvested and removed.

DNR Technician Profile: Cody Brothersen

 Cody’s hometown is New London, Iowa --- we have riders on the trails at Shimek from New London on occasion. After high school he attended Kirkwood Community College where he received an AAS degree in Parks & Natural Resources.  Cody then went to work for the Army Corps of Engineers at Coralville Lake.  His duties included patrolling campgrounds and keeping people safe.  He worked for the Corps for three years before working as a seasonal park ranger for Lake Ahquabi State Park south of Indianola, Iowa this summer.  Cody has just moved to Lacey-Keosauqua State Park to assist the park manager there and help look after the campgrounds in Shimek State Forest.  Cody is currently attending the University of Iowa, pursuing a degree in criminal justice.  Cody will be living in Lacey-Keosauqua Park housing with his significant other and 2 month old son.  He is very enthusiastic and dedicated to protecting our natural resources for future generations. 

Please welcome Cody if you see him around at Shimek or Lacey or at one of the FOS work days.