Spring 2018 Workday

It was a great and productive day!  The temperatures were not spring-like but sunshine finally reached us in the afternoon, with a high of 35 degrees.  We appreciated the help of dedicated volunteers Jean MacKenzie, John Bonning, Evan Mercer, Rowan Mercer, Peter and Charlie Smith, Jason Yost, and Bella, Hawthorn, Lake, and Sorrel DeNardo-Yost.  You’ll recognize some local faces in the photos as well.

The locust fence posts are in along the creek / hen yard*. The fence across the road near Milt's & the donkey pasture is completed.  A good amount of gravel was raked from the game field and used to fill potholes in the driveway. Sap buckets were emptied for boiling (many were overflowing).   All the decking from the boys’ tent platform was removed. A lot of pruning was done along the north drive.

Midday we enjoyed a bountiful lunch prepared and served by Lily, with contributions from our volunteers.   We enjoyed meeting five prospective camp families who toured the camp facilities with Kristin, accompanied by Lucille, our friendly feline greeter.

Fun Fact:  Michelle (Schaiman) Benner, a former camper and parent of a new camper helped build the stonewall by the Little Cabin when she was a camper in the early 80s.  Michelle and her family got to meet Evan and Rowan Mercer, children of one of her former counselors, Steve Mercer.

There is still plenty of work to do!  Stay tuned for the announcement of our next work day.

* There's a little more than meets the eye with this fence.  The fence will allow us to begin restoring our riparian buffers along our streams and reduce the amount of grazing area that comes up to the water's edge.  This is critical to keeping the stream’s water quality high. Keeping a vegetative buffer along streams helps prevent sediments, nutrients (manure) and pollutants from washing directly into the stream, improving the overall ecology. Read more here.