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| FFA and BETA club members from West Union High School help work on EOA trails. Photo by: Donnie McCarty |
Every year students that are members of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) and BETA Club visit the preserve for an end of the year work project. They volunteer their services and lend their hands and backs to make much needed improvements to the preserve. They have: cut trees out of prairies to help keep the prairies exposed to the sun, picked up trash form illegal dump sites, improved trails by building boardwalks and have even helped pull invasive garlic mustard taking over the bottom land forests of Ohio Brush Creek.
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| Photo by: Donnie McCarty |
This year, the crew arrived early in the morning with smiles on their faces and good attitudes in their brains, which always makes for a pleasant workday. In fact, although they worked hard on this long, hot day, I never heard one complaint from any of the participants! And these are teenagers!!
They helped us remove old boardwalks from the retired portion of the Buzzardsroost trail, and carry all the old wood out of the forest. A job that would have taken 4 of us many days to accomplish.
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| Photo by: Donnie McCarty |
Thankfully, although crowbars were prying, hammers were swinging and nails were exposed, no one got "too" injured. A few minor scrapes were expected. But these incredibly hard workers disassembled three boardwalks and marched the remains out of the forest with the precision and organization of an ant colony moving its mound. I was impressed.
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| Photo by: Donnie McCarty |
After lunch, the team proceeded to carry the same wood they removed earlier, BACK into the forest on the new Buzzardsroost trail to build temporary boardwalks over muddy spots. Again, no complaints for the group! This trail becomes unbelievably muddy in the spring, and these wooded tracks will help hikers manage the slick spots. Along with some fresh gravel placed along the trail, these students helped us improve at least 400 feet of muddy areas.
I cannot say enough about the work ethic of these students. They worked hard all day, and although it was not easy, they kept on pushing. Thank you to all who participated, including their teachers Donnie McCarty and Tess Holloway.
Posted by: Mark Zloba
