The July 25th session was awesome; great weather (not too hot), we had a solid turnout with eighteen (18) trail work volunteers - and it was great fun. Below Jerry Granahan (our co-leader) has his arm around on of our new volunteers, Robert Latimer. On Robert's left is Isaac Cook (Jerry's grandson), and adjacent to them are Sisters Shelby Tennant and Kierstin Howlett - both from the Church of LDS.
In the background is John Erbstoeszer, Jerry's co-leader (in green), along with Sue Krienen (in yellow) of Shell Oil, and (in blue) Ken Bergsma. Ken is a former member of the Mount Vernon Parks Foundation.
It is great working with Ken again, in addition to the Foundation he helped us build steps on Fred's Trail. You've got to see those steps someday...
Ken and Sue worked together most of the day. By day's end their rock wall building skills were well-honed. Sue has also been out building with us in the past also, it was great having them back.
In this second image (below) Jerry shows me where he wants one of our "large" rocks. The loader we're using is a new diesel powered Dingo, a great machine that's provided by Birch Equipment at a "significant" discount. Their equipment discount was an in-kind donation toward the project we're working on, the HOP (Heart of the Park) Public Trail Facility.
That fundraising event was held last year, in June 2014. Thanks again Birch Equipment, and all other donors, supporters and event goers!
Below you can see we have two groups building rock walls, coming together from opposite directions. Kinsey (facing us) is supporting both teams with materials. He looks really serious in this photo, but he's not - lol.
Just below him is Maggie Sullivan, in the center is Tucker Latimer, and (on the right) Lynn Postler. Darn impressive work isn't it...
As an aside there was a remark made at the session, Maggie and Lynn were thought to be twin sisters. We all had a good laugh, and Maggie and Lynn loved that - they see themselves as sisters by choice.
In this fourth photo (below) Jerry is giving detailed instructions to Sue and Ken, putting a real emphasis on training this session. Only a sore back slows Jerry down. Both Jerry and John worked hard on training. Given our amazing results it appears we might want to maintain this focus in future sessions.
Here (below) Lynn shows us how it's done, always with a smile.
In this sixth image (below) Sue is chatting with her close friend and hiking buddy Liz McNett Crowl. Liz made and delivered a great lunch, thanks Liz!
Liz is founder and facilitator of BikeWalk Mount Vernon, an important local committee. She takes a great interest in all issues related to outdoor activities and trails. We are fortunate to have such an impassioned advocate as a friend. I am pleased to be a member of that committee, and we are both members of the Mount Vernon Parks Foundation.
Which reminds me, if helping advocate for local trails interests you please contact us...
Here John shows us that he too is a skilled (and very attentive) trainer. We're getting Robert started early as an equipment operator.
Here Robert shows off his new tee shirt. He and his dad spent their entire day working with us. Checkout our "almost" done parking area, we still have some steps to put in - but we're really happy with it. We'll finish it the second Saturday in September. We are going into our vacation month, August.
In this eighth, and final photo (below) you can see the first car that drove into our newly improved parking area. It work (the lot), and darn it looks good. Thanks everyone for your hard work, it was another awesome session.
We hope to see many of you at our next volunteer session in September, and possibly at our hike with the Mayor next Saturday (8/1/15):